"My oh my, it smells horrid,"
"It's most likely due to the decaying bodies that haven't been properly buried after the war, Professor."
"The city looks nothing like when I was here last time. It is somehow more dull."
"That's what happens after war, Professor."
A man in a hood then stepped out of the shadows. He bore a royal crest identification and beckoned them to follow.
The streets were quiet and the moon was shining brightly above as they entered a secret passage into a building. The steps down felt endless, almost as if they were descending into hell itself. It was dimly lit with wax candles on the cobble walls that burned despite the humid air.
But finally they reached ground zero. Chatter from hoarse and cranky men could be heard in the distance. The already humid air was now filled with the lingering smell of cigarette smoke. Matiligax entered the conference room and the hooded man proceeded to leave. Multiple old men with long white beards and bald shiny heads stood bickering with each other.
The men turned to look at the new researcher that had arrived to aid them with their research. But once they recognized who it was, a cigarette fell from their mouths.
"YOU! HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE HERE!"
"Relax grandpas, that was a long time ago."
"You! You got us fired from the Royal Academy, I'm gonna fucking kill you."
One of them ran up towards Matiligax.
"I suggest you don't do that."
The man was about to put his hands onto Matiligax when his assistant stepped in and chopped the man's neck, knocking him unconscious.
"As I said before, it was you greedy ass bastards who willingly participated in my research, wasn't it? Not my problem."
The men at the table clutched their fists in anger just seeing the person who had ruined their entire careers.
"Now, now, as the situation presents itself we all, wonderful researchers, have been presented with such a marvellous opportunity to conduct the most significant and exciting research in the name of our kingdom. So let's get along for now and do our best for the King shall we?" Matiligax said with a grinning smile.
The old men turned their faces away in disgust and pointed in a direction down the corridor.
"Splendid, I shall now see what intricacies await. Come along Salecha."
"At your service, Professor."
A foul odor filled the claustrophobic corridors and a faint sound of scraping could be heard beyond the corridor. At the end of the corridor was a long hallway filled with cages and cells, each with a captured individual.
"My, poor things."
He looked closer at the people inside the cages and realized why the Royal family had invited him. These people were no regular humans, they were a special species.
Those ears, those predator-slitted pupil eyes, that tail tucked behind them… it was without a doubt a lusian.
A creature he had only read in fairytales. His eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing. He tapped on the cage to see if the little boy inside the cage would react. A little tiger lusian with white furry fur, clothed only in thin cloth.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
The lusian was completely unreactive to his words and kept staring at the candle flames on the wall. Matiligax stood in front of the boy and held up his hands.
He gestured with his hands, pointing at the boy before pointing at himself, seeing if the lusian would understand what he meant. No reaction.
He then took a small needle and pricked his finger and had blood drip from his finger in front of the boy.
But still no reaction.
"Did they break them?" Matiligax asked.
"It doesn't seem like any of them have been subjected to physical violence, Professor."
"Then why aren't they reacting?"
Matiligax turned his head to look at the other captives. The sound of flesh being torn and teeth scraping against bone alerted Matiligax and Selacha and they looked at the finger that he had been holding out. The lusian had bitten off his finger and was chewing on it. The crunchy sound of bone echoed throughout the room.
Matiligax held out his hand to stare at his missing finger.
"Well, aren't you a hungry one."
He wrapped his hand up with bandages.
The lusian then stared at Matiligax before baring its teeth at him, showing that his finger was completely gone.
"Did you enjoy the taste of my flesh little one?" He bent down again and smiled at the boy.
"There is a saying in the human world, an eye for an eye, do you know what that means little tiger?"
The lusian's eyes filled with fear as Matiligax's hand filled with loxes and lit up the room a dark green.
"Oh? So you do comprehend loxes! How fascinating. Then surely you can sense what is going to happen to you."
His hand reached out towards the tiger and the lusian tried to immediately bite his hand, but as his teeth sank into the human's flesh he felt as if the world was spiralling into a single point. Everything was going around in circles and it was as if his senses were inverted.
The lusian collapsed in his cage and Matiligax pulled out his hand with two puncture wounds.
"Salecha, help me carry this boy, we are going to run a few tests."
The boy was placed onto a stone table and Matiligax looked around to see so many other interesting specimens.
He picked up a syringe and drew some blood from the lusian. He took off the cloth covering his body and checked out the anatomy of the lusian while his assistant noted down all his observations.
"His body resembles a human very closely. His oral cavity is similar to a human's with only his teeth being more like a feline's. His eyes seem to be able to focus more and see further than humans. These ears are most likely sensitive to sounds." He took a metal bell and tapped it next to the ears to get a reaction. The ears started twitching at the high frequency.
"Muscle anatomy similar to a human's, but the muscles feel a bit more dense and compact. The fur is soft to the touch and most likely insulation in cold climates. The lusian must have lived in a cold climate where hunting prey was a time-consuming process. Human-like reproductive organs." Matiligax pondered, it is said that lusians are able to switch from human form to animal form after they reach a certain age. But did they mate in human form or animal form?
Matiligax asked if there were any female lusians who were being kept down here. His assistant went around the cells and informed him that it seemed like there were 2 humans with animal-like features who were female.
Matiligax wanted to see if the lusians could transform into their animal form.
He went up to the lusian females who were kept in the same cell. They were huddled up, cradling each other. One had the features of a bird and the other a dog.
Matiligax crouched down in front of the cell and asked if they could understand him.
The girls nodded.
"Could you explain more about yourselves then?"
The girl with red-blue wings asked him for some food first.
"Nch.. these stupid old men, don't they know not to damage their research subjects," Matiligax muttered to himself.
"Salecha!"
"Yes, Professor, I shall prepare food immediately."
Two plates of food were placed before the girls and they quickly gobbled everything up.
"Willing to talk now?"
The bird girl explained that they came from a Luvian village.
"So lusians live in societies," he remarked.
She continued by saying that one day they were bathing by the waterfall. People ambushed them and before they knew it, they were here.
"So where is it you live?"
Both of the girls remained silent.
"You are not here to hurt us right?"
Matiligax's eyes wandered around before giving them a smile.
"Why of course not. I just need to ask you a few more things before I set you free."
The eyes of both of the girls immediately lit up with hope.
"You really mean it? You will help us free?" They immediately approached Matiligax to get a better look at him.
"Of course," he said smiling.