Soul of a demon

Baharsh approached the compound grimly, letting his leathery wings play with the air currents as he prepared himself for what was coming. He hated having to deal with The General. Strategically he knew the human was crucial to winning the war but the man made him sick. Baharsh chuckled to himself as he recognized the irony of that thought. It wasn't the man's cruelty that bothered him, or even his willingness to turn on his own kind, rather the apparent lack of loyalty to his soldiers. Demon code demanded absolute loyalty to your brothers; sure there were times of uprising or separation of sides, and Baharsh had punished his soldiers, even beaten them, but he would never kill them for pleasure the way The General did. He seemed to gut 10 soldiers a day just because it made him feel better. Baharsh could understand doing that to captives, but your own soldiers, despicable. Suddenly Baharsh's thoughts were interrupted as he was blinded by a spotlight. He couldn't hold off the inevitable any longer, The Generals men had spotted him and would surely be fetching the man. With a noise somewhere between a growl and a sigh, Baharsh began his descent.

Scaring humans was always fun and he landed much heavier than really necessary. He was trained in stealth; he could land on any surface with the air under him barely noticing the disturbance, but he always got a sick satisfaction at the way The General's men scuttled away, yet still tried to keep up the macho facade. He stared down the soldier nearest him as he tucked his wings behind him, wondering if the man's trigger finger or bladder would give first. As he stood to his full height and the man shrunk even further away from him he couldn't help but feel disgusted that he was even here. Regardless of the help they had been, he was appalled he was forced to work as equals with these puny humans.

As The General approached, Baharsh transitioned into his more human-friendly appearance. His black wings and long scaly tail disappeared completely. His 6 strikingly red horns shrank into his long black hair, seeming to turn into a barely perceivable crown on his head, highlighting his stark orange eyes. He could put in the effort to change his red and black skin to a more human tone, but he refused. He was told to work with the humans, not to blend in completely. The fact that he was even going through the effort to conceal his tail and wings had little to do with making the humans more comfortable; it was a necessity for the tiny doors and hallways their dwellings have. He noticed The General's disdain at the fact he had not transformed prior to his arrival. This made Baharsh smile to himself as he thought, "here comes the dance".

"Bash my friend! Welcome back to my compound. I trust you have good news for me." It truly was not a question. The entitlement of this man was beyond absurd. They stared each other down as they clasped forearms; even The General was not bold enough to get into a squeezing contest with a demon.

"The attack went off flawlessly. Your information actually proved useful." He knew he was supposed to play nice, but he couldn't resist jabbing.

"Always the kidder, Bash! Come inside, I have something for you."

"Here we go" Baharsh thought to himself. The General had never really taken the time to figure out how to pronounce the demons name and eventually he had given up correcting the man. Bash was not really a likable name, but due to the fact the man was a key strategist against the humans, Baharsh kept his anger to himself. Eventually, The General would outlive his usefulness and become disposable. Baharsh never bothered learning the human's name because, well, no one knew it; he was just The General. Baharsh had originally wondered if it was to keep the man's family safe, but any family the man might have had was likely dead or disowned.

As they walked down the stairway into the inner workings of the compound the familiar smell of death, gun powder, and decay assaulted the demons heightened sense of smell. Hades, how he hated coming here. The walls seemed to always be wet and dripping, the floor slick with blood and piss, the soldiers were always on high alert and the lower levels... well, even Baharsh didn't know everything that happened here, nor did he want to. Every step lower the temperature dropped more and more. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the soldiers here. The inner compounds were supposed to be where soldiers relaxed, laughed, gambled, talked with each other, spared to keep their physical stamina up, and generally only had a gun in hand because they wanted to. Not here. Soldiers kept their guns at the ready in case a comrade snapped and tried to kill them or to kill themselves if they heard The General had decided it was their time to die; a self-delivered bullet was a savior in that case. Even Mortaka, the most twisted demon Baharsh knew, kept a lively compound for her soldiers.

The General led the way to a well-known area, choosing a door and searching for it's key. Baharsh still hadn't decided if these "gifts" were meant ironically or if The General really thought he was doing something in form of payment for Baharsh being the go-between for him and Reihnash, the leader (and instigator) of the human-demon war. Either way, Baharsh rarely found any pleasure in what happens next. As the door swung open he couldn't help sensing this one was different somehow. The General stared into the room for a few quiet moments, almost debating what to do next. Eventually, he turned to Baharsh, a strange look in his eye, and said, "This one I have no further use for. Kill her once you're finished with her, and make absolutely certain she is dead." Then he hesitantly handed Baharsh a key ring, turned, and walked off, but not with his usual swagger. He stopped momentarily, looked over his shoulder and said, "I would wait until she is dead before removing the locks." With that, he was gone. Intrigued in spite of himself, Baharsh walked into the room and shut the door. An odd sensation crept over him.

