Dare & The Dark Rider
(( A scene from RP with @kildarren. Dare has been taken prisoner following a raid on Socrethar’s Rise. While meteors from the sky and traps within the temple pulverized and trapped respective allies in the air and sky, Dare made it out of the temple just in time to witness a dark, armored rider on a Fel Raven, who promptly subdued the young draenei with a blast of fel magic. This scene follows his capture at the hands of the Dark Rider))
"Awaken, child."
Dare’s senses were assaulted by the stench of sulfur, the sound of chains, a cold, humid draft - and a persistent, piercing pain in the vacant, gem-studded socket where his left arm used to be.
A dual sensation of weightlessness and incredible burden claimed the prisoner. He was suspended in air by fel magic, yet his single arm and both legs were bound in heavy shackles. Each shackle was anchored by chains to a pair of obsidian pillarson either side of him. He could move his limbs only so much until the resistance overwhelmed his physical strength.
From the clammy atmosphere and dim candle light, he could make out that he was in the depths of a cave somewhere. Before him stood the figure of an immense Sargerei, clad in black, heavy plate armor.
It was the dark rider who captured him, at Socrethar’s Rise.
Dare managed to wake without screaming, but only because he felt it wouldn't help him now. Everything hurt, especially the now-damaged socket of his left arm, nerve imitation gems left open to the air. He opened his eyes slowly, mostly unsure as to what horrors he might see and seemed relieved that it was only the dark rider, alone and not threatening him this time. "Yes...?" He drew the word out slowly, natural drawl and fear making words take longer.
The dark rider's face was obscured, but his gaze was no less unmistakable, scanning Dare from head to toe, lingering on the exposed gems, where his prosthetic arm would otherwise be. "Your pain is most potent..." The rider stated enigmatically. "...Yet, you know it well. This is...” A gauntlet reached out to touch the exposed gem “...familiar to you. A part of you.".
The pain through the gems outweighed the pain of the shackles as Dare tried in vain to swing himself away from the rider. He hissed a breath through his teeth, his face contorted in a snarl not for aggression but to hopefully prevent him screaming. "Well I hoped I'd never be familiar with it again. Do you -know- how much work you've ruined!" Perhaps not the correct thing to focus on, but Dare was impressed with his arm. "It's hard to not be familiar with something you've grown up with!"
"I had your arm removed." The rider answered, dryly, his fingers idly testing the sensitivity of Dare's gems, measuring his reactions with curiosity. "You will likely never see it again."
"I hadn't noticed," Dare sneered, still vainly trying to pull away regardless of the fact he wasn't moving at all. He squeezed his eyes shut as they watered, the sensation now on par with the actual loss of his arm. He'd been knocked unconscious as that pain had started and he found himself thinking fondly of the stories where people passed out from pain. That would be nice right about now. "Oh, did you need extra height? Now you can reach things off the top shelf?" He's close to sobbing and he's using all his wit to not let that happen.
"It is a trophy of our victory at Socrethar's Rise, now." The rider told him, humorlessly. He let his fingers linger near the gems for a moment longer, witnessing the very limits of Dare's tolerance for pain, and seeming to drink it up with his very being. "Along with the pieces of the rest of your allies."
With that, he pulled his hand away and turns, allowing the youth to process that information.
Dare couldn't hide the sigh of relief that fell from him, as the burning sensation in his left shoulder dulled to a slightly more tolerable throb. He was so enveloped in the sensation, it took him a few moments to process what that rider had said. "Pieces? What?" He paused,trying to think back. No one had been too injured before the temple had collapsed and he couldn't remember any screaming or moans of pain. "Why would there be pieces?!"
"Because, your allies were defeated, and slain. Brutally." The dark rider answered him. "And you are the only survivor who had been left... 'intact'." There was a pause, before the rider snapper his fingers.
With that, another dark, armored Sargerei, carrying a chest, stepped into Dare's field of view. The Dark Rider reached over to the chest, opening it. Inside, Dare could see a number of things - a paladin's shield. Scraps of armor. A spear. A charred hand. A bloody horn. The rider took each item from the chest, and tossed it to the ground, for the prisoner to see.
Dare took a moment to process this, blood slowly draining from his face as what the rider said registered. "They... Dead?" He shook his head as he looked over the 'trophies', wincing as each piece hit the floor. "Why... Why would you?" He blinked at the rider, tears finally starting to trickle down his face. He barely knew these people but...dead? "Why kill them?"
"Why?" He shook his head. "Because they were our enemies. And they were weak." He turned toward the young draenei.
"Then why am I still here?" The question is cautiously asked, Dare not really sure he wanted to know the answer.
"You are here to serve the Burning Legion." The rider told him, slowly at first. "Whatever life you knew before now - it is over, child." The dark rider stared at Dare through his visor, letting those words hang in the air. "First, you will be taken to Hellfire Citadel. There, you are fated to either live, or die. If you die, your body and soul will fuel the Legion's war machines. If you live..." He paused, shaking his head slightly. "...There are fates worse than death. Either way, you will serve the Legion."
"Why not them?! They were stronger, better! What need do you have of me. You even call me a child!" Dare struggled against the restraints, terror flooding through him.
"Because you survived..." The dark rider told him. "...and they did not." The rider snapped his fingers again, and the other sargerei collected the pieces of the other adventurers, rangari, and their allies, stashing them away again in the chest.
"But you killed them! Why not me!"
The dark rider pauseD at this, turning toward Dare sharply. Suddenly, Dare could see a large black spear pointed at his throat. The barbed tip glowed a subtle fel green. "Do you wish to join them?" The rider asked. "Are you afraid to face the fate before you?"
"The fate of being enslaved in the Legion's warmachine? No. I just don't -want- to be part of your inability to be good people." Dare tried not to flinch as the spear leaned near his throat. "I'm also not afraid to die. I just don't -want- to yet."
"'Yet'.” The rider repeated, with a scoff. He withdrew the spear. "Your denial is... understandable. But your pain is not deniable.”
With that, he swung the haft end of the spear into Dare's exposed nerve gems. "Regardless of what you may 'want', child. There is no Light to save you. There is no prophet to guide you. Your friends are dead. Your allies are defeated. Your life, as you knew it, is over..." With each word, he pressed the spear harder and harder against Dare’s nerve-gems, before he finally removed the spear from them. His voice seemed almost resigned, as if there were foregone certainty in his words.
"...Pray to the naaru if you must. They will not answer. 'Want' for better things as much as you choose. They will not come to pass."
Dare barely heard the words because the moment the spear hit his arm, he screamed. He didn't even mean to, but it hurt too much, especially combined with the rider's comments. After the spear was removed, he panted for several seconds, trying to keep his head up through the haze of tears. "You LIE! They won't leave me here and let you keep me. Someone -will- come!" Bravodo less impressive as it's said through sobs, but Dare wasn't willing to believe the rider that this was where he would die. "Just because no one wanted to save you doesn't mean we're all alone."
The rider cocked his head slightly as he paced away, listening to Dare’s words, before posing his response. "Who will come? The rangari we have slain? The vindicators we have infiltrated? Or perhaps the mercenaries, we have in our control." The rider shook his head once more. "Weep, child. If there were any one left to rescue you - you will merely watch them die. "
Dare opened his mouth to answer, but some sense came over him and he realized that giving this man names may end up hurting more people. "Someone will." He repeated firmly. "I believe there are many who want you and your legion dead."
"Hm. Let them come." The dark rider stated, before departing the room.
Dare merely watched the rider leave, a small sobbing sigh escaping him.