Halfling (editing in process)

Chapter Thirty-Five

"I hate you! You vile disgusting half-breed!" The elven woman hissed at her slightly swelled stomach as she fought against her restraints.

She had been at the demon's hideaway for months. She looked up in despair at her wrists, which were bound by some kind of magic above her head. She had fought against him quite a few times, marking him with her nails, slinging spells at him, but he had just shaken it off like it had been nothing and tossed her back into the room. She couldn't escape; she had tried too many times. She had tried to break the window, tried to go out the door, but the demonic magic he possessed was too powerful for her to break. It only been when she had tried to end her suffering did he finally bind her. He had caught her about to plunge the knife from her dinner into her stomach, knocked her flat with a spell, and she had woken tied to the bed. That had been over a month ago. He fed her, when he remembered, mocked her, hit her... Took her body whenever he wished. She was nothing but a plaything.

And all the while he would come in just to stroke her ever swelling belly, cooing quietly at the little half-breed that grew within her. She could feel its energy; feel the evil magic of the demon mixing with elven magic. The mixture was wrong, it was unclean and evil. She wanted her baby back, her sweet little Javen, still out in the world, all alone.

"I... Hate you." She whispered, a choked sob escaping her lips.

It had been months since the attempt at taking her life. Her stomach had swelled to twice the size it had been, and she had been feeling small movements from within her, tiny kicks mostly. The baby's energy had been growing as it matured, an even mixture of elven and demonic magic that still made her sick. She had gotten used to the feeling of the baby within her, just as she had gotten used to the torment that the demon put her through. He wouldn't touch her anymore, he was afraid to harm his spawn. He would still hurt her though, both physically and mentally. He had made it clear that once the baby was born she would be useless to him, and she would be killed. She had cared at first. She had wept and pleaded with him, but now she wanted to welcome the embrace of her Goddess, wanted to see her husband again. She felt sorry for the baby growing within her, even if it was half demon, she would survive. She knew it was a girl, she didn't know how, but something told her it was true. The child, innocent or no, would have to live with the monster that had tortured her for so long.

She wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.

The baby would come soon. Her movements had been more energized over the last few days. She had managed to convince her captor to free one of her wrists, allowing her to move easier and touch her stomach. She was currently resting against the headboard, her hand gently resting on her stomach, feeling the infant within as she kicked against her stomach softly.

"My little Aria... Please stop." She pleaded quietly. "I would like to get some sleep, so how about allowing your mother a little rest, yes?" She questioned sweetly.

She had fallen in love with the baby's personality. She was a mischievous little creature, but a caring one. On days where she felt like she couldn't take it anymore, where she thought she would go mad and would spend hours on end weeping uncontrollably, the baby would send out soft pulses of elven energy. On days she would feel better she would receive little shocks of demonic energy, usually when she thought Aria was hungry or having a nightmare. She moved, she kicked...

"Aria..." She warned quietly, a sharp gasp leaving her as pain shot through her. "Oh Goddess no." She whispered, feeling the sheets under her soak as her water broke.

She couldn't have the baby here, couldn't allow that monster to get hold of her. She could help her, she could get the others to help her, but that demon... That demon would corrupt her, would poison her mind and body, Goddess knew what he would do with her! She struggled madly against the restraints, flinging spells at the window with her other hand. To her shock, the window broke as a spell hit it. She looked up at the night sky hopefully, shuttering as the cool autumn air hit her. She worked on breaking the seal that held her, and finally it gave.

She sobbed in relief as she jumped from the bed, her vision swimming as she moved to the window, gasping in agony.

"A-Aria please... Please my darling, you need to stop just for a little while, I need to get you out... I can't let him get hold of us, of you..."

She cried out as she collapsed in front of the window, looking down and discovering blood trailing down her legs and pooling at the floor. She tried to pull herself up, sobbing uncontrollably as she fought against her body.

The door opened, the crimson eyes of the demon locking into her, her blood running cold as a sick grin came across his face.

"No! No!" She screamed, throwing spells at him frantically, weakening herself with every draw of energy. "Leave us alone!"

He knocked her spells aside and moved over, gripping her by her hair and dragging her over to the bed, causing the woman to yelp out in pain. He jerked her onto the bed by one of her arms, pulling her to the edge before she could stop him. He spread her legs and tied them to the bottom of the bed despite her struggles, backhanding her as she sat up and tried to push him away.

It took hours. She felt like her insides were being torn apart, and at the end she could see why. She was barely conscious, she had lost too much blood, and the agony had nearly made her lose consciousness several times. Finally she heard the wail of the baby. She looked up, her eyes locking to the little copper haired baby girl. Two horns, coated in bloods and bits of flesh, sprouted from the soft tuff of hair, a tail wrapped around her waist. The baby wailed, and she could feel the different pulses leaving her, elven and demonic, could the newborn possibly know that her mother was dying?

"Aria!" She screamed, trying with all her might to get up.

The movement caused another rush of pain to go through her, a shuttering gasp leaving her as she felt a large gush of blood leave between her legs again.

"Aria... I... I love you... I'm s-so sorry." She whispered her vision fading as she watched the demon take away her baby, hot tears running down her eyes as she departed into the land of the Goddess where her husband awaited her.