Whumper with multiple whumpees. One day, one of them goes missing. Whumper is furious, thinking they have escaped. That whumpee always had been too quiet.
Whumpee hasn't actually escaped, they had gotten good at evading whumper throughout the day. In their mind not being punished meant they're doing a good job, and that subconsciously translated into the right parts of the mansion "feeling good" at the right times of day.
One day, whumper's routine is interrupted. And they spot Whumpee. "Where have you been all this time?!" Whumper immediately takes whumpee to the cellar for a corrective torture session.
Whumpee doesn't understand. Hadn't they been good? They were doing the Right Things and not getting punished, that's what whumper wanted right? Then why was whumper so angry with them?
In a world where non-human whumpees are treated/sold as pets, there must be some sort of shelter or rehabilitation center around, right?
Maybe these centers are underfunded and understaffed rehab centers, with far too few caretakers for far too many rescued, abused “pets.”
Further random thoughts:
Winged Whumpees being kept on a very tight schedule, only able to go out and stretch their wings in a larger, enclosed, outdoor area once a week. But it’s better, so much better than being stuck indoors all day, or chained up, or forced to perform meaningless tricks
Merfolk Whumpees in too-small tanks, but at least they’re clean, at least their Caretakers won’t force them out of it, at least they don’t have to flash their scales or sing or do fancy flips
Small whumpees (fairies, for example), being all crowded together in one enclosure, but they get to make friends, and get to commiserate with one another, sharing things that they would never dare share with their Caretakers, finally being understood.
More monstrous Whumpees being stuck in isolation, visited much less often, but at least they’re free of their chains and muzzles and shock collars
Adoption days. Countless humans coming in and out, looking for a perfect fit. Some Whumpees bringing out their best selves-- or what Whumper decided was their best-- desperate to find another home. Some Whumpees shying away, determined to stay where they finally felt safe and respected.
Feel free to add more!
Counting this as filling the Day 6 prompt (Pet/You're Just an Animal) for @melpomenelamusa 's whump event ☺️
Whumpee has been slow to open up to people after being rescued from whumper. Of course, caretaker treats them with the utmost patience. Opening up their life to whumpee and watching as whumpee slowly reciprocates. Whumpee starts opening up more, but only really towards caretaker. Without them realizing it, caretaker has been sharing a lot of personal information with whumpee as well.
At some point, whumpee's personality flips. Threatening caretaker with embarassing or even incriminating things they've done. Whumpee quickly becomes the whumper with caretaker accepting the abuse. Maybe even trying to rationalize it in their head. "Whumpee seems so much happier now, maybe this is for the better."
Whumper goes too far, bruising caretaker somewhere visible. Friends start asking questions and whumpee (caretaker) tries to minimize the issue. Whumper however tells a different story, how whumpee had been abusing them the entire time, and the bruise was whumper fighting back for once.
Because of whumper's history, all of the friends believe whumper. Whumpee barely gets a chance to defend themselves, being shunned by the group. Whumper moves on to a new caretaker. Whumpee tries to warn them, but it falls on deaf ears. Thinking back, whumpee remembers being warned in a similar manner by original whumper. Had they been innocent all along as well?
Time loop whump where whumpee is forced to relive the first day in captivity. Waking up in whumper's basement, taking the same punishments every day. Whumper going extra hard to break whumpee in for "the rest of their life". Every morning, whumpee's body is returned to its "healthy" state. Their mind isn't, and despite them pleading more and more each day, whumper really seems set on leaving a strong first impression. After a couple of weeks of this, whumpee starts noticing something is off. Whumper seems to know all their weak spots now. Before, their method was random. Now it is almost surgical. Is whumper also in the time loop? Whumpee just can't hold back the question and asks whumper. Whumper smiles back, "Took you long enough."
Whumper who knows exactly how long whumpee needs to rest/recover from their torment. They grant whumpee the privilege of recovery time, only to come barging back into the room right when whumpee is at their most vulnerable. Beating whumpee if they show any emotion whumper doesn't like. "Why are you crying? I gave you time to rest, is that not good enough for you?" With enough time, whumpee can't let their guard down anymore.
Now they are with caretaker. No matter what caretaker tries, whumpee can't seem to ever relax. How could they? In whumpee's eyes, caretaker is just waiting for them to let their guard down. And whumpee won't get caught being vulnerable ever again.
Living weapon whumpee who is very much able to fend for themselves. Whumper had to plan carefully to even capture whumpee, as whumpee could have easily killed whumper.
Now it's half a year later, whumpee has been tied up unable to move most of their days. Their body atrophied from doing nothing. Their meals a special concoction to wear them down even more. Whumpee's body no longer reflects the weapon they used to be.
Whumper finally lets whumpee free, they want nothing more than to enact revenge for all that time. They lunge at whumper, it is immediately met with a kick to the stomach. Whumpee falls to the ground, writhing in pain. "What's the matter whumpee, not quite as strong as you used to be?" Whumpee is forced to face a mortality they had never experienced before.
Cephy almost didn't believe how easy it had been to lure out a human. Their parents had talked it up to be extremely difficult, but it had hardly taken an evening to convince the unsuspecting fool. Cephy watched the human approaching in the distance. They chuckled a bit at the irony of their current emotions. Yesterday it had been the human that had been so obviously nervous. Now it seemed it was their turn. Calm down Cephy, the hard part was already done. All they had to do was keep the charade up for a few more hours. To be honest, not even that part was required once they were in the middle of the woods. What was the human going to do? Run away? Cephy was so much faster and stronger than him that he wouldn't make it 10 steps away from them. Okay the human was getting closer, focus. Cephy would have to play the cheerful and flirty human again, as much as it sickened them. "Heyy, glad you could make it!" Cephy already felt a little gross, though it was obvious it worked. The human smiled back at them. "Hi Cephy! I'm happy to be here!" Cephy let out a smile at that, though not for the reason the human assumed. "Come and hurry, I already set up the camp further ahead." That part wasn't lied, they had made sure to prepare a convincing campsite. Every part of today and yesterday had been carefully choreographed by Cephy, they really wanted to prove to their parents they were a full-fledged adult now. If any part of their plan set off too many warning signs in their victim it could get messy quickly. Luckily for Cephy, it didn't seem like that was something they would need to worry about. The human followed them into the forest with an arrogant innocence, more focused on trying to impress them with boastful tales about their magic than anything else. Cephy only processed the words to keep the conversation going, stroking the humans ego every now and then. Instead, their attention went towards the feeling in their gut. Something was following them. It was hard to tell in this limited human form what exactly, or where it even was, but it was obvious something was tailing them. As long as it didn't try to interfere it would be fine, Cephy thought.
--- Lucas pov
Lucas was feeling a lot more confident today. Cephy was clearly amazed by his magic pursuits, so he was happy to continue talking about it during the walk. They were making good progress to the campsite, the woods around them slowly becoming more rugged as they got further from the town. "Wow, we're really far out aren't we?" "Yeah, that way we can watch all the stars! They're so pretty and you can see them much clearer out here." For the first time Lucas had some doubts, Cephy's words almost seemed rehearsed. Still, stargazing next to her did sound appealing, so the apprehension passed as quickly as it arose. He could make out the campsite in the distance. Cephy really had gone all out! "Wow! Did you haul all of that out here?" Lucas felt bad that he hadn't helped out. "Oh don't worry, it's a family campsite, my parents maintain it most of the year." Now that they were getting closer, he started appreciating the camp even more. It was laid out in a spacious manner. A fire pit at the centre with some log benches around it, and a large tent on the opposite side. The place felt luxurious compared to what he envisioned when thinking about camping. With twilight setting in around them, he was also happy they didnt still need to set things up. Lucas put his backpack down and sat down on one of the benches. Cephy immediately followed and sat down next to him. "We should probably make a campfire." It was already getting a little chilly now that the sun was gone, Lucas thought. "Oh, uh, I forgot to bring any supplies to make one." The doubt came back, who would go camping and not bring a firestarter set? Luckily he packed his own, how had Myra anticipated this? "Oh it's okay, I can cast some fire magic to get a fire going." Lucas was always happy to show off the practical sides of magic. He got to gathering a pile of sticks for the fire. When he was satisfied with the amount, he lit the pile. Lucas sat down next to Cephy again. "Isn't this much nicer?" "Yeah it's.. nice.." Lucas had hoped she would find the fire romantic, but Cephy just seemed tense. Lucas was staring at her, trying to think of something to say. The air had grown awkward again, and he didn't want to fumble his chances. Looking at her though, something seemed off. Her face seemed to ripple in response to the flickering of the fire. "Are you, alright?" Whatever was happening to her didn't seem healthy. Her face started twisting more until Lucas barely recognized Cephy. Her body growing to take a new shape. With the massive form in front of him, he suddenly realized the danger he was in. The danger Myra tried to warn him about. "I'm fine actually, you should be more worried about yourself." The monster's voice had shifted to a much lower rumble. Lucas tried to reach for his backpack, maybe more fire could ward the monster off. He didn't get the chance to find out though, a muscular hand gripped his arm tightly. "Now let's not get hasty." Lucas was pulled off the bench, away from his backpack. Whatever the monster was, it clearly was much stronger than him. He could already feel his arm bruising at the forces it exerted. He was lifted up as the thing finally fully stood up. It seemed to be inspecting him, holding him in front of its face. Lucas could finally feel the fear catching up to him. This thing was going to kill him, and he couldn't even try to resist. He flailed helplessly, trying to escape the monster's grip. "Let me go!"
--- Myra pov
Why had she gone out here? Why couldn't Lucas just have listened to her? Despite knowing better, she had gone after Lucas into the woods. Now, she watched as the changeling was about to kill her best friend. To hell with the rules, she had to save Lucas. A flash of light filled the forest and Lucas was dropped by the dazed changeling. "Lucas! Run!" Myra watched as her friend gathered himself and ran. They might just make it out of this. The thought was immediately interrupted by a hand wrapping itself around her. Myra was completely enveloped by the massive changeling hand. The fact that she was still alive showed the restraint of her captor. "You have no business here, fairy!" Myra was pushed flat onto one of the wooden benches. Despite the difference of scale, the changeling quickly managed to restrain her to the log. It looked into the distance for a moment, before running off. She could only hope Lucas had made it far enough in the time she distracted the changeling. Though her hope wasn't great, they really were quite far into the woods.
--- Lucas pov
Lucas' lungs were burning in his chest. He had to get out of the forest, at all costs. Now he understood why Cephy had brought him all the way out here. Lucas was doing his best to retrace his route while running. It was hard to keep a sense of direction out here, every part of the forest seemed the same, especially now that it was almost dark. Suddenly, he felt weightless, if only for a moment. He crashed face first into the ground, his foot had caught a low hanging branch. He caught a taste of the debris from the ground, mixed with a strong iron taste. He was bleeding. Lucas gathered himself as quickly as possible, ignoring the throbbing pain, and started running again. It became harder to tell where he was going, but he had to press on. He heard rustling in the distance, that monster was probably gaining on him. Was there really a chance he was getting out of this? "There you are!" Fuck. His legs finally gave out, finding the worst possible moment to do so. This time he at least caught himself as he fell, managing to turn towards the sound as well. Even in the darkness, the massive form was unmistakeable. Especially because it was headed straight for him. This really was the end, wasn't it? He was now paralyzed, looking up at the monster towering over him. "Giving up already?" There was no more fight in his body as he was lifted up by his ankle. His entire world effortlessly inverted. The grip was even tighter than before, it clearly wanted to make sure he didn't get away again. Not that he could try. Lucas' body barely responded as he attempted to struggle. He could only watch as the monster carried him back to the camp. Its walking pace already seemed faster than his running pace. He really never stood a chance. Hopefully Myra had managed to get away. Lucas could already see the campfire in the distance, he really hadn't made it all that far, had he? "What are you going to do to me?" The question left his mouth before he could ponder if it was a good idea to ask it. The monster hesitated for a moment, but continued walking without responding to the question.
