#Firstforged

[autoacafiles]

The stories of the Firstforged are many and the mysteries many more, but one of the most commonly understood aspects was that Cybertronians aligned themselves to the Firstforged that best reflected their values, and that when the schism led to all out war between the Thirteen, those that followed their lead would either go into battle alongside them or find another way to secure their legacy. Though most Cybertronians have long since forgotten the tribes, they remain a somewhat important historical fact, and the names of these tribes still stand in the writings and records of the ancient ages.

The devout followers of Prima, the Houses of Light divided themselves under given surnames, many of which are still prominent in Cybertronian society today, including House Pax, House Ambus and House Maximus. The Houses of Light were often in stories portrayed as less of a tribe and more an order of gallant knights, and are to this day seen as keeps of order, hosting the largest number of Convoys from their lineage.

Considered a tribe of barbarians and conquerors by the history books, the Darklanders were those that followed Megatronus, taking their name from the wild and then untamed regions of Cybertron that they resided in. It is said that the surviving Darklanders thrived after the Schism, forming under warlords to try and rule what remained of the then scorched planet.

The followers of Onyx Prime, the members of the Flock sought to spread their wings out into the cosmos and create new homes for themselves. They believed in finding that balance between the organic and the technological, and unlike others would rather live alongside the organic nature of their adopted homeworlds. While isolation has lead some descended warlords such as Gigatron, Yharon and Dragotron to see a bestial superiority, it is known that Onyx always advocated a way of collaboration.

A tribe that focused on both smithing and artistry, it is said that this tribe were taught by Solus to see the beauty in all things. Contributing to Solus’ work on the Primal Amory, the Radiant Forges departed Cybertron completely on the advent of the Schism, seeking to avoid conflict and preserving their culture in honour of Solus, as well as hiding as many of the weapons they were responsible for. While they were only remembered only by name and relics for many eons, the emergence of Caminus lead to a resurgence of their culture.

Those that followed Amalgus Prime were said to be those that believed that transformation was the most fundamental function of their being. It is said that all natural triple changers were descended from the people of the Enigmakind, with rumours spreading some of their kind had evolved to have even more mode. None of the Enigmakind, however, could ever truly guess the depths of their leader’s obsession with form and transformation, nor the steps they would take to affirm this.

Said to be the forebearers of the minicon race, the people who followed Micronus Prime were said to be the earliest to sprout the irregular abilities that would come to be known as “Talents”. The Micron Arms were firms believers in unity and that they were stronger together, a statement attested to by entries that say the people of the Micron Arms were even able to bolster the powers of their allies with the abilities.

The servants of Liege Maximo, it is said that many of those that joined this tribe were manipulated by Liege or his acolytes, fed lies to buy their loyalty to them. While in most cases this would make the tribe fragile, Liege’s mastery of the spoken tongue allowed the tribe to remain intact, at least until he vanished into the Dark Ages.

Knowledge and Wisdom is true power, especially to the followers of Alpha Trion. They were said to be seekers of great knowledge, believing that everything has future consequences. Every event recorded in detail, giving Cybertronians a vast degree of information on the past that not even the smartest races of the galaxy can hope to have. It is said that the Dark Age that came after the Schism, before Knight Convoy uncovered the Matrix, is the one blank mark of the Lorekeepers’ records, and they hope one day to change that.

One of the least well understood of the Thirteen Tribes, Gestalta followed the teachings of Nexus Prime, said to act as middlemen between the different tribes to maintain stability and foster unity. With the recent rediscovery of combiner technology, some are beginning to suspect the name Gestalta and their interest in unity had a double meaning.

One might call the Adherents of the Moment less of a tribe and more of a group of people who like to chill around each other. While not directly lead by Alchemist Prime, the Adherents of the Moment follow his way of taking each day as it comes and enjoying every moment you get. As a result, they kept their hand clean during the schism and spread out amongst the stars, creating their own little communities away from the conflict.

