“It has been a long time since I’ve been allowed to scar that face and body of yours. What used to be so handsome, Mordred, is now just a shattered mirror of what it used to be.” He approached him with a bright smile as Mordred’s body jerked slightly, beads of sweat streaming down his forehead.
The Dragors held firm, allowing the Monster King to approach with ease. He pressed his knife to Mordred’s face and slowly sliced off a chunk of his forehead, allowing his emerald-colored blood to flow into his eyes. Mordred’s muffled shrieks echoed into the room, and the Monster King laughed loudly.
He grabbed the chunk of Fae skin into his fist, held it to his lips, and licked it. He groaned in pleasure when the earthy taste hit his tongue, and his cock hardened in his pants. He took the skin and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly to fully savor the taste and enjoy the flavor.
When he swallowed, he looked back down at Mordred. “I know why you did it. I know why you let her escape.”
Mordred’s eyes widened, and he tried to shake his head.
The Monster King let Mordred’s desperation fill the air before continuing, “She is your child, the Fae bastard of a wanna-be-king.”
The Monster King was thrilled by Mordred’s muffled curses. He knew she was his. He could tell by how the bitch looked when he saw her. “But who is her mother, Mordred? She does not have your coloring. When were you able to sneak in a fucking love affair without me knowing? I need her back to open the door.”
He walked around him again and sliced off the last bit of his left ear that remained. Mordred screamed in pain and thrashed his legs around, his blood now dripping down his neck and soaking into hisrobe. He threw the piece of flesh into his mouth and chewed it loudly.
“Un-gag him, I want him to answer!” The Monster King screamed as Mordred’s blood splattered from his lips.
The Dragors quickly released the cloth from his face, and Mordred screamed, “She will come for you! Your days are fucking over!” Mordred laughed maniacally, as if he held a secret the Monster King didn’t know.
The Monster King angrily backhanded him across the face, whipping his head to the side. “I only want to hearanswersfrom you! Tell me what I need to know!”
“I will never tell you anything. Never again,” Mordred sneered. “My life changed all those years ago. All because of you!”
“Then I will take yourfucking fingers next!”
The Dragors firmly held him down and pried open his clenched hand, spreading his fingers out.
The Monster King laughed as he regarded Mordred’s scarred skin and wide eyes. “Oh, look how far you’ve fallen, when all you had were dreams of success. Now, just a broken husk of an ugly man.”
He bent down closer, first running his fingers over Mordred’s bloodstone cuffs, emitting a snicker, and then dug the knife into his pinky finger, having to force through the bone with a crunch.
Mordred’s screams pierced the room.
“We will continue to do this until you have none left, then we will move to your toes.” The Monster King laughed menacingly as he lifted the finger to inspect it. “You can avoid losing more by just telling me what I need to know.”
“Fuck you,” Mordred answered through ragged breaths.
The door opened, and Jason walked in. The Monster King looked at him, smiled, and then looked back at the Dragors.
“Place him in the same cell where Seda stayed. Let him rot whereher blood and pain once were, so he can think about how his plans never work.Theynever have.”
He threw the finger onto the floor next to the Dragors, and one grabbed for it quickly, chewing on it and groaning as bloody chunks fell from his mouth.
“Jason. Let’s get cleaned up. You have a special Wyrd and an announcement to make to those blubbering citizens. First, though, I need a woman here. Go find me one.”
Jason said nothing as he turned around and left the room.
As the Monster King watched Jason leave and Mordred hauled away, he bit his nail. He desperately needed Seda and the Lionne back, or else Somnium would haunt him forever. She was the key he needed to free himself from Somnium’s torment, the key to finally killing him and taking complete control.
The Monster King wanted to be the most powerful and feared in all of Xyberus, and only one person still stood in his way…Somnium.
Epilogue
Somnium
(A very, very long time ago)
An elderly man tossed and turned in bed, tormented by disturbing dreams of infidelity. His body was on fire, and sweat dripped down his forehead. His wife shook him awake, and he sat up abruptly in bed.
