The blade between the soldier's legs rose a little higher until he could feel the cold metal. The man behind him gripped him by the scruff of his neck and pinned him up against the wall next to Rei, letting the blade slide against the the dangling flesh between his legs before he sheathed his sword.

It wasn't enough to hurt, but it was enough to make him bleed.

"Get yer clothes back up."
"S-sir.... I-"
"GET YER CLOTHES UP!!" The man roared.

Rei stifled a laugh as her attacker lost his balance trying to pull his pants up as the man behind him kept his face firmly planted against the wall next to her. The other three men stood frozen, their skin drained of all color as they watched their comrade try in vain to get his arms far enough down to pull his pants up.

"Sir.... I-I-"

The man unsheathed his sword once again with an agonizing slowness. Rei could hear the soldier begin to whimper as he felt the spreading warmth of his own urine travel down his legs.

"Do ya know what I'm going to do wiv ya if ye don't get yer pants back up?"
"Please!"
"This sword o' mine will be hilt-deep in yer ass if they aren't up by the count o' three."
"Please no!!"
"ONE!"

Rei cringed upon hearing this man's threat. But another part of her wanted to watch this man, who was seconds away from raping her, suffer as much physical and mental anguish possible. She could hear his hair begin to tear away from his head as he forced himself down.

"TWO!!!"

The man screamed as he fell over with a handful of his hair being torn away in the process. He scrambled to get his urine-soaked pants back on, as the fifth man looked on.

"Ya know who my father is, don't ya?"

The man's uncontrollable sobs of fear and humiliation prevented him from saying anything.

"Ye can be sure that Sir Isaac will hear about this. Womanizing fools such as yerself have no place in the King's army."

The four men's silence was everything Rei had hoped for. Was this really the son of the man who had taken over her village?

"Punishment will be carried out fer ALL of ya. Meantime, yer all going to report tomorrow dressed in yer wives' clothes."

The four men gave a feeble salute and slowly shuffled out of the room. Isaac's son turned to look at Rei. She could immediately tell how strong he was, yet she could sense a strange gentleness from the way he looked at her.

"What's yer name, girl?"
"Rei."
"The name's Sir Alex. I'll escort ya back to yer cell."

--------------------------------------------

Ajin, Siras, and Feras quickly scaled the stone walls separating the human town from the fortress. Ajin quickly snapped the neck of one of the guards before the other could draw his sword. Feras was upon him in an instant, breaking the man's arm in three places and throwing him down into a corner. Siras placed his foot in his chest and smiled.

"Good evening. It seems that you're going to tell us where the captives are being held."
"Piss off, boy! I'm alerting the other guards!"

The soldier took a swing at Siras with his good arm, only to have his elbow and shoulder immediately dislocated. A series of expletives only brought a sick smile to Siras' face as he watched the man try and stand with two shattered arms.

"You're going to die tonight. It's up to you to decide how quickly that's going to be." Feras whispered harshly.

Siras looked up unexpectedly at his twin brother.

"Very well-put, Feras." He laughed.

Ajin and Feras were both taken aback by this. Siras never complimented anyone in his life, let alone his own brother. It was frightening to see Siras in a good mood. Ajin would have almost preferred not to see it.

"Let's see," Siras began as he slowly cut off the man's eyelids with his thumbnails. "There are many pieces of you we can remove to make you say what we want. But the eyelids are the most often overlooked."

The man screamed as Siras flicked his wrist, effectively ripping off the man's skin.

"Have you ever tried to go without blinking?" Siras asked as he slowly began to carve off the man's other eyelid.

"It's excruciating."

Ajin began to shudder as Siras slowly began to pull at the man's eyelid, removing a ribbon of flesh that immediately reminded him of bacon.

"Your eyes will slowly dry out, and I can assure you that the pain will be maddening. Tell us where they are. I can be quite...... creative."

to be continued.....