#hardvoremention

[kingseave]

King’s Eave - Chapter 4

TW: Death, monsters, fear, anxious tension, violence, vore, death, graphic violence

Eli awoke tasting iron, her throat sore from crying and screaming. Her eyes were blurry and stung horribly, and she winced as she blinked away blood. She struggled slightly, but found that she was unable to move her arms, and barely wriggle her torso. She was unsure if it was the unbearable pain in her sides or bonds that kept her immobile. She felt it might be the latter. 

When she came to enough to get a look at her surroundings, she wasn’t surprised to find herself in the belfry. This was Father Vigilus’s “nest”, where he kept a careful eye on his subjects from above. It was additionally his favorite place to take “guests” to have a “private chat with”, in which the guests were never seen again. Not even their bones were found. Eli shuttered at the thought as she took in the sight of one...two… three militiamen, none of whom she remembered the faces of. A tall, dark caped figure came up the stairs, who Eli did indeed recognize. Father Vigilus was a hawkish, severe looking man with large eye bags and had a permanent expression of a sneer plastered to his thin lips. In short, his appearance matches his horrid actions, making his body language sour and stiff. 

“Ah… just in time I see.” Father Vigilus said, flourishing his time piece in his hand, then clasping the thing closed and returning it under his cape.

Eli said nothing, simply staring at the man, seething with resentment.

“Oh my dear girl, it’s been too long since we’ve had such a heart to heart. Too long have you escaped the gaze of God.” He said threateningly, approaching her. “You will tell us your demonic knowledge, you wench, '' he yelled, slamming his hands on the table, forfeiting any niceties in exchange for intimidation. This did not phase Eli, who stared blankly at him with half-lidded eyes that seemed to be more interested in nonchalant resting than wasting any more precious time on looking at the man. Father Vigilus did not find this entertaining, and struck Eli across the face hard, throwing her body sideways slightly in the chair she was bound to. She gasped, gritting her teeth, side-eye glaring at the Father. A low growl emanated from her chest, and Father Vigilus smiled. 

“Did that give you a taste for what’s to come?” He asked icily, closing the gap between them. Eli growled aggressively, and spit in his face. The glob of mucus hit the man in the eye, and he dramatically rolled back, shouting. 

“You whore!” He roared, and punched her hard in the face. Her chair fell back, and before she could fall to the stone floor, the man grabbed her by her braids. Eli shrieked, tears pricking her eyes and welling until they fell and she sobbed. The Father pulled her up until her chair was level once again, and spun around, flicking the coattails of his cape as he moved. 

“I tire of our little game already, little miss Devil. Why don’t we bring in my little pet… he is much better at interrogation than I am. I think you’ll make quick friends.” He said menacingly, wiping his face with a handkerchief. 

“Bring the creature forth!” Vigilus said, shouting and gesturing vaguely at a small group of militiamen who stood in the entrance of the staircase. He strode over to the entrance, disappearing beneath the stone overhead briefly. Minutes passed and Eli gave herself pause to relax for a moment, she couldn’t wipe her face, so she allowed the wind to dry her tears for her. Her lip quivered as she remembered the distant, sad look her father gave her before his head rolled to the ground. Eli had a feeling that this would be her last memory before she’d be cut from life by her worst enemy. She was stirred from her moment of respite by the echoing sound of many separate footsteps, and following them, albeit slowly, the thumping of heavy, large footfall. Eli’s heart sunk into her chest as she remembered the stories Ysoba would tell her of the devils who dwelled in the basement of the church, and made a disturbing realization. The stories told that Church created monsters that were bound to the deep in the pits of the prisons beneath the chapel, and their claws were so long and spidery that any unfortunate prisoners issued cells closest to these wells were advised not to stay too close to the bars of their lockup, for these demons would snatch them from their beds when they were asleep. Some particularly traumatized inmates could recall the squelching and slurping that they could hear echo from deep within the pits that those very creatures made their homes. They were said to not be picky about what they ate, and would readily devour hundreds of rotting, plagued bodies when sickness spread. And now, Vigilus plans to bring one to the belfry to aid him in Eli’s interrogation, or possibly, her execution.

