CHAPTER 12: FIRST NAIL
The air was damp, heavy with the scent of mold and rusted iron.
In the center of a pitch-black cave, Siah lay blindfolded and bound, his wrists tied behind his back, legs shackled to the jagged stone floor. His breathing was ragged, chest rising and falling in sharp bursts.
He screamed again, throat raw.
"LET ME OUT! Where is my mother, you bastards!"
His voice echoed back at him, swallowed by the shadows. No reply came. Only silence.
Siah's thoughts raced, wild and suffocating.
I have to calm down. I have to think of a way out of here.
But the calm shattered instantly, replaced with bitter rage.
This is Stetto's fault. All of it. When I get out of here... I'll kill him first.
Just then, a sound scraped through the silence—metal grating against metal.
The door.
Siah tensed.
"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
Footsteps approached, slow and deliberate. Then a voice answered—hoarse, weathered, laced with venom.
"So this is the monster responsible for the attack… The one who murdered innocents and watched them die with no hint of emotion. Such a vile creature doesn't deserve to see daylight again."
"I didn't do it!" Siah shouted again, struggling against his restraints. "Please, let me go!"
He felt rough hands lift him from the ground and slam him into a cold chair. Metal clanged around him.
The hoarse-voiced man leaned in close.
"You won't talk easy, I know. But for the sake of our Acme, the victims, and the people of the Grelon Empire—we'll drag the truth out of you."
Panic rose in Siah's chest like acid. He clutched at a desperate idea.
If I give them Stetto's name... they'll let me go, right? He's the real culprit. It's his fault!
"Sir!" Siah cried. "His name was Stetto! From the Shurur Empire! I don't even know him—I just met him!"
A silence fell.
The man whispered in Siah's ear, cold and grim:
"You'll be here a long time, kid. I hope you make it easy for us."
Before Siah could answer, a metallic CLANG rang through the cave. Then—
CRACK.
Pain exploded in his leg like lightning. The man had brought a hammer down on Siah's kneecap, shattering it in a spray of bone and blood.
Siah's scream echoed off the stone like a wounded animal.
"AAAGH! AH—WHY?!"
The man answered with a calm cruelty.
"You're not cooperating. So we'll have to move on to adult treatment."
Two large chunks of steel were dragged across the floor, screeching against stone. Chains. Hooks. Tools of torture.
"Spread him," the man ordered. "Maybe that'll loosen his stubborn mouth."
Siah was yanked from the chair, arms stretched wide. Heavy chains nailed into opposite walls now bound his wrists and ankles, suspending him in the air like a broken puppet. Blood trickled from his knee to the dirt floor below.
All he could do now was groan—low, weak, and pleading.
Then, the man stepped in close again, grabbing Siah by the chin. His breath was hot and venomous.
"We know how you Shurur rats are. You'd rather die than betray your Empire. You people mistake our kindness for weakness."
"Sir, please..." Siah gasped. "You have the wrong person... I swear..."
But the man just smiled.
"This one's tough. Bring me the hot knuckles. I need a proper warm-up."
Siah's blood ran cold.
A wet spot formed on his thigh. Urine trickled to the floor. His whole body trembled as tears ran down his cheeks.
"Please... please... spare me... I didn't—"
Before he could finish, the man's fists crashed into his face—three brutal punches in quick succession.
His jaw dislocated.
His nose shattered.
His ribs cracked under the impact.
Blood burst from his mouth and nostrils as he gasped, barely able to breathe. Each wheeze was a broken sound. He hung limp, dizzy, vision spinning even behind the blindfold.
"He shows no signs of breaking," the man said coldly. "No remorse. Write in the report—this one's a master of mind games. We'll need more time."
"Yes sir," one of the others replied.
The man leaned in again, speaking with vicious glee.
"We know we won't get much out of you. But we do have your mother."
Siah's head twitched. He whimpered.
"My men hate long hours, and now that we're stuck here... well... we'll need to comfort ourselves with our failure to extract information from you. Your mother is another stubborn one. But we know how to deal with difficult women."
He paused.
"We'll take turns."
Siah's scream didn't come. His voice was gone.
Only a pitiful groan escaped him.
He tugged weakly at the chains, trying to headbutt the man—but he had no strength left.
The man smirked.
"They told us to expect that from you—violent, unprovoked. You're no different from your past crimes."
He paced slowly in front of Siah, his voice rising with every accusation.
"Not long ago, you nearly killed a Crew County officer. Attacked a vehissel driver who was just doing his job over a minor inconvenience. You used the same Imprinting methods in a horrifying act of terrorism on the Gates of the Emperial Estate."
"You melted thousands. Their bodies—gone. Families with no corpses to bury. You left the Grand Chancellor barely alive."
The man paused—voice now grave.
"And worst of all... you crippled the Acme's wife."
Siah flinched, gasping.
"While you watched our Empire burn, your allies invaded the Noble Houses in large number's —slaughtering their way in i hear we lost alot of brave men. They even killed the Patriarch of House Gullet. But our House Heads held the line."
He leaned down, breath hot against Siah's face.
"You are no child. You are the worst criminal in the Grelon Empire's modern era. The people will rejoice to know you've been caught. Dyson itself will celebrate your fall."
"You were born in the darkness. And you will die in it."
Siah didn't speak. He couldn't. His head drooped, blood dripping from his lips. The fight had drained from his body. There was only pain, defeat—and silence.
The man straightened his back.
"Now," he said, uncoiling his fists. "Let me give it my all… against a monster."