Daughter of Demons - Chapter 3 - The Kidnapping

I awoke suddenly, clutching my legs to my chest, to the sound of people screaming. It took a moment for me to regain my sense of reality, and I found we were under attack. This wasn’t the first time. Growing up in a small, coastal town has its appeal, but surprise pirate raids aren’t part of it. I’d been through it all before: father would lock and guard the house, mother would hurry us to our usual hiding place under the floorboards. Tonight’s assault didn’t seem all that different, but I wasn’t at home. I was still laying on the stone altar, trying to wake up and pull my head together, when the door to the temple slammed open. Frightened, I quietly hid behind the altar. My heart pounded in my chest. When a draft from the open door reached me, I felt a chill, and became excessively aware of my nakedness. Remaining crouched, I frantically searched for something to wear, but the only viable option was the ceremonial cloth covering the altar. I thought twice, but justified that my nude backside was already on top of it, wearing it couldn’t be that much worse, right? Besides, it was an emergency. I discreetly pulled the cloth over me, wrapping it around my shoulders and waist. Suddenly something wooden clattered against the stone floor. I froze, mortified. Dammit! It was one of the paintbrushes my attendants were using earlier. Where were they, anyway? I hoped they were safe. Then I heard footsteps moving closer to the ritual room. Shutting my eyes and holding my breath, I tried to make as little noise as possible. The footsteps grew louder, and they shuffled around the room as if they were looking for something. Me? As it turned out, yes. A matronly voice called out, “Hello? T’Lar? Is someone here?” Fear can be a powerful thing, it almost didn’t allow me to recognize my own mother calling my name. I let out a sigh of relief, and rose to my feet. She was glad to have found me, but it wasn’t long before someone else did too. The burly silhouette of a pirate stood in the doorway of the temple. “Come, let’s run to the basement. It should be that way, can you see?” She took my hand and pointed down an unlit hallway. Improved night vision is yet another demonic trait I inherited. My eyes are a bright yellow, and work like a cat’s. After a moment, allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness, I saw an open door at the end of the hallway, leading down to a stairway. We made a run for it, bolting the basement door behind us. As we hurried down, we heard the splintering of the wooden door being kicked in. We fled to the back of the room, grabbing a couple ceremonial daggers that were kept along with all many other religious artifacts. After some grunting and fumbling in the dark, the pirate took a step down. “Alright,” I thought to myself, “we can take one lousy pirate.” Then another pirate followed. And another. Mother positioned herself in front of me, while I clung to the sheet wrapped hastily around me. The first pirate raised a lantern to survey the dim basement. Sure enough, he saw us, and cracked a mischievous grin. “Oi lads, not much treasure in here, but I think we can still have us some fun!” I was unfamiliar with their common-folk language, and I wasn’t sure what he might be talking about, but mother immediately knew. She snarled and lunged at the man as he stepped farther down into the room. Her stab connected, but didn’t seem particularly effective as he caught her arm and wrenched her wrist to the side. Holding her arm for a moment, he commanded “drop it.” My mother is the sort of woman who generally didn’t like being told what to do, let alone by strange men. She screamed and put all of her strength into her other arm as she cracked him on the jaw. He recoiled and dropped his lantern, but still held fast to her other arm. Chuckling, he stood back up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and shook his head slowly. His free hand reached for her throat, and he pushed her down, slamming her against the slate floor. It hurt just to watch, and I let out the smallest of yelps when I saw her head hit the stone. In that moment, I realized they had no idea I was there until I made that sound. The pirate’s attention was taken away from my mother’s unconscious body as he squinted into the darkness. Grumbling, he picked up his lantern again and stepped forward. I shuddered as the light fell on me. He seemed pleased to see me. “Ahhhh, very nice. Look what we have here boys.” My body tensed and I pulled my makeshift cloak tighter as they all stepped towards me. As they got closer, I could see that one of them seemed a bit out of place, he wore a hood that hid most of his features, and his outfit suggested he wasn’t actually a pirate like the other. The one with the hood whispered something to the first pirate. Looking at me, and then back at the hooded figure the pirate quietly replied “Hmph, are you sure?” Then more whispering, and the clinking of coins changing hands. “Dammit, fine. You’ve convinced me.” He looked at me again and asked, “lass, if you would be so kind, put down the knife and come with us?” It took me a second to find my voice, but I finally managed to growl “hell no!” Of course they weren’t going to take “no” for an answer. I had to defend myself but I was never formally trained with a dagger, and my frantic swipes met nothing but air until they disarmed me. It wasn’t long before I was surrounded, and they had me by my arms and legs. One of them pulled some rope from his pack, another ripped away my sheets, and a few moments later I was gagged and bound. Completely helpless. As they carried me out, my mother started to reawaken and protest, but a swift kick to her head from the last pirate knocked her out again. I tried to call to her but couldn’t manage anything more than a muffled moan.