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"The Flesh Trade"

by, WolfHound Baxton

Part 7: Reawakening

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Mason squirmed and thrashed violently, but no sound was heard, no movement perceived. There was nothing now but dark inky blackness, as if the world had long since died and he was here, suspended in space by a skin-tight invisible force covering his body. The border collie saw nothing in the intense blackness. He heard nothing but the sound of his own heartbeat and breathing, constantly. Sometimes an odd sugary fluid would seep into his mouth that he had to swallow. It was all that kept him alive. Aside from that there were the very occasional, thuds, vibrations, and changes in his position -- upright, horizontal, etc. It had been days since the last one, must have been. It was very difficult to keep track of time here. It could have been weeks, months, perhaps even years.

A sound! Different from the usual rumblings. It was a low scraping or cutting sound. It filled his universe, pouring into his head and scraping onto his skull.

Light!

Rays of light suddenly burst into his world. He closed his eyes. It was bright. Too bright. Even through his closed eyes it was still pouring through, burning into his brain. He tried to pull his paws up to shield his eyes but there were frozen in place as they had been for so long.

Mason yelped as the pressure was lifted from his body. First his arms, then his legs could move as the force was stripped from his body and the inky black universe itself was pulled away, giving way to the world of light. He felt himself on solid ground and tried to take a step forward, stumbling and falling to his knees. His legs were weak, not having been used in some time.

He took a deep breath. As his eyes adjusted, he could see his surroundings better. He was kneeling now on the ground near a stone wall made of dark brown blocks. Around him in the grass was a pile of odd rubbery goo.

As he breathed deeply, taking in the fresh salty air, it occurred to him that he must have been sealed inside that thick rubbery substance. But why? He tried to think back, back to before he had been sealed away.

One face came to his mind, one voice, now causing instant anger.

Roki! He remembered now. The strange, amphibious, androgynous creature that had been his lover. He had found this mysterious being so alluring that he fell completely in love with her. He cared for her in every conceivable way. He had sacrificed so much for her love and given her nearly everything he had, only to be turned on and sealed away in that rubbery prison.

He made a pair of fists and turned his muzzle up to the blue, clouded sky and filled the air with a cry of his rage. He had been betrayed! His love had been betrayed.

"Why did she have to do it!?," he shouted as loud as he could. "Why did she have to do it to me!?"

Soon though, the release of anger gave way to the long, dull and tired ache of despair as he hung his head low to the ground now and began sobbing, his arms and legs collapsing as he fell on his belly, directly sobbing into the grass, watering it with his tears.

His ears perked as he stifled his sobs. There was a sound in the grass nearby. He pulled his head up and looked ahead of him from his position. There were two bare white-furred footpaws on the ground in front of him.

Mason looked up now, pulling a paw up to shield his eyes from the bright sun. The white-furred figure came slowly into focus.

It was Lupercus, one of Mason's former employees at the Servicorps slave-training facility where he had been when Roki betrayed him.

Lupercus was different now though. The bright white wolf had always dressed in as little as possible, even as a merc serving as one of Servicorps' guards. Now though, he wore nearly nothing at all aside from a dark brown leather loincloth, suspended over his groin by a belt from which hung a couple types of whips and a leash. His body rippled with more muscle than it had while he was serving as a guard. Clearly he had spent much of his free time since leaving Servicorps working out. Aside from the loincloth, he wore no more than a tribal necklace made of shells and shark's teeth. A long, dark black mane flowed from the back of his head, contrasting neatly with his pure white fur.

As Mason looked up at Lupercus, he noticed an odd twisted smile on the wolf's face. He was about to say something, probably mocking or scolding him for his rude expression and lack of proper attire. Mason was used to being the boss of this wolf.

Before Mason could say anything though, Lupercus' two hands brought up a metal ring ... a slave collar. It wreathed Lupercus' face for a moment as the wolf brought it down towards Mason's neck, opening it and clamping it on him. The electronic metal ring sealed with a beep. It would not open again without the proper signal.

"Agh! ... Hey!", said Mason as he grabbed at his neck. "What's the fuck do you think you're doing!? Don't you know who I am!?"

"Yep," said Lupercus. "You're Slave C, my property."

Mason growled angrily, his rage giving him the energy to stand up now. He could see that he was on a very small island. The other islands of the Bastanian archipelago were visible in the distance across the water, nearer the horizon, including Grande Island where the estate of the dictator Xarius was visible as the most prominent structure. Surely even Xarius would not stand for this injustice! He was no slave. He had never signed a contract.

