Anna was facing the man behind the bars, her expression not exactly its same prideful and arrogant self but rather the cold visage of a researcher. Her natural humanity cited the one time she had killed someone, remembering the nightmares that still came from it. Could she stand killing another? It wasn't like she could really avoid such a thing on Sahova, standard procedure was to use slaves as test subjects. Besides, she was a Wizard, she stood far above normal beings in the natural order of things. That was just what she needed to believe, its what she needed to believe.
The man looked up at her will hollow dark eyes and the sorceress felt a slight pang of sympathy. Much like the girl she had knifed a while back this man had probably possessed a home, a family and loved ones. It was hard, so very hard to actually distance herself from other sentient beings in practice. Thinking about it was easy, while the actual act of killing someone when looking them in the eye was much more difficult. For Kouri it was easy, she was a child, life and death were just distant concepts to her at the end of the day.
"You here to end it?" The man asked, his tone somewhat raspy.
The tall sorceress pushed back her broiling over emotions and gave a slight nod to the man, her words seeming to be inadequate. Anna had to wonder what kind of horrors the Nuit had subjected him to, as he just bowed his head and gazed towards the floor dejectedly. He seemed so apathetic regarding the possibility of his own demise, it actually made her want to do this less and less. Still the Sorceress concentrated upon her res and slowly moved the liquid towards him.
Any screams of pain that might have emerged from his throat were reduced to wet gurgles as the purple liquid forced itself into his throat and began to spread quickly though his body. More res was drawn, it being moved to cover his entire body with the substance and some of it seeping into his pores. Anna felt the pleasing sensation of res being drawn, a light moan escaping her lips unbidden.
The man fell to his knees, wet hacking noises escaping him as he tried to remove the res from his lungs. Anna knew from firsthand experience what it was like to be invaded by res, how painfully intimate it was to take a piece of another person inside of you. As it was Anna opted to end this and just discover what she needed to, an idea that had come to her after Kouri had branded her cheeks.
The tall woman willed the res to begin to form into another shape and form all through the mans body, liquid water being cooled to a solid by the air as the transmutation took place. A last gurgling scream was all that came from him as his body literally flash froze, everything from his insides to his flesh being covered in unyielding ice. A crystal like statue was the only thing left of him, kneeling and with his face a mask of permanent pain.
The rush of casting was overriding her moral issues with having just killed him, she felt so very god-like for having done that. She had never actually tried to see how far she could use the Ice Para-Element, but this result was rather interesting. Perhaps if she worked down from here she could yield the same results Kouri had accomplished on her. The applications were opened to new possibilities, manifold in their nature.
Anna turned her attention back to Kouri, who sounded like she was having fun playing with the other two prisoners. With a last glance to the frozen man Anna opted to walk over to Kouri, her motherly smile back on her face. The ghostly child had taken control of the red head, who was sporting a few lovely new bruises. Anna had no doubt Kouri would play with the girl until she was sporting broken and shattered limbs. The sorceress lightly patted the ghost of her borrowed head, res generating on her left hand.
"Well I'm happy you are having fun with her my love, but if you insist why don't you hold up one of her hands for Mommy and she'll show you what she can do with Ice." Anna said, already moving the small amount of gathered res to the air before her.
If Kouri complied Anna would shape it into a small disk like shape, not larger than her own outstretched hand. The sorceress would the step back just a little bit to ensure she didn't get blood on her good robes. The heat of casting provided such a lovely buffer between her emotions and what she was doing at the moment. Of course, she'd probably be feeling this later as sleep tormented her.
The tall woman shaped and cooled the outer layer of res until a disk of solid ide hovered in the air before her. Anna was not worried about this hurting Kouri, the child could not feel the host's pain after all. With a twitch of her finger Anna would will the disk to start spinning, its edge razor sharp. About half a chime later she sent it speeding towards the girl's wrist, the action would cleanly severe it easily, before shattering along the far wall.
"Kouri dear, do you remember when you drew Mommy that pretty picture in the Prairie? Why don't you draw it again? Look, your doll is even giving you something to draw with, such a good little toy." Anna said, gesturing to the bleeding stump.