--- Myra pov
Myra heard slow footsteps approaching again. She wasn't able to look at where they came from, so she could only hope the changeling hadn't caught Lucas. With the sound coming closer, she started hearing muffled crying. It really had been for nothing. Myra struggled against her restraints again. It was hopeless, they would not budge. The footsteps were now next to her and the changeling apeared into her vision. She watched them put Lucas down on the bench. "Lucas! How are you feeling?" It was obvious she wasn't going to like the answer, but she had to say something. "Everything hurts. Are we.. oh god we're gonna die aren't we?" Myra wanted to stay positive, but she knew what reality was facing them. "I'm sorry Lucas, I should've just told you this was going to happen."
--- Lucas pov
She knew? She had known all this time? "Why didn't you tell me?" It didn't matter anymore, he knew that, but he still wanted to know. Unfortunately for him the monster didn't care for revelations. It's massive hand thundering down onto his torso, grabbing him like a stick. Lucas could feel his insides getting compressed by the force of the claw. His breaths were shallow as his lungs didn't allow for any more air to enter. "It's time." The beast's voice rumbled through him. Lucas could only endure as the monster slowly lifted him above its head. It looked into the distance for just a moment. "For my ancestors, may they deem me worthy of the wisdom and power that comes with age." Its eyes were on him again. Then, it began. First, the pressure seemed like noise compared to all the other pain Lucas had endured. It quickly rose above though. The monster was slowly tearing him apart. Lucas' abdomen overwhelmed his brain with pain signals. All he could do now was scream and watch as he was ripped apart. The monster started tearing even harder, seemingly nowhere near the limit of its strength. Burning shot through his detaching nerves, his brain barely processing anything but the pain. His vision had reduced to a tiny circle now. All he could see was that monstrous face, lapping up the blood that spilled from his gut. Lucas wished he could already be dead. Still, his eyes couldn't look away. It almost felt like a dream now. He watched as the monster tore into his flesh, the pain only a distant reminder as to what was actually happening. What was left of his body grew cold and tired. He did not see anymore, neither did he hurt. For a brief second, he felt relief that it was over. Then, nothing.
A lighthearted story that takes a turn for the worst.
CWs: Whump, gore, predation, bad ending, blood. (Only in part 2 tho)
Part 2
Cephy - human - they/them
Lucas - witch - he/him
Myra - fairy - she/they
--- Lucas pov
Lucas was winding down from a long day. Ever since he had been enrolled at the acadamy his free time became a luxury. Still, he made sure not to neglect his social side. Not that it had been easy, mind you. Most other students at the campus seemed much too busy practicing their spellcraft and circle patterns to even consider relaxing at a cafe at the end of the day. Except of course for Myra. Though, today seemed to be the exception. He had already finished his first drink and she still hadn't shown up. "Waiting for someone?" Lucas looked up. An unfamiliar woman stared back. Before Lucas could respond, she already continued. "If you want I can keep you company while you wait?" "Oh uh. Yeah. I am waiting on a friend, but you can join in if you want." At that, the woman immediately sat down right next to him. Too close. Lucas could feel his face turn red. "I'm Cephy by the way, nice to meet you!" Okay, he had to calm down. Though it was easier said than done, Cephy was practically pressing herself into him. "Mh. I'm Lucas, nice to meet you too!" Lucas had trouble staying calm, the woman next to him had practically jumped alive from his dreams. "I don't think I've seen you around here before by the way? Can I offer you a drink?" It was worth a shot, he thought. "Oh yes, I'd love something to drink, you can order me whatever, I'm not picky." Is that good? Lucas ordered them both his favourite drink, hoping she would enjoy it as well.
--- Myra pov
Lucas wasn't gonna let her live this one down. Myra already knew. Normally it was her that was exactly on time, waiting on Lucas to finally show up. Except today. Today, she had had her first practical exam in magic circles and rites. And it had gone horribly wrong. Not for her, of course. Her magic had worked exactly as was expected of her. No, it was another student that was sat next to her. That oaf managed to screw up a circle spell to the point that it summoned hundreds of gallons of slime instead of a simple cup of water. While she still passed her test, she had to spend the next few hours getting rid of a horrible layer of slime coating both her and her outfit. She could still smell the nasty slime, even as she was flying to the cafe Lucas and her met every thursday. She made it into the cafe and headed to their favourite spot. There he was! With a friend? "Lucas! I'm so sorry I'm late. Someone next to me screwed up their exam and I had to wash up." Myra felt smaller than usual, she hated being late. "Don't worry about it! While I was waiting I made a new friend!" Myra eyed the changeling woman. It was rare to hear about changeling-human friendships. "Uh, hi, I'm uh, Myra. Nice to meet you!" She would have to put the doubt aside for now. Lucas had always complained how hard it was to make friends around here.
--- Lucas pov
Lucas was happy Myra and Cephy were getting along. While Cephy didn't go the the academy, she happily listened to all the happenings Myra and him had gone through the past week. With a frankly pretty low entry bar at the acadamy, there was always something going wrong at the place. With the night nearing its end, Myra excused themselves. It made sense, Lucas thought. Casting magic would usually wear him out as well, and she just had an hours long practical exam. With Myra gone, the conversation also died down for a little bit. Lucas was nervous to say something. "Hey, it's been fun meeting you. I was planning a camping trip by myself this weekend, but if you're interested we could have fun together out there." She had to be flirting with him, right? "Camping sounds nice, do I need to bring anything?" "Just bring yourself. I have enough camping supplies for the both of us, you don't have to worry about that."
--- Myra pov, the next day
Myra was already at class. She was even earlier than usual, still feeling guilty she had been late yesterday. Incantations class was one of the few classes she took together with Lucas, and it was originally how they had met. As she laid out her spellbook, Lucas walked in as well. He was uncharacteristically early. She watched as the human sat down next to her. No greeting either? Was this really Lucas? "Good morning Lucas." That snapped him out of whatever he was in. "Oh, uh. Good morning Myra!" That sounded more like the Lucas she knew. "Say Lucas, with my last exam now also done, why don't we go drinking tonight to celebrate?" "I'd love to, but I'm going out camping with Cephy, next for sure though!" Camping with a changeling? The alarm bells from last night came back ringing much louder now. Camping was very, very bad. "Oh, are you sure that's a good idea? You barely know her." While there was an agreement between fairies and changelings not to interfere in eachothers plots, she couldn't just send her best friend into that forest. "I'll be fine, if there's anything dangerous out there I know enough spells to ward it off." Myra wasn't worried about dangerous things in the forest. "Lucas I can't tell you why, but I really think you shouldn't go." Lucas scoffed at that. Was he not taking her seriously? "I didn't take you for the jealous type Myra." Jealous? "No you don't understand!" "Students, will you be quiet, I want to start my lecture." Myra sat back down, she would have to convince Lucas after class.
--- Lucas pov
Lucas couldn't believe it. Myra hadn't struck him as the jealous type. Still, she seemed hellbent on disrupting his camping trip. With the class now coming to an end, he watched Myra turn to him again. "Lucas whatever you think you're going to do on that trip isn't worth it. Please just trust me, I can't explain too much." Was she still on this? "Myra, if you can't give me a good reason not to go, I'm going!" It finally seemed the words reached Myra, as she turned around and started packing her books. "Fine, don't trust your best friend. If you're going to go, bring components for fire magic, it helps with making a campfire." What was Myra not saying? Lucas didn't want to ponder it too long. The next class was almost starting. Luckily for him, none of the other classes today were shared with Myra. Still, the day took much longer than he would've liked. Now that it was over, he hurried to his dorm to gather some last things. While Cephy had said he didn't need to bring anything, he still wanted to bring some campfire snacks. Just to be sure, he heeded Myra's advice as well. Packing all the spell components to cast a mighty campfire. With everything ready, he started making his way to an entrypoint into the woods they had agreed would be their meeting point.
An idea that popped into my head while working on another story (maybe up soon idk). Probably will write a couple of these.
CW: mentions of death
Changelings
From wikipedia, the free, human encyclopedia.
Changelings are a species of fae that are found both in human communities and in the wild. While appearance can vary due to their ability to shapeshift into the likeness of other creatures, changelings also have a "base" form. In their base form, changelings can vary between 4-7m (13-22ft) long, weighing up to 800kg (1750lbs). While coloration can vary, most changelings carry a greyish cyan skin color.
While most species of the fae clade can use their magic for a wide variety of applications, changelings seemingly only use their magic to power their shapeshifting abilities. In the wild, this ability is used to both hide from and predate on human populations, making changelings one of few natural predators of humans. In modern day, most changelings are domesticated and a part of human society. With most people aware of their general existence, but unaware when they are interacting with one.
In the wild, changelings can be found in Europe, northern Asia (predominantly Russia), and North America. Due to their integration into human societies, domesticated changelings can be found in most parts of the world. The wild population likely numbers around 150.000 specimens, around 20.000 in Europe, 80.000 in Russia and Khazakhstan, and another 50.000 in the USA and Canada. Researchers disagree on the amount of domestic changelings. There is common consensus that the number at least exceeds the amount in the wild. Most estimates range from 500.000 up to 4 million.
Changelings
From faeropedia, the accurate, fae encyclopedia.
Changelings are a distant relative to modern fairies that can be found across most the planet. Their natural forms can vary between 4-7m (13-22ft) long and weigh up to 800kg (1750lbs). Living up to 400 years, they are the longest lived species of fae currently known. Around 175 million changelings exist worldwide, mostly integrated into human society.
Changelings use altering magics to assume the likeness and size of other creatures. Most changelings use this ability to temporarily or permanently exist in human societies around the world. Humans are generally unable to detect changelings who have assumed a human or other form. The transformation only being obvious to magic attuned species within the fae clade.
Despite seeming mostly integrated within human society, changelings maintain their own seperate social and political entities. Forming their own countries largely shaped to human borders. Most populations practice a policy of coexistence with local humans. Despite this, several cultures across eastern Europe, Russia and North America actively practice coming of age rituals for their young. During this ritual, a young changeling (usually around 35 years old) will demonstrate their hunting prowess by capturing a human. Once succesful, they are celebrated as an adult by their family. While archaeic, it is highly recommended not to disturb the practice, as it invariably results in death of both the original target and the offending fairy/fairies.
