There Is No Darkness Without Light

Chapter 11

There's a chill in the air and as Meliodas sniffs the cool morning breeze, even a hint of snow. Still, he loves this time of year. The grain is harvested, and berries and vine fruits are being dried and stored to preserve them through the long winter months. Apples and damson fruits are piled up in bowls around the castle while for decoration, vases are filled with fir branches or berry-laden rowan branches and bowls of many-hued leaves hold acorns and geraniums. Mouthwatering dishes of partridge and hare are served with fresh bread, sweetcorn, onions and leeks.
"You know, I can't believe anyone thinks walking through the woods is romantic" Meliodas mumbled to himself.
"You're thinking about romancing me?" she asks and her teasing tone shocks Meliodas into stopping. Elizabeth walks past, smiling, and waves to him. She has a wicker basket tucked over one elbow. He forgot that Elizabeth is a Goddess and has decent hearing.
"Maybe" Meliodas say as he fights the smile that tugs at his face and she looks to be fighting a similar battle, Elizabeth is a little behind on the walk so Meliodas leans on the fallen tree trunk. They are was supposed to be meeting The Chief Of The Beastman in a short while.
"Do you think that Chief will turn up?" Elizabeth spoke, Her eyes shining.
"I hope so. I'm half tempted to leave Merlin with them since my Dad and your Mum haven't found her" Meliodas considers. He is keeping his voice low for another reason though. The two of them were in The Giant's half of the forest. If anyone heard him talking about romance with Elizabeth, they'd have a whole new set of problems to deal with.
"Then why are we meeting The Chief?" Elizabeth asked as she skipped over a puddle.
"Why not?" Meliodas climbed over another log with the coloured leaves being tugged from their branches by the north-easterly wind, Not to mention the mud on their shoes. Elizabeth sighed and activated her wings. She chuckled as she flew past the muddy Demon "That's cheating!" Meliodas says cheerfully.
"Try and catch me then" Elizabeth wiggled her fingers at her Demon. He starts jogging in order to catch up to the Goddess. They talk easily about items of no importance. On impulse, Meliodas flies towards her, close enough that he can feel her breath on his lips.
"Caught you" He wants to kiss her but holds back, slips his arms around her and holds on tight. She leans against him. They stay like that only for seconds. It's Meliodas who pulls back first "Come on," He says licking his lips "The sooner we meet the Chief, The sooner we get back to town" Elizabeth nods and head towards the opening in the trees ahead.
"Might be able to get some sort of sleep then" She mutters and this time, Meliodas has only one response.
"Who said anything about sleep?" Meliodas grins. Elizabeth sighed and frowned at Meliodas "Hey that's not was I was thinking"
"Oh? And do pray tell what you were suggesting?" Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ear.
"I'll leave that to your imagination" Meliodas bopped Elizabeth on her nose "Come on, Let's move"

As Meliodas and Elizabeth emerged from the woodland, Howling was all that could be heard. Blood was in the air. The landscape was tainted with the blood of fallen The Beast Clan. Meliodas's mind was in overdrive as he tried to figure out what had just happened. He searched among the corpses to see if Merlin was among them.
"How did this happen?" Elizabeth muttered aloud. Everyone was dead. That she was certain of.
"I wish I knew" Meliodas spoke as he walked around the corpses.
"Did the child survive?" The Goddess stood shakily. She had seen her fair share of blood and death but it still affected her.
"I hope so" Meliodas sighed as he used his foot to push over another corpse "Huh?"
"What is it?" Elizabeth walked over to the Demon.
"This one is a human" He knelt for a closer look at the corpse's clothes "What is that crest? I can't tell with the bloody fabric" Meliodas complained. Elizabeth looked around and grabbed a nearby stick. Meliodas looked at Elizabeth with curiosity.
"What? I may be blood-stained Ellie but blood still creeps me out" Using the end of the stick, Elizabeth lifted the shirt "This man bears the crest of Belialuin" Before Meliodas responded, There was a deep, loud cry on the other side of the battlefield.
"That cry was human" Meliodas spoke. Meliodas and Elizabeth ran forward, only to stumble a little as the pair felt a tremble in the ground. Meliodas's eyes were wide as he looked towards the woods.
"Oh, that can't be good" Elizabeth sighed as she pinched her nose.
"It has to be the Giants. This is their forest. I don't wanna deal with them" Meliodas groaned as he flung his head back. He started walking towards the tremble but was stopped when he felt Elizabeth's hand on his shoulder.
"Then I shall take Giants, You go to the cry" Elizabeth spoke as she dropped the wicker basket and flew upwards.
"I do love that woman" Meliodas grinned as he spun on his heel and took off.

