Ari woke to the sound of water falling down in a tirade of drops onto some cavern walls. As his vision became less blurry, he noticed it formed a small puddle of sorts that reflected the slight image of Freir laying still, unmoving. It was too dark to see much else. He tried to move his hands, but they were tied together with a strong fabric. As he tried to rise, he felt a pulsing pain go throughout his body. He fell back onto the rough rocks and hissed at the pain.

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

He saw as Freir's hand moved high before it fell back down. Freir's red-orange hair was covered in demon blood and caked with dirt. Ari could smell it.

"More than I will ever be, I will say."

Freir's voice sounded gravelly and weak, but he was alive and that was all that mattered to him.

Ari looked around some more and all he could see was walls of cavern rocks. He stamped down the pain 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.

"Where in the black hell are we?" Freir sat up and stared at Ari.

Ari answered with a shrug and kneaded brows. He hadn't the slightest idea. Everything was hazy and his head pulsed with pain. Nothing was quite clear to him.

"And why are we still alive?"

"Freir, that is a question better left unanswered."

Freir frowned and sighed. "Soon, we shall have our answer." He motioned towards the entrance causing Ari's eyes to widen at the looming figure.

Freir's pushed against Ari's chest bringing Ari back behind him as it approached closer. By the way that it walked, and its paling tearing flesh, Ari knew it for a seere. Ari delved for his secret stash of blades but there was none to be found. He saw Freir doing the same, and when he could not find any, he scooted back against the wall.

"Fr--"

"Just stay quiet, Ari," Freir whispered.

Ari palpitated. The wounds to his arms, sides, and leg became more and more apparent as his heart raced. He heard the demon groan before a low screech came out its throat. Its bones popped and grinded against its gaunt figure with each step it took. Ari breathed shallow breaths then. It was nearing. Of all the ways he had expected to meet his end, this would not have been it.

Just as it was passing them, it whipped its head around and screeched causing Freir to push onto his feet.

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

His armor clinked and clamored as he shifted his feet into position. Not too wide, not too close. He balled his hands balled into fists as he leveled them at a perfect height to each side of his face.

As the creature came close, its black eyes peered into Ari's gray ones. He knew then it would be after him, not Freir. Demons never went after the hardest prey, as any animal would not, always the easiest.

"Come here! Right here!"

It turned its attention back onto Freir and circled around him. He wiped at his nose as it came forward and lunged.

Ari could not just sit down and see how this would end. No, he would not see another of his friends die. His eyes glanced back at Freir who ducked as its claws swung across him. He side-stepped and landed a punch to its face. Freir took his other fist and brought it up to the bottom of its chin.

Ari put all of his weight towards his good leg. He saw the Seere pushing Freir up against the cavern walls. He was quick to gain his balance and before the Seere could realize him approaching from behind, he jumped up on it. His wrapped around its neck and tightened as it screeched.

It tried to back up against the other cave wall, but Freir pushed it forward until it fell onto the ground. Ari did not let go. He wanted to be sure it was dead.

"Let go now, Ari. Come quickly now. We must hurry."

It was still gasping for breath, however, Ari did as was told and rose limping. Soon, Ari felt Freir drape his arm across his shoulders helping him with weight.

Just as they were nearing the exit, another figure appeared, but, this time, a human. Ari let out a sigh of relief thanking Oliya for it not being a demon. His prayer was cut off the moment the person disappeared. In the next moment, Ari saw as Freir fell onto the ground and felt himself being lifted onto shoulders.

Ari pushed and shoved, but its grasp stayed firm against him. Its nails sank into his wound. Ari cried out in blinding pain.

"Humans, must you kill everything you see...?"

The splotches of blackness returned and its voice faded out into the distance, for what only seemed like a moment.

Ari opened his eyes again and noticed he was in a warm room. Many candles were lit and there was a fire going. He could hear it crackling and hissing as new wood was laid on top of it. As his vision became less blurry, he searched around for Freir.

"Settle down, little human. All is well."

Ari's eyes narrowed at the unknown guttural voice. He had heard it from somewhere, but he could not place where from. He rose and looked around until he saw a person's wide back. The man turned around and greeted him with a smile. He saw two of his elongated canines causing him to sit up more.

His eyes met with the hellish being, this time, and held its gaze with a fervor. It had no horns or jagged teeth. No reddish or yellowish skin. Just skin kissed by the sun's glow. Its long hair was black as a raven's. Its eyes amber like the fresh honey of bees. He had never laid eyes on such a demon before.

"What is it that you want from me? Where is Fr--" Ari choked on air as the demon pressed a soft, cold hand against his throat. Soon, Ari could feel its fingernails skimming down his neck causing him to shudder.

"Yes, your response is correct. You should fear me." Ari tried to swipe his hand away from him, but his fingers only sank deep into the bite marks on his neck causing him to suppress the pain that was bubbling up inside of him.

"You should cower in fear of me," its voice murmured against his ear. "The stench of fear, the taste of pain... is what I love most."

Ari felt his blood running cold then. Its teeth scathed down his neck bringing back the memories from their hunt. His body shook as he felt it pressing a little harder.

"Demon! Did you not say you wanted him well and alive?" Freir bellowed.

As it looked to Frier, Ari moved as far away from it as he could. Dizziness took over and, soon confusion.

