Chapter 8: Spirited Away

Thoen Stronghold, Farn

         May leaned against the wall in one of the never-ending  hallways of the Thoen palace. She stretched her toes, tired from roaming around the whole castle. Having been banned to leave the palace during Abrran’s visit, May wasn’t able to see the priest in the temple. However, she had an idea which included using Leif as a courier, who could bring the translated scroll right into her hands. Even so, there was a tiny problem with her plan – she had trouble finding her bodyguard in the palace swarming with people and hide from all the individuals she wanted to avoid at all costs. She nearly bumped into Hilda a couple of times already; the attendant was hunting May since dawn.

         Having caught a little rest, May went on with her search for Leif. She took several random turns and wound up in the Duke’s garden, lost once more.

         “Not again,” May sighed, giving up, for the time being, and sitting upon a bench to catch a break.

         The girl sat in the royal garden, surrounded by the trees that were nearly bending under the weight of flowers. The branches were swaying in the wind; the sound was a lullaby for May’s ears. It was an exceptional moment of peace when the girl's head cleared out of all worries; she could just simply sit under the shade of the trees, relaxing. She closed her eyes, taking in the feeling of the light breeze on her face and the scent of the rain.

She didn’t notice that her betrothed, whom she had been avoiding so carefully, until now, showed up in the garden and made his way towards her.

         “Maewyn,” he said, causing May’s eyes to snap open.

         She was so startled, that she nearly fell off the bench. May lifted her head and mentally cursed, seeing Abrran. The man smiled and sat down on the bench next to her, visibly pleased, that he finally managed to catch her alone and get to speak with her. “I am really happy to see you. We did not have the chance to speak privately yet. Did you miss me?”

         “Eh… sure,” May answered slowly, looking for an opportunity to escape.

         She was worried that pretending to be the Duke’s daughter in front of her fiancé would be a task impossible to handle, despite Hilda’s tips. The Abrran guy was smiling widely and sat on the bench much too close to May for the girl to feel comfortable. She was rather shy around guys, especially the handsome ones, and the situation felt awkward. May pushed herself further from him, but he sat even closer. His eyes were looking at her lovingly, which freaked her out. She never was in a situation like this before. The girl cursed inwardly and reminded herself that she shouldn’t blow her cover.

         You are a butterfly, a butterfly, a damn butterfly, she was repeating in her mind as she forced herself to smile shyly.

         “And you missed me too?” she asked, trying to sound like a weak Lady.

         The man flashed another dazzling smile at her and took her hand. May stared at him and tried to yank her hand free, but he was holding it gently yet firmly, refusing to let go of it. She tried to hint him discreetly that she didn’t wish for the skin contact, but he ignored it. May really felt uncomfortable with some stranger holding her hand, especially that he was the fiancé of the girl, who was currently stuck in Baltimore, just as she was trapped in the Callesmere Empire. She was sure, that the real Lady Maewyn wouldn’t want May to get too familiar to her future husband. She twisted her wrist, freeing her hand from Abrrans’s grasp. May forced herself to smile at him.

         Abrran sighed.

         “I have been yearning to see you, my love. It would ease my heart if you could sing for me,” he said and was obviously expecting her to sing some song.

         Damn, where is that old crone Hilda when you need her? May coughed.

         “My throat is hurting today,” she made an excuse. “And my fingers too,” she added quickly in case that idiot wanted her to play the mandolin, flute or whatever the real Lady Maewyn was specialized in.

         Unfortunately, her fake betrothed got himself in a romantic mood. God, in her world May didn’t have even one boyfriend; she had no clue how she should behave. Why had it happened to her now?

         “Do you remember what you said to me when we first met?” Abrran asked, hope in his eyes, and sat even closer. May wriggled away as he tried to put his arm around her shoulders. She didn’t notice that she was already sitting at the edge of the bench. She fell down with a loud “thud."

