Joan ran as hard as she could, bushes and branches tearing at her with each step. She ran straight into a tree, only to grab it and run around it. She ached all over, but she kept running.

Only to trip over a root a moment later and crash to the ground. “Why does everything have to be so hard?” she asked the world itself before picking herself back up. As much as she hated to do it, she really wasn’t going to escape if she ran into every single tree and fell over every bush. She held out her right hand and uttered a quick incantation. A small orb of light appeared in front of her, allowing her to see once more, and she ran.

The branches and bushes still tore at her when she ran through them, but now that she could see a little bit ahead it wasn’t quite as bad. She managed to avoid falling on her face at least. All she had to do was head east and--

No, all she had to do was get away. She could worry about heading east after she had gotten far away enough that she didn’t have to worry about the demons catching her again. She and Gerard had gone different ways, hopefully that would confuse the demons enough for them to escape.

Joan hesitated for a moment and glanced back. There had been two others in the cage, though. She hadn’t even thought about them. Would they be okay? Would they run? Would they even notice? Why hadn’t she tried to wake them up before hand? She felt guilt starting to gnaw at her heart.

If she’d been the Hero she could have gotten all of them away with ease.

But then if she’d been the Hero, none of this would have happened. If she--

Joan ran around another tree and slammed head first into something hard, rebounding off it and landing on the ground. She shook her head and looked up, wondering what in the world was in her way before making the light grow to illuminate it.

At first she thought it was some kind of fuzzy rock. Until it started moving, turning around and a moment later she wished it hadn’t.

Eight red eyes glimmered in the orb of light, over a mouth filled with thin, needle-like teeth. The spider that towered over her was many times the size of most horses. On the ground she could see the remains of its meal, a deer, now devoid of any blood. As she would likely be in a moment.

The spider stared at her, blood still dripping from its fangs. But then, rather than charging at her as she expected, it instead turned away from her and skittered away, its long legs pulling it up into the trees and away from sight after a moment.

Joan glanced down at the hollow deer before shuddering. It seemed today really was her lucky day. It wasn’t very hungry after all.

But if there was one of those here, then it likely meant she was near the nest. She gave another shudder when fresh memories of falling into the middle of their den as the Hero came to mind. The Hero had been a windmill of death and destruction, cutting through them and their webs even while they tried to swarm him. They had seemed almost endless, no matter how many he had killed a dozen more seemed to take their place.

Joan shuddered at the thought that she might not even be near the den, there might be more than one of them. If ever there was a horror she wanted to avoid then--

Her eyes went wide. If she WAS near their den, she knew where she was. She did some quick mental calculations and tried to remember the paths they had followed.

Joan could make it to Korgron’s village. A small smile appeared on her lips. It wouldn’t even--

Those thoughts were knocked away by a sharp pain across her back before she was flung forward, crashing to the ground with a startled cry. She let out a groan before looking up in confusion.

Viglan towered over her, an amused grin on his face and her sword, still sheathed, resting over his shoulder. “You certainly are a troublemaker, aren’t you?”

Joan gave a small nod. “I’ve been called that a few times. I don’t suppose I could convince you to say you didn’t see me, could I?”

The smile on Viglan’s face only grew. “Oh, of course. I tell you what. Beg like a good little kid and I will.”

Joan blinked a few times, cocking her head to the side. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Beg to be let go and I’ll let you go. Or you could try to fight me, if you’d prefer.”

Joan stared at him for a few moments. He didn’t really mean it, did he? There was no way he’d just let her go so easily, would he? But she was unarmed, tired and lost. Did she really have any choice? She slowly crawled back up to her knees before lowering her head to the ground, bowing to him. “Please let me go.”

“Is that really the best you can do?” Viglan asked. “Come on, kid. I know you can do better than that. Or did you prefer the cage?”

Joan gave another soft whimper, her cheeks burning with shame. Of all the things she had to do, begging felt like one of the most shameful. But she had to, she could endure this. Just for now. “Please,” she said. “Please let me go. Please don’t take me back, sir. Please don’t put me back in that cage.” Despite herself, her voice quivered with the words and she could feel new tears forming in her eyes. “Please don’t send me back there. Please. Please don’t make me go through that again. Please just let me go. Please.”

Viglan laughed and she could hear him walking towards her. When she raised her head, he was kneeling in front of her. “See? That’s a good girl. Was that so hard?” he said before dropping her sword in front of her.

“Huh?” Joan asked.

“Go on, take it,” Viglan said. “Maybe work on your begging a bit more, but that’ll do for now.”

Joan stared at him before slowly looking down at her sword. With quivering hands, she reached down to take it and then draw the blade from the sheath a little bit. She was greeted by the sight of the beautiful metalwork once more. She couldn’t believe it, he was actually going to let her go.

She felt his hand on her head, lightly patting it. “Now, how about you run along?” he said.