Lux woke up in a poor state. While their body had mostly recovered from the previous day, their mind felt dull. They tried to focus their ears to catch any sound of the witch, but they heard nothing. Carefully, they opened their eyes. They could barely make out the room from the darkness. It had to be the middle of the night. With their mind now mostly awake, they took some time to inspect their cage. So far, they hadn't really had the chance to do so. It appeared to be meant to hold a rodent or other small animal. Lux's eyes settled on the door. Whoever designed the cage, hadn't anticipated it might get used to hold a borrower. He quietly walked over to the door, and with a little fiddling, the mechanism gave way. Lux couldn't believe it was that easy. For how much effort she puts in her spells, that witch really should have gotten a better cage. Not that Lux minded of course. Now, he needed a completely new plan. Running clearly didn't work. Neither did trying to burn the cabin to the ground. Lux was doubtful they could even harm the witch, so killing her was off the table too. There had to be some way! Their eyes settled on a book laid out on Dawn's workbench. Maybe the one way out was through the same magics that cursed them to this life in the first place. There was no way that Lux could learn magic in just one night though. Maybe they didn't need to do so, as long as they made it back to the cage by the time Dawn was awake, she probably wouldn't notice.
---
The next day, Dawn got back in her rhythm. She had hoped the borrower would have a little more life in them, and it seemed like the sleep did help a lot. Dawn picked Lux out of their cage and immediately started their torment, letting her frustrations of the past few weeks sink into the tiny. Dawn was barely paying attention while she was crushing Lux in her hands. Only the occasional pop or crack bringing their mind back to what they were doing. This was nice. With Lux in one hand, she started making her breakfast with the other. It took a little longer this way, but it was a great stress relief. She sat down with her breakfast, tossing the tiny on the table in front of her. "Stay on the table." She was taking no chances. Not that it seemed Lux was in much of a mood to run away. As she was enjoying her breakfast, the borrower seemed to look at her with big, expectant eyes. "Tell me, what do you want?" "Just a little bit of breakfast, please." Dawn thought for a moment, before dropping a spoonfull on the table in front of Lux. More energy probably meant Lux would hold out a while longer.
---
For the next few days, this rhythm would continue. Lux would try their best to understand the witches spells at night, and endure her punishments as well as they could during the day. Staying somewhat obedient to her whims at least seemed to keep the worst punishments at bay. It almost turned into an act for Lux. If they reacted too little, the witch would turn up the heat for her next schemes. Figuratively or sometimes literally. Lux had grown to hate that burner. Every day she used it against them, was a night they could barely hold their mind together to learn more about how to stop this once and for all. Lux was getting closer to the answer, a nullification circle would cancel out all other nearby magic as long as it was undisturbed. From what he could gather, it seemed like once it was put in motion, it could actually grow stronger by absorbing nearby magic. Meaning all the spells cast on Lux, and any further ones the witch would try to cast against them, would instead further fuel the nullification. If they managed to cast it outside of the witches reach, it was sure to stick around for a long while. If she would ever even find it. It was a relatively simple spell, even for Lux. They got ready drawing the circle under the floorboards. Lux would cast it tonight, they didn't want a single more day under that witches torment.
---
As Dawn woke up, they felt tired. Tired in a way they hadn't in a long time. Had her youth spell faded? Normally she would only need to refresh it once every ten years. Maybe all the stress lately had been doing a number on her. She put the thought aside for now and got to making breakfast. Walking out of the bedroom, she felt a twinge of irritation. Lux had disappeared. She didn't feel too irritated though. Learning from their previous escape attempts, she had some glyphs prepared that would easily transport them back. No yelling or village rendezvous required. She took one of the sheets and activated the circle with a drop of water. The paper glowed for a moment and then fizzled out. Nothing? Had the spell been too weak? She tried again, with a drop of her blood this time. It gave the same result. Also, was her finger not healing? Her mind was trying to find any explanation for this. It seemed multiple of her spells had run out at the same time, and new magic also fizzled out before it could act. The only cause she could think of was a nullification rite. She hadn't cast one of those in decades. Dawn would have to read back on those, immediately. She got to her workbench, and noticed a her spellbook had been opened, she always closed her books when she was done. Had Lux been learning magic? But when? The book was indeed open on the page describing a nullification rite. That bastard had actually cast a spell? Dawn would have to find the circle immediately, not just if she wanted any chance to catch the bastard borrower, but also if she wanted to keep living as she had. Her magic had kept her alive for much longer than any human could normally live, and she didnt fancy finding out how long it would take for all that age to catch up with her.
---
Lux was sprinting. Once they had cast the spell they set off as quickly as their legs would allow them. For the next few days, they would run almost non-stop. Only taking breaks to drink water from nearby sources. Their legs were killing them, but it did not matter. They would have to move as far away from the witch as their body could carry them. Eventually, they made it to the shore of a lake. Against their better judgement, Lux started swimming towards an island in the centre. They had decided that would be their destination. Lux floated more than swam towards the island, the current helping them along the way. Lux washed ashore, and slowly got up from their aquatic endeavor. Taking in their new home. Even if it was only for a short while, this would be a great place to live. Lux still fully expected the witch to show up any day now. The thought didn't stop them from building up a nice settlement for themselves. As an extra precaution, Lux drew another nullification circle in the middle of the island. He wouldn't need any magic to survive out here. The island was a lot safer than the normal forests. Only bugs and birds seemed to make it out here.
---
It took Dawn almost 3 days to even find the nullification rite. The bastard had hidden it under the floorboards under her heaviest cabinet! With the spell cleared, she first got to work on regaining her youth. That magic did more than she had realized, and she would need all the energy she could get to build up all her other enchantments. After a couple of weeks, she could finally turn her attention to getting back the horrid creature called Lux. She took the last of her prepared glyph papers and activated it. The paper fizzled out and confirmed her fears, Lux had likely cast a nullification circle wherever they were now. At that thought, she deflated. There likely was no way magic would bring back her subject. Searching by hand would be impossible, too. With the amount of time that had passed, that thief could surely be anywhere. Dawn let out a cackling laugh. He had really done it. He had gotten away. The laugh morphed into a frustrated scream. Very well. That bastard had beaten her at her own game, and she could at least respect that.
---
It had been over a month on the island now, Lux started to accept that maybe, just maybe, he really had managed to get away. Slowly, he had gotten adjusted to his new reality. He still had some issues with fires, even though they were crucial for survival, Lux was sure they could never look at a fire the same way. Without any threats on the island, they had managed to build a nice abode that would keep them warm for the winter. More than ever before, Lux was thriving. They had all the food they could pick, a luxurious shelter and even some new friends. Some other borrowers had noticed Lux's activity on the island and made their way there as well. Lux felt at ease. This was probably the best a borrower's life could be. And after all that struggle they didn't feel bad at enjoying every second of it.
The end?
(Probably the end, unless I think of more misfortunes for our poor little Lux.)
Dawn woke up, still exhausted from the day before. Her mood improved somewhat when she walked into the kitchen and saw the miserable tiny. The fire was still going as strong as it had last night. Lux's screaming stopped at some point though, Dawn noted. Had they completely exhausted themselves? Good. An idea popped into her brain. Maybe if she kept Lux in this state, she wouldn't have to worry about them running off while she cast a new spell on them. "Enjoying the heat?" Dawn looked down on the motionless tiny. It didn't muster a response and simply sighed. At that, Dawn turned up the fire even more. Maybe her idea had some merit. The tiny thief seemed to register the extra heat, but had no energy to react to it. Dawn got to work, it was going to be a busy day. Most of the ingredients she would need to use had either been used up, or lost in that blasted fire. Luckily, all the raw materials could be found in her wonderful garden, she would just need to process them. The thought of getting to torture Lux even more fired her up in a way she hadn't been in well over a century. Within the hour, she had gathered all the raw materials she would require. Dawn took a lunch break while some of the materials were boiling. While eating, she gleefully watched Lux sink lower and lower into their cage. Then, Dawn got to work on preparing the circle. This time she would draw it in her garden. Digging a small hole in the center to hold Lux. She couldn't be too careful. When the circle was done she gathered the last of the required ingredients. Dawn made sure there was plenty of reagent, she wanted this spell to be as powerful as possible.
---
Lux was barely conscious, the heat had drained them of all their energy. Sleep wasn't an option either, the pain made sure of that. All they could do was watch as the witch was busy preparing whatever horrid plan she had in store for Lux next. The hours blended together as Lux's mind was slowly melting from the pain. They weren't sure how much time had passed when the witch finally walked in. She was wearing heavy gloves to handle the cage, and rushed them outside. Lux was unceremoniously dumped into a pit. Not that they could put up a resistance, they did enjoy the reprieve of the intense heat finally letting up. By the time they returned to their senses, they saw a familiar glow surround them. Had this been a magic circle all along?! Lux's mind panicked, but their body still was unresponsive. There was no chance to escape the spell. Maybe there was no escape from the witch, at all. At that thought, Lux finally collapsed from exhaustion.
---
Dawn watched as Lux collapsed to the ground. "Get back up!" She immediately yelled. The tiny snapped to attention. "Come over here." Dawn didn't hold back a chuckle as she watched the borrower struggle to get out of the hole. Even if they were ordered to do something, it didn't mean they were immediately able to do so. After a bit more struggling, they finally made their way to her. "Grovel." Dawn had something in mind she wanted to try for a while now. Lux obliged the command and was now groveling belower her. With a crushing motion, Dawn stomped down on the tiny borrower, pressing them into the soil below. It felt even more satisfying than Dawn had imagined. She really had been wrong before, why should she show such a thief any empathy? The alternative was so much nicer. Dawn pressed down again, another satisfying crunch. She looked down on Lux with disdain, such a pitiful creature.
---
At this point, Lux was barely registering all the abuse the witch was throwing at them. They simply had no more energy to care. As they laid there on the ground, they felt themselves dozing off immediately. "Get up." Lux's body jolted up at the command. Whatever, he thought. They didn't even bother opening their eyes. "Follow me." Lux's legs started moving on their own, taking them wherever the witch would be going. Their curiosity finally won from their despair, and they opened their eyes to see where the witch was taking them. Back into the cabin, it seemed. When Lux made it to where the witch wanted them to go, they felt their legs immediately give out. Lux fell face first into the floor. Maybe if they just stayed still, the witch would let them be. Of course, that was a pipedream, Lux knew that. Though, as that thought lingered in their head, he was wondering when the witch would continue her punishment. "Are you not even going to look at what I'm going to do to you?" That at least confirmed she was planning something. The witch was right though, Lux did not care to look at her any longer. The witch sighed at their lack of reaction. "Very well." Was that all she cared for? Lux's reactions? Before Lux could carry that thought any further they were scooped up and carried somewhere. When they were set down, they recognized where they were without opening their eyes. Back in the cage. At least it wasn't scorching hot this time, maybe this time they would be able to sleep. Before that thought had even finished in their mind, Lux had already fallen asleep.
---
This situation was, annoying. Dawn looked at the collapsed borrower. She wanted to get at least a month of fun out of them. But at this rate they wouldn't last a week. Perhaps she would need to choose her methods more carefully. The fire had beem helpful in keeping Lux still, but maybe it had worn them out too much. It felt almost pointless to try anything when Lux did not even respond in the slightest way. For now, she would let the thief rest, in the hope that it would be a more suitable toy in the morning. And if not, maybe it was finally time to break that invulnerability spell. Maybe it would care to respond then. For now, Dawn got to work restocking more of her lost supplies. Lux really proved more trouble than they were worth with that little fire stunt. Fortunately, her cabin was enchanted to regenerate too, so the previously burned down wall had been almost fully restored. Dawn got busy for the rest of the evening gathering and concentrating more of the lost ingredients. Darkness was now fully enveloping the cabin. She only realized when she wanted to get out to gather more herbs. Maybe it was time to head to bed as well.
