#Zestia Dusa

[auroragehenna]

Commision writing

CW/TW: Angry whumper, smartass whumpee, stabbing, threats of further torture, torture, implied fantasy racism, charming, DND whump Word count: 1'077

„I just like to wear them since I got them from a quest with a giant and a halfling. But I don‘t really need them. Everything below me though…They’re tiny. Definitely more necessity than fashion accessory. Well then, I have to go, safe travels.“

Fae didn’t notice the hooded figured following her out of the tavern. She walked towards the forest and quickly steered to follow a dirt path through its midst.“

The hodded figure, so long quietly following her, now bolted forward and tackled the young woman, using the element of surprise to drip a near-shining blue liquid from her fingertips into her mouth.

Fae let out a startled yelp as she was tackled to the ground. Her head hit the grass with a thud and the air getting knocked out of her lungs causing her to gasp and gulp down the poison.

„Aww what happened? Imp got your tongue?“

„Just surprised, that‘s all.“, Fae replies, hiding her growing horror as paralyzing numbness spreads through her body.

„That so?“, the hooded woman asks, clearly unimpressed. She roughly took a hold of the other’s arm and let’s it drop. Apparently satisfied she rises and her hood slides off her head. Exposing her black hair and sharp face. Yellow eyes pinning down her victim as she draws her rapier out of it‘s sheath. „So. Care to repeat what you said before?“

Fae tried her best at mimicking a shy smile over the paralytic. „What do you mean?“

Zestia delivered a fast blow over the length of the female's stomach. "Alright then, let's start with something easier. What's your name?"

Fae grunted in pain at the deep cut, it had felt reckless, careless even. "Fae. My name is Fae. What's yours?"

Zestia actually smirked a bit at that. "You have no right to my name. Now apologize for what you said before.", she demanded and pointed the rapier at Fae's face.

"I'm sorry I offended you, I truly meant no harm, please let me live.", Fae acted.

Zestia's face got hard. „Oh, I see. You're one that would talk their way out of everything, right?“ The Yuan'ti's eyes seemed distant as she spoke again. "One day you have to learn that talking won't save you."

Alright, change of plans. „Uff you learned that the hard way?“, Fae taunted.

Zestia‘s eyes lit up with rage and she stepped on Fae‘s throat, delighting in the choked sound it caused. The Yuan‘ti raised her rapier only to stab it down into the other‘s abdomen, right into the previous cut.

A mix between a groan and a poorly-supressed scream escaped Fae. Her eyes boring into her attacker's.

Zestia crouched down and in doing so leaned her body weight onto her rapier, widening the wound. „Anything else you wanna try, before I end your misery?“, she lured, hoping to get another foolishness out of her mouth so she could punish her further.“

The gears in Fae‘s head were turning. Amplified by the pain. What did her attacker mean by ending her misery?! Okay no, that was obvious. Shit, she had to come up with a plan. Why was this woman so fucking entitled? She had to be a noble of some sort. Maybe that will hit. "If I may speak…?“

„You don’t appear to do anything else.“, Zestia retorted pointedly, moving the rapier, deliberately slow.

„I truly regret I called you short, M'lady."

Zestia took a breath, closing her eyes to not close her hands around Fae's throat right here and now. Instead she opens them again, inspecting the girl laying underneath her. The paralytic should wear off soon...Good. Her eyes drift over Fae's pointed ears and the hotness inside of her burned. So instead of closing her hands around her throat she made eye contact, slowly removed the rapier from the girl's body-laying it down next to them both, and ever so gently plucked a loose curl out of Fae's face and to the side of her head. She silently urged the girl to keep her eye contact and continued petting her hair. "Ssh, ssh. It's alright. You can stop thinking."

Fae shortly held her breath as Zestia touched her hair. When she started speaking her eyes went wide. "I-I can't be charmed. My elven ancestory-"

Zestia lay a finger on Fae's lips, effectively silencing her. "Ssh, ssh. Yes, you can. By me, but don't worry, it won't hurt, you can just stop worriying. After all you're always doing that, aren't you? Gears turning, trying to figure everybody out, always calculating your next move. Worrying if people will like you. Its alright. You can rest now. Just listen to my voice." She can see her targets eyes go even wider in terror as she noticed that it really is working. She had never been charmed before of course. Gosh it was so hard to keep herself from grinning. She could basically feel the elve melt under her, apparently she hit a soft spot.

