Harvest

by Sereia13

He was their latest conquest—the unmistakable mark of a daiyoukai etched into his brow. The ground shook when he arrived, and it had taken the entire horde to get him into the cage. He'd snapped at her when she came close, no doubt assuming she was one of them, but after the third visit, he'd finally noticed the collar around her neck and quieted down.

10. Spread

A rolling landscape spread out before her, the sounds of terror and bloodshed still fresh in her mind. She supposed she should feel even the slightest amount of guilt for dooming such a large amount of people to their deaths, but actions spoke louder than words.

And screams.

If they'd shown even the slightest remorse, she would've convinced the beast to show them mercy. She could only imagine how many others they'd captured and slaughtered before she'd shown up. Stopping them meant preventing future creatures from suffering at their hand, so in her mind, it was an even trade-off.

Her only regret was not being able to stick around. She wasn't sadistic enough to want to witness each of her captors meeting their comeuppance, but she would've liked to at least know the beast's name. Kagome had no doubt he'd be able to communicate better after leaving the cage, but she couldn't risk it. If anything, they'd have used her to force him into surrendering, and then there was no telling what would happen to them.

As it was, her trust in humans was already broken. If something as simple as helping a child had enslaved her for months, she would have to be much more careful about whom she offered her power to. It pained her to think that way, to assume everyone had a hidden agenda, but what else could she do?

The collar was still tight around her neck, and showing it to the wrong person would only put her right back where she'd come from. She needed someone she could trust, someone who had nothing to lose by helping her, but there hadn't been many opportunities for friendships during her travels.

Heaving a sigh, she settled down in the mouth of a cave. She knew she couldn't make it until sunrise, so she needed to find the safest place possible before she could actually rest. She'd passed by a river earlier and scrubbed herself and her clothes clean of dirt and lingering scents, hoping to throw them off her own. She'd opened up a few of the wounds, but laying down in the near-freezing waters had slowed the blood flow enough to cover her trail.

She'd likely feel it in the morning, but that was a problem for her future self. For now, all she wanted was sleep—and to wake up without worrying about feeling trapped.