Kelvics and Dhani and Slavers, Oh My! [Seliarus]

[Nidassasyae]

Her boots scuffed softly against the packed earth and stone floor of the small cave. With great care, the Kelvic picked her way around her Bondmate and their belongings. She could see him shiver slightly with cold. How Nida wished she could lie there beside him, back in her true form, giving the Dhani the heat he required. But she needed to leave this cave, even for a few minutes. It suffocated her, and the fact that they were back in Taldera held too much excitement for the restless Kelvic.

She could hear her footsteps make small, delicate crunches against the layer of frost covering the ground. Carefully, the Kelvic made her way past the cave entrance, taking deep breaths of the cold and crystalline air. She felt it burn through her lungs, a welcome sensation. Nida had missed the cold.

She left a trail of footsteps behind her as she picked a path through the snow. Nida refused to think about her strained relationship with Seliarus right now. It was all she ever seemed to think about these days.

Finally you admit it! You’ve been trying to deny it all this time we’ve been traveling north, the voice cackled merrily, as if it had won a grand prize. Now that you’re not in denial, perhaps I can try and reason with you.

“I’m not in denial,” she whispered absently, smiling up at the cold winter sky. “I’m just trying to enjoy the feeling of being cold and free again.”

Cold, yes. Free, no. You are as much a slave as your siblings and mother is, though you seem to find it a pleasant sort of slavery. No matter, you’ll get over it sometime. The voice was smug, content in the belief that Nida distrusted her Bondmate.

“I-“ the Kelvic started to respond, but stopped when she heard the chatter of voices. Male voices. Instantly on the alert, her veins freezing in fear, Nida dropped to the ground. She considered shifting briefly, but shook the idea off. The light from her transformation could easily alert the strangers of her whereabouts, not to mention the flat terrain couldn’t conceal a massive Dire Leopard easily.
Her stomach brushed against the ground as she crawled forwards, trying to press herself as far against the ground as she could. Her brown coloured clothing camouflaged well with the barely frozen ground of south Taldera.

There were three of them. Three men on horseback who seemed strangely familiar, as if she recognized them from a dream. Their scent was definitely human, and stank of drink, piss, and unwashed male. Nida wanted to recoil instantly from that reek, but knew such a sudden movement would no doubt alert them to the fact that they were being watched.

So she lay there, observing them. One carried a sword at his hips, but the rest held a combination of whips and daggers. They were rowdy, guffawing as if this were merely a quick jaunt through the garden, not a dangerous night-time journey through Taldera.

“Shame we di’nt get more of th’ shifters,” mourned one man, his speech slurred with drink. “Last year we had fine pickin’s off that bitch and her litter. Seems they’s all done and gone. Wish th’ last ‘un hadn’t escaped.”

“We got a good price fer them,” snapped one man, obviously not as tipsy as his comrade. “Though the boy put up a bit of a fight, if I remember correctly. It was you who let him distract you, and let the little bitch escape.”

Nida’s heart froze. What were they talking about? Could they possibly be…? No. That was impossible. They couldn’t be the slavers who had taken her family. Siku be merciful, what was she to do if they were? Torn, Nida listened closely to the conversation, trying to pick up any more hints about what Kelvics these men spoke of.

“Well, I’m shure you’dve been mighty hard pressed,” grumped the tipsy man indignantly, “if you’d ha’ a boy in yer grip, and a wolf in th’ next!”

Nida couldn’t stop herself. She let a little gasp of fury escape her. It was[ them. They were the ones who had taken her family, who’d sent her running alone into the wide world. They had no regard for the lives they had disrupted, for nature’s balance. They would pay.

Kill them! the voice urged. And for once, she and the voice were in agreement.

She wanted to leap up and attack them right now, but a sudden cackle sounded behind her. Before the Kelvic could turn, she felt herself being lifted by the collar of her tunic. Her feet were dangling in the air, and she glared up at her assailant. He was one of the slavers, undoubtedly circling around his companions to check for threats. He’d found her instead.

“Well, will you lookit this!” he exclaimed, leering at down her. His eyes widened momentarily as he glimpsed her slitted pupils. “A woman! And a Kelvic besides!” His hands moved so fast, Nida didn’t even have time to shift. She felt a metal weight suddenly clamp around her neck, and looked up to see the man grinning down at her. “Now, now beastie. Can’t have you shifting! We’re experts at this, see? Your kind don’t stand a chance.”

