Chapter 111: Chapter 111

Henry and Rima stared with widened eyes at Dahlia who was scanning the place with her eyes, looking for the lost princess, her cold mask slipping to show how worried she actually felt.

“We thought that she was with you, she left the dining room to come and get you and she didn’t return!” Rima frowned, her expression a mixture of worry and pain, her burns looked back but not a bad as the ones that hit her pride after being defeated by a hybrid.

“You mean you don’t know where she is? You are her fucking knightess! How come you don’t know where she is?” Henry barked at the black-haired girl who was running all over the place, not caring about him as she gave orders for everyone to look for the princess, the pain and fear for his sister only intensified his anger which he directed towards the person he liked the least in the room.

“Calm down, Henry! It is no one’s fault!” Eren barely contained the angry growl that threatened to escape his lips, he hated the way his friend talked to his woman, but he couldn’t show it, everyone was calling her something that wasn’t her name, she looked different, which meant that she was hiding her identity for some reason and he didn’t want to blow up her cover by acting too protective towards someone he barely knew.

Sara heard the contained anger in Eren’s calm voice as well as the threat in her brother’s angry barks, but she couldn’t care less about either, all her thoughts were focused on finding her sister, but it was of no use, her smell disappeared from the castle and so did the smell of the fire demons, leaving behind nothing but smoke and ashes, and while she was busy searching and ordering everyone to search the castle, Eren and Rima had a small conversation, remembering  the demoness from the meeting of the demons they had before the war with the Gods, she was Lord Micka's fiancée, only that she wasn't that powerful back then, and suddenly she acquired enough power to take down the ice queen herself.

While searching crazily, every one of the four had a thought on his mind, Sara was consumed by worry, a deep frown obvious on her face, she looked for traces, auras, scents, anything, she was trying to keep her cool and think rationally instead of letting her emotions take over, but no matter how hard she tried to stay calm, the thought of her sister being hurt by the demons only threatened to crack her.

Henry was in no better state, Nara was the only family he had left, he couldn't afford to lose her, he kept on thinking about the fire demons, how did they manage to enter the castle in without being noticed by the ice or shadow demons, a very small and dark voice whispered inside his head, telling him that the demons were dangerous and couldn’t be trusted, that maybe the others didn’t warn them deliberately, that it was all a one big and sick plot, but one look to his queen made that voice die immediately, leaving him back with his unanswered questions.

Rima on the other hand was worried about the human princess and her brother, but at the same time, kept on blaming herself for her inability to stop the fire demoness, even if she hasn't been feeding properly lately to keep her dark magic as strong as it was, and her core was still cracked and weakened, the fire demoness on the other hand was more than well fed, her dark magic was so dominant and strong, the fire element wasn’t just the most destructive one but also the enemy of ice and shadows, making the fire demons the strongest and most dangerous, but none of those facts mattered to Rima or made her feel better about herself as she kept on blaming herself and feeling ashamed.

Eren, who didn't care much about the redheaded princess except for the fact that she was the sister of his friend and beloved, kept on watching the black-heared girl moving from one place to the other in a desperate attempt to find any trace of her sister, he knew that she knew, as well as he did, that her sister was gone, she just refused to admit it, maybe out of hope, maybe out of fear, he didn't really know as she wasn't the same girl she used to be, not that it effected his feelings for her, he loved her and still did, with all the sharpness and edginess she acquired through time and pain, with all the walls she built around herself, he just wished she was smiling like she used to, laughing and loving and living freely like the girl he used to meet at the river, he knew she was genuinely happy at those rare moments, and the truth was, a part of him was also happy, with her presence, he wished she could be happy again, he wished he can make her happy again, but he knew all he can make her in the time being, beside angry and hateful,  was safe...

It was her safety that mattered to him the most, during the attack, he shielded her with his darkness making sure none of the demons recognized the pure energy she emitted, and none of them showed any signs that they noticed anything strange, his arrival turned the tables and drew attention to him, hopefully, and he wasn't one to relay on hope.

