Witch of the Gate (Part I): Empyrean Crystal Soul

We must be out of luck as some days after that village incident we have to face some soldiers. It is a patrol of demons and they want to check our carriage. We have nothing of importance, at least I thought so.

-“I smell a Human!” One of the Ork soldiers says. They have a pretty sharp sense of smell.

Of course, their gazes turn on me. One of them pulls down my hoοd and they can see me clearly. I see surprise and cunningness into their eyes.

They want to arrest me but at the same time, my companions take battle positions. Of course, the soldiers wield their weapons too. This is a small group of soldiers so I thought that Tarragon and the others will be okay, but then a man appears behind them.

I think he spells something and the next moment I feel my body heavy and tired. I feel like my conscience is fading and then only darkness.

I wake up in a dark and humane cell. It is also smelly. I am not alone. There a lot of other prisoners, men and women and even kids. I can see some beastmen and elves in majority. There are also some others extremely weak shriveling in a corner.

My head is still ringing. The last thing I remember is the appearance of that man while we were fighting the soldiers. Suddenly, I realize that my companions are nowhere in the cell. I panic. I am all alone in this world.

I start shivering and I hug my arms in fear. I think some gazes are on me and that scares me more. I also get to an empty space and shrivel there. I hide my face in my arms and I don’t know what else I can do. What is going to happen to me?

-“Miss, Miss!!! It is time to eat.” I hear a weak girly voice. I face up to only see a very thin girl looking at me holding a piece of bread. She is an elf with short blonde hair and green eyes.

-“I am Dalion. Are you a Human?” She asks me. Well, there is no point in hiding it so I nod.

-“These are Human too, but you are more beautiful than them.” She says and she points at the weaker people in a corner.

I look at them surprised. It is my first time meeting other “normal” people in this world but they are so weak and frightened that they won’t speak to me. On the other hand, this girl just said that I am beautiful. How so? Is she blind? She is much more beautiful despite her skinny body.

I take the bread and hesitate before eating it. It is still dark. The only light is that of the torches on the walls.

-“Where are we?” I ask hesitantly.

-“In Paria. This was a beast town but after being conquered by the demons, it has been a demon settlement in northwest. Now the demon in command is a Shadow with the ability to hypnotize his opponents and mind control them, Jix.” She says as she seems to tremble as she mentions the name of the Demon.

-“Beast town?” I notice something else.

-“It is a place where different kind of beasts can live in harmony. In a matter of fact, it was a trade town with some diplomatic and trading services with other tribes.” She says enthusiastically.

If it was a trading town, then it must have been quite wealthy. So, of course it would become a target.

-“So what happens to us now?” I ask and I fear her answer.

-“We are slaves. Jix created something like a battle arena to entertain other Higher demons. So, eventually we will go up to fight other slaves or monsters.” She says. Well, I notice some scratches and scars on her body that the rug that she is wearing is not enough to cover.

-“Are they keeping slaves in other sells? I have some companions but they are not here.”

-“Well, they separate the strong ones to individual cells and they become the stars of the arena.” She answers. At least, they could be alive.

-“Do you know how to fight?” She asks me. I have magic powers but I don’t know if I can tell her that.

-“You don’t have magic powers, do you? If they know of that, they will take you away to become a mana battery.” She whispers with terror.

-“I can’t fight.” I say and I see her sighing. Maybe she feels sorry for me dying so early.

-“I can protect you.” She suddenly says.

-“Why? You don’t know me.” I ask.

-“Well, you are really pretty and I like you. What is your name?”

-“Daphne.”

-“Oh, you have the name of a plant like the elves.” She says with a wide smile.

She is friendly and warm despite the fact that she is in a dire situation like everyone else in here. I can tell that she has a superior Soul.

That moment, the door of the cell opens. Some trolls are dragging a person in here. They push him to the ground and then they leave. He is in trouble as there are some wounds on his body and a really serious wound on his stomach.

-“Oh goodness, the Black Knight is defeated!” Dalion says with awe. I furrow my eyebrows.

-“He is one of the stars I mentioned. He is a really strong human warrior. He survived against strong opponents and horrible monsters for two years. Black Knight is his nickname on the arena.” Dalion explains as she notices my curiosity.

She approaches him. I don’t understand how is she so fearless. As I expected, the man is hostile and grumpy. He pushes away Dalion and he drags his body to a corner. He cuts a part of his clothes to treat his wounds but they are deep so I think that it is not enough.

I don’t have my potions with me to help him. It must be taken by the demons while I was asleep. I don’t think that the demons are generous enough to give him some medicine. They brought him here to die.

-“There is a way for him to survive. He can tell to Jix about the locations that other humans are settled in.” Dalion says and I remain silent.

-“You think he will do it?”

-“I don’t know. I sometimes can’t understand humans and their behavior.” She says.

I look at the man for a last time. He seems to be young only a few years older than me. Our gazes intervene. His is hostile and unapproachable.

Some days are passing, as I am still captured in this place. We eat a small piece of bread and some water and we just wait in our cell.

Dalion said that we don't often fight. We are getting out as a whole group to entertain Higher Demons. The stronger ones and those who survive the battle earn one more chance to live.

Dalion is pretty talkative so I learned a lot of things from her about the town Paria in its time of prime. She also talked about its falling and its reformation.

In the meantime, that man is silent in a corner. He survived from his injuries. The first two days, he had high fever and his whole body was trembling. Dalion tried to help him but he pushed her away as if he didn’t trust her.

Now is in a better condition, but still unable to fight or even stand up.

Then, one day, some Trolls and Orks get inside the cell and push us all out. So, it is the fateful day, when we are going to fight with our lives.

I feel terrified as I can’t fight. If I use my powers, they are going to take me away and who knows what they are going to do to me.