FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 13

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Peter

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No matter how hard I tried to remind myself that I was dreaming, my fur burned with fear, for I was still unable to wake myself from that horrible nightmare.

_ _ I sat on a stool that was constructed of bones and in the middle of a room, which had walls made up of flat paper-like faces that had been cut off of members of various species and sewn together by bloody stitches. The eye sockets of each face were empty and only held blackness within them, showing that they weren't hanging off of anything solid. Before me was a brown table, which, at first, seemed to be the only normal thing in the entire room, since it looked like it was made of wood. But, when I smelled a horrible stench and looked more closely at the table, I realized that it was made of shit, which held small chunks of corn, meat and fruit.

I tried to stand up from my stool, hoping to escape the room as soon as possible, but something was keeping me from rising. What the hell?

I looked down and saw a line of severed penises, all bloody and from different species, which wrapped around my neck and connected it to the two legs of the table that were in front of me. After squinting my eyes, I saw that the penises, like the walls of faces around me, were sewn together with string that was stained by blood and held some pieces of yellow-pink flesh that leaked drops of pus onto my clothes.

"What the fuck?" I said, feeling my stomach become queasy.

Again, I tried to stand, but the rope of penises kept me from getting very high off my stool.

"Peter," a whisper said.

My ears twitched and I looked around the room, turning my head as far as the penises that circled my throat would let me.

"Peter,"

"Peter," "Peter,"

"Peter,"

"Peter,"

"Peter," "Peter,"

"Peter,"

The whisper seemed to be coming from every direction, as if whoever was calling me was in more than one place.

"Who the hell are you?" I screamed, still glancing around the room.

Suddenly, I noticed that a ram's face on the opposite side of the room began to move its lips, which bled a few drops of blood with every word. "You ask an interesting question,"

Then, on the wall to my right and near the ceiling, an ermine's face spoke while its open eye sockets bled. "But, may I ask, who are you?"

Somehow managing to find the courage to speak, I answered, "Peter Gannish,"

On the ceiling above the table, a bat face began to leak red from its nostrils as it said, "Names aren't important,"

To my left, an otter's face began to bleed from its ears. "Actions are what make a man,"

Beneath me, just between my boots, blood gurgled from the nose and mouth of a horse's face. "And what have you done?"

As I opened my mouth to answer, a hyena's face on the wall across from me bled from its eye sockets. "Cried like a child while Jewel cut off your ears,"

"Froze when Esme was stabbed and didn't lift a finger to help," a deer's face on the wall to my left said, blood streaming out of its ears and mouth.

"Let Dante risk his life to fight Osric while you cowered behind some trees," a gazelle's face on the left wall said, bleeding from its mouth.

"Well who the fuck are you?" I shouted at the gazelle face, since it was the last one to talk, my fur burning with anger. "What gives you the right to judge me? You don't even have the courage to show me your real face! I'm a coward? Bullshit! You are! Someone who's brave doesn't hide behind walls and talk to someone that's tied to a chair,"

A moment of silence passed.

Then, all at once, the faces in the room began to laugh, making me cringe and feel like I was about to go deaf. As they continued their earsplitting laughter, all of the faces began to bleed, pouring blood onto the floor and even over my head, forcing me to close my eyes as the warm liquid washed over my entire body. Soon, after ducking my head and rubbing the blood away from my eyelids, I noticed that there was a pool of blood on the floor, which reached about six inches off the ground. Bubbles began to rise around my boots, sending ripples through the liquid. This confused me at first, but then I realized that the faces on the floor were still laughing inside of the blood as it drowned them.

With no warning, the faces stopped laughing and bleeding altogether. Even the bubbles around my paws disappeared. The only sound left in the room was that of blood drops falling off my fur and hitting the sea of red beneath me.

The wall of faces in front of me, on the opposite side of the table, fell down, the faces ripping apart from one another before hitting the bloody floor as their stitches and flesh loudly tore apart. They splashed blood in every direction, some drops hitting the legs of the table as a few slapped against my face.

I reached up both of my arms to wash away some of the blood from my face. But, when I pulled my arms back down, I saw a hand emerge from the darkness and place itself on the edge of the wall to my right. I couldn't tell what species the stranger was, or even the color of their fingers, since I was still trying to blink away the blood from my eyes. The fingers then dug into an otter's face, tearing it from the wall and leaving behind a space of black as the face began to scream. Slowly, the hand pulled the shrieking otter face into the darkness and I began to hear loud sloppy chewing noises. The screams became quiet.

My knees started to shake and I held them tightly with my hands, which didn't help because they were also trembling. Is it going to eat me next?

_ _ The chewing stopped and I held my breath.