The anger died in Nida’s heart, replaced with an all-encompassing fear. She felt it freeze her body, lock her joints, rendering her as immovable as a rabbit who has sensed a predator nearby. She couldn’t scream, and alert Seliarus. He would no doubt rush to her, and be captured or killed by these men. But all the same, she wanted nothing more than to shriek out her terror and fury. She was completely helpless, trapped in this weak form by the heavy metal collar ‘round her neck.

“What’ve you found Ralf?” asked one of the slavers, urging his horse closer to Nida.

“’Nother shifter! And a female too! She’s not too bad to lookit either, gots her a pretty face,” at this his eyes roved over her body, obviously examining everything but her face, “and more besides.”

Struggle! Exclaimed the voice, and Nida complied, writhing in the man’s grip. She struggled for all she was worth, kicking and biting like the animal she was.

The men only laughed. “You take her first, Ralf. Tame her a bit,” chortled one of them, overcome by the hilarity of the Kelvic’s struggles.

“I don’t mind if I do,” guffawed the male who held her by the collar, the one called ‘Ralf. “I always liked ‘em a bit feisty. Makes it more fun!” He threw her face-down to the ground, and planted a heavily booted foot onto her back. The man chuckled as his gloved hands fumbled with the ties of his breeches.

“Ga’head girly. Scream. No one can hear you out here,” called out one of the slavers, a big grin plastered on his face. Obviously they’d found the night’s entertainment.

Nida couldn’t move with the weight of the man’s boot pressing her against the ground, though she tried. But she would not scream. Better that she were taken than Seliarus blunder blindly into this situation. The Kelvic couldn’t resist a muffled sob as her utter helplessness overcame her. She fought against the human’s grip wildly, as he grabbed her about the waist. But Nida knew it was only a token effort. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth until it was over, praying that Siku would forgive her weakness, and give her enough strength not to cry out.

Once Ralf had taken his pleasure from her, he passed her limp form to the closest of his comrades.

[Seliarus]

The Dhani was had a restless sleep. The cold was knocking on his very bones, drilling tiny little holes into his flesh and his mind, making his whole body ache, and numbed itself. He knew he had to rest, because the trip was quite tiresome. Be it as it was, he was lying there, curled into a ball of sorts, and covered by a bear's pelt. He was far too tall, to get the maximum of warmth the piece of clothing could offer, but, at least it was something. So, as he lied like that on the cold, hard ground, dreams haunted his very presence. The Dhani hardly ever dreamt about anything. His sleep was usually the dark void from which he later on woken up refreshed. But today, it seemed like a nightmare sneaked into his mind. Everything was in a shade of green and yellow, and the very atmosphere was dreadful. Everything was cold. He was walking pass two pillars of ice, which all contained a frozen snake inside. Everything was so real. The frozen ground from the cave, on which he slept on, served as a remainder that the dream could get real. And as he was walking further, the green and yellow colour scheme turned into an icy blue and white. On the left side, there was an endless cliff, and on the right side, a massive frozen wall. Tattered cloth and snow were lying on the ground, and it was a problem getting over all of that. In the distance, though. There was a shadow. A silhouette, sitting on a rock right in front of him. He couldn't see who, or what was resting there. The shadow seemed graceful, and yet respectable on the same time. As he got closer, he could note, that the cold was becoming less and less strong. And, as soon as he had stepped in front of the silhouette, it looked down on him... ...And the eyes pierced his very hearth... Seliarus would wake up rather unpleasantly. His back was numb from the ground. His muscles numb from the cold. His mind numb from the strange dream, and the green eyes which looked at him. He never dreamed a lot, so he didn't know what to think of it. And there was no real time to discuss about it any further, then, this cave seemed a bit empty. ...Too empty. This wasn't the first one that this would happen. As soon as he lied down to rest, the kelvic whom he bounded with suddenly disappeared. He urgently looked around in all edges of the cave, but he could see nothing. Only footprints in the fresh snow, leading out. And he cursed. With a swift motion of his body, he picked himself from the ground. What if something happened? How long was she away? She left him because he did the same? Those, and more troublesome thoughts raced through his mind. He quickly made his way to his backpack, and took out a what appeared to be a metalic, pointy object. Something he got around a year ago. And yet never managed to use it. Maybe it would be helpful on his search. His mind trailed to the human, Luke, whom this dagger previously belonged. One of the two humans that Sel could bare with. He wondered if he could meet him again someday. He liked his character. He should visit him once. But not now. With the not that sufficient weapon in his hands, he made himself on the search, following the still seen footprints in the snow. Anger and worry working his way to the Dhani. Yes, now he could understand why she felt that bad. He never should of done such a thing... Voices? He heard something. Coming from the right, or was it the left? Some muffed, grunted noises made their way through the air. Travellers? Possibly, but they didn't sounded feminine, so it wasn't his bondmate. Unless... Yes. A very bad thing to know about Seliarus is, that he could get quite paranoid sometimes. And when that happened, he always imagined the worse possible scenario, and believed in that. And right about now, he could simply feel something was awe-fully amiss. Something was terribly wrong. And he could see what. The Dhani dropped down under the cover of the ice cold snow pile. Not that far from him...Were four silhouettes. And may Siku have mercy on those poor human souls...For what he saw, could simply not be described in words. His eyes actually burning in hate and disgust right about now.

