The Traitor's Punishment

WARNING: THIS STORY IS VERY GRIMDARK. IT'S NOT NEARLY THE WORST IN THE WORLD, BUT STILL...

THIS SHORT STORY CONTAINS BLOOD, TORTURE, SADISM, AND THE TINIEST PINCH OF EROTICISM. IF YOU CANNOT STOMACH SUCH THINGS, THEN LEAVE. NOW.

THANK YOU.

This event takes place soon after Hell's Broken Angel, and happens in the midst of the Rebellion in Hell.

This story mainly reveals the sadistic side of the demon Malacoda, who will become an important villain later on...

Also, this story reveals a few things about one of my lead characters; Ruby.

Once more, if you cannot stomach reading a grimdark torture scene, then leave. Thank you again.

Cheers,

Deathwalker 13000  (So sayeth the Arbiter)  11:42, October 24, 2011 (UTC)

The Traitor's Punishment
Ruby slowly awoke to find, to her horror, that her wrists were raised in the air, bound with cold chains. As her vision focused, she found that she was standing in the middle of a dungeon. She tried to move her feet, only to find that her ankles were chained. Even her wings, folded against her back, were tied down with thick, heavy chains.

She looked around frantically; the only source of light was coming from the mellow torches that lined the stone walls, bathing the room in a hellish red glow. Near the rotting, wooden door she could make out a small table; with a jolt of terror she realized that the table was covered with a number of wicked devices. Knives to say the least, whips, metal rods… in a panic, she pulled against her chains. No luck, but she didn’t expect her struggling to do much.

The hard, echoing sound of a lock turning interrupted her from her panicked thoughts. In that instant, she decided that she would not show a single sign of weakness, no matter what they did to her. She decided to remain steadfast and resolute, even going as far as to plaster a murderous glare on her visage.

The door creaked as it swung open, and a winged figure walked in; it took every ounce of Ruby’s willpower to keep herself from betraying her fear upon seeing who it was.

Behind the figure, the door slammed shut with a bang that echoed throughout the room with finality, as if it were the sound of her doom.

“Hello, Marilith…” the figure greeted with a gentlemanly tone, “or, as I hear you’ve been lately calling yourself, Ruby?”

“M-Malacoda.” Ruby greeted back, doing her best to maintain an air of defiance.

In the flickering red glow of the torches, Malacoda looked even more hellish than normal. His grin revealed rows of rotting, misshapen fangs, and his eyes seemed like hollow orbs, within which burned intense flames. His wings were outstretched; unlike Ruby’s restrained wings, which were covered in flesh, Malacoda’s were skeletal and black, extending like the legs of some monstrous spider.

“Ah, so you at least know who I am…” Malacoda said with a voice that seemed to coil around her like a cobra and constrict around her throat. It sent a shiver down her spine, and knotted her stomach as he began to walk closer. “And I suppose you also know why you’re here?”

No response. Malacoda sighed.

“Oh, Ruby…” he said in a soft, silky voice, stroking her cheek with his bony finger. “You know the punishment for traitors. Resist, and I’ll have to make it ten times worse…”

Malacoda had to quickly pull his hand back as Ruby tried to bite his finger. His face contorted into one of fury as he struck her across the cheek with enough force to send her dropping onto a knee. “You bitch!” he snarled, his eyes flaring up with rage. He stormed behind her, yanking her hair back. Ruby fought the urge to scream in pain. She felt something soft being stuffed in her mouth- a cloth gag. After this was done, Malacoda released her hair, and the pain subsided within a few moments.

“Now lets try this again.” He said, reverting back to his gentlemanly demeanor. “Traitors are to be punished, this is the law here in Hell. After that, well…” -a dry chuckle escaped his lips- “…we’ll see.”

Ruby’s eyes widened in shock as Malacoda suddenly grasped her from behind, caressing her breasts in his spidery hands. “How does it feel…” Malacoda hissed, “to be weak, restrained, and vulnerable? How does it feel, knowing that you are entirely powerless?”

