Six Degrees of Suffering

I only saw pitch black.

I tried to move, yet, I was chained to a chair. My wrists and legs were shackled, and I could tell that I was blindfolded.

...

Wait, I've been here before.

After realizing where I was, I started to panic and tried to pull my hands off my shackles. I began to breath heavily, and sweat profusely. A small shock to my wrists then alerted me to what was to come.

Not even a few seconds had passed, before a massive jolt of electricity surged across my body. I screamed, my limbs shaking violently as I endured the electric chair.

A few minutes had passed, before the current stopped. I huffed, and huffed. My heart was beating wildly, and cold sweat was running down my face.

Another short shock, then a long shock followed.

"Gyaaaah!" I shouted in pain, my back arching as I tried to resist the pain once more, yet, it was futile. I went limp, unable to endure the large amounts of electricity being pumped to my body.

After another few minutes later, it stopped, and I felt weak. I had cold sweat, and I was light headed.

A sharp pain suddenly surface in my right cheek, and with a massive jolt sent to my body...

I woke up.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

Pain suddenly attacked me from every part of my body, especially on my chest.

My eyes quickly shot wide open, and I shortly felt winded. I quickly sat upright, my lungs burning with pain everytime I coughed.

Slamming a fist to my bare chest quickly relieved some of the pain, and made me breath in relief. Quickly taking large gulps of air, the burning sensation in my lungs quickly subsided.

I then blinked twice, trying to clear the fog clouding my vision. I rubbed my eyes, and blinked once again. It seems that I have been taken into a small cave, filled with jars and various objects. A large cauldron on top of a large, burning fire sat on the middle of the cave, the liquid inside was bubbling loudly. On the farthest side, however is...

The pain suddenly shot from my stomach, quickly reminding me how hungry I was. I was also definitely parched, and that basket of fruits and water did not help me alleviate my cravings. Quickly moving, I immediately went to the basket as filled my stomach with every morsel I could get, and quench my thirst with every drop of water I could have. With my ravenous appetite, I quickly emptied the basket, but it did not satisfy me completely.

Wiping my mouth with my own arm, I began to scan the cave I landed inside again. 'Did I land in the middle of some witch cave or something?' I asked myself, looking around. There was nobody here, giving me an opening for escape.

Now, I was met with a decision that may decide if I should either live, or die. Should I escape while I still have the chance, or stay here and hope for the best?

My eyes moved to the exit of the cave. It was obviously night, and I could even hear the pitter-patter of rain outside the cave.

I then turned to the cauldron. It has a thick bubbling yellow liquid inside which glowed brightly in unison with the candlelight in the cave, making me curious. I took two small flasks and filled them with the liquid in the cauldron. I then took a small container and placed it on my pocket, along with the two flasks. The soft glow was masked by my clothing, making me sigh in relief. Oh, thank fuck that I don't have to worry about the flasks revealing my cover.

Who knows, maybe this liquid might be useful. It could be poison, or a healing potion.

Not wanting to wait any longer, I dashed out the cave as fast as I could, and continued on a straight line. Due to the rain, I could barely see. It didn't help that it was night, too.

Thunder struck around me. The rain was getting stronger and stronger.

I passed tree after tree after tree, never stopping. I nearly tripped once or twice, but I still continued my way. Turning left, then right, then left again. I was desperate to escape this forest, which was already playing tricks on my eyes.

Sometimes, trees would move around. Branches would twist. The feeling where someone is currently watching you. It was maddening.

I was then met with a large river. I quickly tried to stop, trying to halt before I get thrown into the water. My feet sliding across the muddy floor, I braced myself as I expected to go down to the water. My feet gradually slowing down, I stopped as I reached the edge of the riverbank. I let out a sigh of relief, before backing away slowly.

"A goddamned river," I said in annoyance. "Why the hell does it have to be a goddamned river?!"

Admittedly, I never knew how to swim. I never actually swam, because of the fact that I always sink downwards like an anchor whenever I do.

I screamed in frustration, and threw a rock on the river in front of me. I began to walk along the riverbank, hoping that I may find a bridge, or something like that.

Suddenly, in the midst of light rain, I heard a twig snap behind me. I looked back, trying to make sure I wasn't followed, before continuing my way.

I then came across a large carcass, half of its body lying down on the river bank. The stench was revolting, but the sight was even more gruesome. It looked like a sea serpent, but...larger. It's meat was rotting, and maggots inhabited what was left inside. Large, bubbles made out of meat and gas filled the insides of the body. Beside it's skull, a few strands of brown and purple hair rested on the ground, slowly getting washed away by the mud and rain.

Using this as a bridge crossed my mind, but I quickly brushed the thought aside. It's a fucking carcass. Stepping on that will just make the skeleton collapse, and lead to my demise.