         “Crap! Damn you, you moron!” she cursed loudly, rubbing her aching backside.

         Shocked, Abrran stared at her with horror, not believing, that his demure Maewyn knew such vocabulary. He tried to help the girl get back on her feet, but May slapped his hand and managed to do it herself. She sent him a poisonous glare and stalked away, huffing with irritation. Not only the encounter didn’t go well, but now her buttocks were hurting from the fall too.

         She was furious and the man only triggered the accumulated anger. She had enough of this whole Lady-acting, of all those people, of being trapped in this world. She wanted to visit the priest and get the translation of the scroll. The worrying about Erik’s well-being was only adding to her frustration; the child must have been disappointed when she didn’t show up today. She really wished to see the cheerful kid instead of annoying Abrran.

         Be careful what you wish for. The wishes tend to come true in the most unexpected way – May’s dad used to say it a lot. She didn’t know why she remembered this out of sudden.

         May sped up, turning at the corner and dashing into another of the long identical hallways, continuing looking for Leif. However, the young warrior was nowhere to be found. May cursed, as she was running in circles for hours now, searching for the useless guy.

         “I need another plan,” she muttered.

         Tired, May leaned against a wall and was trying to figure out how else she could get to that temple. She didn’t want to wait another day – she was too eager to discover whether the scroll would be able to help her get home. May was stuck in this cursed world for about a week and had enough waiting. She shivered as she thought about all the studying she missed. What was Lady Maewyn even doing? May hoped to get back home before her parents and Hailey were back from their trip. Oh, the return would be tough as she’d have to catch up with the books, but first she’d have to actually return.

         May noticed a familiar silhouette heading her way. Acting on instinct, she turned quickly around the corner and plastered herself to the wall. Damn, of all people, she had to meet the last one she wanted to see – Abrran. After the encounter in the garden, she really had no wish to play a happy fiancée in front of him again. Unfortunately, May wasn’t fast enough to hide and the man found her with an ever-present charming smile on his lips.

         “Maewyn,” he said softly. “I wish to apologize if I upset you in the garden.”

         “Um…” May mumbled, thinking of an excuse to escape.

         Then it dawned on her. The Abrran guy maybe wasn’t the best companion, but the guards would surely let her out of the castle if she was with him. Sounds like a plan, May thought and smiled to herself. She assumed the role of the Lady and cleared the throat.

         “It is me who should apologize. I did not sleep well because of the nerves,” she began, recalling all the movies about the Middle Ages she watched on TV. “I would like to pray at the temple for our marriage, and I was looking for someone to accompany me. Would you like to escort me?”

         May felt as if her tongue would rot from all this politeness. Abrran, however, smiled even more, if it was possible. He gently took her hand and bowed slightly. May winced, feeling extremely awkward again, but didn’t pull her hand out of his. She still needed him.

         “Of course, my love. I shall make preparations immediately. Please meet me at the castle gates in an hour,” Abrran replied. He bowed deeper, flashed her another smile and walked away.

         “An hour?” May repeated, furrowing her brows.

         Why the heck would he need an hour to take a thirty minutes’ walk?

         An hour later May found out. At the gates, Abrran was waiting for her, and he wasn’t alone. A while later she was sitting on a horse, and by her side rode her betrothed. They were accompanied by about a dozen warriors and more or less the same number of servants. May frowned as Abrran motioned his horse to get closer to May.

         “I have personally chosen the gentlest mare for you,” he said to her.

         May arched her eyebrow.

         “I can see that,” she muttered.

         In fact, the horse she was riding on was more like a mule than a horse. May was capable of walking faster than that mare. Additionally, one of the servants was leading the animal, which made her feel as though she was disabled.