It was getting harder and harder to think and Fae was at a total loss. A feeling she never wanted to feel. Before there had been at least a rush, at least...But this-this was-no no. Bad. How could the voice of somebody that made her hurt so much feel so...warm!?

Zestia smiled. "Looks like it's really hard for you to relax isn't it. Let me help you, it must have been ages since you last felt safe. And so warm." Zestia stretched out two fingers and closed Fae's heavy eyelids. She wasn't even paralyzed anymore, but she didn't notice it.

Fae wanted to panic when the other closed her eyes, but it was impossible by now. And the darkness that now settled over her, took away her last bits of distraction. Oh no.

"It's okay now, you can rest, just listen to me, you did amazing. I never met one as strong and clever as you. I have to admit I'm impressed."

That's right, she was good at this, always had been. And now she was so tired, if she could just rest a little bit...Just a tiny moment...

Zestia grinned as she could feel her power take over completely. "There we go, smartass.", she murmured. She leaned back and quickly went to work. Cleaning her rapier before sheating it again and putting the minimum of bandages on Fae so she wouldn't actually pass out on the way before gently guiding her forward, repeating sweet nothings from time to time.

To be continued!

Taglist: @yourlocalgaefae33, @greatkittencloud, @bisexuawolfsalt, @imnotamurdereripromise

[auroragehenna]

Zestia I think

@princessofhe11 What do you think?

I need to see more unstable Whumpers. I don’t mean in the “Ahh I’m so crazy and sadistic I’m going to chop off all your limbs and yell at you for no reason because I’m so emotional and violent rahhh” (Even though I also love that trope)

I’m talking about Whumpers who are just as scared as Whumpee is. Ones who struggle to express their feelings. All they do is hurt people. When they’re just so desperate for something to call their own, something that can give them that unconditional love that no one gives them— Especially when there used to be someone a long time ago that did but the pain from that person leaving has made them so closed off. When they’ve become so isolated that can’t even look at Whumpee, much less touch them (But there are nights when Whumpee wakes up to feel a shaky, tentative hand resting on their back.) I’m talking about the kind of Whumpers who went through some stuff. The kind that wake up screaming after another nightmare and Whumpee knows that in a few minutes they’ll come to take that pain out on them. There are probably so many more examples but god do I love unstable Whumpers <3

[auroragehenna]

AI-less Whumptober

Day 10 Branding, Scarring, Collar

TW/CW: Anger, threats, mockery, seasoned whumpee, cuts, sword, scarring Word count: 703

“You do have quite the nick for getting yourself into trouble don’t you?”, Zestia grumbled.

“I had the situation under control.”, Tierney argued.

“You did not.”

“Says you.”

“Yes!”, Zestia yelled, slamming her hands on the table.

Tierney flinched on the chair she had been pushed into. Uh-oh.

“It seems like I’ve been giving you a little bit too much freedom lately. It seems like you have forgotten what’s important now. You, unfortunately, are the key to my life! And until I get this little problem fixed you need to make sure you stay alive. Do you understand?”

Tierney clenched her jaw. “You’ve made yourself pretty clear.”

“Hmm, I also think I need a way to get other’s hands off of you. Since you’re apparently so popular. And to make sure you understand me.”

Tierney tensed up; it was clear where this was going. She kept her eyes trained on Zestia and tried to anticipate her next step. Yet she still wasn’t prepared as her arm shot forward, grabbed her shirt, and threw her to the floor. She could feel the hardwood bruising her hip and shoulder but there was barely time to worry about that.

Zestia stepped above the Tiefling and in the same motion drew her rapier. Trapping the girl there on the ground. “Now. Where to put it…Where to put it. What’s not already full of scars”, she mumbled more to herself than to Tierney. Tierney tried to escape, in one swift motion she robbed back and tried to wiggle to the side out of reach of the rapier but Zestia was fast. She stepped forward, unfortunately on her throat.

“Aww, come on, are you really that naïve girl? To think you can escape me? The only thing you’re achieving here is writing in the dust below my heel.”

Tierney gritted her teeth, from pain and spite and turned her face away from the other.

“Oh. Yeah. That’ll do.”, Zestia said, suddenly sounding happier. She swiftly laid the blade of her rapier  against Tierney’s turned away cheek. Forcing her with a little pressure to turn her head. “Look. At. Me.”

