It was a torture table. Something to hold the victim or prisoner down while they were tortured or interrogated; probably both. Granted, that was pretty close to what she was about to do: get information and then cause extreme pain, albeit that she was trying to save his life, rather than for the purpose of causing said pain.
She was still staring at the table as the others filed in behind her, the doors closing with a loud clang as she jumped a little, finally noticing that those who’d already been in the room and those who’d followed were all looking expectantly between her and the capall Logan was leading. Glancing around, she met the grim gaze of Brodie and nodded to him before sighing and taking a deep breath.
Walking over to the capall, she twitched the blanket off, taking her cage of birds and setting it to the side. Gasps rose when Tevon came into view. He was obviously awake and glaring balefully at everyone from inside his bonds. Using wind magic, she lifted him from the back of the beast and towards the table as she began to speak. “So here’s the deal. I have no idea if this procedure will even work, so I’ll compel him to answer a few questions before we begin. However, the law of diminishing returns is in effect. He will become increasingly resistant to my compulsion and attempt to hypnotize you in return.”
She paused, setting him on the table and using metal magic to lock him into the restraints, using the metal casings she’d put around his hands and feet to create even more restraints around the elbows and knees. She didn’t want him getting any momentum. As soon as he was settled, she went on, “From past experience, the limit was about three questions, less if they’re stronger, which I’m guessing he is. So I’d say you’ve got one, maybe two questions. Make sure they count.”
Victor and Camille returned to their parents’ side, as did Brodie. She waited while they held a short murmured conversation about what to ask first. Finally, Derrick and Brodie stepped forward, standing on the other side of Tevon, across the table from her. Derrick nodded for her to go ahead and remove the gag. Before she did, she gave everyone in the room a quick glance as she spoke compellingly, “You don’t need to follow anything the mesmer says.” She felt several of them startle as the compulsion took hold, her voice layered with hypnotism as well as she turned back to Tevon and spoke directly to him, “You may not hypnotize anyone, and you will answer their questions quickly and truthfully.”
As soon as the words left her lips, she used a bit of wind and metal magic to pull the gag from his mouth. Derrick wasted no time as he asked his question, “Was there a reason you took my children specifically?”
Glaring, but obviously compelled to obey, Tevon hissed angrily, “The Dark One has ordered ussss to take thossse who know the traveler and will make good sssssacrificessssss… They were jusssst the firssssst.”
Blanching slightly, Derrick quickly asked a follow up question, “How did the Dark One order you to do this?”
Revealing a ghastly smirk, Tevon effused, “The Dark One issssss in ussss all…” Well okay, that wasn’t really helpful.
Brodie spoke quietly, “Is my father even still in there?”
“My ssssssson, releasssse me and I will sssssshow you the joy the dark can give.” Tevon’s eyes narrowed on Brodie as he spoke, smirking evilly as Brodie unconsciously took a step forward, reaching for the metal which bound Tevon.
“And that’s that.” She instantly shoved the gag back in Tevon’s mouth, having felt his hypnotic pull before her mental fortitude took effect. “Brodie, snap out of it.” Her voice was laced with compulsion again as he seemed to come out of a deep daydream. He stared in horror at his father, recoiling a few steps. Tevon was struggling ineffectually against his bindings, angry at having been thwarted once again.
Sighing as she looked down at the once-man, she spoke commandingly, “Tevon, it’s time for you to sleep now.” She could see him struggling against the suggestion, so she reinforced the order imperiously, “SLEEP.” He struggled for a moment longer before his body went limp and his eyes closed.
Looking bleakly at the people around her, she focused on the healers. “As fun as this reunion was, it’s time to see if we can save him. Please take your positions.” She absently pulled some of the meat from her ring, chewing on it as she pondered aloud, “Is there more food nearby? Most of us are probably going to need to replenish energy during this…”
She chose her position near his right shoulder, pulling a stool out of her ring and sitting on it. She didn’t even want to try standing for the whole thing, as tired as she knew she already was. She felt someone come up behind her, ready to support her if she needed something. Glancing up, she smiled at Hunter. He seemed to have taken it upon himself to be her backup for the day, despite the deep rings under his own eyes.
The other healers took their positions while Brodie and Derrick stood nearby, gazing solemnly down at the man they called family. The rest of the royals also seemed prepared to pitch in where they could, and she now saw they had buckets of her smoothie solution and other food in hand. She nodded as she took a deep breath, wincing at the rancid smell of Tevon that assaulted her nose.
“Let’s begin.” Steeling herself, she laid her hands on Tevon’s shoulder as the other healers did the same in their chain, letting her magic flood his body as she took inventory of the changes and damage done.
Once she had a mental map of his entire body, she began to force the change back, correcting the cells that she could and eliminating the sickness she couldn’t fix.
Silently, she sent up a prayer to whatever gods were listening that this would work.
Chapter Sixteen – Responsibility
Only the gag in his mouth stopped the screams from being completely overwhelming. The induced sleep she’d compelled him into broke as the healing energy forcefully started reverting his body back to human form. One of the first things to clatter to the table were the excess claws that his fingernails had become. His skin began to shift back from ghastly grey back to a pale peach, his teeth losing their sharp points. These were the obvious changes.
The true fight was taking place on a molecular level as she sought to reverse the damage done to his organs. They’d become twisted, the most noticeable of which were his heart, brain, and the very blood which ran through his veins. The black tar-like substance could hardly even be called blood anymore.
She barely noticed when Brodie quickly replaced the gag in Tevon’s mouth with a contraption similar to what she’d rigged up for Kevin. It still plugged up his mouth, but allowed him to suck nourishment into his body through a straw when he wasn’t screaming eerily in unimaginable agony. A straw was held against her own lips and she drank greedily. She leaned heavily on Hunter as she worked, the world around her turning into a vague blur as she focused on the minutiae of the healing.
It wasn’t enough.
Despite her and the other healers pumping energy into Tevon, the man’s muscles were deteriorating at a visible rate as she struggled to reverse what was done by the virus. She was slowly purifying his blood and heart, his pores exuding the impurities as a sticky brown sludge. The smell was nauseating, and she could hear someone retching into a bucket nearby. Hopefully one that had already been emptied.