Ridley

The second Vandel lost consciousness my body returned back to normal and I could move freely once more. I stared at Annette and she stared back at me, her eyes opened wide as though she was still registering what she had just done.

"Did I...did I kill him?" She stammered, stumbling back a few steps. I moved towards Vandel and kneeled beside him, pressing my head to his chest.

Finally I shook my head. "No, he's alive."

Then Annette ran to me, pulling me into a tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay Ridley!" She exclaimed.

"I should be saying the same thing to you," I replied.

"They moved me to a nicer room with an actual bed and a dresser since I had been 'well behaved'. They said this room would be more suited for the demon prince's soon the be fiancee. The second I noticed the curtains I came up with an idea. The next time the demons brought me my meal I hid the plate. Vandel usually visits me around this time trying to get me to accept his marriage proposal so I hid in the curtains until he showed up. I had no idea you would be with him!" Our gazes both fell to the unconscious Vandel now.

"He won't be out for long," I said quickly. "What should we do?"

Annette perked up. "We should kidnap him and take him back with us! Then we can ransom him. The demon queen would do anything to get her son back!"

I stared at her, my face clearly presenting an expression of disbelief. "You can't be serious. How are we supposed to get him out of here without getting caught? I'm not even sure how we're supposed to get out of here."

Annette pulled at my sleeve excitedly. "I think I might have a plan! I heard Vandel outside of my cell once talking about secret entrances he uses to get in and out of the castle. No one else knows about them except a few of his most trusted servants. From what I overheard I think there's one in the room next to us. If we can find the secret entrance we can escape and take him with us!" I thought about it for a moment. Annette was right, having prince Vandel in our custody would be an amazing asset in our fight against the demons. Then again, the stakes if this plan failed were so high that it was almost frightening.

Annette glanced to me. "We should tie him up in case he wakes up."

I nodded quickly in agreement and began to rummage through the bag I had brought with me, it had been slung across my shoulder this entire time and I had almost completely forgotten about it. It didn't contain much, only my share of the rations I had brought, a sharpening stone, a dagger and some rope. I grinned, it always paid off to be prepared. I wrapped the rope around Vandel's torso tightly and then added an extra knot around his wrists. With a quick nod to Annette I lifted him up, throwing the limp body of the demon prince over my shoulder. Vandel, to my surprise, was much lighter than I expected. I wondered if demons had different builds then humans, maybe Vandel didn't have organs or had hollow bones or something.

Annette peaked her head into the hallway once to make sure the coast was clear before we dashed into the dark hallway.

Annette felt around a moment, her hand finally coming in contact with something. "It's a doorknob!" She exclaimed excitedly. "This must be where the secret entrance is hidden." The door clicked open and we quickly snuck inside. When our eyes finally became accustomed to the dark lighting we realized where we were. A look of confusion fell over Annette's face in the darkness. We had stepped into what appeared to be a cleaning closet. I glanced around, the only reason I could see at all in here was due to the dim moonlight seeping through the window.

That's when it hit me.

"Wait, princess! I've got it! The window could be the secret entrance, look!" We stared at it, there were no bars on it nor glass.

Annette furrowed her brow. "You think he gets in and out through the window?"

I nodded. "It's possible, it would make sense that it's hidden in plain sight." Annette ran to the window, glancing down into the darkness below and I followed. The drop was at least 100 feet down.

Annette shook her head. "We must have been wrong, there's no way even a demon could make the drop from that height." I nodded slowly, a slight wave of defeat washing over me, that's when an idea suddenly hit me.

"Maybe this isn't Vandel's secret entrance but it still could be ours."

Annette's dark eyes widened. "Are you crazy? We would never survive the jump!"

I smiled at her. "Who said anything about jumping?"

------

About fifteen minutes later Annette and I returned to the window with a makeshift rope made up of her bed sheets, blankets and the infamous curtains which she had hidden behind. I tied one end of our new creation to an iron knob that stuck out from the wall to hold brooms and dusters.

Annette threw the makeshift rope out the window and then turned to me. "Should I go first or do you want to?"

"I'll go first, that way if the rope isn't strong enough and gives out I'll be the only one hurt, not you."

"Sir Ridley I don't think..."

I smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." And with that I hoisted myself onto the windowsill, Vandel still slung over my shoulder. I attempted to push back my nerves as well as I could before I began lowering myself down the building. It was hard to get good footing on the castle due to it's slick glass like exterior but I still tried, inching my way down slowly. At last I hit the ground. I lowered Vandel onto the grass for a moment to catch my breath before I looked back up to Annette. Her dark head peaked out of the little window. I gave her a thumbs up. I would have called up to her to tell her she would be fine but I couldn't risk being heard by any demons that might be patrolling the perimeters. After a minute Annette finally grabbed the rope, beginning to make her way down the building as well. She went almost painfully slow and I forced myself to stay calm. She grew closer, but as she began to lower herself down a bit more her foot slipped. My stomach turned to ice water and I rushed forward. Annette struggled to get her footing again but her efforts were fruitless, her feet just kept slipping off the black glass. A look of panic had come into her eyes, her legs were flailing and she was practically clinging onto the rope for dear life.