[Nidassasyae]

Nida hated herself. How could she have been so weak, to blunder into this? How could she have been so stupid? Over and over, she replayed her own mistake, listening as the shrill voice shrieked her inadequacies into her mind. To a human, rape was a phycologically scarring and frightening thing. A Kelvic had no such scruples. But for Nida, the fact that she had allowed herself to blunder blindly into this trap, to be taken by humans, to have to submit to these two legged males was a shame she couldn't bear. The leopard was cunning, it was powerful. Why was she not these things?

You are weak. You are nothing but a weak cub, exclaimed the voice. Why don't you fight? You are the predator here, and yet you are as helpless as a newborn kitten.

Anger arose within her, anger at her own stupidity, at the humans. They had bested her, and like any predator, they took what they wished. She could understand that, she didn't have to like it. But Nida was not yet broken, they had not yet won.

Her body betrayed her for a moment and her knees gave out. She stumbled, and reflexively one of the men caught her. He seemed to realize his mistake, and instead leered down at her. Nida felt her thoughts go blank, her vision turning red. That was the problem with humans, they never realized that it is a wounded animal that is the most dangerous.

She turned her face up, to look into the man's eyes. There was a hollow victory there, but it was slowly replaced with shock as she sunk her canines into his neck. The human had only a moment to struggle before Nida's jaws locked on and pulled away from his body, ripping the human's throat out.

He fell to the icy ground with a halo of blood around him.

She stood over him triumphantly, her grinning mouth coated in red.

The scene seemed to freeze for a moment, as the slavers stood dumbstruck. The only movement was the slow ebbing of the man's lifeblood which pooled around his body, and the slow drip of it down from the Kelvic's chin.

An explosion of pain shattered the moment, sending Nida onto her hands and knees. One of the slavers stood behind her, his arm still outstretched after he had punched her from behind. Petching pink-skin got me in the kidneys, Nida gasped as the thought flashed through her mind. But that was only a prelude to the pain. The score was even now, one for the slavers, one for Nida. Now it was their turn to strike.

"She killt him!" exclaimed the drunk slaver, somewhat unnessesarily. His heavily booted foot met her stomach, and she barely restrained herself from crying out. Then again. And again. Now it was not only one booted foor, but many. They all joined in, not particularly agrived by the loss of their co-worker, but more than pissed off at how easily she dispatched one of them.

They kicked until it all Nida could do was whimper. She curled up into a tight ball as the booted feet came at her from all sides. Unsatisfied, one man pushed her onto her back so that he could straddle her abdomen and punch her in the face. The rest looked on and laughed.

The rest was muscle memory. She reacted immediately, remembering back to when she'd played like this with her brother, switching between forms during the fights. Her hips jerked up, bucking the man off balance. As he pitched forwards, she strained her neck up, catching the soft skin between her teeth.

It ended just as it had with the other man.

