Chapter 13: Taken hostage

May was startled to see Eren in such a place, with the demons. Nonetheless, it became clear to her how Aedain knew her real name - May had told it only to one person: Eren. The child must have revealed it to the monster, who had kidnapped him. May realized with horror that she brought all this mess on her herself the very day she saved the orphan from the villagers.

 

Eren was staring at May with wide-opened eyes, disbelief flickering in them, as though he thought of the older girl as an hallucination. Tears began welling in his golden eyes as the boy jumped to his feet, throwing the oversized cloak away and darted straight towards May.

 

“May!” he exclaimed, trapping the girl’s legs in embrace.

 

The child clung onto her as though his life depended on it, the little fingers digging into the silk of May’s dress. The girl heard a muffled sob and quickly returned the hug, pressing the kid closer to herself, stroking the blonde head in a calming gesture.

 

“Everything will be all right,” May said quietly, trying to sound confident, but she didn’t believe it herself. Her words seemed to have the opposite effect on Eren than she desired �" the boy began wailing as the emotional dam broke, exposing the child’s vulnerability. The girl kept patting the kid’s back, not knowing what to do.

 

“Eren,” May began, trying to think of something comforting.

 

“It’s my fault!” Eren cried, refusing to look the girl in the eye. Another sob shook his little body. “It’s because you met me!”

 

May didn’t know what to answer. What Eren said was partially true, but the child couldn’t blame himself for the evil monsters kidnapping May. The girl lifted her gaze and met Aedain’s eyes. The demon was staring at the two of them, without a single emotion playing on his face �" no compassion, no remorse, nothing. It was apparent for her that he had no human heart. The man glanced at the sobbing child.

 

“Be silent, boy. Men never cry,” he said harshly, a hint of irritation showing in his voice. He furrowed his dark brows, the grimace on his face intimidating.

 

Eren immediately fell silent, holding the sob in, along with his. May felt the child shiver slightly �" he was clearly terrified of the demon. She perfectly understood why �" she feared her captor too. May clutched the kid tighter, trying to encourage the boy a tiny bit and looked at Aedain, furrowing her brows.

 

“What do you want from us?” she demanded with all the confidence she could muster.

 

Aedain frowned, hearing her question. The blazing golden eyes looked at her hatefully.

 

“Your tone is less than appropriate, human,” Aedain said quietly, the reprimand sounding like a death threat. He began strolling towards the pair. “I advise you to think twice before you belittle those, who are better than you.”

 

May gritted the teeth, hearing the horribly arrogant statement, but bit her tongue �" she didn’t want to say anything that would cost her and Eren’s lives. When Aedain finally stopped, he was standing a little too close, which made May feel uncomfortable. She motioned Eren to hide behind her and she was acting like a human shield, protecting the child from the demon. He looked intimidating to May as she was relatively short compared to her peers; she had to tilt her head to look at his face. The top of her head didn’t even reach his shoulder. His cold gaze bored into her. She wanted to take a step back from him, but May knew better �" it wouldn’t be clever to show weakness right now.

 

“Woman,” he addressed her. May furrowed her brows slightly.

 

“Woman”? I have a name, she thought angrily.

 

“It’s May.” she said stubbornly, looking back at him with a little more courage. However, Aedain didn’t seem to be impressed by her confident attitude in the slightest. His face expression didn’t change a bit.

               

“Your duty is to take care of boy’s well-being and attend to his needs. You will not disobey me; you will not attempt to escape or I will kill you. If the boy dies, you die as well. Do you understand?” Aedain demanded in a voice that allowed no defiance.

 

May nodded slowly, not really knowing how she should respond to that. Did the demon just say that he wanted her to be the Eren’s babysitter? He kidnapped her for that? And murdered all those innocent people? Somehow she didn’t believe that it was his true agenda.

