Chapter 9   Epilogue   author: Veyanne - yellow  
A chill wind howled past the dark fortress. Tonight was a very cold night. Deep in the mountain below a man awakens from a nightmare.

The fear consumes him. He cries out. Then it subsides. He looks around in the darkness. He sees nothing at first. Then his eyes adjust. He sees the cold stone walls, an iron bound door, and the figure of a woman at the side of his bed. The sorceress.

He feels the unforgivingly hard surface of the bed. He tries to move but feels the straps which bind him. He realizes where he is. He is in the sorceress' torture chamber.

His fear turns to loathing and disgust.

"You bitch!", he spits at her.

"I know. I'm sorry Don. It hurt me to put you through that.", the sorceress apologized. "I needed to see inside your mind."

"Fuck you!"

"I know. I deserve that and more.", the sorceress' eyes dropped. "It's an evil thing I do. I feel good comes of it. I know you don't feel that way."

The man on the table just stared at her.

"I like how you came to rescue me, like a knight in shining armor.", the sorceress smiled. "Most knights in shining armor come to slay me."

"So many of them end up here.", she added.

The sorceress continued, "I like the part at the end where you said your machine half wouldn't let you die. The Cruciator said he would torture you until your batteries ran out. They won't run out. That much I know for sure."

The man turned his head toward the sorceress. His eyes were still locked in a frown. But there was a spark of interest.

"Deep inside you there is great pain. It's hard for you to deal with. There is no shame in that. You keep it locked inside. Your machine half seals it in. You repress those emotions. It makes you feel like a machine, emotionless and empty.", the sorceress' words echoed in through the chamber. "Those repressed emotions fuel your machine half. You will never run out of energy. But it comes out as rage and lust. When it does it hurts others. I know you don't want that."

The man turned his head and stared up at the ceiling. He thought for a moment. "That sounds like a bunch of psycho-babble bullshit to me. I don't believe a word of it."

The sorceress sighed. "You don't have to. All you need know is that I'll never leave you hanging on that cross Don. Never."

The man just stared at the ceiling.

"If you'd allow it, we'll take away your machine parts one by one. We'll release what's behind them. We'll heal the scars. You'll see you're still human underneath.", the sorceress smiled gently.

"I'd never allow that.", the man said firmly.

"We shall see. Tell me when you want to play another game."