"You can't do this," said Mason. "I'm a man of great importance. I've got more money, more friends, more power than you'll ever dream of."

"You're also dead...," said Lupercus. "As of yesterday. They can't look for missing persons forever you know. But don't worry. Your wealth is safe and sound in my possession."

Another figure approached. This time it was a black wolf. Tall, muscular, powerful looking. He wore a pair of wraparound sunglasses that covered his eyes. On his neck was a slave collar, similar to the one that had been placed on Mason. His chest bore a brand-mark in an odd script. It was Lupercus' personal brand that he marked his slaves with. The only thing he wore was his steel chastity cage, secured by a ring to his balls. It was Alan Baxter, Lupercus' old partner at Servicorps whom he had betrayed for his lover Roki. Alan was a bit different this time though as a slave. He showed no emotion. His face was blank and he stared ahead from under those sunglasses. In one of his paws he held a long wooden baton firmly.

"It seems that in your lustful passion for that slimy bitch Roki you forgot to completely purge Alan Baxter's name from the Servicorps rolls. When you died and Servicorps was officially dissolved a sizable portion of the company's assets went to him ... or rather to me in trust, as his Master. It was a great deal to gain so much for the price of one slave!"

Mason lifted his nose to the sky for a moment in a gesture of total defiance in the face of his circumstances, paws traveling to his hips and planting there firmly. "I don't care!," he said, holding a paw out flat in a short gesture. "I demand that you release me now and return me and if you do, I won't press charges."

"A dead man can't do anything legally," said Lupercus. "You'd be just yet another slave on a lifetime contract whose papers have gotten misplaced somewhere... oh but they must be there somewhere because you're in chains! Let's not rock the boat ... that is how the system usually works around here isn't it? Especially if you're friends with Xarius or can pay off the Bastanian authorities. I think I can afford a bribe or two for your sake if it comes to that."

Mason lunged forward and grabbed for Lupercus' necklace, pulling on it and pulling the white wolf's face down to look into his.

"Listen to me you upstart piece of shit! You won't get away from this forever. I have powerful friends. They won't rest until I'm found, and when I am, you're toast!"

Lupercus responded with a knee to Mason's balls and shoved him back a bit, letting him grasp his balls in pain.

"Slave A!," said Lupercus. "Administer correction protocol A to Slave C."

Alan approached Mason now threateningly. Not the slightest sign of emotion appeared on his face. He was a drone. He did what he was told. That was all that was left in him now.

He gripped his baton firmly and as Mason was still holding onto his balls, he took the baton and delivered him a rough blow in the right knee, then the left, causing Mason to fall to the ground. This was followed by a kick to the upper body, sending him onto his back. Then Alan stepped a foot hard down on Mason's chest and beat on his belly with the baton.

"Submit," said Alan in a simple, monotone voice..

Mason groaned in pain, crying and pleading, begging to Alan to stop it and let him go, only resulting in more beatings from the baton.

"It's no use pleading with him," said Lupercus. "Any emotions or fears were purged out of him long ago. He's not capable of showing you mercy. You did that to him yourself."

Mason cried in pain, the blood and bruises beginning to show on his body now.

A few more moments of this was all it took before Mason groaned out, crying and sobbing and yelling. "I submit! ... I submit!"

Lupercus pulled a length of rope from his belt and moved close to Mason now, towering over the collie who was still held down by Alan's foot on his chest.

"Present your paws, slave," said Lupercus. "Or face further discipline."

Mason whimpered in pain and reluctantly held up his paws, letting Lupercus tie them.

With his paws tied together, Mason was then leashed and led along the stone wall until they came to a series of steps. The wall was actually the side of a stone platform on which stood a larger building of ominous dark stone. At regular intervals on the wall were carved stone reliefs, each displaying a scene of domination with a larger Master figure towering over or disciplining chained lesser figures. The door itself, which they were approaching, was especially decorated with such reliefs. Mason looked up at the cold building and its figures with dread and fear. Where did this building come from? Had it always been here? He had never heard of such structures in the islands before.

Eventually, three of them reached the top step, Lupercus first, dragging Mason by a leash, then followed by Alan slightly behind and to the right of Lupercus. When they did they paused for a moment, then Lupercus stepped forward. One of the stone tiles gave way a bit under his foot and then the impressive door in front of them began to lift slowly with the dull, low, but loud sound of massive stones grating against one another as it did.

