am-books Ch 1.26: Punishment
Ch 1.26: Punishment
Ch 1.26: Punishment
The back of the woman’s hand was first, the wrecked hand that was still popping itself back into place, striking Elaina’s face and sending her reeling to the ground. Elaina couldn’t believe what was in front of her. The woman had been stabbed through the chest, heart rent open just moments before. The amount of blue blood dripping off her body was enough to spell her death, but now she was just standing there, rage-filled eyes bearing down on Elaina as the hand she had crushed herself continued to heal, fully forming into its prior state. “I told you the test was over. I’m not holding back anymore.”
Elaina struggled to her feet, calling her crystal chain to try and restrain Myriala. The beast glided away though, feet leaving the ground with no visible effort as she flew into Elaina, claws driving into her collarbone. The pain was sharp, absurd, a burning akin to the manes from the starhounds earlier radiating through Elaina’s torso. She cried out, being lifted off the ground with the hand that had pierced her, doing her best to scratch and push away at the arm holding her up.
“Oh, poor dear,” Myriala said, murderous rage in her eyes. “Does it burn? You see now why I didn’t use my aspects before. Your pathetic species wouldn’t have stood a chance.” Her voice was emotionless as she threw Elaina across the room, slamming her into the opposite wall.
Though new pain appeared, the burning mercifully stopped as soon Elaina had left the grasp of the monster before her. She was no woman, that was for sure, not a person. A monster through and through just like the hounds she commanded. “Carline!” Elaina shouted, clutching her wound. Burning or not, she was still wracked with pain, but Carline only laid there, motionless.
“If you want to be my pet, you’ll need to get used to this,” Myriala said, floating through the air towards Elaina as she tried to crawl away. “You’re a masochist mage, after all, right? You should actually be enjoying this.” That wasn’t true. Elaina could admit it, that throughout her life some amount of pain had been... bearable. This was different, and even [Pain Response]’s meager alteration to some of the pain did nothing. A small amount of arousal could not overpower the suffering she was enduring.
“But truth be told, I don’t think you’ll survive the discipline that you deserve. It’s really too bad. A masochist and a voyeur? We could have had so much fun. I could have cut you up while she watched, she could heal you, and then we could do it again. Over and over.” She grabbed Elaina by the back, claws ripping through her dress and flesh, gripping her by muscles before hurling her to the center of the chamber.
Software restraint the woman had said. It welled in her, awareness. There were only two things in the room that qualified for it, the crystal chain she had been granted, and the System itself. The System was restrained, somehow, by whatever a software was. Elaina hadn’t been aware of it until Myriala had mentioned it was a restraint, but that’s exactly what it was, and now she could feel it.
“Hey,” Elaina choked out, struggling to reach towards her chain. “Tell me one thing.”
The System quieted as the woman lifted her hand, turning around. “I told you not to tell me what to do.”
“Sorry, I was just wondering... how it feels to lose to a pathetic little puppy.” She reached forward with [Restraint] into the very being of the System, feeling for the locks holding it in place, the restraints on its capabilities. It was a tangled mess of logic and formulations, ones she didn’t truly understand, but she understood one thing: how to undo it all. She snapped the restraints on the System at the same time she commanded her chain to fly towards the pedestal.
Myriala turned back around as the System glowed a bright blue. “System initializing, awaiting Administrator commands.” The crystal chains wrapped around the orb and flew towards Elaina’s hand, passing right by Myriala as she reached out to grab it, just a moment too late.
Elaina caught the bundle of crystal. “System, get me and Carline out of here! Take us to the other core!”
Myriala was already flying towards her, elbow blade heading straight for her head. “You fucking—”
“Affirmative,” the System said, and, with a flash of light, the two battered and broken students once again disappeared.