The followers of Vector Prime are those so dedicated to their leader that when Vector disappeared into the temporal wilds, they patiently waited for his return. While some members of the tribe await his return so that they may learn from his knowledge from the future, others wish to ensure that the flow of history is not disrupted, though as the days turn into years, and the years turn into millennia with no sign of Vector, few continue this once sacred duty.

Lifegivers is perhaps too narrow of a descriptor for the ambitions that flow from the tribe of Quintessa Prime. They seek not only to create new life, but also to constantly build and improve upon it, as well as existing life. An eternal quest to bring everything to its quintessential self. A general disregard for time honored traditions in the face of advancement and evolution puts them at odds with the more fundamentalist tribes.

Little is known about the mysterious thirteenth tribe. Their leader, their goals, their communes are all a mystery. Even their symbol has been found in scarce ruins and artifacts. This has resulted in the tentatively known “Others” to be one of the largest historical mysteries, even to this day...

[thenamesblurrito]

Ahshdhdj thank you for the explanation post! However there are some characters I don't recognize, those being Solduron, Apex Ginrai, Physis, and Logos Prime. Also, how did Heatwave make the Hydrafire Blasters? Isn't he still a toddler?

for the most part, the various Knights of Cybertron who made these relics aren't, in fact, super important, outside of a meta sense of recognizing another canon name peppered into SNAP lore. they're looooong dead historical figures that have little influence over what's going on today, outside of a possible ghost left inside their relics

Solduron was a set of armor invented by Primacron, an alien POW back during the God War. Apex Ginrai was the first Titanmaster, and essentially my version of the canon human Ginrai. Physis... now Physis is some meta stuff, but essentially all you need to know is it was a moth. a very meta moth, much like another moth, perhaps? and then Logos is one of the Thirteen original Primes in this canon, a trinemate of Quintus and Vector. you can see him being a dumb teen over at @ask-the-firstforged which i have NOT abandoned i simply do not have the time to draw and haven't for a good while

Heatwave the ancient powerful Knight just happens to share a name with bitty baby Heatwave Pax! repeated/shared names are fairly common in this universe. kind of like how it only took one Alexander the Great for the name to be common across multiple cultures even thousands of years later, there's a good number of folks with historical, traditional, or religious names. there's plenty of Megatrons/other variants of Megatronus-es, there's been several Optimuses who became Primes throughout history, and Servo is the most common religious name as a traditional term for the Guiding Hand. heck, some folks are named after the Knights' relics, like Star Saber the teacher, or Terminus the junker, or even a young Knight named Terminus millions of years ago who was the last to use an uncorrupted Terminus Blade, his namesake, before he was slain and the relic stolen

[transingthoseformers]

Firstforged started as a fan term, so I am not supposed you have not heard of it.

Yeah, there's a very decent chance I haven't heard of it

[karanseraph]

Ages of Cybertronian History

I'm trying to work through my writing process in public again here, but it does sometime help me to organize thoughts.

I'm still writing The Life and Times of Skywarp. It's close to reaching 400K words and is nowhere near finished. I think this meandering style of writing I often do comes from not pre-planning. Like, if I already knew the major pivotal events in his life, I could skip ahead to the next one and summarized what had happened in between. But I don't necessarily know the order of events in this fan continuity.

Some existing ages (from TFWiki, that can happen differently in various continuities):

Age of Evolution (simple machines, a macguffin, or god happened)

Age of Primes (The Thirteen in charge)

Great Cataclysm/Age of Extinction (Cybertron altered, Predcons die)

Age of Firstforged/Knights/Origins (Non-Prime Legendary figures)

Dark Age (A period of warlords, tribes or city-states at war)

Age of Wrath (Bots vs Quintessons at some point)

Age of Internment (Time(s) of internment for particular group(s))

Golden Age (Time(s) of energy prosperity and peace)

Age of Expansion (Colonization by Cybertronians)

Age of Rust (A Rust Plague Pandemic at some point)

Great War (Time(s) of war, often Autobot vs Decepticon)

Combiner Wars (Time of combination and violent division)

Great Exodus (Most Cybertronians abandon Cybertron)

Great Shutdown (Cybertron and those on it stasis locked)

Pax Cybertronia (Time of peace perceived as forced, probably)

Beast Wars (something techno-organic, probably)

Great Transformation (something esoteric and technorganic)

How I think these exist in my fan-continuity, so far:

Age of Evolution (Simple machines made planet that self-actualized, or religious lore is true.)

