Third Day (4 of 6)
Breaking a Warlord: Damion regains flight through Mulsae’s riptide collar but learns he’s also become a symbol to crush Emberai pride
'Breaking a Warrior' Content Warning: Erotic Horror
Story contains non-consensual sex, psychological manipulation, power imbalance, humiliation, dehumanization, and other dark, disturbing themes.
This story invites reflection on what happens to the mind under sustained horror, how identity reshapes itself around trauma, and what traces of agency persist when autonomy has been stripped away.
Proceed with extreme caution.
He stops his pacing and turns to Damion with one hand flipping in the air, "I'm trying to prevent some unforeseen mistake that rips off your cock when an unyielding tether is used." Damion flinches.
Mulsae returns to pacing while talking. "A riptide enchantment could work. Something that would alert me if your distance strays too far so I'll know when to direct my attention back to you. If you're in trouble or being a bad boy I could use my magic to freeze and hold you."
Mulsae stops and looks up expectantly at Damion. "What do you think?"
"Why would I help you leash me?"
Mulsae chuckles. "Well, you want this even more than I do. I can fly without you. You can't fly without me." Mulsae sighs and waves a hand flippantly. "Although I am stuck grounded with you for the foreseeable future since I can't leave you alone yet."
"You poor unfortunate Sanctum Master."
Mulsae barks a laugh. "Not even a Sanctum Master can get everything he wants all the time!"
"Let's try a riptide enchantment." Mulsae bends to gather up the slack of the leash into loops in his hand. "Heel."
Mulsae leads them back to the area with the prisoners of war. Damion immediately notices the Emberai are more subdued. Oh fuck, they finished pinioning them all. They're too depressed to move. He feels ashamed they're over here looking for a solution to enable him to fly while so many of his soldiers have had the joy stolen from them. Damion yearns to help them, do something for them, but his hands are, quite literally, tied.
Mulsae speaks with someone who then scurries off. He surveys the area while he waits.
"These were your soldiers."
Damion swallows and says hoarsely, "Yes."
"Many of them surrendered with you."
He hesitantly replies, "Most of them."
"They were very angry with you yesterday."
"Is there a point to this conversation?" Damion snaps. "You're simply stating the obvious."
Mulsae puts his hands in his pockets. "I didn't want to pinion them."
"Then why did you?" He replies with clenched teeth.
Before Mulsae can answer, the man scurries back with a collar and hands it to Mulsae along with a key. Mulsae nods his thanks.
They head back to the training ring. Mulsae places the collar on the ground and then walks about four wingspans away and kneels. Damion stands next to him having no idea what is happening or what is expected of him.
Mulsae removes a ring from his finger and places it on the ground. He motions with his hands, rotating one above the other and a line of water appears in the air before him. The water envelopes the ring and lifts it up off the ground. Then the water shoots out towards the collar and does the same, enveloping and lifting it off the ground.
A bulge of water flows back and forth like a wave between the ring and collar. Mulsae closes his eyes and visibly concentrates. He sways back and forth with the wave of water rolling back and forth. Damion has never seen a Sky-Touched use their powers like this.
Mulsae slowly draws his hands up and holds them out wide. His body and arms undulate with the wave connecting the collar and ring. Then-- Clap! He whips his arms together into a mighty clap and the water bursts into mist letting the collar and ring fall to the ground.
Mulsae picks up the ring and walks back a few steps. Damion sees the collar drag along the ground with each of Mulsae's steps, as if there is a string connected between them. Mulsae steps forward and nothing happens.
He looks to Damion, "Go pick up the collar and then stand still." Damion obeys.
Once Damion has picked up the collar, Mulsae walks backwards again. The collar lifts up as if it is being pulled. Damion inspects it. He feels the pull against his hands and it is getting stronger and stronger the further away Mulsae walks.
"This should work," Mulsae walks towards him and the pull on the collar releases, "I put a riptide enchantment on the collar and ring. Whenever they drift too far apart, they’ll pull each other back like a tide." He reaches Damion and takes the collar from his hands, "The further apart, the stronger the pull. The more you resist, the stronger it pulls."
He opens the collar and places it loosely on Damion's neck, just below the collar that is forcing his wings to be materialized. He locks the collar and puts the key in his pocket.
They head back to the center of the training ring. "Before we get started I am going to demonstrate my magic that can hold and move you. This is just to get you familiar with it so you know what to expect." Damion nods curtly.