As the three of them continued forward, they entered a long corridor with wooden doors on either side of it. Torches flickered on the walls of this corridor and the walls and ceilings continued to be decorated by the disturbing carvings, though in here were scenes of humiliation of the victims as well as just simple defeat and domination.

Mason stopped for a moment and put his bound paws out, resting them on one of the carvings as they passed. He thought he saw, small and almost imperceptible, the figure of Roki carved into the stone. He saw the figure of that slimy amphibian, sitting on a huge throne. Below here were several other figures attached to strings being moved around like puppets. His eyes went wide as he stared at the image. What did this mean?

"Ungh!"

Mason was grabbed and pulled forward violently by his leash. Lupercus grabbed and twisted one of his ears painfully, bringing out a yelp. "No slacking, bitch!," shouted the wolf loudly as the reached a wooden door on the left side of the corridor, leading into a torture chamber.

"Welcome to my dungeon!," said Lupercus as he entered the inside of the structure. "After I quit Servicorps I didn't know what I would do, but I was able to get a loan to buy this small island with the intent of setting up a sort of tourist resort. Then I found this building on it. there was no mention of it and it was all overgrown with weeds, trees and moss until I put the effort into restoring it. I figured it would be the perfect setting for my own dungeon: Dark, dreary, oppressive and scary. It should put you slaves in the right frame of mind."

Mason gulped a bit and looked around the room. There were about four small cages in the dungeon, only big enough for a slave to stand in. Around the rest of the room were various restraining devices like stocks and pillories and a few whipping posts. There was also a sling here and there and a couple tables and shelves bearing the implements of abuse: whips, floggers chains, shackles, and sex toys of various kinds. Of course there was lube for whatever occasion required it.

Mason eyed the various tools and restraining devices with apprehension. He had always considered himself a pretty kinky guy, but was mainly into rubber and encasement. Most of this looked too hard for him. He took a look at some of the whips and cages nervously and gulped, backing towards the doorway.

"I ... I don't know about this," said Mason. "I'm not into this hardcore of shit."

As he backed to the doorway he ran directly into the huge muscled body of Alan, now known as Slave A.

Alan grabbed Mason's shoulders and shoved him forward roughly into the room, causing him to gasp and lose his balance a bit.

"Like I fucking care...," said Lupercus. "You need to learn that as a slave now you're not in control of your life anymore ... and that it's your fucking fault for being here."

"How is it my fault!?," protested Mason arrogantly. "The bitch tricked me. It's not like I coulda.. mmmf! ... mmmmmmmmmggggghfffth!"

The large black wolf behind him had shoved a thick rubber ballgag in the collie's muzzle while his mouth was open in the middle of one of his rants.

"Teach him humility, Slave A," said Lupercus, walking over to one of the pillories and stocks in the middle of the room.

Lupercus removed Mason's wrist bindings and grabbed the wrists, shoving them into the pillory slots, along with his neck before bringing the block down, trapping his head while Slave A did the same for his legs, locking them in the stocks. The collie was then left in a "doggie style" position on his paws and knees with his ass stuck up vulnerably in the air.

Slave A went over to a nearby table and picked up what at first looked like a dildo but it was actually a form of strapon attached to a cup that fit over top of his chastity cage. Slave A made no sound while he did this. He had been drilled that this was just part of his duties in humiliating and breaking in a new slave.

"You see that Slave C?," said Lupercus to Mason. "That's what awaits you. Slave A here is locked in chastity permanently. It is only removed very rarely and under strict supervision for cleaning. Slaves aren't allowed the pleasure of a genuine penetration. That's why he has to use the strapon."

Mason grunted and squirmed in his binds, looking up at Lupercus angrily for what was about to happen to him, then a bit apprehensively at Slave A who was busy applying a generous helping of lube to his strapon. This was merciful too as the toy was far bigger than any dick that Slave A had taken before. Truth be told, as someone who was mostly asexual in his past, Mason had not been taken in the rear since his wild and experimental college days. He was rather tight, near virginal actually, and was fearful that the toy would break him.

Mason whimpered pleadingly and pathetically through his gag as he saw Slave A move behind the pillory. He couldn't see what was going on from this point, his head being locked in the pillory, except for the flickering shadows caused by the torches on the stone floor. He squirmed nervously. The muscled slave was taking up position behind him.

