The scarred man staggered, his body trembling like a leaf in a violent storm. His breaths were shallow, labored, and rasping as though each inhale scraped against jagged glass lodged in his chest.
While the others huddled together, their eyes wide with terror as they dared not move, the scarred man bore the brunt of Lyerin's twisted attention.
Lyerin tilted his head, his smile stretching unnaturally wide. "You're quite the contradiction, aren't you?" he mused, circling the scarred man like a predator sizing up its prey.
"So tough on the outside, so hardened by life's cruelties. Yet inside… oh, you're nothing but a trembling little pup." His voice dropped to a near whisper, dripping with malice. "And I do love breaking things like you."
The scarred man said nothing, his teeth clenched so tightly that the muscles in his jaw quivered.
His eyes burned with defiance, but beneath the surface, the torment was mounting.
