by K R Leikvoll
"How do you want to do this?" Kirin asked Ronen.
He walked past us and scanned the monsters below. "I think it would be better to fight in a group than to split up," he responded.
Mortos cleared his throat. "You will meet us at the Kaza'mae shores after this," he told the rest of the crew that had gathered around. "When we find the Evyans, we will send supplies." Putting his fist to his chest, he added "Lux Eterna."
"Lux Eterna," everyone mumbled sleepily in response.
Kirin grabbed me into his arms without any warning.
"Hey!" I grumbled, trying to move.
He shook me slightly. "Are you ready? Stay safe," he said seriously. Our group of ten moved to the edge of the ship. Kirin led the way by jumping down with me first. I could hear men jumping down behind us in the water. He set me down.
The skeletons hadn't noticed our presence until we landed in the sand. They started to shuffle in our direction though they lacked any muscle. The rattling of their bones was obnoxiously filling the peaceful silence.
Famine formed in Kirin's hands, a sight that seemed concerning to our companions, but not to me. The first skeleton to raise its sword was cut down in half a second by his blade. That was enough for everyone else to yell and charge in.
He was right about the skeletons being semi-weak foes. I stood in the center of everyone, waiting patiently for my moment to be useful. Mortos was laughing as he slashed at them, enjoying how easy it seemed.
One of the taller skeletons advanced on my left as if it was being stealthy. It raised its giant two-handed axe over its head ready to chop me in half. I took a deep breath and tried to focus.
As the blade threatened to slice me in half, I raised my hand, allowing the ring to deflect the axe with a barrier. The blade reverberated away, knocking the skeleton back. Without meaning to, the shadows followed up the barrier, weaving their way through my fingers. They struck the skeleton in a single bolt. As it moved to swipe at me again, it dispersed into dust. It kind of excited me—I killed something all by myself!
A few smaller warriors were gaining an advantage over the men in the back. I blocked their swipes with a barrier, but it was more forceful. It sent the skeletons flying into the ocean. I couldn't help feeling a bit self-assured from being able to control my abilities with more purpose.
By the time everyone else had cut apart a few of the undead, Kirin had annihilated half of them. He was swinging his scythe around like it was a chore, not even glancing at the rest of us.
I put up a few more barriers, avoiding using the demonic power as much as possible. It gave us the edge we needed to knock the rest of them down into piles of bones.
Famine disappeared in Kirin's hands as he turned back to us. "Not too bad," he said to us, stretching and cracking his back.
"Too easy," Ronen replied, refusing to sheathe his weapon.
He was right; the bones on the ground reformed into larger skeletons made of random pieces on the battlefield. Everyone began the process of knocking them down again, taking a bit longer than before. I did my best to shield as many hits as I could from the monsters.
The last skeleton left standing nearly carved right into Mortos' side. I barely had enough time to help him reflect it. The brief pause gave him the opportunity to slash its ligaments and kick it down.
"Thank you, Luxza," he called with a wink.
The bones rattled around us and began to reform into even larger monsters.
We had to beat them back again... and again... and again. I was getting close to the end of my energy with the ring. Kirin was doing his best to do the most out of everyone, but it wasn't enough. Each time we destroyed them, they reformed. It gave us no time to make any sort of headway on the beach. I ran behind Kirin, who was slashing down one of the bigger skeletons.
"There's only one way to kill these things," he told me between slices. "Obliteration. We may have to have the men fight them off while we make our escape into the woods." Everyone was sharing nervous looks. Could they fight them off without getting killed?
"Nobody dies," I refused, surveying our surroundings and situation—four giant skeletons on each side. There was no way they could take them alone, and I knew I could turn them to ashes. It was risky with the debt I might owe, but that was better than the alternative of people dying.
I put a hand on Kirin's shoulder. "I think I can do it," I said over the sound of the battle.
"Do what?" he asked, eyeing the skeletons coming in closer.
"Let me take care of it," I called louder.
He turned back to me with a confused expression.
I didn't have time to explain. I tried to focus on the fire that felt like it was flowing through my veins. I closed my eyes. The demonic power didn't control me, I controlled it. I wasn't like Vince. My abilities would save the people I cared about, not cause harm. He had no hold over me. The thoughts of him fueled the flames that coursed through my body.
