Hearing your purposeful footfall on the stone steps up to the Rise, Seluvis heaved a haughty sigh. “Tarnished? What is it that you want-?” Seluvis sneered as he made to turn around, his voice catching in his throat as he felt a large presence loom closely at his back. Though you often had a certain disregard for the sorcerer’s personal space, preferring to silently dwarf him as he rattled off one of his lectures, you had never been quite this close to him before. From this angle, you could see the workbench spread out before him, containing all manner of odd ingredients and small vials. Some appeared to be discarded in a haphazard pile at the side of the desk, glistening fluid oozing from a couple where they had been tossed aside. One vial, amber liquid swirling within, was gripped tightly between two fingers. Hand suddenly clenching around the small bottle, Seluvis palmed it to hide it from sight.

Awkwardly, Seluvis twisted himself to face his guest, seemingly deciding that it was preferable to a faceless shade looming over his shoulder as he spoke. You did not step back to give him room to manoeuvre, remaining uncomfortably close. From here, you could smell the strange perfume on his skin – floral – like the cloying scent of a funeral bouquet. As he turned, he grunted irritably as he was forced to brush against you in the tight space. You fought the urge to smirk openly at his discomfort. There was no need for that just yet.

Seluvis, at first, refused to meet your gaze at all. Doing so would require that he tilt his head back and properly look up. Seemingly feeling undermined by such a gesture, he refused, only to be met with a steady view of your muscular chest instead. You smirked. He began again, voice reedy and impatient. “I will ask again, but only this once, what is it that you require? My time is far more precious than your own, not that you ever seem to be able to comprehend that.” With him unable to fully view your expression as you towered overhead, you got the impression that Seluvis was beginning to feel slightly foolish. His head twitched, as though contemplating whether looking upwards at your face was the lesser of the two evils.

Thoroughly enjoying his wrong-footed blustering, you paused for a moment before finally answering in a measured tone. “I have come to speak with you, Seluvis. Could you do me the courtesy of removing your mask?” You wanted to see his face this time. There was only a limited amount that one could glean from peering into those sunken eyeholes.

“I fail to see how that would be necessary.” He retorted, sneering, making no move to acquiesce to your request. Not that it mattered. You would simply take what you needed. Already within reach, you brought your hand to the edge of that creepy golden visage and began to flex your fingers, prying it from his face. Incensed, he immediately grasped your forearm and attempted to pull it away. “Do you have no sense of decency, Tarnished?” he huffed, eyes narrowing at your forward insistence. The older man tugged at your wrist crossly, but it did not budge. In truth, you didn’t think he could move you even if he ran at you full-tilt, fists forward. As you looked at him, fingers still curled immovably around the edge of the mask, you noticed a slight shift in his eyes. Recognition, that it was about to be removed either way. Clearly not about to allow you to have the satisfaction, determined to keep this minute aspect of control, he swiftly whipped the mask from his face. He set it down on a nearby table as he exhaled deeply through his nose.

It was not often that you saw Seluvis without his mask. He was - at a guess - middle-aged, perhaps slightly older. You had never had this conversation with him during the course of your interactions, and found it unlikely that he would offer such information even if you did. His forehead held multiple deep lines, as did the rest of his face, and thick greying eyebrows arched arrogantly overtop large hawkish eyes. His hair was thinning – a mixture of darkness and encroaching grey – and he constantly preserved a set of trimmed yet bedraggled facial hair. He had on his usual scornful expression, but the edge of his mouth twitched downward almost imperceptibly, like a nervous tic. This slight movement made the straggly gathering of hairs above his lip tremble. Could he be… afraid?

The tension in the room had thickened considerably after your silent show of power, and Seluvis reached for his staff with an air of faux nonchalance. Both of you were silent, for a moment, then he spoke. His stubby fingers tapped the wooden stem of the staff, slowly swirling patterns across its surface. “Well? You came to speak with me? As I mentioned, my time is short. Please relay the nature of your visit and be sure to make it quick.” As he spoke, you sensed that something about his voice was not quite right. Though he often seemed to shamelessly relish the sound of his own voice, this time it seemed like he was purposefully dragging out each syllable, speaking unnaturally loudly. When you did not respond immediately to his overbearing prompting, he hastily began again to fill the silence, twirling his staff as he did.

