The Taking
The chamber stinks of blood and wet fur. The scent of rot hangs heavily, pressing against Karreth’s skin like a weighty cloak. Gnolls lurk at the edges of the room, their eyes glinting yellow in the dim torchlight. They watch her with hungry eyes, but they do not move closer. Not yet.
Karreth kneels in the centre of the room, chains cutting into her wrists and pulling her arms back at an unnatural angle. The iron cuffs around her wings feel like more weights, keeping her tethered to the floor. The movement is small, a desperate twitch of her wings, but the chains stop her. She does not give in. Not yet.
She looks up at the towering figure before her. Yeenoghu stands, monstrous and unyielding, his grin sharp and wide. Old blood mats his fur, his eyes burning with a wild, unholy hunger.
“You will serve,” he says, voice thick with promise. “Your body will give me an army.” Karreth spits, the blood from her torn mouth landing at his feet.
“You’ll get nothing from me,” she snarls, breathing laboured, voice hoarse from the abuse yet the words ring clear. “I will tear them apart the moment they leave my womb.” The gnolls snarl, their laughter rumbling through the room, but Yeenoghu only smiles a terrible, knowing smile, one that stretches wider, more confident with each passing second.
“So defiant,” he murmurs, a low chuckle escaping him. “It will not last.”
His hand moves too fast. One moment she’s glaring at him, the next his claws are around her jaw, forcing her head back. Pain shoots through her skull as his grip tightens, squeezing her cheeks, his claws digging into her skin. She bares her teeth, not flinching, not giving in.
“You will break,” he growls, leaning in so close his foul breath clouds her face. Karreth spits blood onto his chest.
“I’ll break you first.” Yeenoghu’s grin widens further. His laugh fills the chamber, dark and mocking.
“Such fire. You think your defiance matters now?” His claws flex, digging into her face as he forces her mouth open with a brutal twist.
Her fangs snap, and in that split second, she sinks them into his flesh. She feels the hot rush of his blood against her tongue: Sharp, foul, bile-like. Her whole body shudders at the taste.
A mistake.
Yeenoghu does not flinch. Instead, he chuckles darkly, claws pressing even deeper.
“Good girl.”
Her breath catches in her throat. He’s ripping into her mouth, tearing with cruel precision. A sickening, wet sound fills the room. Pain erupts, radiating from her face, through her skull, as he takes what’s his. The tearing is unbearable. The world goes white, then red. Blood spills into her throat, choking her, filling her mouth, and she gasps, her scream dying before it can escape.
Then—something cold, wet, falls to the stone.
Karreth looks down, eyes swimming with tears and blood, to find her tongue lying between them, a severed, grotesque thing.
The gnolls howl with laughter, their voices rough and unrestrained, a chorus of savage delight. But Yeenoghu only looks pleased. He bends down, plucking her severed tongue between two fingers, examining it like a mere object.
He brings it to his mouth.
Karreth watches in horror as he sinks his teeth into her flesh. The sickening rhythm of wet chewing fills her ears. She wants to scream, to fight, to tear him apart, but the blood in her mouth silences her. Her power, her very identity, floods the room, a bitter tide of powerlessness.
Her own flesh, her own being, swallowed. Claimed.
Yeenoghu lifts his gaze to her, satisfied. His hand slides down her stomach, testing, claiming.
“Mine,” he murmurs, voice rough with victory.
Karreth’s body does not respond. She wants to rip his fingers away, to spit in his face, to scream. But she cannot. Her body betrays her, a prisoner to a force far more powerful than her will.
And for the first time, she cannot resist.
Her breath comes in shallow, desperate gasps. Her throat burns, raw and ragged, but she cannot swallow. The blood pools in her mouth, thick and hot, but she cannot taste it. It clogs her throat, choking her, but she cannot spit it out. She is silenced.
Yeenoghu watches her struggle, his hyena’s grin never faltering. He steps back, taking in the sight of her: Broken, defiant, powerless. Mine, his expression screams, though the word means something darker now. The gnolls shift around her, murmuring, their eyes greedy. Karreth can feel them: circling, their stares hot on her skin, their hunger palpable. The laughter fades, but their presence only grows more oppressive, as if her fate has already been chosen. She senses their claws twitching, their desire to claim her just as their master has.
Her chest tightens, her heart racing as she looks up at Yeenoghu. You will not break me. But the thought is heavy and muffled. She wants to scream, to tear herself free of the chains that hold her, but the only sound she makes is a faint, strained whimper as the blood and bile rise in her throat.
Yeenoghu steps closer, his massive form casting a shadow over her. He reaches down, tracing his claws against the line of her neck, the gash where her tongue once sat. There is a sickly satisfaction in his touch, as though he can feel the last vestiges of her resistance slipping away, one thread at a time. Her heart hammers in her chest, but she refuses to look away. He leans in, the stench of death hitting her face as he speaks.
“Do you think this will stop me?” he asks, voice gentle as if he’s asking her to surrender willingly. Karreth’s body trembles, but her eyes remain fixed on his. She shakes her head as best as she can, her neck burning with the effort as her blood chokes her. I will never belong to you. Yeenoghu chuckles lowly, pleased by her defiance. He presses his claws deep into her skin, sharp and cold as he pulls her head back to expose her ruined neck, nails raking over the raw and tender flesh. Her body reacts, muscles tense, desperate to pull away, but the chains hold her still, rendering her helpless.
“Do you even know what’s coming next?” he murmurs. He pulls her in close, towering over her. His tongue flicks over his lips in a sick parody of hunger. “You’ll beg for it, eventually. Your body will betray you, just as it’s already beginning to.”
The words cut deeper than his claws ever could. Never, she wants to say. But she cannot.
He steps back, his eyes glinting with amusement as he watches her struggle, her chest rising and falling in rapid, panicked breaths. The gnolls laugh again, their voices a steady undercurrent to the heavy silence that presses in around them.
He gives a signal and the chains release. Karreth falls forward, her knees hitting the stone hard, but her strength is gone. There is nothing left. The weight of what is to come settles over her like a suffocating cloud. She has no power now.
“You will learn,” Yeenoghu says, low and commanding. “Every part of you will belong to me. The moment your body starts to respond, I will be there. When you try to fight, I will be waiting. And you will know what true submission feels like.” He pauses, as though savouring the moment. “Until then, I will let you breathe. For now.”
Karreth’s head drops, her body sinking to the cold stone beneath her. Her heart beats so loudly she can hear it in the silence. But she has no voice to scream, no tongue to spit defiance, swallowed by the gnoll lord instead. Her body, once so vibrant, now feels like an alien thing. It refuses to listen to her, to obey her will.
I will never submit, she thinks, but the thought fades into the void left by her silence. The blood in her mouth still clogs her throat, thick and foul, but she cannot taste it. I will never submit, she repeats in her mind, a mantra, though she knows the next part will come.
In time, she will begin to feel it. The growing, terrible thing inside her. And when it comes, it will not matter if she fights, if she screams, if she defies him. Her body will betray her, just as his words promised.
But for now, all she can do is breathe. And wait.