From out of the blackness, a monster appeared. Its legs were muscled, brown and had hooves like a horse. Between the creature's humongous legs, I saw a hard purple wolf cock, looking almost like it was badly bruised, which dripped blood out of its pointed tip. But I didn't see any balls hanging beneath the penis. Instead, I saw a vagina oozing an orange lumpy liquid down onto the muscled thighs below it. My eyes moved up, noticing that the monster's stomach was made up of red muscles and seemed to be dripping blood, as if someone had ripped all of the fur from its chest. The creature also appeared to have breasts, which looked like they had their fur stripped off, as well as the nipples. All that was left of the two breasts were thin red sheets that barely contained green and yellow organs inside of them. The creature's arms were both scaled, like a crocodile's, and had black claws, which looked sharper than any knife or sword that I had ever seen. Finally, the head of the creature seemed to be a mix between an antelope, a dhole and a bat. The face and teeth, which dripped with fresh blood, were exactly like a dhole's. But its grey eyes were big and had small pupils. And, on top of its head, the creature had two horns that were both almost as tall as me.

"Are you not fond of my appearance, Peter?" the creature laughed through its red-stained teeth as it slowly raked its claw over a face on the wall to my right, causing the face to cry out in pain as it bled and tore. The creature never took its eyes off me, though, even when the face fell into the pool of blood on the floor.

"Get away from me!" I screamed, trying to stand up, but only ended up being pulled down by the rope of penises around my neck.

"Come now, Peter," the monster said, dragging its blood-drenched claw down across more faces on the wall, ripping their flesh and spilling more blood onto the floor as screams filled the room. "Don't you know? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,"

"Stay away!"

"Oh," the creature said, as it withdrew its bloody claw away from the wall. "You're in no position to be giving me orders,"

Slowly, the creature edged towards me, walking around the table as blood sloshed around its legs.

I tried to push over the table, thinking that would break the rope around my neck, but I wasn't strong enough and only ended up getting clumps of moist shit all over my hands.

The creature stopped walking as it reached my side, facing my right shoulder. It then slowly leaned down until its muzzle was at my cheek.

I closed my eyes, hoping to wake up soon, only to have the monster's burning breath smother me with the stench of rotting meat.

Then, I felt something wet slide up my cheek, and, when I opened my eyes, I realized that it was the creature's blue forked tongue. "Get the fuck away from me!"

Ever so slowly, the creature stood up and it sucked its tongue back into its mouth. It then raised its left claw into the air, preparing to bring it down and cut me open.

Just at the right moment, I leaned as far back as I could in my stool and the monster cut the cord around my neck, which sent me falling backward. But, as I fell back into the blood on the floor, I could feel the tip of my nose burn as though someone had hammered a hot nail into it, meaning the monster's claws had not completely missed me. My nose stung even more when I was submerged in the warm blood, making it feel like a burning coal had been crammed inside one of my nostrils.

As I jumped out of the blood and made a rush for the open wall of blackness that the creature had come from, the monster called out to me, "Running can only help you for so long, Peter,"

My boots found something solid to stand on in the darkness and I turned right, running as fast as my short legs would let me. Luckily, I didn't have to run in the dark for very long, since, after leaving the room with the monster, I saw a burning lantern hanging to my right from a metal wire that floated in mid air.

I snatched up the lantern and, almost immediately, could see I was in a tunnel that was littered with rotting bodies, which all wore pink flesh were their faces had once been. What the fuck? But, after remembering that the creature was still in the room behind me, I began running again, not even bothering to avoid stepping on the bodies as I hurried deeper into the darkness.

A couple of turns in the tunnel later, I began to feel the slightest bit of hope that I would escape.

A screech cut through the darkness behind me, coming from somewhere far away, but it was still loud enough to make me almost drop my lantern.

I began to run faster.

Moments later, I heard another screech. This one was much closer than the first and made my head ring from how shrill it was. I need to get the fuck out of here.

_ _ I made another turn and found a large set of red metal doors that were almost as tall as a palace.

"Thank fucking God," I whispered, rushing towards the doors.

As I reached the doors, I began pushing the one on the right open. It slowly moved forward, since it was so big, but streams of warm sunlight began to pour out of the growing crack, which gave me enough confidence to keep pushing.

Behind me, I heard another screech, which was even closer than the last one I had heard a moment ago. It was so loud that it felt like a thousand spikes were being shoved into my skull, giving me a very painful headache. But I continued to push the door open. If I were to stop or slow down, the creature would have surely caught me.

Finally, the door was open widely enough for my body and I squeezed through it, the cold metal pressing against my chest as I moved sideways.

Once I was on the other side of the door and in darkness again, I threw all of my weight against it, trying to shut the large door as quickly as possible. Luckily, the door was easy to shut and I heard it _click_into place, which I thought meant that it was locked.

Suddenly, after I took a step back from the door, something banged against it on the other side.

A moment passed and I held my breath, only to hear several other bangs ring through the door, each one sounding like it was going to break the metal.