"Don't worry about breaking her, dearest, remember after she is done you have a shiny new doll fresh and waiting in the corner of the next playpen. Mommy will show you her fun trick on her, its a new magic I haven't shown you before. Its very fun." The sorceress said, smirking as she leaned back against the opposite wall and watched her adoptive daughter at play.
The man looked up at her will hollow dark eyes and the sorceress felt a slight pang of sympathy. Much like the girl she had knifed a while back this man had probably possessed a home, a family and loved ones. It was hard, so very hard to actually distance herself from other sentient beings in practice. Thinking about it was easy, while the actual act of killing someone when looking them in the eye was much more difficult. For Kouri it was easy, she was a child, life and death were just distant concepts to her at the end of the day.
"You here to end it?" The man asked, his tone somewhat raspy.
The tall sorceress pushed back her broiling over emotions and gave a slight nod to the man, her words seeming to be inadequate. Anna had to wonder what kind of horrors the Nuit had subjected him to, as he just bowed his head and gazed towards the floor dejectedly. He seemed so apathetic regarding the possibility of his own demise, it actually made her want to do this less and less. Still the Sorceress concentrated upon her res and slowly moved the liquid towards him.
Any screams of pain that might have emerged from his throat were reduced to wet gurgles as the purple liquid forced itself into his throat and began to spread quickly though his body. More res was drawn, it being moved to cover his entire body with the substance and some of it seeping into his pores. Anna felt the pleasing sensation of res being drawn, a light moan escaping her lips unbidden.
The man fell to his knees, wet hacking noises escaping him as he tried to remove the res from his lungs. Anna knew from firsthand experience what it was like to be invaded by res, how painfully intimate it was to take a piece of another person inside of you. As it was Anna opted to end this and just discover what she needed to, an idea that had come to her after Kouri had branded her cheeks.
The tall woman willed the res to begin to form into another shape and form all through the mans body, liquid water being cooled to a solid by the air as the transmutation took place. A last gurgling scream was all that came from him as his body literally flash froze, everything from his insides to his flesh being covered in unyielding ice. A crystal like statue was the only thing left of him, kneeling and with his face a mask of permanent pain.
The rush of casting was overriding her moral issues with having just killed him, she felt so very god-like for having done that. She had never actually tried to see how far she could use the Ice Para-Element, but this result was rather interesting. Perhaps if she worked down from here she could yield the same results Kouri had accomplished on her. The applications were opened to new possibilities, manifold in their nature.
Anna turned her attention back to Kouri, who sounded like she was having fun playing with the other two prisoners. With a last glance to the frozen man Anna opted to walk over to Kouri, her motherly smile back on her face. The ghostly child had taken control of the red head, who was sporting a few lovely new bruises. Anna had no doubt Kouri would play with the girl until she was sporting broken and shattered limbs. The sorceress lightly patted the ghost of her borrowed head, res generating on her left hand.
"Well I'm happy you are having fun with her my love, but if you insist why don't you hold up one of her hands for Mommy and she'll show you what she can do with Ice." Anna said, already moving the small amount of gathered res to the air before her.
If Kouri complied Anna would shape it into a small disk like shape, not larger than her own outstretched hand. The sorceress would the step back just a little bit to ensure she didn't get blood on her good robes. The heat of casting provided such a lovely buffer between her emotions and what she was doing at the moment. Of course, she'd probably be feeling this later as sleep tormented her.
The tall woman shaped and cooled the outer layer of res until a disk of solid ide hovered in the air before her. Anna was not worried about this hurting Kouri, the child could not feel the host's pain after all. With a twitch of her finger Anna would will the disk to start spinning, its edge razor sharp. About half a chime later she sent it speeding towards the girl's wrist, the action would cleanly severe it easily, before shattering along the far wall.
"Kouri dear, do you remember when you drew Mommy that pretty picture in the Prairie? Why don't you draw it again? Look, your doll is even giving you something to draw with, such a good little toy." Anna said, gesturing to the bleeding stump.
"Don't worry about breaking her, dearest, remember after she is done you have a shiny new doll fresh and waiting in the corner of the next playpen. Mommy will show you her fun trick on her, its a new magic I haven't shown you before. Its very fun." The sorceress said, smirking as she leaned back against the opposite wall and watched her adoptive daughter at play.
