NOVPUBThey took them outside where they would have more space to use the long whip.
The procession was slow, deliberate.
The man with the whip unrolled his weapon, making it whistle in the air. He spent several minutes practicing his swings, building anticipation and fear.
"On your knees," ordered the man with the whip.
With dignity, Reed knelt, keeping his back straight.
The first lash fell cruelly, tearing through the thin fabric of his shirt. Reed clenched his teeth, determined not to give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream.
The second lash. The third. Time seemed to slow, each strike carefully spaced to maximize suffering. By the fifth, his shirt was in tatters, and by the tenth, his back showed red lines beginning to bleed.
The patrollers took their time between strikes, discussing technique and admiring their handiwork.
Fern watched, her hands covering her mouth to contain her sobs. The shadows grew longer as the punishment continued, marking the passage of painful time.
"That's half," commented the leader with indifference, examining his nails. "I must admit he has endurance, the old man."
Reed breathed heavily, sweat mixing with blood on his back. He trembled from the effort of staying upright, but refused to fall. Each lash was preceded by a pause, a moment of anticipation that made the pain worse.
When lash number twenty fell, the lizard man paused, flexing his wrist. "This is getting boring," he commented. "The woman should receive the remaining ten."
"That wasn't the agreement!" Reed protested, his words coming out broken by pain.
The leader shrugged. "I changed my mind. Besides, disobeying a direct order merits... readjustments in punishment."
The third patroller, who until now had remained silent, grabbed Fern by the arms, dragging her forward. She struggled, but the man was much stronger.
Something in Reed broke upon seeing his wife treated like this. Decades of obedience and resignation evaporated in an instant, replaced by a fury he hadn't felt since his youth. The plants on his arms glowed with unusual intensity.
With strength that surprised even himself, Reed launched himself at the tiger leader. Momentum and surprise played in his favor, allowing him to reach the man's legs, making him stumble and fall. The impact sent both men sprawling in the dirt.
"Reed!" Fern screamed, both horrified and amazed.
The leader roared with indignation as his uniform became stained with mud, his tiger markings glowing furiously as he pushed Reed several meters away and stood up. "You're going to pay for that, stupid old man! Attack him!"
The man with the whip dropped it, his hands rising as he invoked his red lizard beast's energy. A fireball materialized between his palms, growing rapidly.
The fireball shot toward Reed. Fern, seeing the danger, managed to break free from fear's paralysis momentarily and control the ground vines, pulling Reed out of the way.
The fire projectile continued straight and struck the small house's wall. The old wood, dried by years of sun exposure, ignited instantly. In seconds, flames began to spread, hungry and unstoppable.
"Idiots!" roared the leader, kicking the lizard man. "How can you miss a target at 5 meters!"
Reed tried to stand, but the third patroller knocked him down with a brutal kick to the ribs. The man expelled spider silk from his hands, the strands gleaming in the firelight.
In seconds, Reed and Fern were bound with the resistant material, unable to move while the fire continued spreading behind them.
Some neighborhood people had begun to peek from afar, maintaining a prudent distance upon seeing the patrollers' uniforms. Word would spread about what happened to those who defied the new order.
"We have witnesses now," growled the leader, cleaning off some mud from his fall. The fire had grown considerably, turning their modest home into a pyre. "Should we leave or wait for their kid? I mean… We waited till today, right?"
His eyes fixed on Reed with a mixture of rage and cruel satisfaction. The dying light of day mixed with the growing glow of the fire, creating an apocalyptic scene.
Their real intentions were now clear to Ren's parents.
"Well… first let's give everyone a lesson about what happens to detractors," he said, advancing toward Fern, "let's teach this woman what happens when her husband attacks an officer... Thirty extra lashes!"
Reed struggled against his bindings, the spider silk cutting his skin with each movement. "Don't touch her!" he screamed, his voice breaking with desperation.
The lizard man picked up the whip from the mud, preparing to strike. The burning house cast dancing shadows on his face, accentuating his merciless expression.
The whip descended toward Fern with a vicious whistle.
The blow never landed.
A blade of pure light cut through the air. The weapon split cleanly, the front half falling uselessly to the ground.
In the same instant, a luminous figure materialized beside the patroller who had threatened Fern. The speed was such that the air displacement was heard before the impact.
Ren Patinder, wrapped in his fused hydra's crystalline armor, had propelled himself directly at the aggressor's head.
"Get away from…" his voice was unrecognizable, distorted by the fury and power coursing through his veins.
The lizard patroller, alerted by the shout and flash of light, turned toward the threat. His eyes widened in horror upon seeing the figure flying directly at him like a living meteor. Ren's claws cut through the air toward his neck with lethal intent.
The patroller saved himself through pure luck and experience, ducking at the last second. The claws passed an instant late, cutting the air with a deadly whistle.
But Ren, with reflexes enhanced by his augmented perception, adjusted his body mid-flight.
His knee, now covered in a diamond-like layer formed by his combined power, impacted against the patroller's face with the force of a divine hammer. The impact against the patroller's face produced a sickening crunch, blood and teeth flying as the man fell unconscious.
"Surround him!" roared the tiger leader, his authority cutting through the momentary shock.
