Chapter XIII: Lost Sanity

Pierre yells, “Purps! Purps! Stay with me, please don’t die!”

Alakar lies on the floor and says, “Shut up, and stop calling me Purps! I think I would have died a week ago by now. Hurry, and pick me up already!”

Pierre responds, “Yes, yes, let me help you up.”

He picked Alakar up from the floor of the throne room, but his frail body struggled to perform the action. He ended up dragging him more than actually carrying him. The surrounding carpet and floor was slick with blood, and he frequently lost balance on it.

Alakar winces in pain and yells at him, “You left my arms again! I don’t wonna grow them! Don’t leave them!”

Pierre continues to struggle while moving him, and says, “I promise, I won’t forget them this time, but I can’t carry all of you. Please, just bear with me.”

Eventually, Pierre dragged Alakar’s naked body to their room and retrieved his arms. This was now something of daily occurrence within the pyramid. Pierre would wake up in the mornings and collect his bunkmate from the throne room. He was often missing limbs or still healing over from the wounds inflicted upon his body.

Pierre asks, “Why do you keep doing this to yourself? Maybe if you just…”

Alakar cuts him off and says, “Just what, give in? Clean up his shit? Do his bidding? No. Never. I won’t give him that satisfaction, and I don’t think he plans on stopping anytime soon either.”

Pierre mumbles, “I don’t understand you…”

Pierre then grabbed one of Alakar’s mangled arms and held it up to his shoulder as he sat on top of the dresser. The flesh around the shoulder instantly started to fuse, pull, and form around the original arm, however, Alakar couldn’t quite use it yet. To him, having a limb reattached felt like gaining feeling back in an appendage that had gone numb.

Pierre says, “This amazes me every time. Your regeneration is surely on par with a troll’s. Do all goblins bounce back like this?”

Alakar explains, “No… It’s a long story, and I doubt you’d believe me. Just focus on attaching my other arm.”

Pierre tried holding the bloody limb up to Alakar’s shoulder, but it slipped out of his hands and flopped along the floor.

*Plop* *Plop*

Alakar is suddenly enraged at his foolery and kicks him square in the chest, sending him flying into the wall.

Pierre puts his hands up to shield himself and pleads, “Purps, I’m sorry, it was an accident! Please!”

Alakar yells, “It’s m’lord, m’lord! Stop calling me Purps!”

Pierre put his hands down, and they both looked at each other with confused expressions.

Alakar turns around, hops back onto the dresser, and says, “I’m sorry, not sure why that came out. Call me by my real name when you can…”

Pierre stands up and says, “It’s okay, Alakar, but I think you’re losing your sound of mind… I mean, your treatment is some of the harshest we’d ever seen.”

Alakar says, “Yeah, this world has no love for a monster like me… ”

Pierre says, “I’m sorry, I can’t change people's minds. But if there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know,” and he holds up his other arm to reattach it.

Alakar asks him, “Why are you always so damn nice to me? I’m a fucking goblin!”

Pierre replies, “You may be a goblin, but I think everyone was brought to this hellhole for a reason, and that we’re all in this together. Everyone here bends to the lord’s wishes and does their best to live till the next day.”

Alakar asks, “What’s the point of it? Why don’t we all just escape?”

Pierre states, “There is no chance of escape. I’ve seen some try, but they either end up in one of the trash cans or near the bottom of the pyramid. Sometimes you can still hear their screams below when you put your ear to the floor…”

Alakar says, “I’m sure some get out of here though.”

Pierre says, “Maybe, but none of us have a way to contact the outside, and there’s a massive desert between here and our homes.”

Alakar asks, “Where is your real home, Pierre?”

Pierre replies, “Wow, no one’s asked me that in years. I’m from a little village in the northern part of the Empire, you’ve probably never heard of it. But what about you? You probably served another nobel before this, in a foreign land?”

Alakar says, “No… I lived on the edge of the forest of Dral. That’s also where my family should be.”

Pierre tears up and tells him, “Well, I hope you can see your family one day again. I never had much of a family, and I'm not sure I’ll be able to pursue that now...”

Alakar tried to comfort Pierre, but he only had one working arm at the time, and they were soon interrupted.

*Knock* *Knock*

Pierre straightened himself out and answered the door with a fake smile. He was quickly handed a sack and thanked a group of slaves before shutting the door again. Pierre then turned to Alakar and placed the sack on the other half of the dresser.

Alakar asks, “Why do they keep bringing me food like this? Do they really think I’m that weak?!”

Pierre rebukes, “No, and stop thinking like that! They hear your screams throughout the nights and just want to help you out in any way they can.”

Alakar says, “If they really want to help me out, they should bust me out of here.”

Pierre replies, “You know that’s not going to happen. And you should be grateful for this stuff. They’re risking their lives to get you most of it. Stealing cheese and grapes, that’d surely get you sent to the bottom of the pyramid! No one gets this stuff besides the lord!”

Alakar doesn’t argue with him and simply shoves his entire face into the bag. He consumes everything in his path as he pushes his face deeper and deeper into the bag. The food all smells so sweet and tantalizing to him; there is never enough of it and he hates asking others for it.

Pierre says, “Make sure you eat all of it. We can’t have the Rakahsha find any of the scraps, much less the sack. We’ll have to hide the sack in one of the cans once you finish there.”

*Gulp*

Alakar raises his head from the bag and says, “All done, here,” and hands him the bag.

