There were many times when Korrozak almost dozed off when he sat down to rest. Having gone the night without sleep, he had been hoping to find someplace to sleep the day away, but the opportunity never arose, so he had to walk all day. Once the joys of night befell the skies once again, Korrozak took to the wind, pulling out his wings and taking off without a second thought. He couldn't wait for his next opportunity to sleep. He flew all night without rest and soon, dawn came again, but the ends of the plains were nowhere in sight. Korrozak flew back to the ground and put away his wings. He took a small break, then continued trudging through the blazing sun. Another day passed and it was nighttime again. This time, when Korrozak pulled out his wings, he couldn't fly. He tried and tried and tried but he always fell right back to the ground. He was hungry, thirsty and tired from non-stop walking and flying. So instead, Korrozak put his wings away and continued on walking. Suddenly, he heard fast approaching footsteps behind him. He turned to look and recognized the horses he saw earlier. He watched as the horses slowed to a stop right next to him and an old man leaned out over to look at him.
"Hey there! Watcha doing out here in the plains all by yourself?" he asked.
"I'm heading north." Korrozak replied.
"On foot?"
"I underestimated how far the plains would stretch."
"We're heading north too, if you wanna hitch a ride."
"I would appreciate that."
"Hey guys! Do you mind having a straggler come along with us?" the old man shouted to the rest of the group. There were a few muffled voices among them before the man turned back to Korrozak. "The others are ok with you traveling with us as long as you don't eat too much of our food."
"Ok. Who do I ride with?"
"You can ride with me." Korrozak jumped up behind the old man and got comfortable. He sat facing away from the old man and held his bag tightly against his chest. There were four others. A little boy, another man, a woman and a little girl, each with their own horses. The little boy looked around seven to ten and he had white hair and green eyes. The man was muscular and he had dark brown hair and eyes. The woman had black hair and brown eyes and the girl had silver hair and blue eyes. They rode in a two by two with the old man in the lead and the girls in the back. Korrozak turned himself around to face the rest of the group.
"Thanks for letting me ride with you guys. My name is Korrozak." he introduced.
"My name is Lyman." the muscular man replied.
"I'm Simon." the little boy burst.
"I'm Ray." the man behind him called.
"My name is Novanna, but you can just call me Nova." the woman spoke with an air of authority. The young girl said nothing. Korrozak stared expectantly at her. It was just then he noticed the chains on her wrists and ankles, how tattered her clothes looked, how dirty and bruised she was and how dull her eyes were.
"Excuse me, why is she chained up like a slave?" Korrozak pointed at the little girl.
"Because that's exactly what she's going to be." Nova explained.
"Isn't that illegal?"
"Not up north. Demons are sold on the black market, as long as the DMA doesn't find out. Young demons like her are sold to wealthy people for a lot of money to work as slaves." she explained. "We've taught her to do and not to do a lot of things. For example, she is not to speak unless spoken to, she is not to eat unless given food, she is not to talk back in any way and she is to do anything she is told to do regardless of her emotions, personal opinion or safety. If you want to give it a try go ahead." Korrozak looked back at the little girl.
"What's your name?" he called.
"Ira." Her voice was sweet and quiet and a little hard to hear over the thumping of the horses.
"Why do you want to know her name? Just call her whatever you want and she'll still respond. You could call her a cow for all she cares." Nova scoffed.
"Are you ok with being treated this way, Ira?" Korrozak asked, ignoring Nova.
"My personal opinion doesn't matter." she whispered back.
"It does to me." he said firmly.
"...Yes, I'm ok with being treated like this." She just looked away. Korrozak watched her sadly before looking up at the stars. He blankly watched the stars pass overhead before slowly closing his eyes. He was too tired to do anything more for the night, but he still kept his senses alert. He managed to keep himself from leaning against Ray without falling off the back of the horse as he slept. Lyman sped up his horse to run alongside Ray's horse and reached out for Korrozak's bag. Just before he reached it, Korrozak grabbed his wrist. He glanced up at Lyman, his eyes full of menace.
"Don't touch my stuff." he warned before letting Lyman's wrist go. Korrozak then pulled his bag closer to him and went back to sleep. Lyman rubbed his wrist with his other hand and stared cautiously at Korrozak.
"What the hell..? He was fast asleep just moments ago." Lyman muttered to himself, slowing his horse back into position
"He must have amazing instincts." Simon whispered. "Do you think he's a demon?"
"It's possible, but I would assume he would've run off, after hearing that the North is selling demons into slavery." Nova argued. She then stared at Korrozak. "This also means he doesn't trust us. We need to find a way to gain his trust so that we can confirm if he's a demon."
"What if he is a demon?"
"We capture him and sell him."
"Why not have him show us his blood color? If it's red he's human." Lyman suggested. "If he's reluctant to do so we can be suspicious."
"We'll ask him when he wakes up." Nova agreed. Simon nodded.
