Activation

The human warrior goes to one knee, placing her hand on your shoulder. There isn’t very much you can do to stop her.

“I understand that this is a lot of information to absorb. If I fell into elven hands I very much doubt I’d believe anything they told me either. The thing is we need each other.. whether you realise it or not yet. Your entire people have been betrayed, and so have mine. With or without your help we will find a way to prevent the elven crusade. But we’d prefer not to have to eliminate you if we don’t have to. We ask only for one simple thing.. one thing which will give us the key we need to break this magic without fitting these blasted devices!”

With some effort you regain control of your indignation and fear, calming yourself and meeting her steady gaze without saying anything. Grimmauld clears his throat off to one side.

“You can see we have some understanding of the heart rune. What we need from you is something else.. the base of the magic, where it starts and ends. The basis of its very creation. The ritual is secret even from us.. nothing is written down.. only the inner circles of elven mages have access to the secrets.. except the subjects of course! We thought we had it with the heart rune, but the root is somewhere else. It is there that we can unravel the magic permanently with the right tool!”

Once again a tremble in your stomach. You know exactly what he is talking about of course. It is called the keystone rune and it lies at the base of your spine. The place where the spellcrafted armour began its bond with you so many years ago. You’ll never forget that first pain.. how it built and built, then dwindled and dwindled until you never feared pain again. Until now.

“By tool, you mean weapon.”

He at least has the good grace to avoid your eyes with a half shrug. You look at Marissa and the points of colour on her cheeks, but she simply nods. You continue with a sigh.

“You talk of betrayal, the evil of it. How then can I trade my life for that of everyone I know and care about? If I were to believe everything you tell me, my Queen is at fault here. Not the soldiers that you would slaughter. And if your words are false.. then surely I would deserve to die for handing the weakness of our greatest weapon over to our bitterest enemies.”

You swallow a hard lump in your throat.

“No. I will submit to **** or **** first. Do what you will to me, no secrets will pass my lips.”

Marissa bows her head with a long sigh, and finally standing she walks back to lean against the wall next to the mirror, high boots clicking on the stone floor. You watch her well muscled legs as she stalks away, before your vision is blocked by the gnome. His face is grim.

“You are not the first of your kind through these vaults. They all refused to cooperate at first and almost all provided valuable information one way or another. But you misunderstand if you think pain is to be our tool here. No my dear, pleasure will be our leverage.”

Without warning he pulls a thin silver rod from a pouch. It is no more than a hand width across. He leans forward and touches it to a spot on the ring embedded in your flesh. A tingle ripples through you like the storm magic you have wielded many a time. But this time it buzzes and settles through your skin, every part of your being.

“Your device is activated Jennara. From now on you will feel as you were meant to feel. Every last stroke and touch, every desire and delight that comes upon you. To a point. Just as the ring devours your magical power, the remaining magic of your runes devours your ultimate pleasure also. You will never achieve climax as things stand.. and you’ll want to. Oh yes you’ll beg for release in the end. And the only way to gain it is to break the chains drawn into your skin.”

He claps his hands sharply twice, moving back from your bench. As he does a small softly glowing glass orb descends from somewhere overhead. As it does the image on the mirror moves with it, displaying everything the orb faces on its molten surface. It is accompanied by the softest of delicate whirs as it flits around, suspended in the air.

“This will keep watch over you. This spyglobe is the small version of the ones outside which kept such useful track of your army. These ones are magically powered of course, not mechanical like their armoured big brothers out there. They don’t last more than a few hours, but so much more discreet. This one is linked to other stations throughout the complex so.. there will always be someone watching Jennara. When you give in we’ll be waiting. I’m sure we can learn much in the meantime!”

He gives you a last look and then moves down past your feet to a sturdy looking door in the wall which you can barely make out without moving your head. It opens at his knock and he hobbles through to whatever is beyond. Marissa taps her lip thoughtfully with one long finger.

“Until we meet again elf. Just remember: this is what is necessary. You can make it unnecessary at any time. For now.. a familiar face for you.”

She stalks away and the sound of her boots fades as she slips through the doorway, replaced by the pat pat pat of bare feet. A shape comes through the door, which closes behind it with a firm thump. It moves closer. You steel yourself for the worst..