The bangs stopped.

"Peter," the voice of the creature said, slipping through the door like cold air. "What's the use in running?"

"Oh, I don't know!" I screamed back at the monster, taking a second step back from the door. "How's about not wanting to be eaten?"

"You're simply delaying the inevitable," it said. "Death comes for everyone, just like how I'll come to devour you, bones and all,"

"Fuck you!"

The monster was silent and I heard pawsteps that were moving away from the other side of the door.

I lowered my lantern and held my head back, sighing in relief. Now I just have to wake myself up.

_ _ "Peter," a voice said from behind me.

My fur bristled and my fingers tightened around the cold handle of my lantern.

Slowly, I turned and raised my lantern, finding an otter only a few steps away from me, who sat in a wooden chair as he plucked at the grey hairs that covered his muzzle. Behind him, a window floated in the darkness. Through it, I could barely see waves of the sea wash over an empty beachside as dim stars twinkled above.

"Dad?" I said, not entirely sure why my father was there in the darkness with me.

I took a few steps closer, nearly pressing the glass of my lantern against my father's face, and made sure that it was him. As far as I could tell, it was. His eyes were dark brown like mine, only they had the same stern look whenever I pissed him off. Besides his harsh gaze, my father also wore his crown, which had a ring of rubies that wrapped around its circle of gold.

"What happened to your ears?" he asked.

Carefully, I reached my left hand up and touched the nub where my left ear used to be. "Someone cut them off,"

"Someone in a tavern?" my father asked, his voice heavy with judgment.

"No," I said, lowering my lantern. "I wish,"

"It's not smart to lie to me, Peter. How can I help protect you if you won't even tell me what you did?"

"I don't need your help,"

"How am I supposed to teach you to be a good king?" my father asked, slightly raising his voice. "Without me, your reign over Lowpive will be brief and full of suffering. I can teach you, Peter. I can help prepare you for being a king and show you how to protect yourself,"

"And who told you I wanted to be a king?" I demanded, raising my voice over his. "I've told you countless of times that I'd rather have a boyfriend and a normal life,"

"A normal life?" my father asked, his forehead wrinkling.

"Yeah. You know, something that doesn't involve me staying in a goddamn palace until I die!"

"That's not up for you to decide," my father said, lowering his voice to a low growl. "You're my oldest son and our people expect you to replace me,"

"Fuck the people!"

My father's dark brown eyes narrowed at that and the fire of my lantern made it seem as though they were on fire. "The people are the ones who give us power. But they can just as easily take it away by breaking down your doors and murdering you in your bed. It's unwise to forget about them and show disinterest in their problems,"

"So I'm supposed to give up my happiness?"

"One man's happiness is a cheap price for thousands of lives,"

"You always do this," I hissed.

"Do what?"

"Act like you know what's best for me," I said. "Like I'm always wrong and you're always right, even when mom was dying,"

His eyes softened at the mention of my mother and he looked down at the floor in pain. "You were young. I didn't want you to remember her in those last days of illness she endured. She... She was a lovely woman, but, in death, she suffered greatly,"

"You could have at least let me say goodbye," I said, tightening my fingers around my lantern's handle. "Or let me say how much I loved her before she died,"

My father's gaze jumped off the ground and latched onto me. "And make a six year old boy feel the same helplessness I felt as I watched her draw her last breath? That would have been a cruel thing to do, Peter,"

"Crueler than not giving me one last moment with her?" I snapped at him.

I thought he was going to try lecturing me again, but my father only sighed and looked down at the floor.

"Nothing to say?" I asked him. "Have you finally realized how wrong you've been all these years?"

With another deep sigh, my father lifted his head and scowled at me again. "After all the time and gold I've spent trying to teach you, you somehow still manage to be nothing more than a disappointment,"

Before I could respond, the window behind my father burst open. As the glass rained down onto the floor, the creature that had chased me through the tunnel landed its hooves firmly on the ground, its eyes becoming illuminated by my lantern.

"I told you," the beast said. "Running is futile,"

Instantly, the creature leapt over my father's chair and landed on top of me. My back slammed against the ground and began to feel like it was going to break under the monster's unbearable weight. The creature then opened its jaws and lowered its teeth onto me. But, before its fangs could sink into my face, I raised my lantern and swung it against the monster's head, breaking the glass and setting us both ablaze with scorching fire.

My eyes snapped open as the screams from my nightmare still rang in my head. I quickly looked around, my face still burning with fear, and saw that I was back in my cell, where I was at the mercy of a monster that was almost as terrifying as the one inside my dream.

I rose from my mattress, which was still warm from my body heat, and I peeked through the bars of my cell, trying to see if any light was coming underneath the door at the end of the hall. After pressing my face against the bars, which were so cold that they began to burn my cheeks, I saw a dim flickering light beneath the door that wasn't bright enough to be sunlight. The guards probably lit candles. It's gotta be night.