Vigilus walked up the stairs with more disgusting confidence in his step as he strode towards her. In his hand was a thick metal chain that snaked its way down the staircase. Two men with spears walked backwards slowly, pointing their weapons at a shadow that lumbered up the stone stairwell. Eli did not cower, but accepted that this would be her doom when said creature made its way to her. She swore she could hear the blood rushing to her ears as time flowed slowly past.

She gulped audibly as her eyes slid from Vigilus’s nasty smirk to the taloned fingers that clasped the stone. The claws of this monster were a glittering, void-black. The skin of the thing’s fingers almost matched them, and as its arms pulled the rest of its’ body forward, she could understand why the common folk called them demons. Its head pulled around the stone wall like a snake, it’s face somewhat humanoid but with a very wide, dragonic nose, it’s nostrils were narrow and somewhat vertical. Jet black feather-like fur started on the bridge of its nose and trailed up into a mane on its head that followed down its back, framed by two ridged horns. The skin of the creature was a mottled mix of a dusty burnt rose colour and a deep, gunmetal ash. It was heavily muscled, and its deeply striking amber eyes surrounded by red streaks of membrane glinted in the sunlight. The body of this beast was hulking and predatory in every right, the muscles in its back and arms rippled as it walked, and its teeth glittered pearly white as sunlight cast upon its face. The creature’s back legs were more animal-like, clawed at the tips like some sort of sick go at a lizard. It’s tail was thick and somewhat flat, and forked at the end like a snake’s tongue, but fading into a bluish lilac like a skink. What made Eli more sick than the ghastly sight of the beast was its sad, rippled and saggy stomach. It hung low in a starvation-riddle agony between its legs, the poor stretched out skin looking somewhat like a cat that was once pampered and now cast upon the street. It made Eli want to cry, and she wasn’t sure if it was in pity for the creature, or for pity for herself and where she might end up. That’s when she heard the dry, primal sound of the monster sniffing the air. She froze, and in the back of her mind, she felt compelled to smell the air too, as if summoned by some primal force she wasn’t used to. 

When she closed her eyes to inhale the air around her, the first tinge of information she received was the scent of old, metallic blood. The secondary scent that quickly overpowered the first was something she was shocked by. It smelled, to put it simply, like her. She could tell the beast was male, and that it hadn't eaten in possibly months. The rest of the scent was familiar, it reminded her of lonely sadness, of a campfire, and of coals whose origins were deeper than she could ever know. Her eyes brightened, and she finally made eye contact with the creature. He was already staring at her, his once-slitted, narrow eyes now rounded out like reflective, jet-coloured globes. They locked eyes for a few moments before Vigilus interrupted their silent communication with a tug of the creature’s chain. He seemed to let the Archbishop tug him around, even though he seemed perfectly capable of pushing back. The older man stood right in front of Eli, and bared his teeth in a sinister smile. 

“You will talk, or I’ll get our friend here to take off an arm or maybe a leg” he said, his voice close, and barely above a whisper. Eli looked from Vigilus to the creature, the corner of her lip twitching as she made lingering eye contact with those piercing yellow orbs. 

“Fine! I’ll tell you…” Eli said, faking exasperation and dread. “We Infernal hate…” she said, making a sour expression. The Father learned in. “We cannot eat or touch…” she fake gagged. “-Citrus.” She said with as much disgust as she could act out, and gagged again. She didn’t think her poor acting could convince the devout man, but his grin widened, and she was pleased to see that he was a sucker for it. She thought him a man of some level of intellect, but she must’ve been mistaken. She made quick eye contact with the chained monster, who seemed to be bemused, his brow raised slightly. His lips were curled slightly at the edges, the tips of his teeth poking out. He seemed amused at her attempt to trick Vigilus, or possibly more amused at Father Vigilus’ idiocy.

Father Vigilus noticed his “pet’s” reaction to the mentioning of citrus, and turned to look at the creature. The beast wrinkled his nose in faux disgust, shrinking down and attempting to look as tame and terrified as a gigantic abomination could. 

