He had come back into consciousness gagging from an oversweet smoke that drifted around his face. It had come from a slender incense stick that one of the Gyushu that now flanked the Master of this place had been waving under his nose. That Master, the Gyushu Lord called Ophishu, was now favoring him with a sweet smile as his long fingers closed gently on the fletched shaft that was lodged in his flesh.

The cold links dug into his palms as he ground his teeth together hard enough that they threatened to shatter to keep his scream contained as agony threatened to spin him back into the darkness. He heard a sharp crack as Ophishu broke the bone shaft of the arrow off flush with his skin, leaving the head buried deep just beneath the left side of his rib cage. When Chukei had been in his dragon shape that arrow had been nothing but a splinter. But a very deadly splinter none the less. It was a Bane, a Dragon's nightmare. It was thwarting his body's attempts to heal itself and draining off his power, making him weak and very vulnerable.

Bane or not, he refused to faint in front of Gyushu and gathered what little strength he had to force himself to stand instead of hang against the pull of the chain. He made his eyes open and glared at the being who stood before him. Of all the Gyushu Clans, only Ophishu's House held what the Go considered beauty. In fact, the Gyushu Second's body and delicate features were as well formed as the dragon in front of him. Or they would be once again as soon as his body healed the broken cheekbone and nose that Chukei had given him in his desperate and failed attempt to escape. But where Chukei was a thing of alabaster and flame, Ophishu was polished ebony surrounded by the dark colors of dried blood. The red-black falcon's wings that framed his body like an exotic cloak rustled softly as the Gyushu favored him with a grin while he twirled the shaft of the arrow in front of Chukei's face.

"There, isn't that better?" Ophishu asked as he handed the shaft to one of his hovering minions. "Tell me what I want to know and we'll get the rest of it out of you."

"No," Chukei answered for the...he had lost track of how many times. That was not good.

Ophishu sighed sadly as he reached out and touched the wound. Chukei could not stop his hiss as the Gyushu pressed lightly on the buried Bane and pain sang through his body.

"This," Ophishu's gaze flicked up and down his captive, "is only uncomfortable, Dragon King. You have yet to know pain... Chukei."

Chukei narrowed his eyes, furious that this Gyushu would dare to call him by his household name. That honor was only allowed for family and intimate friends. Ophishu kept his fingers resting lightly on the wound as he lifted his free hand to cup Chukei's chin and tipped his head farther up.

"Tell me what I want to know and I will make sure your stay with us is as comfortable as possible."

The winged Gyushu rubbed Chukei's jaw line gently with his thumb and his voice turned soft. "I don't want to hurt you. Don't make me. It's a shame that you always rebuffed my attempts at friendship when we'd meet at Court. We could become good friends, you and I."

Chukei forced a cynical smile and cocked one eyebrow. "You delude yourself, Gyushu."

Ophishu mimicked his expression as his fingers squeezed with bruising force on the sides of Chukei's face.

"Perhaps. Yet I always knew you'd come to me, one way or the other."

The hand left his face as Ophishu started to walk around him. The fingers that had been over the wound left a warm trail of blood across the skin of his stomach as Ophishu let them drift along, trailing his movement. Chukei tensed as he felt the Gyushu stop behind him and jerked as the dark wings snapped forwards to mantle around him.

"I'll let you think about it, Dragon King." Chukei couldn't help but twitch as the soft part of the feathers whispered across his skin, then nicked as the edges turned while Ophishu murmured next to his ear.

"I'll ask you once more in the morning, and then I'll give you to someone who will make you beg to tell me everything you've ever known. And he won't care and won't stop in his work until sundown."

Ophishu turned him with cold hands so he faced the thin niche of the window, and then the wings were gone.

"Rest well, my friend."

Chukei tracked the Gyushu leaving him with his ears as he focused on the window. He thought he would be able to squeeze through it if he could get free. Then he couldn't hold himself up any longer as every muscle in his body shrieked it's hurt. He collapsed to hang limp from the chain as he heard the door to his cell scrape close. He allowed himself one hundred beats of his heart to rest, then started to try and work his wrists out of the manacles...

"Hush! Hush! Be strong!" identical eyeless faces hissed as they hovered close to his own.

He tried to twist away from the long, pale fingers that floated over his features. He couldn't escape them though, and shuddered as one set of hands went to brush up his arms as the other started down his chest. All of his breath left him in a rush as an unexpected flash of energy sparked to light the room for an instant as a jolt of searing agony coursed through him. One of the spider-creature's fingers had slid across the wound that hid the Bane and the evil thing had reacted. The spider-creature who had touched the wound let out the beginnings of a soft wail that was quickly stifled as she shoved her burnt fingers into her mouth.

The touches disappeared as the two spiders-creatures moved away and into a coo-ing huddle. Chukei eyed them uneasily as he struggled to get air back into his lungs. One hand of the undamaged Gyushu for what else could it be? fingers danced over her twins face while the other examined the slowly offered damaged hand. Then it hit him. The Bane HAD discharged. Bane's were keyed to react specifically to the Go. He watched them with horrified disbelief as they advanced on him once more. The hurt one hung back while the undamaged one reached once more to explore the area around the Bane with gentle, careful fingers.

"This hurt. Only Go," it lisped softly through a fang-filled mouth as he shuddered, hovering at the edge of pain.

The moving fingers went back for his face, touching like the light brush of cobwebs. He stared at the face tilted mere inches from his own. Once he got past the eeriness of the skin covered hollows where eyes should be he could see the chiseled perfection of the bone structure of the face around them, the signature beauty that marked his Clan. Yet it was impossible, such a thing would never be allowed to happen! His chest tightened with horror and disgust as he tried to deny the truth before him. Then he saw the dull, pitted metal collar around it's slender neck marked with the stylized bulls head the Gyushu used to mark their property. There was no other explanation.

