Ria
" Where to?"
The demon looked at me as he asked where to go. Did he think I knew what we were doing?
I didn't even know if this passage led anywhere, much less where to go to arrive at the end.
" I'm not sure. I can't see"
In front of me all I could see was darkness. There wasn't even a single source of light. It was honestly starting to unnerve me.
" I didn't meant that. Where are we going?"
Oh, that.
" The angel's realm"
I could feel the demon nodding by my side, agreeing with my decision.
I looked at the handsome demon and smiled. It felt good to be valued.
" By the way, what's your name?"
I couldn't keep calling him the handsome demon forever and if he was going to join us in whatever we were doing I couldn't call him handsome demon out loud. I refused to do that.
" Rin"
At least the demon had a name.
" Well, Rin, you go first"
I'd rather not die if something decided to spring out of the darkness surrounding us.
I could hear him chuckling as he moved to be by my side.
" How about we go at the same time?"
Okay. I could do that.
" Fine"
We got at the same level and begun walking slowly towards what I hoped was the exit.
As when we had crossed over I could hear the sound of claws scraping against the rock and soft clicks every now and then.
It felt as if I was being watched by a thousand eyes.
I got goosebumps all over my skin and shivered. I didn't like this, not one bit.
I was scared and cold. The magic that had kept me warm all this time had disappeared along with Arsheus's consciousness, so now I was freezing on a dark tunnel while creepy creatures observed me from their hiding spots. I couldn't wait to get out of here.
Yet another sound of claws scraping against the rock set me on edge. My eyes darted everywhere, trying to decifer where the noise was coming from without much success.
From my right I could feel Rin swallowing and walking a little bit faster. Did he know what was hidding out there?
" Do you...?" Before I could finish my question Rin placed his hand on my mouth, shutting me up.
I could feel the fear in his hands as they shook. Fear overtook me too.
I had learned the hard way that whatever the demons were afraid of was a cause for me to feel fear too. And right now Rin was afraid.
I shut my mouth, deciding not to speak anymore until we were out of the tunnel.
Slowly Rin pulled his hand away from my mouth and I could breathe again. For a second there I had thought he was going to asphyxiate me.
I took a deep breath and kept walking.
I kept my eyes wide open all the time, not that there was much of a difference compared to when I had them closed. All I could see was darkness.
Every now and then a sound spooked me and I held onto Rin, afraid the creatures had decided to kill us, but they never did. I didn't even see them.
After walking during what that seemed like hours in the dark tunnel we finally reached the other side, where the white snow could be seen and the sunlight illuminated everything.
Crap.
For a second the landscape was so similar to that of the demon world that I thought we hadn't managed to escape and had run back inside.
Soon my suspicions were gone.
In the far away distance I could see the glass castle, a copy of the one the demons had created.
Closer to us I could see the forest, brimming with trees three times taller than myself and on the sky was the sun, shining brightly.
Oh, God. I had missed that sun.
We had made it. I had made it. I was back home.
I felt so relieved.
It had been very long since I'd last felt safe and it had been when I was here, home.
" Well done" Rin run over to me, laying Arsheus on the snow, and hugged me tightly.
I could only stay there, paralyzed as his warmth reached me over.
It was comforting, having a contact as simple as a hug with another person after so long without it. Back at the orphanage I never went a day without a hug, but when I had been with Arsheus he hadn't even looked my way, not that I wanted him to.
I opened my eyes and hugged Rin back. He was so warm.
Eventually Rin let me go and run over to carry Arsheus again.
" Where to now?"
He looked at me as he asked, as if I knew what we were doing.
" I don't know. Arsheus was the one with a plan"
Both of us looked at Arsheus, who was all but dead in Rin's arms.
He was even more pale than before and hadn't stopped bleeding since the angels had hurt him. He had been losing blood consistently. I didn't even know how he was still alive. Anyone else would've already died from blood loss, but Arsheus still clinged onto life.
" Can't you heal him?"
I looked at Rin with hoping eyes, not because I wanted him to heal that bastard and I was worried for him, but rather because we needed him. Yes, that was it. I wasn't worried he'd no longer be with me. I was worried he would die and leave me alone to fight against the angels.