Meliodas charged at full speed to the wail's source and saw a young child running away. She was a little thing, scrawny, with dark hair. But furthermore, she had gold eyes. There was no doubt in his mind. The child was Merlin. Meliodas ran to the top of the hill where he saw The child had fallen over a broken tree branch and was now trying to scramble to her feet when one of the Humans walked up behind her, Grabbing a chunk of her hair.
"No! Don't... Don't touch me" The child screamed. Flinching away from the man's manic touch of the Human man.
"Lady Merlin. Daughter of Belialuin. Traitor to our world. You are coming with us and will bow before The Gods. Pray they have mercy on your soul" The Human sneered and he raised his hand. Something in Meliodas snapped and he flew towards the two. His fist connects with The Humans temple.
"No! Don't... Don't touch me!" The child screamed. Her whole body trembling in fear.
"I ain't going to hurt you," Meliodas said, Gently Merlin by the hand and holding it firmly "Listen to me, You're safe. They ain't going hurt you again. I'm here. Trust me, I won't let anyone hurt you" Meliodas expected Merlin to take her hand away but she didn't. Instead, she relaxed a little. Tears formed in her eyes. 
"I...." She finally let out a breath.
"It's okay," Meliodas said. He smiled and pulled Merlin into a hug "I'm here"
"Meliodas!" Merlin cried. The two pulled about and Merlin wiped her eyes "Sorry"
"It's fine. Normal in fact. Now, What have I told you about speaking to strangers!" Meliodas grinned.
"Do it. Or I will never know how to make any friends" Merlin sniffed.
"Good girl" Meliodas bopped her on the chin "What happened?"
"They all died" Merlin gestured to the field.
"I can see that. Was it just you that they were after?"
"Hmm hmm" Merlin nodded "I need a new hiding spot"
"You only got to hide for another week"
"Only a week " Merlin rolled her eyes as she folded her arms. Meliodas felt a small breeze above him and closed his eyes, feeling a small smile form "Merlin, There is someone I would like you to meet"
"Who?" Meliodas pointed upwards. Meliodas opened his eyes and saw Elizabeth floating down.
"I apologize for being a tad late. As confirmed, It was the Giants. In fact, it was Sir Drole"
"What did the blue boy say?" Meliodas rolled his eyes.
"I informed him what happened. He has gone to get Sir Gloxinia and will be here shortly" A Cheshire cat smile appeared on her face. She landed in front of Merlin and knelt on her knees "You must be Miss Merlin, I'm Elizabeth"
"I know who you are. You are the Supreme Deity's Daughter. I ain't going with you to her" Merlin backed away. Her fists clenched.
"Relax, I don't want to take you anywhere. I just want to make sure that you are okay" Elizabeth held her hands up.
"Why?" Merlin frowned "Are you not loyal to her?"
"I am to a point" Elizabeth looked away.
"To a point?" Merlin tilted her head. She then looked at Meliodas. Who shrugged. Merlin gave Elizabeth her full attention.
"I'll explain one day but right now, I want you to know that I understand"
"Understand what?" Merlin folded her arms.
"I understand why you fooled the Gods"
"You do?"
"You were told that each blessing from said God, Would be a greater blessing than the other and you were to choose which side to join" Elizabeth stood up "How could you? Both were equal in strength"
"You grasped the situation better than your parents did," Merlin said. She was rather impressed with Elizabeth.
"Well, our parents are stupid. Even with your power they never should have put you in a situation where you were forced to choose"
"Is she for real?" Merlin pointed to Elizabeth. Meliodas nodded.
"Damn right she is" Meliodas pointed to the far end of the field "So who was the dude that I punched?"
"He is one of the Wizards of Belialuin. They wanted to take me back to the town and have The Supreme Deity and The Demon King deal with me" Merlin explained.
"Why?" Meliodas frowned.
"In order to protect the town. Word is that your parents are going to destroy the town" Meliodas and Elizabeth looked at each other. Guilty looks on their faces "What?"
"Well Belialuin, has kinda, Already been destroyed, Like 3 weeks ago" Elizabeth bit her lip.
"Yeah. For the first time in history, The Gods teamed up and burnt the place down" Meliodas sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. Merlin sunk to her knees. She wrapped her arms around herself.
"Did anyone make it out? My father?" She croaked. Meliodas sighed again and knelt in front of Merlin.
"I'm sorry Merlin to say this but you are the last Daughter of Belialuin"