Fourth Day (1 of 6)

Breaking Free: Damion wakes in jail and is being ignored. He decides to break out, and is hospitalized. Again.

'Breaking Free' Content Warning: Erotic Psychological Drama

This story contains scenes of psychological distress, dubiously consensual intimacy, emotional dependency, complex trauma recovery, and themes of power imbalance and identity reconstruction.

This story explores the fragile process of healing after long-term dehumanization, the difficulty of regaining agency, and the intimate entanglements that form in the aftermath of captivity.

Proceed with care.

18th day of the 11th moon
1105 HC

Damion hears people talking. Something about the Flame Sanctum, and the Masters. He opens his eyes and remembers he's in a jail cell. Because I'm so stupid.

He sits up and sees two men sitting at desks and another man leaning on one of the desks. They're all chatting.

"All of them?"

"All of them! Well, except Marsh Master Selune, of course."

"Of course."

"So it's Mountain Sanctum, Thunder Sanctum, and Water Sanctum along with the Flame heir's defectors?" Damion perks up at the mention of the Water Sanctum.

"Yes, plus Ground and Heaven's Masters."

"Heavens above, there's going to be a new Master in Flame."

Damion stands and goes to the bars closest to them, "What's happening? What about the Water Sanctum?"

"The crazy one is awake," says one of the men sitting at a desk as he rolls his eyes.

The man who was standing walks towards Damion, "Good, you're awake." He's carrying a board with a piece of parchment on it.

"Your name?" he says curtly not looking up from the parchment.

"Damion." The man writes it down.

"Species?"

Damion pauses to swallow, and decides to go with the safer answer. "Windborne."

"Windborne type?"

Fuck. "Emberai."

The man stills and raises only his eyes to look at Damion. He takes a careful step back, then writes on his parchment.

"Do you have any friends or family near by?"

"Umm, Selune."

"How can I contact Selune?"

"I don't know. But she's the Marsh Master."

The man blinks. "Right." He doesn't write anything down, "anyone else?"

"Uhh, Fal, um Falloway." The man writes something down.

"How may I get in contact with this Falloway?"

"I don't know. Selune sent her to me. She just came to my room."

The man looks up at Damion incredulously, "Your room at Reedrest?" Damion nods. The man looks back at his parchment and scribbles something out.

"Anyone else?"

Damion sighs and rubs the back of his neck, "No. I don't know many people. Just the Sanctum Masters."

The man taps his pen against the board he's holding, "Right."

He turns and plops the board and parchment on one of the desks, "We'll have to figure out what to do with him. He's too dangerous to give to a charity."

The man at the other desk leans far back in his chair, tilting it backwards precariously, "We could send him back to Scaldmere."

Damion grabs the bars in a panic, "Don't send me to Scaldmere!"

The men turn and eye Damion, then turn back to each other.

"I'll have to toss it up the chain. They'll figure it out," he strolls out of the room.

Damion paces while pulling on the roots of his hair. Fuck fuck fuck. If I'm sent back to Scaldmere, I'll be hunted. And I can't fly for a week. If they sent me back before I heal I'll likely die.

He returns back to holding the bars, "At least let me finish healing before sending me there!" he pleads.

The two men sitting at their desks look up at him, then look back at what they were doing.

"Fuck," he mutters under his breath, "fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck," he paces the cell, "fuck."

I was better off with Mulsae. I felt good. I had no stress. Everything was peaceful. Now everything is torture.

He returns to the bars, "What about Water Master Mulsae. Can you get in touch with him?"

The men look up at him. One says, "I'll get right on it." The other man snickers and they go back to their work.

Damion turns around and yells, "Fuuuuuck!" while bending over.

"Hey! Keep it down!" one of the men jumps out of his chair, "If you don't shut up, I will come in there and make you shut the fuck up. You understand me?"

"Yes," Damion croaks, "I'll be a good boy." He goes over and lays down on the mattress. The man quirks an eyebrow then shakes his head and sits back down in his chair.

He pretends Mulsae has told him to be in his place. It was usually on furs next to a fire. He strokes the mattress and remembers how the furs felt. He remembers how the heat from the fire felt on his wings.

He hasn't had to stay in one place bored in a long time. Not since Mulsae taught him how to read. Now he's always been given a book to read. Was. He used to be given books to read. Now he's completely on his own.

He picks at the sheets on the mattress. He examines the woven threads. *Gods, I'm bored.

What's happening with the Masters and Flame Sanctum? Is it because Sorvak disappeared during the summit? I wonder what Mulsae is doing right now. He's apparently in the Flame Sanctum.*

He rolls onto his back and stares at the ceiling. What's going to happen to me? What's next? He sighs.

He watches the beam of sunlight on the wall. He watches it slowly move. He sees a lump in the paint and watches the sunlight slowly make its way over to the lump and then envelope it.