Tendrils of water surround Damion. They slowly approach him, first brushing up against him, then applying light pressure, then finally tighter pressure. Mulsae pulls back the tendrils, "I can use this to transport you if an emergency occurs." Damion swallows and nods curtly again.
Mulsae pulls the leash off his shoulder and unclips it from Damion before tossing it aside. "Let's test the riptide enchantment. We'll each take steps backward until we feel the pull." He starts walking backwards and Damion mirrors him. The collar starts a steady low pulling sensation once they're four wingspans apart. Damion points to the collar to indicate he feels it. Mulsae nods in acknowledgement then immediately starts walking back to Damion who meets him back in the middle of the ring.
"This could work. We'll do the test flight again. This time, fly slightly behind me so you can anticipate my movements. Let's start with two wingspans apart," Mulsae steps backwards and Damion copies. "Ready?" He flares his wings. Damion flares his wings, "Ready."
"On my mark. Three… two… one… mark!" They simultaneously take purchase in the air and fly higher and higher before stopping in a hover. Mulsae grins. He uses the Emberan gesture to move north.
Mulsae flies around the perimeter of the war camp. Damion stays behind where he can keep both Mulsae and their path in his field of vision. Mulsae occasionally looks backwards, and each time Damion swears Mulsae's smile is getting bigger and bigger. Eventually this tickles something in Damion and he shakes his head and snickers at himself.
They finish the perimeter and return to land in the training ring.
"How was that?!" Mulsae asks like he knows the answer is positive.
"Better."
"Just better?"
Damion rolls his eyes, "Sufficiently pleasing."
Mulsae barks a laugh. "This could work!" He is practically buzzing with joy. Damion swallows in order to suppress a chuckle.
"Next experiment is to test the riptide. I want you to keep triggering the riptide to see if I notice and locate you quickly. Do you understand?"
Damion quirks an eyebrow. "Sure."
"We'll make two loops around the perimeter and then land. Ready?" Damion nods. "We don't need to be synchronized any more so we don't need a countdown. Just follow me." Mulsae looks up and shoots into the sky. Damion is right on his toes.
Damion follows in the same position as before then gradually slows so distance is put between them. As soon as the collar starts pulling, Mulsae looks at him and smiles. They get back within distance of each other. Damion switches to the other side and puts distance between them again. Mulsae whips his head back and forth before he locates him.
Damion is up for challenging him. He flies directly above Mulsae then triggers the sensor. He watches with amusement as Mulsae looks behind him left and right. Mulsae looks up and Damion swoops back behind and down under him before he can be spotted. Mulsae circles his head and looks in all directions. Damion drifts directly behind Mulsae and goes closer to turn off the riptide pull. Mulsae banks left to take a tight turn, and before Damion can get back into Mulsae's blind spot he was spotted.
Mulsae hollers out, "Found you!" Then a full belly laugh overtakes him. "You have impressive dexterity!" Damion can't resist a self satisfied smirk.
Next test. Try to keep up with me without triggering the riptide, Mulsae's voice floats through Damion's mind.
I'll follow you, Damion pushes as a response.
Mulsae looks back at Damion and beams, then looks forward and shoots up higher. Damion is right on his tail. Mulsae makes an impressive attempt to shake Damion, but after fifteen minutes of swoops, dives, and feints, the riptide still hasn't been set off.
Mulsae stops to hover. Damion drifts over to hover face to face with him.
"You're good!" Mulsae exclaims while panting with a big smile on his face. "You win that round. I couldn't shake you."
"I'll take whatever wins I can get." Damion says matter of factly.
Mulsae smirks. "Let's cool down with another two laps then land back in the ring. Okay?" Damion nods.
Mulsae leads them around the perimeter at a good clip, not fast nor slow. Just good enough to stretch the wings and lower the heart rate. They reach the training ring and land. They're both breathing heavily.
Mulsae is buzzing with mirth and his eyes glistening with joy, "Gods! I haven't had that much fun since… since…" the energy drains away from him, "since…" he runs his hand through his hair and takes a deep breath while looking at the ground, "... since my sister... and brother..."
Damion’s own contented body language slips into preternatural stillness. He remembers clearly when the Water Sanctum’s ruling family was gruesomely slaughtered and Mulsae ascended to Water Master. They call it the Mutual Sanctum Slaughter because the Water Sanctum struck the Mountain Sanctum first. But rumor says Mountain had planned to wipe out Water’s line anyway, to install their own puppet Water Master. Water’s blow was only meant to stop a knife at its throat. Yet both Sanctums bled for it, and the echoes still stain the stone.
