A close up of a woman in a bikini posing for a picture

A skilled hunter will never forget that he too is hunted. That his prey is not without strength or skill. He will fear it just as much as it fears him. If he doesn’t, their correlation might change.” -Dr. Alexander O'Brien, University of Krester "You disgraceful wretch!" Bae'Lokar shouted in rage and threw a handful of acid sand at the hanging woman. She was stripped completely naked and suspended by her feet, three of her arms tied behind her back. The sand burned the skin on her torso and abdomen, turning her skin from dark blue to magenta. She wanted to scream but kept her mouth shut. She knew that if she opened her mouth, the spikes inside of her mask would bite into her jaw. "I beg you, Lord Father, I am-" she tried to speak but a sharp pain cut her off. Bae'Lokar sliced one of her fingers off and played with it in his hand like a toy. He then dropped it into a glass of liquid and watched in pretend fascination as it melted into sludge. "Lord Father-" "Silence. Your punishment is yet to be delivered. Nothing you say will undo your mistakes." "Please I-" He stabbed her bare chest but not deeply. Just below the skin where the lower layer of flesh met muscle. He did this several times, causing blood to leak out of the holes and down her upper torso and throat. The thin purple lines reminded the Lord Father of an ancient river system he had visited hundreds of cycles ago. "I can explain!" she yelled, puncturing her jaw as she did. "Explain what?" the Lord Father asked uninterested as he dipped his fingers into the toxic liquid. "Explain how you lost all of your fledglings in one hunt? To a bunch of gobs no less?" He pushed his fingers into the freshly cut holes, causing the woman to scream from the extreme pain. Her cries were second only to the sizzling sound of the chemical reaction between the toxin and her blood. The purple streams evaporated and rose into the air where Bae'Lokar inhaled them. "Th-They weren't n-normal," she stammered, struggling

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