Damian Black - The Order of the Night (English Version)

The Sea - Chapter 18

The next morning he woke up bathed in sweat.
This conversation had taken a lot of strength from him. Slowly he leaned on his hands, Susy and Aidan already seemed to be talking to each other. However, so quietly that he hardly understood anything of the conversation.
They probably didn't try to wake him. His gaze slid to Liz who saw, her legs entwined, in the flames.
"Good morning," he greeted his people, still sleep drunk, and yawned loudly. Susy and Aidan smiled while from Liz, as expected, nothing came.
He rubbed his eyes tiredly before slowly getting up and sitting down next to the others.
"Aidan told me everything."
Susy said and you could already hear in her voice how little she was enthusiastic about everything.
"I don't like that at all."
"You're not the only one."
He assured her immediately and looked at Aidan. He still owed him an explanation.
"It sucks." He confirmed with a serious look. "But it's our best option."
"I'm not a goddamn property."
Susy interrupted him, seething with anger and about to jump at his throat. "You don't either, damn listen to me." Aidan obviously tried to calm Susy down.
"With this deal, we can get off the island without any problems back to the mainland, Alajos will leave us alone and that gives us time.
But if Liz and you don't belong to Damian or me, Alajos is guaranteed to use Liz again as a puppet and for you Susy there would be no guarantee that you would survive.
You might even be sold to another magician. Trust us, we will never see you as property, you and Liz will always be equal comrades to us. "
Aidan spoke without periods and commas, gasping for breath immediately after his speech.
"I still don't like that."
Susy hissed, who could blame her for that?
If Damian were in her shoes, he would probably be even more averse than she was.
"Susy", Aidan wanted to appease her, but she raised her index finger to silence him.
"It's okay, but this chain has to be. That's degrading."
In that moment Damian remembered something again. People and druids who were possessed by magicians were given an arm chain.
This could only be removed again by the magician and acted as a means of control.
You could even use it to check where the said human or druid is and punish him.
"Yes, unfortunately." Confirmed Aidan. "At least until we are out of town and no one can see them when we remove them."
He explained as calmly as possible.
"So as soon as we're gone, you take the chain off?"
"Naturally."
Damian slipped out before Aidan could say anything.
"You see, Damian will put on the chain and take it off again."
He now felt Susy staring at him, then she let out a deep breath.
"Promised?"
"No," he smiled. "I swear it to you, by our covenant."
He put his hand on the mark and almost instantly Susy seemed to relax. "Okay. But that doesn't mean that I think that's good."
She grumbled, still a little upset, and got up to take care of Liz.
Damian exhaled relieved and grabbed a bowl to get something to eat.
"Thanks." Aidan got up too and grabbed his wrist. "Your trust yesterday made this possible for us in the first place." Damian just nodded and went to the pot, Liz was also just eating some of the stew.
While Susy sat next to her and held the bowl for her. It was weird, Liz was acting almost like a little kid.
Quite different than back then, but that shouldn't really surprise him.
Once they got to the mainland, he would be able to protect them forever. "We leave after dinner."
Damian and Susy nodded, it would take a few hours to get to the west coast. "We'll teleport over there."
Okay, in this case a few seconds, Damian had to smile. Even though he had all his knowledge back, he still thought like a human.
"Susy and I together. Liz and you Damian."
"Okay. Are we going to mine or your home then?"
"Well you have a whole property and my family only has one cabin."
Aidan started to laugh and somehow it made Damian happy that he could go back to his home.
His parents' estate was huge and his family was well off.
In addition, the house was isolated, with a forest nearby and not far from the sea.
Just like the landscape in which he always had his dream conversations.
"So let's go."
Aidan put his bowl on the floor and went to Susy. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.
"Tilemetaforá western port."
With that the two were gone and he was alone with Liz.
He slowly walked over to her to teleport now with her.
But when he took her in his arms, she tore herself free and slid back up to the wall. She crouched there like a frightened animal.
"Liz," he raised his hands so that she could see that he didn't want to hurt her.
"I want to get you to safety."
"No," she shook her head, Damian froze. It was the first time she talked since the cave.
"Leave me alone." She begged him. "I do not want to any more."
She jumped up and stormed into the corner where her weapons were.
She reached for a dagger, her hands trembled. Damn shit, right now Susy wasn't here.
"Please Liz, calm down." He walked slowly towards her, but she pulled the dagger out of its sheath and held it to her wrists.
"Leave me!"
She screamed and started to cry.
"As if you care!"
She started to sob and Damian was completely overwhelmed with the situation.
"Please Liz, I don't want you to die. We're friends."
Hands up he walked towards her.
"You just want to use me. Damn it, I don't even know who I am."
Now her legs gave way, but shortly before she hit the floor, Damian was with her and caught her. He immediately grabbed the dagger and snatched it from her hands.
"You will find out who you are."
He hugged the girl.
"It's going to be all right Liz and no, I'm not going to use you."
He assured her while she was still crying in his arms.
"You, you, you", she could hardly breathe so hard she cried.
"You want to put a chain on me again. Why can't I die?"
He hugged her tighter and stroked her head gently. He didn't seem to find the words he needed.
"Liz, I will always be your ally. I will not use you, nor put you in chains.
But I will not just let you die. Not until you have had a good life. Please trust me."
He calmly said to her, but she just started pounding on his chest.
"How should I do that?"
She slowly stopped crying and it was just a whimper.
"You definitely hate me, I betrayed you again and again and now you want to take revenge on me.
I may not know who I am, but I know exactly what I have experienced and done."
She now let herself completely fall into his arms. Her distrust hurt him, even if he could understand it.
She probably thought that all he said was just a game. Just like her people had played with his emotions.
"You didn't want that. You couldn't help it. On the contrary, you kept fighting back. Your seizures are proof enough." Instead of answering, Liz pulled away from him and sat down against the wall.
She spread her arms and bowed her head.
"Please," she pleaded, and several tears fell from her face to the floor. "Don't torment me."
Damian froze, she really expected the worst from him. Slowly breathed in and out, unable to move. How could he manage it?
He didn't want to force her. But if they were too long in coming, Selim would surely become suspicious.
"What do you want me to do, I won't kill you."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Then do what you want."
She lowered her arms and closed her eyes. Clenched her teeth, she sat there without moving.
He got up slowly and picked up the sword. He tied it to the belt and went back to Liz.
He carefully put an arm around her again, but now she no longer resisted it. It made him incredibly angry that she just surrendered to her fate. But he couldn't take care of that at the moment.
"Tilemetaforá western port."