The Eating Woods, #2
Eldritch
by Keri Lake
Contents
Chapter 28
Overview
In a past timeline within Caligorya, Theron tends Zevander’s whip wounds and urges him to submit to General Loyce and use an elixir to avoid further punishment. Zevander rejects surrender but secretly tries the elixir, discovering its powerful numbing effects. The scene clarifies Zevander’s defiance, Theron’s survival logic, and the lure of chemical escape.
Summary
In a past moment under General Loyce’s control, Theron applies a healing tonic to Zevander’s freshly stitched whip wound. The men clash over survival: Theron argues that obedience and an elixir spare needless punishment, revealing his own scars and pragmatism; Zevander rejects submission, insisting dignity is worth the pain and refusing to become the general’s compliant tool.
When Zevander suggests learning to mend wounds to gain usefulness, Theron averts his eyes, unwilling to be replaced. Frustrated, Theron leaves him with a final offer: take the elixir privately and judge its effects, warning that increasing defiance will end in tragedy.
Later, Zevander broods on a high balcony over inaccessible Solassion cliffs, recognizing the thoroughness of Loyce’s cage. He studies a book on Solassion gods to anchor his mind, then weighs the ampoule as a possible escape from pain, glancing at the sleeping Theron. Memories of fresh abuses and Caligorya’s danger push him toward a controlled respite.
He opens the ampoule and pours the liquid into his stitched gash. The wound sizzles; cold spreads through his abdomen and chest. As his body numbs and his thoughts quiet to a heavy, peaceful silence, Zevander experiences the elixir’s potent relief—an immediate, tempting escape that contrasts with his vow to resist breaking.
Who Appears
- ZevanderPrisoner in Caligorya; resists submission to General Loyce but tests Theron’s elixir, finding numbing relief.
- TheronHealer who tends Zevander’s wounds; advocates survival through obedience and an elixir; reluctant to be replaced.
- General LoyceAbsent but looming abuser; her punishments drive the debate over submission versus dignity.