Ruby struggled, and tried pulling away; unfortunately, Malacoda’s grip and her chains were more than enough to keep her in place.

“…I can do whatever I want with you, and there is nothing you can do about it.” Malacoda continued, unrelenting. His grip around her tightened. “You are my puppet; my toy. Knowing that… does it shame you? Is your pride crippled?”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Ruby shivered as she suddenly felt Malacoda’s tongue lick her neck, and glide up to her cheek. Tears began to form in her eyes as his fingers slithered across her helpless body. She tried desperately to fight them back. She tried to continue convincing herself to remain resolute, yet Malacoda’s words seemed to slink through into her mind and weaken her resolve. She felt hollow, defeated. She could no longer hold back the tears lamenting her broken pride.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Damn you, bitch… goddamn you, you little whore!” Malacoda roared, striking her across the face once more. “Weak! I haven’t even begun your punishment yet, and you start crying all over the place!” Malacoda strode over to the table, grabbing a long, black cord.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Pathetic!” he fumed, swinging the cord in an arc and whipping her with it. Ruby tried to scream as she felt the sting against her shoulder, but with the gag in her mouth, it came out as little more than a moan. The whip came at her again with a crack! And again… and again…

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Ruby’s face was damp with both sweat and tears as she cringed underneath the stinging blows of the cord. Her entire body seemed to scream with agony, and all she could do was whimper through her gag. The lashes were unbearable; she felt liquid running down her arms, legs, breast, back, and stomach… she couldn’t tell if it was sweat or blood. In fact, she could barely even see- her vision was beginning to black out from the agony as she slipped closer and closer to unconsciousness. And finally, after some unknown time, the lashes stopped.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Ruby’s sight was blurred, and her chest heaved with strained breathing. She felt cold and exhausted. So when Malacoda wrapped an arm around her neck and began to stroke her breasts, she found herself physically unable to struggle, no matter how much she wanted to. And finally, she realized that she truly was indeed weak and helpless; a mere puppet for Malacoda’s sadistic pleasure.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">This final, absolute blow that crushed the last scrap of her pride came harder than any blow from the whip.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“…you see?” Malacoda whispered into her ear, “you may have been the bold leader of your little rebellion, but to me, you’re just a puppet. Ironic, isn’t it?” Malacoda’s hand began to snake down her body, inching closer to her groin. “You are now worth nothing more than a simple object that exists for my pleasure…”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Ruby’s eyes snapped open at these words; the tiniest burst of strength began to flow through her body as she pulled away from Malacoda as far as her chains allowed her to go.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Oh?” Malacoda expressed in surprise. “You’re still strong enough to resist? Perhaps being flogged didn’t teach you your place, little puppet? What a shame.” He sauntered over to the table and lifted another tool in his hands; a long, serrated knife. Ruby’s eyes widened in horror as she caught a glimpse of the blade. Malacoda strode over to one of the torches that lit the room, and placed the tip of the blade in the flame. After a few moments, he removed it; the knife-tip glowed bright orange.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">As Malacoda approached, Ruby’s face became one of pure terror. She shook her head in protest, whimpering in fear. She backed away as far as her chains would allow, but that didn’t stop the red-hot knife from inching closer and closer to her skin, already tender from the whipping…