I could somehow hold on to that body as I move across the river, though. Assuming that it's long enough to reach the other side.

I only then noticed that it already has stopped raining. I looked around, the visibility still poor. Turning my attention back to the carcass, I went to the skull of the body, and grabbed hold of the eye sockets.

Ignoring the stench, I pulled. Grunting in irritation, I never could seem to budge the body, let alone move it. Giving it another try, I pulled as hard as I could. Thankfully it had slightly budged, vines and other things that may have locked the carcass to the ground had snapped, allowing me to freely move the body.

I had then just realized, that the bubbles, were the ones that locked the body to the ground. After I moved the body, the bubbles popped, releasing putrid red gas all around the carcass. I fanned the front of my face, coughing as I inhaled the foul smelling gas.

It smelled like shit! I ran away, waiting for the gas to subside before I could continue working on the carcass. I began to sit down beside one of the trees, the smell still stuck in my nostrils.

As I sat down, I felt a rock poke my unprotected posterior, and made me stand in reflex. I looked down from where I sat, and one, placed just underneath where I sat. I removed the rock, and sat down once again. And again, I felt the exact same thing. Quickly realising the objects in my pocket, I began to reach for the ore that I sneakily took in the camps.

I grabbed hold of the ore, and fished it out of my pocket. I took a closer look at the clump of rock and soil, and asked myself, 'Why the hell does the Resistance want us to mine this?' I turned the rock, and looked at it on its other side. 'It looks like a normal rock.'

Suddenly, the rock began to glow. Small green faults began to appear on the ore, glowing softly as I held it. 'What the?' I mouthed, rather confused and amazed by the display this rock showed.

I then heard a neigh behind me. I quickly pocketed the rock, and hid. I peeked from behind the tree, and saw a zebra, two horses, and a...unicorn?

I raised a brow. 'A fucking unicorn?' I quickly pulled back, and hid. 'Am I still even on Xinlieu?' I asked myself. I only then noticed, that the ore on my pocket glowed even more brighter and brighter.

Shit..shit..shit! What the hell should I do?

I looked around, trying to find an object that could help me. I found the rock. I reached for the rock, and threw it as hard as I could into the forest. I don't know what the rock hit, or who, because I heard a branch snap after I threw the rock, and a grunt sounded after.

The group suddenly faced the direction where I threw the rock, and ran towards the fallen branch. The rock's glow then petered out, as the group gradually increased their distance from me.

As the rock completely lost its glow, I hastily began to grab it from my pocket. I eyed the rock closely, trying to find where the green lines were. Nothing.

I then realized, if I'm not on Xinlieu anymore, then I finally got out! My eyes began to well with tears. Finally, I had escaped those gruesome work camps! I would never endure such torture no more!

I jumped in joy, and went giddy with excitement.

It was then that I had noticed, I was still holding the ore in my hands. 'I wonder if I could remove the dirt stuck around the ore..' I thought, before turning towards the river.

I then went to the river, and knelt down, and washed the rock. I tried to remove the dirt and impurities encasing it, but to little avail. Only a few grains of rock washed away. Cursing in frustration, I washed the rock once again, albeit more vigorously. With better luck, I continued to wash the rock, until I saw a small pointed tip protruding from the bottom of the rock.

"Yes!" I cheered, having seen the first glimpse of the ore.

Or, it wasn't an ore at all.

After a few more washes, I finally removed the lower half of the clumped up dirt. It looked like a crystal, and an irregular one at that.

While I was submerging the rock underwater, it began to glow. Pulling it back up, the crystal softly glowed in my hands. I was mesmerized. I stood up, and stared at the crystal in all its glory.

Wait, if the crystal glowed, then...

I quickly broke off from my trance, and looked back. A flash of light soon appeared from the forest, pointing at the gassy carcass, followed by a small explosion. The crystal glowed much brighter, until...

Three unicorns dressed in white robes suddenly appeared from the forest, neighing to each other. They looked nervous, looking around wildly like there was someone hunting them.

The ground shook violently, and a massive ball of fire erupted just behind the unicorns. They jumped in fright, and ran towards me. I quickly went to the river, holding on to the riverbank so as to not drown myself. The unicorns fired their own bolts of light from their horns, trying to repel whoever was attacking them.

Another ball of fire flared up, dangerously close to one of the unicorns. The left unicorn was thrown away, chunks of flesh and bone flung out from it's body. It landed near where I hid, and rolled until it was barely holding on the the riverbank. It's front left hoof was limp, touching the flowing water as blood slowly ran across it's light blue coat. It was lifeless, it's tongue stuck out from it's jaw, and it's eyes were as white as ash. It's right ear was ripped clean off, and it's chest had a large gaping hole, where it's organs slowly pooled out into the muddy ground. Detached parts of his flesh soon followed, most landing on the river, getting washed away.

