Chapter 37: Beat down

It moved fast across the ground before any of us found a way to react to it, like a shadow travelling across the ground. It wrapped around Leah’s leg and pulled her fast. She screamed and struggled, eager to stop herself from getting pulled away.

We all lunged after her in hopes of catching her, but we were not fast enough. She was pulled to the altar, and the shadow then proceeded to slash her wrist fast.

I snatched her away from the altar in that exact moment, but her blood had already splattered across the altar.

"Hahahaha, you all thought I would allow you to take her away that easily? Allow myself to die that easily? I must become immortal." A voice yelled like a mad maniac. It was Regan, and somehow, he was not dead.

A stream of blood gathered close to the altar, and then his body began to form, bone to bone, flesh to flesh.

"Does this dude not die?" I asked.

"Now that I have managed to get the last bit of blood I need, I’m going to become immortal," he yelled in mad happiness.

"If all you needed was a drop of blood, why did you have to kill everyone you used?" I asked.

"Hahaha, that’s because killing makes it worth it, to know a life has been given for the sake of mine to be eternal, it almost seems poetic."

"So you are just a sick asshole," I commented.

The altar lit up, and then the flow of mana changed. Regan, who was still healing up, was laughing like a mad man until suddenly a blood-red chain shot out of the altar and latched onto Regan. It pulled Regan down.

"What? This can’t be happening. I ensured everything was right. I made sure of it all." He screamed. The chain kept pulling him in. He tried to pull away, but no matter what he tried, he could not get away.

Finally, he realized what had gone wrong. He looked at Leah.

"You, you, you are not a virgin, you fucking brat, you tricked me, you lied to me. I’ll kill you, I swear I’ll have your head and crush it beneath my feet no matter what.

I hate you, brat, you have ruined it all. You have ruined everything that I worked for so long. I hate you." He kept screaming until the altar pulled him fully into the altar by force, and he vanished.

There was a silence that followed. We all simply stayed for a bit.

"Yeah, I have had enough of this sky palace for today. Let’s tackle it another day," I said.

They didn’t think twice before we all started leaving, but when Mira and Lia walked out, I bent down beside Leah and spoke to her.

"Regan said a lot before he was dragged out. I can tell that there is a lot behind your eyes, Leah. You have been through something and you are going through even more, but if you are not willing to tell me, I’m not sure I can do anything about it," I spoke to her in a calm way that ensured she understood what I was trying to say.

Leah froze for a moment, like words wanted to leave her mouth but then somehow got stuck. "I’m fine," she said with a bright smile and then showed me her arm.

"Well, except for this." She showed her arm, smiled and walked out.

’She is so adamant on not speaking and yet I can see her crying out from inside. Sigh. There is not a lot I can do if she does not want to be helped.’

The group left the sky palace after that. I paid Leah, and she went on her way while we headed home.

I walked behind the both of them, my mind still locked on Leah.

"Master, what’s wrong?" Mira turned around and asked.

"Leah. She is going through something and she refuses to speak." I grabbed my chin. "It is against my principle to help when I’m not asked, but..."

I turned around and looked in the direction that we had come from. "Mira? Can you find her smell?" I asked.

[Leah’s POV]

"You brat. I told you not to come back here if you did not get some good stuff."

My master grabbed me by the hair and pulled it. I struggled to move, but he refused to let go of it.

"Now you are to show me where they stay the same way that we have agreed, or else I’m going to punish you even more." He shoved me to the ground and pulled a stick that was on the floor.

I saw it and shivered in fear. He saw the fear in my eyes, and his smile widened.

"Hahah, are you scared? Well, don’t be. If you manage to show me where they are, I’ll leave you be and focus on getting the good stuff off that boss of yours."

I looked at the rod in his hand. I imagined the pain that would come if it hit me, and I trembled in fear.

’I should tell him what I know. There is no point standing for people I have only known for a few days. If I give them up, I’ll be free from the pain and will not have to suffer. That’s the best thing to do. I have to survive, I have to live.’

I opened my mouth to speak, but then I stopped.

"I can’t," I muttered.

I could not do that to the people that had saved me. I might not have known Tez for long, but he had been a better person to me than anyone else in my life. I did not want to throw him to the dogs for my safety.

"What the hell did you say?" the boss asked.

He swung down and hit me hard. I cried out, and he continued to beat me over and over again.

"Now that’s not right," a female voice cut through the air, and then an arrow came in hot and stabbed into the man’s chest.