Hearing a small noise across the room, unsuccessfully disguised by Seluvis’ babbling, you glanced over to see the waiflike figure you recognised as Seluvis’ favourite puppet shambling in through the doorway. She stepped towards you, materialising a bow and beginning to nock an arrow. Amused by such a lacklustre attempt to subdue you, you rushed towards her and drew your arm back. Using the back of your calloused hand and thinking of Seluvis, you struck her hard across the face. Though her expression did not change, continuing to stare vacantly forward, her head spun sideways and her aim faltered. The bow glitched in and out of existence, wavering. Before you had even turned back to face him, Seluvis was seething. “How dare you raise a hand to my beloved! They are like children to me! Lowborn Tarnished, as usual, you do not comprehend the matters with which you meddle!” For a second he stood frozen, seemingly torn in contemplation as to whether he should drop to tend to his fallen ward or fire a barrage of sorceries upon your head. Taking two large strides, you were crowding him once more.

“Do not attempt to use your filthy puppets against me again, you doddering fool.” Leaning forward, you gripped his staff in your unyielding fist. “Do you not at least have some semblance of dignity left that might compel you to defend yourself? You led me to believe you are a learned sorcerer, yet all I see is an overgrown child playing with dolls.” Seluvis appeared unruffled by your insults, harsh words glancing off him as though he had heard them all so many times before. Perhaps he had, you thought, casting your eyes back to the female puppet now splayed carelessly on the floor like a marionette with cut strings. Stooping, Seluvis brought her upright into a kneeling position, her head lolling awkwardly against her chest. He smoothed her short hair gently, tucking it tenderly behind her ears and pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead before straightening up.

“Touching…” you mocked, ever entertained by his vile obsession despite yourself. Abruptly wresting the staff from his hand to preclude any further sneak attacks, twisting it violently for a moment to dislodge him as the man clung on, you tossed it aside. Seluvis glared, massaging his wrist which had been pulled in the struggle. Grasping his arm, you brought him in close, beginning to open the fingers that were tightly clenched around the vial. “And what,” you purred, prying each of his fingers aside one by one, “might this be?” Though he struggled, you pulled his fist open with ease as he wriggled in frustration. You did not hesitate to put force behind your actions, bending his ring finger slightly further back than necessary to elicit an indignant yelp. For a second, you contemplated breaking one. Just holding it, uncompromising, bending it slowly back, further and further as Seluvis whimpered under you. Would he cry?

“Don’t be impudent,” he hissed, “you of all people know exactly what this is.” The man’s indignant admonishment brought you back to the moment, and you relinquished the last finger without cruelty. Allowing yourself to smile widely now, a sight which you noticed made Seluvis’ knuckles turn whiter as he balled his other hand into a fist, you feigned interest in another explanation. Curious to see what depraved little musings the man had concocted this time, you remained silent, knowing that he would be compelled to fill the dead air with his ramblings if you waited long enough. After a short pause, Seluvis heaved a sigh and began to speak in a reverent tone. “Very well…”

His eyes began to glaze over, daydreaming, as he mustered words to detail his most precious work with the gravitas he so clearly felt it deserved. “The potion, Tarnished. The potion which all of my hard work up until this point has led up to. Though my other creations have, of course, been of marvellous quality and performed the duty they were required to perform…” he trailed off, looking at you as if to make sure that you were still listening. You held his gaze, giving nothing away. Apparently Seluvis did not require any further input from you other than a potentially conscious audience, and he continued. “This spectacular liquid shall capture the mind, and the body, of my Lady Ranni…”

Apparently lost in thought, Seluvis’ breathing turned heavy. “Once she consumes the draught…” he paused, running his hands over his robes indecently, as though imagining four tiny hands doing the same. “She will no longer serve her own will… why, she will no longer have a will at all. All that will matter is my desire, my will, and how best she can please me.” His face appeared to be lit from the inside as he spoke, but this was certainly not an improvement. His glassy eyes flickered occasionally to the puppet still kneeling on the floor, as if reminiscing over his past catalogue of depraved acts in preparation to begin a whole new set anew. “Mmm… I can hardly wait to try her out…”

Lost in his licentious reverie, Seluvis barely noticed at first as you swooped forward and plucked the vial from his open palm. He was so pitifully easy to manipulate. How quaint, too, to hear his lustful presumptions all laid out when you had already decided that you would not be carrying out any further aspects of this ‘master plan’ on his behalf. No… at this juncture you had plans of your own, and they certainly did not involve Lady Ranni.