Dahlia, was the name everyone was calling her, and she answered to Henry by "Your Grace", and talked about Nara as "The princess", she was hiding her identity from them, It was a wise move although he wished she could be treated as their sister, a royal, a princess and not a servant, there were so many questions about her, what happened to her, how did she became what she was, and what did she want, Eren knew that he couldn’t just walk towards her and ask her, the girl literally wanted him dead, and he had no plans on dying before assuring that all her enemies were dead, all those who might hurt her were dead, and he wasn't going to die before doing everything in his power to win her back.

"She is not here, they took her... " Eren told for everyone to stop looking, enough time was wasted already, Henry was frowning while Sara almost broke her jaw from how hard she was clenching it, oppressing her feelings.

"We need to find her, and we need to know how did they got in, and even managed to stay hidden right under our noses." Rima started reasoning, it was a fact, no one felt the fire demons’ presence until they started attacking which was very strange and alarming.

"They are all hybrids, just like me, they used their human blood to approach without being detected." Eren answered the question, Rima was a bit surprised by the fact, Hybrids were not usually that strong, except for the shadows’ lord but he was a special case with thick blood, it was hard to believe considering how powerful the demons who attacked them were, not to mention the fire weasel named Micka was very discriminating when it came to hybrids, he looked down on them and considered them as the lowest trash, for his kingdom to have so many hybrids, strong hybrids that is, was not only strange but alarming.

"Maybe they have sneaked in with the army, or the servants, interrogate the Guards and look for every possible information you can find..." Henry ordered the servants and soldiers who were busy cleaning the scene and lifting the dead bodies, it was a terrible sight but not as terrible as the fact that his sister was missing.

"Dahlia, I need you to..." Henry wanted to leave the investigations and the castle restoration to the black-haired girl while he and the shadows’ lord go search for his sister while the ice queen focus on her injuries but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did she go?" Henry asked but no one answered him, for no one noticed when the girl disappeared.

"Henry, leave the matter of your sister to me" Henry tried to object but the shadows’ lord shook his head quickly "Trust me, I will be better off alone, while you stay here and reassure your people, I will bring her back, believe in me..."

“She is my only family, Eren, keep her safe, and bring her back to me!” Henry said in a tired voice, his eyes almost pleading as he placed his faith in his friend who nodded before taking off.

Eren wasted no time to chase after Sara who left the castle perimeter in no time, she was fast, he thought, too fast, faster than any demon beside himself, and also strong, he saw the dead fire demons on the way to the dining room, all of them were killed with a single strike, he knew it was her doing judging by how clean the kills were, beside the huge holes in their chests, they had no other injuries, he was impressed, not minutes before it she was incapable of controlling her powers and almost killed herself, and probably everyone else in the castle including him, yet she was able to have such control on her powers and take down at least a dozen of experienced demons who have been fighters all their lives so easily, and with such control and precision, it was impressive and made him feel a little bit more relieved knowing she was not so frail and vulnerable anymore, that she was getting stronger everyday becoming more capable of protecting herself.

However, Eren knew that Sara was still far from being safe on her own, there were many enemies out there willing to take her down the second they spot her, enemies who were way stronger and crueler than her, including the fire demoness who took down Rima herself, not to mention the Gods whom he had no idea about their locations nor intentions, there were still many dangers in this world that she wasn't ready nor aware of them as she believed he was her only enemy, and he didn't plan to sit around and let her face them, not alone at least.

Spotting her in a hill outside the castle, Eren landed next to her, she already sensed his presence and readied herself for another round while giving him that angry hateful glare, however, she didn’t attack him, she didn’t want to waste her energy on him or risk losing the little control she had over her emotions, not with her sister in the demons’ hold, as she knew by experience that it wasn’t the gentlest of holds to be in.