He could feel it! The tip of that thick and eternally-hard rubber dong poking at his tight little hole. He whimpered and cried, instinctively squeezing his ass together, making it hard for the invader to penetrate him. This was, of course, a futile act as Slave A pressed on, pushing that dick deep into Mason's ass whether he was ready or not, bringing forth a gagged groan of agony and suffering from the pilloried slave.

Mason whimpered and groaned, looking up at the grinning white wolf who had captured him as Lupercus slinked closer to the bound, gagged, and abused border collie.

"Well?," asked Lupercus. "Do you think you deserve a bit of a break? ... You want the gag to come off?

Mason nodded eagerly between sniffs and muffled groans of pain as Slave A continued to ram the rubber dick into him all the harder. The wolf slave was not holding back, but fucking hard in an unceasing, rhythmic, mechanical motion. The wolf had no sense in his strap-on dick and no emotion or compassion left in his wiped mind. He would not stop or hold back for the sake of the new slave. He could not.

Lupercus grabbed under Mason's chin and growled down at him. "Then you'd better use your mouth for what it was made for when I ungag you. Understand.

Mason nodded slowly, a shameful look in his eyes as he turned them down now.

Lupercus loosened the gag from behind Mason's head, then pulled his loincloth back, revealing the glorious wolf-spear that had been hidden only moments before. He shoved the pointed tip against the collie's muzzle. "I think you know what to do slave. And don't you fucking think about any funny business. You know what happens to slaves who misbehave for me."

Mason's face lost some of its heat at those words, his memories flickering back to the old days at Servicorps. He recalled a moment where he had set down his paperwork and number-crunching and left his office for a moment. A slave had spit on Lupercus, bringing on a severe beat-down followed by a full 150 lashes and 20 minutes of riding an electro-shock buttplug at the full setting.

A great cry of despair erupted from Mason's muzzle just before it was stuffed with Lupercus' dick. He realized: He *was* that slave now! It was an extremely disheartening moment when he thought back to how just moments before he had been confident, the king of his own world, victorious, with a loving partner, or so he thought. When he was trapped in his rubber prison for the first few hours he had thought "She'll come back for me ... she must come back for me. It's all a game, a scene ..." Of course, she never did. And now here he was.

Mason began to cry and whimper pathetically around Lupercus' dick, blinking and sniffing his nose as tears began to roll out of his eyes.

He shouldn't have expected any better, really. He saw how she had treated others. Why should he be any different once he became boring or inconvenient like they had?

A paw came across Mason's face quickly, delivering a rough slap to his cheek, reddening the flesh under his white fur a bit.

"Suck bitch!," shouted Lupercus. "And do a fucking good job if you want to stick around here. This isn't like the old days. You're not for sale and I can discipline you however I want."

Mason began to suck reluctantly, bobbing a bit as he had seen other slaves do, squirming uncomfortably and crying. The fear of being ruined came to me now. He remembered the story of how Lupercus had castrated a slave at Xarius' slave farm just before quitting. And his tailhole... his tailhole!

That wolf was still going at him! Still going at his ass. Did he ever get tired? Wouldn't he ever release and be done? ... of course, the answers to both questions were a no. Slave A had been through heavy endurance training as part of his previous military career, and the chastity cage he wore under his strap-on ensured he would never release. Indeed he would never stop or slow his unceasing machine-like fucking until the very moment his Master commanded him to do something else. Mason pushed his ears back against his head, remembering having put the black wolf in the drone pod himself along with Roki. Was it possible that what he was suffering now was actually his own fault?

No! His prideful self would not allow him to admit such a thing. Something being his fault? He, having messed up? No! That was inconceivable to a narcissist like him.

Another slap, harder this time.

"I said suck, you lazy bitch! You better prove your worth to me!"

Mason was jolted suddenly back to reality. He wasn't that powerful, wonderful, always-right guy anymore. No. He was a slave. He'd have to adapt to it... but he couldn't! He had to keep his mind free somehow. He had to resist this. It was wrong! Him, a slave? He was so much better than all the other furs he had been responsible for being put in this position, all the trash that came through, stupidly signing their lives away on a contract. He had signed no contract! He wasn't a slave! And he was determined to keep his mind intact, pure.... but for now...

Mason started sucking, looking up at his captor and blinking a bit as the towering white wolf began to thrust that pulsing dick in and out of his mouth.

