Neera had not run that fast in her entire life. She felt what was behind her run after her, and Neera screamed, she screamed so hard as she ran. She did not even know where she was running to; she had forgotten where she came from but she did not stop running. Suddenly she stumbled on a stone and lost balance, and fell head first to the ground. Her head hit another stone when she fell, and she rolled a few times before she came to a pause.
Neera tried to stand up, but she fell back down as blood trickled down her head. The creature had almost caught up to her now. She could hear its footsteps just behind her. Neera pulled herself forward as she tried to crawl away, but she could barely move. Tears fell from her eyes when she realized her death had finally come.
…
Adeline sat with the maids as she watched the soldiers lit the firewoods on fire. Her eyes looked up in the sky and she smiled when she saw it was already dark. Neera must have been killed by the soul eaters by now. She thought.
Adeline smiled to herself as she felt relieved; now the king would not think about her anymore. In a few days, everyone would forget that she even existed. After all, she was just a maid. No one would even care what happened to her.
Except that was not the case…
Zavian was about to leave with the soldiers to go hunt the soul eaters when his eyes looked to where the maids sat and he frowned;
He remembered asking someone to call her, but she did not come to see him. Walking to where they sat, he asked the maid whom he had sent to call her;
''Where is Neera? ''
All the maids stood and bowed as the king approached them, and Adeline answered;
''My King, I do not know where she is. I relayed your message, and she had nodded, but after then, I did not see her anymore.''
Zavian frowned as he looked around the area, but she was really not anywhere close.
''Your Majesty, I think I saw her going into the woods. She was holding a knife. '' Another maid said and Zavian's expression grew dark. In a flash, he dashed into the woods. The soldiers followed right after him, but they were slower. Only the ancient demons could run at an incredibly fast speed, so they could barely catch up with him.
Zavian ran so fast, trying hard to avoid the trees in his way, but splitting the few he couldn't avoid in two. He was not thinking straight. The only thought in his mind was how to save her. Nothing else mattered. Zavian stopped for a second and listened for any sound, and that was when he heard her tiny little voice.
''help…me...''
...
''Get away from me! '' Neera cried as she picked a stone and threw it at the monster hovering over her, but it barely did a thing. The creature did not say a word, but bent over her and pulled her up by her neck.
Neera was almost choking from how hard it held her. Only when she stood up, she realized it was human_ or maybe it looked like a human. She would have mistaken it for a human if it was not about to kill her right now.
Neera tried to scream, but he held her neck tighter, stifling her voice. Her legs kicked in the air as she struggled to breathe. The creature pushed her hair away from her face, and shock flashed through his eyes. His hold on her neck loosened, and she fell to the ground.
Neera coughed as she tried to crawl away, but he caught her again, lifting her up; he laughed;
''You are not her.'' He said, as his grip on her neck tightened. Neera coughed as she pushed against his hand, but it barely did a thing. He was suffocating her, and she could barely breathe.
''You look so much like Delilah, but you are just an ordinary human with no powers. '' He laughed again, this time his eyes turned pitch black. Color drained from Neera's face as she stared at the beast holding her neck. His eyes had changed from normal human eyes to pitch-black eyes. She tried to look away but she could not resist staring into his eyes.
''Help… me… '' she muffled as she felt herself lose air. Suddenly, the creature holding her frowned. He stared at her intently again as though he was expecting something to happen, but nothing was.
He was about to say something when something approached from behind and in a second, all color drained from his face.
Neera felt his hold against her neck release and the next second, he fell to the ground.
Neera looked up, and in front of her stood the king. But this time, he was unrecognizable. His golden eyes looked like burning coal and his fangs were elongated. He looked really scary as he held the creature's pulsating heart in one hand. Neera opened her lips to speak, but her strength failed her, and the next second, she was on the ground.
Zavian stood with the soul eater's heart in his hand as he stared at the woman on the ground. What was he doing? That moment when he heard she had gone into the woods alone, he did not know what came over him, and he dashed into the woods.
It was the same feeling he had when he saw his father hold her neck. She had struggled against his grip, but his fangs dug into her neck. He remembered running with everything in him, but before he could get to him, he had pulled her heart out.
Zavian breathed heavily as he stared at the woman on the ground. Why did she have to look like her? Why did she have to pull him back to the hole he had struggled to come out from after all these years?