Dread filled me, since Jewel would be coming to take me to dinner soon.

Slowly, I pulled my face away from the bars and sat down against the wall to my right, the hard stone straightening my back out and brushing my tail to the side, its tip grazing against the bars of my cell.

I looked down at my tail and ran my hand over it, causing the fur to flatten out beneath my webbed fingers. Would my tail be the next part of my body that Jewel would cut off? Or would she saw off my legs and gouge out my eyes so I couldn't escape? These thoughts had done nothing but keep me awake during the previous night. And, even when I was able to sleep, my dreams had always been filled with blood and never let me rest for long. As a result, my eyelids seemed to weigh as much as two boulders and my head felt like it was full of air.

I stopped stroking my tail and let my hand rest on the floor as I tilted my head to stare at the ceiling, only to notice the pile of bread sitting against the opposite wall of my cell and next my two gloves, which I had taken off before going to sleep earlier.

I scooted towards the bread, not even bothering to stand up. After running my butt against the hard stone floor, my hands seized the bread, nearly tearing through its soft body. There were about five pieces and each one was as white as a cloud. All five of them were wrapped with crust that reminded me of brown leaves in the fall. Yet, even though I hadn't eaten since my dinner with Jewel the day before, I wasn't hungry.

Jewel. I could feel my fur bristle and my lips pull back to scowl. I wanted nothing to do with that bitch, much less eat any of the scraps of food she gave me. So, instead of eating the pieces of bread, I squeezed them into a ball, causing white crumbs to snow down into my lap, and tossed it through the bars of my cell. The ball of bread slammed against the wall across from my cell and exploded, raining down pieces of brown crust and white bread along the hall in a way that reminded me of how blood splatters against the ground when someone is shot.

The idea brought a smile to my face, not because I was a sick fuck like Jewel, but because I thought about Dante and his gun. I still had hope that he would rescue me, not just because of the reward my father would pay, but also because he was my friend. The only question was when it would happen. Dante could have come to save me later that night, the next day or a week later for all I knew. That was the most dreadful part, not knowing when I would be free and see my friend again. It was like a second kind of prison, that feeling of uncertainty, and it was somehow more depressing than the cell that I was sitting in. Whenever he does come, though, I'll enjoy watching him shoot Jewel in the face.

_ _ The metal of the door down the hall squeaked and was followed by a dim light that reached across the floor outside my cell. I began to hear pawsteps and, only a moment later, saw a shadow slither towards me along the ground like a black snake.

Soon, the steps stopped and two boots stood in front of me, standing firmly on the ground without any mud or dirt on their leather. I didn't need to look up to know that it was Jewel, but I still arched my head back to see that she was wearing a brown tunic, black trousers and a sheathed sword.

"I see the bread's displeased you," she said in her usual deep voice, probably because her knights were just outside the door at the end of the hall.

I said nothing.

The dhole's ears twitched.

"Why so quiet, Peter?" she asked. "Was all your insolence in those two tiny ears of yours?"

Again, I stayed quiet.

Jewel blinked and searched my face with her eyes. "You look tired. Can't sleep?"

I didn't answer.

She smiled, reminding me of the blood-soaked teeth that the monster from my dreams had. "Nightmares?"

If I had ears, I was sure that they would have twitched as I wondered how Jewel had known about my dreams.

She motioned down the hall with her head, keeping her proud eyes on me. "The guards said you've been screaming. They checked up on you and found that you were doing it in your sleep. They also said you were yelling at your father,"

I wanted to say something, especially something that would make Jewel shut the fuck up, but the feeling of my naked head and the memory of her knife made me bite my tongue instead.

"I suppose you weren't lying about your father," Jewel continued. "My men also mentioned you had some harsh things to say about me while you slept. After your impertinence last night, I can't say I'm surprised,"

My teeth released my tongue and I stared at the ground beneath Jewel's boots.

The dhole lowered herself, crouching down in front of me. She was so close that my nose started to burn from her scent. "Now, Peter, are you going to behave tonight? As much as I enjoyed having you watch me eat your ears while you bled on my table, I'm afraid we'll have to be a little more civil,"

I remained soundless.

With a cold and emotionless tone, Jewel responded to my silence. "Do I need to eat your toes and fingers, too? Or will you be polite at dinner?"

I swallowed, trying to loosen my tightened throat. It didn't help. "I'll be polite,"

I imagined a smile rip across Jewel's snout, which I knew still hung over me, since I could feel her breath spray against the top of my head. "Good,"

Jewel's legs straightened as she stood up and I heard the lock of my cell open. The door then slowly crept out, barely enough for me to squeeze through the space that was in front of me now, making me wonder if Jewel was going to slam the door in my face and break open my head.