He throws his arm over his eyes. This is stupid. I'm stupid. I'm trapped and stupid.

He tries to remember something pleasant. Like one of the times Mulsae fucked him. Gods, so many good ones but this one stands out. He felt so seen and cared for that he cried from relief. It felt so incredible both body and mind. He felt whole and peaceful. He remembers how every thrust from Mulsae sent waves of pleasure. He was completely in Mulsae's hands and he was taken care of so carefully and thoroughly. *Oh gods, how I wish I were in those hands again.

Where's Mulsae?

Why was I taken away from Mulsae?*

He groans, flips over and buries his face in the mattress. He remembers having his arms tied up to the headboard. Mulsae would lay on top of him and then he'd feel so good. He remembers how relaxed he could be. He tries to relax like that now. Release his concerns and worries. Just be in the Right Now.

And Right Now I'm in a fucking jail cell because I'm so fucking stupid.

He sits up and punches the brick wall and yells, "Fuck!"

"Quiet!" a man yells back.

Damion whips around, "I shouldn't be here!"

"Be quiet! You do not want me to go in there and make you be quiet!"

"Is anyone trying to help me?! What's happening?! What's going to happen to me?!" Damion screams and paces the cell.

"Fuck! Where the fuck is Mulsae?!" he kicks the brick wall with all his might.

He crouches down and pulls his hair by his roots, "Why am I here?! What is happening?!" Damion barely notices that one of the men has left.

"Fuuuuuck!" he screams from the very bottom of his lungs.

Multiple people come jogging into the room. "What's happening?" asks one.

"That's what I'm asking!" Damion screams.

"I don't know. He was laying there quietly for hours and then suddenly lost his shit."

"Because I shouldn't be here!" Damion screams. He grabs the bars, "Get Mulsae. Get Selune. Get fucking Deryn or someone. Or maybe Valena? Or Zeven? What about Maedor? Someone, anyone, please!" he screams.

"He thinks he's friends with the Sanctum Masters."

"I know them! They know me! We just had a meeting two days ago!" Damion tries desperately.

"We don't know anything else?"

"Fuck! Listen to me!" cries Damion.

"His name is Damion, he's Emberan, and he says he staying at Reedrest with Selune."

"I do, godsdamnit!" Damion screams and pulls on the bars.

"I've kicked it up the chain. It'll take awhile before someone decides what to do with him."

"Fuck this shit," Damion moves to the cell door and starts ramming his shoulder into it, "I'm! Getting! The fuck! Outta here!" He screams between rams against the door.

"We need to figure out how to calm him down."

Damion rages against the cell door.

"I'm not going in there."

"Neither am I!"

"Not a chance!"

"Okay, we can't subdue him the old fashioned way."

Sounds of Damion's continuous ramming into the cell door and his growls fill the room.

"We could let him tire himself out."

"Will the door hold?"

A man tentatively walks over to the door to carefully inspect the lock as Damion rams against it. "It might be bending."

That encourages Damion. He screams and rams harder.

"How was he apprehended in the first place?"

"They brought five officers with shields and batons."

"Let's get the five officers, open the door and let them subdue him."

"Go get the officers."

Damion stops and stalks the cell and growls like the big stupid brute he is. They're going to open the door and fight him. He'll take them on. He'll take them all on.

The five officers with shields and batons enter the room. Damion snarls at them.

The one with the key walks down the hallway between both cells and positions himself by the door. Damion positions himself to run out said door the second it is unlocked. The five officers make a phalanx at the entrance to the cell hallway.

The man with the key unlocks the door and jumps to the back of the hallway caged in by the cell door swinging open from Damion bursting through it. Damion barrels into the lead officer's shield and pushes him back. The two flanking officers push their shields into Damion's sides.

They wail their batons onto Damion's head, his wings, his shoulders. Damion pushes and shoves against them, but they reinforce each other. They keep beating him with their batons. He finally falls to his knees and snarls at them viciously. They beat down on him and he falls to his hands, struggling to get up. They continue to hit his head, his back, his arms. Finally Damion has hit his limit. He's exhausted. He's hurt. He falls flat onto his face.

They kick his head and face and ribs. And eventually, there's just nothing else. His consciousness disappears.

~*~

Damion wakes on his stomach on a mattress. His arms are above his head and his wrists bound. His ankles are bound. His midsection is bound. He flexes his wings, they're both bound. Fuck.

He looks around. He's not in Mulsae's bed. He looks like he's... in the hospital? Why is he strapped to a bed in the hospital?

"Hello?" he calls out. He's sick and tired of waiting and being alone.

"Hello?!" he tries louder.

"Please?!" he begs. He doesn't want to be alone any longer.

"Someone will be with you, just wait," a woman's voice hisses into the room.

