“AZAZEL”

I sat by a boulder next to a riverbank alongside Darcy as l bled out from my shoulder. The arrow was still lodged in my shoulder. I took a small cloth and filled my mouth with it so I could stay quiet as I tried to remove the arrow. l broke the tip of the arrow with my left hand and pulled the other end out while groaning in pain. I was loosing blood fast and had to tear a piece of my garment to tie around the shoulder to reduce the bleeding. Darcy stared at me for a while, "I'm fine, just need a little rest" l said.

I sighed heavily and leaned against the boulder with my eyes closed opening them again at the sound of breaking twigs then I heard a voice.

"She shouldn't have gotten that far, the arrow I shot her with was laced with poison and was bound to slow her down" said André proudly.

"You better hope she's alive or the King would have your head" a guard said as they approached the area where l sat.

Poison?? But how?? I thought to myself before getting back on my feet hastily and quietly pulling Darcy into some bushes to hide. I peeked through the leaves and saw the guards and André scavenging the area where we recently were.

"She's not here, let's move forward" Said one of the guards before moving to other side of the river with the others. André stayed for a while, he lurked around the vicinity once again and made his way to where l was hiding, l leaned back and held onto the edge of my sword. He leaned in closer and glared for a while before withdrawing himself and crossing over to the other side of the river and accompanied the guards.

I released the grip on my sword and sighed heavily before withdrawing from the bushes with Darcy. I surveyed the path in which the guards had taken from a distance and fled through another path when they were out of sight.

I rode for days on end with little food and bathroom breaks. There was hardly any shelter or shed Darcy and l could stay in, we slept in the cold at night and traveled by day. But today was different in a way, my pace reduced and l took even more breaks. l had fallen sick due to the poison l was inflicted with by the arrow. l rode on Darcy tirelessly, my body was weaker and rather higher in temperature than usual but l couldn't afford to take another break. If l did, Pierre's men would have a greater chance of finding me. It's been days now, the palace would be in bedlam.

I yawned and laid against Darcy as my vision became blurry then suddenly, she came to a sliding stop throwing me off her and riding off. I landed on my back and groaned as l slowly stood up and examined my surroundings, then finally my gaze fell on it. The creatures l fought in the woods, they were back but not a trio this time, no, just one that was bigger and looked very angry. There was something different about this particular one, its eyes, they were red rather than the orange color l had seen before. It growled to get my full attention and in preparation to fight, l unsheathed my sword and swung it down, glaring at the creature in sight.

As much as l liked the thrill that has been happening for a while, l needed it to stop. Not for a break, rather because my answers were left unattended to and it killed me silently on the inside. But now wasn't the time to make wishes, l had to kill this creature before it killed me. I took my stance and with no second left to waste, it dashed towards me and attacked with its claw. In response, l struck with my sword and immediately put space between us.

Leaving me breathless, it dashed forward and struck again, I rolled over to its left side and assaulted its heels with my sword. It suffered no injuries due to its hard skin, I stood up and shook my head in disbelief. I was sure I struck with enough force to cause a deep cut but it didn't. I shook my head once more and whispered to myself, "how?". With my guard down, it clasped me in its arms and restricted my movements as it growled again and louder. Infuriated by its actions, l yelled out "What do you want from me!?"

It growled once more and then it spoke. "You.." I was astonished to hear it speak, "You can talk?" I asked briskly. It glared at me for a while before speaking again, "You're the reason".

"Reason for what?" I asked, even more confused. Suddenly, it squeezed me tighter as if being aggravated by my words. "Okay..my bad" l said groaning.

***

"Abaddon is bound to kill her, give me permission to bring her in".

"If we do, you know what that means".

"Better late than never right? Even if we don't, there's bound to be trouble as well so which would it be?".

"Mm, make her arrival known".

"Duly noted".

***

"Release me at once, beast!" I said, trying to free myself from its firm grip. If l wasn't so small, maybe I would have had a chance to free myself, l thought to myself. It ignored my plea and raised it's other claw in attempt to cut my head off but stopped midway.

Its previous irate look was washed off and replaced with an agitated expression as it loosened its grip around me leaving me to hit the ground. Nervously, it spoke "L-L-Lord Az-Azazel, you.."

"You disrespected a direct offspring of Lucifer, Abaddon".

Abaddon, the creature, felt to his knees and cried out, "Have mercy, My Lord..."

"I know not mercy".