As Lux woke up and opened their eyes, they jumped a little. They still had to get used to sleeping in a room as big as this one. When he gathered himself, he took a slow look at Dawn. She was still soundly asleep in the massive bed next to them. Lux was happy things had gone back to how they were. They felt a twinge in their mind at that thought. Must be some remants of that failed spell. He felt a little guilty thinking about that. Dawn had spent so many of her resources bringing them back to normal. Lux would have to thank her as best as they could. With that thought, Lux decided they would make a healthy breakfast for Dawn. They quietly made their way down from their bed and walked to the kitchen. Gathering things for a human-sized breakfast would be no easy task for Lux, but they were determined to get it done. First, they gathered some leafy greens from Dawn's garden, only the freshest would do. Then, they carried them up to the kitchen counter, were Lux got to cleaning and cutting the leaves. It took a lot longer than Lux would have liked, but it also seemed like Dawn wasn't awake yet. He still had time. The bowl of salad slowly filling up to what had to be a decent breakfast for Dawn. It would be rather simple, as Lux couldn't reach the higher shelves with some of the tastier ingredients. Nevertheless, they were happy with what they had achieved. Lux took another look towards the bedroom and was suprised to see Dawn was awake and also admiring their handywork.
---
Dawn couldn't believe their eyes as she watched Lux hard at work preparing her a salad. They hadn't noticed her yet and she tried to stay as quiet as possible to enjoy the show. The new spell was already exceeding her expectations. When Lux seemed done preparing the salad, they finally noticed her. At that, Dawn finally walked further into the kitchen. "I see you have prepared me a breakfast. Thank you." She took the bowl from the kitchen counter and started eating from it. While the salad was quite plain, she supposed it was limited by her locking away her spices and sauces to where Lux could not reach them. "You should have some salad as well for your trouble Lux." Dawn offered to pick them up and the borrower obliged. She set them down on the table and watched as Lux took some of the salad for themselves, taking bites out of a small section. A new sense of endearment took over Dawn as the relaxed borrower's behaviour had completely transformed. Dawn had decided that she would test out some of the limits of the new spell. She wouldn't try hurting Lux. The chance of breaking the charm would be far too high. Testing how far a charmed Lux would go to bend to her whims though, was one topic worth exploring. "Allright Lux, today I think we'll take it slow. I'm exhausted after all that spellcasting, and I wouldn't be suprised if you are as well after all that happened."
---
Lux looked up at Dawn, they agreed with the idea, as they were still exhausted from the last few days. However, something in the back of his mind was sending him warning signals. Lux waved the concerns away and followed Dawn as she made her way outside. By the time Lux made it outside, Dawn was already sat on her chair, gesturing Lux to come over. Again, that feeling came back. Was something wrong? Everything seemed normal, so Lux walked over. They watched as Dawn lowered her hand to pick them up. The gnawing in the back of their mind getting stronger as they watched the hand descend on them. Still, they did not resist as Dawn picked them up and set them on her lap. Lux took a moment to settle down, when Dawn's hands descended on them once more. Before Lux knew it, she was kneading and massaging them between her hands. Lux felt a little overwhelmed by the sensation and that voice in the back of their mind returned again. This time it was clearer than before, telling them to get out of Dawn's hands. But why would Lux? Sure, the massaging was a little overwhelming at first, but at this point Dawn had settled into a rhythm and it was honestly quite relaxing. As suddenly as Dawn had started though, she now also stopped the massaging. Lux watched as Dawn took out an apple and started peeling it with a knife. The shimmering of the blade made the voice jump all the way to the front of Lux's mind. RUN. Before Lux's mind could catch up, they were already falling down to the floor. As they hit the floor, the overwhelming urge got even stronger. Lux started sprinting in a straight line away from the chair.
---
Dawn watched as Lux made more and more distance from her. She hadn't quite expected that strong of a reaction from them. She put the knife and fruit away and started walking in the same direction. It only took her a few steps to catch up with the sprinting borrower. With a single swoop she snatched Lux up from the ground. Inspecting them closer, it was clear the spell had already been broken. Lux looked at her with the same terrified eyes they had before. Dawn needed to get a new spell going quick. As she hurried inside though, she felt a sharp pain in her hand. Lux bit her! Her hand instinctively letting go of the borrower. Dawn could only watch as Lux practically flew into a crevice in the wall. She couldn't quite believe how quickly this all had gone wrong. Furthermore, she wasn't sure how she would fix her current predicament. Lux was now no longer under her control and still practically invulnerable. Dawn was sure she couldn't try intimidation again as she did the first time. If she wanted Lux to stay within her grasp, she would have to find a new way to keep them in a circle. Dawn hurridly got to work on a new conjuring circle. Her first priority was just to make sure that Lux could not get away.
---
Lux's memories rushed back to them. They felt sick at the tone the witch had taken with them today. It would have to wait though, for the first time since Lux had the misfortune of meeting that witch, they had regained control of their own body. An oppertunity they couldn't squander. Lux quickly hatched a plan, both to get away from the witch, as well as to enact a bit of revenge for the hell she had put them through. He gathered some materials from his own supplies. Before long they had a fire going against the inner wall. Lux watched for a moment as the fire crept up the timber walls. Then, they fled using one of their exits leading outside. They ran to the forest clearing and watched from a distance. Even from their view, they could clearly see smoke emanating from the cabin. Lux felt a sense of relief watching the plumes. Maybe this really was all over. They watched for a little longer, when the plumes disappeared. Had the witch already managed to put the fire out? Lux decided they would need to start running, fast. Betting their luck on the nearby town. It wasn't the safest place, but Lux was sure it would be plenty in food and supplies.
---
Dawn was fuming. Not only had that little thief gotten away, it had set her cabin on fire! Fortunately, she could stop the blaze before it got too serious. Unfortunately, the fire did take more of her ingredient stockpile with it. This way, she couldn't even try to cast a conjuring spell. She was going to have to improvise. At best, she could construct a magical compass. She imbued it with a tiny drop of the borrowers blood Dawn had stored. With a few words spoken, the compass lit up briefly. Dawn could feel the imperfect magic as she cast it. She was going to be exhausted by the end of this day. Dawn would deal with that problem when it really mattered. She got up and started walking in the direction her compass was pointing. The needles direction seemed stable, had the bastard already walked that far? If she wasn't mistaken, the compass was pointing her towards the nearby village. Dawn groaned, this day was going to be even longer than she had already anticipated.
---
Lux couldn't believe their luck. They had made it all the way to the town, and even managed to get to a crevice under the local tavern. Normally, they would hate being near this many people. Humans are noisy and careless. Even if they don't intend it, they are dangerous. Now however, this would be to Lux's advantage. Even if the witch managed to track them down somehow, she would have to deal with a small army of drunk humans to get to them. While they hoped it wouldn't come to that, Lux knew better than to hope the witch would leave them alone. For now however, Lux could focus on the stores of bread and drink that filled the taverns basement. After all they had been through, Lux felt they deserved as much of the stores as they could carry. They happily chewed down on the fresh bread and enjoyed a sip of what humans called ale. He had never tried it before, but understood it was consumed in moments of celebration. It didn't take long for Lux to feel the other effects other borrowers had described. They felt their senses dull somewhat. Maybe it was a good idea to hide away for the night, just in case the witch did show up.
---
Dawn's frustration only seemed to rise. Not only had Lux made it to the village, her compass was pointing her straight at the local tavern. The last place she wanted to search. Despite her reservations, Dawn quickly had a plan in order. She walked into the tavern, directly to the barkeep. With a few well placed, enchanted words, she was allowed into the taverns storerooms. If there was any place that thief would hide its right there. As she waved the compass around, it clearly pointed to a hole between some barrels. Dawn immediately reached in, feeling around for that cursed borrower. Nothing. She couldn't feel the end of the hole though. At this point the fatigue from all the spellcasting was really catching up with her, but she would likely have to cast one more incantation to get that thief in her hands.
---
Lux couldn't believe their luck. Someone had stormed into the storeroom and almost grabbed them directly out of their hiding place. While they couldn't tell who it was with the poor lighting, Lux was sure it was the witch. He could really feel the effect that ale had on them now. His mind needing a moment to realize that they should probably start running. Before he could get up though, he found himself tethered to a glowing rope. The world around him got a lot brighter as he was thrusted out of his hiding space directly into the awaiting hand of the witch. "There you are. You should know by now that running is useless." Lux was almost crushed by the force of her hand. Their mind reeling at the overwhelming sensation enveloping their body. The witch was sure not to let go. Lux could only watch as they made their way out of the tavern. Then out of the town. The witch hadn't spoken a single word after Lux's capture, but the fact that her grip hadn't faltered told Lux all they needed to know. They were going to suffer. Lux watched as the all too familiar cabin got closer and closer. The witch stormed inside and threw Lux into a cage. As they regained their bearings, Lux watched the witch prepare a small fire. "So you like fire so much, huh? At least, you seemed to like it when you set fire to my cabin. Let's see how you like it when it affects you! " Lux had never seen Dawn this angry, this was bad. Dawn forcefully picked up the cage, and hung it above the fire. While the flames weren't close enough to immediately burn them, Lux could feel their metal cage heat up quickly. It wouldn't be long until that heat would be agonizing. The witch threw one last glance at them. "Oh and be a dear and scream nice and loud for me. I am going to bed, enjoy your fucking fire."
---
Dawn was exhausted. This day could barely have gone worse. As she crashed into bed, she felt some solace hearing that damn thief scream from the pain. Whatever goodwill it had built up before, was now gone. It was clear to Dawn that Lux was not to be trusted. She enjoyed listening to its screams for a little while longer, before dozing off into the night.
With Lux tucked into her pocket, Dawn started making her way back down the mountains. If she made haste, she could make it back to her cabin by the end of the night. A small incantation helped her keep her stride across the rough terrain. All this spellcasting had been doing a number on her. She would have to be careful not to spoil what little trust she had built up with Lux. It was clear though, that it wouldn't be easy. She could feel the magic clouding her judgement already, and it would only get worse as the day progressed. Still, she trudged on. The hours quietly passed as the mountains turned to foothills and then turned to forest. During all that time Dawn hadn't heard a single noise coming from her pocket. Maybe it was for the better, as there would be no chance for the borrower to get onto her nerves. With the sun gone, Dawn had to draw onto more of her magic to light the way ahead. The forest around her becoming more familiar, despite the darkness. As she got close to her cabin, she got the sense that something was off. The warding spell on her door was still intact, but the perimeter spell had clearly gone off. Something had made its way into her home, and it was crafty enough to avoid her door. She quietly undid her warding spell, and opened her door as carefully as she could.
