Chapter 3: Lost Abilities
[Armon's POV]
I extended my senses, seeking out any enemy energies. There was no way that they were gone. Meaning, it was my turn to surprise them.
"Game on, Frenrick." I chuckled.
If Frenrick thought he would beat me to the fountain, he was dead wrong. After years of hunting it down, there was no way in hell I was going to allow him to get to it first.
The Eternal Fountain was a special fountain that granted one wish to whoever found it. I could only hope that once I found it, I could finally put an end to the suffering I had endured for years.
Continuing to move, I pushed aside all irrelevant thoughts and focused my senses on the area around me.
There… just beyond the treeline. I could feel them. It looked like they had set up camp for the evening.
Turning to my men, I lifted a finger to my lips, indicating that they should be quiet. Though a demon's sense of smell wasn't as strong as a wolf's, their hearing was just as good as ours. If we wanted to sneak up on them without being detected, we had to be extra quiet.
Lifting my hand, I motioned for my men to follow.
As we grew closer, I could hear the faint ruckus of celebration and smell the strong scent of alcohol.
Good, their guards would be down when we made our move.
'What's the order, alpha?' Thomilson asked through mindlink. 'Attack or wait?'
'Attack!'
Letting out howls of excitement, my men surged forward, bursting through the treeline.
Through their bodies, I could make out six men preparing for battle. They were wobbly on their feet from consuming too much alcohol, making it easy to subdue them.
"Leave them all alive." I ordered, beginning to do a sweep of the camp. "We need them for questioning."
All the enemy soldiers were accounted for, but I was still feeling an odd energy.
Beginning to move through their camp, I took in bits and pieces of fairy wings, accompanied by blood. Did they bring a fairy back here and kill it?
I don't know why, but at that minute, a flash of the fairy that had saved me appeared. Quickening my steps, I let my senses continue to lead me forward until I found what I was looking for.
Sitting inside a large golden cage was the fairy in question. She lay in the center, curled in on herself as her naked body shook from both pain and fear.
I felt a wave of disgust rush through me as I took in her condition. Her porcelain skin was covered in bruises in the shape of fingers and scratches from claws. Scattered around her injuries were clear bite marks that still dripped with fresh blood. But that wasn't the worst part. Sitting where her wings should have been were deep wounds that showed the bone beneath.
"What the hell?" I hissed, moving forward and grabbing a bar.
"Have you come to finish me off?" She asked with a low laugh.
Confused by her question, I watched silently as she lifted her head. Sucking in a breath, I took in her eyes, or rather, her eye. One silver eye looked at me numbly. The place where the other eye should have been was nothing but a hollow hole that dropped bloody tears.
As I took the fairy in, I felt a rage I had never felt before begin to flare within, causing fire to spring up around my hands unbidden.
"Well?" The fairy woman asked, flashing a vicious smile. "Are you going to kill me?"
Despite her attempt at trying to sound unafraid, her voice shook along with her body.
"What happened here?" I asked, trying to contain my anger. "Who did this to you?"
"Does it matter?" She sighed, beginning to stand.
Sucking in a breath, I took in her body as she made her way towards me.
"Master!"
Whirling around, I took in Thomilson's form as he slowly approached.
"We've swept the...."
The rest of his words never came as his dark eyes grew wide with shock from seeing the woman in front of me.
"What have you come to report?" I snapped, feeling my irritation rise. "Speak!"
Snapping out of his daze, Thomilson fixed his eyes on me.
"We've done an entire sweep of the camp and taken everyone present back to the compound." He announced. "Do you have further orders?"
"None for now."
Turning to look at the fairy again, I suddenly felt the urge to torture our captives.
"We will head back to base and begin questioning." I continued.
"What about her?" Thomilson asked, turning his gaze hesitantly towards the woman.
"We will bring her with us."
I could consider this repayment for her saving me earlier. Once her wounds were treated, we would simply cut ties and go our separate ways.
"I have no interest in going anywhere with you." The fairie's tinkling voice announced. "Just leave me here to die."
Turning, I looked into her defiant face. She was being serious; it was written all over her expression.
"Are you that much of a coward?" I countered, feeling my anger flare. "Too scared to continue living in a world that is slowly becoming ridden with war?"
Instead of responding, she just stared at me as if I was crazy.
"Don't look at me like that." I hissed, feeling an odd sense of unease.
"Like what?" She asked. "How am I supposed to look at you when I can't even see you?"
"What?"
Focusing in on the fairie's one eye, I felt shock roll through me as I noticed a scratch that ran down her cornea. Due to it being too small, I hadn't noticed it before.
"Are you going to tell me you're blind?" I asked. "You can't see anything?"
"No," she responded slowly. "Nor can I sense anything anymore. I have been stripped of all my abilities and even my sight. "
I kept my eyes fixed on her, wondering if she was speaking the truth or trying to trick me. Moving forward, I lifted a hand and began to wave it in front of her face.
"You can't see this?" I asked.
"No, I can't."