Once you had the vial in your hand, you held it to the gentle glowing light of the Glintstone crystals, turning it this way and that to observe the way the tawny liquid curled menacingly within. In this light, it almost looked alive. Seluvis’ life’s work, perhaps the overall pinnacle of his wretched existence, stoppered in glass. Yours to hold, yours to do with as you wish… It was wholly intoxicating. You felt your heart beat faster in your chest and drew a deep breath, the oxygen fuelling the coals beginning to smoulder temptingly in your gut. In the manner of a petulant child that had their favourite toy confiscated, the sorcerer made a clumsy grab for the bottle but missed as you promptly held it above his head, just out of reach. Seeing the rage bloom in his eyes as you infantilised him, holding it higher as the humiliation burned him up from the inside, lines on his forehead deepening with the intensity of his scowl… Flashes of heat asserted themselves deep in the pit of your stomach, curling fingers of flame around your groin. You could hold back no longer. You had been exceedingly patient. Now, it was time to enact your will. Slipping the vial away for safekeeping, you stared down at Seluvis as his fiery eyes met your own.

Grasping his shoulders decisively, you began forcing him downwards. Screeching, he scrabbled at your sleeves, scratching at you with long nails. “What is the meaning of this!?” Not gracing his outburst with an answer, you increased pressure to meet his resistance. With one great shove, the preceptor’s knees buckled and he hit the floor hard. He grunted in pain as his knees met stone, his fury quelled momentarily with the shock. Blinking, he began to try to get to his feet, berating you as he did. “Insolent Tarnished, how dare you manhandle me! I believe you have forgotten that it is I who hold power here!” You held him down, almost too easily, with one hand.

“Tell me… What use is your power, Seluvis, if it cannot be exerted when the time calls for it?” Your tone was sickly sweet, but the implications of those words seemed to fall upon the man with great heaviness. For once Seluvis was speechless, mouth opening and closing as he contemplated the murky depths of the situation he had found himself in. Surely, he was realising just how much he had underestimated you. How he had allowed you into his Rise without question, included you entirely in the machinations of his less-than-salubrious deeds, summoned you back again and again for lessons or petty fetch-quests… All of this was something that he himself had encouraged, had wrought without hesitation. Only now did he begin to understand the true extent of his numerous mistakes. He wrinkled his nose, grimacing at his woeful reflections. The thought of his despair only spurred you on, compelling you to audaciously stroke the fast-hardening swell between your legs.

Enjoying the way the look on Seluvis’ face morphed from indignation, to anger, to horror and disgust, you freed your eager length from its confines as he observed with dread. Boldly, you thumbed the tip and then lazily moved your hand to stroke yourself at a slow steady rhythm. You were more than confident about your size, and Seluvis’ expression as he gazed upwards only confirmed your faith. You wondered, idly, if this would be his first time servicing a man. Of course, he must have seen the physique of his puppets – you vaguely recalled him telling you at length about their bathing routine – but you suspected that it was only the female ones with which he had… dalliances.

Moving closer, you held your impressive length to his pursed lips expectantly, pausing just before the two met. Seluvis spluttered, and you chuckled at the incensed outrage on his reddened face. It was almost too perfect. His eyes were wide, as though he could not bear to close them even if it might give him a few seconds of reprieve from the sight before him. Gathering himself enough to begin arguing with you once again, he started to rebuke you in the same snooty tone he might if you brought the wrong materials to a sorcery lesson. “Surely you cannot be insinuating that-”

“No. Certainly not. I would never leave such things up to insinuation.” Cutting off his officious blustering, you pushed forward without warning and forced yourself into his gasping mouth. Gods, how you’ve longed to do the same so very many times before. How many worthless lectures have you been forced to endure, when this could have been the alternative? Apoplectic, Seluvis writhed like a spasming eel plucked from water. Pulling his head back as far as he could, he began furiously forming words which you fucked out of his mouth with ease. The inside of his mouth was sinfully hot, though his sharp little tongue could certainly be better trained. The moment you thrust fully in, he choked, spittle drooling from the corner of his mouth as you speared into his throat. From his desperate gargling each time you moved, you confirmed your earlier suspicions.