"Annette," I whispered, hoping she could hear me. "Let go, I'll catch you." I didn't know if she would do it. Hell, I was terrified that maybe I had overestimated my own princess catching abilities. However after a beat Annette let her hands slip from the rope and then she was falling. I dashed to catch her and felt a wave of relief pass over for me when I felt her weight in my arms. The impact sent both of us to the ground but she was unhurt and alive and that's all that mattered. She stared down from on top of me, brushing her hair out of her face. In the darkness I saw the slight dusting of a blush spreading across her face. In my head I heard Vandel's voice saying the words 'the princess is clearly madly in love with you'. Perhaps I was flattering myself too much by even weighing the possibility that it could really be true. No matter the case, despite her personal feelings there could be no romantic connection between us. I needed to make sure she understood that.

"If you wouldn't mind...could you please..." I didn't need to go any further, Annette realized she was still on top of me and quickly stood up brushing down her skirt, her flush darkening.

The second her weight was off me I immediately scrambled to my feet. My gaze fell back to the unconscious Vandel. I had no idea how much longer he would be passed out for but I didn't want to risk him waking up and calling for help before we got off the palace premises. I quickly scooped him up, carrying him princess style. We began to move towards the forest, slipping into the tightly knitted trees. We stumbled through the woods in the darkness, trying our best to find our way back to the remnants of the path.

Suddenly I froze, I could hear footsteps drawing nearer. I looked to Annette warning her to be silent. We both stood there, we could hear the whisper of voices now. It must have been a demon patrol making their way back to the palace. My heart was pounding, threatening to jump out of my chest.

"Alfie I could have sworn I heard something over there," a gruff demon's voice said.

"Arnold ya always think ya be hearin' somethin'," said a higher nasally voice.

"I'm serious this time."

"Sure ya are."

"Shut up Reggie," another demon voice cut in.

"Please Alfie let me just check it out! I'm not wrong this time! I swear!"

A loud groan came from the other demons.

"Fiiiiiine, but make it quick."

Both Annette and I tensed. Heavy footsteps began to approach us. I looked to her panicked. What could I do? I couldn't fight them and carry prince Vandel at the same time.

That's when Annette lunged forward, grabbing my sword's handle and pulling it from its sheath in one swift movement.

I stared at her agape. "What are you doing?" I whispered. She didn't respond, simply putting a finger to her lips. There was a rustle of the bushes and suddenly a large demon appeared.

His mouth twisted into a toothy grin when he caught sight of us. "Well hello my pretties-" he began to say. That's when Annette lunged forward, running him through the heart in one smooth motion. The demon gagged, sinking to his knees as a dark liquid began to pour from the wound. And with that Annette and I began to run. We raced through the forest, brambles tearing and catching at our clothes. I thanked the Gods once more as we ran that Vandel was so light. We dashed and zig zagged through the underbrush. Finally when the trees started to thin we slowed, both breathing heavily. We weren't out of the dark woods yet but we were at least out of the heart of it. Annette was panting and I could see the glimmer of sweat on her brow in the pale moonlight.

"Where did you...learn to...fight like that," I stammered through heavy breaths.

"My father thought...it was important that...I learn to defend myself..." she replied. "He told me...you can't spend your entire life...relying on knights..."

I smiled at her. "The king is a wise man."

"The king is a murderous piece of shit..." a third voice mumbled. "Now...where the hell am I?" Vandel looked up at me, his eyes still half closed. "Oh...sir Ridley. Well damn, now isn't this quite the turn of events. Things aren't exactly looking too good for me at the moment are they?"

I slowly lowered Vandel to the ground. "You're awake," I said sternly.

He smirked at me. "Really? I had no idea."

"Don't be a smart ass," I retorted. He was oddly calm for someone who had just been kidnapped by his worst enemies.

"So I suppose you're planning on bringing me back to Alteria," he mused, staring at me lazily through those pitch black eyes. I was beginning to wonder if anything unnerved this man.

"Yes, that's the plan."

Vandel tugged at the ropes around his wrist now, as if testing their tightness. I had tied the rope myself, there was no way he would be able to break free. Despite his powers one could only work magic with the use of their hands. In his state right now Vandel was completely powerless and defenseless so...why the hell did he seem so at ease? He gave the ropes another little tug and then looked up to meet my gaze arching a dark brow.

"Sir Ridley, I had no idea you were into this sort of thing."

I gave him a little shove forward. "Shut up Vandel."

In return the corners of demon prince's mouth curled into a smirk. "Ooooh, so we're on a first name basis now?"

I glared at him. "You're in no position to behave like this."

Vandel simply chuckled under his breath as we continued to walk. "And what position am I in?" Vandel practically purred. "Or more importantly sir Ridley, what position do you want me in? Could it be that beneath your pretty white knight exterior you have darker more....sensual desires?" My cheeks burned hot with both embarrassment and anger. He was mocking me, how dare he act like this. He was the captive and I was the captor, not the other way around.

I simply continued to push him forward. "Please be silent."

"Oh you're no fun," Vandel sneered. That's when I suddenly started to notice the fog that had begun to rise up from the underbrush.

I furrowed my brow. That was odd. "Princess," I called out, going to turn towards her. With a start I realized that the forest behind me was almost completely filled with fog. "Princess?" I called again, this time a little louder. I began to call her name over and over again, the fog growing thicker and heavier around me. We must have gotten separated somehow while I was distracted by Vandel. She could have been anywhere amidst this forest thick with fog. Panic seized my gut. The fog rolling in was becoming so thick that I couldn't even make out the trees around us.

I grabbed Vandel tightly, guaranteeing he couldn't use this as an opportunity to run away. I could feel his chest rise and fall against me as he let out a low laugh.

"My, now this is an interesting development," he said with a smile in his voice.