The Daemon

Chapter 4


Breathes were gasped out as I ran. I gulped in as much air as my overworked lungs would allow. My legs pumped as fast as they could for my tiny frame.

This was my third attempt at escape. The chain and collar clinked against each other as I ran. They had tied me with rope the first time. Some of the other slaves had released me in sympathy over my plight. The second time when they caught me I had been beaten by the ogre man and was feverish for a few days.

I was collared and chained near my sisters. Airen was worse though she was no longer feverish she was not able to get up. Her eyes had sunken in and the bruised look of oncoming death came over her face. She was barely able to drink any liquids and had stopped eating altogether.

It was during this time that some of the slavers were overheard making plans. Half of the previously captive demons had been sold during that one day over a week ago. The other half carried on as best they could with the beatings, rapes and general maltreatment. Luckily because Kana seemed the most knowledgeable of natural medicines, had become the camp “doctor” and was left alone and unsold.

Several more slaves were brought in a day before my current escape attempt.

The weasel man and another called Percy were speaking nearby and I crept as far as my chain would allow so that I could overhear them. They really did not seem to care that others were nearby.

“So when is that man coming to pick up the brat? He paid us half and said that we will get the other half as soon as he comes for the kid. It’s been what, three weeks and some?” Percy sneered, his yellowed teeth menacing in the firelight. “At least if he doesn’t show we get to keep the payment and sell the kid elsewhere.”

“Shut up man. Grey said he received word that he’s coming sometime this week. We just gotta make sure the kid is healthy and undamaged.” Weasel man growled in irritation, “That means that you can’t go beating him up and no touching! I saw the way you looked at him. He’s a kid for God’s sake. We shoulda left you behind when we came to this world.”

“Don’t give me that bull! I saw you eyeballing the sisters before that one became ill. If Olaf hadn’t already claimed that one you probably woulda jumped her yourself.”

Percy was punched hard with a right hook.

“At least she was legal unlike the kid. We even scoped out that party of theirs. That girl had a ceremony saying she was old enough to get married and have kids and everything. The kid is still pretty much a baby you ass. I got some morals unlike you.”

“Huh,” Percy huffed in irritation and pain. “If his buyer doesn’t show, nothing you say or do will stop me from having him at least once.”

“Go bluster to someone else. I’m not the only one who would kick your ass and you know it!” hissed the weasel man.

This put fear into me. Though I was spared the knowledge of the mechanics of sex, I still knew what it was and I knew that what that man would do would be painful. I was a boy too so that had to make something different and more painful if the sound of screams from a tent across the way were anything to go by. The women screamed too but not as long as the man they had dragged over there did. He had come out yesterday with blood streaming down his legs. His shirt had barely covered the essentials and they did not give him new pants to wear. That man had fire for hair. It was an orange-ish red and he had two thin horns that came up from the temples to curl around and into that bright hair, almost like a crown. His face was beautiful even under the bruises and blood. His eyes shined a lovely spring green though the life had dulled in them a bit. His lips were full and pink.

If the way they treated the demon was the way this human wanted me, then I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. I think I liked weasel man a little bit better because he was so against it but I was still angry at him about my sisters.

I made my plans to leave that night. I crawled to the spike in the ground that held the end of my chain and slowly started to pull and tug in different directions, trying to loosen it from the soil. I was lucky that I was not chained to a tree or one of the poles near the middle of camp.

Airen watched me with dull eyes. A small spark lit when she noticed that I was working the chain loose. She had not been chained for a while now since she was ill. She painstakingly slowly worked herself and her pile of blankets near me. She collapsed in front of the end of my chain to hide what I was doing. Laying there shivering and wheezing, she made me worry but I have come to accept that she would not be here much longer. It was such a fatalistic view for one who was the equivalent of a human six year old but I could do nothing for her. I hoped I would have a safe place to grieve for her and for those few moments that life returned to her eyes I was grateful.

Kana was around camp somewhere chained to one of the men elected to be her watcher. She tirelessly helped those that were injured or ill. I suppose all those books she had read and the things she learned from mother over her lifetime had now come in handy. She still glared at her captors but with such a useful skill, they allowed her her little bit of defiance. Still they watched her closely and would not allow her near the food preparations for fear of poisoning.

After a couple of hours, the spike pulled free but I stayed in place. The beginnings of blisters were forming on my little hands from my efforts.

Airen must have noticed my freedom because she spoke to me for the first time since the attack.

“Ara, when it is full dark,” she rasped softly, “go to some of the others who are easier to free. Use them as a distraction. They will try to free others or will flee themselves. In the ensuing chaos, I want you to run. If you ever see Makhail again, tell him that I loved him with all my heart. Know that I love you as well Beloved One.”

Her gasping breaths as she finished her speech made me want to call for Kana but she grabbed my wrist in a surprisingly tight grip and shook her head at me. I settled next to her and cuddled into her arms one last time.

It was nearing morning when I got ready to leave. Kana watched me from her place across our little fire that had dimmed to nothing but coals. It was the darkest part of the night as Airen had said to leave. I would not have a whole lot of time so I carefully wound the chain around myself.

I crept around the few tents to the places where other slaves were kept. The first one was the old woman that I remembered from the beginning. She started awake but did not make a sound as she watched me untie the ropes from her hands and feet. I kept going and freed two girls who seemed older than me but was not quite in their majority yet. They were groggy and almost unresponsive. It had not quite caught up with them that they were free. The older woman led them stumbling away into the woods.

The guards were asleep on their feet and I was careful not to disturb them. They had become complacent with a whole month or more without problems and the easy recapture of me when I tried to escape.

The next few I released were men. The spike that had held my chain allowed me to pry open a few of the locks on the collars. I handed the piece of metal to one of the men so that he could free some of the others. I was not strong enough to break all of the locks and the only reason why I was able to for these was because they seemed rusted and a bit old.

They made some noise but none of the slavers seemed to stir.

Amazingly I made it to the last tent on this side without incident. Unfortunately the cages were kept on the other side and the poles that held the most violent were even closer to the main fire.

I crept back to my sisters and was about to free Kana when she grabbed my hands.

“Go,” she said softly. Her fiery eyes shone with love. “We will be alright and I will not leave Airen. Bring help if you can. I will still be here. Love you Ara.”

She kissed me on the forehead and shoved me toward the woods. I looked back at her and she made a shooing motion just as the first cry of alarm was heard.