A cruel paw took hold of Mason's ear and twisted it a bit. "Tongue! Dammit... you have a lot to learn about giving head, slave... but you'll learn."

Mason gulped and nodded a bit as much as he could, looking up at his tormentor as he began to lick and whirl his tongue over the cock in his mouth, bobbing some more. He winced and squirmed at the taste of pre jetting from Lupercus' cock. A voice said inside him, "You'll get used to it."

"No!," he screamed back. "Must resist.... must.... nng..."

Slave A was still going at his tail, spreading it wide and taking him hard. The pain was still there but had subsided just a bit now more of a constant ache in his rear rather than the sharp searing pain it had once been minutes ago. Still, it was quite awful.

His mind went blank now. He tried to think of anything he could do or think of to distract himself. If it were just his ass, he could do it. He could think back to all the times when he was a person with power. He was in control. He could mentally go there, leaving his body behind, but no. He was now forced to wiggle his tongue over the slaver's dick, to give attention and active service to his captor ... his Master?

Lupercus mmmred happily, panting as he enjoyed the new slave's tongue on his dick. The boy was learning much faster than he would have thought. The white wolf reached over and flipped a switch on the nearby wall.

The sound of gas heating a furnace filled the room. Mason's ears flicked. He couldn't see what was going on, but something told him it was not good. Indeed, on the other side of the room a flame had lit a small bed of coals in an iron basket with two wicked iron brands sticking out from them. Each brand bore the same brand mark worn by Slave A both on his left chest and his right ass-cheek.

Lupercus grabbed the head of the pilloried slave now and growled lustfully, thinking of those evil brands searing themselves onto his new slave's flesh. His libido rose to its height, feeding upon his sadism as he pushed his tip down all the way into Mason's throat.

The border collie gagged a bit and blinked, crossing his eyes on that swelling knot as it shoved itself against his lips, pushing his head back against the harshly gripping paws holding him still from behind.

"Take it slave!," shouted Lupercus, shoving in a bit harder. "Take that knot in your mouth... and you'd better not scrape it with your teeth if you want to keep them. Understand, slave!?"

Mason nodded quickly, opening his muzzle up a bit and whimpering carefully, shivering in fear, tears still streaming down his cheek as he felt the completeness of his violation sinking in.

Lupercus grabbed the back of the slave's head with both paws now, grunting and howling lustfully as he pushed his knot further in, the tip of his cock pressing into Mason's throat, choking him for a moment before he pulled back only to push back down again.

The white wolf began to shudder and pant hard, his muscles tensing. He was coming close, determined to press himself over the edge and release upon his new property.

Mason gulped a bit, this squeezing on Lupercus' cock being the final pressure to send him over. Suddenly the border collie found his mouth pumped full of a flood of the energetic and hot seed of a true lupine alpha male.

Lupercus panted and smiled, coming down from his orgasm, then released his new slave's head with his paws. Lupercus looked down at the boy as his swollen knot was still stuck in his muzzle. The wolf patted his cheek lightly with the back of his paw. "Open up big and wide slave. I don't want myself stuck in your mouth all day Understand??

Mason nodded lightly, his mouth stuffed with wolf dick as he reluctantly swallowed the seed in his mouth, with some effort. His jaw ached from being forced open in this way for so long. He certainly was not accustomed to sucking cock, but that would be changing very quickly and very soon.

Mason grunted and moaned painfully. The wolf behind him was still going at it! Obviously either totally unconsciously or totally uncaring of anything else due to his conditioning, Slave A had not yet been given the stop order by his Master. The wolf's low grunts betrayed a certain primal lust that even his complete drone conditioning couldn't suppress. It was a lust that would go forever unsatisfied due to the cock cage he wore beneath his strapon.

Lupercus gave the collie's cheek another light tap. "Open, slave!"

Mason nodded, giving a little muffled whimper and groan of suffering as he did his best to stretch his jaw as wide as he could, that itself being painful. His paws shook in his pillory in agony as he did, seeking any sensation to distract from the pain. It took all his willpower to stop from biting down on that knot like it was a big ballgag, not out of anger or revenge, but because his body was trying to clench as much as possible. Mason knew what horrors would probably await him if he allowed himself to do that sort of thing though, having seen Lupercus in action on slaves before.

"Open... Wider!!!," screamed Lupercus, reaching down and grabbing the bottom and top of Mason's jaw forcefully and pulling on him to open him up.