 

“Boy,” Aedain shifted his attention from May to Eren who was shivering like leaf on the wind, hiding behind the girl. “If you continue to disobey me, this woman will die. And it will not be pretty, you have my word for that.”

 

Both May and Eren stiffened at the demon’s words. The teenage girl was nearly shaking from fear because of the death threat. Now it became clearer �" she was a hostage used to blackmail the child into doing whatever Aedain wanted from Eren. May stole a peek at the kid, who was staring at the tall demon with tears in his eyes, his pale lips trembling as he embraced May tighter. The silence was dragging on while Aedain glared at Eren apparently awaiting him to answer. Finally, the child spoke.

 

“I…” he began, his voice weak. “I’ll help you. Just don’t hurt May. Please don’t hurt her.”

 

Aedain smiled, the smile made May a shiver go down her spine. The girl saw that his eyes remained cold and merciless, like icebergs.

 

“Very well. Good choice, boy. Now, move out,” he said with a sickening satisfaction in his voice, turned on his heel and started walking away.

 

Aedain’s big bald companion stood up and followed him, the black winged stallion also started trotting behind his master. Eren took May’s hand and started dragging the her towards the demons, nonverbally showing her to hurry up.

 

“May, we need to catch up to them. Come on!” the child urged her, nervousness in the honey-colored eyes.

 

May followed him, not knowing exactly what to do. If she and Eren tried to escape now, the black-haired demon would kill her. May doubted that it was merely an empty threat; he seemed to be used to killing without a second thought. She couldn’t help but feel curious, why Aedain kidnapped Eren in the first place. It was clear, that the child was a far more important hostage than May. The girl wanted to ask her little friend about that, but in the close presence of their captors it would be stupid. For now, it would be best to do what the tall demon said and not to behave suspiciously. They’d run away in the night.

 

As they were following their captors, May managed to take a good look at the demon, who happened to be the boss here. He was clad in fancy light crimson armor, which resembled those of Chinese warriors, over black clothes. The armor looked like it was a fine piece of craftsmanship �" it looked both elegant and fearsome, not obscuring the demon’s movements. The armors and chainmail of the warriors May saw in the Thoen Stronghold and Abrran’s men were paling in comparison, seeming to be too heavy and too coarse. The black winding patterns adorned the black-painted steel of the cuirass and faulds. The plackart and the spaulders were plain, without any decorations. The man wore knee-high boots and vambraces of black leather. The handles of two swords stuck over his shoulders.

               

Aedain’s big silent companion wore similar armor, but his was plain and of the shade of navy blue. May noticed that both armors had twin holes on the back, that clearly defied the purpose of wearing the steel plates.

 

While she kept staring at the demons’ armored backs, May’s thoughts returned to the mysterious case of Eren. She glanced at the innocent-looking boy, who was walking by her side, holding her hand. What possibly could the violent and fearsome demon like Aedain want with a little child? May thought, that perhaps there was more to Eren than it appeared. Maybe the kid wasn’t who he said to be? May looked at Eren with suspicion. It didn’t escape her attention, that the child possessed one particular trait in common with Aedain and his bald companion �" the unnaturally golden eyes. He could be a demon in disguise, couldn’t he?

 

“Eren, you’re a human, right?” May asked the boy.

 

The child paled instantly, as if reminded of something unpleasant, but then smiled forcibly and nodded.

 

“Yes, of course,” Eren said unnaturally firmly like he was convincing himself that it was true.

 

Before May could respond, loud, crude laughter resounded through the air, making both the girl and Eren cower in fear. May looked up and saw the source of the laughter heading their way �" Aedain’s huge companion was approaching with a wide smile on his roughly-carved face. May gulped, as she looked up at his gigantic form �" Aedain was tall, but this guy’s height was ridiculous; her head was somewhere around the level of his stomach.

 

“That was a nice joke, kid,” he snorted eying Eren and May from above. “You’re a half-breed, any Laismaran can sense it.”