Rin chuckled as he looked down at Arsheus.
" He'll be fine"
Really?
He didn't seem anywhere near fine to me.
" He just needs time"
Okay, I guessed I could trust Rin. He probably knew what Arsheus needed better than me.
" Then what do we do now?" We were in the middle of the forest in a realm that wanted us dead. It wasn't a very good start.
" Build a refuge" Rin looked around at the trees and smiled. " Guard him"
With those last words he disappeared into the forest, leaving me all alone with an unconscious Arsheus and an order to protect him. How was I even going to do that?
I sat on the snow to wait for Rin, but as soon as my ass hit the ground it froze.
Fuck! That was right. I no longer had the warming magic.
Without it the snow was cold.
I got up as fast as I could and looked at Arsheus, unconscious and laying on the cold snow.
He would be fine. He had no other options.
I waited while the sun lowered more and more in sky, signaling the start of nightfall.
We had to get out of here fast or we'd die frozen to death. If the beasts didn't get to us first and destroy us, that was.
Fuck!
I watched in horror as the sun settled and howling erupted all over the forest.
Those beasts were after us. Arsheus was still bleeding and they could smell blood from far away. This wasn't good.
Fuuuuck!
I had to stop the bleeding.
I crouched down near Arsheus, hoping he would eventually stop bleeding, but it didn't seem like it. His multiple wounds were open and ready to kill him from blood loss.
I had to do something fast.
The howling approached us with each passing second.
My eyes darted form Arsheus to the forest and back to Arsheus. When the fuck was Rin coming back?
I needed him here.
" Come over here!"
The moment I heard Rin screaming from the forest I breathed a sigh of relief.
I was already running his way when I realized Arsheus was still laying on the snow and I needed to get him.
I looked at Arsheus and then at the area of the forest where the scream had come from.
Okay, let's do this.
I grabbed his feet and begun pulling, not stopping to pick up his shoes when they fell off. I was too busy trying to pull him through the heavy snow.
I pulled and pulled, dragging Arsheus, following the sound of Rin's voice. As I dragged him over my legs were on fire and my arms hurt, on their limit. Arsheus weighted a ton.
After a while I eventually managed to arrive at a little clear where a small wooden hut was waiting for us.
It wasn't sturdy and it seemed like it would come down at any second, but it was still a safe place to rest.
I was impressed. Rin had made a whole hut in just a few hours. I couldn't do it even if they gave me days.
I dropped Arsheus on the snow and ran over to the wooden structure.
The entrance was small and inside there was barely enough space for the three of us, but most importantly it was warm and provided coverage for when it snowed.
" Do you like it?"
Rin stood proudly in front of the hut.
" Yes"
I smiled at him as I answered, deciding to go with the truth.
Rin's pale face turned red with my compliment.
He was cute and handsome.
" Well, get inside. It'll be snowing soon"
As he left to grab Arsheus I looked up at the sky.
Why did he say it was going to snow?
There wasn't a single cloud on the sky and snow didn't materialize from nothingness. How was it going to snow?
I opened my mouth to speak up when Rin reached me, carrying Arsheus and dropping him in the inside of the hut.
" Why did you say it will snow?"
Rin looked up at the sky and then at me.
" Just a gut feeling"
I had the feeling that wasn't true, but there was no point in fighting.
I lowered my head and entered the hut.
With Arsheus laying in the middle there wasn't even enough space for me to lay down, much less for Rin, who was over two times my size.
" Come on" I squeezed against the flimsy wall as well as I could, pulling Arsheus closer to me.
If we all laid on our sides we might have just enough space.
" What are you doing?"
Rin leaned in and smirked as he saw me laying on my side with all of Arsheus's body all but pressed against mine.
" Making space for you to come inside"
Rin chuckled and backed away, closing the door.
" I'll stand guard. Good night"
With those final words I heard him walking away, his feet barely making any noise as he stepped on the snow.
Well, one problem less.
I pushed Arsheus away with all my strength into the other side of the hut and laid on my back, trying to sleep.
It didn't work.
