Beyond the Stars

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Content warning: unethical experimentation, physical abuse of prisoners, violence against women and a brief recounting of rape.

Raul felt as though his former life had been a century ago. After the massacre at his village, he was taken to the palace dungeons to be experimented on by their reptilian doctor from the bowels of hell. And that was no exaggeration, he could recall stories where he witnessed its evil.

The lizard man got a random pregnant woman from the prisoner populace, then he cut her arm and slathered some kind of mud on her open wound. When asked what the goal was, the lizalfos said it was to see if her child would be infected with that same disease. For weeks she suffered from violent convulsions and seizures. Whatever the disease was, it killed her and her unborn baby before they could have found out. When he found out, the mutant reptile told the guards to, "go get another one." That was probably the first time in his life that Raul wanted to kill someone. He just couldn't comprehend how someone could just disregard life so... flippantly. All life had value, end of discussion!

Not even children and infants were safe! There was a time when Raul saw a young boy being taken from his cell kicking and screaming. Once they restrained him, the lizard-man started draining his blood and wrapped the wound in a cloth drenched in what Raul overheard was blood from horses. The boy fell deathly ill instantly, and he was kept that way for days. After a while, the cold-blooded lizard administered human blood back into the youth's veins. And as soon as he was able, the child tried to throw objects at the reptilian abomination as revenge. As a result, the guards went into his cell and broke some of the young soul's teeth while the reptile-man watched on with steely eyes.

Since both of these incidents, Raul tried as best as he could to protect everyone. Even though some part of him told him that his efforts were futile.

Raul couldn't always save himself, either. Once he and several other prisoners were chosen randomly and marched upstairs into a small room. There they were told that they were to be deprived of food and water; they would only be provided with modified saltwater.

Never in his life had he felt so dehydrated. It got so bad that he would lick floors that were freshly mopped just for the chance of getting freshwater. His vision was so blurry that he could barely make out his surroundings. He had often felt faint and frequently crawled on the floor. Sometimes he would pass out and he would wake up back in the cramped, mold and grime infected cell. There were even times where he couldn't figure out where he was or what he was doing.

If it weren't for a kind stranger sneaking him hydromelons, he would probably be among the dead already. Raul found out later that he was the only one who survived the experiment, and he wept for his fellow test subjects. He didn't know them well, but they certainly did not deserve their fate.

The torture ended when the demons realized their 'study' wasn't going anywhere. And when Raul inevitably asked for water, they threw a bucketful at him.

Life was strictly regimented here. For breakfast, lunch and dinner they were given slops. In the mornings, they were taken out into a yard for roll call. There, the "doctors" would take notes on each of the prisoners.

There was no escape from this place. The dungeon they were in was nestled high above the clouds and it was heavily guarded. It was demoralizing to say the least. He was glad that neither of his kids, nor his wife were here to suffer.

His fellow inmates had some interesting ways of coping. They would never discuss their current ordeal, they talked about anything and everything else. From their previous lives to their opinions on plays. There were tales of big events like going to a debutante ball or attending local political debates. He had also heard people describe more mundane activities like going to a street market and going to school.