Chapter 6: Live

Strength and warmth poured into him like liquid sunlight, filling him with fresh life. With a gasp, Hiryu drew in a lungful of fresh air, and his eyes opened.

He was startled to find the demon so close to him, one of his talon covered hands pressed flat against one of the wounds on Hiryu’s chest. It was from there that his new strength was coming from. Disturbed and annoyed, Hiryu jerked away as far as he could.

“Wha – what are you doing?”

Eigis took his hand away and stepped back. The warm glow faded, although the new strength and life remained.

“I’m using a bit of magic to keep you alive. That was my mistake, I drank too much of your blood, and combined with your other injuries – well, you were starting to lose consciousness. So I intervened. Humans such as you have strong wills, but your bodies are weak. It is so easy for you to bleed to death, to slip away and never wake up. So long as you fight to live, I’ll keep you alive.”

Hiryu shuddered, feeling contaminated, despite feeling much better. Demon magic, inside him.

“The appropriate response would be thank you.” Eigis offered with a snide smile.

The young warrior glared. “Thank you.”

“You’ll regret it later,” The demon promised, and took another bite. After he swallowed it however, he dragged over a nearby metal brazier and set it on fire with a wave of his hand. As light and heat filled the room, he walked away.

At the doorway he turned, explaining at Hiryu’s uncertain look. “If I bite you too often, all at once, you’ll die even with my magic.” He gave a fiendish grin. “Hang there for a bit, soak up the pain. I’ll be back.” He left, not even bothering to shut the cell door.

At first Hiryu was glad to be left alone. Having the demon attack him, unable to fight back, teasing him, knowing how helpless he was – it was hell. And with so little clothing on, the warmth of the fire was wonderful. He relaxed, even dozed for a while. The fight had been tiring, and the sleep brought by the demon poppies didn’t restore energy the way regular sleep did. And his eyes still stung. Demon poppies are supposed to make their victims miserable.

But Eigis was right, much as he hated to admit it. With no distractions, the pain of his injuries mounted. It was frustrating enough that he couldn’t even wipe his eyes or nose, still irritated by the poppies’ pollen. Attempting to ignore it, he focused on escape.

Straining, he tried to slide his hands through the clamps around his wrists, or pull his feet through the metal bands around his ankles. But moving hurt, and doing this proved so excruciating he had to stop, gasping in pain, sure if he tried any more, he would break his hands. Which would make the whole attempt useless, because then he couldn’t fight.