"Still alive. Very strong. Dragon King? Is truth?" it asked.

"Yes." He wondered at the soft, surprised gasp that came from both of them at his answer.

The halfbreed turned to her mirror image and their fingers danced against each other once more. He had the impression that they were speaking to each other in a language he could never understand. He steeled himself for another bout of touching as the hurt one came close. It was a shock when one thin arm went under his knees and the other around his back and he was lifted. A groan of relief was wrung out of him as the pressure was taken off his chaffed and swollen wrists and the burning ache of his shoulder.

"We help. Be strong," the undamaged one told him with quite awe in her voice as he was gathered up. Her fingers flitted along the side of his face once more, then she was heading back for the window.

Chukei lay still and silent for a few minutes against the soft, furry warmth of the creature that held him, just luxuriating in the lessening of the misery that had been racking him for the past several hours. Sleep beckoned, promising a period of true rest. He opened his eyes against it. He needed to find out just what kind of help these halfbreeds were offering.

"Where did the other one go?"

The creature that held him offered him a small, shy smile. "To help. Back soon."

He decided that these creatures two word sentences structures were very frustrating. "Help how?"

"Take King. Go out," she stated simply.

Escape. They were going to help him escape. He frowned at her, startled and uncertain.

"How?"

"King hush. King rest. King go. Need strength."

He recognized the subtle hint that she wanted him to halt his questions. He ignored it. There were too many unknowns he needed answers for.

"Who are you? Are there others here, like you? Are there Go here?" He felt her fingers tighten slightly and saw the smile slide into a frown.

"No one. Spider nobody. Others, yes." A hard edge sharpened her hushed voice.

"They call you Spider?" he asked gently, feeling a twinge of sympathy for this poor being.

Spider gave a nod and a delicate hitch of one shoulder. "This Spider. Spider Two."

It took him a moment to decipher that statement. "The other is 'One', then?"

Another nod. He pressed on, hunting for the answers to the rest of his questions. "Others. How many others, Two?"

"Not many. Most die." She said it with a shrug and a total lack of concern in her voice.

He swallowed hard against the hollow, bleak feeling that settled in his chest. There were Go females here. The hollow started to be replaced with a simmering anger. Go females that were being used by the Gyushu.

"How many Go are here, Two?" he demanded of her.

She shrugged again.

"I need to know!" he put the tones of command into those words and felt her flinch.

"Not know. Kept away. They see. They cry. They scream..." Two scrunched her head down between her shoulders and turned her face away from him.

The quaver in her voice and the distressed body language struck at his heart and he cursed the Gyushu for allowing a being such as she to exist. It was cruelty that went beyond all reason. To trap a Go soul in the warped shape of a Gyushu body. And he knew right there and then that it was a Dragon that held him, no matter what semblance it wore.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sure that they wouldn't be afraid of you if they were given a chance to know you," he offered and put certainty into his voice.

Two shook her head. "Halfbreed monsters. Spiders know. Is truth."

Chukei had just taken a breath to contradict her when she hissed, "hush...", and cocked her head. He stilled, straining his senses to try to detect what she had heard. Darkness filled the window niche and the other Spider unfolded into the room once more. She hurried over to them and fingers danced over his face, and Two's. Then One stretched up and the manacles opened. He bit his bottom lip as his muscles complained fiercely and refused to function. His his hands dropped heavily onto his chest as One tugged on her sisters shoulder.

"Must hurry! Go now! Be fast. Be quiet," she touched his lips and her fingers followed his movement as he nodded to let her know he understood.

Two carried him to the window as One went through. He lost some skin off his chest and back as One pulled and Two pushed. He almost gave them away when his injured side scrapped along the stone casement as he squirmed. He bit hard into his cheek and felt blood seep into his mouth as he swallowed his cry.

"Be strong," One's whisper was barely audible as his fingers dug into her arms as he went stiff with hurt.

Another tug had his legs clear of the edge. One slid her shoulder under his arm and offered support while Two scrambled out of the window. Two took up the same position at his other side and they hurried him through a shadowed maze of halls and stairways. The approaching stench gave him some clue to what his escape route might be. Two pressed against his uninjured side while One pulled a grate up from the floor. He looked down into the blackness of the shaft and wrinkled his nose. It wasn't as narrow as the window, but it was going to be a tight fit.

"Go down. Go out. Run fast."

"I understand," he assured One as he eased himself down so he sat on the edge of the opening.

He wondered when he had stopped finding their touch offensive as their fingers stroked his face lightly for the last time. He caught one of their hands in each of his own and pressed thier palms against the palms cheeks.

"Thank you."

"Dragon King. Stay alive. Be strong," they whispered into his ears.

"I will be back for you. For all of you," he promised as he let himself down into the shaft.

There was no answer except for the soft clank of the grate going back into it's casing over his head.

The slime that lined the walls of the steep decent let him work his way down without too much trouble. He turned onto his uninjured side as his feet swung into open space and caught the edge of the shaft opening as he eased himself down. He looked down between his feet and frowned at the drop. It was a good fifty meters to the ground. Normally it wouldn't be a problem. He was far from normal though. His shoulder informed him in fast throbs of pain that it would not support him for very long as he felt for toeholds. The smooth walls offered nothing. He took a deep breath and let go, hoping that the spongy look of the ground below him wasn't an illusion.

It wasn't. In fact, his impact had driven his tucked landing into semi-fluid muck that rose over his elbows and knees. It took a lot of effort to stagger his way out of the stuff and every second he expected to hear alarms go off in the fortress behind him. He was panting with exhaustion when he stumbled up onto firm ground but he fixed his eyes on the safety of the tree line and struggled on.