Some would find it amusing that a member of the Eyes was delivered to Novella, willingly. Or perhaps, he was not as willing as he seemed, given there had been another member walking a few paces behind him. He was unharmed, but the note had been sent ahead — and that list of charges... well, she'd summoned Malik to play as well.
She knew the moment the man saw Malik, processed who was with her. Because he blanched, and turned as if to leave — only to be stopped by the person that had escorted him.
You invaded and harassed the Umbra family, assaulted Tiberius Umbra, his foreign fiancee, damaged their property, caused great emotional distress while disrupting the peace. Her voice was even, neutral. No emotion to give how she felt away.
Last but not least, you are charged with unlawful use of Eyes personnel and dissent of an agent of the Eyes. She finished listing the charges, tilting her head to one side thoughtfully.
He'd been held in a cell overnight, because no-one would dare wake Novella Tilani from sleep to deal with a dissenter. But it was quite early, early enough that she had left the amulet that gifted her a more human form at home.
She'd sent someone to retrieve it, though, for after. Her wings flexed as she got up from the chair she'd been waiting in, Kossith horns filed back to her forehead. It's very disappointing, that a member of the Eyes would disobey direct orders from the Chancellor. She tittered, watching the person who had escorted this man leave. The door shut behind of them, and the man moved to bolt.
But the shadows engulfed the half-Kossith woman, and she stepped out in front of the door, a grin that showed every single tooth in her mouth her only response to the attempt to flee.
Did you misunderstand? She reached to grip the man's chin, manicured nails digging into his flesh. You won't be leaving this room. She leaned to whisper something in the man's ear, that caused his legs to give out from under him.
You see... the disappointment is what hurts us, the most. She crouched in front of him, dark eyes wide and innocent. You were a trusted member of our team, a well-trained enforcer. And now... well, she trailed off, biting her lip as if she were worried.
I'm sorry, but I can't stop what's going to happen to you. Just remember, everything we do to you... you deserve. You made this happen, she sounded genuinely sad.
He had been summoned from his bed, early in the morning, something about a raid into the Umbra household, and well, Umbra was a family that was close to their little "family", Tiberius had been a long time friend of their father's, so to say the man was close was an understatement. He had been watching his niece, for his sister and her wife, willingly, so the slide back into the proper headspace for what was about to happen had to be done quickly, the Uncle side of him stowed, and sequestered into a portion of his mind that would keep that persona clean of what was about to happen. That person was for his family, the person that finally stepped through the shadows into that cell, behind his little sister, pulling up to his full height, the lights dimming as the tendrils of shadows swallowed them all. The persona of death was left, so much that even his features looked different, colder, sharper.
He didn't talk, as he reached down over his sister's shoulder, and grabbed a fistful of the man's collar, slowly and methodically picking the man up to his feet as he motioned for Novella to close and bolt the door. Malik focused, pulling the tendrils back in around him, but left the room around their little area black -- it would give a suffocating air about them, as if the little three foot by three foot area left with any light was the only place left. He stopped, as he heard the trickle of water on the floor, one dark brow raising high as he looked down. Nasty. But at least he knew there was enough fear in the man now for them to work.
He chained the man's hands together, and lifted him up to the hook in the middle of the room, swinging slightly on the chain. It was just high enough that the man hanging from it could put his toes down, but not his heels. It would get harder to do as Malik filleted the arm muscles, but he knew the skin and bone would keep the body hanging long after the spirit had departed. Once he had secured the man, he brought the table over. Ella, I told you the last execution I had to preform I left the man sucking his own cock so the family would have to remove the jaw to get the head off the head, yes? I would think that fitting for this sack of shit, but alas, he has no family to offend, just an example to be made of.
He chuckled softly as he unrolled a leather roll of steel instruments. Blades, scalpels, saws, what a surgeon would use, tools of his trade, tools that could be used to save, or take lives. His fingers trailed over the roll, over each blade, taking his time to find the right tool for the job -- the first cut always set the tone for the whole operation. This wasn't a public execution, this wasn't something that would be highly publicized, it was something that would be whispered about within the Eyes, what would happen to someone if they disobeyed, if they failed. This was the training that had taken so long for him and Ella to master. Complete and utter ability to compartmentalize the morals, the ethics that a person felt, to become a tool.
A single tool that could be wielded with such precision that no one else would ever question disobedience again. Their job today was to make sure that no one else would ever think it wise to question an order, to run ahead of command, to be stupid and abuse power. There was a fine line between too much, and just enough. What's you name? Not that anyone will ever remember it, but I like to chat while I work. And feel free to leave constructive criticism, after all, one does not achieve excellence without striving for continuous improvement. And with that, Malik chose a rather sharp, curved scalpel from the leather roll. In his left hand he held the blade as he tore the sleeve of the Eye's uniform free and discarded it on the floor. Do try and stay still, it wouldn't do for you to wiggle too much and end our time together too soon. Mailk started to make precise, controlled cuts along the man's arm, slipping the blade between skin and muscle, slightly below the shoulder, pulling the skin up enough. Have you ever heard the term, "de-gloving"?
Novella watched her brother work, slowly circling the two of them. Hmmm. Overdone. I'll take his eyes, and deliver them to his closest friends... She couldn't hide the smile that crossed her lips. She took too much glee, in causing psychological harm, that physical seemed less exciting but still enticing.
"G... Geo-Geo, s-sir. His voice was a whisper, hoarse, dripping with pain. The stutter was more from pain than fear, though the piss soaking his legs showed enough fear to make Novella purr.
Malik began, and Ella hummed, This could have all... been avoided, she sighed, picking up a file on the man from a table by the door. She'd begin to read, facts about him, accolades, the good in his life.
Geo Maximus, born to a career military father and a physician mother. Her pacing was slow, steady, unchanged. Aged 32, living relatives: none. She hummed, and continued on. Listing every known associate that the man had ever met with, sounded bored by the information, though she was filing it away for later.
I wonder if his mother ever taught him that he'll die of hypothermia before blood loss, Malik started, as he, in one swift motion, pulled all the skin off the arm of Geo, right down to the fingers, before tossing the leather aside into a dark corner of the room. The man's screams didn't bother him, As I skin him. Then again, he is a horrible sack of shit, it's not like he's teachable. Malik picked up a rod off the table then, and held it in a naked flame until it glowed white hot, and then set to work sealing any bleeding, humming as he worked.
Who names their child Geo? Such a waste of space, this one. He worked methodically, until all the bleeding was cauterized. He was growing bored of the game already, he wanted to be home, in bed, hearing the house hold come to life for the morning, perhaps even thinking about someone, which lead him to his next thought. I wonder if we can force you to grow all that skin back, or if it'll forever be just a mess of scar tissue and exposed muscle. Too bad you won't be alive long enough for me to find out... or...? He turned to Novella, raising a brow.
Our Orders were just that he had to die, painfully, yes? I think a little experimentation is in order! Just think, friend! You're going to give us invaluable data on how to get our enemies to talk faster! You're serving the realm all the while, even in death. I'll even promise not to raise you after. That was a lie, or at least, not a whole truth, this asshole was going to be raised, and added to the skeletal army he kept in waiting for the day when the family needed them. He had quite a few platoons stored, nothing fancy and not all bodies he had executed, but some that needed to be made an example of in death, as much as they had in life. All in all, a personal army of around 200 corpses stored, in a vault, waiting for the day they were to be useful again. This asshole would find his way into that vault, for later, if Malik had his way.
