Just so ya guys know, I went ahead and set this book to 'mature,' because I was rereading some of my early draft scenes (they weren't inappropriate or anything) but I was like, uhhhh, that could be potentially triggering. So, yeah!... You have been warned. XD 

And, no, it won't be as bad as "Hunted Blood," just in case you are wondering.
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Section 6:

     The human sat alone in his cell, his back to the damp wall right across from the door. At least the cell he was in now wasn't as bad as the last -- a bit warmer and had some light seeping in through a couple small holes in the iron door. All he could think about was if he had made the right decision. What if they hadn't really let Billy go?. There was no telling now what his fate might be. 

     Distant tapping, slowly growing -- soon recognized as footsteps -- caught his attention right away. Closer marched a band of Illagers, that typical solid footed marching in each tok or thud. Steve braced himself when the group arrived at his door, pausing a moment to unlock it.

Creeee'k

     In walked five to six grey-faced mobs, all sharing the same plan their prisoner had no idea of. Steve stood once the door was opened, trying to stand as calmly as he possibly could, since looking stiff would only make him appear rebellious.

     "Horrr.." The Illager, who was probably in charge, ordered something the human didn't understand to the others. Immediately the followers sprung forth, each grabbing and holding the prisoner in place. Steve forced himself from squirming, but still he couldn't help pulling back a little.

     "H-hey! I'm being chill! You don't have to restrain me! What are you guys even do-o- what are you guys doing?!" The human broke from annoyance, eyes widening instead when they caught onto a small blade in the approaching Illager's hands. Steve fought against himself much less, yanking for his arms and feet harder than before, still being held in a defenseless standing position. The schillouette of the mob stiffly stepping towards him shown no emotion on its shadow covered face. All that stood out in that moment was the incoming sharp object, and Steve's own thumping heart.

     When the leading Illager came close enough, on his right side, he pushed the human's face aside, doing the job of not allowing him to see the weapon any further. That didn't help Steve any, for now he had no way of knowing when to expect pain. The human was turned around just a little further so the weaponized mob could get a good hold of the human's right fore-arm. When Steve tried turning his head again it was held in place by one of the other Illagers. The human's heart raced in his chest, the other mobs could feel his blood beating against his skin. The leading Illager took a painfully long time examining their specimen's arm, even tracing his finger across the human's skin, which made him jolt when filled with anticipation, first imagining the finger was his blade.

     When the blade actually did enter his arm, it took a moment for him to recognize the pain -- grazing across the surface of his skin. "Ay-ay-ay-ow! S-st-doww!" The human tried pulling away yet again, which only earned him the blade turning back to cut over what it had left open already. The blade was thin, sharp, and burnt inside the already opened wound. Figuring -- in that split-second moment -- that it couldn't get any worse, Steve pushed with all his weight included away from the sharp object in a dire attempt to escape the pain. Weight from the out numbering mobs was only pressed harder on him until the human's legs gave out beneath him, falling to his knees where the others continued to hold him there.

     When his wound was deemed large enough, the knife finally withdrew from his arm, leaving behind raw, blood producing pain. The crimson liquid flooded out the man's arm, not realizing it was supposed to stay inside his body. It didn't help any that the human's heartbeat had doubled since only a minute or so ago. Steve's head was finally let free enough to turn just in time to see the leading villager pull out a cup or bowl of all things from his inventory. When the harmless item was pressed delicately against the human's arm, just under the cut, it drew even more sparks of pain to that area. It wasn't long until enough of the human's blood had fallen into the collecting item, nearly filling it. Satisfied, the leading Illager pulled the cup/bowl from his arm. The other creatures then stood one at a time, allowing for Steve to sit on his knees alone, wavering in his weight with the tingly arm and numb shoulder. He could barely even feel the cut itself anymore, only little fragments of pain when the air brushed its surface.