         Time was dragging on mercilessly. May was under the impression that her walks with Leif took less time. The girl sighed as she saw the awed eyes of the villagers as the small procession rode through the village. The Abrran’s warriors’ armors were shining in the sun, and the strong wind made the white capes with the emblem of the Karhadon Dukedom billow dramatically. The inhabitants of the lower levels of the Thoen Stronghold and the farmers from the village were gawking at the unusual sight with awe, pointing their fingers at the young Lord and the girl they presumed to be their Lady. May thought that it must be a funny sight, seeing her one day shopping in the market and now making such an entrance… She prayed that her visit at the temple would be worth all this fuss.

         May’s face brightened as she saw the elderly fat priest on the road; the man must have been on his way to the village. May waved to him energetically. The priest raised his hand, as to wave back, but when he saw Abrran riding by her side, he bowed deeply instead. May decided that it’s best not to dismount the horse now – how would she get back on in her formal dress? She took the reins from the servant while kicking the sides of the lazy horse. The animal moved slowly towards the old man. The priest waited for her to say something.

         “Hello,” she said cheerfully.

         “Your grace,” the man greeted her with a huge smile, before lowering his voice. “I think I have the answer you are looking for. Please, come to the temple.”

         “Um… yes and I will pray there,” May said quickly, looking cautiously at Abrran, who listened with interest and maybe some suspicion too.

         “We intend to pray for the happiness in our marriage,” Abrran stated.

         May nodded vigorously.

         “Oh, yes. Definitely,” she agreed maybe too eagerly.

         May was about to ask the priest to go already, when she noticed the old man’s troubled face. He turned abruptly and looked in the western direction, worry in his eyes.

         “Lady Mewyn,” he addressed her, the tension in his voice, as he took out some crystal beads, that resembled a rosary. “Go back to the Stronghold, now. I can sense a powerful aura approaching!”

         “Aura?” May asked, confused. What was he talking about?

         She glanced sideways and noticed that her companions were really scared by the words of the priest. The servants were looking around nervously, as if searching for a safe direction to flee. The warriors drew their swords, surrounding her and Abrran. They formed a ring of steel around the pair, ready to give their lives for their Lord and the Lady. Abrran also ripped out his sword and was observing the surroundings warily.

         “What is this aura?” May demanded, not knowing what was going on. Neither Abrran nor the warriors answered her. Finally, the old priest looked at her over his shoulder.

         “It means that a demon is coming, a powerful one. You must be prepared to flee, my Lady,” he answered.

         May stared at him, not knowing what to think. A demon? May was sure that demons had been just mythical beings created by people’s imagination, but still… Abrran and the warriors seemed to be dead serious about this, which made May nervous. She positioned herself firmer in the saddle and grabbed the reins tighter. And then it began.

         At first May saw nothing, but the horses started to panic. The animals began neighing in fear and moving their legs impatiently, as though they wanted to run away from there. Abrran’s horse suddenly reared and the man had to jerk the reins forcefully and serve the animal a solid kick on the sides, to keep the steed in check.

         “Shh… easy, easy…” May said to her mare, her voice shaking a little, trying to calm down the scared animal.

         Then, a dark storm cloud appeared out of nowhere on the previously clear blue sky; suddenly, it became dim. The thunder rolled, scaring the horses even more, and May swayed in her saddle as the mare danced under her. The girl barely managed to keep her balance; she clenched her fingers on the leather reins tighter, feeling her anxiety rise.

         “Prepare!” the priest yelled and began chanting a prayer to the goddess Illiana.

         May heard a loud roar and saw a strange terrifying shape emerging from the cloud; it was a creature. The girl stared at it – it resembled a horse with bat-like wings. The beast was black like the night itself. Its mane was long and tangled; the tail thin like a leather whip was swishing with every wave of the huge wings. With the outstretched like wings the creature looked a bit like a Pegasus, but it gave off a feeling of a monster instead of a fairy tale being. In the place of hooves, the creature had paws ending with large sharp claws. May squinted her eyes - on the beast there was a man sitting. She couldn’t see him clearly from that distance, but she noticed long, flowing hair, dark as the winged steed. May froze in place. She could only stare – she was just seeing the impossible.