Staring at the lifeless body, I began to remember the days I was tortured inside the camp. I shuddered, and had a chill run up my spine.

It was February 24th, 2175.

The Resistance had successfully captured our planet, to exploit it of its natural resources. Oil, water, wood, metal.

We had a massive force, not to mention the added forces and vehicles that some space-faring civilizations had generously given us. Heck, even an organization called the 'Hexagon', had built a forward operating base in our planet, promising protection in exchange for their mining privileges. We were an unstoppable force that time, in our star system, I meant.

But hell, I was damned wrong.

The Resistance had came, and with the help of two other organizations, attacked the planet with such brute force, it literally shook the planet. Of course, we retaliated with immense firepower.

But then, with unknown reasons, the Hexagon quickly departed, leaving us to die. We tried to hold our ground, but, they instantly defeated us, as quickly as they arrived.

Using our population, they built work camps for their pleasure, and for our torture. Like I had said earlier, Men were forced to work; able-bodied, sickly, and the elderly alike. Women were taken and became honorary slaves and sex dolls. The pregnant were taken care of, until they had given birth, however. Then they would become slaves again.

The only people that were given proper care were children, which in turn, they manipulated into working for them. Child soldiers were abundant in the planet of Xinlieu.

Resistance members would take children out, and let them torture, and possibly kill their own parents. Indoctrination was the key to their obedience.

I was then shaken out of my thoughts as another explosion erupted, this time it was just in front of me. I gripped tightly on the bank, trying not to fall in the deep river.

"Leave, you mad horses." I spoke under my breath, through gritted teeth.

A couple of terrified neighs sounded shortly afterwards. I peeked at the horses in front of me, and saw that they were on the tip of their hooves, clattering their teeth. The left unicorn neighed, before being engulfed in a bright flash of light, before completely disappearing from sight. The other unicorn followed, disappearing as well in a flash of light.

Just seconds later, one lone horse appeared from the forest. It was wearing some kind of armor, possibly leather. It was also wearing a black metal helmet with covered it's eyes, with three vertical slits that glowed yellow located at the front. It had numerous black, spherical objects which were strapped on its sides, and it looked like it was holding one in its mouth.

Scratch that. It was actually holding a sphere with its mouth. Looking at the spheres, one could say that those were fused grenades. It hooked the sphere back to it's side, and went back into the forest, taking one last look behind him before he disappeared in the dense forest.

I could've sworn it looked at my direction, before it went away. I waited for a few minutes, if there were more horses coming my way. There were none.

"Oh, thank God."

I started to climb up back to solid ground, checking the objects in my pocket just to be sure. Not wasting any more time, I began to pull the giant carcass from the river, only to my annoyance to find out that it was cut in half, serving no purpose to me whatsoever.

Hm, I feel weird in my left leg.

Grunting in disappointment, I kicked the giant carcass. I then exhaled in defeat, and began to seek another path. This world was dangerous; it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

Daylight was breaking in, and I need to find a hiding place fast, lest they might find me wandering about, and possibly capture me.

A thought struck in my mind, and made me go back to where the unicorn corpse was. Taking a few strands of its tail, I fashioned an amulet with the crystal, digging a small hole in the dirt half of the gemstone, and wearing it around my neck. Now, I would know if someone was sneaking up behind me. I smiled at my crude accessory, and went back to the trail I was supposed to go to.

I began to walk much more quicker, turning around and back into the forest. It wasn't a smart idea actually, but it's better than being out there in the open.

I felt weak below my left knee, forcing me to rely on my right leg. I shrugged it off as an effect of fatigue, and continued my way.

I looked around the sights I saw all around me, the lush green leaves, the tall and sturdy trees, and the heavenly rays of light, piercing through the thick foliage of the forest. I then took notice of some flowers, and picked one from its stem.

'Ah, if only Xinlieu were this beautiful before the war,' I thought, before throwing the blight blue flower back to the patch where I saw it grow.

I went in deeper into the forest, feeling chills run through by body as I continued to move deeper, feet by feet.

I repeatedly rubbed my hands and blew on them, a mist of blue fog quickly jetting out of my mouth. I sighed, and rubbed my shoulders instead, shivering my ass off. Even though it was morning, and the sun was currently sitting on its highest peak right now, it was surprisingly cold...well, I think it could be just me. I looked around, some of the small fauna such as squirrels and rat are living perfectly fine, skittering along the branches of the dense thick forest.