"What do you want? "

"The same thing as you, to save the princess" Eren talked calmly, truth is, he wanted to save the princess, just not Nara, but her, Sara, he knew there was nothing in the world that might stop her from going after her sister and he also knew there was nothing in the world that might stop him from protecting her.

"I told you to stay away from her!" Sara seethed, already afraid of wasting more time with the unworthy monster in front of her. " I will save her by myself, You just... "

"And what makes you think I answer to you?" Eren interrupted her sharply, he wasn't bothered by her words nor was he offended by them, he just needed to make it clear for her that he wasn't leaving, that he was going to be there for her, with her, protect her, always, whether she wanted it or not.

Sara on the other hand, felt like someone just punched her in the stomach, but instead of delivering pain, that punch delivered a hellish dose of anger that poured straight into her system, she felt the heat crawling back under her skin ready to finish what she started earlier.

"Sara, calm down and listen to me, don't let your anger take control of you again, I won't be taken by surprise like last time, and trust me when I say that without the element of surprise, you are going to burn yourself to ashes before being able to touch me." Eren noticed that Sara actually stopped to consider his words, they were not the total truth but they were not a lie either.

"You need me if you want to save your sister."

" I don't need you...."

" Oh really? Do you even know what are you going to deal with?  Do you know what the fire empire even looks like?  How many demons are there? Their strength? Their elements? Their ways of fight? Do you think you can just walk there and rip few demons’ hearts out then grab your sister who is going to be waiting for you just outside and leave? Don't fool yourself."

"Don't you dare... "

"There is a reason why the fire demons are the most dangerous among my kind, the fire element is the most destructive, they are literal war monsters, and unlike the shadow demons or the ice demons, they did not go to the center, they did not lose their warriors there, they did not stop on feeding on human blood so their magic was never weakened, you saw the proof with your own eyes, Rima is one of the purest demons in this world, her family is one of the oldest and they've kept their line pure, but she was taken down by a hybrid fire demoness whose power was barely noticeable the last time I saw her, which means they have grown even stronger, So you can't just go there and expect to return safe, because trust me when I say, they are not going to take few drops of your blood and then set you free..." Eren gave her a pointed look, noticing the way she was biting her inner cheek, something that reminded him of her old self a little, and steered the urge inside of him to pull her into his arms, hug her tightly, and tell her that everything was going to be alright.

"You said it yourself…” Sara who calmed herself enough to listen to the shadow lord without wanting, not that bad at least, to rip his tongue out of his throat, looked at him with her emotionless face, determination clear in her eyes "We are all going to die one day, So if I am going to die, better die while trying to save my sister, but I don't want you anywhere near me, I don't want your help, The only thing I want from you, is your death..." Her words felt like daggers piercing his heart, but he didn’t show it, she was holding on her words and so was he.

Sara turned to leave but she found herself incapable of doing so, looking back sharply at the demon lord who was still in that horrifying monster form of his, he took few steps toward her, almost closing the distance between them, he wanted so bad to touch her, to run his fingers on her face but he knew she wouldn't appreciate it, not to mention that weird ability she possessed of absorbing the life of everything she touches.

"Listen to me very well, My fair lady, You can hate me all you want, you can be angry at me, You can hurt me, You can kill me, but don't think for a second, that you can keep me away from you while you walk to your death, a horrific death, don't think you have the power to stop me from protecting you, because you can't, and I will protect you, with or without your consent, and if you are so persistent on going there alone, then I will tie you up to this tree or lock you back in my room and go get your sister myself, and you know that this it will take time your sister doesn't have, so put your stubbornness aside for once, for this isn’t about you and me, this is about her."

"Why..." Sara who was struggling to break free from the demon lord's invisible shackles stopped for a second to ask in frustration "Why won't you just leave me alone..."

Eren wanted to smile at that stupid question, maybe she didn't change that much after all...

"You already know why, My fair lady..."