Tierney jerked away from the blade and looked at Zestia angrily.

“I think I have a place idea.”, Zestia said.

Tierney’s eyes widened before hardening. She would not give her the satisfaction of a reaction. She would not. And then she saw her kidnapper raise the weapon and prepared. But the burning sting didn’t come where she thought it would. Instead her face was suddenly on fire. She gritted her teeth and waited the worst out. Her face felt wet, only now she realised she had automatically closed her eyes. Damnit! Quickly she ripped them open, only to stare into Zestia’ smug face.

“Wakey-wakey, Tiefling.”, she cooed.

Tierney wanted to murder her. Patience.

Zestia wiped the bloody point of the weapon on the girl’s uninjured cheek and looked at her work. For anyone outside it would just look messy. Two parallel lined cuts, left and right connected by a diagonal cut. Over the entirety of her face. But for her curser it would be a clear message. She shielded(?) the rapier again and let herself fall down onto the Tiefling’s abdomen. The other grunted. Gripping her jaw roughly she forced eye contact. “Let this be a clear message to you and everybody else. And don’t make me repeat myself. Then she let go of her and went for her evening routine. “Oh and Tierney”, she said without turning around

“What?”, Tierney spat out

“Be quiet.”, she simply said.

Tierney hissed and waited for her tormentor to finish her bathroom routine so she could take a look at the wound bleeding over her face. She just had to hold out. This was just another job. That she didn’t get payed for. Ah well no one else’s gonna do it. Finally, the bathroom was free. Let’s see what damage she had done. Tierney walked to the mirror and scoffed at what she saw. A “Z”. The prick cut a “Z” over her face. Way to leave a mark, she rolled her eyes and started to try and disinfect it with her herbs. What’s one more scar. What’s one more scar….

Taglist: @yourlocalgaefae33, @princessofhe11, @greatkittencloud, @bisexuawolfsalt, @ailesswhumptober

[auroragehenna]

Sometimes to deal with your own misery you have to give it to somebody else.

~ Zestia

[auroragehenna]

Commision writing chp. 2

CW/TW: Angry whumper, smartass whumpee, stabbing, threats of further torture, torture, implied fantasy racism, charming, DND whump Word count:

Fae woke up leaning against something hard, like stone. And it didn't really feel like waking up more like...Finally breaking through a wall of cotton. Warm...Fluffy cotton...No! Focus! What was going on? Part of her seemed to yell that she didn't want to know but she still pushed through.

Zestia who was sitting opposite her bound captive grinned while she observed the others feeble struggles. Part of the elf wanted to wake up wheras the other part wanted to stay enthralled. „Maybe I should just keep you like this.“, she pondered, „all humiliated and docile. Only problem is you’re also disgustingly happy like this. And that’s…-she reached out with a small dagger-is not why you’re here!”-she stabbed the dagger into the elf’s leg and removing her control over her completely.“

Fae screamed as the dagger was plunged into her leg, waking brutually from the blissfull daze. Her eyes had to adjust to the dim flickering light of a campfire until they finally settled on her attacker.

“Well good morning there. Did you have a relaxing little nap?”, Zestia asked condecendlingly.

“How did you do that? How did you charm me?”

Zestia smirked. “Don’t worry your little head about it, you won’t be alive for long enough to worry about it.” With that Zestia grabbed the knife and tore it carelessly out of Fae’s leg.

Fae didn’t make an effort to catch the scream that ripped out of her throat, her attacker seemed like someone that wanted to hear her scream. That could only be in her favour. She had to get out of here. But then her thought process got interrupted as the knife caught her gaze, glistering in the light from the fire. It was fucking serrated! Against better judgment her eyes snapped down onto her leg to see how the wound looked. It was a bloody mess, shreds of skin adorning the edge of the stab. Satisfying. But painful. Zestia’s eyes narrowed when Fae’s eyes left her to inspect the knife and the wound on her leg. She didn’t even look that horrified. She picked up the blade and used it to tilt Fae’s head up, making the elf’s gaze meet hers. “Eyes on me, Tree rat!”, she ordered.

Fae tried to make a gesture of surrender with her tied up hands, shoulders rising slightly. “Okay, okay.” Silently she registered the slur. It suggested that her attacker had something against elves. But only elves or was she generally racist? Probably not the smartest plan to try to figure it out unless she wanted to provoke her again. Though it hardly seems to matter.