Though his constant struggle to pull back was mildly amusing, it started to become somewhat of an irritating distraction as you tried to maintain a satisfactory rhythm. Sharply, you slapped him across the face. Seeing a new flash of anger fleet across his tired features, you felt the graze of teeth against your length. “I promise” you growled, “that you do not want to follow through with that threat.” Your fiery eyes bored into his, dangerously, daring him to disobey. Seluvis, being the brazenly foolhardy man that he was, began to bite down. In an instant, your fist connected with his face, punching so hard that he fell backwards off you and lay on the ground reeling. His head had bounced glancingly off the stone, and he looked entirely dazed. Blood trickled from his nose, down through his greying moustache and into his open mouth. You noted the reddened bloom around one of his eyes, envisioning with satisfaction the lurid state of it in a couple of days’ time.

Bloody fool, you thought, half enraged, half fascinated. He was unfailingly impertinent and disrespectful, even when faced with a circumstance such as this. He really couldn’t help himself. You spoke – low, calm, dangerous. “You were warned.”

You bent to grasp the man under both arms, hauling him upright. Amused, you wondered if this reminded Seluvis of the times he must have spent with his precious puppets. Surely he was no stranger to the idea of repositioning a living being as though they are nothing more than a purpose-built toy, moving their limbs to suit various needs… This was almost justice, if you really thought about it. Unsteady on his feet, still dazed from your strike, he leaned unwillingly against you. Running your hand down his robes, you slipped within and began undoing the ties at the front of his trousers. Though he wriggled and fought, his eyes drooped dizzily and his knees trembled with the effort of remaining standing. There was nothing he could do as you coiled your fingers inside his underwear, exploring, running fingertips through the short sparse tufts of his pubic hair.

You curled your fingers around his length, pleased to find it unimpressive. You felt his breath hitch, a groan dying in his throat as he actively suppressed it. “Stop… this…” Seluvis ordered in a strangled tone. He seemed to be losing his mastery over words as you held his most sensitive organ firmly in the grasp of your hand. His breaths, shallow and rapid, echoed loudly in the quiet room. As he pulled away, his face contorted in a grimace as he brought inadvertent pleasure with the movement. “I… I will have you thrown out for this! I’ll… ungh…” he yelped, writhing in your grasp in impotent anger. It seemed as though the overwhelming sensations were riddling his mind, rendering him wholly unable to compile a convincing threat as he squirmed and panted in your arms.

You laughed openly at his utter nonsense, tossing back ripostes as you circled your thumb over his slit. “Throw me out, hmm? Oh no, apologies, have me thrown out. How delightful. Yes, it wouldn’t do for you to try to eject me yourself now, would it? That would be far too much like hard work!” His engorged tip was already swollen, reddened, leaking into your palm. He stifled a sound as you flicked it sharply with your finger. “And who do you imagine will be able to throw me out? Your puppets?” You sneered over the word, making it clear that you feared none of his makeshift bodyguards or fucktoys. Seluvis glanced at the open doorway. Leaning close, so close that your hot breath tickled his ear, you whispered. “Nobody is coming for you. If they do, by some divine power, happen to stumble upon this place expecting to speak with you… What they are about to witness will be almost as enjoyable for them as it is about to be for me.”

A multitude of emotions washed across his flushed face as you continued to tease his little cock in sharp, domineering strokes. His retorts seemed to get caught in his throat as you twirled your fingers like a puppeteer playing with a marionette. “N-no! I can’t!” Seluvis eventually exclaimed thickly, blood still flowing from one nostril. It was only now that you noticed that the bridge of his nose was slightly misaligned. Heat pooled, concentrated and heavy, in the pit of your stomach.

“Can’t? Or won’t?” You smiled. “Never mind, it is irrelevant. You shall.”

Taking his hair in one hand, you began to manoeuvre his body towards his workbench. Struggling and kicking, he clutched at anything he could grasp – shelves, candlesticks, your chest – as you dragged him away from everything else. Various items crashed to the ground as he screeched in desperation, knowing what was to come. “Tarnished! Listen to me!” he urged, voice audibly wavering higher with panic. Feeling him scrabble once again at your front, you took his wrists in your other hand and twisted them behind his back. A small sound escaped him that sounded suspiciously like a strangled sob. Upon reaching the table, you spun him to face it and bent him over. Decisively, you pressed his head right down to the wooden surface until his hollowed cheek was squashed uncomfortably against it. Eye-level with all his failed prototype concoctions, bent to the whims of a lowly Tarnished, you wondered if the regret had begun to set in, or whether that would come later. Would he lie awake, trying with that inquiring mind to reconcile the sequence of today’s events in a way that allowed him to come out on top? You smiled at the thought.

