Bloody Wake

Adrift in dreams, Hethir's mind wandered. He had always been lucid during his dreams, for as long as he could remember at least, but tonight at least he wasn't bothering to exert much control.
He and Val had finally collapsed--satisfied and exhausted--some hours after their tryst had begun. After ensuring that she was not actually hiding daggers in her underskirts, Hethir had joined her in sleep gratefully.
Now he was simply allowing his dreams to play through the events of the last few days. He watched idly for the most part. Occasionally nudging something a different way just to watch; but even that was more idle curiosity than anything else. He frequently used his dreams to plan and train, it had saved his life a number of times. He practiced odd patterns of thought that would confuse anyone else with powers like his; and even more frequently ran through combat scenarios. The dreamscape turned into a great wargame, and it made him far faster in tactical situations than most opponents were prepared for.
He was mulling over the thought of doing just such a thing when something in the waking world began to disrupt his thoughts. A voice. Screams actually, words maybe?
"Brig! Brig! All hands to arms!"

Hells, Hethir practically threw himself upright and out the door to his cabin. Val had been sleeping close enough to him to be rather roughly dislodged from sleep. "What do you think you're..." a scream of pain from outside silenced her, "...oh."

Out on the deck, Hethir immediately started locating his crew. Three men were sprawled on the deck; two of them still lived, the other's head hung at an unnatural angle. Hethir's anger burned cold. Near the front of the ship he could see two more of his crew facing off against one of the escaped prisoners. In the moments of assessing the situation, he saw one of the combatants fall clutching his side. Hethir was through with subtlety. He reached out with his mind and wrenched the weapon out of the man's hand. he only had a moment to gape after his missing weapon before he found himself flung into the air as well. There was a sickening crunch as he hit the deck again. One leg was clearly broken, and if Hethir had to guess, so was the man's arm. He was still dedicated to escape, and was even now trying to drag himself towards the side.
That's enough of that... I was going to do this the kind way, but you've made me angry. I'll do it the painful way instead.
He looked back towards Hethir with terror starting to lace his eyes, just in time to see coruscating field of violet energy form around his outstretched hand. The blast of searing cold that followed froze his legs nearly solid, and his voice caught in his throat as he tried to scream. Hethir stood over him with an expression devoid of pity. I was going to let this be easy for you, quick, painless, you wouldn't even half to know what had been done... but after this? Oh no, after this I'm going to enjoy breaking you. And after I've broken your mind, I'll break your body, in half.

The man screamed again as his two whole limbs suddenly spasmed and shattered. Your mind is mine, attempt to resist me, and I will make your agony all the greater!
Hethir pushed at the man's mind, and found it still attempting to hold back its secrets. The man writhed on the deck, teeth gritted in pain, but still clearly fighting. Unwise choice.
A single razor-sharp crystal coalesced in the palm of Hethir's hand, and with a gesture it buried itself in the man's leg. Already afflicted by the blast of cold from before, the leg more cracked than cut. His eyes bulged at the pain, and the will resisting Hethir's mental assault wavered for a moment.
It was the only opening he needed.

Hethir sifted through the man's memories quickly, finding what information he could. The man had not known much, but he had some contacts in a few cities. They would make it much easier to control the information that passed back along to D. The man's orders had been straightforward enough, slip aboard with the rest of the crew, stay quiet, obey orders and observe. If Hethir did anything that might imply deviation from D's objectives, he was to slip away and report it.
You won't be reporting anything anymore, in fact... I think I'll make certain of it.

There were almost always sharks around the isles. And it didn't take long for Hethir to find one and give it a psychic pull towards the ship. The man was dripping blood into the water as Hethir held him out from the ship, and the shark's fin arrowed in on the spot. Goodbye, you should consider yourself lucky that I'm letting this be as quick as it will be. A splash followed, and Hethir felt the mind wink out below.

More shouts came from below-decks, and Hethir turned to find Garius and Michael hauling the other prisoner above-decks, a sturdy pair of manacles binding his hands behind him. "He tried to break into our quarters, he quickly learned the error of that choice." Garius grinned toothily, "I tried not to get too much blood around." The man looked only slightly injured, a few cuts on his arms and a large welt growing on his face. "Did he do any further damage below decks?"
"One man injured Captain," Michael responded briefly, "I sought to capture him alive and was unable to do so as quickly as would have been necessary."
Hethir nodded, his anger still burned. "Leave the prisoner, tend to the injured, I will handle him personally."
Michael saluted and immediately dashed towards the wounded men on deck. Garius looked at Hethir doubtfully. "No disrespect cap' but he seems pretty intent on escaping, trying to guard him alone doesn't seem wise."
"Yes, the other man seemed quite intent on escaping too, even after I broke his legs and arms."
Bother Garius and his prisoner suddenly gaped at Hethir, who was staring directly into the prisoner's eyes. "His desire to escape was soon supplanted by a desire to die swiftly when I shattered his limbs, froze them solid, and broke them further."
Now both of the men looked like they barely believed him. "You should start with more believable bluffs 'captain', it's clear he got away from you." Garius knocked the man to the deck, but his face spoke volumes of his agreement."
"Oh? Is that right? Well then the shark waiting below us must have already been full. And your companion must be able to swim with nothing but his tongue."
"You kill us and D will know of it!"
"Perhaps, but I doubt it, if you were important enough for that, he would have given you at least a sending stone, but instead he gave you dead drop contacts, ones that I intend to use and abuse."
Hethir turned to Garius, who looked more than a little confused by now. "Drag him to the mainmast, we'll tie him there for now." Two crewmen came up from below carrying coils of rope, called earlier by Hethir. "I want his feet off the deck, with as much of his weight on his arms as you can."
The two men went to the ropes with a will, and minutes later the man was struggling fruitlessly to escape knots that might as well have been made of iron. One of the men jammed a rag into his mouth as well, quite effectively gagging him.
"Now then, you thought that I was bluffing earlier did you? Let me demonstrate how unfortunately mistaken you are..."
Hethir raised on hand and pointed at the man's upraised arms. he didn't need to gesture, but it definitely added to the dramatic effect. He lashed out with a mental surge and the man's upper arms twisted. Instead of a crunch, it made more of a ripping sound as the bones were shredded under the telekinetic force. The man writhed in agony, and the weight on his now-broken arms made the pain that much worse. Within moments, he passed out.
Garius looked at the tortured prisoner slightly green in the face. "So much for what his wife said," He muttered to himself, "I don't ever want to be on his bad side..."
No, you do not... and I am not married, Val is however a very good manipulator.
Garius jaw hung slack for a moment, "you can read my mind?"
"If I put my mind to it yes, this was just good hearing. What I can do easily is speak to your mind, get used to it, it's how I deliver most orders on-ship."
Garius pointedly did not look at the prisoner for a few long moments, "so... you really did torture the other guy like you said? That wasn't a bluff?"
Hethir turned to face the mercenary and held up his hands. Blood dripped from them. He had wrenched the other man's arms to drive the broken bones through his skin, making him bleed readily, enticing the shark closer.
"I. Do not. Bluff."