The air was thick, and stifling. A lingering warmth travelled through his body, it felt like he was floating. Dreams, nightmares, it did not matter, nothing mattered right now but the desire to rest, and to sleep. Shadows covered his vision, there were no clear images. Blurred colours and shapes.
The King of Thieves opened his eyes carefully. A room, with walls...and a floor. Derelict and run down. Where...was...he?
He shot up with a start, inspecting his surroundings further. A beam of light shone through the entrance way, and he could hear voices in the distance, though he could not make out what they were saying.
He tried to stand up, but he was weak, and his legs were constantly shaking and about to give way. He needed water, or food. Something to give him enough energy to continue.
Suddenly, he looked up, and saw a boy standing in the doorway. A thin wisp of a boy, with beautiful white hair and pale features. Highly unusual in these lands. The white hair was similar to his own, though longer, and possibly whiter.
"Ah, you are awake" That voice was unexpected, heavily accented, one that he could not recognise. A smile was on the boys face as he stepped forward, offering him water.
Akefia eyed the cup warily, and the boy frowned.
"It is safe, do not worry. I wouldn't have brought you all this way...well Master wouldn't have had you brought all this way just for me to kill you. Come, drink up, it will make you feel better. You were passed out outside my Masters territory. He had you brought here."
The boy took a drink from the cup, before offering it to him once more. He was not going to give up, was he? Akefia took the cup, drinking from it carefully. So, he needed to find out who this boys master was. Then he needed to get out of here. Shouldn't be too difficult. No one messed with the King of Thieves.
"What is your name, stranger?" The boy sat closer to him, and Akefia raised an eyebrow.
"Does not matter. I wish to leave, show me the way out" The boy frowned, and glanced at the door.
"My Master would not allow that. You are here until he wants you to leave."
"Listen here! I am the King of Thieves, I have the most dangerous reputation in all of Egypt. I will get out, with our without the permission of your Master, now get me out, or get out of my way"
"Oh really? How do you plan on doing that?" A deep voice caused him to look up, a man, looking much older than the boy stepped into the room. Identical white hair, and similar features. His voice thick with the same heavy accent the boy had.
He spoke quickly to the boy in their mother tongue, a language he had never heard before, and the boy stood up, leaving the room without a moments hesitation.
"I am ruler of these lands, I own everything from the borders of Egypt to the river 70 miles away. My men roam the mountains, and patrol the lands, looking for trespassers and caravans. I hold all the power right now, and I am the key to your survival, understand?"
Akefia glared at the man, there was a...shadow looming over him. The boy had wonderful deep brown eyes, but this man, blood red contrasted with the pale skin, he would have suspected them of being related, brothers, if the boy had not deemed this man his Master.
"Why am I here?" The tanned man folded his arms, the glare never breaking from the other. This was a very real threat, he had heard of the Bandit King across the borders. Master of Spirits, and Shadows. If this was the man, that even the Pharaoh feared, then this escaping would be far more difficult.
"Well, you are Akefia, the King of Thieves are you not? I figure taking you back to the Pharaoh will see me a high reward. I have heard of your reputation, feared by man, woman and child all across Egypt. Such a reputation. The bounty on your head must be exceptional."
Akefia stood up again, pulling the knife from his pocket and pressing it against the man's throat. Instead of stuttering however, the man just gave a rough cackle.
"You can't kill a demon, Thief King. I dare you to try" As if to prove a point, the man pushed the knife into his own neck. Instead of blood, a blackish liquid spilled from the cut, deeper and deeper the knife was forced into the man's throat. Until he pulled it out again, and the cut disappeared, as if nothing had happened.
Akefia stepped back suddenly...what in the name of Ra? This was no man, this was a monster, and here he was trapped.
"Are you surprised? Did you really think I would talk to the King of Thieves unarmed? I have heard of your tricks, your lies. I have been around for far too long to be slow, and idiotic. Now do you realize the trouble you are in? You are in a world you do not understand, and could not comprehend with your small brain. Do not try to escape, it will only end badly for you, do you understand me?"
The thief glared at the creature warily, still holding the knife tightly in his hand.
"And that boy, is he...?" Akefia glanced at the door, making sure the boy wasn't standing there.
"Ryou? No, no. Everyone else here is as human as you are. Under my command of course. They are loyal to their Master, and willing to serve me, without hesitation."
Really? Akefia did not believe that. People were easy to bribe if given the right motivation. They served this Demon, trapped here just as he was. Did he threaten their lives? Force them to do unspeakable things. He had dealt with demons before, however only in his past, when he was a child. He could not forget, but he did not realize there would be more around, and some taking such a human form.
"And now you wish for me to serve you as a well? Well I refuse. I am not some pet, I do not do well being obedient." This caused the demon to smirk, moving over to him, grabbing him by the wrists, digging his nails in deeply.
