°•Crypt of The Eternal•°

~Chapter Seventeen: Prey~ P.O.V: Sin

"Sin, we're out of food. The fletchlings ate it all." Ren pouts, leaning against the doorframe. My eyes narrow.
"So what? Just go out and get some more."
They gave me an expression that practically screamed that I was stupid. "Have you not seen the condition I'm in?! I'm practically dying here. Go out and get me some foooood." They pout, pointing towards their recently bandaged wounds. I roll my eyes.
"Fine. I'll try."
"I don't want you to try; I want you to do it. Don't give up hope after not being able to catch a little mouse." Ren then dramatically stumbled down the stairs into the dining room to search the empty cupboards again for food.
I roll my eyes, and head downstairs. "Don't tell the fletchlings that I'm gone. Otherwise it'll be pure chaos until I get back." I hiss at Ren, before heading outside. I hear mumbling from behind me, but I brush it off.
The fresh and familiar scents of forest fill my nostrils. Home.. I thought, as I stepped off of the front porch.
After a while of searching for fresh blood, I found nothing but a doe lying lifeless as ravens picked at the remains of flesh from its ribs. I sigh, frustrated that I couldn't find anything. The ravens look up at me, as if they were  about to fight for their meal. One lets out a shrill call. The others join, and I back away slowly, not wanting to pick a fight.
Suddenly, in the distance I hear voices mumbling in the distance. Is there someone out here? Why would they be in the hunting grounds? What are they doing? I have to hide! I quickly crouch down to the ground, and become silent.
"I can't believe we got sent all the way out here just to patrol. Just because of some sickness that's spreading like wildfire is underway shouldn't mean we have to go out and patrol out in this part of the forest." A man says, in a deep, disgruntled tone. "Anyways, let's just keep a lookout. Don't want any animals getting past us either, just in case the illness can be carried by them too." He then shifts his weight from side to side a few times, visibly uncomfortable. The metal armor that was covering his body made clinking noises. The other man that was with him was clearly more uneasy than he was. They both kept wandering slowly, looking back and forth, paranoid.
They grow closer by each step, and I start to panic. They both have large weapons… I don't think I'll be able to take them on if they find me… I'll have to make a run for it and find prey somewhere else. I took a step back, and to my inevitable misfortune, there were a few dead twigs underneath my foot. My weight pressed them down into the rich dirt, and it made a loud CRUNCH. The two armored men fixate their gaze upon my direction, and I hunch over, trying desperately not to be seen.
"Hey, did you hear that?" The first man whispers.
"Yeah… I think someone's in that bush…" The second man replies, as they both slowly creep towards me. If I was stronger, I wouldn’t have to run like this… I thought, as I broke into a sprint in the opposite direction of the men. I look back while running, making sure that they weren’t able to keep up.
My face was abruptly met with a metal CLACK. I fall to the soft earth, and look up, clasping my hands around my skull. I groan, and my eyes focus on the thing that had stopped me. “Ugh. Just my luck.” I sigh, as a third man looks down at me in horror. If I were him, I wouldn’t know what to say either. A humanoid creature just came pummeling at him at full speed, and he didn’t budge.
The man had a large spear in his hands. He took the butt of the spear, and struck me with it, hitting me square in the forehead. I clasped my hand over where he had hit me, and I gave him an offended look. He looked even more afraid, and to my surprise, a bit sorry. “Excuse you.” I say, and get up from the ground. He lets out a deafening yell, making my ears ring.
“QUICK! I FOUND A SICK ONE!” He shouts, and about 30 other people come crowding around me in full suits of metal.
“Oh no--” A woman with a rope in her hands tackles me, and I fall to the ground once more. This is irritating. All I wanted to do was get some food for Ren. She begins to tie my hands together, as well as my legs. I struggle to resist, and the first two men tackle me as well, making me unable to move. I snarl and hiss at them, attempting to fight back, but they force me into submission.
After making sure I couldn’t get out of their grasp, they threw me into a dark colored horse drawn carriage. They blindfolded me, tied my hands together, and held me by a leash of rope. I couldn’t tell where we were going, but If I had to guess, I was being brought to the second kingdom. “Let's get this one back in a hurry. I want my money!”
“Calm down, Smith! We’re getting there as soon as we can.” The driver shouts back at the man holding the rope.
When we got to our destination, Smith shoved me out of the carriage, making me face plant into the dirt. He wrapped his large fingers around the back of my neck, and hoisted me up, shoving me forward in the process. “Get a move on, you sick freak.” Smith shoved me once more, passing by me and tugging on the rope.
After a few minutes of walking, he stopped, spun around me, and kicked me in the back of the legs. I fell to my knees, and he kneeled next to me. "Your majesty, Queen Evangeline Grieves, I have brought you a diseased man in return for a reward.” I could practically see his greed through the blindfold.
“Right, thank you. Guards, take this man into the infirmary. We’ll try to find a cure with this one. Here is your reward.” He jumped up from the cold tiles, and I heard him snatch a small bag of coins from the woman.
“Alright, well, farewell, my queen.” He chimed, as he quickly exited the building. The guards untied the blindfold from my head and began to escort me to the infirmary. I swiftly kick the guard on my left in the shin, and begin to run down the hallway.
The other guard chased after me, grabbing tightly onto the rope tied around my neck. “This one is feisty. We need to break him before we run our tests.” They say, gasping for breath.
Instead of running medical tests on me, they ended up taking me down a long stairway and into a dark cell. “You’ll never break me!” I shout, as the second guard locks the cell door.
“Well, I guess you’re not getting your food any time soon, Ren.” I laugh, yet I feel nothing but anhedonia.