“Ah… seems that we should reconsider our use of silver salts in our practice” he said, turning to the leashed creature. Eli couldn’t hide her small smile, and she glanced playfully at the monster before her, flicking her dilated pupils first to him, then to the archbishop. Father Vigilus noticed the eye contact the two made, and yanked at the chain bound beast. This time, the creature did not allow the archbishop to push him around. The monster raised his massive head, pulling the Father up into the air for the excess chain was wrapped around the man’s gangly fingers. The devout man whimpered in what seemed like offense, as well as fear. The soldiers flocked the creature, ready to stab and slash at the archbishops' word. “Put me down, you vile demon, I command it!” He yelled, flailing. The beast’s tail simply flicked away the pikemen, who screamed as they fell from the tower and landed with a sickening crunch a second later. The motion seemed so easy and effortless to this being, and Eli watched in shock and disbelief as the beast walked the tied up man to the edge of the belfry where he allowed Father Vigilus to dangle a few feet over the edge. “God have mercy, let go of me!” The man shrieked as he tumbled slightly down the length of the chain. The monster put a clawed hand down hard on the chain that trailed down his neck that the archbishop’s grasp, roughly pulling the Father up a few feet. The demon’s brow quirked up in questioning. “Let… go of you?” The creature asked, his voice so incredibly deep it didn’t sound like a voice that could be possessed by a mortal being. It was rich, and the timbre of it was dark and swirled around Eli’s ears. She flushed immediately at the wicked tone of his threat, as well as the complexity of his unusual voice. The archbishop laughed nervously, then frowned. 

“Yes! You will let go of me this instant and if I won't punish you as severely, beast.” He said, panting.

“As you wish.” The creature said, his eyes shining at Eli in a mischievous yet dark way. He allowed the chain to slip from his claws, sending the man barreling down the building side while he clutched the metal for dear life. “Ah! Please just help me! I’ll provide options for you!” Vigilus said, sobbing hysterically.

“How about I give you two options?” The creature said, his tone smooth and deeply terrifying.

“Yes! Whatever you want!” Vigilus cried, his feet flailing pointlessly. The monster seemed to consider this, and thought for a moment before speaking.

“How about this? I let you fall and we see if you survive, or I let you up and you experience something worse than death. Your choice.” He said calmly yet maliciously. The Father cried out, completely ignoring the second part of the ‘choice.’

“Yes! Let me up. I’ll give you anything, no more chains!” He shrieked.

“You want up? You don’t want to plummet to your death?” The creature inquired wisely.

“No! Just let me up you monster!” Vigilus retorted.

The creature pulled the chain up, and dangled the gasping little man in front of him, and lowered Vigilus to meet his gaze.

“You have poked and prodded me for the last time.” The demon said lowly, his voice the hint of distant thunder before a great storm. The beast raised the dangling man above his face, and opened his jaws impossibly wide. 

Eli watched with awe as the archbishop became silent as he slid down the throat of the great creature before her. There was no blood, no gore, only the light, slick sound of the dean being readily devoured by his “pet”. Drool fell off the jaws of the creature as he lowered his head slightly, ropes of saliva pooling to the stone floor. Eli watched in amazement as the throat of the creature expanded easily to allow the priest to pass through wholly unharmed. The chain fell to the floor, no longer any hands to grasp it. The creature’s golden half-lidded eyes made contact with Eli’s while he swallowed, and the tiefling girl to his surprise, did not look away. The demon put a clawed hand to his throat and guided his meal down his chest, and groaned as the once languid flesh of his belly filled out with the weight of the live meal. Vigilus squirmed in the creature’s gut rather violently, punching and kicking to be let out after he had realized what was happening. Eli gawked at the creature, her brain trying to make sense of the scene she just witnessed. Dusk had descended upon the kingdom, and it made the beast look all the more camouflaged against the stone and moss of the buildings behind them. 

Eli looked from the beast’s undulating and heavy belly, to the thing’s eyes that were focused softly on her. He approached her calmly, his stomach jiggling as he walked, and stopped his face inches from Eli’s own. Eli broke the silence, her voice meek.

“You sure did a number on him.” She said shyly, not sure if she should be more disturbed at her nonchalant reaction to the situation, or more afraid of this man-eating beast’s proximity to her. He closed the gap, and touched his horns to hers, in a strange, affectionate gesture. She had never come in contact with a beast so much like herself, and the action set her mind into reality.