Age of Primes (Primes and Predcons co-exist, not all friendly, first contact with other dimensions)

Great Cataclysm (southern hemisphere altered, most Precons die, Unicron theorists suggest...)

Fall/Decline of Primes (Primes turn on each other, die or leave, Maximo made Maximals on his farm, other dimension knowledge lost)

Age of Origins/Warring States (rise of warlords and city-states)

Age of Internment (prejudice against remaining Predacons and Maximals, biped/vehicle supremacy)

State Games (Attempted non-violent resolution between states)

Time of Seduction (First Contact with Quintessons introduces interstellar commerce, xenocultural influence, establishment of senate)

Age of Wrath (Poductization of Cybertronians leads to rebellion and war against Quintessons, enables different Cybertronians to work together against common enemy.)

Golden Age (post-war freedom from productization categories/classifications, mostly egalitarian, trade between city-states, some shipping trade with other planets, but increasing senate corruption)

Age of Expansion (Space Bridge Corps and Titan Projects race to serve needs/wants to expand and attain resources/goods without Quintesson reliance, rediscovery of other dimensions kept from general public)

Age of Games? (political maneuvering on Cybertron and colony worlds, prejudice against constructs and outliers, increasing calls for representation, new State Games, Rise of The Ascent in south rivaling Polyhex Province and Greater Iacon, use of shadowplay and propaganda, factions as politics)

Age of Rust (expansion leads to Rust Plague pandemic. Space bridge technology blamed and defunded, isolationism and purging of xeno population on Cybertron, killing of wildlife believed to carry disease, trade disruption, assistance from another dimension aids in discovery of cure but exposes previous coverup.)

War (factions as identity, conflict between super-powers tips into war between factions, further detabliized infrastructure, exhausted resources)

Great Exodus (most of remaining population abandons Cybertron as resources dwindle)

Time of Seeking? (State of war between factions continues, piracy, seeking resources and artifacts, attempts to locate lost colonies, galactic reputation of Cybertron terrible, a particular collision in the Sol System.)

Something I've been trying to figure out is if war starts before or after Rust, but in this version, it's like they start with cold war, attempt to deal with Rust, and then only when getting the cure break into active combat?

IDK how much this makes sense.

[askvectorprime]

Happy Holidays, Vector Prime!

We have a lot of holidays over the winter but what are your favorite Cybertronian Holidays, where do they originate and how are they celebrated? The more the merrier.

Dear Festive Fan,

It probably won't surprise you to learn that, like humans, Cybertronians have a wealth of holidays—often known by different names across realities. One held around this time of Kilo-Cycle would be Deliverance Day—the story, too, varies; I spoke earlier of Thunder Cross and the Cyber-Solstice, but for many protoforms across the multiverse, it is the Arisen who delivers gifts on this occasion. I do remember my sibling delivering presents to the fledgling societies of the Firstforged—little did any of us know that this good deed would pass into myth! I know Alchemist has kept up the tradition, when our sibling has been indisposed. Your kind has similar legends, I believe—during dark times, a good bot must always arise to bring good cheer to their fellows.

Later in the year, we celebrate All Spark Day, marking the day when the first Cybertronian arose from the surface of Cybertron. We hold the Parade of Metals, a celebration of the substance that gives us all life, and sustains us. It's a time for togetherness, for sharing stories, and merriment.

During the Festival of Primes—also called the Primal Procession, or the Ceremony of the Unending Circuit—we commemorate the Lineage of Primes, begun when Prima first passed on the Matrix of Leadership. Many Primes, honoring tradition, have also passed on the Matrix to their successors during this festival.