“What are you thinking about, hm?”, Zestia asked, placing her hand on the stab wound on Fae’s thigh and pressing in while leaning in on her.

“Just death.”

Oh, don’t worry by the end you won’t fear it anymore.”, Zestia said, smiling knowingly.

“I don’t fear dying.”

“Excellent.”, Zestia says joyfully and sits back, relieving pain on her victim’s leg but not without letting her fingers dig through the wound, magically slowing the blood flow it so Fae wouldn’t bleed before she wanted her to. She cupped Fae’s cheek for a moment before slipping further back and grabbing her hair. Using the grip to smash the elf’s head into the cave wall behind her. And while she was dizzy she held her dagger into the fireplace and waited.

Fae was disoriented. To say the least. Her vision was spinning and she couldn’t make sense of it until there was something burning hot resting against her ear. Harshly she forced herself to focus, willing the different images to unify.

“Now, tell me something, Fae. Are you travelling alone or were you waiting for someone, or rather meeting somebody?”

Fae felt the burning pressure of what she could only assume was another blade increasing on her ear ever so slowly. Burning her skin and stinging. Still she tried to steel her nerves. Okay this was fine. Think. Lie. “I am travelling alone, I used to be part of a group for a few adventures but we went our separate ways.”, she tried.

Zestia looked at her victim for a moment longer before her gaze moved to the elf’s pointed ear where she was now placing the heated blade at the top of the ear shell. And pushed down, agonizingly slowly. “Remember, you can make this stop at any moment, just tell me what I want to know.”

Fae cried out as the hot-sharp metal was pushed into the top of her ear, the cry drying out to a choked rasp and then to a composed groan. But she held out.

“No?”, Zestia asked for a moment slowing her blade. “Nothing?”

“I already told you; I am alone, I promise.”

“Hmm.”, Zestia just commented and with a final push tore the blade through the ear shell. Pleased with herself she saw that the wound was already pretty cauterized. She wouldn’t need to use magic on that. She held the blade into the flames again for a bit.

Fae heard a disgusting sound of something soft falling before the pain and realization hit her brain. She had cut off a slice of her ear!! A slice of her ear!!

“Zestia drank in the shock and desperation and pain of her victim, letting her sit with the realization for a bit before she set the blade down again only a few centimetres after the slice from before.

Fae’s eyes widened. She only heard the blood rushing in her ears which might as well be since her ear was now bleeding. Or was it burning? She couldn’t tell. It was just pain. It distressed her enormously that she couldn’t see what was happening. All she could do was sit there tied up and stare forward. When she tried to turn her head her attacker would roughly turn it back.

“Now let’s try this again.”, Zestia said and started pushing down again.

“I already told you, please! Please, don’t do this! Please, I swear!”

“And yet somehow I don’t believe you.”, Zestia retorted coldly. Blade now already halfway through the ear again, leaving it red and burned.

“Please, please just stop!”

“You know how to make this stop.”

“Please! Please, okay! I’ll tell you just please stop!” Zestia gave one final push and another piece of the once pointed ear fell down, landing next to the other in the dirt of the cave floor. “Now then? Spill it.”

Fae was crying by now, hot tears ran down her cheeks, sickening as they felt just like the warm blood that she felt like was running down her mutilated ear. Her ear…She was grabbed by the chin and forced to make eye contact with her attacker. Answer me! She demanded. “I was going to meet somebody…A friend. But they’re not an elf!”, she tried, “They’re a good way away from here. They won’t search for me, I promise!”

Zestia grinned. “No, of course they wouldn’t. Who would, hmm?” She let go of Fae’s chin and grabbed the little dagger again, raising it towards the elf’s head.

“Wait-Wait-Wait! What are you doing, you said you would stop! You said-!”

“I lied.”

And with those words the other started to slice into her ear again. At that point Fae lost sense of time, the pain was so overwhelming. She only knew that at some point she had run out of tears to cry. After what felt like forever her torturer finally lowered the dagger again. Fae wanted to feel relief, she wanted to just fall unconscious, but a hard slap connected with her cheek and sent her head flying to the right. When her eyes focused, she looked right at the bloody blade of the dagger that has just cut her whole ear off, piece. By. Piece. She followed it as it spun slowly and then forced her eyes to trail up until-Oh no. “No, no, no, no, no, please! Please I am begging you, please no! No. I’ll do anything.”, she begged, hoping that after all this, something might sway the whims of her torturer but nothing seemed to help.

