Chapter 5: All Night

Hiryu gasped, and his eyes opened wide. Even expecting it, the pain was staggering. He moaned as Eigis’s talons dug deeper into his skin. The demon twisted his head back and forth, teeth gnawing furiously. Disgusted and furious, now that the demon was close enough and sufficiently distracted, Hiryu tried to fight back. The chains clanked as he tried bending his arms, jerking up his knees. If he could just hit the damn creature!

But it was no use. His arms and legs were stretched too far apart, the chains too short or cranked up too tight for him to do anything. At best he could shuffle his feet and flap his arms uselessly. And Eigis wasn’t an idiot. He stayed well away from where he could be kicked.

Finally he jerked his head away, tearing off a mouthful with a loud rip and spray of blood, and let go. Hiryu let loose a painful scream and straightened, quivering and sweaty with pain. Blood ran down his shoulder from the ragged gouge the demon left.

It was difficult not to feel sick, watching Eigis, his mouth and talons dripping with blood, his blood, chewing slowly, savoring the bite, knowing that it was his own flesh and muscle the demon was enjoying. He bared his teeth in a fierce grin instead and focused on not throwing up. The bite throbbed. He could feel his arm start to grow numb. He wished he could punch the demon in the face.

Eigis finished chewing and swallowed, smacking his lips in delight. “Mmm, that tasted good. You warrior types are always the best. Firm, juicy, plenty of muscle and flesh, the right amount of fat.” He walked over to a crank in the wall and turned it.

Hiryu grimaced, then startled as the chains attached to his wrists shifted to a new position so his wrists hung near shoulder height. Eigis came back, and the young warrior’s breath left him in a hiss, arching his body in pain, screaming as the demon’s claws ran slowly, ever so slowly, up and down one side of his back, and then the other, then once horizontally, outlining three strips about as wide as his finger.

Eigis took those strips and ripped them off, slowly, one by one. Hiryu flinched, gasping, and screamed as each one was finally ripped off. Collecting the scraps of skin and flesh, the demon twirled them around his finger and slurped them up like noodles.

“Mmm, tastes like poppies,” he whispered in Hiryu’s ear, before coming around to slash his chest, exposing vivid red muscle. Then, tiring of that, he dug his talons down the left side of Hiryu’s chest, ripping out a little chunk of flesh, which he munched on, snacking, while evaluating how his prey was doing.

Beads of sweat stood out on the young man’s face, which was pale but flushed with sweat, strands of his dark hair sticking in swirls and lines against his skin. He quivered with shock, breathing hard. His green eyes were wide, pupils dilated with pain, but also anger. It was very unfair, that he was unable to fight back. The thought kept the pain from taking over him.

“Not bad, demon,” he panted, “but if you’re expecting me to beg and weep, I won’t.”

“I’m not,” Eigis replied, popping the rest of the chunk of flesh into his mouth. “Noisy, flailing prey is so annoying. So are the ones that simply go limp and don’t fight. But ones such as you, who do fight, those are the best. It always interests me to see how long they last.” His ears were perked, a note of curiosity in his voice.