You know, listing them out like this, I realize that my siblings and I all feature heavily in these festivities. Perhaps it makes sense that my favorite holiday is one which I had nothing to do with: Chosen One Day. I could never have imagined that an occasion created out of greed and egotism would transform into such a time of sharing and kindness!

So, in the spirit of Chosen One Day, I shall retire for the night, and spend some time with my loved ones. May whatever festivals you celebrate fill you with love and good cheer, and may your wires never cross, and your luster never dull!

[lilac-whump]

Masterlist Nightmare's Shadow

Nightmare's Shadow is a whump fic based on a beloved dnd character of mine with events coming from the campaign I played her in.

Inrissa is a tiefling who was enslaved from childhood, then escaped and killed her captors to embark on a quest to get her enchanted collar removed and kill the smith who forged it. Contains emotional whump, torture, slavery, dehumanization, betrayals, and death.

Part One- The Aren Glade

Part Two- Faces of Fortune

Part Three- Firstforged

Part Four- It Takes One To Know One

Part Five- One Good Thing

Part Six- Painful Truth

[nexusvectorsigma]

Did I need to make this guy look like Discord?

Nope.

Did anyway.

Eh.

[horizonzerodawnaesthetic]

Firstforge

[ask-the-firstforged]

“What’d you do to it, Vector?” “Nothing! Just cut it apart, like normal! I dunno what this is.” “Pfft, it’s making noises at you. You definitely did something to it, some funky spacetime thing.” “No really! I… it does have weird vibes, but it’s not my fault-” “Aren’t you gonna answer it?” “Uhm….. hello?”

Ask Vector (Prime?) and the firstforged family

Welcome to a Transformers AU askblog centered around the very first members of the Cybertronian species, before they even know what “species” means! The main AU can be found over at @thenamesblurrito​, this is a spinoff of sorts.

CONTEXT & RULES CHARACTERS (check who’s active by clicking the ‘active’ button on the side) ASKBOX: closed while I work through answering, 13/15 current asks M!A: none, not accepting any right now

For those on mobile for whom the links might not work, all the information is contained below the cut-

Characters-

(bolded/starred ones are currently active and available for questions)

*Vector- youngling. he/him. a timespace mess. *Logos- youngling. he/him. reality optional. *Quintus- youngling. they/them. kills with curiosity. Solus- youngling. she/her. flaming creativity. *Maximo- youngling. they/them. slick and clever. Prima- youngling. he/him. plans and people. Optimus- youngling. they/them. hope via punching. *Megatronus- youngling. he/him. rough and tumble. *Alpha- youngling. he/him. prim and peculiar. Onyx- youngling. he/him. dog person™. Amalgamous- youngling. they/them. anti-physicality. Micronus- youngling. he/him. trick AND treat. Alchemist- youngling. he/him. good vibes only. Nexus- youngling. they/them, singular she/her. scatterbodied. Primus- adult. he/him. bit of a fixer upper. Epistemus- adult. he/him. genuine genius. Adaptus- adult. he/him. good-hearted jock. Solomus- adult. he/him. will cut you. Mortilus- adult. he/him. hugs from heaven.

Context-

In a strange little sector of space, there is a living metal planet. Secreted away across the planet, there are members of a family. An odd and unpracticed family, they are the first of their species. The firstforged family.

This is an AU ‘prequel’ spinoff of a Transformers fan canon called TF:SNAP, following the first Cybertronians to ever exist. The events of this askblog are noncanonical to SNAP, and vice versa. I don’t use OCs for this project, and the vast majority if not all of the plot and worldbuilding elements I use have some basis in actual TF canon somewhere. If you recognize something, congrats! You’ve probably found one of the canon inspirations I’m drawing from. If it’s not like you’re used to, please remember this is an AU of a fan canon.