Releasing his hands briefly, you wrestled them upwards so that you could fumble with the belt he had strapped across his chest. Though he fought back, attempting to stamp at your feet, kick your shins, you easily evaded him and whipped the leather off his body in a matter of seconds. Grasping his hands again, you tied them painfully tightly, looping the belt around his fragile wrists and pulling it taut. The sight of him, bound beneath you, bent over his own workbench… it stoked the rampant fire in your abdomen and you growled. Rapacious fingers pulled at his robes, throwing them over his back as they pulled at his waistband. “Stop! You imbecile, stop!” he cried, but you weren’t listening, blood rushing in your ears as you exposed his backside. Wasting no time, you ran two fingers harshly against his entrance, barely hearing his strangled gasp at the alien sensation.

The potion bottles strewn across the desk captured your attention for a moment, and an inspired thought crossed your mind. Relinquishing his head momentarily, you picked up one of the discarded bottles and popped out the cork. The liquid inside was not amber, more of a pale sickly yellow, and had a surprisingly thick consistency. “It seems a shame not to use these for something, now doesn’t it..?” Leaning down along his back, making sure you pressed against him so that he felt your aching hardness, you murmured condescendingly sweet assurances to the man twitching beneath you. “Luckily for you, I have just the idea… and believe me, it is lucky.” Pouring the viscous potion from the bottle into your palm, you didn’t bother waiting for it to warm up at all before coating Seluvis’ entrance. Hissing in discomfort, he writhed at your unwelcome touch. Slowly, after waiting a little for his heat to warm the liquid, you moved to grind against the slickness at his opening. Using your free hand, you used the rest of the concoction to lubricate your straining length, running your fingers up and down in a semi-teasing rhythm to prepare. For a moment, there was silence, but for the slick sound of your hand. “You would not have preferred the alternative.”

Noticing that Seluvis had lifted his head from the desk in the absence of your hand, you buried your fingers, still sticky with remnants of the potion, into his hair. “No! I said no! You will… listen… to me!” he frothed impotently, unable to do anything but protest. Forcibly, you pressed his head back down against the hardwood. Pressing your weeping tip up against his unwilling entrance, you began to push in. The outrage from before had morphed into something wholly less decipherable by the time you thrust into him, pulling his hair carelessly as his agonised cries echoed up the tower. He was shouting now, breathless and unintelligible, but occasionally a coherent threat would surface amidst the garbled sounds. “You… y-you treacherous - nngh! - bastard… I will see to it that you - aaah! - s-suffer for this!” His pale grey eyes were watering, you couldn’t tell whether from pleasure, pain, or simply the unfamiliar bitter experience of being completely without control.

“By the Gods, can’t you be silent for a moment?” You derided, punctuating your insults with well-timed thrusts. “Can’t you just concede” you hit a spot inside of him that made him scream “to your betters?” He was gloriously tight, and the way he clenched around you as he flinched at your touch, cringing as you dug your fingers into his scalp, only added to the feeling. Each insult seemed to make him tighten around you and you groaned deeply, revelling in it. You had to admit, though you felt he was of little use normally, that his body performed beautifully for this purpose. Taking the belt, you pulled it roughly like a leash as you forced his head, drooling, harder against the desk.

As you gradually approached your peak, you thrust even harder, causing the desk to begin banging against the wall. The loud noise echoed obscenely up the tower, and you hoped fervently that ‘his’ Lady Ranni could hear from her lofty spot across the way. At this angle, Seluvis’ swollen length was trapped between your hips and the hard edge of the desk, delicate flesh rubbing harshly against the woodgrain. At some point he had started crying, desperate little moans escaping him as overwhelmed tears tracked down his flushed cheeks. “Oh… what’s that sound, Seluvis?” He flinched as you uttered his name. Angling your hips, you aimed for the bundle of nerves you knew to be buried within. “Could it be that you’re enjoying this? My, my…”