"You will become obedient, and I will break you. A King of Thieves should be free to plunder and take all that he wishes, not be forced to wear chains. If you became a loyal servant, I could give you so much power, you would be unstoppable. You could take your revenge on the Pharaoh. For all of your village. Would you like that?"
"How do you know? No one witnessed that!" He snarled, turning away from him quickly. The demon smirked softly, before shrugging.
"That is for you to find out. Do not try to run, I will find you. It is easy in my territory, and not too difficult beyond my borders. I know these lands like the back of my hand" Akefia snarled as he watched the demon walk, running to the door.
"You will not keep me trapped here!" He snapped, before the demon turned, and pushed him back into the room.
"Oh, I can and I will. The great Thief King will be mine to control, you will break eventually, I have years to wait." With that the demon turned once more, summoning chains from nothing at all, smirking as they wrapped around Akefia's wrists. The man struggled to no avail, as he was forced to the ground by the chains. When he was fully secure, the demon turned to walk away again.
"Just think, if you were willing to obey, I would give you anything you want. I know more about you than I care to admit. So be a good boy and sit quietly, wont you" He said, giving a soft wink, before he was gone.
Akefia did the opposite however, he yelled and thrashed. Trying to break free of the chains, before trying all sorts of attempts to escape. Nothing seemed to work however.
-x-
The day passed by slowly, achingly slow. After a couple of hours of trying to escape, he grew tired, collapsing to the ground. The heat of the air around him was stifling. The lack of wind made him feel even worse.
He must have fallen asleep, because he awoke to a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring at him. The boy tilted his head, giving a soft smile when he saw him awake.
"You have been asleep for hours, I brought you some food, and something to drink" The smile stayed on his features, as he offered the cup. Akefia was too thirsty to deny it, and let him hold the cup as he drank the cool liquid greedily.
When the boy offered him a piece of cook meat, he looked at it warily, before refusing. There was no way he was going to give in so easily. The water... was an exception. But he wouldn't put himself in the demons debt.
Ryou frowned when he rejected the meat, putting the plate down. Akefia took the chance to scan the boy. He was beautiful, remarkably so. He would sell for a high price in the slave markets.
"You look very similar to the demon" He muttered, and Ryou blinked slowly.
"Oh yes, Master took my form when he wanted to be human. He had a fondness for it...I think. That is what he said anyway." Ryou shrugged, taking a bite of some of the fruit he brought for Akefia.
"You have been with him for a while then?" This boy...was a prisoner too? Though he seemed rather happy about it. The demons power was strong, far stronger than that of his own.
"I guess. I have lost track of time. He came to me when I was young, and we have just been together since."
"Ryou!" Came a sharp voice, and Ryou stood up quickly just as the demon entered.
"I told you not to come see this one. Why do you disobey me? Do you wish for me to punish you again?"
"No Master...I was just curious was all. Forgive me, I will go back to my work" He moved to the door, and the demon grabbed the plate of food, throwing it at Ryou. It just missed his head, smashing against the wall and Ryou jumped.
"And do not waste MY FOOD on this one! Get out of here!" Akefia stood up just as Ryou ran out.
"What the hell? There's no need to treat him like that!" the demon turned to Akefia, and smirked.
"There is no reason for you to care about my slaves, so I would sit down, and shut your mouth, before you suffer the same punishment as he is going to"
"What's that then?!" Akefia snarled, and the demon gave a cruel chuckle, grabbing him brutally by the neck, slamming him roughly against the wall. He squeezed hard, bruises forming on the man's throat. Akefia gasped, clawing rapidly at the hand holding him.
He kicked him hard, nailing it right in the others stomach, causing the demon to stumble back unexpected, letting him go. Akefia pulled at the chains quickly, but it was too late as the demon smacked him hard in the face, pinning him to the ground by his neck again.
They squirmed and fought, but it was obvious the demon had the upper-hand, every blow Akefia managed to give the demon, the other gave twice as many, before Akefia was bloody and bruised, and exhausted. The demon however, had no scars, no bruises, and seemed as immaculate as ever.
"Well, I admire your spirit Thief King, but it will break sooner or later. You will succumb to me, if it is the last thing you do." Akefia said nothing in reply, just collapsed to the ground. He was sore all over, that had been a mistake. There was no winning a fight with a demon, and now he was in pain because of it. But he would not fall, he would not become a pet.
"Now, if you have stopped, I am going to deal with my Ryou. His punishment will be far worse than yours. He knows fine and well not to disobey me"
Akefia groaned, but said nothing, rolling over onto his side. Ryou...the boy. Such a pretty name for a young man.
"Your Ryou? You treat him like an object?" Akefia snorted. He hated that, one thing he refused to accept was people who treated others like property. Slave markets, auctions, every one of those disgusted him.
"Well, he is mine after all. He will not escape, I have owned him for many years."