The firstforged family is the Guiding Hand and the original Primes, and you can check out the interactive character roster here. The Primes are all younglings, teenager equivalents, and all siblings. The Guiding Hand are all adults, all siblings, and the parents of the Primes. If you’re wondering what there is to do on a primordial Cybertron where these are the only people to exist and ‘civilization’ isn’t even a word yet… send an ask ;)

Content warning-

Topics I may cover/draw include: violence, gore, invasive mental and medical acts, genocide/forced extinction, violation of personal boundaries Topics I won’t cover/draw include: lemon/NSFW

Rules-

I’m doing this for fun, to explore my own canon. I reserve the right to ignore or delete asks I’m uncomfortable with answering, wait as long as I need to answer an ask, and say no to any prompt I don’t want to pursue. I do have some plot to follow here, so stay tuned for that.

This is, kind of, an AVP blog! Ask Vector Prime has been a source of canon information for Transformers for a long time, and I’m greatly inspired by the noncanonical fan one run here on tumblr. The Vector behind this blog, however, is much younger, less experienced, and ignorant of a great many things. Feel free to fish for information, but he probably knows less than you do!

This isn’t an RP blog. RP blogs are free to send in-character asks, just for some interdimensional spice, but I’m not going to start any threads, I don’t have the mental bandwidth for a back-and-forth like that.

Not shipping any of these characters with each other, sorry. It’s a bunch of siblings and parents. Ships might work in other continuities, but not this one.

I don’t mind innuendo or violence-related NSFW, but no sexytimes here.

I won’t accept magic anons unless I ask for them, so pay attention for when I put out a request. I’ll keep that status updated in a pinned post, along with any other current events/themes/arcs. There will also be times when some characters are ‘away’ aka unavailable for this blog, as opposed to ‘active’. Please check the character roster to find out which ones are active.

[thewollfgang]

373

Actual Word Count 375

Chloe inhales a shaky breath and nods. ”Okay, okay. We’ll have to do something about that before the police get here and we need to warn your Chloe and my Lucifer.”

“Warn them?”

She nods. “Qutab is after the blade. She’s got it and she’s with Lucifer.”

Lucifer’s mouth thins. “It’s the only thing on Earth with the ability to kill me, except for Maze’s knives. Given the choice between facing off with a firstforged demon or a human, I can see why he chose you, even if it was a grave miscalculation.”

“Why? Because you’d save me?”

He raises an eyebrow. “While I will always do my best to protect you, Detective, I do not restrict your freedom. Qutab made a mistake when he underestimated you. You are a worthy and dangerous opponent in your own right.”

“Oh.” She feels a little embarrassed. “Thank you.”

[trainer-sean]

He honestly looks like his alt mode would be a Matrix, lol

[thenamesblurrito]

"and an underlying component of… spirituality, i guess" Cybertronian: "Oh Great Primus, smite my enemies" Primus, groggy, half asleep: "No" after which he turns on the mute button.

it's sort of like that i guess? there's absolutely an organized state religion sanctioned by the functionist regime, revolving around Primus and the firstforged to some degree, but it's very much a tool of state control and thought policing rather than moral and spiritual development. more genuine branches of the religion or "heretical" offshoots need to be carefully concealed lest they be persecuted. Star Saber is one of the kind and genuine spiritual authorities, but not everybody is like him

but religion and spirituality aren't synonyms, and the spiritual/metaphysical layer of SNAP's universe is a major foundation of all my worldbuilding and storytelling. typically in canon there's the big deity duo of Primus vs Unicron, equal and opposite cornerstones of the fabric of their universe. while both of those things exist in SNAP, they are not the big deity duo that play tug-of-war with reality. SNAP's duo is different. there's an invisible rivalry going on in SNAP's worldbuilding that doesn't overtly affect anyone on Cybertron to their knowledge, and they don't even have the context to realize it's happening. so this is more meta information/pre- and post-SNAP lore, because it will only show up a little in the main storyline, but it's something i deliberately decided on

Vector Sigma is not the only singularity in the universe, and is certainly not the largest

[transingthoseformers]

Do you prefer the term "Firstforged" be used as an alternate name for the 13 orginal transformers or the term for the Cybertronians directly created by them in ancient times?