The laughter stopped. She threw the corpse off her and struggled to her feet. The cold steel of a blade at her throat stopped her progress.

"No farther girlie, this ends now. You'll come nice and quietly," said the human with the sword in a low and dangerous voice. "Now, you'll be getting up very slowly, lest my blade slip and cut that skinny neck of yours."

"It killed Richard, and Henry!," exclaimed another voice, which Nida identified as Ralf, the one who had raped her.

"And I'm sorry it did. But we still have a job to do, and it'll earn us a pretty penny down at the slave market in Ravok," explained the sword wielding human calmly. He nudged her gently with the blade, and Nida stood slowly.

Once she had straightened fully, he stuffed a gag into her mouth. It tasted foul and was cruelly tight, and she fought against the bindings.

"Now now, I thought we had an understanding!" scolded the human, pressing the blade into her back. She froze, and let Ralf loop a rope around her wrists.

"Let's go Ralf. Leave the bodies," Sword said coldly, and Ralf simply followed meekly. The humans walked over to their horses, pulling Nida behind them. Her mind barely registered the hate and disgust coming from the Bond, and it mistook it for her own.

[Seliarus]

Everything that was going on in front of him, was slowly fading into the back of his head. What they were doing with the Kelvic was simply too much to simply stand and look. The wounds from his previous encounters with the slavers still ached in the cold, winter-comming day, but he could take no heed on that pain. WIth his right hand, he clenched the metal grip of his dagger, and cursed the most foul, and disqusting swear his language could possible imagine, and speak out. He felt to his knees, his hands on the ground in front of him. His body shaking. His legs slowly getting closer, and closer to each other, until they finally connected, and then slowly started to melt into each other. His messy, black hair, seemingly entering his scalp, and the rest of his head. His whole chest, and waist, seemed to shake, turn and change, and he could be seen growing. His lips, and nose moving forward, and covering all sense of a humanoid behind this wicked, and grotesque sight. A snout snarted to form, and his body grew to such a degree, his clothes started to rip, and he barely saved them, tossing them aside, before continuing his transformation. Scales started to appear all over his body, ripping his 'human' skin to pieces, and then shedding them in the snow, there they would be forever lost. Just like his control, just as his sanity...Ripped away, and left on the ground. His eyes would now burst open, and his pupil just changed shape to that of a slitted snake eye. His skin being now coloured green, and his snout started to grow fangs. He grinned, and a droplet of green liquid already formed there. His palms grew claws, yet he was somehow still able to hold the dagger in his hands. His legs, now in a tail, started to coil around each other, making the Dhani a platform to stand on, as he rose up from his crouching possition. He changed a lot of times in his life. He always enjoyed it, and felt alive. Felt like all the bonds of humans were broken, and he was finally free. But today, he felt such an amount of anger, it was actually hurting him to think about it. And he wasn't going to think about it. He will kill everyone! All those humans! Everything that isn't with him! The white around his green pupils started to become red, and the transformation was complete. As he rose to a visible point, where the rocks no longer obstucked his view, he hissed loud enough for the slavers to hear. "One misstake can cossst you your worthlessss life, humansss..." He spoke, loud and clear, with his hissing cutting trough the wind, and into the ears of the humans. He tried to intimidate them. Scare them, and surprise them. Surely, they wouldn't expect a Dhani. They could hardly know what he was. But a hissing, collosal scaled thing which yelled at them... Should be of some notice. "You dare to touch sssomething...Which will be presssented to the Great Goddess Sssiku, filth? Divine in comparesssment to you! You dare disssgrace that with your...Your... Animalistic behaviour..." His voice rose louder and louder, as did his anger. His bloody red and green eyes glared in the general direction of the group, and advanced closer. His voice, would now lower itself to a more normal tone, but his voice was just as powerful, and filled with hate as before. His snout now covered in a green liquid, which was coming from his fangs. "I will be the Judgement of you all...In the name of Sssiku." His voice turning to whispers, but the hanuting subtone of the Dhani made it just as hearable. "You crossssed the wrong line, human." As his dead stare turned to Ralf. "No where to hide..."