     As merely an afterthought, one of the dark figures turned around, revealing from their inventory a potion of some sort, pink substance of some kind glimmering in the little light. Before it too left through the door, the last of the Illagers tossed the potion, landing it directly onto the human's still exposed shoulder and deep cut. Glass from the bottle flew in all directions cutting the man before the liquid seeped into his skin, sealing the large cut with little time given, leaving nothing but a large, dark red scab, fresh blood still dripping from his skin.

     Rightfully shaken, Steve sat on his knees in silence as the iron door was again shut on him. In his head he repeated several questions, over, and over again. The most prevelant was: 'is this my life now?' After he had shaken off the initial shock, mind finally wrapping around the fact that he was alone again, Steve leaned forwards more, resting more of his weight on his hands, and carefully he felt around the darkness for any glass that might be in his way, crawling with a limp like the animal he had been treated as to the far wall of the room, this time the right corner to the door. Once safely in the distant corner, cold hard surfaces pressing in as to cocoon his back, the human sat silently, head tiredly leaning against one of the walls, but still refusing to sleep. Steve knew, deep inside, that this was far from over.

Section 7:

     His ability to stay awake had failed him again. It wasn't until the human heard a loud clang that he realized he had been sleeping. Steve's heavy eyes slid open to view the noise' source. Continually blinking to wake himself up, the human had a hard time waking up fully. Apparently he had been woken a little earlier than needed. Two sets of hands reached down and grabbed one arm of the human's each. Intersecting the bright light beaming in from the wide open door were several other shadows. It wasn't until Steve was dragged out the door and into the light that his brain really began to pick up on what was going on. His heart began picking up pace again, mind racing between all sorts of ideas about where he might be going... Did they not need him anymore?.. Was that blood all they wanted from him?... He had hoped to at least be set free when they didn't need him anymore. Maybe that was what they were doing? A stick swiped at the human's legs, bringing his attempts to walk on his own to a stand-still. Apparently they didn't want him to have the privilege of standing on his own, or at all. His recently broken leg began to ache again with the hard swat.

     The creatures all around him communicated with simple horrs back and forth. Most sounded like orders, but some sounded like they could have been casual chatter. What exactly did these things have in mind?!

     Right as Steve's eyes finally adjusted to the bright orange glow of torches, did their attempts be rendered useless yet again. The human was tossed into yet another dark space, requiring of his eyes to adjust yet again. All around him stood harsh looking bars, with pillars of obsidian reinforcing them at the corners. The other two walls, at least, were solid stone layered in patches of spike coated iron, all designed to injure the one trying to punch their way out.

     "Hey! Why am I here?!" Steve stood in an uneven stance, slightly limping as he ran towards the bars. Upon grasping the bars of iron with the intent of tugging on them, did he realize how rough they are, rubbing against his skin like sandpaper. The human still tugged on them, just not as fiercely as he wished to. "What do you guys want?!" Outside the cage the man searched for any Illager who could possibly lend him answers. None appeared to even bat an eye in Steve's direction. The human's breaths having increased, he looked on to the iron door he had entered through for answers. "Let me out!!"

     "Oh, I am afraid I can't do that. Fear not, however; this gathering is not centered around you..this time." A familiar voice came out smoothly. Fearlessly walking in through the iron door stepped Raraz, this time wearing the expression of a mad-man. His eyes glistened in the little torchlight, teeth shown in a wide, crooked display. "I had plans to just do this behind your back, but it will be a lot more fun to see your reaction.. I could tell you already had thoughts of betrayal anyways." Raraz said. Steve's head only filled with further questions.

     Before any were asked, another prisoner was pushed through the door after the smirking Illager leader. Between his legs and arms were heavy chains, and over his nose and mouth was an iron muzzle. Hardly anything but muffled hurrrs managed to leave the villager's mouth as he was pushed towards the dark center of the room.

     Steve's eyes widened the moment he recognized the blacksmith, his left eyepatch and all. "B-Billy!!" The villager's robes had been further beaten, it appeared, and the weaponsmith walked in on his last straw..eyes blazing with his last attempts toward freedom. His desperate fighting attempts were only met with being shoved harder towards the shadow which encompassed the center of the room. "Hey! Hey!! We had a deal! You let Billy go!!" The human ordered from his position behind the bars.