Turning to see who The General was talking about, Baharsh froze as his gaze found her. One look and he knew she had gone through unspeakable horrors. The Generals captive girls were usually chained by the wrists or waist with some room to move around and were relatively unharmed and dressed against the chill; this one was suspended 3 feet off the wall, chains around her wrists, waist and ankles. Her head hung down but her short black hair left room to see the chain around her neck as well. Her body was completely exposed and covered in wounds, not battle wounds, rather tourture wounds in numerous stages of healing. They ranged from almost faded scars to barely closed lacerations; Baharsh wondered if she was beaten as recently as that morning. She wasn't quite starved, as one look at her and Baharsh knew she had been a fighter, her muscle tone evident even in her unnaturally skinny state. He wondered how long she had been here, as he couldn't imagine any humans immune system would last long this exposed to the cold. "She looks dead already", he muttered to himself. He involuntarily shrank against the door as her head slowly raised and her eyes met his.

Those eyes. They were strikingly glacier blue, and they stared straight into his soul. They glimmered with pain yet an inner fierceness that surprised and, yes, excited the warrior in him. He had expected her to be completely broken, but he could tell her spirit remained strong. They robbed his breath from his body as his brain went into hyper drive. Who was this woman, where had she come from and how had she gotten here. Suddenly The Generals odd behavior made sense.

Baharsh tried to recover himself, approaching her the way you would approach a wounded bear. He moved slowly, and she followed his every move, challenging him. He forced himself to break her gaze and looked at her face for the first time. She had quality features for a human, high check bones, shapely eyebrows and a strong pointed jaw. Her right cheek held a diagonal scar, likely from a fight of some sort, but otherwise her light brown skin was perfect. Even by demon standards she was attractive. Her thin neck bore the scars of the shackle, making it clear she had struggled against her restraints. A quick glance at her wrists and ankles, spreading her body into a star, confirmed his suspicion. Though she had to be cold and in pain, she remained remarkable control, barely shaking and breathing fairly normally considering the odd position.

Baharsh looked at the keys in his hands, uncertain what to do. Normally he would have his way with the girl and then leave; I mean he didn't really enjoy it, but he didn't hate it either. The girls were mostly willing, though it was usually just painful for them. But he had been ordered to kill this one. She was clearly not in a position to stop him, which made him wonder even more why The General hadn't done it himself. Clearly he hated this woman; it appeared he feared her as well. That was when the demon noticed the charms painted on the walls and the chains. Anti-magic charms-well that explained the odd sensation he had felt when he walked in. Demons by nature were far more attuned to the energies around them and did not turn a blind eye to the magic of the universe the way humans tended to, which made them susceptible to the protection charms of others. The General clearly believed this woman was capable of magic, which only served to intrigue Baharsh more. As he was debating his next steps, the woman spoke.

"So... you are the one... he got to do his dirty work". Even broken in her effort to breathe through the pain and the position she was in, her voice was beautiful. The stirring her eyes had caused was strengthened.

Still unable to speak and unsure what to do, Baharsh noticed the waist shackle had a chain attached to it. Following the chain he found it to be attached to the floor near the bed, the only furniture the room had. Meeting her gaze again, he realized that was probably not the best thing he could have done. Her lips curled as if to so "try it, I dare you." This gave him an idea.

"I am going to release you from the wall, though not from the chain, so we can talk freely. I would really prefer you do not attack me." Without waiting for her to respond, he approached and began to release the lock on her left ankle. As it released, he jumped back, in case she was going to try to kick him. When nothing happened, he released the other. A small sound of pain escaped her lips as her wrists and neck took the full weight of her body. Against his better judgment, he quickly unlocked her neck and wrists, putting her arms on his shoulders so he could get to the lock keeping her back against the wall. It released and the whole weight of her fell against him as her legs hit the ground and buckled. She barely made a sound, catching herself and pushing away from him in defiance, willing her legs to support her. In an effort to gain her trust, Baharsh took 4 steps back to show he had no intention of transporting her to the bed for nefarious purposes. Her legs lasted about 5 seconds, then fell to her hands and knees, gasping as her body realized she could take a full breath and her limbs began to regain proper blood flow. Baharsh stood completely still, not wanting to risk startling her; a wounded, cornered animal is dangerous after all.

Eventually, her breath steadied and she was able to crawl to the bed, pulling herself up and having a seat, sizing Baharsh up. Her eyes still bore the same fierceness as when he first saw them, but now there was curiosity as well. He wanted to ask a million questions but tempered himself. Something in his brain said it was best to let her lead the conversation. After several heartbeats, she finally broke the silence.

"I asked you a question. What is your purpose here?"

He felt it best to go with honesty. "I was told to do whatever I wanted, and then kill you."

If his honesty had surprised her, she didn't show it. Baharsh was both disappointed and impressed. She merely stared at him, as if waiting for him to go on. Her gaze made him nervous and unsure of himself, which angered and excited him. "Well?" he said, and then chastised himself. To his surprise, she did not seem perturbed.

"Well, you clearly don't want to kill me. If you had wanted to have your way with me you would be naked and would have either left me chained, or we would be fighting right now. So now what?"

Damn, she was good. He had to regain control of the situation. So he laughed.

"You are clearly in no position to fight. What makes you think I'm not just trying to make you trust me so it's more satisfying for me to take you? Making you watch me undress after you've relaxed could be fun." He hated himself as he said it.

She cocked her head to the right as if to say "that's cute". He hated her for it, yet he still didn't want to harm her. Her lips twitched into a sideways smirk, and he suddenly, desperately wanted to tear the world apart if it meant he could see her smile. The General was right to be afraid; this woman was dangerous.