"But he disobeyed you, for a stranger. Are you positive he is loyal to you?" This was stupid, trying to get a rise from the demon. With others it was easier, to get them distracted enough to steal a key, or something. But this...creature would not be as easy to manipulate.
"Hold your tongue, you know nothing of Ryou, or of me. Do as I say, and maybe your wounds will heal quicker. Or they could become infected, I'm not too picky either way."
Akefia tugged against his chains, and the demon cackled before turning away from him.
"You know my name, at least tell me yours so I know what to curse at" Akefia snarled, eyes never off him, the other turned to him and shrugged.
"You can call me what everyone else calls me, Master" And with that he slipped out the door, Akefia groaned and punched one of the sandstone walls. How could he have been so stupid to venture so far without food or water? He had lived in the desert for years, he had strayed too far. Idiot, and now here he was, for Ra knows how long stuck in this hovel.
Fighting the demon had taken its toll, his body was battered and bruised, and he collapsed to the sandy floor quite quickly. It was painfully warm, and he could feel exhaustion taking over his body once more. No No he wouldn't sleep, there was no need for him to sleep.
But the idea of sleeping caused his eyes to slowly close once more, giving a soft sigh as he pressed his back against the wall. Luckily he was in the shade, there was no way he would be able to stand the heat of the sun.
It had been a few hours later before Ryou came back in, still his smiley self even though he was sporting a black eye, and some bruises on his neck.
"Master wants you to eat this. Doesn't want you to get faint and die...something about a prized workhorse or something" He put the food down in front of Akefia, some sort of stew he noted. Akefia raised an eyebrow, before turning his head.
"If you don't eat, he will force it down your throat. It really hurts when he does that, I suggest you finish it yourself" Ryou muttered and Akefia motioned to his hands.
Ryou knelt down next to him, and lifted the bowl up.
"I hear Master say you're a big threat back where you come from, is that true? Well you look terrifying. With that scar down your face. Did it hurt?"
Akefia gave a soft smirk. This boy was rather talkative when given half the chance. He let Ryou feed him however, saying nothing. This boy could easily relay everything back to the demon, he refused to call him Master. Not on his life"
When he was done, Ryou offered him some more water.
"If you're good, Master will let you out of these chains, I don't know why he keeps you in anyway. We've all tried to run, and it is hopeless. By the time you get past the red mountain he has already caught up to you. Master is...terrifying when he is angry."
Akefia finished the water, and gave a shrug.
"Whatever he is, he has the upper advantage. If he was a normal human being I could take him on without any problems. What do you mean by workhorse anyway?"
Ryou smiled, glad to get at least a reply from the man, it was rare he had anyone to talk to.
"Well he wants to put you to work obviously. He was complimenting your strength and perseverance. Master knows everything about everyone you see. Says it would be good having you on his side to intimidate rivals and steal things. Also you are strong, so you'd probably do a lot of heavy lifting. Master is having the well expanded, and he needs a lot of strong people for that...apparently I'm hopeless at it"
So he was to be put to work, like a slave. That was not a surprise at all. But he knew about his reputation, so there was no doubt the demon knew how hard he was to break as well. There was no way he would give up so easily.
"So, what does your Master use you for then? If you can't help out with heavy lifting and what not?" He frowned when Ryou gave a soft blush, and stood up.
"I am Masters personal servant. I bring him food, wash his clothes, make sure he is happy and healthy. Anything he wants do, I do it without a second thought."
Akefia gave a snort, and sat with his back against the wall.
"So what you are saying is, you're his little whore?" Ryou's blush grew redder, and he lifted the bowl and cup up, before excusing himself quietly, causing Akefia to smirk even more. So the demon had human vices after all, and must have had a nice little community if he was expanding a well. Maybe this was a far more organized situation than he first thought. Of course the Bandit King had a reputation, but it was assumed they were a small group of thieves and mercenaries that roamed the deserts. This, could be more interesting than he imagined.
However, he was left alone for the rest of the day. Ryou didn't return, and apart from a girl bringing him some water at night time, no one else came. Perhaps he had scared Ryou off? Though he didn't seem as innocent as he made out, and those bruises on his neck...and his eye were rather threatening. If the demon could do that to his loyal slaves, imagine what he could do to his enemies.
Though he was a demon, of course he would be sadistic and cruel. That's what demons were like. But how did he get to the mortal world in the first place?
There was so many questions, why he gave a damn was one of them. The plan should be to just get out as quick as possible. The minute he would be allowed out of these chains, he'd escape.
But Ryou did say that he could catch anyone...a demon with supernatural powers. Would it really be that difficult to escape from this prison?
Then again, he was the King of Thieves. He had escaped from far worse situations than this. He just needed to gain the demons trust, perhaps wait until he was allowed out to work, there was no way he would suspect anything then. It would mean playing the long game, but he had time...after all he wasn't going anywhere in much of a hurry.