"You shouldn't ever keep a lady waiting, Peter," the dhole whispered in her feminine voice after I stared at the open doorway for a moment.

Slowly, I stood up, my legs almost snapping in half since I had barely used them during the past two days. I then forced myself to step forward and cram into the open space left by my cell door, which was also partially blocked by Jewel, who stood idly by and never looked away from me.

As I wriggled out from behind the door and brushed by Jewel, I caught a better whiff of her scent, which reeked of blood and cum. She's got to be doing this to fuck with me. She knows I'm scared of her, so she's starting to mess around. Fucking bitch. She probably jerked off after she killed them.

_ _ Jewel finished locking my cell door and turned.

"All right," she said, in her deep voice, as she slid the cell key into her right trouser pocket. "Let's eat,"

Eat what? Another part of my body?

_ _ I turned and traveled down the hall, heading towards the open doorway with the flickering orange light as Jewel's pawsteps never failed to remain too far behind me.

Neither of us spoke on the way to Jewel's room. For a while, I thought she was going to make a joke about my ears or my issues with my father, but she didn't. Instead, we walked down the hall, stepped outside, climbed the stairs to Jewel's room and entered through her door without sharing a word, which only made me more terrified.

"Sit," Jewel ordered, as she shut the door to her chambers.

Unwillingly, I walked towards the same chair that I sat in the other night. Meanwhile, Jewel, without wasting a moment, pulled the rope out of her trunk and tied me to my seat after I sat down.

When she was done tying me up, Jewel turned and walked into her bedroom. "We'll be having bread and pork tonight," she said, now using her feminine voice.

I didn't say anything and looked down at the ropes around my body, which were tighter than they had been the night before. Is it because she doesn't trust me, or because of something else?

_ _ Before I could wonder what was going to happen, Jewel walked back into the room and set two plates down, one in front of me and the other in front of the empty chair on the other side of the table. The bread looked almost as hard and black as a burnt brick, but the pork was bright red, looking as if it were from a freshly slaughtered pig. As Jewel returned to her bedroom, a horrible thought came to me and I regretted not trying to escape earlier when Jewel walked me across the courtyard. Is she trying to feed me someone she killed?

_ _ I twisted my neck to glance over my shoulder. Jewel wasn't in the open doorway and I could hear her fumbling around with something inside her room.

I turned my head back, fear making me desperate, and tried to bite through the ropes that held me as I leaned forward. Sadly, the ropes were all around the lower part of my waist and arms, so I couldn't reach them with my mouth.

Reluctantly, I pulled my head up and stared at the meat that Jewel claimed was pork. She hadn't said that she ate pieces of the people she killed, but I wouldn't have put it past her, especially because her cock got hard after killing that pregnant woman. She ate my ears, though. That was true. But had she eaten people before then, or had I helped her discover a taste for the flesh of others?

Jewel, after filling a goblet with water from a flagon, sat down in the chair across from me, breaking my thoughts, her sword and belt now missing. She did have a knife, though, which she put down on the table and between the unlit candles. Its tip pointed directly at me as the orange glow from the blazing fireplace to my right was reflected inside of its metal. Why isn't she wearing her dress?

After the dhole set the goblet and flagon down, she picked up her bread and lifted it to her snout for a crunchy bite.

I looked down and stared at the meat on my plate, still wondering if it was actually pork.

"Do you think I'm going to poison you?" Jewel said, lowering the crispy black bread from her mouth with a smile of amusement.

My eyes glanced up at her. "No. I'm just wondering if you're feeding me one of your knights,"

A menacing laugh hissed through Jewel's toothy smile, which was made even more menacing by the light of the fire that only illuminated half of her face and left the other half in almost pure blackness. "It's pork. I promise,"

She then took another bite of her bread, her grin never leaving her muzzle.

"And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?" I growled. "You? The same person that ate my ears, killed a pregnant woman and got hard from it? You don't exactly seem like a good person,"

Jewel took another bite of her burnt bread, letting her eyes wander while she thought of an answer. Eventually, she finished chewing and set the bread back on its plate, right next to the meat. "You're not religious, correct?"

I felt the nubs on my head shift, trying to twitch the ears that were no longer there. "No. But what the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Well," Jewel said, "I could have quoted Genesis and the argument would be over. But, like me, you don't believe in God, so there's no point in bringing it up,"

"So, what? There's some Bible quote that says you can chop people's fucking ears off?"

"Not exactly," Jewel said, smirking.

"Then what's the quote?"

Jewel closed her eyes and recalled the passage. "Then God said, 'Let us make someone to watch over all life upon the dirt.' And so, God made man like his earthen brethren, a fox, who could walk on two legs and utter words with his tongue. For who better to guard the earth than animals?"

Jewel opened her eyes again and stared at me.

"And?" I said, shrugging. "That's it?"

Jewel nodded.