         The nightmarish horse flew closer and roared another time. The rider slipped from the saddle and jumped to the ground. May’s mind was racing. It was over ten meters high. The man should have been dead or at least his limbs should have been broken! However, he landed gracefully and started walking slowly towards the group of the warriors. Now May had the chance to take a closer look.

         The stranger was tall, clad in black. He was wearing an armor, and the two of his swords were stuck over his shoulders. The waist-length jet-black hair was billowing in the wind, while the long bangs surrounded his face. The face features were well defined, but oddly smooth and flawless comparing to roughly-carved faces of Abrran’s soldiers.

         The vibrantly golden eyes were glaring at the people, who were before him. It didn’t escape May’s attention, that the man looked strangely perfect. His face, his posture, everything about him was not simply attractive, but a perfection in every inch. The girl thought, that it was eerie and somewhat inhuman.

The man was standing still and made no move to draw his swords. Instead, he clenched and flexed his fingers. May felt a shiver go down her spine; there was no doubt, that the man was dangerous – the Abrran’s escort looked absolutely terrified of the single opponent, who didn’t even bother to draw his weapons, as though all those warriors were no threat to him.

         “He’s not a human,” May whispered, when she came to the realization, looking at the newcomer with terror and remembering the priest’s words about the ‘others’, the mysterious creatures inhabiting the Callesmere Empire. “He’s one of them.”

         The warriors were glaring at the man, ready to strike at the first command. The man casually continued walking towards them and stopped. He started to observe May’s group warily, as if he was searching for something. Or for someone.

         “What do you want, monster?” the priest demanded, holding his beads in the shaking hand like a shield.

         The stranger didn’t answer; he kept looking at the faces of servants; the warriors seemed not to have his attention, and then he looked straight in May’s eyes. She froze as their gazes met. His eyes were golden, cold and expressionless. The eyes of a predator, she thought. The girl shifted under his scrutiny and felt some kind of primal instinct awake in her – instinct of the prey to run from the hunter. The man smirked, which scared the girl even more.

         “You are May,” the man stated simply, not averting his eyes from her.

         His voice was deep and calm, so calm, that it was creepy. May opened her eyes wider. How did he… the girl stiffened – that inhuman person had just said her real name, even though no one should know it. How was that possible? She paled and clutched the reins tighter, until her knuckles went white; she wanted to stop her hands from shaking. The scary stranger’s eyes were not leaving her, making May’s fear spike. She had no idea why, but then he… this man came for her – she was sure of that. The mere thought was freaking her out.

“Demon! Be gone!” the priest yelled suddenly.

         The rosary flew from his hand in the direction of the black-haired man, the thread ripping apart and the beads darted like bullets. The stranger shifted his attention from May and quickly reached out with his hand to shield himself from the priest’s spells. The winding crimson glowing lines began covering his skin – the hands, the neck and even made their way towards the face; the markings looked like a tribal tattoo.

         The ground began shaking, and smaller rocks around the stranger began levitating as though some invisible force lifted them. May squinted her eyes as a flash of red light nearly blinded her. The priest’s beads were immediately destroyed, turning into dust as they came in contact with the glowing aura surrounding the man. The light disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The old man took a step back, terrified by the demon’s power.

         If May doubted that the stranger was a supernatural creature before, now she was entirely sure of that.

         Abrran motioned his horse to get between May and the monster.

         “Maewyn,” he said quietly, looking at May seriously. “On my sign, ride to the castle and do not look back, no matter what.”

         May nodded quickly and watched Abrran rode closer to the demon. The girl had to admit that her betrothed was brave.

         “Monster!” Abrran addressed the demon. “Leave now or you shall be slain!”

         However, the demon showed no intention of leaving. He stood still the whole time, looking slightly annoyed. Abrran lifted his sword.