---
Lux had finally woken up from their slumber. Dawn was no longer walking, were they back at the cabin? He wasn't quite awake yet to pop his head out of the pocket to check. Dawn seemed to have gone very quiet, so Lux decided he wouldn't try to disturb her. A few more moments of silence passed. Dawn seemed, tense? Then, he heard a noise in the distance. It seemed Dawn heard it too, and sprung in action moving towards the source of the sound. His curiousity got the better of him, and he popped their head out of the pocket. Lux recognized the inside of the cabin, albeit from an angle he hadn't experienced before. And then they saw the sound of the noise. It couldn't be. Why did she come here? As Lux took in the sight better, they were sure of it. One of the borrowers that abandoned him was standing there, paralyzed by the sight of Dawn. "Maisy, why?" The words left Lux's lips before he had noticed it. In a single stride, Dawn closed the distance and grabbed for the girl. "Filthy thief!" Lux's mind was filled with so many questions he wanted to ask Maisy. Before he could ask any of them though, Dawn threw the borrower woman to the ground with enough force that Lux was sure it would break something. He couldn't see Dawn's face, but he was sure it was filled with the sick grin she had carried so many times before. "Please" he begged, "Spare her." Dawn seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Stay quiet." She responded. Lux's mouth followed the order. Now, he could only watch as the witch ground her boot into the poor Maisy. Despite her betrayal, Lux felt only pity for her as he watched her turn into a bloody smear on the floor of the witches cabin.
---
Dawn felt exhausted. She didn't want to deal with another thief, so she decided to get it over as quickly as possible. The death barely gave her any pleasure, too. All she could think of was going to bed. She popped Lux out of her pocket and onto the bed. As she got ready for the night, she noticed the tiny staring at her with an expression she couldn't read. Dawn decided it could wait until the morning, she wanted to go to sleep. She lied down and got comfortable for the night. "Why did you kill her but spare me?" Dawn could feel herself becoming irritated already. She opened her eyes to look at Lux. They were carrying that same expression as before. "Why didn't you kill me?!" Lux's face finally broke, tears welling down their face. Dawn pondered telling the truth. "Because, little one, there are fates that are much, much worse than death." Lux's expression filled with terror. "Now, go to sleep. I don't want to stay awake any longer myself."
---
"Wake up." Lux jolted awake from his unnatural sleep. Commanded sleep felt so different from normal sleep. He was rested, sure, but the lack of any dreams, nightmares or even passing thoughts assured them that there was a clear difference. Lux retraced the last memories before he was forced asleep. The witch hadn't been wrong. Since Lux was bound to her, he had wished for death many times. Maybe it was for the better that Maisy wasn't subjected to the same fate. Lux watched the witch put on a very different outfit than she had worn the past weeks. "Today, I will be resting." She eyed him for a reaction. "You, however, won't be." Lux had figured as much. "But we'll get to your chores later, first it's time for breakfast." Lux was carried into the kitchen. She seemed gentler than before. Lux made a mental note of that.
---
Dawn got to work on her favourite breakfast. Today she was going to treat herself. Before long, she had a tall stack of pancakes on her counter. Normally, she wouldn't make this many, but she had forgotten dinner, and she was hungry. She enjoyed the visual comparison as she put the stack of pancakes down onto the kitchen table. Lux was shorter than the stack by about one pancake. She watched him look up and down at the pile. It had to be an impressive sight for the little Lux. Dawn got to work on the first pancake, and even felt generous enough to cut off a piece for the hungry looking borrower. She watched as Lux consumed the piece with the enthusiasm of a hungry piranha. It appeared Dawn wasn't the only who was hungry. Once she was finished eating, she took a long look at the borrower on her table. While she had decided to take it easy on Lux today, that didn't mean he would get off scot-free. "Lux, I would appreciate it if you cleaned up the cabin today. Starting with the intruder."
---
Lux could hardly believe the request. They would almost prefer it to be an order. The witch wanted him to clean up the remains of what used to be one of his friends. Lux resolved, maybe it being a request was better. This way they could at least give Maisy a proper burial. Lux looked back at the witch. "Miss, could you put me on the floor?" The witch looked down at him, and complied. Lux walked over to the remains. Maisy really never stood a chance. He shuddered at the cruelty, but got to work cleaning up the body nonetheless. At some point, the witch wandered off, it seemed she lost interest watching him suffer. After more work carrying all parts of his old friend outside, Lux held a small burial rite for the poor borrower. Maybe she had been the lucky one, he considered, at least her suffering ended. He pondered that thought for a little while longer. Lux noticed that the witch was nowhere around, and hadn't checked on them for a while now. Had the witch fully trusted them to go unsupervised? Lux's mind started racing, maybe this was the oppertunity they had been waiting for. But could he risk it? The witch had been more gentle with them than before. If she caught him trying to run away, she would probably find a new way to torture Lux that was worse than anything before. Lux decided, perhaps against better judgement, that he would have to try to escape anyway. The witch had already shown before that her nice periods could end out of nowhere, maybe that horrible punishment would happen regardless of if he tried, just because she was in a bad mood. Maybe, if he got far away from the witch, she could never order them around again. With that thought resonating positively in Lux's mind, he started walking. They had no goal in mind for now, they just needed to get as far away as possible.
---
Dawn had spent the most of the morning napping while overlooking part of her garden. She was more worn out from the trip than she had expected. With the sun now high enough to keep her awake, she decided to check on how Lux's cleaning was getting on. Dawn walked inside and checked the spot where she had stopped the little thief. While the thief itself had been removed, there was still a clear bloodstain on her floor that Lux would have to remove. "Lux, come here!" Dawn waited for a bit but got impatient. Dammit, Lux was small but even he would've gotten here by now, wherever he was. She decided to shout a little louder, "Lux, get your ass back to the cabin!" Now her patience was really wearing thin. Still, she expected them to appear any second now. When seconds turned to minutes, Dawn grew infuriated. Had the thief actually run off? Come to think of it, she hadn't actually ordered him to not wander off. Part of her had assumed they would just do as she wanted regardless. And well, that part seemed to be in the wrong. She would have to figure out a way to get the bastard back, and make him pay dearly for this little stunt. Luckily she had just the idea.
---
Lux couldn't believe how far they had already gotten. While the progress hadn't been without any scrapes, the regeneration spell had for the first time actually helped Lux. With this power they navigated the forest faster than they had ever done before. After about an hour of running, he decided he was far enough to at least take a break. Lux found a spot by the river where they could drink. The riverwater had never tasted this fresh before. Lux's mind felt like a feather, had the nightmare actually ended? He decided not to risk staying here too long. Lux wasn't sure how long they should keep running, but they would rather run too long than ever seeing that witches face again. Lux got up to continue their trip. As he looked around, he noticed that the forest around them had gone quiet. The wind had died down, and no bird made a sound. Then, a rapid gust flew over, followed by a booming voice. "LUX, WALK BACK." No, no no no no no. Lux couldn't believe it, he watched in horror as his legs obliged the command. All of it had been for nothing.
---
Dawn was back to her happy self. She was busy preparing another spell for Lux, so that she could cast it on them when they were back. And she was certain they would be back, the spell she used to project her voice was sure to be heard all the way up into the mountains. Wherever her little mouse had gone, it would hear the command and obey. With the spell prepared, and no Lux in sight yet, Dawn decided to sit back and relax once more. She shouldn't let Lux ruin her plans for the day too much, after all. She had almost dozed off when a sound in the distance caught her attention. It almost sounded like crying. Very tiny crying. As she looked in the direction of the sound, she spotted him. Lux. She could not hold back a grin at the thought of what she was going to do to him. She was actually planning on a much nicer version of what she had now prepared. If only he had behaved well. As she watched the tiny trudge closer and closer, she got a better look at them. He looked like he had been crying all the way back. "Aww, don't be sad. You're safe now." Dawn almost couldn't say the words with a straight face. "Now, little Lux, do you regret running off?" The tiny seemed to try their best to look away from Dawn. "Tell me." She ordered. "I didn't regret running off." Her command made the words sound forced, but she already knew they were true. Of course he wouldn't regret, the little thief. "Well that's too bad, you still have a debt to pay off. Luckily, I have just the thing to make sure you won't try running off again."
---
Lux was forcefully grabbed by the witch, it seemed she was intent on causing him as much pain as possible again. The witch brought them back to her spelltable, where she continued talking. "The control spell I placed on you is only a basic one, I was actually considering changing it out for a much nicer filtered version, until your little escapade." Lux felt his heart sink. The witch had actually considered going easier on him, and he threw that all away for a lousy escape attempt. "But, don't worry, I will still remove your current control spell." Lux wasn't eased by the witches promise. Whatever she had thought up surely was worse. "Now, step into the circle and stand still." Lux's body followed the order, though it felt like they were able to offer more resistance than usual. Still, all he could do was stand there and watch as the witch sealed their fate. Same as before, the witch planted a drop of her blood on the circle, and it had lit up. Lux felt no pain as the light went into them, they hardly felt like anything had changed at all. "Allright, now we just need to remove the control spell from before. Could you step into this other circle?" No command as before, weird. Still, Lux thought, he was more than happy to do so, anything to get rid of that spell. Dawn continued working on the second spell. When it was ready, she let another drop of her blood flow. This time, the light started from Lux, seemingly escaping from them. They shone brightly for a couple of seconds before returning to normal. "Now, we need to test the success of both spells. You will walk over there." Lux felt their body compelled as before, yet, it was much more subtle. As if it had been their own idea to walk there anyway. A smile started to form on the witches face again, what had she done? "Say, little Lux, how do you feel right now?" "I, I don't know? What have you done to me?" "Well dearie, I placed a much stronger control spell on you. This one twists your mind into believing that you want to do whatever I say. But you shouldn't remember any of that." Lux felt a sense of dread. He wasn't sure what had caused it, was it the witch? As far as Lux could tell she hadn't done anything.
---
Dawn was suprised with how well the new spell had worked. While it would be more limited in some regards, this spell would make Lux a lot more dependable with work around the cabin. The main downside was that it couldn't override Lux's natural instincts as well as the other spell. Dawn would have to be careful not to harm Lux as she had done before, as it was sure to break the charm, and that wouldn't do. It was far too expensive to re-cast at such short notice. There were only a few more things she would have to do, to make sure Lux would remain as a useful aide for her. "Now Lux, pay close attention. You are my servant, and for the past few weeks you were under a spell that had gone wrong. All the things you experienced during that period were not real. You had already served me for several years before that, in exchange I give you safety, shelter and warm food. Your previous tribe betrayed you and left you to die." At least that last part was true, she thought. Maybe it would help the other thoughts settle as well. Dawn watched as Lux sat there for a while, it seemed like they were thinking. They suddenly appeared to come back to reality. "I'm sorry i caused all that mess, I hope it wasn't too much trouble to get me back to how I was." Dawn blinked slowly, taking some time to process the words. A smile returned to her face as the meaning sunk in. "It's no problem little Lux, you should probably rest up though. Lets get you to bed." With that, the borrower stared awaitingly at her to pick them up. Right, Dawn would have to get used to being nice to Lux. She carefully picked up the borrower and brought them to her bedroom. Dawn wasn't risking Lux sleeping in the same bed, that would surely break the spell. So, she got to work fashioning a new bed for Lux, with a pillow as the mattress and some spare fabric as a blanket. Once it was done, she set Lux down on the makeshift bed. The borrower immediately crawled under the fabric and closed their eyes. Dawn could feel herself care more and more for the small being. She supposed it was probably going to be the new normal. It would take some time to fully get used to that.
