Jar of Hearts {M}

[visualspice]

Megrin clutched at her wound, groaning as the blood seeped out of her. But as Baal continued to run, she realized the centaur's had stopped their pursuit. Peering over her shoulder, she gasped as she watched them throw a net over top of blondie.
"Hey! Dog thing, they're capturing your master!" and she pulled at his fur. "Aren't you going to go back for him?"

[Lion]

Baal stopped upon hearing his master's cry and perked up, watching his master be dragged away and looked back to Megrin. "He did that for you in a way.  There is nothing we can do for him now."

[visualspice]

Megrin grit her teeth, digging her fingers more deeply into Baal's fur.
"I didn't ask him to. That fool."S he narrowed her eyes over towards the direction the centaurs were taking him. "Shouldn't we go back for him? This is useless, my master could have just saved me if it got that bad." Then again- maybe this was the plan all along.

[Lion]

"I doubt your master cares very much about you at all or you wouldn't even be in this situation.  But demons like Ahk-meht rarely have better plans for their slaves," Baal said calmly and no small degree of bitterness.  "We will follow him."  And he did, softly trailing behind the war party as they dragged Caius along.

[visualspice]

"You don't need to tell me that," Megrin bitterly responded as she clutched onto her wound. "But I do know he cares more for me alive than dead. I think it helps cultivate the souls better, or something." She frowned,a nd leaned in close to Baal as the wolf-dog hopped along, her eyes keeping to Caius and the horse-men.
"What can we do?" she asked, noting how they were drawing closer to a camp that was crawling with raw, muscled centaur warriors- and not one of them looked too kindly.

[Lion]

"We wait," Baal said.  He paused just at the edge of the camp, blending in with the darkened brush, even for a creature of his size.  He watched as the centaurs dragged Caius into camp with the net, spilling him out into a cage made of wood and reeds, but no doubt fashioned to be capable of taking large amounts of abuse.  As they did so, Anthiel's brother approached the mouth of a cave nearby and raised his forehooves to slam against the stone, signaling his arrival.

At the sound of his approach, another centaur appeared, a woman, long lean and beautiful with breasts covered only by the thick blackness of her silken hair.  Though she was much older than Anthiel and his brother, it was evident that time had treated her well and she wore the lilac-petalled crown of her status.

"Queen Anthea!" the centaur said, bowing, the others following suit as he did so.  "We have brought a prisoner...  A self-confessed murderer.  The slayer of the Prince of the River."

"What?" Anthea breathed, bow-like lips looking at him in disbelief.  "Just what are you trying to say Anoriel? "

"Anthiel...is dead.  And this is the man who killed him."

In the deep brush, Baal growled ever so slightly.  "This is bad...much worse than I anticipated."  But something suddenly struck him and he turned over to look at Megrin.  "Why are you still here?  I thought he wasn't your problem."

[visualspice]

Megrin sighed, disgustedly as she rolled her eyes.
"Blondie made it my problem. This wasn't his river beast to fight." her eyes narrowed on the horse-men. "He was mine. And although I don't have any real powers, I'm sure I could figure something out to try to help him." She gave a flick of her fingers towards some of the loose strands of her dark brown hair. "Besides, if I've got anything going for me it's bad choices, so like i told the rest of you before, if things get bad, I know my master at least wants to keep me alive."
And as she studied the men, she got an idea.
"Say, I wonder if Anthiel's brother would take another sort of sacrifice." And then she turned towards Baal, giving the wolf-dog a wicked grin. "How good are you at playing dead?"

[Lion]

Baal scowled at her as much as wolf-dog could, but said nothing at her response.  He didn't understand why she would care much at all.  She was the flighty type, got what she wanted then skedaddled, cared about nothing but herself, and he doubted she was trying to return some favor toward Caius, if anything perhaps this was just a ploy to earn his trust.  And Baal had every reason to solidify his belief on that.  Her master knew what Cai was no doubt already.

"Wait, you're not proposing -" Baal said after a moment, eyes narrowing at the thought.  "...What do I have to do?"