     "If you thought that little conversation back there was a deal, then you clearly haven't paid any attention to who I am, and what my goals are. I don't make deals with those I can't control!" A dark scowl accompanied Razar's shout. Then, he signaled for the others to set Billy into place. Seeing his friend pushed towards the mysterious darkness with no way to save him, the human immediately began punching at the bars. Through them his eyes never left their gaze from his friend, who had his chains taken off only to latch on new ones made of the same dark substance behind him, facing the human. He could tell Billy was freaking out, but his new constraints didn't even give him any wiggle room.

     "Let, Billy, go!!!" The human punched the bars harder this time, only things breaking being the skin of his knuckles, leaking blood down his wrists and over the rest of his fists until he finally had to stop himself. Still knowing he had to do something, Steve grasped the bars tightly, tugging hard on the immovable metal. As more Illagers gathered around the dark structure, torches in hand, it was revealed that the craft was made with many different dark blocks, some being crying obsidian, others being solid black or dark red blocks, a few others being a pure dark metal substance. In the little light the structure appeared to be more of a cage kind of thing with a bunch of shadow cloaked redstone. At the top was a basic platform with two enchanting tables on either side of it. Razar appeared on the top between the two tables of enchantment, awaking their magic with his presence. One glowed an ominous red, which sent about it dull sparks on occasion. The other had more of a normal light blue glow, but was much thicker than most enchanting books.

     "Now, observe, Human: the magic which not even your kind could manage! See and know, that we are the superior species!!" With a dramatic lift of both Razar's hands the two books leapt from their positions on the table, a bright competing glow beaming from each. Steve stood in shock for a moment, mind blank, unable to decide his own course of action in that moment. With a thrust of his left hand, the thick book aimed its pages filled with knowledge towards it's target below, and shot a bright blue beam at Billy. All the while Razar began speaking with a series of slithering horrs. The villager flinched as the magic's blue glow surrounded his entire pain, but no pain appeared to enter his face. It wasn't until the the Illager leader thrust forth his right arm, summoning a dark red beam from the odd book that too hit Billy directly in the back, did the villager really react. The villager was pushed towards the floor, screams rising from his mouth as the red glow surrounded him as well. With his scream rose up many more like it from the book, all crying out in agony. The lights of blue and red fought one another on the villager's surface, flashing over him like a war of colors. Steve only stared as the flashes of colored light filled his eyes. It wasn't until he felt it was too late before he finally snapped himself out of it.

     "B- Bi- Bi!-" The human couldn't even finish his thoughts. Before even he realized it, his shoulder was slamming into the rough iron bars. In desperation, Steve attempted to squeeze both his arm and shoulder through the bars. He actually managed it. A scraped up, lightly cut up arm and shoulder were finally shoved between the bars. Next Steve tried emptying his lungs as much as possible, attempting to push his torso through as well. He didn't even allow himself enough time to think about whether this would work or not. He just needed to save billy. The villager's shouts slowly began fading to sound more, animalistic. With inhuman, jerky motions, Billy's limbs began to expand in abnormal ways, even beginning to rip small holes in his robe. "No!! St-stop it! You're killing him! Just, sta-stop! Stop!!" Steve pleaded, lungs trying not to expand so much thst they push his spine and ribs into the mercy of the merciless iron bars. To his dismay..no one listened. Steve managed to force his head and other shoulder between the bars, left leg already bracing itself on the other side of the iron. The human's skin, shredded or not, was coated in red from all the scraping. Still, he looked not at his own injuries but instead at the pain of his friend, who appeared to have a whole nother being fighting to break from his skin at the moment.

     When Billy's wrists and legs grew too large for the restraints around them, the clamps opened up, allowing the villager to fall to his hands and knees. As much as he should have the villager simply couldn't move away from the two still competing beams of magic. Finally a light brighter than both colored beams combined took form over Billy's skin; a pure white. In this light only the villager's convulsing schillouette was visible in it. Steve desperately grasped at the light, only then the sinking feeling of hopelessness visible on his face, squinting at what he dearly wished was only a villager who looked exactly like his friend, tears already brimming the man's dry, stinging eyes. With one final cry, shout out the last of Billy's voice, before it gave way to a monstrous roar. "Billyy!!!" Steve shouted with him, painful lump building in the back of his throat. A blast of light followed.