Lux did not sleep well, how could he? While he had originally collapsed under the stress, his nerves had now calmed to a maneagable amount. The pain had almost been a blessing, as he now laid awake, unable to think of anything but the sensation he had endured that day. Sleep seemed like an impossibility. It felt like nothing could calm him to the point that he would fall asleep. At that thought, however, an idea formed. Maybe, he, couldn't make himself fall asleep, but maybe, a command from a tired witch that just wanted to sleep herself could do the trick. He knew this was going to be risky, if she gave the wrong command, he might be worse off than he was now. But, in Lux's mind, it was worth the gamble. Perhaps for once the control spell could work in his advantage, even if that witch wouldn't intend for it. Lux stood up and sent himself full force into the side of the witch. Kicking and screaming in the hopes of getting a reaction. Lux quickly lost steam however, when Dawn seemed just as asleep as before. Deciding to give it their all, Lux walked over to the witches head, and yelled into her ear. At that, he finally got a reaction. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" They immediately felt regret as he feared he had pushed too far. "Its the middle of the night! Go to sleep!" Lux didn't get much time to ponder their success, their body almost immediately complying with the command, falling limply to the floor.
---
Dawn woke up in a poor mood. Whatever Lux had tried to pull last night, cost her precious hours of sleep. While she wasnt going to pull back on her mental promise to go easy on the tiny, this didn't mean actions like Lux's would go unpunished. "Lux. Wake up." The previously limp borrower responded and got up from the floor. "You are going to tell me what the hell you were thinking waking me up in the middle of the night!" Lux immediately teared up as they started talking. "I uh, couldn't sleep due to the uh, cutting? And I thought that maybe you, uh, would command me to sleep? If I woke you up that is." Dawn was equally impressed and annoyed, Lux was craftier than he led on, to her detriment this time. "I see, and tell me, did you think this would go unpunished?" Lux could no longer look at her face. "No ma'am, I had just hoped the punishment would be lighter than my thoughts during the last night." Had she done that much of a number on him? She would still have to punish them of course, but maybe he could make himself useful during it. "Very well. Do you see those wild grains growing there? I want you to gather enough of them to fill this pouch." At that, Lux got to the task. Dawn could take some more time to wake up while he was busy, she thought.
---
Lux could barely believe his ears. He was already preparing himself for another harsh punishment. However, the task he was assigned seemed like just that, a task, no more. Lux decided they would not question the mercy provided to him, and got to work gathering as much of the grain as he could carry. It didn't take him all too long to fill the pouch. He carried it back to where Dawn was sitting. "Have you already finished? Very well." She took the pouch from him and got to work grinding up the grains. Not much later she had a porridge going. Lux watched with great interest, his stomach growling at the sight of the tasty porridge. What Lux was missing was the growing smile on Dawn's face. Had he not been so transfixed on the food, he might have seen the next part coming. Dawn took the pot off of the fire, and poured its contents into a single bowl. Lux finally snapped out of their trance and looked at the witch, what was she getting at? "Of course, this is my breakfast. You will sit there, and watch me eat, and I don't want to hear any complaints." Of course she hadn't had a change of heart. Lux felt stupid. Why would he go back to trusting that witch so quickly?
---
Dawn ate up the sweet porridge with much glee. Her captive audience seemed to go hungrier with every bit she took. Of course, she knew she would have to feed Lux in the end. That didn't mean she could enjoy his hungry frustration for just a little bit. Lux would need to be at full strength later today. When she had her fill, she took the bowl and put it in front of a very hungry looking Lux. "Go ahead, you may eat." The tiny almost jumped into the bowl. With the porridge already cooled down, he didn't hesitate eating with his bare hands. Dawn couldn't hold back a chuckle as she watched Lux scarf up the remaining porridge. At that, the borrower immediately eyed her with suspicion. "You don't have to worry, I didn't do anything to the food." Lux continued eating at a slower pace, throwing Dawn more side glances every now and then. Perhaps she shouldn't be suprised after turning his life into a living hell.
---
Lux watched as Dawn started preparing for the rest of the trip. As easily as she had conjured it, the shelter disappeared into the ground. Despite the circumstances, Lux could feel a sense of awe for the magic the witch practiced. It seemed almost effortless from her part. A sense of unease crept onto Lux's back as the witch packed the last things into the bag. "Uhm, Miss. Would it be okay if I stayed outside of the bag for the rest of the trip?" He didn't feel particularly great about asking, but the thought of being jostled around in the bag on a full stomach did not seem great. The witch seemed to frown for a moment. Whatever her first thought was, Lux wasn't meant to hear it, as she held back the comment. "Give me a good reason, and I'll consider it." Was she being, reasonable? Lux scrambled to get his words in the right order. "Well uh, I had quite a lot of your tasty porridge. And I'm worried that I might not keep it all in me if I get shaken around in the bag." Lux hoped he had given a good enough reason. He watched anxiously as the witch seemed to consider the options. Without giving an answer, the witch picked them up. Before Lux could process what happened next, he found himself atop her shoulder. "You will hold on, and not make conversation." She said sternly. Lux was happy to comply. For the first time in their life, they could view the world as humans did. No words could do justice to the magnificent view now afforded to him.
---
As Dawn marched onwards with Lux on her shoulder, she couldn't help feel a sense of care she had not felt in a very, very long time. Was she growing attached to the borrower? Dawn felt unsure if it was a bad thing. She realised though, that it probably wouldn't be easy to gain Lux's trust. She had put the borrower through quite a lot in a very short time. Empathy wasn't Dawn's strong suit, so this really was an uphill battle. Maybe she could start with making conversation, that always seemed to help with the people from the village. "So, uh, Lux, have you spent much time outside, before you uh, settled into my cabin?" Dawn kept up pace but was quietly hoping for an answer. "Hello? Lux?" She felt a poke in her neck, and finally looked at the tiny. Lux was gesturing zipped lips at her. "Oh right, you can speak freely again." Dawn had almost forgotten her previous order. Maybe she would need to tone down that spell in general, if she wanted to build up trust with Lux. "Yes." A shry voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "I used to live in the forest around your cabin. Before I uh made the mistake of moving in." Was that a side effect of her telling them to speak freely? "I see, why did you move out of the forest?" Dawn heard a small sigh coming from her shoulder. "I used to live in a small group, together with other borrowers. We got most of our food from the forest, but would make some trips to the village for things we couldn't fashion ourselves. It had gone well for so many years, but something had changed. The townsfolk had grown more aware of our presence. One by one, my friends disappeared. Until one day there were only 4 of us. We knew we couldn't keep going like this, none of us dared to enter the village. When I woke up one morning, the other 3 were gone. They had apparently decided I was the weakest link, and left me to die. That's when I decided to move into your cabin. At first, it was just for the shelter, but as the first winter grew cold, I admit, I snuck out some of your supplies." Dawn felt a tear well up at the story. She hadn't guessed that a borrowers life could be so cutthroat, and here she was assuming the worst of a defenseless creature, and punishing it for the assumption.
---
Lux wasn't sure, but it seemed like the witch had gained a new sense of compassion towards them. After an hour or so of continuous chatting, there was a version of Dawn next to him he could not reconsile with the witches previous actions. While happy to keep a pleasant conversation going, Lux was mentally preparing for the witch he knew to return. He was told they were travelling to a cave deep in the mountains, and that he would be gathering a precious mineral he has used up. Now that the cave in question was getting quite near, he found himself worrying if the witches shift in mood would only be temporary. He could think of several punishments the witch could enact upon him there. Lux was set down on the floor of the cave entrance. All he could focus on was the witches face, trying to read any glimmer of sadism off of it. He seemingly found none. This only left Lux more confused. She looked down at him, only giving a weak smile. "I'll be honest, when I had planned the trip, I wanted to see how far down the cave I could kick you." Lux winced at the thought. "But, I have changed my mind. I want to give you a chance to prove yourself. The cave ahead of us used to be filled with galena. Most of it has long been excavated. Here is where you come in. There are a lot of sections of the cave where no person could fit, but you could easily reach." Lux was confused that she was telling them all this, and more so that he hadnt just been ordered to go dig some up. "I would appreciate it if you got some of the mineral for me, I know it is a large amount for you, but five kilograms should be enough." Lux barely could believe their ears. He wasn't ordered, he was asked, nicely even. It was obvious Dawn struggled with it herself, some of the words seemed extremely forced. "I'll do it." Lux answered before he could start doubting his decision. He figured if he refused, she would just force him anyway. This way he could at least control his own body as he did the task. Dawn pointed her light at one of the sections she had described, and Lux went into the cavity. Lux could easily make out the mineral among the rock surface. "How do I get it out?"
---
Dawn hadn't properly thought of that, she assumed that Lux could just wedge the mineral out bit by bit, as she usually did herself. Improvising, she fashioned a small staff for Lux, with the correct reagents and her preparations, he might be able to cast a small destruction spell. When she was done, she handed the staff into the crevice. "Could you try to focus your mind on the center of the staff, and then shift your attention to the point where the mineral is." Dawn did her best not to phrase it as a command. A flash of light beamed into the rest of the cave. Had Lux succeeded? She didn't have to wait long for an answer, as the borrower appeared holding a stack of loose mineral. She took it from his hands and into a sturdy bag she had prepared. It would take some time to fill up, but she was happy to wait. The tiny was busily working away, carrying handful after handful out of the cave section. "The bag is almost full, one more handful should do the trick." As Lux walked out with the last couple of rocks, Dawn could tell he was exhausted by the activity. "You've done very well today. How about you ride in my chest pocket instead of on my shoulder? I doubt you have the energy to hold on right now."
---
Lux was hardly opposed to the proposition. He had overworked himself gathering the mineral and only noticed how much their body was shaking now that they were done. The mental wear of casting the spell was also apparent. Both Lux's body and mind were ready to give up for the day. Lux did not resist Dawn as she picked him up and placed them in her chest pocket. Perhaps Dawn had hoped he would be up for more conversation, as she had positioned him in such a way to easily talk to her. Lux was simply too tired, and slid down into the bottom of the pocket. Before he could gauge a reaction from Dawn above, he was already fast asleep.
Lux was yanked out of their sleep. Immediately finding themselves choking, dangling under Dawn's hand. He only heard a light chuckle from above. "I suppose I should untie you now." The witch put them down on the kitchen table and worked on undoing the band. As it finally came loose, Lux realized it probably got tightened more during the night. He could breathe a lot better all of the sudden. Another chuckle from the witch, it seemed it was her intention for the band to tighten during the night. She whipped around towards the kitchen counter. "You will stay there, while I prepare breakfast." Lux watched as she worked on preparing a porridge. Memories of the boiling hot stew flashing back into his mind. The witch turned back around with appropriately sized bowls. As she set them down, she took one look at him. "What, you don't think im making you eat with your hands again?" She had read them like a book. "Here, use this, eat as much as you want." The witch handed them a small spoon, probably the smallest one she owned, but still several sizes too big for him to use easily. Still, compared to the alternative, he could not complain.
