by T. J. Quinn
“I rather die,” she spurted, pulling away from his disgusting touch.
“That can be arranged, but not before I have some fun taming you,” he said, clearly amused with her rebellion.
“You’ll regret this,” she threatened him.
“Your race isn’t strong enough to destroy me, so, your threat means nothing to me,” he said, running the tip of one of his claws down her cheek, and lower onto her neck until it reached her nipple, poking it hard enough to make it painful. “Accept your fate, it will be better for you,” he concluded, returning to his throne, barking a few orders to his men, his attention already turned into what another demon was telling him.
She had been forgotten, at least, for the moment. The demons holding her dragged her back to the hallway, and after a few moments walking deeper into the cave, they finally reached an iron door. It was the first door she had seen in the place, and the meaning of it wasn’t very reinsuring. He knew she would try to escape.
One of the demons opened the heavy door, and the other one pushed her inside, locking the door behind her.
Taking a deep breath, she looked around her, realizing the door was the only way out. They had locked her up in a small chamber, with only a dirty mattress on the ground and a torch lighting the area.
She would have been able to use the torch to fight the demons if it hadn’t been placed too high for her to reach. She had no way out.
Chapter Twenty-two
After thoroughly examining the location Kael returned with Martin to the waterfall to wait for the others. The other man caught a few fish in the river and roasted them on a small fire Kael lit so they could eat something while they waited.
The team supposed to meet them at dawn arrived even earlier, led by Peter. The grief on his face immediately told Kael something was wrong.
“What happened?” he asked, jumping to his feet, looking for Rhiannon. “Where is Rhiannon?”
Peter cleared his throat as if struggling to find the right words. “She disappeared,”
“What?” the shout scared a few birds away.
“She told me she needed to go for a walk into woods to clear her head and since it was midafternoon, I didn’t see any harm in it,” Peter started explaining. “After two hours, I started to get worried and went looking for her. It didn’t take me long to find her clothes in her favorite corner of the river, but she was nowhere to be found.”
“Is it possible she drowned?” Kael asked, struggling to control himself, his heart racing in his chest at unknown pace. He couldn’t lose Rhiannon. Not her.
“No, not there and if she had, we would have found her, the water there is pristine,” Peter explained.
“So, you assume she was taken by the demons,” he concluded, feeling the rage and the impotence rushing through his body. They had Rhiannon.
“Yes, that’s the only logical explanation,” Peter agreed.
Knowing he was about to explode and that they couldn’t afford being detected by the demons, Kael shifted into his drogon form and flew up, high enough to be able to let out the loud cry of rage that wrestled to come out his lips.
He was in so much pain and rage, it wasn’t a surprise when he shifted into the fire creature. He wanted revenge, he wanted to destroy the demons and leave no trace of them in this place. The cocktail of feelings rushing through his body was so powerful he lost control of it completely.
Thinking of the possibility of losing Rhiannon was more than he could handle, he prayed to all the gods he had heard of to find her alive and well. The iron band squeezing his heart at that moment was all it took for him to finally realize what his instincts hadn’t told him yet – Rhiannon was his soulmate. The woman he had been looking for his whole life.
With this knowledge, his body shifted again, he was still a fire creature, but this time the fire he was made of was blue, pure and more powerful.
Determined to find Rhiannon and Esther, he shifted back to his humanoid form and descended to meet the others.
“Let’s do this,” he said, with a stern tone. “They will regret ever having crossed my path.”
The men nodded and followed him into the water. It was time to show the demons who they were up against.
Like last time, he was the first one to go through the last pool and only when he was sure there was no danger, did he allowed the rest to come through the narrow passage.
When they were gathered at the chamber, Kael turned to look at the men. “The minute we walk out of here, I want you all to do your best to kill as many demons as you can. Have no mercy, since they have shown none to you or your families.”
The men nodded, and only then did he allow all his rage to come out and his body to shift into the raging blue fire creature. He wasn’t going to stop until he had the last demon destroyed. Not this time.
As silently as possible, they left the chamber spreading through the corridors in groups of three and soon they were destroying all the demons they found on their way.
Kael headed directly to what he assumed was the main room, sure he would find the leader of the demons there. He wanted to destroy him personally, to end his cruel reign.
A few hours later, Rhiannon started to hear some commotion outside her door. She had spent that whole time pacing the room, wishing she had some clothes on, or at least, a sheet or something to cover herself with, but there wasn’t and being left naked didn’t forecast anything good. Their theory the demons used the women to breed gained more sense and she couldn’t help shuddering under such a possibility.
When she started hearing noises outside, she let out a sigh of relief. Kael was there. No matter what happened, she was sure he would do all in his power to release all the women imprisoned by the demons, destroying as many of them as possible, in the way.
She was about to get to the door to start knocking on it when it was opened violently, by the demon leader.
“So your friends really think they have a chance against me?” he roared, clearly furious, as he strode to meet her in the middle of the room. “Let’s see how brave they are, when one of you is in danger” he added, grabbing her and dragging her out of the cell back to the main room.