[visualspice]

"Men are stupid and believe damsel's in distress. Your blondie is no exception. If we can get ourselves near the camp when they're not expecting us, and they think you're dead, or mostly dead so they can sate their bravado by finishing you off, who's to say we can't make some sort of stupid, heroric get away? You can change into a giant beast, can't you? Just change after we're near enough to his cagea nd just carry him away. You can leave me behind for all I care. Just get your stupid friend the hell out of here. Got it?"

[Lion]

Baal frowned at her description.  No, Caius was not like other men.  He wasn't one to save others in distress.  He was just a wanderer who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And this damsel in distress business was not something he'd like to attribute to the soul-thief beside him.  She could certainly take care of herself or so she claimed, and he wanted to make sure of it.  This would be the last time Caius ever got mixed up with her again, he'd make sure of that!

"Refrain from calling him such derogatory names in the future, please," Baal expressed coldly.  "He's a good man, with a good heart, he sacrificed himself to get you out of immediate danger, and still you have no respect for such actions.  Why did he do it?  Only he can explain himself, but I doubt it was because he considers himself a hero.  He was just trying to do the right thing, against my better judgment.  You can take your selfish sentiments and cruel thoughts with you, he doesn't need them.  Go back to your master, it's all your good for.  I'll save him."

[visualspice]

Megrin was taken back by the dog's words.
"Last time I checked, doing the right thing, even though it might be stupid, was considered being a hero." she said with a flick of her hair from her face. "And I think you're already stuck with me for the long haul, seems the centaurs are heading our way." And she leaned in lower within the tall grasses, listening in to what the men had to say, and not liking the outcome one bit.

"He'll hang for sure, but not after we flog and whip him good. Then our river queen can drink of his blood!" one of the men said in the group, and soon they were all laughing. Megrin glared daggers at them, finding a rock nearby and launching it at one of their heads. It smacked off the side of his head and he turned, angrily and scouted the area.
"What the hell was that?"

Megrin, who was now pressed down deep within the grasses, kept a hand covered over her lips. Sometime she had to keep her own temper in check. It ran about as fast as her lips.

[Lion]

Baal moved on when Megrin became distracted, unable to afford more precious seconds that someone of her tiny brain would just waste with useless conversation.  It was pointless after all.  Caius would no longer be around her after this.  He moved silently through the grass, making himself smaller and walking around the camp when he too heard the noise of the rock striking one of the beast-men's head and drawing their attention away from where he was.  Good.

But it seemed too late all ready when at the same time, he heard Caius being dragged out of his cage and strapped to a wooden cross-fashioned structure, facing the wood and leather straps binding his wrists, his clothing was stripped from him and a leather whip, three pronged and barbed was produced.  Baal put his ears back in sorrow at the sound of his master's screams, his face red from trying to keep it contained.  But every crack of the whip only made his cries louder than the last.

[visualspice]

The whip cracking wasn't just bothering Baal. With each crack, she flinched, gritting her teeth and feeling the solid knot of guilt tighten within her. It had only taken about four strikes in before she broke, armed herself with another rock and tore out from the grasses. She threw it at the assailants head, and it knicked off the side of his brow, causing him to halt in mid-swing, turning around just in time for Megrin to pick up more ammunition and tossed more rocks at his head. The rest of them seemed to miss their mark, but one smacked the centaur in the middle of his face.

"Stop this at once! You're hurting him!" she shouted, a command that had all of the centaurs turning onto her. "He didn't do anything. He lied to you. It was I who killed the river guardian. Well before this blonde adventurer appeared. I had poisoned him, and I asked him to hide the corpse. We decided to make it look like a battle, so it could appear as if he died with honor. But he did not! Now release him before I use the same spell of poison on the whole camp!"
She knew it was a bluff, but what did she had to lose?
Oh, right. Everything. She was a mortal, after all. But what did she care? Blondie was at least doing something good. The least she could do was pay him back and try to get him out of this mess. Hopefully, she wasn't making it worse.