Damion thrashes against the restraints. "I don't want to be alone anymore!" he screams. He thrashes and the bed starts to rock. "I don't want to be alone!" he yells as loudly as he can. He rocks the bed side to side and then it crashes onto the floor creating a cacophony of noises as things fall over like dominoes. He continues to thrash. It hurts. It hurts a lot. But he can't stand any of this bullshit another second.

People file into the room. Hands are all over him. "Calm down!" they yell over and over again.

Fuck! They should fucking calm down! He thrashes and screams in frustration.

A voice calls in from the doorway, "There are previous records for this man! Marsh Master Selune saw him personally yesterday!"

"Could he really know Marsh Master Selune?"

"I've been trying to fucking tell all of you that! No one has fucking believed me!" he stops thrashing and screams into the mattress from frustration.

"What's your name again?"

"Damion!"

"And type of Windborne?"

"Emberai!"

"And you have your penis trapped in a cage?"

"Oh for gods sake," Damion thrashes, "Fucking, yes!"

"This is the one Marsh Master Selune saw yesterday," she says gravely. Silence spreads through the room.

"Damion, we're going to lift your bed, okay?"

"Fine!"

Hands all over him start pulling and pushing on him and the mattress. With much effort the sizable team is able to lift the bed back into position.

"Damion, we're going to get Marsh Master Selune. You'll have to wait until she gets here."

Damion thrashes. "I don't want to be alone anymore!" he resumes thrashing against the bindings.

"If we have someone stay with you, will you stop struggling?"

"Yes! Please," he settles down and speaks in a normal tone, "Please, I don't want to be alone any more." He takes a deep breath. "Please."

"We'll get someone to stay with you, just wait until then."

"No!" he thrashes, "I don't want to be alone."

"I'll stay with him until you get someone else," says a man's voice.

"Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine."

The sounds of shuffling feet surround Damion and then leave the room. One set of footsteps walks around to Damion's head and there is the sound of a chair being pulled over.

"Hi Damion, I'm Roget. I'm an assistant here."

"Hi," Damion croaks, "Thank you."

"How do you know the Marsh Master?"

"She helped free me from a bad imprisonment situation. I'm staying in the palace complex until I get my own place."

"That does sound like something the Marsh Master would do."

There's silence between them. Then Damion asks, "What's going on with the Flame Sanctum?"

"Apparently, all the Sanctum Masters made some kind of policy that the Flame Master is refusing to comply with. He refuses to meet with the Masters to talk about it, so Mountain, Thunder, and Water Sanctums all invaded and have laid siege on the Pyrehold."

"What the fuck?" Damion says softly in surprise.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Interesting times, eh? We could have a new Flame Master soon."

"Valena," Damion says. Roget hums in question. "Valena is said to be the next Flame Master."

"I see."

"I met her three days ago."

"You seem to know a lot of powerful people. How'd you end up shoeless in jail?"

Damion groans, "I had an absolutely terrible day yesterday."

"Tell me about it."

"Too many bad things. Too much humiliation. I just can't."

"I get it."

There's a knock on the door. A woman's voice says, "Hi! I've been sent to keep Damion company."

Roget stands up, "It was nice talking to you, Damion. Good luck with everything."

"Thanks," Damion says in a near whisper.

The woman takes Roget's seat, "My name is Elirick. I'm a counselor."

"Hi," he whispers.

"Hi," she says again and giggles. "So you don't like being alone?" she asks.

Damion shakes his head, "Not right now. I'm so lost. Untethered. I don't want to be alone any more."

"That's so sad. I'm sorry that's happening to you."

Damion huffs a laugh, "Me, too." He rubs his face on the mattress, "My life has been thrown upside down. I'm so overwhelmed."

"How so?"

"I was a soldier. Then I was a prisoner. I was always told what to do, what to wear, where to go. I didn't even realize how controlled my life was until I was given full freedom." Damion sighs, "I've only been free for a day and a half and I've already been fucked more ways than one." He glances around. "This is my second time in the hospital already. Twice in as many days," he shakes his head. "I'm such a stupid brute."

"That's harsh. Why would you call yourself that?"

"Because I am!" he exclaims. Then more softly, "I keep fucking things up because I'm so stupid. I'm just a brute to point at someone and told to fight them. It's foolish to think I could be anything else."

"That is such a sad way to perceive yourself. My heart breaks for you, Damion."

There is silence between them and then a very familiar voice calls out, "Damion! Damion, I'm here." Footsteps enter the room and stop behind him. Damion turns his head and there are those amber eyes he both wants and loathes.

"Mulsae," Damion whispers.

"I'm here," he says softly and strokes Damion's hair, "I came as soon as Nori told me what happened."

"Nori is monitoring me?"

"I've been so worried about you," Mulsae looks over Damion's whole body. "Why are you restrained?" He looks to Elirick and directs his question at her, "Why is he restrained?"

Continue reading: Fourth Day (2 of 6)
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