He had gathered a significant number of his men in the room, probably counting on their numbers for protection. He clearly had no trouble sacrificing his men to protect his own skin.
“Having me at your side won’t protect you,” she warned him.
“I don’t need protection from some weak humans, your presence here has another purpose,” he assured her. “You’ll allow me to show them just who they’re messing with,” he explained with a cruel tone.
Shuddering, Rhiannon tried to free herself from the demon’s grip, but it was useless. He had no intention to let her go.
The warriors finally entered the main room, coming from all around, led by Kael. Rhiannon was surprised to see him transformed into a blue fire creature. She guessed he was even more powerful than before and apparently the demon leader realized that too. Kael was far from the weak creature he was expecting.
“Rhiannon, are you alright? Did they hurt you in any way?” he asked from the entrance.
“She’s fine, for now,” the leader said in a cold tone, pulling Rhiannon closer to him. “But she won’t be, not for long, unless you retreat with your friends, now,” he demanded, in a loud roar.
“I’m not leaving this cave without her and without making sure your reign of terror ends here,” Kael assured him.
The demon pulled Rhiannon until she was in front of him, one of his hands pressing her throat to his chest and the other one, resting over her heart.
“If you don’t send you men away in ten seconds, I’ll pull her heart out of her chest and devour it,” the demon announced, with a cruel grin. “You’re no match for me, strange creature and you’ll be sorry you ever dared to come up against me.”
Kael’s fire seemed to become even more powerful, more intense and Rhiannon was sure he was about to explode, and no
one would escape the consequences of such wrath.
As if he had reached the same conclusion, he ordered his men to leave the room. They protested, especially Rhiannon’s father, presuming Kael was surrendering, but something, perhaps the dangerous shine on Kael’s eyes convinced him it wasn’t a good idea to disobey Kael.
“Take the rest of the women out of here, as fast as possible. Make sure you destroy all the demons you can on your way out,” he ordered, in a low tone.
“You can’t fight all of them by yourself,” Peter protested.
“Don’t worry about me. Just take everybody to a safe place, away from the cave,” he insisted, barely containing the rage coursing through his veins.
Peter finally agreed, and they left the room, leaving Kael alone with all the demons and Rhiannon.
The leader let out a loud laugh. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to fight me. I can see you’re not human, but you’re as weak as they are,” he said, with a dark grin on his lips. “You put what you call feelings in front of your ambitions, you care too much for each other. You still haven’t accepted the universe is a cruel place, and only the strongest ones survive,” he mocked Kael.
“Let her go,” Kael demanded, ignoring the demon’s speech. “I sent my men away.”
The demon laughed again. “Yes, you did. But I never said I would free her if you did. That’s where we differ,” he explained, missing the fact the glow around Kael seemed to become even brighter. “I don’t follow orders or instructions and the life of your females mean nothing to me. I can always replace them in the nearest village.”
“Release her!” he roared, and the demons near him took a few steps back, apparently seeing what their leader, blind with his arrogance failed to notice.
The demon leader squeezed his hand around Rhiannon’s neck a bit tighter, making her let out a moan of pain.
“You’re no threat to me. Kill him!” he ordered his men.
But none dared to move. They could feel Kael’s power from afar. They knew they were no match for him.
“What’s the matter, your fools? He’s just one, he can’t fight you all,” he roared furiously with his demons’ reaction.
The demons finally dared to take a step towards Kael, but they didn’t go much further. Letting some of his rage out, Kael stretched his hands and formed a powerful ball of fire between his hands, before he directed it towards the first lines of demons in front of him.
In a matter of seconds, they were turned to ash, just like that.
Chapter Twenty-three
Panic settled about the room, and the surviving demons tried to escape Kael’s wrath, rushing to the back of the room, but they weren’t fast enough. Before they could take more than a couple of steps, Kael had attacked them again.
Only a few managed to reach the relatively safe area behind their leader and his hostage.
“I believe I’ve managed to make you understand I’m not in the mood for games,” Kael said, with an ice-cold tone. “Release her.” *
The demon tightened his grip on Rhiannon. “I don’t think so. She’s my ticket out of here, and I’m not handing her over to you.”
Kael took a few steps towards them. The demons behind the leader shrieked.
“You’re not leaving this place. I told you, your reign ends here,” Kael warned him, again.
“And how do you plan on stopping me? Are you willing to hurt the girl to get to me?” he let out a loud laugh. “I don’t think so,” he boasted. “You will let me fly out of here with her, and if I’m in a good mood, I might drop her somewhere out of here, when I’m far enough from you,” he demanded.
“Don’t do it, Kael. He’ll start a whole new colony somewhere else,” she mumbled, unwilling to allow him to walk out of there.
“Ah, such a noble soul, don’t you think so?” the demon mocked them. “But I’m losing my patience. Will you let me get out of here?”