         “Attack!” he commanded. The warriors rushed towards the demon with a battle cry. The black-haired man didn’t even bat an eyelid. He only lifted his hand again, flexing and clenching his fingers. Abrran looked May in the eye.

         “Maewyn! Now!” he yelled.

         May didn’t hesitate. She pulled the reins, turned her horse and forcefully kicked its sides. The mare leaped forward and rushed toward the castle, the hooves beating against the ground in an erratic rhythm. Due to the speed, everything was blurry – the surroundings looked to May like colorful smudges, and the sounds were howled down by the wind. Though she heard the clank of metal as the warriors rushed to attack and shortly after pained screams followed. The screams of the dying men – she realized. May ushered the horse to go faster. The screams died down, and she could hear now only the blowing wind. Suddenly, she noticed something in the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t make out what it was. Then, just in her way, the black-haired demon appeared out of nowhere. Her mare neighed in panic and reared. May tried to regain the control over the horse, but it got even more scared. The girl lost her balance and flew out of the saddle. She felt the sharp pain as her body made contact with the ground. Her mind went blank when her head hit a stone.

         May whimpered as she slowly began regaining consciousness. Her whole body was sore, and her head felt like exploding; the nauseating sensation developed in her stomach. She felt the cold wind blow in her face and heard a strange monotonous sound, just as if someone kept shaking a leather coat. Her eyelids felt too heavy to lift them. May shifted and tried to nestle herself more comfortable, as she was pressed against something hard, which made her bruises from the fall only more painful. She carefully drew a breath, a shallow one, because she felt pressure on her stomach, preventing her from inhaling the air properly. May slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry.

         And she closed them again immediately, thinking that her brain must have had a sort of malfunction as a result of hitting her head. She opened her eyes once more and saw fluffy ethereal white objects around. With horror, she realized what they were - the clouds. May carefully glanced down and regretted it. She was sitting on in the saddle on some kind, but the creature was no ordinary horse. It was the creature from before – the winged beast. Its dark long tangled mane was billowing as the leathery wings batted the air. Below the animal, she saw distant ground, trees and even buildings. They were very far away though. May paled as she realized that the creature, she was on, was actually gliding across the sky high above the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying for it to be just a bad a dream. However, when she opened them again, nothing changed – she was still flying high above the ground on the monster’s back.

         Terrified, she instinctively searched for something to hold onto; May gripped the edge of the saddle so desperately that her fingers went white. She began trembling, her breathing shallower.

The girl felt the pressure on her stomach increasing. Slowly, she turned her eyes on its source. An arm clad in a steel vambrace was wrapped tightly around her stomach, holding her waist and the reins. She froze in terror. Who was holding her? May kept staring at the arm, too scared to look behind her. After a while, she shifted slowly in the saddle and looked over her shoulder.

         May was already expecting it, but nonetheless, she gasped in shock. Behind her sat no one other than the black-haired demon. She stared at him in horror. The man was towering over her, even as they both were sitting – the top of May’s head didn’t reach anywhere near his shoulder. She nearly had to twist her neck to look upwards. The girl was pressed tightly against the breastplate of his armor, not being able to move freely. The man was looking at the horizon; his face showed no emotion. Then he looked down at May. She shivered as her eyes met his cold gaze. She felt as if she was a cornered prey and panicked. Instinctively, May tried to push herself away from him, but he only tightened his grip, nearly crushing her ribs. She continued to struggle with him as he narrowed his golden eyes and emitted a growl. That caused the girl to stop for a moment.

         “Stay still, woman,” he said to her harshly, his voice giving out his irritation.

         However, May didn’t listen to him and kept trying to wriggle out of his steel grip, so tight she couldn’t even draw a proper breath.

         “Let me go!” she screamed at him. The demon didn’t budge, clearly unimpressed by May’s frantic attempts to set herself free.