"That doesn't mean shit!" I said. "Even if God created us to be superior to wild animals, what makes you think you can go around hurting others?"

"Who said anything about being superior to wild animals?" Jewel asked, her ears pointing up.

"What?"

Jewel smiled. "The passage says nothing about being superior to wild animals. All it says is that God made us to watch over life _because_we're animals.

"You see, the text says we're really not that much better than the animals who live in the woods. And, honestly, we do share some characteristics. We also eat meat. We defecate. We even kill others for invading our homes.

"Of course, we're different than the wild animals in some ways. We speak, write and build things. But these things are really nothing more than an extra set of teeth or claws we use to kill. How much harm has been caused by the words of one person? How many written instructions have called for the deaths of thousands? And how many weapons have we designed specifically to kill?

"But, while we are different than the wild animals, we are equally unimportant. Individuality? It's a lie. Nobody is perfectly distinct. Everyone has something in common with somebody else. There is no uniqueness in mankind. We aren't individuals. We aren't special. Therefore, we aren't important and none of us matter,"

The dhole picked up her bread again and began chewing.

"You should kill yourself," I said, glaring at the dhole.

Jewel stopped chewing for a moment and stared at me. She then tossed the last piece of bread into her mouth, swallowing it almost whole. "Why should I do that?"

"Because the world would be a better place without you,"

Jewel leaned forward again, folding her arms over the table and staring at me with intrigue, her head slightly tilted. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that it was considered unethical by many to tell someone that they should commit suicide. Aren't you supposed to tell someone that old cliché about life getting better or that they're a good person?"

"You're not a good person," I said. "I asked you about being kind and you gave me some half-ass excuse about how we all came from wild animals, so we don't matter any more than them. The only way a person like you could ever make this world better is if you slit your wrists,"

The dhole lifted her right hand and began rubbing the underside of her snout with interest. "Now, let's assume you're right and I'm a bad person. What exactly is it that makes me 'bad'?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with how you like torturing others or the fact that you cut my goddamn ears off, you twisted fuck,"

Jewel glanced down at the knife on the table and outstretched her right hand to fiddle with the handle. "Well, I must admit, Peter, you're right. Even if we did come from wild animals, we shouldn't be treated like them, mostly because that idea of how we began existing comes from a useless old book that talks about more people being killed than I can count. But, like I said, I don't believe in God, so I disagree with that line of thinking just like you do,"

"Stop speaking in riddles!" I demanded, becoming frustrated at Jewel for not giving me a straightforward answer. "How can you hurt people and not even feel the slightest bit of guilt?"

The dhole shrugged, pulling her hand away from the knife. "Simple. I enjoy it,"

My lips slid back with disgust to reveal my teeth to the cool air of the room, which made them start to feel like icicles. "Then you deserve to die,"

Jewel smiled and shook her head. "You need to phrase your questions more carefully, Peter. To get the answer you want, you shouldn't have asked me 'how' can I enjoy carnage, but 'why' instead,"

"Fine. Why do you like being a sick bastard?"

"You don't understand," Jewel laughed. "How can you when you've been raised in a world that's centered around the greatest lie in all of history?"

"And what lie is that?" I hissed, growing more frustrated by the moment.

Jewel's eyes twinkled with pride. "Morality,"

"What?"

"You see," Jewel began to explain, "there's no such things as moral or immoral. These are just terms people created to reassure themselves that whatever cause they supported was noble. Yet they've always treated them like absolute truths, as if they were palpable things like blood or steel.

"But what really proves that morality is nothing more than a false sense of security are the disagreements you see throughout history. You'll find stories about people arguing over who should rule what kingdoms. People have also debated how to punish criminals for certain crimes. Even today, arguments can be seen throughout Alpis about whether or not the Southern Kingdoms should have taxed the Northern Kingdoms, or if gay people should be executed.

"Don't you see? If morality were an undeniable truth, why would there be so many arguments and deaths over these issues? Because there is no right or wrong! No holy or unholy! There has and will always be differences in people's personal preferences. That's why so many people condemn those who are gay! Most people are repulsed at the idea of having sex with someone with the same genitalia, so they immediately call those who do monsters, just like how you call me names for enjoying my bloodshed, and they make themselves feel superior,"

"Fucking somebody and chopping their balls off are two completely different things!"

"Says who?" Jewel asked, smiling. "There is no good. There is no evil. There only exists the falsehood of morality that so many people chain themselves to, holding themselves back from completely enjoying their lives and allowing others to enjoy their own. Morality isn't grey, Peter. It's a lie, a disgusting lie that has done more harm than any person or weapon will ever do,"

"You're a fucking lunatic,"

Jewel's muzzle still held that smug grin of hers. "All right. Let me ask you this. Do people lie to themselves?"

My tail twitched. What the hell is she getting at? "Yeah. So?"

"And do you agree that there are gay people that repress their sexuality?"