Zestia held up the dagger and carefully angled the, from heat nearly glowing blade at the tip of the other pointed ear. With a cold satisfaction she reveled in the girl’s begging. She begged really beautifully, and this time, she could tell, she meant it. “If you would do anything, then suffer, suffer beautifully and give me peace.”, she murmured, sure the elf couldn’t hear her over her own fear and pain. After a few pieces Zestia stopped. The elf had been awfelly non-reactive in the last minutes. She put the dagger down and walked outside with a flask, shortly after returning with the now uncapped flask in hand. When she stood in front of the dazed elf she turned the flask upside down.

Fae was, against her will, brought back from her semi-concious state when ice cold water got dumped over her head. Her mind only slowly grasping the chain of events that had unfolded.

The cold water felt like pure heaven on her burned, mutilated ears. But she vaguely knew that she shouldn’t be happy about the water.

Zestia inspected her victim before rolling her eyes and crouching down on her level again. Slowly she stretched her hand again and held the cold flask against the burned edges of the girl’s red ear. A relieved groan escaped the elf’s throat before she could stop it. Zestia searched her gaze and held on to it. Slowly using her charm spell to wind into the others dazed brain. Sneaking through the fog and eventually settling in the centre of the elfs consciousness. There she pulled and tugged until she saw the lights slowly come back in her victim’s eyes, the faint squirms becoming less sluggish. She sat back on her hunkers. “How gracious of you to join me again.”

Fae started at her, face neutral. Everything was pain. She is pain. More than she had ever experienced. And whatever she said didn’t seem to matter. Provoke her? Pain. Cower and beg? Pain. No response? She messed with her mind. A shiver ran through her. She didn’t seem to be able to shake the feeling her attackers spell left in her. This foreign force sneaking itself into her mind and forcing whatever she wanted on her. Panic? Not anymore. Now it felt like there was a hook keeping her mind from drifting off, even her brain was restrained!! She had to keep herself from hyperventilating. And it wasn’t just “tough it out and then it’s over” the woman wanted to kill her! She would never see…Oh god no, she couldn’t do that to them…-Oh shit, the knife is in the fire again!

Zestia’s grin grew again, delighting in the way the elf’s eyes snapped to the dagger she was holding into the fire again.

„Aww, did you think you were done?“, Zestia taunted. „No, no, no. You‘re far from done, tree rat.“ With those words Zestia pulled out the dagger and slahed it over the previous stab wound.

Fae screamed out in pain, tears springing into her eyes again, making her vision hazy. Her attacker left her no time to breathe, delivering more cuts over her legs, arms and face. It burned and somebody was screaming. Must be her.

Zestia was pondering, using the dagger to tilt her victims chin up. Turning it from side to side slightly, eying it, trying to decide what to do.

Fae‘s screams had died out to mindless grunts. The pain and smell of her own burned flesh making her gag.

„Hmm, I‘m running out of space here. I think it‘s time for a new canvas, don‘t you think?“ She grins in sadistic delight.

“What? You’re gonna heal me?”, Fae asks, trying to keep up an unfazed mask.

“Naww, trying to act brave? Cute. Shouldn’t you know better than to lie to me by now?”

Fae just stares at her.

“Don’t try to hide your fear from me. You don’t get to do that, you understand?”

The elf glares at her but eventually shrinks together.

“Good. But you’re actually lucky, vermin.” Her grin widens, more resembling a baring of teeth. “I have gotten quite tired from this so let’s get you settled in and ready for the night shall we.”

“Stay the hell away from me!”, Fae cried out in fear.

“No. I won’t.”, Zestia replied. Moving closer and to the tied-up girl and starting to fidget with the ropes. After securing those with a magical lock she pulled out a rag and shoved it into the elf’s throat before tying the ends of it too tightly around her head. “There you go.”, she finally said and backed away from her victim. “Have a good rest, I will finish you off tomorrow…”, she laughs and trails a finger from the elf’s cheek down her jaw and throat before starting to settle for the night.