"F-fuck, wh-what t-the hell is-s h-happening to m-me?" I asked myself, placing one foot after the other forward, albeit in a slow, unsteady pace. My left leg began to feel numb, and unresponsive. I began to depend on my right leg, and limped my way through the path.

Taking each step seemed to be getting more difficult, every foot I go. It continued like this, until I collapsed for the third time in a row.

Damn, this has got to be some sort of new record.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

I slowly regained consciousness, yet once again.

Thankfully, it seemed that I hadn't been moved from where I passed out. I could safely assume that no one saw me...yet. I quickly lifted myself off of the ground, spitting out mud from my mouth, which possibly got in while I slept. I wiped the excess mud from my face, and flicked them off of my hand. I looked up, and saw that the sun had moved from its original position. From what I could tell, I think I passed out for about four or five hours. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I began to stand up, and continue my path.

Another hour later, my condition is worsening and worsening. Hunger and thirst struck me hard.

I reflexively clutched my stomach as it began to growl loudly, causing me to lose my balance. I landed on my right knee, and felt weak all over my body. I looked at my left leg; covered in sores, boils, and wounds that I had never noticed until now.

And suddenly, like a switch suddenly turning on, the sight of my left leg suddenly alarmed my brain, activating the pain receptors on my entire left leg. The feeling in my leg was magically restored, which in turn, made me scream in agonizing pain.

Blabbering like a crying baby, I began to mutter incomprehensible words under my breath, holding my legs before I began to scream again. Looking closer at the boils, I began to see tiny worms wriggling out of my wounds.

A disturbing sight to behold.

Blood instantly drooled out from the holes from where the maggots had emerged. I continued to scream in pain, holding my left leg. I quickly realized, that I had vials of a strange liquid, taken from the cave earlier. I quickly took the flask, and poured a small amount of liquid into the container.

If this is poison, it might as well end my suffering.

I drank the strange brew, the liquid quickly gushing down my throat. It had a sweet taste, and a nice smell, which reminded me of strawberries.

I waited for the potion to take effect. Still clutching my leg in pain, I began to feel lesser pain than before. Delighted, I started to crawl toward a tree, so that I could rest my back. But, as I began to move, the pain quickly increased.

I howled in pain once again, my hands quickly moving to my left leg, causing me to lose balance, causing me to fall to my left...

Which agitated my leg even more.

I began to sweat uncontrollably. I looked back at my leg, and even more worms came out of my leg, falling down the mud after they emerged. They crawled under my skin, which gave me unbearable pain.

"Holy Celestia!" I heard a male voice not far away from me, coming to my right. "Come look at this!"

I could barely move, the pain locked my body, effectively paralyzing me. I heard heavy footsteps coming towards me, which gave me a mix of fear and ease.

I saw a white horse, walking in front of me, looking at my leg. "What the buck?" Listening to the horse's voice baffled me. I thought horses can't talk? It...he immediately heaved behind him, after seeing the gruesome sight. He immediately shouted, "It's got Everfree Parasitic Worms!"

I know, you idiot.

One more horse came to my view, his face suddenly appearing on top of my vision. "Don't worry." According to it's voice, it was a she. She was a unicorn, too. She uttered shushing sounds, while rubbing the side of my neck. "It's all going to be fine."

I struggled, but eventually succeeded to glare at her. 'I'm not some dumb animal, and you're not supposed to be talking!' I shouted mentally.

"I'm going to do something to help you deal with the pain, alright?" She said, lowering her horn, as it glowed brightly between my eyes.

I began to scream mentally once more, praying that she might be able to hear me. She was a unicorn with magical powers, after all. What's to say that she can't read minds as well? 'I ain't going to trust you with your magic horn doohickey there, get me to a damned hospital!--' I began to feel dizzy, and numb.

My vision blurred, and the world began to spin around me.

"Everything's going to be alriiightt~"

The last word was stretched, and the voice became deeper and deeper, until I finally lost consciousness for the fourth time in a row.

I wish that my continuous unconsciousness would have no effect on my brain, though.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

Point of View: ?

"My queen, I am but a humble servant standing before ye, to give you this message." I knelt down, excited to tell my queen this extraordinary news.

"Rise." The queen responded selflessly. "What is your message, grenadier?"

The air was tense, everyone in the court room was waiting for me to give the news. I smiled widely, before facing the queen directly eye to eye. Sure, they were expecting someone like me to report something like 'the unicorns have lost their ground', or 'we have successfully captured Fort Hoof.' No, I shall give them news that they would never expect.

"I saw a large, creature strolling in the Everfree, staring at me in fear while I dealt with those Imperials."

"Could you give a much more detailed explanation for this...creature?" The queen asked in bewilderment.

"I'm pretty sure it was a human, your majesty."