---
Dawn had woken up in an unusually good mood. It probably was related to all the frustration she was able to release into her new toy. In that regard, she felt like she had to at least thank the tiny in some way. His debt hadn't been close to repaid, but that didn't mean she could not treat him nicely, at least for now. She looked at Lux, happily scarfing down the sweet porridge, only hesitating slightly when he noticed her looking at them. All things considered, the borrower seemed to hold up fairly well under her abuses. Perhaps, if they lasted long enough to repay their debt, she would consider binding them as a familiar. For now, however, she would think of a new way to torment her plaything. "The next few days, you are going to work to replace the most expensive ingredient you borrowed from me." The tiny cocked his head at her. Cute, Dawn thought. Was she gaining attachment to it? She had to be more careful. "Today, we are going to travel into the mountains." Dawn got busy packing enough supplies for the trip. She mainly needed food, and some basic ingredients to construct a shelter.
---
Were Lux's eyes playing tricks on them, or did Dawn just blush slightly? If so, he was already getting on her good side. The thought sparked some hope back into them. Maybe it was possible to get out of this. For now, he could only watch as Dawn was packing for the trip she had talked about. When she seemed finished, she took one look at him and stuffed him in the bag too. With that, the witch seemed satisfied and left her home. One last stop was made to perform some sort of spell on the house. Not that Lux could tell all that well from the bag mind you. The rest of the day was incredibly dull, the witch walked towards her destination with a supernatural stamina, probably another of her spells. Since the witch never took any breaks, Lux was left stuck in the bag, frankly enjoying the boredom of it all. After a while longer than Lux could bother to count, they finally came to a stop.
---
Dawn found a nice flat piece of ridgeline to end her day. As she put down her bag, the tiny passenger seemed all to eager to be let out. She opened the bag to set them free, but immediately followed it up with a command. "You can wander to stay out of my way, but you will not wander too far, understood?" The tiny nodded enthusiastically and scurried off into the brush. Dawn felt a regret at giving the borrower this freedom. Was she getting soft already? The rest of that trail of thoughts would have to wait. For now she had to focus on shelter, luckily she practiced a spell just for these trips. Drawing the circle in the ground, she heard the tiny scurry back into sight. They seemed to be looking intently at what she was doing. She didn't pay too much mind, and continued by adding the reagents in their respective spots. Lastly, a drop of sap to start the spell. The ground rose to form a shelter that could comfortably accomodate her. She even managed to refine her spell to the point that it would form a soft moss bed for her to sleep on. It wouldn't compare to her own bed, but it was a lot better than what her old summonings could muster.
---
Lux could hardly believe their eyes. From their point of view, a castle just rose from the ground as if it was nothing. He looked over at the witch who suddenly looked quite worn out. He almost jumped when her eyes locked with his. A frown forming on her face. "You, move my bag into the shelter." Lux's legs got back into their obedient rhythm, he had almost forgotten how that spell had felt. They struggled dragging the bag towards the entrance, it probably weighed four times what he did. When he finally got the bag inside, he felt amost proud that he managed to do so. Turning around, that pride was quickly shattered by a stern looking Dawn. "Pathetic." She hissed. The witch walked over to the tent, purposefully trampling Lux in the process.
---
Dawn felt exhausted, her spells seemed more powerful than before. While this meant she had more space in her shelter, it also meant the spell sapped her of more of her energy than she had intended. All she wanted now, was to have some dinner, and go to sleep for the night. And as for dinner, she had just the plan that could sate both her physical hunger and her hunger to watch the all too chipper thief suffer. It was time for another experiment. She took a knife and a pot from her travel pack. A grin formed on her face. A grin, the little Lux had obviously learned to recognize. As fear clearly filled their eyes. It seemed that they knew better than to try and run away. "Come here." She ordered, and the borrower complied. "Hold still." She picked up the unmoving borrower in one hand, and held her knife in the other. Holding both hands above the pot, she started slicing off pieces of the thief into the pot. With every cut, Lux seemed to sceam louder and louder. Dawn was enjoying each and every second of the sound. Every time she was finished with a cut, she waited for a couple seconds. Watching contently as the removed limb grew back. After 5 minutes of this, she had enough meat to make up a meal for her. And frankly, she had grown tired of the tinies screams. She tossed them aside and got to work on cooking the tiny pieces of meat. She was honestly excited to try it, she had no idea what borrowers tasted like. And if the taste was good, she would have found her new favourite way of ruining Lux's day. Dawn watched the tiny struggle on the ground while she prepared the meat. When it seemed done, she took the pot off of the fire. Dawn threw a glance at Lux, who finally seemed to have recovered from the harvesting. "Here, have some." Dawn enjoyed the look that developed on Lux's face, he seemed to be well aware of what it is that she just handed them. "What's the matter, not hungry?" The borrower aggresively nodded no, holding the piece of meat as far away from them as possible. "Now that's not a nice way to treat my cooking, I even made sure there was enough just for you. Now, eat, and keep it down." Dawn enjoyed the return of a familiar sound. Lux's tiny sobbing always cheered her up, watching them eat parts of their own flesh, cheered her up even more. She watched for a little longer, enjoying the scene she had created, before trying some of the meat for herself. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as she had hoped, it was dry and a little chewy. The flavour was not as bad, maybe she could try cooking it into a stew some other time. This would have to do for now.
---
Lux felt shattered, a part of him had built up a false belief that the witch would hold back her punishments more and more. They thought they were in better standing than before. Then why, why, why, would she do something like she did? Lux could feel his mind reeling at just the thought of that blade making contact with his skin again. The rest of their body wasn't in much better shape. Their stomach churning on the cursed cooking, nauseating Lux with every movement. Their arms and legs, while physically long recovered, were still sending phantom pain signals to Lux's brain. All this overwhelmed them to a degree they hadn't experienced before. The only thing Lux could do was lay there, looking into the sky. They weren't even able to hope for a better future. It was clear that only the sadistic witch would be able to decide that, and she had clearly decided Lux's future did not look bright. At that thought, his mind gave out for the night. Exhausted from the torment, Lux fell asleep against their will.
---
With her meal finished, Dawn got to cleaning up her cooking implements. She wanted to get to bed as quickly as possible. While her magic helped with keeping the trek going as long as it did, it still exhausted her mentally. Then, she noticed the tiny Lux collapsed on the floor. Knowing that she caused his condition brought a warmth to her she hadn't felt in a while. Though, she would have to be careful. Whether she liked to admit it or not, she had grown a little fond of Lux. While she could heal a broken body, there was no cure for a broken mind. Dawn felt conflicted, she still wanted the thief to pay for their crimes. Perhaps, she considered, they could also pay their due in a less violent manner. Or perhaps, she would break him in her magic fueled aggressions. She sighed at that thought, despite the circumstances, Lux was the best company she has had for well over a hundred years. She decided would try her best to hold in her anger. Dawn had cleared the last of the mess and got ready for bed. She decided she would grace Lux a little bit, and carried them inside the shelter, leaving them to sleep on their own padded corner. Dawn closed up the shelter for the night, she didn't have to worry about Lux scurrying off, as the construction was waterproof and only opened at her will. The exhaustion finally caught up with her, and she collapsed on the bed of moss.
Dawn felt fatigued from the complicated spells she had to cast today. With the sun setting, the thought of her warm bed seemed more enticing with every minute. She had one task left for the evening and it unfortunately couldn't wait. Processing all the flowers Lux picked would be a hassle. Luckily, with the amount they picked, she wouldn't need to process any more for a long time. She picked up the basket of flowers, and flung the tiny into it as well. He might be useful for picking the petals, she thought. Working carefully with leather gloves, she removed most of the stems of the flowers. Then, she pulled Lux out of the basket and set them down on the workbench. "You will take the flowers I give you and pluck the petals off of the stem, you can put the petals in this glass here."
---
Lux felt conflicted. Not about the pain he was enduring, that part was very clear. But, he felt conflicted about the way the witch had been treating them. Mostly, she clearly regarded him as unworthy of basic respect. However, when Lux helped make her work easier, there was a clear shift. As he sat there, working through the flowers as fast as his sore hands allowed them, he could feel Dawn was at least tolerating his existence. Maybe, he thought, helping her wherever possible, would at least save them from the worst of her punishments. With the last of the flowers going through his hands, he silently hoped whatever came next was not too horrific.
---
Dawn was happy with the work Lux had done, their small hands clearly suited to this precision work. She did her best to hide this satisfaction, though. Wouldn't want the tiny to think it was getting on her good side. Though, she pondered, maybe it could be more fun if it thought it was. "Thank you for the help, you can stand back while I boil the flowers." Lux seemed more than happy to keep their distance from the magical burner. Dawn quickly had a boil going. She was staring intently at the glass, the purity of the solution was clearly helped by Lux's precision work. "Come, look" she signaled the borrower. She watched as Lux walked to a safe distance from the fire. "Your handiwork helped increase the purity of the solution, you can be proud of your work today." A smile beamed from Lux's face. "In fact, why don't you take a closer look." Only Dawn was smiling now, as the command forced the borrower uncomfortably close to the flames. Lux looked at her in a pleading manner. "Closer. Take a real good look." The fire was now only a couple centimetres from Lux's face, he was clearly suffering from the heat. "In fact, I think you should get a closer feel even. Yes, you will touch the glass, that way you can really appreciate it." Horror filled the tinies eyes as their arms moved against their will. Dawn could see his hands boiling on the side of the glass. A foul stench of burned flesh filled the air. Only then had she had enough. "You can pull away from the glass now."
---
Lux was happier than ever before to regain his freedom. The pain of holding onto the glass was unlike any he had endured before. It was made even worse by the sense of betrayal he felt. They had helped the witch, right? He was even praised that he improved the purity. Yet, it did not seem to matter to the cruel witch. He was not as sure now, that helping her would result in lighter treatment. Then again, maybe the punishment for refusing to help would have been even worse, he shuddered at that thought. He had to keep trying to get on her good side. It was probably the only chance they had, maybe not even to get out of this, but at least to not suffer as much. Lux realized how quickly he had given up hope of escape. To be fair to himself, how could they not? Normally his chances already would be slim, due to his small stature. But with the control spell in place, he was literally incapable of escaping. Dawn only needed to speak a single word to stop him in his tracks. No, he would just have to find a way to get on her good side, if such a thing even existed with that witch.
---
Dawn looked down at the tiny with glee. She really liked watching the little thief suffer through her ideas. Thinking further, she was also impressed with her own control spell, she wouldn't have guessed it was potent enough to override natural instincts to this degree. Perhaps the potency was related to the diminutive stature of its target. Perhaps, if the oppertunity striked, she would try it on a more normal sized subject. Perhaps, for now she should focus her attention at the tiny Lux sitting in front of her now. He seems to be staring at her with big pleading eyes. "And what do you want, hmm?" She spoke with a mocking tone. She watched as the tiny hesitated, struggling to find the words. "Come on, speak." "I, uh, would like to sleep now, uhm, ma'am. If that's not too much to ask." Dawn chuckled, it was clear Lux was trying their best to be respectful, even as she commanded them to ask for something he had no right to ask for. To be fair, Dawn was feeling quite worn out from the day as well. Maybe the tiny had the right idea and she should call it a night. "Very well, I will make the arrangements, you will stay here and wait, understood?." "Yes ma'am!" Lux answered a little too eagerly. She would have to whip that energy out of him someday.