"Nap time!" Ray called in front. They all slowed their horses down to a stop and got off. Korrozak was already fast asleep so he stayed on the horse. Nova looked at Ira. "Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't do anything fishy without us noticing." Nova reminded. Ira nodded and stared unblinkingly at Korrozak. The others set down blankets to sleep on and laid down for the night.
~ * ~
Lyman was the first to wake up. It was now a little past dawn. He noticed Ira was still awake, although she was now finding it hard to keep her eyes open.
"You can stop watching him." Lyman walked over to her. "Did he do anything out of the ordinary?"
"Well, he hasn't fallen off the horse yet." she stated.
"That's some amazing balance."
"Gossiping about others is rude, you know." Korrozak opened his eyes and lept off the horse. "I might be a stranger but man, you guys could use some more manners."
"I think we have plenty of manners, thank you." Nova interrupted.
"You watched me while I was sleeping and then talked about me when you thought I couldn't hear you. What about that is good manners?" Nova glared at him. Korrozak stared firmly back at her.
"Korrozak, we wanted to test something." Lyman interrupted. Korrozak turned his gaze towards him. He suddenly got nervous as Korrozak stared at him, but continued anyway. "We wanted to know if you would be willing to show us your blood." Korrozak continued to stare, unwavering, at him. His uneasiness only grew as Korrozak dragged out his response. He then smiled softly at Lyman.
"That's all? I thought you were going to have me do something dangerous, the way you sounded." Korrozak laughed.
"What are we laughing about?" Simon mumbled, sleepily. Korrozak's innocent smile turned mischievous.
"You want to check if I'm human or not? Friend or foe? Prey or predator?" he pondered aloud. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small dagger. It was a simple dagger with a simple blade, simple guard, simple handle and simple hilt. He unsheathed it slowly. A chill ran through the small group.
"Y-you're not planning on doing anything dangerous with that dagger, are you?" Nova stammered.
"Of course I am. You asked for it." he flipped the dagger around and stabbed his hand with it, wincing from the pain. He then held out his bloody hand for the rest to see, letting the blood drip onto the ground. The others just stared at his hand blankly, still shocked from fear. "Well?"
"W-well what?" Lyman stuttered, glancing from Korrozak to his hand.
"You wanted to know if I was a demon through my blood, right? Does this prove I'm not a demon?"
"Uh-yes! Of course it does!" Nova snapped. She raised a hand over her mouth. "No hesitation at all. And it was his own hand." she whispered to herself. Korrozak reached into his bag and grabbed some bandages and ointment. He rubbed the cut with ointment, flinching as it stung and wrapped it in bandages. Ira stared curiously at his hand before yawning. Korrozak stretched and yawned as well.
"Now that that's settled, I'm gonna go back to sleep."
"But you just woke up!" Lyman burst.
"I have been walking for... days without sleep. I am so tired you wouldn't believe it." Korrozak yawned in the middle of his sentence. "I need more sleep."
"That's fine by me if you want to miss your share of breakfast." Nova turned away with a mischievous smile. When he didn't respond, she turned back to see him on the horse and sleeping already. Nova looked at him in confusion but ignored it. After they had breakfast, they mounted their horses and set out again. Hours passed and it was soon lunchtime. Nova glanced back at Korrozak. "Is he still asleep? He must've been exhausted to have slept this long. Did he die or something?"
"He is still breathing and his heart is still beating." Ira reported. She stared sleepily at Korrozak and started nodding off as she watched him. She then shook her head and slapped her cheeks, fighting to stay awake.
"You know you don't have to watch him anymore."
"I would like to continue this out of self interest. He looks a lot like the demon I told you about the other day but his blood was red like any other human's. It doesn't make sense to me, so I am trying to figure out the truth. If you wish me to stop, I will gladly do so."
"As long as this self interest doesn't get in the way of your orders." Nova turned away to get out the food. "Let's stop here!" They slowed the horses to a jolting stop. Even with the sudden stop, Korrozak didn't fall off the horse. Nova ignored him and split the food into five piles and handed a pile to everyone. Each pile consisted of a roll of bread and a cup of water. She gave Korrozak's share to Ira.
"If he wakes up, give it to him." Nova ordered. Ira nodded and turned to see Korrozak staring directly at her. Her heart dropped for a moment when she noticed his friendly smile and calmed down.
"You can have it if you want. I'm not hungry yet." he said, before closing his eyes. His breathing deepened and Ira believed he fell asleep again. She looked down at the food in her lap and hungrily dove in. Nova then fed the horses and gave them water before the group set off again. Hours passed by and it was soon dusk. Ray slowed to a stop and turned to the rest of the group.
"We'll camp here for the night." he announced. Instantly, Nova turned to the bag of food while Lyman jumped down and stretched his back. Simon, Ray and Ira joined them and began to make a small campfire. Korrozak was still asleep.
"How can he sleep so well? We're in the middle of the plains and we're complete strangers to him."
"He's just weird, Nova." Lyman stated. Nova walked over to Korrozak and poked at his leg.
"Wake up! It's dinner time."