Prince of Darkness
Chapter 11
The loud crash of the door slamming to the floor caused Horus to wake from his slumber on the chair. "What the?" he said as he flew hastily to the front door only to see that it had been knocked down. He then looked up to the top of the staircase to see the faint glowing of torches making their way down the corridor. 'Miss Hilde, dear God,' he thought as he bolted upstairs to Hilde's room.
Hilde was unaware of the evil presence that lurked outside her door. She was still perched upon Duo's bed awaiting his return when all of a sudden the door flew open violently, causing her to jump out of the bed. Fear filled her eyes as she saw the man standing before her. She then let out a blood-curdling scream just before the man knocked her over the head with a blunt object, causing her to fall unconscious. One of the men through the limp body over his shoulder and they left. As soon as Horus reached the top of the stairs, it was too late. There he saw Hilde's idle body slung over a man's shoulder. Horus knew he had to do something drastic, he couldn't let them take Miss Hilde. Without thinking, Horus darted for the man carrying Hilde and knocked him in the face with his sharp beak. Hilde's body fell to the floor with a thud as the man grabbed his face and cursed. "Damn bird!" he said as he looked at the blood that stained his hands.
Caught up in the intensity of the situation, Horus didn't realize that another one of the men had come up from behind him. Grabbing him firmly, the man threw Horus against the stone wall, Horus free falling to the floor below. Horus, too weak and hurt to move, watched helplessly as the group of men took Hilde and headed down the stairs. "I'm sorry, Miss Hilde," he murmured as his eyelids hung halfway down his black eyes. The sound of their footsteps dwindled as they walked down the stairs, making their way to the once front door. "That was too easy," one of the men spouted bravely as they made their way into the dark forest before them.
"She didn't know what hit her," her boss sneered as he looked at the man carrying her almost lifeless body. "When we get back, she will have hell to pay for her treachery."
The rest of the men ranted on about their capture as they trudged their way along the damp forest floor.
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"Must...must get up," Horus hissed with pain as he tried to stand up on his own two feet. Horus hobbled to Hilde's room, he had to alert Duo somehow, Hilde needed help. Slowly but surely he hopped his way over the fallen door and into the room. The balcony door was slightly opened as Horus made his way as quickly as he could towards it. The cold wind outside nearly blew Horus's frail body over but he stood defiantly against the gusts. With all of his strength, he hopped unto the balcony railing, steadying himself as he tried to stand straight. Horus then belted out an eerie caw, so high pitched, it could have sent shivers down one's spine. Horus knew that Duo could hear the cry due to his super hearing. Horus let out a few more cries, trying his best to reach Duo.
In the distance, Duo was flying high in the air when he heard the shrill cries of a bird. He focused with his ears in the direction of the noise and when he figured out it came from the castle, he flew madly back home. 'Dammit, something has happened to Hilde, I just know it,' he cursed to himself he flew against the strong wind currents. Back at the castle, Horus, barely able to stand, finally collapsed on the railing from extreme pain and exhaustion. 'Oh Duo, I'm so sorry,' he thought as he saw a black dot from the distance closing in. 'Good, you made it old friend.'
Within seconds, Duo landed on the balcony and changed into his human form. He immediately saw the limp bird on the railing and ran over to him. Picking him up gently in his hands, he said, "Horus, what happened?"
"They, they got her Duo. I tried, but I couldn't save her. I'm so sorry," he muttered barely above a whisper.
"Oh Horus, you're in terrible shape. You're going to make it, just hang on," he said as he placed the bird inside his room. "Horus, I'll be back. Those guys don't know who they are messing with," he said angrily as he changed into a bat. "Which direction did they go?"
"They left through the front door and into the woods. Please save her sir," Horus said as he shut his eyes.
Duo flew back off into the night in search of Hilde. He scanned the forest floor looking for the faint glow of their torches. Not too far from the castle, he spotted a dim glow on the forest floor. 'That has to be them,' he thought as he swooped down towards the men below. Duo flew ahead of them and landed right before them, changing in front of their very eyes. The men froze at the demon standing before them. Duo saw the one man carrying the unconscious Hilde over his arm. Anger filled his eyes as he spoke darkly, "What the hell did you do to her?"
The boss spoke up and said confidently, "That's none of your business friend. Now let us pass."
"She does not belong to you anymore. Hand her over now if you don't want to die," Duo said coldly.
"Oh really. If you didn't notice, there's four of us and one of you. Even if you are a vampire, the odds don't look very promising," the boss spouted defiantly causing Duo to swell even more with rage.
"I see, well I did give you a choice," Duo said calmly.
Duo's eyes glowed a bright red as he pounced on the man, sending him crashing into the tree behind him. The man never knew what hit him as his limp body crumbled to the floor. "You, you, killed him!" one of the men yelled angrily.
"He gave me no choice," Duo said as he glared at the man.
Before Duo knew it, he was surrounded and jumped from behind by the other two men, receiving two heavy blows on the back. He fell to the ground hard but bounced back up quickly and stared down the two men, who were apparently still in shock as to how he could have got up so quickly from such a blow. Duo put his hand up to his mouth and felt a trickle of blood dribbling down his chin. "Not bad, but could you do that while facing me?" he said as he attacked the two men. The man with Hilde took this time to make a run for it while Duo was distracted. The two men didn't see him coming, he seemed to just disappear into the night before making contact with them, sending them flying into the trees behind them. Their lifeless bodies collapsed the forest floor in two giant heaps.
"Damn, where did the other one go?" Duo said as he scanned the area around him for the other man.
Then coming from the brush ahead of him, he heard the slight rustling of bushes. Duo disappeared and made his way through the forest to catch up to Hilde's captor. "Ha, fool, did he think he could ever catch me?" the man said almost breathlessly as he trudged through the muddy forest floor under his feet. All of a sudden, he felt a huge gust of when blow past him and a figure appeared before him. Frozen with fear, he stood there and stared at the demon that just appeared out of nowhere. "Where do you think you're going?" Duo said coldly as he looked angrily at the man.
"What the hell?" was all he could say before he too was put to death by the hands of Duo.
Hilde had fell to the floor after Duo had killed the man, her limp body curled up in a heap in the mud. Duo picked her up in his arms and pulled her head closely to his chest. After securing her in his embrace, Duo flew off back to the castle. Horus looked up from the floor to see Duo landing on the balcony, an unconscious Hilde cradled in his arms. Duo pushed open the door with his foot and collapsed to his knees. He began weeping uncontrollably, the sobs wracking his body as he pulled her head up to his chest and nuzzled his head in her damp her. "I'm so sorry Hilde. I promised they would never hurt you, I failed you."
Just then, Hilde placed her tiny hand upon Duo's cheek and whispered, "Oh Duo, it wasn't your fault, please, don't cry."
"Oh Hilde, I'm so glad you are all right, I don't know what I would have done without you," he said trying to hold back the tears.
Then a slight breeze blew across the room and Duo raised his head to see the dark angel standing before him. "Duo, you have proved yourself to God that you deserve your salvation. You were willing to risk your life for the life of this young girl. You now know the true meaning of life and for that I am granting you your salvation." With those words, the dark angel waved his staff above Duo. The demons left Duo's body in a cloud of smoke, the curse had been lifted. "You are free Duo Maxwell. May God be with you." The dark angel then disappeared into the night.
Duo looked down at Hilde who was crying from tremendous joy. She brushed a strand of hair away from his face and said, "You were saved Duo. I'm so happy."
He leaned down and kissed her and said, "Now we can live happily ever after my beloved."
"Yes," was all she whispered, as she was lost in his kiss.
*~Owari~*