Arya

He stares down at me, his gaze dripping with disdain.

I wait for him to say something. Anything.

But, he doesn't. My hands are icy, clutching the thin muslin fabric desperately.

I have no weapon to protect me. I can't even move, locked to the spot by a force I can't comprehend.

Even as I stare at the dusty floor, I can feel his gaze on me - piercing deeper than daggers would.

"I have an offer for you". He says, his voice deep and silky.

Unable to resist the urge, I look up. His eyes are mocking, daring me to refuse.

Taking my silence as consent, he continues, "I want you to kill Fang".

It takes a while for it to sink in. Kill Fang?

Part of me revolts at the idea of killing Fang.

"It might tempt you to know that your freedom is the prize".

My eyes hold his, searching for some inkling of truth in them.

Freedom. Can anyone ever grant me freedom?

"Are we in agreement?" He asks, sounding certain that I would not refuse.

"What's in it for you?" I ask.

He leans down, his brocade creasing slightly.

"How is that any of your business?"

Summoning all my courage, I return his fierce gaze.

"If I am to aid a fiend like you, I would like to know your objectives".

"We are not in any partnership".

He leans forward and I draw away.

"All the people who wanted to be my partners are... dead". He whispers.

I gulp.

"You are my loyal subject, Arya. A servant can't kill their master".

I had begun to wonder where she had gone, yet she's been here all along.

"I can't do it". I mutter.

He scoffs, a low and sarcastic sound.

Even the walls now feel threatening. The terror of him overshadows all else - the biting pain of the shakles against the skin of my ankle, the cold of the room, everything.

"Can't or won't. Disobedience has a price".

"Can't". I repeat, despair in my voice.

Despair that I am bound to her against my will.

Yet, even if I could kill Fang, I wouldn't do it because he wants me to do it.

"You wouldn't even want to kill me. You care about me".

The statement makes me want to gag.

"She has you under her spell, doesn't she?"

His precision is gut-clenching.

"Tell me, what exactly is your relationship with her?"

The interest in his eyes is obvious.

"I'm her slave".

His eyes narrow. "You don't have to lie to me, there's no point. Lie and you die".

I don't even know how to describe the relationship I have with her. It's not something I had ever talked about with anyone.

It's parasitic - only one side benefits while the other suffers irrevocable damage.

"Not true, my love. It's both ways. I'm as open to you as you are to me. You'd realize this if you stop fighting the bond".

Her voice echoes in my head, like ripples in water - as each echo dies, another one begins in its stead, bigger and louder than the last.

"Fang is going to be the end of everything - both your world and ours".

I tear my focus away from the voice in my head.

"My world is your world too. We may be demons physically, but we're still the same inwardly".

"Wen Jiang is dead. Keep feeding Xian Xi lies, claiming that his brother is still alive. Reality is, he's dead". He says with painful clarity, his face inching closer as he punctuates each word.

"That's what you think".

"Hope is for fools. If you keep hoping that Fang would ever let you go, then you would remain a slave forever".

"No, I won't!"

"And how exactly do you plan on breaking out of it?" He drawls mockingly, his brows raised.

The smirk on his face turns my stomach.

"I don't."

His smirk widens into a grin, his yellow eyes glinting with dark humor.

There's nothing amusing about the situation.

"When I first met you, I thought you were dangerous, just subdued by her. But now, it seems you are subdued by your own mindset. You're weak in both mind and spirit".

I fist my hands in my lap, anger simmering just beneath the surface of my skin.

"You want to be free, yet you don't want to do anything about it? I think you need some motivation, don't you agree?"

I remain silent, preferring to let him do all the talking.

"I've noticed that you never fight for yourself. That's why you were bearing Fang's poison on your hand. Also why you were able to kill that Annihilator - because Xian Xi's life was at stake. When you were faced with an Annihilator the first time, you ran away. Do you know why? Because you were alone. There was no one to defend, no one to fight for, no one to save. And why do you do this? Because you want to prove that you are not selfish. You want to defy the blood that runs in your veins. Because, you have no value for your own life."

The truth in his words is evident. How does he know so much about me. I clench my fists so tightly my fingernails bite into the soft flesh of my palm, causing it to redden, and blood to spill.

He looks down at my hands and clicks his tongue.

"Honour. That's something demons don't have. And never will - in my opinion. Even if you save the entire Continent, you can't change what you are. You can't change who you are and more importantly, you can't change what you've done. You brought down all the chaos in the Continent all in a bid to save yourself, and now guilt is driving you to save everyone else in spite of yourself. "

"That is why, I know exactly how to make you do what I want. You are so predictable".

He draws back and pats the lapel of his brocade.

I hold my breath, waiting for the threat I know is coming. The words that would bind my conscience to his will.

"If you don't kill her, Xian Xi dies".

"No!" I cry, lunging forward.

My shackles halt my movement, tearing off the cracking skin on my ankle.

I stop, leaning down to peer at the bleeding ankle as a moan escapes me.

"The only sound I'll listen to is the ticking of the clock as time goes by. I'll let you go free, but you have exactly a fortnight to put Fang down. If not, Xian Xi dies. And don't worry, I'll personally deliver his head to you on a silver platter".

I gulp. My mind roams for possible alternatives, my heart threatens to lurch out of my chest. I can't seem to even breathe. No logical thought would grace my dysfunctional brain.

"Not him." I keep chanting to myself.

I can't let him see my fear. It would only fuel his need to prove his point by killing Xian Xi.

"I can't save everybody. If you think you can bend me to your will, you're mistaken". I mutter, trying to sound casual and detached.

From the grin on his face, I can tell that my act is terribly unconvincing. He is not buying it at all.

"Do you take deadly poisons for just anybody? Do you kill Annihilators even when near death just for anybody? Do you kiss anybody just to save them? I think I see a pattern here. You might just be in love with him. That makes it more of a threat now". He sums up.

His eyes are diabolical, glowing with malice and wickedness. He isn't bluffing - there's no doubt about that.

"If he's not important to you, prove it to me. Don't kill Fang. Let's see how your coward heart would survive afterward".

I know what he's doing - he's pushing me against the wall with his words. Reaching into my heart and shattering any self-will I may have had previously. And that's exactly what Fang always did to me. She never hesitates to remind me of what I am - that I will never be good.

"Stop running from your destiny. Once you embrace the darkness, you'll see that there's nothing worth running from".

Then, he vanishes, leaving me to ponder his words.

I cover my face with my hands, struggling to breathe.

Kill Fang or lose Xian Xi?

The bond would prevent me from harming a hair on her head. He is literally asking me to do the impossible. If he knows everything about me, as he seemed to, how doesn't he know that I can't harm Fang?

Is this some part of a bigger plan he's plotting?

Then, the walls slowly disappear. All around is green trees and wet soil. The air is fresher here, brimming with the scent of rain and nectar. The ground is moist beneath my feet, soil filling the gaps between my toes. Birds are chirping in the trees, oblivious of my presence. Rays of the sun pierce through the dense canopy formed by the trees.

I look around. There is no sign of civilization anywhere.

Looking down, I discover that the gash on my ankle is gone. The skin is back to normal.

No weapons, no shoes, nothing.

Where do I even go from here?

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