         “Let go of me!” May didn’t stop screaming. Suddenly, she felt the pressure on her stomach disappear, as the man removed his hand. Then, without any warning, he pushed her from behind. May felt herself slipping from the saddle and tried to grasp something, anything, that would prevent her from falling – she didn’t make it.

         May fell off the creature’s back only to stop in midair. Her limbs were dangling; she saw the solid ground in the distance. Her heart felt like it stopped for a good while, and her vision went blurry from fear. She would surely die if she hit it from this height. She closed her eyes, expecting the impact but felt nothing. The girl slowly opened them after a brief moment to discover that she didn’t fall. The demon was holding her sash. He pulled her roughly back on the saddle. May hissed from pain as she felt her bruised body slam into his armor. The man placed his arm around her waist again and looked as if nothing had happened.

         May couldn’t calm herself down; she had just nearly died. The girl was repeating to herself to keep cool head and not to panic. She tried to control her hitched breathing as she analyzed the situation she was in. She was in the foreign world and just got kidnapped by a monster who almost killed her just now. She didn’t actually see it, but she was almost sure, that he had singlehandedly murdered Abrran and all his best warriors. What on earth was he?

         The girl exhaled slowly, trying to remain composed despite the situation. She needed to stay calm and alive. Especially staying alive was a top priority. She decided that the man didn’t want to kill her, at least not right away. If he wanted, he had already had plenty of chances. Then why did he kidnap her? May couldn’t think of a logical answer. And how did he know her real name?

         May yelped as she felt his grip tighten again and crush her ribs. She hissed from the pain and looked at her captor over her shoulder.

         “You’re crushing my ribs. It hurts,” she said to him, her voice slightly shaking as she was terrified of the man. He said nothing, didn’t even bother to look at her, but the pressure lessened a bit. May decided to be polite for her own safety.

         “Thank you,” she said.

         Yet again, she received no answer. Actually, she was relieved because the man’s voice crept her out even more.

         May had never been so scared in her life; kidnapped by a cold-blooded killer, she didn’t know what would happen to her. One thing was sure: returning home now was out of question. First, she had to know what exactly was going on, and she feared that to do that she had no choice but to ask the terrifying man who had kidnapped her. She shifted in the saddle and looked up at his face, unsure how to start a conversation without angering him and getting herself killed in the process. She stared for quite a while when the man glanced down at her with visible annoyance.

         “What is it, woman?” he demanded.

         May unknowingly flinched at the sound of his voice. She averted her eyes from him, not having enough guts to look directly him in the eye.

         “Umm…” she started. “What are you going to do to me? What do you want? Why…”

         The man growled and sent May an angry glare.

         “Enough!” he hissed. “Be silent or I will kill you.”

         May shut her mouth immediately. The man was dangerous and she definitely didn’t want to get herself murdered. However, she really needed to get some information about her captor and his intentions towards her.

         “Err…” she began, careful not to anger the man. “My name is May.”

         May waited for some kind of reaction, but there was none. At least, he didn’t threaten to kill her, yet. She decided to carry on.

         “What’s yours? You have one, right?” she asked the demon carefully. There was only silence. After a longer while he finally spoke up.

         “Aedain mab Keallach de Ruanaidh,” he stated, not looking at May.

         The girl blinked, hearing the long name. How was she supposed to remember that?

         “Oh,” May uttered, surprised that he, in fact, did answer her question.

         The name was awfully long and nearly impossible to remember. Aedain ma… something… can’t it be shorter? She unsuccessfully tried to recall the whole name, but it really was too long. She decided to call him Aedain from this day forwards as she couldn’t remember the rest of his name anyway. She stole another glance at her stoic captor and prayed, that she wasn’t pushing her luck. “What are you?”

         The man didn’t answer, his face emotionless as though it had been carved in stone. May paled, when she noticed the small vein in his temple beginning to pulse dangerously. She mentally cursed herself for her stupidity – she had just pissed the monster off.

         “I’m so…” she wanted to apologize quickly, but the words stuck in her throat when the man glared at her warningly.

