Daevas -I- ✔️

Chapter 1.2: Honey and Mead

Ari woke to the sound of water falling down in a tirade of angry drops. As his vision became less blurry, he noticed it formed a small puddle that reflected the slight image of Freir laying still, unmoving. It was too dark to see much else.

"Freir!" Ari said, "Freir! Answer me, are you well?"

Freir's hand rose high in the air before it flopped back down. "More than I will ever be, I will say," Freir groaned.

Freir's voice was hoarse, but he was alive and that was all that mattered in the moment. Now, they must escape. Ari struggled to move his hands. A strong fabric bounded them together, so he tried to stand instead. His injured leg throbbed the moment he put pressure on it. He fell back onto the rough rocks and grimaced. It was a useless effort. He would end up only injuring himself more.

"Where in the blackest hell are we?" Freir said as he sat up and stared at Ari, paying special attention to his leg. "Are you well enough to move, boy?"

Ari scanned their surroundings, taking note of the cavern walls made of jagged rocks, the puddles of water, and large cracks nearly splitting the floor in half. He hadn't the slightest idea where they were. Sound echoed through the cavern, and the little light that pierced through refracted off bits of hanging stalactites, playing tricks on their senses. This was no place for them to meander for long. The demon would be back.

Ari ignored the pain as best he could and stood himself up by placing his back against the wall. Slowly, he hoisted himself up from there and hobbled his way down towards Freir where there was much more light.

"And why are we still alive?" Freir mused.

"That is a question better left unanswered."

"Perhaps, for not much longer." Freir frowned, motioning towards the entrance where the looming figure idled.

By the way that it walked, and its paling, torn flesh, Ari knew it was a ceere. Freir pushed Ari behind him as it approached closer. There was nothing he could do with his hands being bound which made him useless—a death sentence if he were with anyone else.

"Fr—"

"Just stay quiet, Ari," Freir whispered.

Ari's wounds became more and more pronounced as his heart raced. A steady stream of blood gushed down from his arm, branching into smaller streams as they dripped from his fingertips. As best as Freir was trying to mask it, Ari knew his blood would attract it. It always did.

The demon groaned followed by a low screech. Its bones popped and clicked against its gaunt figure with each step it took closer to them. Just as it was passing them, it whipped its head around and roared, causing Freir to push onto his feet.

"Alright, you ugly, son-of-a-bitch."

Freir shifted his feet into position. Not too wide, not too close. He balled his hands into fists as he leveled them at a perfect height to each side of his face, preparing himself for an inevitable fight.

As the creature came close, its black eyes peered into Ari's gray ones laced with pain. Ari knew then it would be after him, not Freir. Demons never went after the strongest prey, always the weakest like any carnivorous animal.

"Come here! Right here!" Freir beckoned.

It turned its attention back onto Freir and circled him, trying to find some hidden weakness of his. Ceeres were the more perceptive, calculating kind of demons. It was hard enough fighting one armed. Fighting one unarmed... Ari could not sit and do nothing.

Freir wiped his nose as it came forward and lunged. He rolled away in the nick of time, parrying its claws with his leathered forearm. While Freir had the demon distracted, Ari began rubbing his confines on the most jagged rock he could find. Whenever he could, Ari would chance a glance at Freir. Its claws swung across Freir who was in the middle of dodging the other set. Freir side-stepped and landed a punch to its face, taking his other fist to its chin.