Mulsae paces in a circle with his hand in his hair. When he faces Damion he straightens and clears his throat. "Well, that was a success. I'm glad we figured something out."
Mulsae goes over to the leash and picks it up. "Don't need this anymore," he mumbles to himself.
They walk back to Mulsae's tent without the leash attached, but the riptide collar still in place. Damion keeps up at proper heel position.
They enter Mulsae's tent and Mulsae immediately undresses then leads them to the wash basin. Mulsae wets and wrings out a cloth and adds a few drops of a fair smelling oil before wiping himself down, then turning to Damion to wipe him down. Damion is left to stand there while Mulsae dresses himself in yet another finely tailored outfit.
Mulsae unlocks and removes the riptide collar from Damion then places it and the corresponding ring on the table.
He grabs the regular walking leash and snaps it onto Damion's cock cage. They walk over to the table and Mulsae collects several small piles of paperwork and stuffs it in a folder.
They head out back into the war camp. The jeers and snickers from passersby now include commentary wondering if they had been the ones flying over the camp, and opinions that Damion should be pinioned.
Mulsae leads them into the meeting tent which Damion finds thankfully empty. It's still in the arrangement Mulsae put it in where the tall chair is by the fire, and the furs are still on the floor. Mulsae walks them around the table and plops the folder of paperwork at the tall chair. He drops the leash and gestures at the furs saying, "Go to your place." Damion goes to the furs and promptly sits.
Mulsae bustles about the room and relocates some more paperwork and a writing set to the table. He settles himself in and begins sorting through the parchments.
Damion is just buzzing with energy. I just went flying! I not only am not pinioned, but I get an opportunity to fly! His mood deflates and sours when he remembers the stricken faces of the pinioned Emberai sitting numbly in the prisoner cages. He recognized every single one of them. He had sparred with each one of them at some point in their training. And now the majority of them will kill themselves once they're released. Being a pinioned Windborne is an unbearable life.
The moving of Mulsae's seat grabs Damion's attention and he realizes he has turned his chair to face him and is leaning down with his elbows on his knees to be closer to eye level.
"I didn't make the decision to pinion them. I left that to my general to decide." Mulsae says flatly.
"You're half Emberan! You should understand the devastation it will inflict upon them!" Damion grits out through his teeth and clenches and unclenches his fists in anger.
Mulsae sits back in his chair and rests one ankle on his other leg's knee. "My general's task is to ensure Emberai never chooses to rise against the Water Master's authority ever again. Sending pinioned men back to the Emberai will serve as a reminder to the lowest ranks that they, too, can suffer from their superiors' arrogance." He raises a hand and cocks it to the side, "In addition, there is hope that the increased presence of pinioned soldiers of the upper echelons will create some semblance of empathy to finally grow and help us put an end to the routine pinioning of Emberai in the lowest caste."
Damion's eyebrows shoot up. Mulsae is actually working on that? He remembers when the proclamation to ban pinioning was announced shortly after Mulsae ascended to Water Master, but had seen no progress. All the people of the lowest caste he knows are pinioned.
"It has not been from a lack of trying. You should know as well as any how stubborn Emberai are to maintain their cultural heritage, no matter how backwards and harmful it may be." Mulsae barks a laugh, "You should hear when Nori slips her stoic demeanor and goes on a rant about it."
Nori's name needs no explanation. She is the one the Veil Spirit chose to merge with, causing her eyes to turn black and her form to blur. She was an outcast when they were kids, but her ability to see through a reflective surface to any other reflective surface makes her invaluable to the Water Master.
Damion remembers having a handful of conversations about routine pinioning with Nori when they were kids before Mulsae's father whisked Nori off to be his personal informant and spymaster. He was jealous of Nori as children because Mulsae's mother took her in and then his father gave her a position in his council.
Mulsae gestures at Damion, "You are serving as another angle to prevent uprisings. Every Emberan soldier wanted to be you, wanted to become the Harbinger of the Flood themselves. Now, I have twisted that yearning into loathing. No one will want to follow in your footsteps as my pet. No one will ever want to risk being brought as low as you will become."
Mulsae bends over to lean his elbows on his knees again and look Damion in the eye. "I know what you mean about being familiar with these soldiers. I have not forgotten that I trained with you, Damion." Damion's eyes widen in shock, he presumed he had been forgotten. "Of course I didn't forget you, we were rivals as children. I do not forget that it was you who beat me up on my first day and stole my clothing."
Continue reading: Third Day (5 of 6)
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