Hesi's legs knocked against the low table, sending her careening backwards. The demon's extended claw whizzed past her periphery, giving her a full view of just how shiny its obsidian skin was. She stumbled back, planted her feet against the table, and pushed. The wood hit the demon's furry legs, halting its advance. She clawed at the smooth stone and scrambled away.

To where?

Her eyes scanned the room. Shelf. Vase. Door. Rugs. She turned to the vague direction of where she came from. Door.

A low growl rang from somewhere north. Her heart leaped to her throat when she dodged an ivory fang aimed at her neck a little too late. She ducked, rolled, and came up against a wall. A solid wall. Dear gods.

The demon's ruby eyes flashed in the dark as it lunged for her again. Hesi pumped her legs forward and scampered away, letting the demon slam headfirst into the spot where she once was. The sound of metal hitting stone echoed throughout the room, sending reverberations inside her skull and making her ears ring.

Door. That's where she should be heading. Where was it?

She whipped left and right, using the dim light to make out a sliver of the outside world that would signal the location of the door. Before she could, the demon's frills edged to her periphery. Her fingers closed around the first thing she felt with her hands and swung, bashing the demon with a porcelain vase. The shards rained on her and her bare skin upon impact, the sound another addition to her already ringing ears. The demon shook its head—not even fazed—and lunged again.

Hesi ran with no direction in mind. For once, she was glad she didn't have any layers on her that would impede her movements. Weak demons, she could handle without any problem but when it's a freaking prince of the Mayaware attacking her, she'd have to leave her fate to the gods.

She reached the shelves where the prince claimed to get whatever he's going to give her. Perhaps there's something here which triggered him? The smell of blood? A lone critter in the dark crevices of the wall? Hidden deshet branches?

The demon roared. Darpeh, a little bit more and Hesi's ears would already bleed. She ducked under a swiping claw and swung herself behind a shelf. Perhaps the wood could give her a little protection. An onyx arm punched through the boards, disrupting a sheaf of parchments and sending them fluttering into the wind. Well...maybe not.

Hesi spun and planted her feet against the shelf's back and, bracing the stone wall behind her, pushed. The wood groaned as the shelf fell forward, slamming into the demon and flattening it to the floor. It growled and scratched against the parchments and other trinkets raining on it. That should hold it. Door. Find the door.

She burst out of the line of shelves and made it back to where the low table used to be. Scattered silverwares glinted in the faint light. Wine stained the once gray cushions and the slab of human meat was left alone on the floor, gathering dust. She came west from here. That's where the door's going to be.

She tucked her arms beneath her breasts and broke into a run, sending all her energy to her legs. It didn't matter if the stone cut her soles after every impact. She has to make it to the door. It's no wonder the other women ended up like that after their meeting with the prince. If that rogue demon showed up every time, they wouldn't stand a chance. She only lasted this long because she could look at a Mayaware in the eye and not freeze in place in fear.

The wind stirred behind her and she looked behind a second later. Blood sprayed in the air in dark droplets. Hesi stumbled away, her arm burning. Hit. She's hit. Where was it? Something flashed to her left and she burst to her left just as the demon's stinging tail punctured a hole into the stone wall. What in Tjarma? That tail wasn't there earlier!

Hesi had no choice. She stumbled back into the wide room. She wouldn't want to wrestle a demon in the narrow corridor leading to the door. Her fingers pressed into her wound, feeling the warm liquid flowing out of her body before dropping to the floor. Blood.

An idea popped into her head. She pressed her hand harder, getting enough blood on her fingers. Enough to paint the walls with it. She wiped her fingers on the wall behind her just as the demon's ruby eyes flashed in the dark once more. It slammed into the exact spot Hesi had placed her blood on.

Mayaware's senses are heightened by night. Kharta's voice came into Hesi's head. She would have told her mind not now but it's a crucial piece of information which might save her. It's daylight hours now. Which means the demon's senses weren't working properly. If Hesi played this the right way, she might be able to get out of here without her guts kissing the warm, desert air.

Hesi leaped into action—scrambling out of the way just after leaving bloody marks on the wall with her fingers pressed into her wound. With the scent of her blood all over the room, that should make it harder for the demon to pinpoint her location. That way, she could head to the door without having fangs and claws after her.

She passed the fallen shelves torn to splinters and let her blood drip there liberally. Hurry. With her head getting light, her eyes drooping without her permission, and her legs losing their strength bit by bit, she has to.

The deep growls, the thundering steps, and the clinks of claws against stone were Hesi's only cue in telling where the demon was. She padded past the shelves and back into the corridor she reached earlier. The door should be at the end of this.

She gritted her teeth and mustering the last of her strength, she ran forward. After a few seconds, light from the edges of the chained door streamed into the corridor, giving back parts of the stone walls their golden glow. A blossom of hope bubbled in Hesi's gut. She's going to make it out.

That's when she was thrown forward and a dark blur whisked towards her face. Without thinking, she rolled to one side just as an arm made contact with the spot on the floor where her head had just been. Her chest heaved as her breathing couldn't quite pace itself properly. The demon towered over her, its ruby eyes burning with hunger she had never encountered before, its fangs dripping with olive poison sure to be her end.

Then, it surged down.

Hesi hooked a leg around the demon's furry paws and jerked down. A rush of air followed as she rolled out of the way, watching the demon's steel-like body hit the ground with a solid crack. There's no need to hypothesize. It's probably the floor.

She shot up and continued her run, the growls and hisses just a few steps behind her. Metal slammed against her forearm as she threw herself forward. "Open it!" she screamed with all her might, scratching her throat in the process. It didn't matter if the demon could tell her location. "Help!"

A gasp didn't leave her mouth the proper way when the demon slammed into her once more, throwing her against the door. Something flew out of her mouth and her tongue registered the taste of rust. She crumpled to the floor, her bare skin feeling every particle of dust strewn into it. Not yet. She wouldn't die here.

This was not how she's going to die.

The demon reared its head back and spread its frills. Without a sound, it rushed towards Hesi's neck. She lashed out, closing her fist until it landed on the side of the demon's head. It didn't do much except maybe shatter her fingers but she got the demon's attention. Then, she opened her mouth. "Stop it," she hissed, matching the sound coming from the reptilian demons when they're pissed. "Stop."

By some miracle, the demon paused, its tongue flicking in and out of its outstretched mouth. The ruby eyes still haven't lost the glint of hunger in them but at least it stopped. Hesi put her arm forward, going back one step at a time, all the while keeping the demon in its place. "Stay there," she said again. She didn't know how in Qer's name she was doing this but she's glad it's working. "Don't come closer."

The chains from the other side of the door clinked and the lock popped free. Then, the demon lunged. "No!" Hesi screamed at no one just as strong hands wrapped around her arms and pulled. Her world whizzed as she went weightless for a while before crashing against a warm body.

From inside the room, the demon shuddered, its limbs twitching as if they had two different masters. Before Hesi's eyes, the onyx subsided, melding back into the warm beige skin. It was Mezophis again. Then, the Mayaware guards thrusted the tip of their spears into him, puncturing skin enough to draw blood. A gasp tore from Hesi's throat. What were they doing?

"Step away now," Kharta's voice was sharp and clear through the haze ringing in Hesi's ears. When did he get here?

Then, just before the metal door closed and the chains went back into place, the prince locked his gaze into Hesi and, with a pleading look, seemed to tell her one thing: he didn't want anything to do with his situation. He wanted out. Somehow, Hesi saw a glimmer of pain and regret flashing in the prince's slitted eyes.

She didn't get to look further when the door slammed shut and the sound of the lock falling into place the only way she knew she wouldn't get to see it again for a long time.