Pierre replies, “Good. I’ll get rid of this, but I have to leave now and help the mining teams.”

Right as Pierre was about to leave, someone had knocked on the door again. He opened it, and two Rakahsha with drawn scimitars in half-plate stood before them. They had stern expressions on their faces, bordering on hate.

One of the Rakahshas yells, “Where is Purps?! He was supposed to be in the throne room for his punishment an hour ago!”

Pierre drops to his knees and says, “M’lady, he is right here. He has yet to fully heal up from his wounds as of yesterday. He may need more time.”

They both growled at Pierre and stared intently at the sack in his hand.

Before they can say anything, Alakar interrupts and says, “That’s fine Pierre. I’m ready to see the cat man. He might choke on a fur ball if I keep him waiting any longer,” and he hops off the dresser.

Pierre looked over at Alakar with shock on his face, and the lady Rakahshas were steaming in anger at Alakar’s choice of words.

They both rushed past Pierre and seized him by the back of his arms. Alakar went limp and made it as hard as possible for them to carry him out.

As he is hauled out of the room, he looks over his shoulder and says, “Don’t worry Pierre. I’m much stronger than I look.”

One of the Rakahshas holding him jerks him forward and says, “No more talking out of you!”

Alakar is then dragged through the halls to the throne room and thrown into the red carpet. He is forced to kneel before the cruel cat man and await his judgment.

Rawscow speaks, “I’m so glad that you could make it Purps. But, Hmmm, you know you’re one of my most poorly trained pets. Now, why is that?”

Alakar says, “I’m ‘poorly trained’? I’ve had house cats that know better than to shit on the floor. Maybe you should learn how to use a litter box, you fuck.”

Rawscow repeatedly taps his index finger on the arm of his throne, and says, “Oh, we’re coming out swinging so early this morning. I like it! Ladies, chain him up!”

The two Rakahsha dragged him backwards and began attaching the shackles and chains around his arms and legs. Once he was shackled in, they hoisted him into the air via a pulley system, and his limbs were stretched out taut.

The metal shackles feels good on his skin, even though they are rubbing him raw. He tastes blood in his mouth, yet the beating has yet to start. There is fear in his heart, but he knows showing it will only spur the cat man on, so he hides it.

Alakar shouts, “You lazy tom cat! You gonna take a nap or are we starting today?!”

Rawscow immediately leaped from his throne and punched him right in the chest. Some of the workers within the room stood and watched it happen, and quickly disappeared. There were some cubs playing in the room too, and they all stopped as usual to watch the beating.

Alakar gives off an unhealthy wheezing sound as he attempts to collect air into his lungs.

Rawscow says, “I think we’ll start with your fingers first,” and he reaches for a pair of large scissors.

*Crunch* *Snap*

Alakar refuses to even flinch.

He then leans in, sticks his pointy nose into the cat man’s face, and says, “That the best you got? You really are a pussycat.”

*Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch* *Snap*

The floor now held ten small fingers, and a fair amount of blood to go with them. Alakar did not scream, and the distant crowd of Rakahsh were not cheering; the room was quiet.

Rawscow wipes sweat from his brow and asks, “How was that?! Why don’t you scream for me?!”

Alakar looks up into his eyes and says, “I will never give you that satisfaction again. Eat shit cat man,” and he spits into his face.

Rawscow yells, “Ahhh! You disrespectful runt! No one spits in my face and lives!”

In a fury of rage, Rawscow dropped the scissors and unloaded his fists into the suspended Alakar. He was maddened and struck his body with enough force to rock the chains.

*Pow* *Pow* *Pow* *Pow* *Pow* *Pow* *Pow* *Pow*

By the end of it, Alakar was more purple than green and Rawscow was visibly winded.

Alakar is unable to see anything, and his eyes are nearly swollen shut. There is a ringing in his ears like no other, and he’s not sure what’s happening anymore. Yet he is sure of the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, so much so, that he profusely coughs and spits up blood.

Rawscow heaves from fatigue and says, “I am done with you Purps, however, I will be taking that beautiful stone from you before you go.”

He placed his paw over the gemstone that was imbued into his chest. Afterwards, he sank his claws into his skin around the stone and attempted to pull it from its slot. The male Rakahsh tried to push his claws deeper and gain a better grip, yet forces prevented him from doing so. Suddenly, time froze for the Rakahsh.

*Boom*

Alakar feels an incredible sensation. The sensation is overwhelming, and he finds his body overflowing with energy. He recalls this experience once before, yet this time it brings him great reprieve. The swelling across his body rapidly recedes, particularly around his eyes, and he witnesses an amusing sight.

Alakar bursts into maniacal laughter, and says, “Fear me you pussycat! You shall start calling me m’lord instead!”

Rawscow was flung into the steps of his throne platform. He was dazed and laid in a hole of his own doing. Underneath him was a cat-sized crater that was once decorative sandstone, now rubble. And he wore a face that could only be described with one word - despair.

Rawscow screams, “Help me, and get him out of here! Put the pyramid on lockdown!”

Many Rakahsha scrambled around the room, and everyone ran around in chaos. The unexpected explosion and injuries to their lord left many panic-stricken. They attempted to escort their cubs to safety, tend to their lord, and comply with his demands. All while Alakar laughed like a maniac.

Alakar’s chains are cut, and his countless escorts drag him through the mayhem.

As he is being taken away, he kicks and yells at top of his voice, “Fear me cat man! There is nothing here you can take from me! You hear me?! Nothing!”