In the end, Lupercus was able to finally pull out of Mason's muzzle, who started whimpering and crying pathetically as soon as he was able, stretching his jaw desperately. He felt as if it almost broke from being stretched too far.

Lupercus growled and grunted, clenching his teeth at the feel of a sharp scrape on his dick as he pulled out. He reached his finger down and rubbed it along his swollen knot, then held the finger up for inspection. A crimson drop quivered on the padded tip of his finger.

"You scraped me, bitch...," said Lupercus firmly as he glared down at Mason, then looking up and barking an order to Slave A to remove himself from the collie.

Mason would have felt relief, finally having the offensive intruder removed from his tailhole as Slave A stood back and stood down. He would have felt relief if not for the sinking feeling in his gut and the pure terror that came over him now. The smallest infraction to this severe Master could often be the occasion for the most cruel of torments. He had seen slaves whipped near to death for far less.

"P.. please! I didn't mean to! I did my best. I ... have mercy please! I'll do better next time. I promise!," pleaded Mason pathetically. Was he even thinking of what he was saying!? ... Next time? As if he would ever submit to sucking the dick, let alone that of a plebeian, his lesser, before he found himself bound here. Lupercus had much work to do in breaking his new acquisition, but all of the thoughts of what Mason had been before were thrown out the window now, for the time being. He would do anything to prevent the torture he knew would come if he did not cooperate, that he knew was coming unless he could convince a small slice out of mercy out of Lupercus.

"Be glad I don't have you lick Slave A's dildo clean after this fuckup, slave," said Lupercus as he glared down at the pilloried collie.

Mason cried, whimpering and shuddering in terror at the thought of such a punishment and what was on that horrible toy that had plunged in and out of him for so long.

"No! .. no please! ... anything but that!," shouted Mason with fear in his eyes.

"Well," said Lupercus with a smile. "I suppose I could be merciful this one time," he said. "A hundred lashes with the cat," said Lupercus with a nod to Slave A before turning and walking over towards the basket of coals to ready his brand.

Mason cried in relief. Anything must be better than that... anything. He would do anything to be spared it. "Oh thank you so much, Sir," he gushed. "Thank you... th... thank..."

"Crack!"

The cruel lashes of the whip struck his back for the first time, causing Mason to yelp in pain.

Lupercus grinned and looked back a bit, then forward. His dick almost became hard once more at the sounds of the cracking whip and the collie screaming and groaning in pain.

Soon enough, the head of the branding iron was glowing hot and ready to be used.

Lupercus pulled the branding iron from the hot coals and walked over to Mason who was still receiving his lashes, then waved the hot head of the branding iron just inches away from his face to display it to him.

"This is for you, Slave C... It's just like the one Slave A has."

"Noo!," cried Mason, crying and sniffling in between the yelps of the whip. "I'm... n... not.. Yelp! ... not a ... Yelp! ... slave..."

"What was that bitch?," said Lupercus, moving around to watch Slave A complete his task. "I couldn't hear you.

"I said I'm not.... ooooooh... Oooeeewwwww!!!."

Mason groaned in pain, no longer able to control his words.

Lupercus waited until Slave A had completed the hundred lashes, then took his place behind Mason with a sadistic grin, pressing the brand up to his asscheek and marking the border collie as his own slave.

Slave C yowled in pain as the hot iron seared into his flesh. It was worse than the whipping and worse than anything he had ever endured before. He cried loudly, unable to bear the pain as Lupercus undid the pillory stocks.

After putting his brand back in the basket, Lupercus and Slave A hauled Slave C up to his feet now, locking him in one of the vertical cages, securing his wrists and legs to the bars. The bars of the cage were just barely big enough for the branding iron to fit through.

Slave C was still crying and groaning, squirming in pain as the burn on his ass continued to sink into him, burning him from the inside. The pain of the burn would be lingering with him for a long while, for such is the nature of burns.

Another! The brand was inserted through the bars of the cage, searing his chest now with Lupercus' slave brand.

After a scream, Slave C looked down in horror to see the brand being pulled from his chest, seeing the smoke rise from his wound. He smelled the searing scent of his own flesh as it filled his nostrils.

Slave C was then pulled from the cage and taken from the dungeon, weakly dragged out, to a large building next door that served as a slave barn. It was full of cages. Some of them were open, some more enclosed to make small cells. Slave C was placed in one of the cells.