Caged

The sound of the gunshot echoed through the ship, reaching every corner. In the security room, Jane was mid-bite into a donut when she heard it. Panic struck her, and the donut slipped from her grasp.

"What was that?" She muttered, quickly scanning the ship's radar to check for external threats. But the radar showed nothing unusual.

"Not from outside, then-" She focused her mind, searching for any distortions. Immediately, she sensed Mark's killing intent. With a flick of her wrist, a screen popped up, displaying the camera feed from Luke's office. Her forehead tightened in rage, veins nearly bursting.

"OPAL! GET OVER HERE!" She yelled, her voice thundering through the halls.

Meanwhile, Nolan slithered through the vents in a hurry. 'I need to find the captain before anything happens.' He thought, rushing toward the storeroom. Just as he neared his destination, a deafening sound sent vibrations through his tiny body. 'Took him long enough!' His entire form shuddered at the gunshot.

The storeroom was dimly lit, filled with cages containing exotic and mutilated creatures. Some were missing limbs; others bore wounds that refused to heal. Many of them stared at the human before them, their eyes filled with desperate hope. They banged their heads against electrified bars, ignoring the pain, yearning for salvation. But Captain Opal had no interest in them. His attention was already fixed elsewhere.

He strode toward the center of the room, crouching before a small cage covered by a thick cloth.

"I've come for you. Today, I claim you… Forest Fairy."

From the darkness within, a single steel-grey eye gleamed. "Human..."

The voice was cold, eerie- its tone impossible to place as either male or female. The moment it spoke, the other creatures fell silent, their fear palpable.

"I have no desire for your kind. Your approaches are meaningless."

Opal smirked. He wasn't here to negotiate.

"Do you think you have a choice?" He scoffed. "You forfeited your freedom the moment you dropped your weapon. Now, you're nothing but a slave. A product waiting to be claimed."

Above, Nolan observed, intrigued by the sinister presence within the cage. The aura emanating from it was unlike anything he had experienced before.

Opal gripped the bars. Instantly, a surge of electricity coursed through his body. He let out a guttural scream.

"AUGHHH!!"

The grey eye watched, unfazed, as the room flickered with each surge of power. Normally, breaking these bars with sheer strength would be impossible. But Opal had dosed himself with a strength-enhancing drug which was too potent. His arms had turned a sickly purple, muscles bulging grotesquely. He grit his teeth, pouring every ounce of his strength into his grip.

"ARGHH!"

CREAK! CREAK!

Nolan's eyes widened. The supposedly unbreakable cage, designed to confine the deadliest supernatural entities, was beginning to give way.

"ARUGHH!" Blood trickled from Opal's eyes and nose, his body reaching its limit.

Then, psyker's voice boomed through the ship.

"OPAL! GET OVER HERE!"

The sudden interruption shattered his concentration. His hands slipped from the bars, and he collapsed to his knees, panting heavily. Smoke curled from his charred fingertips.

"Ugh, damn that woman... I need to go." He grumbled. Using his heavy rifle for support, he forced himself to stand. The steel-grey eye in the cage watched him in disbelief as he staggered away, for the fourth time that day. 

Nolan remained still, waiting for the storeroom to settle into silence. Then, cautiously, he fluttered down from the ventilation grilles, landing before the cage with its bent bars. As he reached out to peek inside, an unfamiliar voice echoed within his mind.

"Ahh... A rare occurrence. A soul trapped within the body of an.... insectoid." The feminine voice cracked at the end.

His small body trembled as the sinister voice effortlessly exposed his secret. Hesitating, he finally pulled the cloth aside, revealing the imprisoned being within.

A naked female elf lay bound inside, her once-glorious form now a shadow of its former self. Half of her body was burned, her limbs brutally impaled to the cage floor. The space was so cramped she couldn't move an inch. Her face bore no expression, dulled by torture that she endured. Only a single eye remained intact, its cold gaze locked onto the tiny larva before her.

Even in his insectoid form, Nolan felt his heart stir at her beauty.

"Oh, you disgust me with your thoughts." The elf sneered, though her expression remained eerily blank. "I would sooner choose that human over your atrocious kind."

Nolan found her detached demeanor deeply unsettling.

'Those ears… she's a high elf!'

At his thought, the elf's eye sharpened, instantly aware of his realization.

In Celesta Online there are multiple fantasy races such as Orcs, demons, vampires and elves. An elf's race and age can be assumed based on their hair color and ear's length. Their ears never stop growing, the older the elf, the longer the ear and the caged elf's ears were enormous.

'She is probably a decade old and the pierced ears, she had to be a tribe elder at the least.' Nolan could have guessed the elf's social standing and race but the ornaments along with her hair were ripped off completely.

'I wonder what made such powerful individual reduce this pitiful state.'

Suddenly, the elf's grey eye flared. The other specimen in the room begin to wail in fear, begging for their dear life. Light flickered rapidly as the trapped elf displayed her strength. 

'A psyker… probably an Ice or Dark Elf.'

"Foul insectoid. I demand you break my shackles and free me."

Her command was laced with arrogance.

In response, the larva crept into the cage, inching toward her ominous gaze. Then, in the depths of their silent standoff, he finally responded.

'You can fool everyone but unfortunately you met me.' The small larva opened his small mouth and scratched the giant eyeball directly in front of him.

"AGHHH!" The elf screamed in pain.

CREAK! CREAK! The cage trembled as she moved her large impaled body which only deepened her wounds further. 

'How about I feast on you instead?'