Chapter 56

"Hey!!! Human princess!!"

Lucifer nearly gave Arya a heart attack as he just suddenly showed up right next to her, Lilith on his back.

Arya was about to inquire who that little demon girl(Arya sensed something not very human about that girl) was when she felt a sudden flash of anger for what Lucifer just called her.

"My name is Arya, not "human princess" and do you know what the heck is wrong with them right now?"

"Well, the thugs who attacked us just now are running away. Don't you want to go after them?"

Arya turned around to look at these people. But they were already gone. Arya thought she used enough force behind her attacks to knock them down, apparently not. Either she didn't put enough force behind the attacks or those thugs were more resilient and tougher than she thought.

The group of makeshift robbers were already dashing through the woods and running away.

They could be members of nobility or at least some of them are, Arya thought. There were abilities that were used during the fight.

Arya shook her head.

"No. It's not worth it and besides, they're just hungry and desperate. Maybe they thought we had food and decided to attack us? Desperate times make people do things they normally won't do."

Lucifer shook his head.

"So soft. They attacked a princess but you refuse to punish them."

He pounded like he was disgusted or disapproved of Arya's thinking.

But the look on his face said something else.

….

The whip cracked against the flesh of a little werewolf girl and she whimpered and whined as she huddled and cowered, her tiny body shrinking away from the whip as she pushed herself up against the wall.

"Little brat. Don't try to escape next time."

The monstrous looking-harpy sneered and walked away, locking the door to the prison cell behind her.

The werewolf girl whimpered as the painful marks of the whip were left on her back, gushing blood and looking so deep, burning so harshly she could barely think.

The little girl was surrounded by her fellow prisoners-young globins and other werewolves, the young monsters and beasts-and she angrily punched the stone floor, leaving a small dent in said floor. 

"I was so close…If only I didn't trip…"

"Willa, WILLA!!"

A young demoness with black skin and ashy-gray hair looked at her best friend with worry and she looked so concerned for her right now that she was crying and sobbing.

Willa took a deep breath to fight off the pain as she went to reassure her friend.

"I'm fine. I can take it-better they take it out on me than you guys."

The other kids started crying and admiring Willa even more now.

Willa looked a bit embarrassed but she was the leader now.

She had to stay strong for the others, for her friends. She didn't know what was going on right now but she remembered that one day, scary men and women suddenly took her away from her home and her father.

She screamed and fought back, biting one of the guards in the arm and kicking one of them in the place where it didn't shine.

But they managed to subdue her and they took her. They beat her and hit her, slapped her across the face.

Her father screamed with rage and tried to attack them but one of them held a knife to her throat.

A short but muscular she-demon dressed in a red and black military uniform addressed her father in a sweet but poisonous voice. 

She was pretty in a way but her prettiness was marred with her insanity and sadistic tastes. 

"Join the army right now and prepare to fight in the war. The king needs your strength in the army as one of his foot soldiers. I suggest you cooperate and prepare to go to war if you love your little girl. No need to ask questions-just obey and serve the king."

Her father looked enraged and like he wanted to kill her and her cronies right then and there but with Willa held hostage and his love for his only daughter stronger than his anger, he gave in.

"I…I'll do whatever you want so please just let my daughter go."

The she-demon in charge just laughed at him and she wagged her finger at him as if he was a stupid little kid she needed to spell out everything for.

"Your daughter…you won't be getting her back anytime soon. Guys, take her away and lock her up with the others!! Sir, come with us."

Willa was lifted over the shoulder of the guard who held her hostage like a sack of potatoes and she kicked and screamed as she was taken away from her father and her home. 

"WILLA!!"

Her father made a lunge for her but he was held back by four of the scary people in red and black.

He struggled and trashed around, fighting to break free and get his daughter back. He bared his teeth and his ears flattened against his head. He managed to punch one of the guards in the face and he was sent sprawling across the ground.

The she-demon looked on in curiosity and child-like wonder.

"Perfect!! But please save the fighting when you get to the battlefield, Sir."

He continued to trashed and fight back but he couldn't overpower all of the guards and he was soon subdued, beaten and forced into submission.

"DADDY!!!"

The orc handling her rolled his eyes and he heartlessly ignored her cries.

"Shut up, brat. We won't kill your daddy-we need him to fight."

Willa started to slam her fists against the back of the man but it was no use. It was like trying to break open a rock with a pillow.

…..

Willa sighed.

She overheard the guards talking about a war and some fighting going on against the humans.

Humans. Strange and complex creatures just like her but they were creatures of both beauty and brutality, of weakness and power. Intelligent but foolish at times. Greedy and kind. 

That was what she learned about them in school.

Her daddy was fighting against the humans right now but she didn't know why they were fighting in the first place.

Willa was a young female werewolf, maybe only 8 or 9 years old in human age, but she was a sharp minded pup.

She was able to figure out the real reason why she and all these kids were locked up here, taken away from their families and homes, in the first place; They were used to force their parents to fight in the wars. Their parents would probably not fight at all in the first place as they had no reason to fight but with their children being held hostage, they would go to war for the sake of their children. 

Willa saw that the guards would sometimes come by to take a kid away when they stopped by to deliver them their food and water. The kid never came back but their screams of pain that echoed off the walls of the cave were enough to tell her what happened to those unfortunate kids.

Willa figured her daddy might be dead or he could still be alive right now.

Someone needed to get word out to the outside world where they were locked up right now.

But how?

Willa already tried and failed.

Now they would probably be ramping up the security to prevent any more escape attempts now.

Willa missed her home. She missed her daddy. She was scared and didn't know what was going on right now.

She started to cry.