?

I... Don't remember that specific term

Usually I just call them the thirteen or the thirteen primes

[stonecrusherdrawsthearts]

Cybertronic Revolution - ENTRY 001 SUBJECT: Optimus Prime SPECIES: Cybertronian Career: Autobot Commander Alt Mode: Semi Truck Signature Weapon: Plasma Axe

He was once a rebel leader who, in order to give a guiding hand to the Autonomous Robot Resistance, took the appearance and name of a member of the Thirteen Firstforged Primes. Before that, he was a record keeper named Orion Pax, working under the Decepticon Regime to examine ancient history texts for the Matrix of Power once held by Prima of the First. Now, he's the one who stands atop the tower of Cybertron, having walked to it on a staircase of failures and screw-ups, every step feeling like it would be the one where he falls from their graces. He doesn't feel like he should be the leader. Hell, if anyone knew the extent of how he helped the Decepticons rise to power, he'd be shot on the spot. But for now, he looks over Cybertron, to protect it from harm… and to await the day his sins are laid bare.

[askvectorprime]

Did any other prime also have the ability to transform or just Amalgamous?

Dear Transformation Tracker,

Certainly. Amalgamous was just the best at it.

Just because each of the Firstforged had specialities, didn't mean the others were inept at it. I may be the Guardian of Time and Space, but Onyx and Alchemist had their own abilities to see into other times and places. Solus was the paramount creator, but we are able to make our own tools when she is unavailable; Alpha Secundus boasted his ability to make computer systems outweighed her own, while Nexus always liked making his own blades. Autonomous Maximus was the ultimate warrior, but no one could deny that the Fallen or Beta were among the greatest masters of battle.

Likewise, while Amalgamous was a master of transformation, each of the Thirteen had one or more alternate modes we can use, depending on our bodies at the time. You are well aware of my preferred Solar Sailor mode, and Primon was incredibly fond of his Laputan Machine form.

[lilac-whump]

Nightmare's Shadow

My first whump fic that I will be posting! Masterlist here!

If I miss any significant content warnings or tags please let me know so I can get it right :)

Cw: torture, slavery, dehumanization, lady whump

Nightmare’s Shadow is the story of Inrissa, an old beloved DnD character of mine, following her story during the events that happened in game with flashbacks to backstory events as well. She is a Tiefling, which means in her case she has coal black skin, silver hair and silver eyes, a tail, and horns. Since the campaign obviously wasn’t just about her there will be a lot of stuff happening on the periphery that I don’t go into, focusing instead on her story. 

Nightmare’s Shadow Part 1- The Aren Glade

Inrissa walked silently over the dirt path and had to remind herself not to disappear into the shadows. To walk with shoulders straight and gaze up, like she deserved to be there. Like she was just anyone else. 

The light weight of her enchanted headpiece assured her that her disguise was intact. So anybody looking at her would see exactly that- someone who belonged, just like any of the other humans or elves she walked past. 

But the pressure around her neck reminded her of the truth. The truth that anyone would see if she took off her disguise or let them get too close. The truth that she wasn’t like any of the people she walked past, and not just because among the variations of human, elf, gnome, and even shining scales of the dragonborn, there were no other tieflings. No, it was more than that. These people had a happiness and freedom that made Inrissa ache.

Children laughed and chased each other, some even testing out early magical abilities. Adults worked, but with no hurry or fear in their movements, some weren’t even working, just relaxing or playing with the children. 

Inrissa wanted to stay here, to make this her home, it was so peaceful. She wanted to set down her pack and let it take root, and just leave behind all the pain and fear she carried with her. But that wasn’t an option. The collar around her neck made sure of that, not to mention her broken off horns and lacework of scars. Anyone who saw her- really saw her- would know at once she didn’t belong here. Not really. 