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“You see, these torches aren’t just for light.” Malacoda explained cordially, as if in idle conversation. “They burn with hellfire, since demons like you and I are unaffected by normal fire.”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">The knife finally contacted her forearm and the blade sank about half a centimeter into her skin.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">The pain was explosive; even as Malacoda pulled away, Ruby’s entire body convulsed painfully. She screamed as loud as she could through her gag and thrashed about for a moment, before hanging limply from the chains that held her wrists; she no longer had the strength to stand. Agonized tears continued to flow down her face as she gasped for breath.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Once more, the knife was pressed to her skin- her other forearm. A quick slash was made from her wrist to her elbow. Ruby’s convulsions were more violent this time.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Yes, that’s it…” Malacoda said soothingly. “…dance for me a bit.”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Like a fly caught in a spiderweb, Ruby thrashed and convulsed each time the blade met her skin, and each time the knife left a longer cut. Finally, after a particularly slow cut that split open the skin from her thigh to her ankle, Ruby- dazed and groggy from the burning, piercing agony- marveled at how she possibly could be alive. The pain was too much for her to bear.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Mmmph…” she said through her gag.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“What was that, puppet?” Malacoda said, pulling the gag out of her mouth.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“H-h-have m-mercy… please…” she begged. “End it… p-p-please j-just… let me d-die…”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“…I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline that offer, puppet.” Malacoda said. “You’ll die only when I want you too.”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Malacoda moved behind her once more. There was a clicking sound, and the chain that bound her wings dropped to the cold, stone floor, which splashed in the puddle of blood that covered the floor. Ruby did not even have the chance to spread her wings- not that she had the energy to, anyway- because Malacoda had already grabbed and twisted her left wing.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Ow!” Ruby yelled. “Tha-that hurts! P-please, stop!”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“I love it when they beg.” Malacoda said. “It means that they have yielded entirely to my power… it means that they’ve realized that they are nothing to me but puppets, whose fate lies entirely in my hands… please, beg for me a little more.”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Ruby broke down; her sobs echoed loudly throughout the chamber.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Hm… I wonder…” Malacoda said, placing his knife at the base of her wing. “I wonder if demons can fly if they’re missing their wings...”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“No… no!” Ruby protested, screaming and crying. “You wouldn’t! Y-you can’t! Please! I’m b-begging you! H-have mercy! Ha-AAAAAAAAAUGH!!!”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Agony exploded once more throughout her body as Malacoda’s blade sliced clean through her wing- there was a small thump as the severed appendage hit the stone floor. Ruby continued to scream and writhe in pain.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“No… n-no… not my wing…” she cried.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Such a shame…” Malacoda said, before placing his blade at the base of her other wing, preparing to slice through…

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“No! Please! Not again! No! NO!

<p style="text-indent:.5in">The dungeon door suddenly burst open and a gunshot rang out.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“AAAAAAUGH!” Malacoda roared, dropping the knife and placing his hand over the bullet wound on his shoulder.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Keep the fuck away from her, you filthy asshole!” roared another voice. Three figures emerged into the room; Two armored demons, male and female, and a third figure- a human male with sunken eyes, long unruly hair, and a silver gun pointed at Malacoda.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Damn you!” Malacoda screeched, fading away into the shadows- “I’ll remember this!”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“D-d-deathwalker…” Ruby tried to say, addressing the name of the human male, before she slumped into unconsciousness.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Oh my- what happened to her wing?!” the female demon asked.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Vetis! Scarmiglione!” Deathwalker exclaimed. “I need a key for these chains!”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“No worries.” Scarmiglione said, snapping his fingers. The chains broke, and Deathwalker caught Ruby’s limp body, which was covered with bruises and bloody slashes.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Vetis and Scarmiglione looked over Ruby’s beaten and bloody form.

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“Damn that Malacoda…” Vetis said. “He’ll pay for this…”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“He’s done this since he was cast out of Heaven.” Scarmiglione said. “He’s had since the beginning of time to refine his techniques. It seems he’s tortured her within less than an inch of her life… we need to take her to the Styx. The healing waters of the Styx work wonders for demons…”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">“…I’ll kill him for this.” Deathwalker said murderously. “I don’t care if Malacoda’s the most powerful demon- when I see him, I will not rest until he is dead at my feet…”

<p style="text-indent:.5in">Deathwalker storms out of the chamber, carrying Ruby’s limp body. Scarmiglione and Vetis share a quick, worried glance with each other before following him.