[Lion]

But unfortunately she was and another leather strap was placed around his neck by another beastman as the other centaurs surrounded her.  Caius grit his teeth, not understanding what she was doing or why she'd bothered to come at all and when the whip cracked again, he choked out a final cry.  By then the Queen appeared behind them and held her spear defiantly.  "If you speak the truth," she said.  "Then let us see of this poison spell, human."

[visualspice]

Shit. She was hoping they wouldn't call her out on her bluff. But she continue to go with it, planting her hands on her hips.
"Do you really want to risk the life of on of your men so I can show you this power? The effects are irreversible." She was trying to bide some time, hoping maybe.. Baal had a better plan, because well, she herself, never EVER had any good ideas, and she was only reminded of this now as she was staring down the entire river clan of centaurs. Gods... she was totally going to get hung for this.

[Lion]

That wasn't all she was going to get.  Caius stirred from his stupor of pain and looked up at her, curious eyes furrowing at her interference.  But it was too late for him to say or do anything when the River Queen just laughed, tossing her head back, and saying, "As if I'd be afraid of anything a mere mortal possesses.  Anoriel, we will punish her too for her contempt.  She will make a nice addition to the collection as will the man."

The centaurs closed in on Megrin and threw a net around her to drag her deeper into camp and to linger beside Caius.  They untied him and pulled him along despite his protests to let her go, and dragged them both into the mouth of the cave.

"Damn," Baal thought.  He was hoping he could avoid the cave.

[visualspice]

"Well apparently centaurs aren't as stupid as they look," Megrin grumbled after she was dragged away into the cave. She clutched onto the rope netting and peered around. "Gods, I wonder what they have planned for us." Then turning over to where Caius was, she frowned. "Er, and sorry about all of this." but then she looked away angrily. "But you really should have kept your nose out of my business. Then you wouldn't have gotten yourself into this mess too."
Really, what was wrong wtih him!? She had no choice in the matter. If her master wanted her here with the centaurs.... this was where she went. But him!?
he had a different master all together, and his wolf-dog didn't even like her. It made no sense!

[Lion]

"I-hate-you." Caius managed in perfectly weakened breaths.  His back was broken and bleeding as the centaurs dragged them further into the cave.  He had no energy to argue with this insufferable woman.

[visualspice]

Despite their predicament and his tone, his words actually made her laugh.
"I tried to warn you," she said with a sad shake of her head. SHe turned away from him, peering into the darkness of the cave as they were dragged along. Her eyes went distant and sad as she recalled the death of Samrin. "They never listen." but her voice came out in barely a muttered whisper. And she was hardly a woman fit to comfort, but Caius had already stated his opinion. Well, at least she didn't have to worry about somehow accidently stealing his soul if he were in love with her. Then again, what sort of fool helped a woman he loathed? Apparently this blonde haired fool.

Once they were deep enough inside the cave, the centaur's denetted Megrin first, figuring Caius was too weak in his bloodied state as they dragged her out. "Hey, unhand me! Watch it!"s he called out, struggling underneath their rough pulling, but she had little choice as she tripped over her boots but was dragged away anyways, heading straight towards a rather terrifying series of barbed ropes, shackles and chains. They latched only a single chain around her ankle as they studied her, prodding at the arrow that was still jutting out from her side.

"Looks like the archers failed to hit their mark,"t he River queen quipped as she walked around Megrin, studying her. "Perhaps this time you won't be so lucky."

"What?" Megrin looked up at the river queen in confusion, that was, until she saw her gesture towards a group of centaur men who were readying their bows and arrows against a line, all of them facing towards her.

Megrin clutched onto her wound.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she griped, and looked around frantically for something, anything she could use as a shield.

[Lion]

Caius was miserable, true, but who wouldn't be after being whipped by barbed leather, tied to a wooden stake, and now dragged into a cave.  He didn't know why he'd been so foolish, didn't know why he bothered to save a woman who obviously didn't care about anything but herself.  To temper that thought, he knew then this was the last he'd see of her, the last he'd see of his foolishness.

Ha!  Nope!

"No!  D-don't!  Shoot me.  You goddamned beasts.  I'm the one that killed him.  This stupid bitch is trying to spare me the punishment I rightly deserve.  If you're going to shoot someone, shoot me!"