My Demon Master Is An Adorable Snake

Chapter 14

Yuta woke slowly, his body feeling strangely light despite the horrific events of the previous day. He reached for his companion immediately, his wandering fingers searching the warm spot where the snake had curled against him through the night.

"Shadow?" he whispered, sitting up carefully. "Where are you?"

But the space beside him was empty, cold even. The black serpent with the burning red eyes was nowhere to be found. Yuta looked around the cramped slave quarters, checking under his thin mattress, behind the other sleeping forms, even in the darkest corners where a snake might hide.

Nothing.

An intense panic gripped his chest. Had something happened to his only friend? Had the guards found Shadow and killed him? The thought made his heart race with genuine terror—not for himself, but for the beautiful creature who had offered him companionship in this place of suffering.

As he shifted to continue his search, Yuta realized something impossible. His back didn't hurt. At all.

He twisted carefully, expecting the familiar fire of torn flesh and deep welts, but felt only smooth, unbroken skin. Confused, he slowly reached back to touch where the whip had carved its brutal message across his shoulders. His fingers found nothing but unmarked flesh, as if the flogging had never happened.

"That's… that's not possible," he breathed, his voice barely audible in disbelief.

"Yuta?" Ren stirred on the mattress beside him, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "You're awake early. How's your back feeling?"

"It's…" Yuta hesitated, not sure how to explain what he was experiencing. "It feels fine. Better than fine. It doesn't hurt at all."

Ren sat up quickly, fully alert now. "What do you mean it doesn't hurt? You were barely conscious when you came back yesterday. Let me see."

Before Yuta could protest, Ren had pulled up the back of his torn shirt. The sharp intake of breath that followed made Yuta's stomach clench with further disbelief.

"This is impossible," Ren whispered, his voice filled with awe and fear. "Yuta, there's nothing there. No wounds, no scars, nothing. Your back is completely healed."

Other slaves began to stir at their hushed conversation, and soon several pairs of eyes were staring at Yuta's unmarked skin with expressions ranging from wonder to terror.

"Only demons possess healing powers like this," Kai said from his bedroll, his bandaged face turning toward Yuta's voice. "But which demon would ever heal a lowly human slave?"

"And there's always a price," another slave added, his voice trembling with undisguised fear "Demons never give anything for free. Someone wanted something from you, Yuta. Something big."

Yuta felt a chill run down his spine—the same spine that should have been carved with whip marks but was instead smooth and perfect.

"I don't understand," Yuta said honestly, touching his back again in surprise. "I didn't ask anyone for healing. I don't even know any demons who would…" He trailed off, suddenly thinking of Shadow. But that was ridiculous. His snake companion was just an animal, beautiful and intelligent perhaps, but certainly not capable of demonic magic.

"Someone healed you," Ren said quietly, his voice heavy with worry. "Someone powerful. And they're going to want payment eventually."

Yuta remained stunned, and somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice wondered where Shadow had gone, he had to look for it. If anyone found it first, that innocent animal may get killed.

-----

The day didn't go smoothly as Yuta had prayed, rather it brought fresh horrors in the form of Randolf, Lyrian's closest friend.

Where Lyrian's cruelty was born of jealousy and wounded pride, Randolf's evil was pure and calculated, he enjoyed causing pain for its own sake.

Randolf was a tall and sharp-featured demon, with pale gold hair and eyes like chips of amber ice. He also served as one of Lord Elrien's advisors, which gave him considerable power over the human slaves. 

"Well, well," Randolf's smooth voice carried across the courtyard as Yuta carried water buckets to the kitchens. "If it isn't our little slave who got Lyrien so angry yesterday, how are you working in perfect health now?"

Yuta's blood freezes in his veins, news of his impossible recovery had spread through the castle like wildfire, and now he was attracting exactly the kind of attention he'd tried so hard to avoid.

"I heard you had an interesting night," Randolf continued, moving to block Yuta's path. "Twenty lashes yesterday, perfect skin today. How fascinating. Who healed you?"

"I don't know what happened, my lord," Yuta said quietly, keeping his eyes down in the submissive posture all slaves were required to maintain.

"Don't you?" Randolf's voice was silk wrapped around steel. "Because I think you do know. I think you've made some very interesting friends, haven't you, human boy?"

Yuta shudders at the way Randolf spat out those words and before he could respond, Randolf struck him across the face with enough force to send him sprawling. The water buckets went flying, their contents splashing across the stone courtyard.

"Clumsy," Randolf observed coldly, his eyes gleaming with cruelty "Clean that up. With your tongue."

Yuta looked up in shock and revulsion. "My lord, I—"

"Did I stutter?" Randolf's eyes began to glow with demonic power. "Lick. Every. Drop."

The other slaves in the courtyard stopped what they were doing, watching in horrified silence as Yuta was forced to get on his hands and knees. The stone was filthy, covered in dirt and worse things that he didn't want to identify. But refusing would mean death, and death would mean never seeing Shadow again.

As Yuta lowered his head to the courtyard stones, he felt something inside him break. This wasn't about punishment or discipline—this was about humiliation, about reminding him that no matter what miracle had healed his back, he was still nothing more than an animal to be used and discarded.

The taste of dirt and grime filled his mouth as he forced himself to lick the spilled water from the stones. Randolf's ruthless laughter echoed off the walls, mixing with the horrified silence of the other slaves who dared not intervene.

"Good boy," Randolf purred when Yuta had finished. "Now you remember your place. Whatever weak demon friend you think you have, they won't protect you from me. I'll make sure you understand exactly how worthless you are, healing or no healing."

As Randolf walked away, his cruel laughter still ringing in the air, Yuta remained on his hands and knees, trembling with humiliation and despair. The taste of filth in his mouth was nothing compared to the bitter knowledge that this was his life now—an endless cycle of degradation and pain, no matter what miracles might occur in the darkness.

The healing that had seemed like a blessing now felt like a curse, marking him for special attention from the very demons he'd tried so hard to avoid.

Familiar tears burned in his eyes and the crystal clear liquid began to leak from his wet lashes. Where was Shadow?

He needed him right now.