Fae tried to get out as best as she could while the other was re-restraining her but it was pointless. Everything seemed pointless! She couldn’t manipulate her when everything she said or did only fuelled the fire! She couldn’t get out; nobody knew where she was and apparently this woman could decide by will how soon or late her death would come! She didn’t know what to do and it fucking terrified her. How much longer did she have? She wish she could also get some sleep, she was fucking exhausted, but her whole body burned, throbbed, bit or in some way expressed pain. And the fear was releasing too much adrenaline. There had to be a way, some way-Maybe, maybe she could make herself useful to the other. In some way. Evade immediate death and wait until she found a way out. Yes. That was her only option left. This had to work. Somehow. Otherwise…What even did Zestia mean with a blank canvas? Okay no, that just meant that she would heal her, come on Fae, think logical. Think logical…

Taglist: @yourlocalgaefae33 (, @princessofhe11, @bisexuawolfsalt)

[auroragehenna]

This kinda has Zestia-Tierney vibes!

“I am not here to ensure your safety on your quest. I’m here to ensure your death- so really, it’s my quest.”

[auroragehenna]

Venom

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

✨Introductionary post✨

Zestia

(Zestia is the DnD Oc's of @princessofhe11 but I write with her)

Zestia is a Yuan‘ti pureblood. She happily grew up with her family as commoners. Until her village got attacked and burned down by noble elves. They took Zestia with them and made her serve them as a slave. Zestia was there many years and got abused in many ways before she finally got the chance to escape. One fateful evening she locked all the doors in the house and killed the whole family. Afterwards she raided whatever she could get from the house, including her beloved rapier,

Picrews and drawing (not mine):

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Tierney

Tierney is a female identifiying Druid. Daughter of an Avariel elf father and a Tiefling mother. Because of the racism in their world and the peer pressure her parents eventually had to give her up and abandon her. She found a new home and grew up as a Selesnya Initiate. There she also met a celestial with whom she got very close. Years later their little clearing got raided and the attackers took the two girls with them and burned the place down. Tierney and her(girl-)friend were held captive and tortured for years before Tierney finally got a chance to break them out. She succeeded but during the escape the Celestial girl died...So Tierney abused, heartbroken, alone and deeply distorted left alone into the world. Without a real plan she picks up the habit of preventing torture on other people and that's how she meets Zestia. Funfact: She learned wildshape pretty early due to her father teaching her and during captivity it started to malfucuntion, that's why she sometimes has unintentional animal attributes.

Picrews of my girl:

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Taglist : yourlocalgaefae33, @princessofhe11

[auroragehenna]

Venom

Introduction post

Chapter 1 / Day 17 Hypothermia, Heat stroke, "You look a little pale"

CW/TW: Angry whumper, threats of torture, cutting by rapier and dagger, defiant whumpee, seasoned whumpee, sarcastic whumpee, hypnosis whump, mentioning of (eventually) deadly curse, mind control whump

Words: 1'130

Zestia opened her eyes, looking at yet another wooden ceiling nobody knows how it kept standing. She hated this town. She hated their stupid quest. At least this one was over now. Now she just had to get out of here. She got up, got dressed, and paid for her room. When she stepped outside a man nearly collided with her.

“Watch where ya goin’, girl.”

Zestia had the strong instinct to stab him but she got distracted from the mass of people in front of her. Packed into the narrow streets and making it impossible to just walk away. She took a deep breath and looked around, scanning the area for the best way out until she saw one turn-off that looked less cramped than the rest. She fought her way through and eventually halted in front of another girl. She was blocking the best way through the people. “Let me through.”, she demanded.

“How about a “hello”? Or just a “please” ?”, the other one retorted.

Zestia’s hand subconsciously went to clamp around the handle of her rapier, though there was hardly enough space for it here. “I will only ask you one more time. Let. Me. Through.”

“If you can say it politely like a normal person, then sure, no problem.”

In the span of seconds, Zestia had drawn her rapier and delivered two cuts over the other girl's legs. Blood slowly started to quill out of the wounds.

“Wtf lady!?”

Zestia closed in on her, blade now to her throat. “Are you really gonna make me waste even more of my time on you?”

“-Hey, hey, what do we have here, trouble?”, a new voice sounded from behind Zestia.

Seconds later another girl, apparently a Tiefling, appeared in Zestia’s peripheral vision.

“You don’t have to threaten people, if you can climb a bit I can show you a fast way out.”, the Tiefling said.

“Finally, somebody with brains.”, Zestia grumbled. She wiped the blood off her rapier and put it back into its sheath.