     Then, all fell silent.

Section 8:

     The silence was deafening. The human's body dropped limp, given up, now stuck between the two bars he had fought so hard to squeeze between. A shadow in the silence, passed over the man's head, hauling just out of sight.

     "My, you appear to be in quite the fix." Razar chuckled from above Steve's sloped form.

     "Go die in a pit of lava.." The human growled back, not even caring to lift his head. Instead he just let his pitiful body remain limp between the bars.

     "Hm, not the nicest thing to say to the one capable of killing you right here, right now." Razar said with no emphasis or real emotion. Steve only sniffled back a tear, the lump in the back of his throat making it hard for him to breathe right.

     "I don't even care at this point..." The human moaned. A sigh from the other followed, and the Illager leader turned to walk away. "Wait." Steve piped up, shoving down the squeak in his voice. "What..wha-t... Why did you kill hi-m..? You didn't ha-ve to!" Steve's voice broke as he tried to make eye contact with the illager, but couldn't bring himself to at the same time. Razar stared on blankly, not breaking his eyes from the human's pitiful form. Then his right arm thrust outward, towards the center of the room which had once again returned to darkness.

     "He isn't dead." Was all he said. Slowly, Steve's eyes followed the finger he realized was pointing at something. After squinting for a while, the human noticed there was a slight difference in the shadow; a slightly lighter grey, large, schillouette of something he vaguely recognized. He could barely just make out a large nose, an eyepatch, and two massive horns atop the head. Steve's jaw slowly dropped until his mouth peeked open. His brows softened as his eyes slowly widened, studying as much as he could of this vague form.

     "H.. how cou-ld you..?" His eyes began to sting again as they couldn't pry themselves from the sight. The beast ahead inhaled and exhaled slowly, entire body lifting and dipping with each recovering breath.

     "It took me years to perfect that spell." Razar's comment.

     "...Noo.." A weak whine spilled from the human's throat, head drooping again for a brief moment before looking back up at the monstrous sight. Sniffling again, Steve's mind raced for the right things to say. Not fast enough, Razar continued on his own.

     "What? How did you think Ravengers were made? They don't just, appear."

     "Change him back." The human ordered, voice slowly rising.

     "Excuse me?-"

     "Change him back!" Steve demanded, venom in his voice this time; as if he wasn't the one trapped and hopeless. Razar blinked at his striking tone in surprise. The human then pulled his arms up to the bars holding his chest in place, shaking limbs having no affect on the bars of iron. Still, his struggling to get out grew in ferocity, until it seemed as if he was almost okay with just not having his legs at all. Between sharp gasps for air, Steve tried calling his friend's name, but he gained no response from the sleeping beast. "Billy!... Billy!..... Let me go! Let him go! Let us go you monster!! Get me out!!!"

     Perfecrly combating Steve's rage, the Illager leader stood firmly in place, even as Steve appeared to be slowly making progress in escaping the iron hold of the now blood-speckled iron bars. Calmly, the Illager finally spoke. "The spell is irreversible. Besides, he is worth more to us as a beast than a translator... Just get over it already." There was an ounce of anger Razar gave into, however, prompting him to kick the human on the forehead. A bruise was all that came from what could have easily been fatal. With a moan, Steve stopped pushing and pulling to cater his head instead. Steve finally silenced, Razar turned again to the iron door, this time taking steps towards the exit. "...You aren't leaving this place... So just get comfortable there...Human." Stiff footsteps echoed therefrom, growing ever quieter as the clanking left the human. Eventually the clanking was padded by the carpet outside the door, and with a soft horrr, the orders were given to take care of whatever remained.

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I was going to continue on until I finally came to my first ever written early draft scene, but I think this is a good place to end for now. ^-^

9/21/2020