Two of the vials near the edge of the desk rolled and fell, shattering on the stone as you pistoned into the man beneath you. Pulling his tied hands back hard, you pressed him flush against you, moving your teeth to graze urgently at his neck. Feeling him tremble violently, you bit down into the sensitive expanse of his neck, sucking painful blooms into his pale skin as he cried out and rocked against you. His small cock wept just as he did, untouched, and he mumbled something that sounded very much like a plea. “Hmm? What was that? Don’t tell me you - ngh - forgot how to enunciate now?” Despite his cries, you could feel him winding tighter and tighter, and as he panted raggedly you shoved him back against the workbench, forcing him to grind against it for release. Sobbing in pain and sheer relief at the friction, he bucked with ungainly thrusts against the wood, desperate for completion.

Feeling your own end fast approaching, you pressed him back down against the desk with an audible smack and rutted into him with frantic movements. Moments later, Seluvis came harshly, spasms wracking his frame as he spurted hot fluid across the front of his desk. His fluids mixed with the spills of his failed potions, dirtying his sacred workspace with evidence of his disgrace. Distantly, part of you hummed with delight as you pictured him furiously scrubbing it later with a wet cloth, unable to quite get all the stains out of the wood. His tight hole clenched hard around you, milking your throbbing cock as he shivered and quaked with overstimulation. He groaned, and you ignored him. Briefly, you considered pulling out, splattering his royal robes, forcing him to wear the evidence of his submission. You couldn’t deny that the sight would keep you fulfilled for weeks to come. However, you quickly decided against it. You wanted to come inside him, see your seed dripping down his thigh as he stood before you, trembling. You wanted him to remember how it felt as you filled him up, marking his body from the inside out as yours. Taking what you needed, you came hard in a dizzying moment of elation.

For a moment, there was no sound other than your combined panting. Seluvis was utterly wrecked, the very picture of debauchery. He lay slumped against his workbench, body haphazardly laying in various fluids as he tried to regain some semblance of dignity. Thoroughly enjoying the view, you eased yourself out, wiping yourself clean gently on the edge of Seluvis’ robes. You then tucked yourself back inside your trousers, making no move to assist the man before you. Slowly, he brought himself teetering to a standing position, hands still bound. Shuffling, trying not to trip on the trousers still pooled around his ankles, he seemed grateful – an expression you had never seen on his face until this moment – that his robes had fallen back down to protect his modesty. Hardly appropriate, you thought, he has none left to protect.

“Ah ah! – not so fast.” You brought your hand over to clasp imperiously on his shoulder. “Have you forgotten the contents of our lesson so soon?” He gazed at you, dimly. Barely having to apply any pressure at all, knees weakened in the afterglow, you guided him once again to kneel on the floor before you. Beside him, still kneeling obediently, mouth slightly open, was his favourite puppet. You smiled widely seeing the two side by side. Confusion flitted across the sorcerer’s face as you dug around in your pockets.

“There we are – this precious little item…” you brought out a small glass vial, holding it casually in your hand. You did not show the contents to Seluvis, but he knew instinctively what it was and blanched. “You’ve worked so hard on it… It would be a shame to let it go to waste now, wouldn’t it?” Upon hearing your words, so laced with danger, Seluvis began to scramble on the ground as if to make a break for the doorway. You cut him off, effortlessly, stepping in front of him and towering like a demonic entity. To his credit, though you presumed it was largely born of idiocy rather than bravery, he did not cower. His jaw was set, teeth clenched grimly as he realised he could not outrun you, especially not in his current state. Tear tracks from earlier glistened wetly on his cheeks in the subtle light of the remaining candlesticks, his narrowed eyes swollen and puffy.

Hands tangling firmly – painfully - in his short dark hair, you angled your wrist imperiously as you brought the vial to his lips. He clamped them shut as firmly as he was able, scowling defiantly. It was so very entertaining that he still had the faculties to be so fiery, so disobedient. You relished the thought of how you could extinguish this flame. “You treat them so well, though, Seluvis!” you mocked, gesturing to the female staring blankly at the wall. “Such a high quality of life! Surely you could imagine no higher honour than joining their ranks?” Writhing in your grasp, his eyes flickered back and forth in panic to the unresponsive woman beside him. You stooped slightly to hold his chin firmly in your grasp as you uncorked the bottle. “Just imagine…” your voice lowered, whispering as you massaged his jaw open. “The lessons I could teach you…” Placing your fingers roughly in his mouth, you pried open his teeth and poured the liquid straight to the back of his throat.