A child skipped past her, collecting the red and orange autumn leaves in a bouquet. Inrissa made sure her tail was curled around her ankle so it wouldn’t escape the bounds of her disguise. The child looked up at her and smiled, two front teeth missing. Inrissa forced a smile back.

“Hey kid,” she said. “Is this the Aren Glade?”

“Yep,” the child nodded, then squinted at her. “You a traveler, miss?”

“Yep,” Inrissa said, imitating the kid's tone. The kid laughed and handed her a red oak leaf, then ran off. Inrissa turned the leaf over in her fingers, then tucked it behind her ear. 

She had made it to the Aren Glade. She brushed her fingers over the engraved symbol on her collar, a shiver running through her. She was one step closer to finding the elite team of the Reklum Imperial Guard. One step closer to Prometheus Firstforged, the smith who had forged her collar.  

Of the rage and fear constantly warring in her veins, the rage grew stronger and she smiled. She was one step closer to getting the collar removed. And then she could kill the bastard who made it.

—-------------

(Two Years Previous)

Inrissa cried out as her arms were pulled taught, cold metal cuffs on her wrist pulled by chains until her arms were held straight out to her sides. Fear coursed through her and her knees buckled, despite the strain it put on her shoulders. 

“Ah ah ah,” a sickly, condescending voice came from behind her, sending a shiver down her spine. Inrissa knew that voice. Every palace slave did. Shayla. An elven woman who had used her centuries of life to perfect the art of inflicting pain. “I need you standing for this, pet.”

Shayla grabbed the back of Inrissa’s collar, eliciting a strangled cough. Inrissa forced herself back to full height as she felt a flash of magical heat at the back of her neck. The clinking of chains and a pressure on her windpipe. A chain connected to the ceiling was now attached to the back of her collar. Ready to strangle her if she didn’t stand. 

“Please,” she gasped out, knowing in her gut it was useless. “Please. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure you are,” Shayla said, circling around to look Inrissa in the eye. She was tall and lithe, with cruel blue eyes and blond hair, long on one side, shaved on the other. “Just not sorry enough. You seem to have forgotten your place, pet. This is a lesson to help you remember.”

Inrissa had never forgotten. She had just been desperate enough for the first time in years to make this kind of a mistake. Except it turned out that wasn’t her biggest mistake at all. 

Nevaeh.

Her only friend. The only one who had ever shown her kindness. She was dead, and it was Inrissa’s fault. 

The grief of that truth had blinded her to her own safety. Only for a moment, but that was all it took.

Shayla flicked her wrist, and with a shimmer in the air a tool materialized between her delicate fingers. Long and sharp. Shaped like a pen for writing, but with a blade for a tip. 

Inrissa struggled against the chains, but she couldn’t move more than an inch before she could no longer breathe. Her ankles shackled securely to the floor, even her whip thin tail was bound against her leg to keep it from interfering. 

“You’ll want to hold still,” Shayla said with a sadistic smirk. “It’ll take longer if I keep having to make corrections to the design, after all.”

“Please don’t,” Inrissa pleaded, tears welling in her eyes. Her heart hammered against her ribs and her arms trembled, already aching against the forced position. “Please, please. Please, don’t.”

“We can use the bell to shut her up, ma’am, if you want,” the voice of a guard came from the door. Inrissa closed her eyes and braced for the oppressive vacuum of silence.

“No,” Shayla said. She rested a hand on Inrissa’s arm, tracing her fingers over Inrissa’s charcoal skin. “I find the screams help me focus.”

Inrissa shuddered under those words, almost wishing for the silence instead. 

Without warning, the blade stabbed into Inrissa’s shoulder, twisting in the muscle, then tracking a white hot line of pain down her arm, curling with whatever horrible design was being applied to her. 

Inrissa screamed, a strangled agonizing cry. Her body jerked out of her control, cutting off her screams every time she pulled against her collar. Her vision blurred and the world dissolved into pain.

The woman with the blade hummed cheerfully into Inrissa’s ear as she worked.

Continued