[Nidassasyae]

OOCBreak, feel free to write the slavers' actions

She let herself be pulled forwards, offering no fight to the humans. Nida seethed in fury and horror, letting it fill her until her very pores oozed hatred and bloodlust. The iron collar clamped around her neck held in the primal fury that radiated from the Kelvic. She let herself go, content that they would move away from Seliarus. The heat rose in her veins, crackling until she felt that no other thing existed but her hate.

In the back of her thoughts, the voice cried out. It beat against the walls of her mind, protesting. You fool! You idiot! The bloodlust is yours! The anger and disgust is yours! But not the hate, you do not hate! You do not understand hate, it is his! Look to the Bond Nida, he is coming!

But she couldn’t hear it. She wouldn’t hear it. Nida hated the voice. She hated everything.

Then the hissing. The familiar hissing and slithering, the guttural tones dripping with vitriol and overwhelming anger. It called to her. It entered her veins and replaced the boiling blood. It made her body sing. It hit her like a freight train and she almost doubled over in despair.

He came. You fool! You idiot! You’ve as good as killed him!

Her vision was blurred, by blood or sweat she could not tell, and she felt as if one of her eyes was swollen shut. But as she blinked it away, Nida could just make out the familiar form slithering towards her. He was strong and powerful and cunning, and though Nida was beaten and battered in every sense of those words, she did not want him to save her. She knew he was still weak, still injured from his last encounter with slavers.

She didn’t want to see him die at the end of this one’s sword.

But she could feel her body straining towards him, towards the familiar sinuous flesh and sonorous voice. As if her body could shield him from the blade, as any loyal pet ought to do. She felt herself being physically jerked in the opposite direction and gave a small gasp of surprise. Nida fell back against another familiar form, though this one was disgustingly so. Ralf’s hand was at her throat with a knife, while the other was at her stomach and crushing her against him. His touch was anathema and she almost pulled away before remembering the silver sliver of metal against her jugular. Nida could feel his breath at the back of her neck, and he reeked of fear. No doubt neither slaver had ever encountered a Dhani before.

The sword wielding slaver was a bit calmer. He stopped walking towards his horse, pivoted to face Seliarus, and hefted the blade in his hands. He looked Seliarus up and down coolly, assessing the threat the Dhani posed.

“So, I take it this here is your bitch?” asked Sword quite calmly, levelling the blade at the Dhani. “Sorry, we didn’t realize. Actually, I take that back. We’re not.” He smiled, Seliarus’ statements obviously not fazing him in the slightest. He was an arrogant man, confident enough in his mediocre skills that he could beat the Dhani, not noting that the snake-man’s most potent weapon was much more subtle then pure strength. “You just come nice and easy now, or the little missy gets her throat slit. Very messy business, lots of bother. You wouldn’t want that, now would you? If you’ll come quietly, we’ll even let you have some quality time with her tonight. Once we’re done, of course,” his grin only widened further. It was clear the slaver thought Seliarus wasn’t a good investment, and would be a hard cargo to bring all the way to Ravok. He wasn’t worth the effort, but would make an excellent sport, and perhaps his head would serve as a good trophy. Provoking the Dhani into making a rash move would make the fight even easier for Sword.

”Sel!” gasped Nida through the loosened gag. “Just walk away. Don’t do something stupid, don’t get yourself killed.”

”Just lookit that bitch go!” grinned Sword. ”She really doesn’t want to die, does she? Well, looks like you’ll just have to toddle off then, follow your woman’s orders!” he sneered at Seliarus before turning his head just a fraction of an inch to the right. ”Ralf. Shut the whore up.”

Nida felt a leaden weight strike the back of her head, sending the world into a painful confusing blur. She saw the scene before her swirl into a convoluted puddle of colors and sounds and lights. Nothing made sense. The knife at her throat disappeared, but a push from behind sent her to the ground on her hands and knees. Was it the ground? Or had she hit the top of the sky? Nothing seemed to make sense, so she rested her cheek against the cold earth and waited for her head to clear. What was happening? Her swollen left eye caught a glimpse of a strange and serpentine shape a few yards away. The current situation all rushed back towards her.

Sword laughed. “To think Ralf, you were afraid of the little she-devil. She’s just a woman, hit her hard enough and they forget they even have a voice.” He turned around more to survey the scene with satisfaction, temporarily distracted, and providing the perfect opportunity for Seliarus to strike.