Gurgling in panic, eyes wide with horror, he began attempting to retch the fluid back up. He went to raise a hand to his lips, presumably to assist with this, but you smacked it harshly out of the air. As his hand fell to the floor, you stepped forward to grind your heel against his palm. He squeaked, a surprisingly pathetic sound, at the sudden instance of pain. Placing your fingers under his chin, you violently pushed his head upwards, forcing him to gaze at you directly as the wicked liquid snaked slowly down his throat. Pinching his nose sharply in your other hand, he had no choice but to allow the fluid to make its way to his stomach. In the dim eerie light of the Glintstone crystals, you could see the beginnings of tears forming at the wrinkled edges of his eyes. It was plain to see his regret, deep and absolute, an expression you had never truly witnessed on the face of Seluvis before this moment. To see his arrogant features so wracked with remorse, with helpless anger, was a feeling unmatched by any other.

“To think, that little bottle contained your whole life’s work. Intended initially for the lips of a demigod, but instead… It has all culminated in this moment…” you let your hand move to caress the side of his head, thumbing at his mouth in a warped simulacrum of affection. You so hoped that the faceted pleading look in his eyes, so filled with despair and hatred, would be preserved in the forefront of your mind for the rest of time. A small drop of bloodied saliva trickled from the corner of his mouth, coming to rest in his greying beard. Amusingly, he remained deathly still, as though the knowledge of what should happen had gripped his brain and trailed like poison through his synapses.

Moving to pet his head condescendingly, you felt him jerk violently away as he seemed to realise that he could still feel your touch. Slowly realising he had been tricked, his face reddened and he began to shake. “W-what… What in the name of the Gods!?” Suddenly furious, he yanked his hair free of your hand, eyes watering as some was left behind. Letting the loose hairs you had pulled from his head drift to the floor, you addressed him coolly, smiling serenely as you did.

“My apologies for the… slight misdirection. If it gives you any comfort, it wasn’t a completely unfounded lie. It was something I had considered.” This admission seemed to glance off Seluvis, who was struggling vehemently to stand up, to be free of you. You continued as though you couldn’t see his efforts, keeping one hand casually clamped on his bruised shoulder, pinning him in a kneeling position. “Only briefly, though. It pleases me far too much to hear you fall apart, watch you come undone as I pull you unravelled like a loose thread. I just don’t know what you see in those lifeless puppets. There’s nothing left in them to break.” You flashed him a smile, all bared teeth and dark promises yet to be fulfilled. He shivered, a full-body tremor, a sight that caused a hungry thrill to tingle like electricity in the pit of your stomach. You tamped it down, consoling yourself with the thought of your inevitable future visits. There was time enough for it all. Reaching around his waist, you unclasped the binding from his wrists and they fell forward into his lap, encircled with angry red burns.

“Begone, foul Tarnished!” Seluvis spluttered, seeming to regain some of his earlier strength now that your hand had left his shoulder. The bruising had started to come out nicely around his right eye, purpling slightly in places. You were sure it would be quite delicious to watch it develop, a reminder of events for many days to come. Realising that Seluvis had been ranting this entire time, you tuned back in just in time to hear his parting shot. “…Incorrigible lout! Don’t you dare waltz back in here again…” Though he was still able to hurl insults, his voice lacked his usual lofty tone, its blustering confidence. Knowing deep down that he could no more effect your leaving than he could undo what had been done, he stared you down and willed you to obey. You held his stare, eyebrow raised, until he finally averted his gaze to the floor. Yes… future visits would be quite gratifying, you were sure of it. Casting one last glance around Seluvis’ Rise, you committed to memory its mess-strewn ground, its fluid-stained desk, its ruined owner now reaching urgently for his mask to disguise his bloodied features and his shame.

“Good day Seluvis… I will return as soon as I am able. For now, I have other matters to attend to.”

As you turned your back on him, you let a small vial fall purposefully from your pocket with a flash of amber. As it hit the stone floor with a tinkle, Seluvis glanced toward the source of the sound. Without hesitation, smiling to yourself, you brought your foot down with a final crunch.

Continuing to stride towards the door, not pausing to look back, you heard the subdued and desolate whimper of a man far too shattered to wail.