---
Lux did as he was told and sat there, waiting. While he could hear Dawn was busy, they couldn't quite figure out what it was she was actually doing. Then, it became quiet, and Dawn popped around the doorway, carrying a twisted grin again. "For your hard work today, I wanted to reward you with sleep in a proper bed." Lux already anticipated a twist however and was not suprised when she spoke up again. "However, I'm not certain the command spell will carry through the night, so I have created this band that will make sure you can't get too far away from me." That, wasn't as bad as Lux was expecting. They werent too sure what they were expecting, but after the stew and the fire, he knew she was capable of much worse. "Stand still for me." He took the pose without resistance. She lowered a band around Lux's neck, and tightened it just enough to be a little uncomfortable. He was happy it at least didn't hurt. Then, without warning, he was pulled up by the neck. Dawn walked off with him tied to her finger. As he choked dangling under the witches hand, he could only think that this was more what he expected from her.
---
Dawn happily made her way to her bedroom. She had found a way to torment Lux, even in her sleep. While she was going to honor her promise, the borrower would be sleeping in her bed, and she was anything but a quiet sleeper. Often she had woken up on the floor of her room due to how much she moved during the night. And now, Lux would be attached to her, unable to escape whatever movements she would make during her sleep. As she hit the mattress she could feel just how much those spells had exhausted her. She hadn't intended for them to be that strong, but she certainly enjoyed the day the spells had given her. She quickly dozed off, with little further care for the borrower attached to her index finger.
---
With the giant form looming next to them, Lux felt a sense of regret for ever asking for sleep. Not that anything could change his fate for the night. The witch fell asleep the moment she got into bed. This left Lux with some precious time to think over their situation. He hadn't had any time to think during the day, and now that he did, it sunk into him how truely dire his situation was. With his new rate of regeneration there was nothing Dawn could do to them that would manage to kill him. But with the level of sadism Dawn had displayed, it felt like she would still manage to find a way. And he was going to suffer through every one of her experiments. Not that he could resist of course, because she had thought of that as well. He walked where she wanted him to, and not even his barest instincts could fight against her commands. He quietly started crying to himself. He never wanted any of this, he used to feel so blessed to live in the nooks and crannies of the quiet cabin. Never had he considered it would blow up in his face, and especially not like this. As he let out another sniffle, the giants back seemed to shift. Before Lux could react, he found himself crushed between the bed and Dawn's back. Unable to move any part of their body, he tried his best to fall asleep under the crushing weight.
"Now then, little one, I have some last ingredients to prepare, so you will sit over there while I prepare them. And don't even think about running away again." Dawn smiled as she watched the little Lux walk over to where she pointed, and sit down. While its body co-operated, its face told a different story. A mix of both fear and disgust could be found in the tinies expression. Dawn happily went to her mortar and pestle, the last few ingredients had to be freshly mixed, otherwise the spell might not be potent enough for the things she had in mind. "Almost done!" She gathered the mixed ingredients and walked to where she had prepared the next circle. The borrowers tiny size did have an upside in all this, she thought, normally she would have used up most of her ingredients, and needed to draw the circle in her backyard. With a being such as Lux however, a table already sufficed for the magic and the reagents were measured in spoonfulls, instead of the usual buckets. "Allright, I'm all done. You will walk over here, and stand upright in the middle of the circle."
---
Lux's body jolted upwards. Following the witches instructions, he walked to the center of the circle she had marked out for them. "Now, what happens next might hurt a little, but you will stand still through all of it." Lux could feel their legs tighten up, he really had no choice in the matter. The witch carefully picked something up from out of his sight. "Here, take this." She handed him a shard of metal that was just small enough for Lux to hold. "When I give the signal, you will carefully cut your index finger, and let some of your blood drip on this spot." Dawn pointed at one of the triangles interrupting the circle surrounding him. Lux's feelings over the ritual hardly seemed to matter, even to themselves. The situation felt so hopeless he had mentally given up somewhat. Even if he could freely move again, what chance did he stand to escape from her hands, when their entire being would surrender if she wanted it so. All he could do was watch as the witch placed the last ingredients around the edge of the circle. "Now." Dawn commanded. Lux could only watch as his arms followed the witches instructions to a tee. The prick hurt less than they expected, but the sensation that followed it made Lux quickly forget the prick. It felt as though Lux's entire body was being burned, and all they could do was stand as still as they were ordered to do. He wasn't ordered to stay quiet however, and with pain as overwhelming as he was experiencing, Lux couldn't help but scream at the top of their lungs.
---
"Now, I might have lied a little bit about it only hurting a little. I've been through it myself, so I know how much you're hurting right now." Dawn was carrying the same sadistic grin from before. "But, from what I can tell, the spell was a success, so you won't have to go through it again." Being honest with herself, Dawn was more concerned with all the expensive ingredients she was using up on Lux than his actual wellbeing. If anything, the goal of this enchantment was so that she could have more fun at his expense. "Let's test how well it has worked. Walk over here, and stretch out the fingers on your left hand for me." Dawn enjoyed the puzzled look on Lux's face. It quickly turned to horror as she pulled out a pair of scissors. There still seemed to be some fight in the tiny, as it tried to stumble away from Dawn, hand still outstretched towards her. "Now now, I thought we wouldn't be running away anymore. Stand still!" The borrower immediately held its position, tears filling its face. "Much better, now keep your hand still." She carefully moved one of his fingers away from the others, and in a seemingly practised motion cut it off without resistance. As she did, barely any blood came from the removed digit, and within seconds, it reappeared like nothing ever happened. The only evidence being a tiny finger laying limply on the table.
---
Lux could only watch in shock as his finger regrew. Both from the pain of the witch cutting off his finger, and from the ease at which it grew back. As they looked up at the witch, a new sense of disgust filled Lux. She was grinning with her whole face now. Whatever she was planning, was sure to be worse than a single finger. He could feel his stomach churn at the thought, and before they could stop it, they were puking up their last meal. The witch didn't seem suprised at that reaction. Instead, her grin seemed to only widen. "Now I don't like my guests making such a mess of my table. Why don't you lap that back up, and keep it inside your stomach this time, won't you?" Lux's eyes fill with terror as their body complied with the command. Unable to scream as their mouth filled with the sour sick. Only when it was all cleaned up, did they regain the ability to scream out of horror. Even then, as their stomach twisted and turned in every way, it refused to let even a drop out of it.
---
Dawn was filled with a lightness she hadn't experienced in a long while. With the second spell in place, she was truly free to do whatever she wanted to Lux. Her very own plaything to unleash all her sadistic desires upon. Her mind was filled with all the things she used to wish upon the local townfolk. She had never been able to enact any of it. While she could easily win from a group of poorly armed farmers, doing so would quickly gain the attention of the royal mages. And while her magic was strong, it stood no match against those better funded nerds. Not that it mattered now. She looked down upon her new test dummy and wondered what she was going to try first. "Let's start with some durability testing, shall we?" The borrower seemingly protested, not that it bothered Dawn. She forcefully picked him up by one of his legs, it returning a snapping sound at the sudden movement. Dawn stood up with the tiny dangling in her grip. Its tiny screams were starting to annoy Dawn somewhat. "Will you be quiet?" While it was barely a conscious comment on Dawn's side, it was a command, and as such, Lux obeyed it. The screaming stopped immediately. Dawn paused for a moment to process what happened, before quietly laughing to herself. She hadn't quite realized just how much power she held over the tiny. She hoped it regretted ever setting foot in her home, let alone stealing her supplies. Not that the regret would help it now, it was far too late for that.
---
Lux was completely trapped, not even being able to scream out at the pain in their leg. The witch was holding him so carelessly that every swing would tug at his leg, making it feel like it would snap off at any moment. In fact, Lux was convinced that the witch was swinging him with intention, to see how much force his leg would stand. It didn't even seem like she was taking them anywhere in particular. With a particularly forceful swing, he felt it, a gross, wet snap. Pain overwhelmed his nerves once more, Lux did not dare look. With a loud thud, he flew into the floor, his leg still held by the witch. The witch only paused for a second, paying more attention to the regrowth of Lux's leg than his tears. "You're sturdier than you look. I really had to put a lot of force in that swing." Was that the only thing she was concerned with? "Stand up, and walk over here." The witch gestured to a spot in the doorway. Lux was suprised that his leg had already fully regrown. As he made his way to the doorway, he could only wonder what the witch had in store for him now. "Do you see my beautiful garden out there? It is filled with ingredients that I use for my spells. Some of which I have run out of because of the spells I needed to put on you. So as part of your repayment, you are going to go out there and gather hogweed flowers for me. Barehanded. When you're done, you will bring them inside so I can process them further." Lux's body automatically sprung in action. Not that they got far. The witch decided to kick them with all her force, launching him straight into the middle of the giant hogweeds. Their skin immediately burned on contact with the plants, but they couldn't stop their body from climbing to the top of the horrid things. Lux could only suffer through the burning sensation, locked out from any motor control.
---
Dawn let out a chuckle at the sight of Lux disappearing in the massive plants. It had always been a pain to harvest those flowers. She didn't have to worry about any of that anymore. It might take Lux a lot longer than she would've taken herself, but knowing he was suffering through every second of it gave her all the reason she needed. The flowers were just a nice bonus. Now that she finally had some time to herself, she realized how tired she had gotten from casting those spells. Not just tired, hungry too, her stomach reminded her. With Lux busy in the garden, she decided it was a good time to whip up some dinner. She got to work and before long had a nice pot of food stewing. It would be a little while before it was done. Dawn was happy with herself. The food already smelled good, even while it was not yet ready. With some time to kill, she decided to look outside and see how Lux was getting on. She couldn't have asked for better timing, as she watched the tiny stumble out of the brush, carrying multiple of the giant flowers behind them. She could not hold in her laughter at the sight of him. He was a sunburnt red color, covered in welts, bruises and scrapes. Still, he powered on, only his face betraying his actual feelings about the forced gardening he just undertook.
---
"There you are, put the flowers in this basket, and then join me inside. I've got dinner going." That must be another cruel joke she has prepared for him, Lux thought. Still, it was not like he had a choice in the matter. He put the flowers in the basket, struggling as it was taller than themselves. He then made his way to the kitchen. Lux was pleasantly suprised at the smell of actual cooking. "Clean yourself up, I don't want to accidentaly get a hogweed barb in my skin because of you." His hands immediately got to work, though this time he did not mind it. With every needle removed, his pain eased. By the time the last needle was gone, his body had already recovered from the toxins. A small blessing in the grand scheme of things, but one that Lux wouldn't take for granted. "Well, it seems like you've gathered more flowers than I had even expected. I suppose you're expecting some sort of reward." Lux looked up expectantly at the witch, a twinge of sympathy stirred in her face. "Very well". The witch picked Lux up with slightly more regard than before, and set them down on the kitchen table.
---
Dawn took the smallest bowl she could find, and filled it with the rich stew. She set it down next to the tiny Lux, who was barely tall enough to reach into the bowl. "Go ahead, you can eat." The borrower shot a questioning look back up at her. "I don't have any utensils." Dawn's grin returned. "Thats right, you haven't earned those yet. Now eat." At that command, Lux's moved towards the bowl, cupping hot stew in their hands to eat it. Dawn was enjoying the show as she calmly let her own stew cool. When the tears on Lux's face stopped, she tried some of her own stew. It was at a perfect eating temperature, and oh so rich in flavour. She was really spoiling that tiny thief, she thought. Though he had proven himself quite useful today, both in the garden and as a food thermometer. While still worn from the magic required to get Lux to be this useful, she was happy with the early results.