 

Eren shook his head, tears began welling in his eyes. However, the child’s reaction only fueled the man’s need to torment him. He bent down, so that he could be more or less on the eye-level with the sniveling Eren. He narrowed his eyes and then turned to his superior.

 

“Hey, Aedain, remember that b*****d from the Clan Iomaire, the one who was boasting how he raped the Guardian’s daughter? You know, the one you killed a year ago or so?” the bald demon called to Aedain.

 

The long-haired man frowned, apparently irritated by the interruption in the journey.

 

“Yes, Baltar, I do remember that weakling,” Aedain said patiently, folding his arms. “This boy is probably his b*****d. Now get moving before I kill you.”

 

The demon named Baltar grimaced like a scolded child. He let out an amused snort and reached down to ruffle Eren’s hair.

 

May reacted right away and snatched the crying child out of his reach, defending it like a lioness protects her cub. The girl glared up at the bald brute.

 

“Don’t you dare to lay a finger on him!” she spat angrily, pressing Eren to herself.

 

Baltar’s face expressed surprise; clearly he expected her rather to cry from fear, like most human women would do in her situation. But then wide smile returned to his face, as though he just found an opportunity to have fun.

 

“Or what? You’re going to fight me?” he mocked May.

 

The girl gritted her teeth, but said nothing; she knew better than provoke a mass of muscles who was over half meter taller than her. But, her lack of reaction encouraged Baltar.

               

“Not so tough now? As expected from a lowly human,” he said, clearly insulting May.

 

The girl felt her blood boiling in her veins. She was scared, but anger was stronger than fear at the moment.

 

“A lowly human? That was supposed to be an insult? Try better, you… you… monster!” she shouted at him against her better judgment, not being able to think of a better insult at the moment.

 

Baltar clenched his fists, enraged, and May glared upwards at him with surprisingly much courage. As the stare contest continued, neither the huge demon nor the girl noticed Aedain standing in some distance from them, glaring at the pair with clearly murderous intentions in his eyes. Eren noticed his anger and tugged May’s sleeve, but the girl didn’t react.

 

In a heartbeat the black-haired demon appeared right in front of May, between her and Baltar, emitting an aura of rage. Without saying anything, Aedain fluently spun around, aiming a powerful kick right at the face of his comrade. May could have sworn that she heard the skull crack when Aedain’s foot made contact with the side of Baltar’s face. The huge warrior flew through the nearest tree like a ragdoll, smashing through the trunk like it was made of cardboard.

 

The girl yelped in surprise and fear; she was sure that Aedain just killed his companion. She tried to take a step back, but he grabbed May’s arm, the one he had injured earlier, keeping her in place. She whimpered from pain as his grip tightened. He looked at her, anger in his eyes, and May immediately regretted drawing his attention to her.

 

“I ordered to move out and you disobeyed. Do you have a death wish, woman?” he asked calmly. May quickly shook her head. “Do not anger me anymore. I despise humans as yourself; pathetic, treacherous and weak beings you are.”

 

He released her arm and stalked away. May wasn’t able to stop herself from shivering. Aedain scared the wits out of her. Panting, she looked in the direction, Baltar flew. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the bald demon get up and join the group. May was sure he should have had his neck twisted or skull cracked. Apparently these demons were tougher than she thought.

 

She decided that she had to escape no matter what. May was under the impression that with her temper it wouldn’t be long until Aedain was mad enough at her to murder her.

 

She rushed after the demons with Eren at her side, keeping a safe distance between her and Meirch, who obviously didn’t like her much �" the demonic steed kept baring its teeth at her. Eren began asking about Levi, but May didn’t really pay any attention to the child. She kept looking in front of her and trying not to think about how horrible the situation she found herself in was. As if it wasn’t enough to be magically transported to the other world, she just had to get kidnapped by some demonic psychopath. Was there no limit to the bad luck?

