Cyril's days were endless, brutal routine. Given into servitude as a child to settle a family debt, he had few memories from his life outside the walls of the Bloodbrick Tower and away from its cruel master, Bastigar the Black. He spent his waking hours in the darkness of the Tower's dungeons, cleaning out cells once their occupants had been... used up. He would clean the shit and piss from buckets, carry bowls of foul-smelling slop to still-living prisoners and, if he was lucky, be summoned to Bastigar's laboratory to replace candles or remove a corpse. It was only then that he might see some wondrous sight other than misery and dirt, or catch a whiff of something besides the iron of blood or simmering offal.
It was never quite clear what dark magic Bastigar worked in his laboratory - at least not clear to Cyril. He knew prisoners went in, and corpses came out, and sometimes he heard the screaming. Bastigar was not a man who invited questions; Cyril had made the mistake of being curious in his youth and had been punished severely, his back flogged into shreds. 20-some years later, Cyril had grown into the perfect servant: docile, complacent and frequently terrified. The less he knew, the better. But Cyril wasn't stupid, either, and he wasn't deaf. He'd listen to what the prisoners shouted about in the cells or when strapped to a table in the laboratory. On his slop runs, he'd gently probe the kitchen servants for news of the outside when they returned from the market.
So, Cyril knew that important things were happening in the city-state of Zarth, where the Bloodbrick Tower loomed in the northern end of the gated Regent's Quarter. A great tournament had been announced, and an infamous warrior from the barbarian frontier had arrived to compete against Zarth's reigning champion, a powerful Kingsguard and the son of Bastigar. In an early challenge this barbarian, who called himself Krond, had injured Bastigar's son, breaking both his legs. Bastigar was enraged and had vowed revenge publicly, but had shrank back to his Tower when the King chastised him for dishonoring the rules of the tournament.
--
Bastigar simmered for a single night before he summoned Cyril to his laboratory. Cyril stumbled through the portal, closing the great wooden door behind him. Bowing low for his master, he stammered out, "M-m-master? You asked for me?"
"Yes, Cyril, I did." Bastigar's voice was slithery and sibilant. "I have been wounded greatly, Cyril. My son has been wounded. And I will have my vengeance. Tell me, what do you know of the beast called Krond?"
"N-nothing, master. Only... that he is powerful, and... he hurt your son." Cyril winced in expectation of Bastigar's fury.
Bastigar smiled instead. "He did, yes. He did. He took his legs from him. My son will never walk again." The smile twisted into a snarl. "That foul-smelling, horse-fucking monster!"
"I-I'm sorry, master..."
"I will not have your pity!" Bastigar screamed. "I will not have the pity of some shit-covered slave! I will have your service! Your complete obedience."
Cyril was confused. "What can... I do?"
"You are going to kill the barbarian swine."
Cyril's eyes widened. He was dumbstruck; the idea was completely absurd. Cyril was scrawny, underfed for his whole life, his body just bones stretched over with wiry muscle. He stood shorter than nearly every other man he had met, save for a dwarf who delivered flour to the kitchens. He had never held so much as a sharp knife. There was no way he could defeat a trained warrior, let alone one of Krond's repute.
Bastigar chuckled darkly, as if reading Cyril's thoughts. "No, you fool. You're not going to challenge him in combat. I wouldn't throw away an entire slave on such a folly. No. There is another way. Krond has a weakness. In combat, he is unbeatable. He trusts no man but himself. No man, Cyril... no man..."
Realization brightened Cyril's face. "But he likes women, master. They say he pleasured three at the same time on the night of..."
"Who told you that?" Bastigar snapped.
"I... hear things..." Cyril shrank.
Bastigar grunted, "It is true, though. He has an appetite for women, and they are the only creatures he allows into his private chambers at the castle. The cursed King has given him a room good enough for a prince! And he sullies it by dragging his whores there and fucking them senseless! But there lies his weakness and your opportunity, my Cyril."
Bastigar turned and swept his rune-covered robes open, stalking quickly to a stone table covered in smoking potions and bowls of crushed powders.
"Cyril, remove your loincloth," he said over his shoulder.
Cyril's mouth opened, then closed. He did what he was told; he untied his loincloth and let it slip to the floor. Cyril's naked body was not much to look at: thin, bony, his back covered in scars from childhood lashings. His head had recently been shaved to remove an infestation of lice. Cyril used his hands to cover his exposed genitals, which had always been small like the rest of his body.
"Pathetic," Bastigar muttered as carried a stone bowl to Cyril and placed it on the floor in front of him. "Kneel down, boy."
Cyril kneeled in front of the bowl, which contained a thin soup of dark, oily-looking liquid. He didn't understand.
Bastigar placed a hand on Cyril's head and moved it so Cyril's eyes were looking up at him. "I need your seed, my slave. In the bowl. Quick as you can."
Cyril gasped, "My...?"
"Your seed, your cum! In the bowl. Get it out of you. Surely you know how, you little wretch, so do it! Put your disgusting hand on that foul worm and do it!"
Cyril cowered from Bastigar's voice, but did as he was told, his right hand pinching his penis with two fingers and a thumb and jerking quickly. He was so scared, though, and so shocked, that he couldn't get it hard at all. He worked the foreskin back and forth but felt nothing. After a minute of miserable jerking Bastigar exhaled, "Truly pathetic."
He walked back to his table and retrieved a small glass bottle of red liquid. He thrust it into Cyril's left hand.
"Drink."
Cyril did as he was told. He poured the liquid into his mouth. It was sweet and thick, with a metallic tinge. And it was warm. Hot, even. It began to burn like fire in his throat and it warmed his stomach. The heat radiated through his limbs to his toes and fingertips, and filled his balls with liquid flame. Almost instantly, Cyril's heart began pounding, and with each heavy thump his cock rose upwards. His balls hefted and his shaft filled to bursting, veins bulging. The head of his cock emerged from his foreskin, purple and menacing, slick with precum. Cyril had never seen his cock like this before. Typically, he might pleasure himself before he slept, but it was quick and perfunctory. He sometimes barely had an erection at all before it was over. Now, his cock was pulsing in time with his heart, the tip wet and glistening in the candlelight. It filled him with awe.