"Yes,"

"Well, there you go,"

"That doesn't prove anything," I said. "You just asked me a general question that had an easy answer,"

Jewel leaned forward. "We sometimes lie to each other, as I'm sure you're aware. Sometimes, it's supposedly for a good cause. Other times, we lie in order to gain something, whether it be money, power, gratification or some other reward. These lies have started wars and even destroyed families. But I've found that the most harmful lies are often the ones we tell ourselves, like someone who represses their homosexuality.

"But why? Why would someone lie to themselves about being gay, Peter?"

I blinked, unsure of whether or not to go with my gut on the answer. "Because they think it's wrong,"

"Exactly! They deny their true nature just because so many people say it's terrible. Yet, why would someone say homosexuality is a bad thing? Because it's called 'immoral' by those who aren't gay, who don't understand it and refuse to. And, because of this, the gay people that repress themselves fall in line, buying into the idea that something is wrong with them, just as everyone says there is.

"Now, this example could be applied to a lot of other things. Religion, or a lack of a religion, certain desires and pretty much everything else. And who dictates what is moral or immoral? The majority, which is why there have been changes in what is morally acceptable throughout history. We allow others to run our lives and make choices for us, all while making us feel bad for trying to be individuals. They cram the idea of morality down our throats to justify doing so, repeating this over and over until we accept morality as solid truth. Therefore, we end up becoming the very bane of our own lives and are never happy as we could be if our minds weren't so attached to this deeply embedded lie, which keeps people ignorant of things outside of their comfort zones and causes them to hate those who actually indulge themselves in things that are deemed 'evil' or 'immoral' by most of society,"

Jewel drew silent and pressed her back against her chair. She then raised her goblet and began sipping the water inside of it.

I was quiet and thought about what Jewel had said. Some of it was true. People will always lie to themselves. Running from the truth has also caused the suffering of many people throughout history. But I still couldn't justify killing others for enjoyment.

Then, I remembered something Esme had said when I first met her, something that I had somehow remembered despite all of the time that had passed since then. I've never been one of those stuck up bitches who go around judging other people.

"How would you like it," I said, "if someone told you that you were a freak for saying that you're a woman with the body of a man? You'd probably be pretty pissed off. Now, what if someone tried to kill you, just because they liked it? You would be angry and scared. Now, can't you imagine someone else feeling that same fear and anger while you kill them? Doesn't that make you feel even a little bit sorry?"

Jewel gazed at me with a blank stare. She then set her goblet back on the table. "So, you're saying I should abide by the old treat others like you want to be treated idea?"

"Yes,"

Slowly, Jewel began shaking her head and clicking her tongue in disappointment. "And just when I thought you were going to listen to reason, Peter,"

"You're the one not listening to reason!" I yelled, almost throwing my chair against the table as I leaned forward. "You don't have to like everyone you meet, but you shouldn't just go around hurting them for fun!"

Jewel's ears flicked. "You have a big heart,"

"Thanks," I replied, leaning back in my chair, a little taken back by her words, "I guess,"

"It wasn't a compliment," Jewel said, pulling the knife closer towards her. "Bigger hearts are easier to stab,"

A growl slipped between my lips and I shouted, "Go die, you piece of shit!"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she said, giving a smile of delight. "It would give you pleasure to watch me bleed,"

The chair beneath Jewel screamed as its legs were pushed along the floor while the dhole scooted away from the table and rose. Jewel then walked around the table and gently wrapped her fingers around the handle of her knife, which lifted from the table and floated through the air.

I began squirming in my chair, trying to break free from my ropes. None of them loosened. It's just like my dream, only I'm really going to die!

_ _ Jewel brushed by me, heading to her bedroom. Her pawsteps soon disappeared and I was left alone with silence. What the hell is she doing?

_ _ Suddenly, I heard pawsteps again and Jewel walked out of her bedroom, carrying her chamber pot with her left arm while her right hand carried her knife.

The dhole set the chamber pot down on the floor by the right side of the table, just four steps away from me. She then turned and walked towards the fire before squatting down to hold the blade of her knife over the flames.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, my heart banging loudly with fear.

"Patience, Peter," Jewel said, not even turning her head to look at me. She then flipped her knife over and let the flames almost burn the other side of its steel. "Haven't you heard that good things come to all those who wait?"

Oh shit. She's gonna cut off more pieces of me. Is she going to take my fingers next? My tail? My eyes? Quickly, my fear became so strong that I tried to raise my arms and break through the ropes around me, even though I knew that I wouldn't be able to outrun the dhole.

"Please," I begged, my voice shaking with terror. "Don't,"

"Oh, Peter," Jewel said, not seeming to care very much about my worries. "You should know by now that I'm a determined person and can't be swayed very easily,"

A moment later, Jewel stood up and turned around. The knife was so hot that it was almost glowing orange and, in its metal, I could see my terrified reflection as Jewel began walking towards me.

