Chapter 3

"Estarossa what do you think you're doing?" An unknown voice spoke. Everything was dark and freezing and numb. When I tried to turn my head towards the speaker, I found that I was too weak to move. Or, maybe it was because I was restrained. I couldn't tell up from down, and as I dragged air into my lungs, I could feel my heart beat flutter in my chest.

I'm never transferring that much power ever again, I thought to myself. I'd rather let the demon kill me than risk being this defenseless.

"He brought back a pet?" A female voice mused somewhere off to my right. Again, I tried to move, and again, I failed.

An exasperated sigh, "We're not taking prisoners. I thought you said that you'd rather stay here than go out and collect souls." It was the voice I'd heard earlier. Male for sure, I thought.

"I said I wanted to enjoy the fresh air after being locked up for three millennia." I must have flinched at Estarossa's voice, because then his attention focused on me. "Are you awake yet?" I tried to curse at him, but all that came out was a strangled groan.

"Were you planning to share? Her magical power's terribly low right now, but her soul seems delicious," the female voice hissed, it was closer to me now. Finally, I could open my eyes to see a pink blur in front of me. It moved closer, like a wild animal curious about its prey. "She's freezing. What'd you do? Fly all the way here with her?" The voice asked. As my vison cleared, I could see two dark eyes peering down at me, and when she moved to touch me, I could feel Estarossa's arms tighten around me.

"Melascula I will kill you myself if you get any closer," Estarossa snarled; and I saw the girl back off a bit. Contempt written on her face, but she wasn't going to push her luck. She had long pink hair and tendrils of darkness wrapped around her as she floated in the air. I couldn't see the other male. I looked up towards the night sky and cringed inwardly as I saw Estarossa. He glared at the pink haired demon. I wanted to crawl inside myself and disappear when I realized that I was cradled in him arms, but my body was still weak and useless.

"Estarossa, you can't keep a human just for your own amusement," a new voice called out. It wasn't as deep as the others, but I'm pretty sure it was male as well.

"Weren't you the one who brought up the idea of hosting a fighting festival to lure the strongest humans to us?" I wasn't sure, but I think I heard a tinge of aggravation in Estarossa's voice as his attention turned towards the new person. "Besides, I didn't take her for entertainment; she's actually going to be useful once her magic's back." Then his eyes glanced down at me. I shut mine fast, begging him to believe I was still unconscious. "You're awake," fuck me.

His arms tightened around me again, pulling me closer to his chest. I didn't have time to react (not that I could have) and suddenly we were airborne, the fridge air hit the bare skin of my arms like a thousand knives, but Estarossa didn't seem phased in the slightest. We landed on a thin cliff, above the rest of the demons, before he unceremoniously dropped me on the ground.

"Ow!" I groaned as I landed on my ass. "You didn't need to drop me!" I shouted, my voice was weak, and the words felt thick on my tongue.

Estarossa shrugged as he stared down at me, a look of mild amusement in his eyes. "I don't normally try to keep humans alive. I forget how weak you all are."

I ignored his comment as I shakily pushed myself to my feet, my muscles screamed at me to stop, but I couldn't. If there was any chance of escape, then I had to take it. I stumbled towards the edge, losing my footing, and just as I thought I'd topple over, I was jerked back by Estarossa. Of course, as I looked over the side, I could see that the ground was maybe fifty feet below. The edge of the cliff was a downward slant until it dropped off into nothing. I looked behind me, where the cliff rose up and jutted out of the side of a strange rock formation. The path down was steep, and with the current state of my body, I wouldn't have the strength nor the balance to get myself down safely.

The cliff edge we were standing on was thin, maybe big enough for the two of us, but not a third. "You won't get down from here," Estarossa spoke; his voice came from directly above and behind me. It reminded me of how close he was; his hand still wrapped in the fabric of my shirt, holding me in place. Just the sound of his voice made me want to claw his eyes out. "Not unless I allow it." He added, as if he knew that just the idea of letting myself be dependent on him would drive me crazy.

"We had a deal," I hissed through clenched teeth as I turned to face him. I had to crane my neck back to look up at him.

"And I let you live. I also let whatever humans were left in that wreck of a town live." He spoke as idly as if he were talking about the weather. I clenched my fists at my side, trying to find the strength to hit him, but I couldn't. The more I tried, the weaker I felt. He smirked and raised his hand lazily to my jaw, his fingers warm against my skin before he gripped my jaw painfully tight, forcing me to look up at him. "But I never said I'd let you go; you're mine now. And I'll use you up until there's nothing left."

Chapter three is finished. I know it's much shorter than the others, for some reason this chapter was really hard to write, so I had to let it sit for a few days and then come back and edit it to see if I really liked it. Hopefully it's not awful.