Rise Up - Mage & Demon Queen

Chapter 4 - Weird Little Human

   I was tugged along a mountainous trail by my wrists, bound to a demon beast. My hands were in front of me, dragging me to keep pace with the others, but I continued to lag behind still.

   Every step hurt. I could feel my wounds scabbing over but my wrists ached from the rough rope around them. My entire body was sore, my feet were moving slowly as I could feel my bones strain under my weight.

   I must have broken or fractured something when I was hit by that rubble.

   I tried to shrug it off and continue but every time I walked it became more agonizing. I watched as the sun disappeared over the mountain, desperately praying for it to speed its descent so I could finally rest.

   My mind couldn't think of much, far to exhausted to worry about anything other than sleep. I was sort of on auto pilot, not paying attention to my surroundings. Maybe thats why I didn't see the giant pothole in front of me. Maybe thats why I fell in said subséquent pothole.

   My knees scratched against the hard rocky path as my hands landed in front to catch myself, still bound. A few seconds later, the tugging ahead of me continued. My hands were yanked out from underneath me as the rope didn't stop and I fell straight on my chin, biting my tongue.

   At this point, my captors must have recognized my predicament as  my wrists were no longer being pulled on. I kept my eyes on the ground, still sprawled out as I heard loud footsteps approach me.

   "Come on, get up." A deep voice said with a sigh, slightly annoyed. I recognized the pitch as General Berkz, the demon the queen had trusted with me.

   I didn't make any effort to move. My body just couldn't function anymore, the pain was overwhelming and at that moment I wanted nothing more than to lay in the dirt forever.

   The demon must have been slightly frustrated by my refusal to move as he shifted closer, I could see his bare white feet, but still didn't look up.

   "Come on little human! Its not that much farther!" He said, surprisingly enthused. His voice wasnt booming or angry as I expected, instead he sounded more excited to get to a place to make camp.

   I let out a slightly startled noise as I felt a large hand on my back, pulling my cloak, and therefor me, up off the ground. I was shocked at how easily the demon did it, and how delicately he did it too. Like I was a porcelain doll that would shatter if handled to roughly. Much different from the slave traders, who didn't really care about my well-being.

   He placed me on my feet and whipped around so we could continue our journey up the winding path. We had now fallen behind the rest of the group and the demon on the back of its beast looked irritated by the detour. I stared at Berks back for a long moment and took a stride forward.

                                             ~

   When we finally caught up to the group they had already reached a camping ground and were setting up with the last bit of daylight left. We were in a small clearing, surrounded by thick trees and bushes that hid the temporary base from the eyes of prying humans.

   There were demons running around, carrying loads of gear to the tents that had already been raised. Others were tying up their 'horses' to the thick trees, so they didn't run off on their own.

   I was glancing around and didn't notice the albino demon coming to a stop in front of me, instead I bumped into him and stumbled backwards. Great, now my nose hurt too.

   The general, however, didn't seem to notice, continuing to scan the terrain before turning around to look down at me.

   "Follow me puny human!" He said loudly, still not angry or yelling.