Kael assessed the situation trying to decide the best way out of that predicament. The last thing he wanted was for the demon’s leader to walk out of there as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, he could not put Rhiannon’s life at risk by torching the demons. He had to find another way.
“Very well, but you’ll leave alone,” he accepted, knowing he wouldn’t have a problem abandoning his men to certain death. He moved aside and waited for the other one to make his move.
“With your lovely friend, of course,” he agreed, and Kael nodded, praying his plan would work.
With a victorious cry, the got up in the air and grabbed Rhiannon with his lower claws, before he left the room. *
The other demons let out a cry of rage and fear and tried to follow their leader, but Kael was waiting for them. Knowing he didn’t have much time, he conjured a powerful fireball and torched the remaining demons, making sure they were all turned into ash before he fled the room after the demon. He had lost not more than a few seconds, but that was enough to make him worry about Rhiannon’s fate.
He had to save her and destroy the demon at the same time. He just hoped he was still in time.
When he reached the cave’s entrance, he was able to see the demon flying away, following the river.
The rest of his men were still fighting the remaining demons, but he didn’t pay any attention to them. Rescuing Rhiannon was his priority.
Glowing, as he never had, he flew after the demon as fast as possible, even quicker than he thought possible and soon he had the demon within reach. Planning his next move very carefully, he waited for the demon to be over the water before he attacked.
He knew the demon would drop Rhiannon when he attacked and he was counting on that. If he weren’t fast enough to catch her on her fall, she would fall in the water, and her chances of survival would be a lot higher.
He just needed to force the demon to fly lower, to increase those chances a bit more.
He blew a burst of fire right over the demon’s head, and he turned his head to see what was going on. To say he wasn’t happy to see Kael was an understatement. He increased his speed, but unlike what Kael had expected, he didn’t fly lower. Instead, he changed his course and headed away from the river.
Certain this was his best chance to rescue Rhiannon. Kael conjured all his strength and all his power and created the biggest fireball he had ever done. He only had one shot, and he simply couldn’t miss it.
He threw the fireball, but he didn’t stay to see if he had hit the demon. Instead, he flew right towards where he was, praying he would be fast enough to catch Rhiannon before she crashed hard on the ground.
He hadn’t reached the demon when he saw her fall, covered in the cloud of ash from the destroyed demon.
For a dark moment, he thought he wasn’t going to make it, that his soul mate would plunge hard against the rocky ground of the river shore before he was able to catch her. However, miraculously, he managed to catch her at the last moment and land immediately with her safely held in his arms.
It was only then when he realized he was still in his blue fire creature. Startled, he released her on the ground, immediately and stepped away from her.
“Rhiannon,” he cried, sure he had burned her skin.
She let out a sob of relief. “I’m alright,” she assured him.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, looking for any evidence of burns on her skin.
“You? Of course, not,” she dismissed his worries, with a tremulous smile. “I’m alright.”
“I’m still on fire,” he pointed out.
She frowned. She had been so relieved he had been able to rescue her, she hadn’t noticed that. “Yes, you are, but your flames didn’t affect me. How’s that possible?” she asked, standing up and closing the distance between them.
“I have no idea, but we better not tempt the fates,” he said, stepping away from her.
“No, we have to know,” she insisted, striding towards him and hugging him. His fire didn’t hurt her. If something, she only felt him a bit warmer than usual.
She let out a small laugh of amazement. “Wow, this is amazing.”
He smiled. “No, it just proves how special you are to me,” he said, leaning towards her and kissing her, stealing her breath away and igniting the passion that always burned between them.
“Did those demons hurt you?” he whispered in her hear.
“No, they didn’t have the time,” she assured him, resting her forehead on his wide chest. “Did you destroy all of the demons?” she asked, in a low tone.
All of a sudden, she was feeling incredibly tired.
“I don’t know. I had other priorities, but I guess I should go back to see how things are back at the cave,” he replied, furrowing his eyebrows, clearly not wanting to leave her.
“Yes, you should. They might need your help.”
“Let’s go then.”
“No, I’ll stay here. I need a bath, and besides, I’m naked. I don’t want any other people seeing me like this,” she said, scowling.
“You look beautiful, but you’re right. Your naked body is for my eyes only,” he agreed. “I’ll check on things and return as soon as I can with something for you to cover yourself with.”
“Thank you, I would appreciate that.”
He kissed her one last time and flew away.
Rhiannon watched him fly away and finally allowed herself to spill the tears she had welling up ever since the demon had dragged her out of her prison cell to use her as a hostage against Kael and the others.
It had been a stressful situation, especially when, for a few dark moments, she believed he would attack the demon, regardless of her presence in the middle.
Of course, her rational side kept telling her that would have been the right decision to make. Kael had taken a significant risk allowing the demon to leave the cave. He could have quickly disappeared into the woods, and all they had gone through would have been in vain. The demon would have started a completely new colony and soon they would be in the same position they were now.
