Sable

The journey was long and hot. Sweat and tears mixed together on Sable's skin. She felt disgusting, as she hadn't had a shower in a while- not since they had set off on their journey. Conor hadn't stirred once; she hoped he wasn't dead. But why would they be carrying with them a dead body?

She swore she had seen his chest rise and fall, one of the times they had stopped for rest. They had just thrown him to the ground. Sable had attempted to crawl over to him once, but one of the giant demons had grabbed her and placed her back against her tree. Her heart ached. Please don't be dead, she thought.

Leather straps tied her wrists together. She stared down at them. What was the point of doing that? The purple cuff on her wrist prevented her from using magic. And she was just a weak, human girl without her magic.

The beasts threw her some bread. Sable wondered briefly about the bag full of blood that Conor had brought. If he woke, which she really hoped he would, he would most definitely need blood. She stared down at her wrists. Where would he get it from...?

"You, girl, eat," a giant blue demon pointed at the bread before her. She stared blankly back up at him. He said again, "Eat."

Sable took the bread to her lips and slowly ate. Her gaze was on Conor the entire time, while she ate and the demons laughed and talked among themselves.

She had only known him for a short period of time. Guilt pulsed through her. How could she have dragged someone who was pretty much a stranger into her mess? Though it had been his choice. If he was still alive, she would need to figure out a way to get them both out of there.

She stared at the purple cuff on her wrist. That would have to come off for them to have any chance to escape; Conor hadn't been strong enough to fight those demons on his own. But how could she remove it? Once it was on, she hadn't been able to get it back off.

That was why they had bound her wrists. Because they had caught her trying to take the cuff off. THey knew she wouldn't have been able to, but they had wanted to be sure.

"Alright, crew, let's get a move on," the man with the horns on his head spoke. "We've had enough rest for now. We are almost at the castle gates."

One of the demons hoisted Sable up over its shoulder. It was uncomfortable, but Sable had gotten used to the position. She had thought about asking them to allow her to walk, though she knew what the answer would be, so she remained silent.

She watched the ground and trees as they traveled, and wondered if she would remember the way back if they managed to escape. It seemed as if that was becoming her life: constantly having to escape from wherever she was being held captive. Sable shut her eyes against the thought.

Why did it have to be her? It could have been any other girl that fate chose to make be the reincarnation of Inara. Desperately she wished it could have been someone else.

Conor lifted his head at one point. Sable gasped and kept her eyes on him, hopeful. There was dried blood caked on his face, from somewhere within his hairline. He stared back at her through hazy eyes.

"Conor?" Sable asked.

"Be quiet," the demon carrying her demanded. "No talking, prisoner."

"She's- a..." Conor tried. His eyes glazed over further and rolled to the back of his head, and his head dropped back down.

"Conor," sable whimpered.

"Silence," the demon hissed again.

Sable cried silently. At least she knew that he was still alive. She hadn't realized about his injury- from when the monster had smashed his head into the wall. He had also been thrown against it... Were there other injuries that she couldn't see? Had he even been able to heal much at all?

Sable chewed on her lip. And realized how dry it was. How long had it been since she had last had any water? Two nights ago, when they had been captured. Perhaps it was the reason behind her pounding headache.

"Water," she croaked.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" the horned man asked. He had been walking beside her and the giant for that time.

"I need water," Sable whispered. "Humans need to stay hydrated."

"I had forgotten that you reincarnated yourself into such a weak body," the man sighed. He detached a flask from his belt and unscrewed the cap, then held it out to her. "This is special water from the mountains. It's enchanted by fairies, containing many special qualities, but we use it for rituals. It's the only water we have. It should quench your thirst- Finnian would hate it if you died of dehydration before he could consume you."

"Thank you," Sable said hoarsely. She took the flask in her bound hands and managed to drink from it. Some of it spilled, but she did drink the rest of it. She handed the empty flask back to the man and he screwed the lid back on.

"I hope you enjoyed that," he said. "We spent days fighting off the fairies to collect it."

"I'm sorry," Sable whispered, though the words were empty. Her thirst had been quenched, as he had said it would be. She licked her lips.

"Gods don't apologize," the man scoffed. Sable remained silent.

She paid close attention to the path they were walking once more. Since she had been thrown over the demon's shoulder, there was no way for her to see where they were headed, but she could still see what they were passing. She wiped sweat off her forehead.

The heat was making her dizzy. She tried to remain focused, but she felt on the verge of passing out. She panted and swallowed hard. She cast a glance over at Conor once more.

He appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness. She saw his eyes open and close every now and again, and he rolled his head about. Was he healing? She thought about how hard the impact on his head sounded- she surely wouldn't have survived that herself. She wouldn't have even survived getting thrown against the wall so hard.

"Conor," she whispered. The demon hushed her again. Sable chewed her lip again.

For a moment he managed to keep his eyes open. He stared intently at her; though the expression on his face seemed lifeless, there was a fire in his eyes. That determined look made Sable wish she could aid in whatever plan was forming in his mind.

She held her wrists out, glancing back and forth between him and the purple cuff on her wrist. He followed the glance, and his eyes widened, but only for a second. He recaptured her gaze and nodded at her, and she took that to mean that he understood.

He let out a breath and let his head fall back down. Sable pursed her lips. The amount of pain he had to be in despite being a vampire made her nauseous thinking about it. At leas they had handled Sable more delicately. The Finnian man they kept mentioning would probably have their heads if he found out they had treated her roughly.

She allowed her eyes to fall shut as well, but later woke up to excited murmurs between the demons. She opened her eyes again.

"We've arrived," the horned man sighed.

Sable could see a very wide dirt and cobblestone path stretching far behind them. The trees wound around the path neatly. Sable was then set down in front of the monster and turned to face the gates.

The path continued on beyond the gates, through a courtyard and up toward a building taller than Lucca's castle. Her breath caught in her throat. This was where Finnian was waiting for her.

"No," she whispered. She backed up into the monster behind her, which caught her by the shoulders and prevented her from going anywhere else. She shook her head slowly. "I'm not ready for this."

"I'm afraid that you have no choice, dear. Take that one to the dungeons to rot," the horned man said. He pointed to Conor, and Sable shook her head more. "Finnian will speak to him later, when he's regained consciousness. His brother will surely pay whatever cost to get his brother back."

"No!" Sable exclaimed. She broke free of the demon holding her and rushed forward to the beast carrying Conor, but was stopped halfway by the horned man. "Please, let him go!"

"And we'll take this one to the throne room," the man said. "Finnian will want to see her immediately."

"No!" Sable yelled.

They dragged the two of them in separate directions through the courtyard. All the while Sable struggled against them, screaming; a sinking feeling spread through her.