Chapter 23

Fan-Min woke up to a sudden stinging pain on her cheek. As she flicked her eyes open, she realized she had been slapped. Hard. Taking in her surroundings, she was still in the Forgotten Tower once owned by the Countess. Her hands were shackled above her by chains connected and tightened to the ceiling. Her feet were free, but she could barely reach the floor, forced to constantly stand on her toes or she'd suffer immense pain from her arms being pulled by her restraints.

She looked herself over. She had been stripped of her garments, left only in her underwear, and she had suffered several cuts and bruises. Whatever had knocked her out had done it quite forcefully and thoroughly. Apparently, the monsters had been able to harm her more without even waking her up.

Before her were two demonic beings. She recognized them immediately. It was Avator. The other was the dark fairy from the mass grave. Avator was massive. He stood several feet taller than Fan-Min and looked like a pale, brooding man. She figured he stood a little over 8 feet tall. He was incredibly handsome and muscled. His face was rugged, but attractive and his hair was perfect. On his back were two enormous wings, like the wings of a bat, but big enough to lift a demonic creature of well over 200 pounds of muscle. She could see a strong-looking demonic tail resting on the ground behind him. He wore nothing on him at all, save the dark fairy that seemed to almost be a permanent fixture on his shoulder.

The dark fairy was just a few inches tall and had beautiful wings, like a butterfly, that shimmered in the dark room. They were a dark purple color with various green splotches that were identically placed on each wing. His hair was a dark black and his skin, like his large master's, an eerie pale white. He also wore nothing as far as clothing was concerned. Together, the two demons were intimidating looking, but Fan-Min wasn't afraid. Li-Ming had been in situations worse than this and she'd gotten out of them. Fan-Min was sure of that. She'd do it too.

"You're awake." Avator spoke in a deep, rumbling, and all-too-pleased voice. "Good."

Fan-Min could feel her mouth bleeding on the inside from the hard smack to her cheek. She spat the blood on the demon's large feet. "What do you want from me?"

Avator laughed a deep laugh, much like an earthquake. "As if I'd want anything of you."

"You do, or you'd have killed me already."

"I suppose I want something, but it's not you. You're too reckless. Too chaotic." He pressed his hand gently on her stomach, making Fan-Min feel queasy. She'd rather he be beating her than gentle with her. "I just want your power." He looked her in the eyes and they both froze. "Not you."

"Sorry." Fan-Min scoffed. "We're one in the same. Can't have one without the other."

"Oh, but I can." He chuckled and looked at the small fairy on his broad shoulder. "Can't I, Rin?"

Rin nodded his head eagerly. "Of course, my lord." He smiled a big grin. "You can take anything you want."

"Indeed."

"Just try it." Fan-Min taunted him, tired of beating around the bush.

Suddenly, she felt a large thud against her side, as if she'd been hit by a huge club. Recovering, she realized she'd been hit by Avator's massive tail. It felt like it was made entirely of muscle. Fan-Min knew she was going to have a massive bruise shortly. Rather than cry out, she bit her tongue and looked Avator in the eyes, confident she could beat him. She wasn't sure how or when, but she knew she'd win.

"You can act tough." Avator smiled devilishly. "But you'll be mine."

"Everyone gives in to my lord after some time." Rin added.

"We'll see about that." She spit more blood and tried to resist gritting her teeth to the pain. She wasn't sure how she was going to get out of this. Avator then snapped his fingers and turned to leave the room with Rin. On cue, a group of smaller demons entered the room. Avator turned around and grinned at Fan-Min before he left the room and shut the door. For some reason, Fan-Min sensed something in that last look toward her. There was some sort of demonic magic in it. She suddenly felt a strange fogginess in her head and in her heart. Avator was the last thing she could think of before the small demons began beating and torturing her.