Hmm…

Lord Nisovin waited, watching as the peasants tried to find him. The faintest hint of a smirk formed as he sensed another draw near.

Negnar Holf peered through the window, head tilting slightly as he saw Nisovin floating in the centre of the room. He wasn’t quite sure he wanted to be a serf, but…it would rather the adventure, wouldn’t it? Also, being one of the first serfs, now that’s an achievement.

Lord Nisovin smiled at him before floating down to the ground in front of him. “Oh Negnar. I’ve heard so much about you. You want to be a serf? I’m surprised…I didn’t think you’d settle for anything less than being a Lord yourself,” Nisovin said, laughing as he did so. Negnar sighed but smiled at Lord Nisovin. He couldn’t be mad at the wizard Lord, no one could.

“I think it’ll make a grand adventure, is all,” Negnar finally said, waiting for Lord Nisovin’s response. Nisovin tilted his head slightly, making a soft hmm noise. He seemed to ponder this answer for a bit before nodding slowly.

“Oh, it’ll be fun…for at least one of us. Off to serf city you go,” he finally said, wiggling his fingers, magic bolting from him to Negnar. Negnar’s eyes grew wide as he felt the energy course through him, marking him as a serf for Lord Nisovin. Just as quickly, he was whisked away, space and time crashing down around him before being reformed elsewhere.

He wobbled around, disoriented as he tried to get his bearings. A heavy hand grabbed him, steadying him suddenly. As his vision cleared from the sudden teleportation, he saw why he was grabbed. He seemed to be several hundreds of blocks above the surface of the world, standing on a floating magical disk.

Turning, he looked to see who his saviour was. Eyes widening, he saw Squire Azur standing there, looking at him with a rather bemused expression on his face. “Uh….thanks?” Negnar finally managed to say. Azur grinned at him, wheezing slightly. Negnar tried to not stare at the magical scars that seemed to cover Azur, he really did. He also tried to not stare at the many scares on Azur’s throat, but he was less adept at that. Azur didn’t seem to care, instead, silently passing him some equipment and food. Negnar took it eagerly, not wanting to starve or die at the hands of his Lord quite so soon.

As soon as he thought of Lord Nisovin, it seemed like Lord Nisovin had thought of him again, appearing in front of him in a flash of energy and magical dust. The gnome wizard was pondering him again, although this time with a far more devious glint in his eye.

“Hmm…Azur, come here,” he said quietly. Azur bounded over as he awaited his Lords instructions. “I think you should go and…prepare the facilities for Negnar here. I’ve decided that we should go with Plan C after all,” he said, grinning. Azur’s eyes widened before he nodded, leaping from the top of the serf area.

Negnar peered over the ledge before sighing. Azur seemed to be using magic to slow his fall, white swirling winds surrounding him, protection him with a cushion of air as he hit the ground, sprinting away. His attention turned back towards Nisovin who was still watching him quietly.

“As for you…well, I think the holding area will be good for now,” Nisovin said as he pulled a long, glowing metal rod from his robes. He smirked as he tapped Negnar’s head with the rod, watching as Negnar spun around before disappearing in a puff of magic.

Negnar groaned as he came to his senses for a second time. He knew the Lords were dangerous, but this was Lord Nisovin. How dangerous could the tiny old gnome be?

The answer apparently, was very dangerous, given he seemed to be strapped to some kind of operating table. He strained against the restraints before giving up, staring up at the ceiling. “What the fu,” he managed to say before Azur was leaning over him, gagging him tightly. The only thing left he could do was to look around the room as Azur putzed around with some of the surgical equipment nearby.

The room was a glistening white colour, pure and untouched by decoration. Small recessed lights in the ceiling made the place feel even more scientific rather than magical. The small test tubes and vials supported this idea, although the whirring gizmos and clearly magical cauldrons made Negnar think Lord Nisovin was trying to smash science and magic together.

He jerked in his bonds as he felt Azur running a hand along his chest, grinning down at him. He leaned down next to the table, one hand on Negnar’s chin as he whispered quietly in Negnar’s ear. Negnar shivered as Azur began to speak, the squire’s voice rusty from disuse, the words garbled from his missing tongue.

“Oh Negnar. You’ll enjoy this so much. Or at least, I will. And, if you survive…who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and wind up like me,” he said quietly before pulling away. Negnar looked up at Azur again, staring at the scars covering his throat again. Azur grinned at him, eyes sparkling in amusement.

Negnar shivered as he heard doors opening somewhere, the click of pistons and redstone signifying Nisovin’s entrance. Negnar managed to remain calm even as he felt Nisovin stroke his cheek, forcing himself to not jerk away.

“Brave. We can beat that out as well as the hubris easily enough. Do you have everything prepared, Azur?” Nisovin said quietly. Negnar closed his eyes, unable to see what Azur’s silent response was. He could feel them both cutting off clothes, attaching god knows what to his skin.

- - - -

Negnar stared out over the serf city at up at Nisovin’s tower. It had felt like he had spent an eternity underground, far away from the sky, the earth, people other than Lord Nisovin and Squire Azur. But he was fairly certain it had only been a few hours.

They had let him back into the serf area for a break, a break for themselves since apparently his screaming had tired them out.

His hands balled up into fists as he tried to forget what they had done. Tried, and failed. Knowing they’d come and get him again soon, come and do it all over again. Knowing that Nisovin was messing around with time magic, forcing him to feel like everything they did took an eternity. Knowing that they could do whatever they wanted to him. Hearing them talk about him like he wasn’t even there.

He closed his eyes, breathing out slowly, quietly.

- - - -

Lord Nisovin didn’t even looked shocked as he felt the magic that connected him to Negnar suddenly become severed. Squire Azur seemed more surprised, looking up in shock.

“Did you really think he’d be strong enough? I left him up there alone to see if he was. It seems he took the easy way out,” Nisovin sighed, disappointed. Azur shrugged as he turned to put away the surgical equipment before falling still as Nisovin laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Oh no, Azur. We might as well use the equipment, since it’s out…”

Azur whimpered quietly as Nisovin picked up one of the tools, smiling at Azur as he did so.

((Negnar technically died from fall damage and on accident. This was a whatif scenario, because of the whole evil tiny gnome experimenting on people thing))