“Follow me!”, the Tiefling advised her.

They climbed up and then behind a bunch of wooden boxes on the side of the walk and that way easily came through the alley.

“There, now you’re out.”, the girl said and put her hand on Zestia’s shoulder. “And next time, just keep calm. No need to hurt people just for your own entitlement and short temper.”

Zestia felt something like cold dread sink into her shoulder, instinctively grabbed the hand on her shoulder, pushed the girl backwards against the wall of a house and drew a dagger. “Who allowed you to touch me?”, she hissed and pressed the dagger against the Tiefling’s throat.

“I did. And who allowed you to hurt that girl? And enjoy it!”

“Well by your logic, I did. And you’d do better to never touch me again, hell-spawn.”

“Sure thing Snakey. My work is already done anyway.”

Briefly Zestia wondered how the Tiefling knew her race but her rage over toned the thought. She slashed her dagger horizontally over the other girl’s collarbone. Blood started to push out of the cut. What do you mean?! Talk!”

“The other girl just laughed. Oh, ouch, scary. Listen, I know people like you. I saw it in your face, your body language, everything. You were enjoying hurting that woman. You don’t feel remorse and you would do it again. So I cursed you, and I’m the only one who can revoke the curse. But I am not going to.”

“You think you’re the only one who can do damage?”, Zestia asked. She raised the bloody dagger and wiped it on the Tiefling’s face before storing it back into the folds of her clothing. Then she hovered her hand over the girl’s chest. Slowly a thick green fluid started to drop out of her fingertips landing on the bloody cut. “That’s gonna kill you too, you know. But slowly and excruciatingly painful.”

“Oh, is it?”, the girl asked, cocking an eyebrow. Suddenly Zestia heard a sound like the sizzling of something cooking. She looked down again and saw that her poison was being evaporated by tiny flames dancing on the Tiefling’s skin and over her blood.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work either.”

Zestia hissed. But then her demeaner changed. She smiled/snared at the other, showing off sharp shining fangs. “You think you’re invincible, don’t you?”

“As a matter of fact I know I’m not.”, the Tiefling answered dryly.

"Yeah...You really aren't.", she drawled out, watching the Tiefling in front of her. She moved her right hand off of restraining her and grabbed her jaw instead. Forcing eye-contact.

Tierney felt weird. Like everything was muffled somehow. Oh shit. „Fuck no!“, Tierney spat out and tried to jerk her head away but Zestia held it in a bruising grip. And somehow she couldn‘t muster up all her strength. “No, no, no, stay here. Talk to me. What did you do to me?”

“I cursed you. You’ll die.”, Tierney answered, half enthralled.

“And what are the details of this curse?”

“I…won’t tell you. I’m the only one that can do it and you need more magic than you can muster up here. Alone.”

“Fuck.”, Zestia cursed and took a few moments to think. “Fine then. Give me all your weapons. Now.”

Tierney couldn’t help herself as she timidly handed over her daggers and darts.

“Good. Now let’s get out of here!”, she said and grabbed Tierney by the throat before shoving her towards the rough path into the woods. The mind control wouldn’t work much longer, especially on such a strong will, so she wanted to get the Tiefling isolated as soon as possible.

---

When Tierney came to she saw light shining through leaves and branches. The forest. She slowly regained full control over her conscience and stopped walking. Only then noticing that she even was walking.

Zestia walked a few more steps before stopping too and sighing. “So, you’re awake again, huh. Do you think you can manage to not be so much of a pain in my ass or do I have to lull you in again?”

Tierney gulped; it hadn’t been uncommon for her to encounter torturers with such skills but usually she was fine. She had practiced a lot to withstand it. It only worked when she was…scared.

Zestia turned around and inspected her kidnappee. A small smirk spread across her face as she took a few slow steps back to Tierney. “You look a little pale, Tiefling. What’s wrong, hm?”

“Nothing.”, Tierney matter-of.factly replies, raising an eyebrow. “But I don’t think another usage of mind control is necessary.”

“Hmm. If you say so. But one. Wrong move and you’re done. You understand hell-spawn?!”

“Yes. I heard you.”

“Good. Now move!”

Taglist: @yourlocalgaefae33, @princessofhe11, @greatkittencloud, @bisexuawolfsalt, @ailesswhumptober

[auroragehenna]

Thinking about Zestia on this fine evening