*22*

The sound of heels clicking on stone had me open my eyes. My head felt heavy as I slowly looked up. The Witch has returned. What more could she want from me?

"Hello, Orelie," she grinned as she walked to the table. "My, you've been here quite a while now, huh? Three days, I believe. And no sign of your master. Tut, tut. I guess he just doesn't care."

I wanted to cry, but I didn't want to give her the satisfaction. She's been collecting my blood, as well as my tears and sweat. She takes anything. Just what am I to these Witches?

"Hm?" I met her gaze again. She focused in on my arm. "And what is this? It kind of looks like..."

She paled a bit. This is the first time I've ever seen fear in her eyes. "You've been branded. Thankfully, I haven't hit the mark yet. If that were the case, that Demon would be here faster than a Merfolk drowns her prey." I didn't understand her analogy, but I almost hoped she would hit the brand.

Demons don't take too kindly to their blood source being harmed. An idea suddenly struck me. I felt the rough part of the wall with my arm. If I can just get it to cut the brand...

The Witch came over to me and held my chin. "Tell me what I want, Orelie." She forced me to look into her eyes. "Tell me my future."

I gulped, but complied. Soon, my vision shifted and I was seeing the Witch. She had a wild look in place, her arms and legs bloody. She was fighting something off.

"Just because she's yours doesn't mean I'll willingly give her up!" The Witch shouted. A feral snarl sounded as she leaned back and slashed at the attacker with a wickedly sharp knife.

When I turned to take in the situation, I caught a quick glimpse of the figure. A sharp pain shot through my thigh. I couldn't stop the scream from coming out as I was pulled from the vision.

"That's what I wanted." She gave a dark chuckle. "Orelie give off the most magic right before a vision ends." She collected my blood and kissed the vial.

"Demon..."

"I'm sorry?" She faced me again.

"A Demon," I grinned as I met her gaze once more. "He's coming."

"What do you-" she gasped as a biting pain stung my arm. I had found a sharp rock and cut myself right along the brand. "You little wench!" She strode right over to me and drove the knife into my other leg.

My tears spilled out as she ripped the knife out. "You shouldn't have done that! You have just ruined your life! I still have more to collect from you, but I won't let it all be in vain! I'll kill you before the Demon gets here!"

I clenched my fists at the pain. "No... no you won't!" I took in a deep breath and blew right at the Witch. The gust of wind knocked her off her feet and on the other side of the room. Instantly, I felt a small trickle of blood run out my nose.

"You!" She snarled and stood from the broken table. "You won't get away with this!" She charged and I blew at her once more. She knelt to her knees and held her arms up.

"I won't fall for that again!" When I ran out of breath, she quickly stood and ran for me. I quickly placed my hands flat against the wall and shut my eyes.

Soon, the whole place began to shake. The Witch stumbled and looked at me in disbelief. "No... not possible! Stop this! You'll doom us both!" I didn't listen. I felt energy swirl through me as I made the shaking stronger.

I grimaced as heat filled my body the more the place shook. More liquid trickled out my nose and mouth. I'm definitely causing harm to my body right now.

"Stop!" The Witch cried out. "You'll kill your self and all the work I've done will be in vain!"

"I'd rather die protecting myself... than die doing nothing!" My eyes snapped wide as the shaking increased tenfold. The Witch screamed as she tried to find something to grab on to.

It suddenly felt like my stomach turned upside down. I spewed vomit and blood from my mouth. It burned as it all came up. As I emptied my stomach of what little it had, the shaking slowly stopped. I coughed and fought for air.

The Witch grunted from the other side of the room. I slowly looked up as my chest heaved from the breaths I was trying to take. She held the side of her head, blood running down her arm. I injured her. I grinned to myself.

If that Demon gets here before Crae, she'll be begging for mercy. To be honest, I don't think neither Crae, or the Demon, would show her mercy.

Speaking of which, that earthquake I just caused should have been enough to let people know I'm here. Someone should be on their way to rescue me.

The Witch soon began to shake. A crazed laugh came from her as she grabbed another knife. "Oh, Orelie. You really think that could stop me?!" She whipped around, her eyes wild. I flinched back at the wicked smirk she had in place.

"A little shaking won't hurt me!" She giggled as she swayed on her feet. "This just makes things more fun! Now that you've used a lot of magic, your blood will be even stronger! My sisters and I can live off you forever! Ha ha, aha HAHAHA!!"

She raised the knife high above her head. "They will praise me for what I've done today!"

Just as I was about to try and use wind magic to knock her back, a bellowing, animal-like howl filled the air from somewhere within the area. The Witch slowly turned her head. "Oh great, the Demon is here. I must protect you with everything I've got." She turned and slid into a defensive position.

Soon, I could hear grunts and growls that quickly got closer and louder. He's almost here. I closed my eyes and prayed he would leave me alone. When I opened my eyes once more, I could see the Demon inching his way into my torture room. He easily towered over the Witch.

His blood red eyes bore into the Witch before slowly lifting to meet my gaze. I gulped as he took in my bloody, suspended form. Hopefully he doesn't ignore the Witch and come for me instead. My blood dripping everywhere must be driving him crazy.