         “Silence,” he hissed through the clenched teeth. May instantly clenched her jaws shut and hastily nodded. The golden-eyed captor finally looked away from her and the girl slowly let out the breath she was holding. Then, much to her surprise he answered her question. “I am one of the Laismarans. Humans call my kind demons.”

         May stiffened, when Aedain himself confirmed her worst suspicions. The man who kidnapped her was not human, but a demon. Indeed, it was the best word to describe the kind of creature he was. It turned out, that her fear of him was perfectly justified.

         Then the girl felt herself lose balance as the winged creature, on which both she and Aedain were riding, started to fly lower. She frantically tried to reach for the saddle to grab on to something to support herself, but she couldn’t reach because of the demon pressing her to himself. As the nightmarish steed doved downwards, May could see the nearing ground and freaked out. She turned abruptly to Aedain and wrapped her arms around his waist. She pressed herself tight against him, desperate not to lose a hold of him and fall off the steed.

         The winged creature circled above a clearing in the forest and landed. Feeling, that they were no longer in the air, May slowly opened her eyes and pulled herself from the man, a little ashamed that she grabbed a stranger like that. She blushed abruptly and started blabbering nervously.

         “Um… Oh… sorry for that. But I was scared that I will fall, and I had nothing to hold on to… and my fear of heights…”

         “Woman,” Aedain said warningly, annoyance visible in his eyes. May stopped talking.

         The demon gracefully got off the beast’s back and grabbed unsuspecting May by her sash. Before the girl even had the chance to notice what was happening, he shoved her unceremoniously from the saddle. She yelped and fell on the ground with a loud thud like some sack of potatoes, gaining more bruises. May clenched her fists and glared at Aedain.

         “What was that for?” she screamed as she started to get herself back on her feet, fighting with the numbness in her legs and the numerous layers of the silk skirts.

         Her beautiful royal attire was now dirty and torn, the long hair disheveled and the decorative golden circlet missing. She cursed quietly to herself and stiffened as she felt something poking her shoulder. She turned her head to see what it was and gave out a cry of fear and surprise. Aedain’s steed sniffed her curiously, the beasts red eyes glowing playfully. May’s eyes widened when the beast parted its jaws, showing row of long, sharp, needle-like teeth. She cautiously backed away, not really willing to find out if the creature wanted to hurt her or not – it looked carnivorous enough.

         She made a few steps back when she slammed into something. She turned around to see a very disgruntled Aedain. The demon gave her his scariest  look and grabbed her arm. Then he began walking down the path, dragging May behind him. The black stallion followed them, folding the leathery wings and trotting a few steps after them.

         “Wait! Let me go!” May protested and tried to wiggle herself from Aedain’s grip, but it made no impression on him; he didn’t even slow down.

         She jerked her arm desperately, but he grabbed her tighter instead of letting go; his fingers dug into her arm with an inhuman force. May yelped in pain, but stopped struggling, not wanting to give him a reason to do her even more harm.

         The girl knew that he was capable of killing her - she remembered the screams of slaughtered warriors. She flinched. What mess has she gotten herself into? Would she get out of it alive?

         Finally, Aedain stopped and May bumped into his back. She took a look of her surroundings. The demon led  her to a camp. By the fire was sitting a huge man in an armor similar to Aedain’s. He was bald, with black goatee decorating his chin. He must have been well over two meters tall, and his body build nearly screamed: steroids. May flinched when she was a battle axe resting near the man.

         As he saw Aedain’s arrival, he nodded in a simple gesture of respect. May noticed that his eyes were golden, just like Aedain’s.

         Then, May noticed another person in a camp, who could be easily overlooked as an oversized black cloak was covering the little figure. A small hand reached for the hem of the fabric and slipped it off the head. The girl’s eyes widened, when she saw blonde, ruffled hair and innocent honey-colored eyes staring back at her.

         “Erik,” she whispered.