Live and suffer

On the fifth day, he released the ropes on my wrist, feet and neck.

I tried to run but he is faster. He wrapped his arms around my waist and hauled me back near the fire. He threw me on the ground. As I struggled to get up, he placed his foot on my stomach and pinned me down.

"Stay down." he took his sword from his scabbard, "Or I would stab you to the ground and pin you down."

I stopped my struggle and curled my body.

"Do not even try to escape," he commanded, "You know I am faster."

"And what do you want me to do?" I whispered, "Stay here and die?"

I would have welcomed death earlier. But now that I have discovered that I still have a chance to be free, to survive and free myself from the clutches of the demon, I would do everything for that to happen.

"I will not let you die until you paid your debt." He stabbed his sword on my shoulder pinning me securely on the ground. My scream frightened the little creatures away from our camp.

"Stay down." He ordered as he walked away from the camp.

I tried to get up, but the sword is deeply embedded to the ground. if I try to sit or stand, it would run through further into my shoulder, it might cut off my arm.

My kind could regenerate wounds but not severed limbs. Once detached, it would forever be removed.

I lay down and stare at the dark sky. This is the first time we stopped during night time. I could see the stars scattered in the darkness.

This is the first time that I am not filled with despair, instead uncannily I am filled with hope. Here pinned on the ground with a sword on my shoulder, I felt hope for the first time since forever.

When I heard the thud across me, I turned my head to see a big bear being slammed on the ground.

How deadly is this person across me? That he could kill predators of the forest with only a tiny scratch to show. Like me, his kind regenerates their wounds. Yesterday, it was a scratch along his left arm, crawl marks from the lioness he slayed.

He walked towards me and pulled the sword. I bit the inside of my mouth to stop myself from screaming. He smirked as he looked at me.

"Gather some woods."

Does he trust me not to escape when he gave me that order? What is he thinking?

But I suddenly felt a thin chain wrapped around waist.

"This is enchanted." He showed me the shimmering length, "It would wrap around you, and give you space to move. But move too far and you will be dragged back to the other end. Should we try if it works?" his smile is mocking me to do so, to try moving too far away from him so that I would be dragged back. "Only I could remove it from you."

He tied the other end around his waist and walked towards the dead bear.

"Now start looking for your woods, or you would eat this meat raw."

I could feel the wound on my shoulder throbbing, some blood is still flowing from the wound to my chest. He growled at me.

"And cover your wound, unless you want me to feed on you."

My shirt, which is already tattered, have to be ripped again so that I could make a bandage to my wound, leaving my stomach area free of any clothing.

I turned to look for woods in the darkness. Unlike his kind, I can't see in the dark. When I have picked several, I walked back to return to the camp, but I seemed to have lost my direction. I can't see any fire nor even a glimmer of it. Did I break free of the chain? Am I too far away?

I move my hand towards my waist and still felt the chain around it.

I yanked once and was met with a pull. I am still attach to him.

I used the chain to follow my way back. After several steps, I felt the ground leave and air met my feet. I felt the chain tighten on my waist, as if nearly cutting my body in half. Then I am yanked back, ignoring branches and shrubs as they cut through my skin, the speed and force making me loose the woods in my arms. I stopped and slammed against cold flesh.

The impact collided us to the ground. I'm on top of him.

He immediately pushed me aside and stood up, pointing the blade of his sword to my neck.

"You tried to escape?" he gritted his teeth

"No." I sat up, feeling the blade of his sword slice the side of my neck as I got up. "I feel into a ravine or a cliff. One second I was hanging in the air, the next I slammed into you."

I looked at the fresh cuts and bruised on my body. My shirt hanging my the small portion of cloth on one shoulder, still covering the essentials.

"Stupid." He growled, "Why didn't you watch where you're going?"

"I can't see in the dark like you." I reasoned as I tried to tie one tattered end of the cloth on the other shoulder so that I can still have a sleeve and my shirt won't fall off.

"How are you even an assassin if you can't see in the dark?" He removed his vest and toss it towards me. Without a word, he left me and moved towards the dark forest.

The clatter of wood being thrown on the ground herald his return.

"Build your fire."

After the meal, he stumped out the fire and dragged me close to him. Since we are in an open area, he places the carcass of his hunt far away from the camp to avoid predators from going near. The cold air reminds me of the warmth I could have if my wings were wrapped around me, it had been years since I felt them. Would they feel foreign to me when I get them back?

I have to get them back. I will get them back.

The cold helped me stay awake this time. But as the sun rises, sleep grappled and won.

"𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑?" 𝐻𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟, 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠.

𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑. 𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦.

𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑔𝑒-𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠.

𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦, 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘.

"𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦." 𝐻𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑚𝑒. "𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑"

𝐻𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚.

"𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒." ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑒.

𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠. 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑝 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑡, 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑠 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑙 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠.

"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑," ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡, 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎. 𝐼 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡, 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛. "𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑒."

𝐻𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑, "𝐾𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛."

𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛.

"𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠," 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟

"Wake up!" I was thankful to the not so gentle kick on my thigh.

What surprised me was the glaring sunlight at the edge of our camp. We are travelling in daylight?