 

 

As the sun was setting, May began feeling exhausted. They were travelling for half of the day and she was pretty sure she had horrible blisters on her feet. Her whole body was sore from falling off the horse, then off Meirch and from being dragged by Aedain. She winced as she moved a little with her wounded left arm. She was in quite a pitiful state right now. In the morning she looked beautiful like a princess and now… Her really expensive dress was torn and dirty and the sleeve stained with her blood. Her long hair was a nuisance; it was so tangled that May wondered if she would manage to comb it. The princess’s attire wasn’t suitable for treks; it was unbearably heavy and moving in it was quite a challenge, not to mention breathing in the tight-lanced corset. May had to keep the hem of her dress lifted all the time to not trip and land face-flat on the ground.

 

It was getting dark, but Aedain didn’t seem to have an intention of stopping for the night. He only made a brief pause in the march to lift Eren onto Meirch’s back. The black-haired demon ordered the child to sleep and urged the rest of the group to keep moving, much to May’s despair.

 

The girl didn’t notice a stone in the dark and tripped. She groaned as she landed on the ground. She struggled with her numerous layers of clothing to get up as Baltar looked over his shoulder, and much to May’s surprise, returned to haul her up by her collar and yank her up back onto her feet.

 

“Thanks,” she muttered to him and rushed to catch up with Aedain and Meirch, limping a little, as her feet hurt. Baltar looked at her, crossing his arms on the chest.

 

“If you can’t keep up, you should get on Meirch,” he said to May, his voice surprisingly devoid of hatred or any other mean intentions. The girl looked towards the winged stallion and shivered inwardly, looking at Meirch’s furry clawed paws.

 

“No way I’m getting on this thing,” she said and continued limping forward.

 

Suddenly Aedain stopped and looked at his big companion.

 

“Baltar,” he addressed him. Baltar groaned in response. “Set a camp here.”

 

May sighed with relief and just sat down where she was standing. She watched as Aedain lifted Eren from Meirch’s back, surprisingly gently, as though the child was a porcelain doll, and laid him carefully on the ground. He reached for his black cloak, which lay swung over the steed’s saddle, and covered sleeping Eren. May furrowed her brows, thinking that such considerate actions seemed to be out of character for the demon, who was a cold-blooded killer. Perhaps even such a cruel person as Aedain had some restraints when it came to mistreating children.

 

Nevertheless, May thought that she would be dead soon if she stayed with those demons any longer. If Aedain didn’t kill her, those treks would. She made a decision: tonight she would escape.

 

 

Reviews

[Christopher Angel]

Eren, did you eat a breakfast today?” she asked the child. The boy nodded.
“I tried to wake you up for the breakfast. But you overslept.” Eren explained.
“I would use a good breakfast right now.” May said to herself.

I'm sure you notice just how weirdly this all reads. Firstly, you don't need 'a' or 'the' in front of breakfast. Secondly, you've referenced breakfast too many times it looked like you were advertising your hunger while writing :P

Other than that, I liked the slow pace and the deliberate interactions you've built up with May and Baltar. I'm a little unsure about Baltar since prior this this, he was really Aedain's punching bag. Now, he's coming across as potentially friendly. I suppose that works too because it's really breaking down my understanding of 'demons' and humanizing them, which goes a long way in making readers relate to the characters.

I'm also glad May finally had a break down - this was over due.

And the last part...what was that?! I'm curious. You evil person, how dare you leave it at a cliff hanger??

[Gosia]

Maybe I was hungry, the fridge was empty and it was a subconcious cry for help...

Now bow before the queen of all cliffhangers! Or just read the next chapter if you have time. I know I'm an evil person, but my love for cliffhangers is unstoppable.

[Christopher Angel]

I intend to read the next chapter when I have time O' Cliffhanger Queen. So....maybe later :P

[JR Darewood]

So the story has taken kind of a dark turn, but I'm glad it's not too dark. I'm glad for May's continued inability to keep her mouth shut, and the alliance with Baltar was a nice twist!