Jewel set the knife on the table and pulled her trousers down, exposing her loincloth. She then kicked her trousers beneath the table and took off her loincloth next, leaving her limp sheath and balls to hang alone. Finally, Jewel placed her loincloth into her mouth and picked up the knife.

Facing me, Jewel squatted over the chamber pot, as if she were going to use it. Then, she brought the edge of her knife down to the right side of her balls and began cutting. Blood sprayed out as Jewel's knife began to cut through her sack, falling out like water from a fountain and splashing against the bottom of the chamber pot so loudly that I almost couldn't hear Jewel's muffled screams.

Jewel's knife soon reached halfway across her sack, allowing one of her balls and her cock to lifelessly fall into the chamber pot beneath her. She kept cutting, though, despite her screams into the loincloth that was inside of her mouth and the tears that crawled out of her tightly closed eyes.

Eventually, Jewel's second ball fell into the chamber pot, splashing into the blood inside and sounding like a rock that sinks into a river. Jewel's sack, which had clung against her thigh like a wet sheet, soon fell into the chamber pot when she pulled it from her leg and cut the bits of flesh that still connected it to her.

Now, all that remained between Jewel's legs was a slit that continued to spurt out a stream of blood.

Quickly, Jewel turned and waddled to the fire, blood gushing out of the hole between her thighs with every step, while she dragged the chamber pot beneath her to catch every drop. When she reached the fireplace, the dhole stuck her bloody knife into the fire, turning it with her shaking hand and spilling drops of blood into the hissing embers. Then, she pulled the knife out of the flames and placed the flat end of the blade against her bleeding wound, which made a loud sizzling noise, sounding almost like bacon when its first tossed into a pan. The room soon became filled by the scent of burning fur and more of Jewel's quiet screams.

The sizzling noise eventually stopped as Jewel took the knife away from her crotch and looked down. She must have been satisfied because, a moment later, she stood and took the loincloth out of her mouth. Jewel then turned, allowing me to see black clumps of fur and red patches of burnt flesh on her crotch.

Slowly, Jewel walked over to the table, breathing a little heavily. She then set the knife down in front of me, which dripped a little blood onto the table, and walked back to the chamber pot, taking wide steps so that her thighs didn't touch at all. She then picked up the chamber pot and reached inside with her left hand. Her hand came back out of the chamber pot, holding both of her balls, which were now completely covered in red. She snarled in disgust and tossed them both in the fire, shooting sparks up into the chimney above it. Both balls sat at the bottom of the fire after rolling off a log and melted very quickly, almost as if they were made of ice. Soon, they were nothing more than two pools of red and black goo.

Again, Jewel reached inside the chamber pot. This time, she pulled out her cock, which, like her balls, was covered in blood. Without even looking at it longer than a second, Jewel threw her cock into the fire, making it bounce off the back of the fireplace and fall between some of the burning pieces of wood.

Gently, Jewel set the chamber pot down and hobbled back to her seat, looking as if she were drunk. Her eyes were red and watery, totally empty of all energy. She then plopped herself down into her chair and weakly stared at me.

When I didn't talk, still feeling sick over what I had just seen, Jewel smiled. She must have been able to tell that I felt like throwing up, even though I hadn't eaten anything since the other night. "Like I said before, I'm a determined person,"

A chuckle left the dhole's throat.

She forced herself to lean forward, wincing as she moved in her chair, and picked up her pork, only to stare at it with boredom.

"You know," the dhole said, softly, "castrating yourself really ruins your appetite,"

She then dropped her pork back onto her plate and sighed.

With another wince, Jewel stood and dragged her chair around the table. She placed it to my right, facing me, and sat down. Then, she picked up my bread and held it out towards my mouth.

I couldn't bring myself to eat, not after watching Jewel cut off her own cock and burn it like a piece of wood. And I couldn't stop staring at her crotch, which was still very red and had some black hairs mangled together by dry blood. She's a woman on the outside now, too.

"You promised to be polite, Peter," Jewel reminded me with a voice that was colder than a handful of snow to the face. "And it's not polite to turn down the food your host gives you,"

At the thought of Jewel using her hot knife to melt one of my eyes, I reluctantly opened my mouth and let the dhole dip the bread between my lips. I then took a small bite and began to chew as Jewel pulled the food back. I had to admit, it didn't taste as awful as it looked.

"Good," Jewel said, happy that I obeyed her. She smiled and I began to worry what nightmare would visit me later that night, when Jewel left me alone in my cell with the horrors of my imagination.

I shivered with fear as I swallowed the next mouthful of bread that I was given. I also didn't say anything when Jewel held the bread up to my muzzle again. Instead, I just opened my mouth and took another bite.

Dante, please hurry up and get me the hell away from this monster.