Hope

"Huh?"

"Is something wrong?"

"N-no....just th-thought someone s-said....thank....you...."

"It is only us here."

"Mm. M-must have been th-the wind."

𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴....𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺 "𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶" 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘔𝘮𝘮𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦, 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵....𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦.

They had been riding on the Forest Tigers the entire day and the sun was starting to set, night would be coming soon, which meant the ritual would start. 𝘞𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰f ���𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵! 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨? 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬! 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵! 𝘕𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳....𝘨𝘢𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩!!!

Trying to take my mind off the flag I just set, I asked Taleena a question.

"H-how much longer?"

When I looked over at her I was startled by the intense expression on her face. If looks could kill, I would be dead.

"Very close. Soon I will kill them all and get my daughter back."

"O-o-o-o-k."

Her look might not kill me, but it sure did a number on my already poor communication skills. Taleena seemed to notice my even worse than usual communication, as she quickly returned her expression to normal, and replied.

"I'm sorry, that was not directed at you, but"

"I-I know."

We looked at each other awkwardly, and silence fell between us. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺? 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

"U-uh....I-I will do everything I c-can, worst case.... I will use my m-minions and hold th-them off so you can escape with h-her."

".....Thank you....this kindness.....I will do anything to repay you."

𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?

The first thing that popped into my head was.....THAT, but oddly enough there was something else beyond that. Suddenly thoughts of just having a meal with her filled my mind. Then my thoughts shifted and we were walking down the street as she leaned on my shoulder.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭?!? 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨!? 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘦?!? 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭....𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺....𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘖𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵! 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?!? 𝘜𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩.... 𝘶𝘩𝘩𝘩..... 𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴! 𝘕𝘖𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰.

As I wrestled with my thoughts, my gaze caught hers, and our eyes locked. She let out a small smile.

"If that is what you wish I will oblige. Do not worry, if you grow bored with this old lady, I will not hold you down."

She reached out and her soft hand caressed my cheek. It was warm to the touch, I suddenly thought that I would be ok with dying as long she and her daughter could get away. My life up to this point had been pretty worthless, trading me for them..... it was an easy decision to make.

"It has been so long, but I have finally met another worthy human. For as long as you want it....it would be my pleasure."

"I-I"

Before I could say more, she placed a finger on my lips.

"So you have to make sure you survive."

"..."

She did not release her finger from my lips, and continued looking into my eyes. I finally realized what she wanted and nodded my head.

**********

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked several times. My vision came into focus and I found myself in the middle of what looked like an ancient ruin. Nature had reclaimed the ruin, covering it fauna and foliage. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?

I tried to move to get a better look around, but felt a force on my wrists that stopped me. I looked down and realized I was shackled to the ground. Immediately I started to panic as my memories came flooding back.

I was abducted by strange men while out picking mushrooms in the forest. I had tried to fend them off, but in the end it was fruitless. They had taken me back to their cave where I thought they were going to have their way with me, but before the worst came to pass mother had come.

Mother was strong, I knew that, and before I knew it the men had been dealt with. Right as I was about to celebrate and run to her embrace.....that woman came.She wore a black mask and was accompanied by others wearing the same type of mask. I had thought mother would easily triumph over them too, but reality was different. Mother was beaten and they took me away. The last thing I remember was another person in a mask casting a spell on me and then the world went dark.

"Oh it looks like she is awake. How fortunate, you can now bathe in their glory."

I heard a woman's voice from behind her. I turned around and saw a group walking up the stairs led by the person who had beaten mother.

Mother had always told me that father was a great man who died bravely, risking his life to protect us. I had always imagined I could be brave like him..... and this was my chance to prove it. 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.

I pushed back my growing fear and asked the woman a question.

"Wh-what are you going to do with me?"

"No need to be so scared my dear."

My attempt to hide my fear had failed, the woman had seen right through me.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, you will serve a greater purpose soon. Rejoice! Your life will be traded to bring their glory to this world!"

Even with the mask on, I felt like I could see the madness in the woman's eyes. I could definitely hear the fanatical zealotry in her voice.

"Wh-who are they?"

"Why.... the demons of course."

"But the demons are already here you don't need to sacrifice me! They are on the land across the water from the Victus Imperium!"

I couldn't contain myself, I had blurted out the first thing that came into my mind. Then for the first time since our conversation started, I could feel anger from the woman, and it brought back all my suppressed fear.

"DEMONS!? THEY ARE NOTHING BUT FILTH LIKE YOUR MOTHER!!!"

I flinched and pulled back from the woman's hoarse and angry yell. Then, as if the anger was never there, she returned back to her original soft voice.

"Ahem. No, I should not be angry at you, you and everyone else are just ignorant. Do not worry, I will enlighten you soon. With your blood, the blood of demons and heroes, we can at last havveeee.....paradise."

Her last words sounded almost euphoric, as if she could see the future before her. My fear and anxiety started to grow out of control and I could only think of one person, mother. She had always protected me. She was the strongest person I knew.

"My mother will come for me."

"Hahaha."

The woman let out a laugh....no it was not a laugh, but a cackle.

"My dear child, no one is coming for you. By now, your mother is either dead, or wishing she was. Hope....is a lie. Hahahaha."

"What did you do to her!?"

"Do not worry my dear. Soon you will not have to worry about anything."

With that, before I could say anymore, the woman and her entourage had walked away. All I could muster was a small cry under my breath as tears streamed down her face. I was scared, afraid, and..... alone. 𝘕𝘰! 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦! 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩! 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.... 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦.

"Mother...."

I had just said it out of instinct and did not expect anything to come from my whispered plea. However, reality was different, and instead I heard blood curdling screams. I quickly shifted my vision toward the screams and there I saw mother....and a stranger.....and a large group of demonic beasts?

They were tearing through the people guarding the entrance to the ruins. Suddenly I saw wings appear on mother's back, saw her horns extend, and a tail whip out from behind. I had only seen her do this once before, when she fought off a large demonic beast near our home. After she had demonized the monster stood no chance. Tears of happiness streamed down my face, I was saved.

"Mother....MOTHER!!!"

"FIONA!!!!"