Chapter 112: Chapter 112

"That demoness in red said that they got her, then ordered everyone else to retreat, she was also targeting Henry, Why is that?" Sara, who regained her coldness and composure, asked Eren in her neutral voice, she didn't like the fact that she was going to work with him, the idea of having him close made her anger rise, but she was willing to do anything to save her sister, and right then, her best and probably only chance to do so was by allying herself with the shadows’ lord, a small part of her kept on telling her that this could be another trap but the biggest part, the sister part, pushed away her doubts,  there was nothing in this world or any world worth losing her sister for, not her deeply buried fears, not her personal loath to the shadows’ lord, not her pride, nothing, Nara was her top priority and for her she was willing to do anything and everything, even if it meant joining forces with the bastard she hated the most.

"I don't know for sure, but if they are after the royal family, it can only be explained by their desire to take down the kingdom." Eren set Sara free from his shadows, it was getting harder and harder to hold her still but he was ready for her resistance this time, not to mention he was on his demonic form, a form created by the fusion of both the dark energy and the creation energy.

"Why? "

"The fire nation wants to rule this world, Sara, in my last fight with the fire lord, Micka, he told me he wanted everything, looks like he meant the word literally."

"Why would you fight with him? Wasn't he your ally? " Sara wasn't actually interested in listening to the shadows lord’ heroic stories, but she was curious about the reason that turned the fire nation against the rest of the demons, every piece of information was valuable, for a later time maybe.

"He wanted you, He persuaded Geraldine to take you to him, and she did, the night she gave you those scars, Luckily I was faster than her, I reached him before she did, I thought I killed him that night but it looks like I was wrong..."

"Luckily indeed..." Sara's voice was still neutral but Eren didn't miss the mockery in it, "Why would Geraldine turn against you? Wasn't she your sweetheart? "

"She was blinded by jealousy, She knew I had feelings for you, and that I planned to keep you alive even after taking your divine blood, She, wanted something she believed was her right, but you took it from her, so she wanted to keep you away from me, It was foolish of her, and it cost her her life, Her father was so angry after that, he turned on me and joined the fire nation." Eren knew that Sara understood what he meant, That the thing Geraldine wanted was his heart, his love, but it was already claimed by the girl standing right next to him, staring at him with cold eyes, stabbing his heart with her aloofness and hatred.

"Why do think they want the world?"

"Micka is a sick narcissist, he wants to be above all, his ambition is limitless, and so is his people’s."

"And you are not?" Sara was a little triggered by how heroic he made himself sound, he wasn't the good guy, he was just as despicable as the rest of his race!

"Say what you want about me, My fair lady, I know I have hurt you, badly, to get what I want, but I did what I did to protect my people, and give them a better life, You see, a demon's life is not that easy at all, and it is all because of the Gods who banished us to the edges of the world, to the lands of death, where there was no hope, no life, where we had to become the monsters we are to survive, where we had to kill, to feed like predators, there are many of us who didn't chose this life, who hated it, children were born to that crucial world and they were killed before they even knew what they did wrong, we couldn't afford to love because with love came the fear of being killed, I wanted to free my people from their curse, from the agony of killing an innocent just to survive, my people never lived, their lives were nothing but episodes of killing to survive, i wanted my people to live in the place where the sun could shine, where the kids could go out and play and learn and grow up and love and marry and die without having to have blood on their hands, but even that was going to be taken from us as the Gods drew back the energy to the center, Now I understand I did you wrong, Very wrong and I regret it to my very core, but tell me one thing Sara and be honest with me, if you were in my shoes, and the people you care about, including your sister, where suffering, Will you stop at anything to protect them? Will you spare the lives of the demons who kidnapped your sister even though they were just following the orders?" Eren’s eyes were vulnerable for the very first time, begging her to understand, to feel him, to sense the agony he was in, and the choices he had to make.

"No, I will kill them all, and I will stop at nothing to protect my people, It doesn't make me hate you any less though." Sara answered truthfully, even if what he said was the truth, he didn't have to lie to her, make her fall for him them burn her heart, he didn't have to torture her, he didn't have to hurt her that deep, and most importantly, he didn't have to take her last moments with her father, she could have forgiven the physical pain, but not breaking her heart, and not stealing her time with her father, and probably her chance to save him.

Eren wanted to say something, he opened his mouth then closed it several times, no words were left in him, it was his heart's turn to be broken and it was so painful to even speak.

"I've found them..." Eren, who sent his shadows to track down the demons while talking got a response finally from them, the fire demons had stopped not far from them.

"I did too..."

Covered with shadows to mask their presence, Both Eren and Sara headed straight where the fire demons were, they did stop in a cave, probably to rest after the massive attack they did in the Taghit royal castle, settling themselves close enough to watch the demons but not too close to get exposed, Both Eren and Sara watched the cave carefully.