“Yes sir,” Joan said before she started to get to her feet.

Only to have his hand suddenly grip her hair and slam her face into the ground so hard she saw bright lights for a moment. Her light spell ended a moment later and she felt the sword being torn from her grip, only to have her face slammed two more times into the ground. She felt dazed and confused, but oddly it didn’t hurt.

“You didn’t really think it was going to be that easy, did you?” Viglan asked with a light laugh. “Aren’t you the spoiled little child? After you got me burned, did you really think I was just going to let you go?”

Joan gave an agonized groan, and tried to pull away, only to have her face slammed into the ground once more.

“Now now, none of that,” Viglan said in a teasing tone. “We’re only getting started. You’ve been quite the little headache for me, kid.”

“Wh—” She didn’t get a chance to ask the question before her head was slammed back into the ground. This time he dug it in.

“Don’t look so angry,” Viglan said in a mocking tone. “Kids like you aren’t supposed to look mad.” He emphasized the word by lifting her head up and then slamming it once more. “You’re supposed to look frightened. Scared. Terrified. Just like a good little human. Because I’m the big, bad demon, aren’t I?”

“Sto—” Joan didn’t get a chance to plead this time before her head was slammed into the ground once more, this time she could taste blood when she was lifted up.

“There we go. That’s a much, much better look for you. Crying, bloody. Like a good, proper human,” Viglan said before she felt him pinching her cheek.

Joan whimpered and reached out, fumbling in the darkness. She felt his arm and groped around wildly up it to his shoulder.

“Awwww, are you going to try and fight now? What’s wrong? No sword to fight off the big bad demon? I thought we weren’t scary?” Viglan asked before slamming her head into the ground again. When he lifted her once more she could barely even see anymore, the world spinning. She reached out once more and, this time, she gripped his neck. The demon only laughed in response. “Do you really think you can cho--”

It was the best she could do, but she poured every drop of magic she had into the spell. Ice formed from her hands and then flowed up, covering his head entirely. He dropped her and stumbled back, clawing at his now frozen head.

The ice wasn’t thick and it wouldn’t hold him for long, but it got her free. Joan tried to crawl away, groping out wildly in the dark. Everything was spinning and she felt exhausted, but she had to fight or die now. There was only one way to do that.

She heard the sound of shattering ice, followed by a furious growl. “You little BITCH! You think we’re done?”

Joan felt a hand lock around her ankle the moment she felt the sheath of her sword. She pulled it close right when the demon pulled her towards him. She drew the blade from the sheath and cut back, blindly slashing at him.

Joan was rewarded with a pained scream and her ankle being released. She could hear him stumbling back in the darkness and, even if she couldn’t see him well, she could tell he was wounded. She could finish this. She rolled forward, pulling her sword back for another strike.

Only for something to wrap around her wrist and stop her in mid swing. A moment later she felt her other wrist and ankles get gripped as well. She tried to pull free, but whatever had her had a grip like iron.

“Enough of this,” Andreas said.

Joan felt like her heart was going to stop. No way. He couldn’t be here. He couldn’t be the one to stop her. She tried tugging on the bindings again, but she couldn’t break free of them.

“Hold her still,” Viglan said, his voice dripping with rage.

“No,” Andreas said. Someone moved in front of her, while she couldn’t see who it was in the darkness she suspected it was him.

“What do you mean, no?” Viglan asked. “She cut out my eye!”

“How’d she get a sword?” Andreas asked.

“She stole it from me!” Viglan yelled.

“Dixon isn’t going to want her any more hurt than she already is. She’s a tribute,” Andreas said. The figure then turned and she could barely make out a hand reaching out to tear the sword from her grip. “Come on, kid, we’re going to get you back to the cage. What did you do to her face?”

“She had it coming, the little bitch cut out my eye! I’m going to kill her!” Viglan yelled. “Out of my way!”

“Dixon already knows we have the kid,” Andreas said. “If you lay a finger on her now, you’ll have to answer to him.”

Joan could hear a furious growl from the demon, but he didn’t come near her. Her hands were forced together and she was them plucked up from the ground by Andreas, drawing a grunt from her. “Sorry about the shadowbinds, kid, but there’s no way I’m going to let you go around free.”

Joan tried tugging on bindings around her wrist and ankles, but nothing she did could make them move. No lock to pick or rope to untie, just a solid mass binding her.

She couldn’t believe it. She had been so close. She would have won, she would have escaped. Not only had Andreas stopped her from escaping, he had stopped her from killing the demon. After everything she had been through, after so many lifetimes, after so many failures, Andreas had finally done what she never imagined he would.

He’d betrayed her and truly sided with the Demon Lord over her. She tried to hold the tears in but, despite her best efforts, they started to flow free and she finally surrendered to the despair.

Was this why the Nameless One had sent her to him? To show her how powerless, how impossible her task truly was?

MelodyAvant

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