I could hear the howling from the beasts outside, ready to devour us at the slightest chance. The only thing between their sharp fangs and claws and myself was a thin wall of logs and Rin, who although not as badly as Arsheus didn't seem to be in his prime.
Despite everything I closed my eyes again and tried to sleep.
I imagined I was back at the orphanage and not in the middle of the forest surrounded by ferocious beasts that wanted nothing more than to eat me alive.
I really tried, but the sounds kept me on edge, unable to sleep properly.
In front of me I could feel Arsheus's warmth, reaching me like a furnace.
He was hot. Too hot.
I leaned over, my eyes open and fully awake.
Arsheus shouldn't be so hot. The few times I'd touched him his skin had been ice cold. He was supposed to be cold, not warm.
Something was wrong.
His skin was hot to the touch. As soon as my skin met his I hissed and pulled away, my hand burning and in pain.
Looking down at it I could see some of my skin had peeled away and angry red flesh could be seen.
Just how hot was he?
I couldn't even touch him without burning my skin off. How was I going to help him?
" Riiiin!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, praying that Rin hadn't moved far away.
Nothing.
" Riiiin!" I screamed again, but Rin didn't appear.
Just as I feared he must've gone away to a more secluded position where he could see incoming threats and not die from frostbite. That meant he didn't know I was screaming for help.
I had to do something. The temperature inside the hut only kept increasing more and more. It felt as if we were on a furnace. It wasn't good and to top it all off we were in a hut made of wood, which could burn easily.
The whole thing was a few degrees away from burning to a crisp with us inside.
I had to go out and call for Rin.
The door was visible from where I laid, but Arsheus was in the middle. In between where I needed to go and myself was something like a living furnace, exuding heat.
If I touched him my skin and clothes would burn away, but we would both die burned alive if I didn't do anything.
I had to try.
I leaned over him, ready to mar my skin with burn marks when the temperature dropped precariously.
The source of heat under me became a source of cold.
I shivered as the warmth transformed in negative temperatures.
I had to get out.
I leaned over Arsheus, no longer afraid of getting burnt.
I crossed to the other side stepping on his body. Luckily he didn't seem to notice I was all but using him as a mat as he shivered, his whole body ice cold.
Once I reached the other side my soul left my body. The door was locked and no matter how hard I pulled it wouldn't open.
Motherfucker.
I could understand why Rin had done it. He had protected us from the outside, but the problem was that now we needed help inside.
Arsheus's body temperature was dropping by the second.
He shivered more and more as his face lost all the color and his blood poured out.
I knew Rin had said that if we left him alone he would heal on his own, but it didn't seem like that would actually happen. It seemed like he was going to die before he could even open his eyes.
I had to keep him warm, but how?
There was wood to start a fire all around us, but first of all I would kill us and second of all I didn't have anything to start the fire with.
The only thing I could do was...
I gritted my teeth as I took off my clothes.
" Think of this as helping one of the younger kids to shower. It isn't that bad"
I told myself lies to make me feel better.
I couldn't imagine what I was going to do, but his temperature kept dropping. He was going to die at this rate.
Once all my clothes were gone I felt he cold even more. The whole hut was beginning to get covered in frost.
I quickly laid near Arsheus and took off his shirt too.
I left both our pants on for the sake of moral decency. With his shirt off I could tell how grave his situation was.
All of Arsheus's chest was covered in wounds. There wasn't a single spot left unharmed.
Wow, they had really done a number on him. It was a mystery how he was even alive.
" Focus"
I focused back on him and not his wounds and laid near him, hugging him.
My chest was flat against his.
I could feel his chest moving up and down as he took a breath after another.
Now I wasn't so sure this had been a good idea. My own body temperature dropped as we huddled together. It felt as if I was going to die from the cold.
My eyelids felt heavy as I shivered and my mind begun to drift away.
Oh, no. I couldn't sleep. If I fell asleep it was all over.
I tried to keep my eyes open but the cold called me over.
I was so tired.
As I closed my eyes, barely conscious anymore I felt Arsheus's arms grabbing me by the waist.
I tried to open them to see what was happening, but they were too heavy.
Shivering from the cold I fell asleep in between Arsheus's arms.