The Demon slowly licked his maw before focusing back in the Witch.

She chuckled. "Well, if it isn't King of the Demons, Coroncrae. The mighty Blood Demon! Have you come to take what's yours?"

She brandished her knife towards the Demon. "I won't let you have her!" She charged at the Demon, but with one fell swoop, he knocked her away as if she were a bug. She crashed into the wall and slumped over. Is that really all it took to bring her down? How weak am I?

I glanced back up to see the Demon slowly pace towards me. I tried to get away, but soon found that impossible, given my position. When the Demon was a couple paces from me, I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Please don't take anything from me." I whispered. "Please, I can't lose anything else... I've used too much magic already. My chest hurts and my body feels so hot. I don't know if you can understand me, but I'm hoping you can. Please... just get me down so I can go home..."

I flinched back as the Demon's hand held my cheek. It seemed... too gentle. I carefully and slowly opened my eyes. The eyes had softened and were no longer red. They were a very familiar silver color.

Steam started to billow out from the Demon. His form started to shrink and the stiff fur began to recede. I watched, trying to understand what was going on. Why is this happening? Is he... changing?

His eyes suddenly reverted back to blood red as his body stiffened. He returned to his massive form and turned.

The Witch has returned to her feet. "You can't have her, Coroncrae! She's mine! I can't let you take the source of our youth and power!" She threw the knife directly at the Demon.

Her aim was off and the knife sailed towards me. The Demon caught the blade with ease. He stuck it deep into the rocks beside me. His body seemed to grow in size as an odd sound came from his throat.

"Oh, like you can really do anything!" The Witch taunted as she reached for another blade. "You're just a big, stupid oaf getting in my way! The other Witches will praise me for finding this young gem! We'll live forever off her power!"

The Demon slowly shook his head as he raised a massive paw towards her. Thin, pitch black tendrils slithered towards her. Her eyes widened with fear as she tried to slash through them with the knife she held.

It was to no avail. I quickly shut my eyes and turned my head just as the tendrils wrapped around her body and started to enter her nose and mouth. There was no sound as she died. That had to have been the power of dark magic. I've never seen anything like it. I shivered in fear as the body dropped to the ground.

I whimpered when the Demon's hand touched me once more. He backed off a bit before trailing his hand up my arm to my shackled wrist. I peeked an eye open to see the Demon shrinking once more. His fur receded and my eyes widened.

Before me stood a very familiar, and very tired man. "Crae..."

"I never wished for you to find out about this," he said softly and slowly. "I'd always hoped you would never find out. I never wanted you to see this side of me. But something told me you would that first time you saw me in the forest."

I felt myself pale as he got me free from the wall. He held me up so I wouldn't fall. All this time... Crae has been the Demon. I've been living in the same house as a Demon; the very same one who branded me and drank my blood. He's the one Brykas has been tracking.

And he's the Demon King...

With new energy, I pushed myself away from him. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Hurt flashed across his eyes. "I didn't know how. I didn't want to. I knew you would reject me like everyone else. I didn't always live that far south. I used to live around here, disguised as a human in a small town. But when the town found out who I was, Coroncrae the Demon King, they cast me out and hailed me a monster."

He licked his lips. "I dropped the first part of my name and waited a few decades to come back. I took on a new identity as a Mage and made a name for myself. I finally felt like I belonged somewhere."

He shook his head. "When you came along, I couldn't stop the urge. You just smell... so alluring. I couldn't stop myself. Your blood makes me stronger, and yet I find myself wanting more just to taste it."

He wiped the blood from my nose, making me flinch back. "I've tried to control myself, but it gets hard sometimes. Especially when something like this happens."

I took a step back, my body pressing against the wall. "How can I trust you?" I barely whispered my question. My heart ached at knowing he kept this from me. "You put on quite a show, pretending you've never taken my blood from me! Pretending to be worried when it happened! You've led Brykas on a wild chase looking for something that was next to him the whole time! How can I believe anything you say now?"

He looked away from me. "I don't expect you to believe me. I don't expect you to trust me after this. I just want you to know I was so ashamed of myself after what I did. I regret taking your blood and putting you through all this. I never wanted any of this to happen."

"Also," I met his gaze again. "Brykas knows. When your brand got cut, I went into a blind rage and transformed. He saw, and now he knows. I'm sorry."

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream at him. I want to make him get on his knees and to apologize to me. It hurt me so much to know he did all that to me.

And yet when I spoke, I was calm. "Take me to get healed, then take me to Mystic. I need to be away from you for a while."

His shoulders sagged in sadness. "As you wish," he swept me off my feet and carried me out of the room. He brought us through some tunnels that somehow survived my earthquake. The air around us was heavy with tension. I refused to meet his gaze. I don't even want him to hold me. I'm just so upset with him and it's making my stomach hurt and my eyes water.

Why am I feeling so distraught about this? I feel like I'm overreacting about this, and I don't know why. Yes, he lied to me and hid things, but he had a good enough reason behind it. So why do I feel like a piece of my heart has been ripped out?

I hope Mystic can help me sort this out.