Fuck. Now I’m in deep shit.
Rand stepped up behind him, breathing into his ear. “Oh, this is going to feel real good.”
***
Kid struggled with Aerysn, whom he despised in that moment as he held him back, prevented him from helping his Trey. If Aerysn was really on their side, he needed to do something to help him. Although, he understood that wasn’t really an option. If he tried to do anything to help, his own cover would be discovered, and then they’d really be fucked. He bit down on Aerysn’s hand.
“Motherfucker!” Aerysn exclaimed as he released him.
Kid stumbled toward Treycore.
“Stop it! Let him go!” he said, grabbing the Goliath higherling’s arm and trying to pull him off Treycore.
The higherling released Treycore and brushed Kid off to the side, flinging him across the room. Kid flew through the air before feeling arms around him, keeping him close and safe. It was Aerysn.
“Hey!” Aerysn shouted. “Don’t mess with my mortal!”
“Then you’d do well to keep him in his place,” Rand warned before turning his attention back to Treycore. “I think we’ve all been wanting to see Treycore get his just desserts for some time now. Yes. Fimer!” he called out.
A lanky immortal, much smaller than most of the others, weaved his way through the immortals around them, approaching Rand. As he reached the wall, he pressed his forearms against it and pushed his ass out. Rand approached him and squatted down. He licked his fingers before sliding them within the immortal.
Kid was disturbed by the sight.
What the hell is he doing?
Rand took a moment, getting his hand in deep before pulling out a small, egg-like object. The hooting and hollering that had occurred during the match struck up again.
“What is that thing?” Kid whispered to Aerysn.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Aerysn said.
The way Treycore looked at Rand, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open, Kid suspected he knew what it was too.
“Aerysn, bring the mortal. I want him to watch this.”
Aerysn obeyed, carrying Kid over as the prisoners paved a path for them.
“Mortal,” Rand said. “I assume you don’t know what this is.” He held the egg between his forefinger and thumb, displaying it for Kid. “It’s a tiny creature, a parasitic worm that, once it bites you, injects its larvae into its host. There are a lot of these guys in Hell. It’s a nasty little fuck, and the eggs travel through your body and then erupt through the flesh, tear right on through. It’s one of the most painful experiences an immortal can have.”
“You motherfucker,” Treycore said as he looked back at him while the Goliath continued to hold him in place against the wall.
Rand approached Trey, then cracked the egg on his shoulder. Rand pulled the two ends apart as a translucent, gel-like substance spilled out onto Treycore’s arm.
Kid was waiting for the worm when he realized that the fluid running down Treycore’s arm was, in fact, the creature Rand had been referring to. It slid down Treycore’s back, its body moving side to side, Treycore attempting to get a look at it, though Kid figured by where it was that he couldn’t. When the creature reached his ass, it made its way along the perfect curvature before halting abruptly. Treycore cried out like he’d felt some intense pain surging through his body. That shrill cry coming from Trey pained Kid right in his gut.
A pattern of purple veins shot from the spot where the worm was, webbing across Trey’s body, moving across his ass and up his back.
“No!” Kid called out.
“Shut the fuck up,” Aerysn snapped as his hand covered his mouth once again. He whispered into Kid’s ear, “He’s going to be fine. It won’t kill him, but he’ll wish he was dead while this is happening.”
The veins under the worm turned black and the flesh tore away, exposing blood and muscle tissue. Treycore called out, screaming, wailing as the Goliath released him and allowed him to fall onto his knees. His flesh dissolved away, radiating out from the worm. He beat against the floor and called out as it overtook his body, reaching around to his torso and extending across his face, which as it dissolved, ripped down past his muscle, to the bone.
Kid fought against Aerysn’s hold as much as he could. He wanted to go to Trey, to help him, but he knew he couldn’t do anything at that point.
Trey’s screams filled the auditorium as his body continued deteriorating. Soon, black snake-like creatures pushed forward from the muscle tissue that remained and slithered across the floor. A few of the immortals leapt to their knees and gathered the creatures, shoving them in their mouths. It wasn’t long before Treycore, his mouth opened to scream, couldn’t even do that much. He lay on the floor, his body twitching and convulsing, Rand standing over him, a smirk on his face like he was enjoying the scene oh-so-much.
“He’s alive, Kid,” Aerysn whispered. “I promise.”