"There are twenty of them..." Eren whispered loud enough for only Sara to hear, the cave was located among high bleak mountains, they didn't talk much after their last conversation, Eren was hurt by her words but he knew he only had himself to blame, even though he didn't have much choices back in the time when he lied to her, kidnapped her and tortured her to awake her divine blood,  he was bound by the time and the urgency of the situation, but also that monstrous side of him, the demonic sadistic part that only understood pain, Sara didn't know much about Eren, and how his demonic side took over him since a very young age, she didn't understand that love and compassion and care and sympathy were heavy feelings for him back then, that instead of giving him the happiness they gave to a human they only sat on his chest like a weight that kept him from breathing, a demon, and more precisely a demon with thick blood who was so saturated with dark magic understood pain and agony but love?  Love was too heavy and expensive; love was a luxury he couldn't afford with his race's fate in his hand.

However, he knew that if he let himself know her better, if he had been honest with her, if he put her first like he was doing right then that many things would have been different, it was something he regretted every second but he knew it was in the past, he knew he couldn't possibly change anything but for what it’s worth he was going to love and protect her until the last day of his life, whether she mirrored his feelings or not, whether she wanted his protection or not.

"Why haven't they killed her yet? If they are really targeting the royal family in order to spread chaos in the kingdom and take it down when it is at its lowest, then why are they keeping her alive?" Sara who was so focused on her unconscious sister’s aura asked about the thing she was most afraid of but unfortunately was the most logical and probable thing to do by those demons.

"Nara doesn't have any strength or importance to the demons beside her status, So they are probably keeping her alive as a hostage, maybe for a trade or to blackmail the King into submission, I am not sure..." Focused back on their mission, Eren started to form a plan, Only that he had a bad feeling about the whole matter, He was certain that over one hundred demons left the castle but now he was only able to sense twenty, deciding to play the safe way, Eren mind linked Andrea, telling her about the situation  and slipping some orders in case the situation got out of their hands.

"Listen Sara, I will charge first, distract them all while you sneak into the cave and save the princess, but be careful, you are going to be facing at least two of them and they will be ready for you, they are probably exhausted from their last attack, so we better make this as quick as possible, if anything goes wrong, scream loudly and I will come for you..."

Sara wanted to tell him she didn't need him but she knew that she did, not for her sake but her sister's, and the shadow lord's plan was the best chance to save Nara.

"About my strength..." The words were hard to say, Sara admitted to herself, they scratched her throat but she needed guidance, she needed someone to tell her how to handle her powers without hurting herself, and the shadows’ lord was the only one she could ask.

"You do know that your mother was a first-generation Goddess, So you have great amount of energy inside of you, you have started to use it and that is good but using the energy in it pure form is harmful for you, not to mention it would exhaust you, maybe before you cause your opponent any actual damage, instead try to use the elements, like what we demons do..."

"How so? "

"The creation energy you possess is the energy of life, of existence, so it is related to everything in this world, like the ability you possess to absorb life from those you touch, that is because the energy you carry within you is the one that created life in the first place, try to find your connection with everything else in life, including the elements necessary for the livings, such as the soil, the water, the light, the heat and fire, air, these elements already exist around you, you don't have to recreate them, all you have to do is find your connection to them, amplify them and manipulate them, wield them, and use them against your enemies, this will give your attacks bigger amplitude while consuming less energy..."

"So according to you, I can use all the elements? I'm not just stuck to one?" Even in her wildest dreams, Sara never thought the mentor she needed was none other than the person she wanted to learn about her powers in order to kill, not that she minded the help, not in such an uptight situation.

"Except for those that are related to the dark energy, like darkness and shadows, the fire you can create is also different from the ones they use, I don't know how exactly as I haven't seen it before, but in this situation, I'll recommend you to go for Water, as it is the best element against fire, be careful with it, and call me once things start to get hard."

"Won't you be busy fighting the rest of the demons?"

"I will manage..."

Sara and Eren shared a look, each thinking about something different from the other, Eren didn't want her to participate in this, he didn't want her anywhere near danger but he knew she needed to do this, for herself, she needed to start learning about her powers, for the day when the enemies even he can't protect her from show up.

Sara on the other hand was trying not to think about anything at the time, she tried to clear her mind from everything and only focus on her sister and her powers as the thoughts that bloomed in her head were not quite helpful.

"It is time, I will go in first, when you see my signal come after me, and stay safe..." Sara replied to Eren with a nod, it was all she could muster at the moment and it was enough for the shadows’ lord who took his leave towards the cave.

Now all Sara had to do, was wait.