"Taking more blood from him will result in his death."

"It does not matter," the demon said. It turned its gaze back on to Ari causing him to press himself up against the wall.

"You seem to like his blood. Would you not like more of it?" That caused the demon to stop in his tracks. "You will not find another like him," Freir added.

Ari stared at the demon dressed in all black. Its lips pursed in thought before they fell back onto him. Truly, Ari thought then, it was the devil in the flesh. His eyes continued to wander around noticing something familiar about the place they were in. Once his eyes looked towards the hearth, Ari knew they were back inside of the decrepit house they left during their failed hunt.

"Do not find yourself so special, little human." The demon grabbed him up by his bad arm. It squeezed so hard, its nails sank into the open flesh of his wound. The demon only smiled almost seeming to enjoy the pain it brought him.

"Be easy with him!" Freir said.

"Do not try to command me, human. I am allowing you both to live... and everything has its price."

Ari was shaking with pain. His head felt light and everything felt cold. However, more than that Ari felt frustrated and angry with himself. Why did he feel so tired and why was he so weak at a time like this?

"If you do not then he will die. We are fragile things. His wounds need to be seen to," Freir continued.

"And how am I to 'see' to them?" it asked without a voice filled with annoyance.

Ari knew their lives were hanging by a very thin thread. It was keeping them alive only for the blood that runs through his veins. Freir was monopolizing on that alone.

"His sword arm, his left side, and his right leg need to be patched up or else he will have lost too much blood, demon. You want him alive, you must keep him alive."

It hissed and yanked Ari forward making him stand on his injured leg. The weight of his armor was too much to bear in his condition and he could not hold himself up for much longer.

"Undress."

Ari looked to Freir who gave him a slow nod.

"I cannot... someone must help with the armor..."

The demon looked at him and laughed.

"Do you find me so gullible?" He went around him and began unlatching the buckles from the shoulder armor one at a time. "So dumb?"

Ari heard them fall onto the ground as it started on the cuirass.

"I am well over one thousand years old," it snarled in his ear causing Ari to close his eyes. His upper and lower arm armor came off next.

Too much pain circulated through his body to care much for the demon's closeness. His mind became hazy with anger and pain after awhile. The sound of his back and breastplate armor falling onto the ground brought him back into reality, however.

As soon as the steel mail came off, Ari slumped to the floor exasperated, more with himself than anything. The demon only picked him back up and sat him up on a table. Even with his heavy armor on, it was able to lift him as if he weighed nothing.

Every second spent in the demon's presence sent a chill through Ari's bones. Its wicked grins and thirst for blood were not what frightened him. It was its eyes. The way they stared and lingered. It was studying him, he gathered, like an animal.

It grabbed the hem of his padded shirt and hoisted it above his head. Ari could feel the blood pouring out from his side. He saw as it turned his attention to it before looking back at him. He was not afraid to look it in the eye.

The demon's eyes only narrowed at his insolence. Yet, no words came from its mouth. Instead, it pulled at some cloth until it ripped into large pieces.

"You must clean his wound first! Do you want an infection to spread?" Freir yelled.

It bared its teeth and clenched its fist together. He could tell it was aggravated by Freir, but it also knew it did not have the slightest idea in how to treat a human. It was his only reason for allowing him to live, Ari surmised. Truly, it was not dumb, which made it all the more dangerous.

The demon went to a cupboard and walked back towards him with a bottle of mead and a jar of honey in his hands.

"Stay still or I will make it hurt far worse."

Ari sank his nails into the wood of the table. He took a deep breath. Not a moment after, did he feel the burn of the alcohol on his wound. He hissed and lolled his head back. The pain subsided as he felt it patting his wound dry with a cloth. There was a sticky feeling after. It applied honey to his laceration cooling down his aches and pain. Soon Ari felt the other pieces of the torn material being wrapped around him. The same was done to his arm.

Still, Ari's eyes grew heavy and the tiredness wracking his body had begun to win over. He heard as the demon unbuckled his upper leg armor. The clanking sounds were all too familiar.

"Make yourself useful and bring me more cloth from the other room."

He looked to Freir and saw his hands tied in the front of him. Freir still had on his armor. He did not seem to be injured as bad as he was.

The moment he left, Ari felt the gaze of the demon on him again, lingering.

"We share one thing in common and that is demons."

Ari scoffed.

"I feed on them."

"Then why had you nearly sucked the life from me? I am no demon. I am not your food," Ari hissed causing the demon to step closer to him.

Again, it eyed him.

"I like the taste of pain that bubbles from your blood."

Ari's eyes widened for half a second giving way to his fear. The demon only grinned and pressed closer.

"How it lingers and fills my mouth with its richness. It is suffocating, addicting."

He remembered the feel of its fangs pressing down into his skin tearing into him. He remembered the seering pain that came from every drop of blood that was leeched by it.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ari stammered.

"Because I want to eat you." Its hand gripped his chin hard and tilted his head so he revealed all of his neck to it. "Devour every last drop from you."

Ari's heartbeat sped up as his throat became dry. He wanted Freir to come back. He was taking too long. The demon let go and Ari quickly regain control of his lost composure.

"Everyone has their demons, as your order likes to profess, little human."

Ari tried to move away from it, but it kept a firm grip on his injured leg.

"However, your demon is me."