When I opened my eyes, I was startled to see that our group was standing in the center of a colossal, black tornado. The winds were made of shadowy fire, disintegrating anything that dared walk through it. It was spinning faster and faster, carving into the ground around us. I didn't know how to stop it. I tried to consciously pull it back, but it wouldn't cease. The energy was dragging me to my knees. I was supposed to be in control. Come on, stop before I owe too much. It wouldn't be forced back.
Kirin was no longer holding Famine. He rushed over to me.
"They're dead! You can stop," he yelled with urgency. My eyes must've showed my helplessness. He kneeled down and put his arms around me. "It's over. Calm your thoughts," he said more gently.
The tornado around us began to evaporate into cinders. I took a deep breath as it faded away. The remnants of the skeletons began to glow. In the form of a black, wispy orb, its energy was hurled at me. Per usual, I absorbed it with a shiver. It didn't help me feel any less exhausted.
I shakingly pulled myself to my feet. Everyone around me clapped lightly and laughed. Side effect of fighting, I guessed. The ring had drained me before all of that, on top of not sleeping. It was a nice way to start off our hike.
The captain talked to his men and reminded them of their duty before other dock mates rappelled downward. They started working on getting the Valkyrie back to the sea.
Ronen came back toward us with a torch in his hands and beckoned us to follow him. I took a final look at the ship before following behind Mortos. I was going to miss having a bed, but I wasn't going to miss the sea.
We entered the forest in a single file line. Passing into the tree line was eerie. Not only was it ten times darker in the shade, the entirety of the land felt heavy and dense. It was almost like there was a deep sadness in the air that had been there for centuries. I couldn't understand it, but I could feel it.
I didn't want to be in the back. They all had stronger eyes than me and had no issues following Ronen. Meanwhile, I was stumbling all over the place. My time on the boat made me forget how chaotic the terrains were on Praetis. There weren't any trails or paths either, only dislodged logs and bushes. My stamina was nearly spent and it was making my knees weak. The shadows were playing tricks on my eyes. There was always something in the corner of my vision watching me.
"Liar..." a whisper said nearby. I glanced over my shoulder in time to catch a shadow passing behind the trees. I whipped around unsteadily. Nothing, but I knew there had to be something.
"Did you guys hear that?" I asked quietly. I could hear them walking further away.
"Betrayer... murderer..." the trees howled at me. I peeked around myself again. The shadows danced into the horizon tempting me to follow them.
"Val?" Kirin's voice called out. I pulled my eyes from the darkness. He was walking toward me calmly.
"Do you hear that?" I asked when he was closer. I could barely see his pale face in the low lighting, but his eyes looked at me curiously.
"Hear what?" he responded, glancing around.
/> "Demon," the wind wailed. It sent instant chills all through my body.
"That! Did you hear that?" I yelled, frustrated. I tugged on my hair. The energy of the forest felt like it was trying to suffocate me.
Kirin's moon colored eyes searched around us. "I didn't hear anything. There's nothing here. Are you alright?" he asked, tugging on my hand.
I was starting to feel crazy. If it was Vince's voice, I would've been able to handle it, but these voices were something different. It wasn't just one angry spirit... it was thousands. They wanted to crush me with the energy of whatever had happened to them.
"Let's keep walking, okay? Everything is fine." Kirin started, pulling me behind him.
Every time the spirits would howl at me, I'd clench his hands as hard as I could. We caught up to the others after a minute or two. They were having a hushed conversation, probably about me hearing voices, but I wasn't paying attention. More hushed whispers repeating the same words over and over were flooding my ears. What did I do to them? Why did they hate me?
But even the voices couldn't smother the desire to sacrifice. It took only a moment to come on, starting at my feet. That time it was disparate from every other experience I had with the flames. It engulfed my entire body like I was being dipped into molten lava. It happened so quickly that I didn't have time to ask for help. I couldn't even scream. I expected to fall to my knees. I expected my brain to beg for death, but it didn't.
Instead, I was overcome with the desire to extinguish the flames the only way I knew how. As if someone else was in control of my body, I viciously grabbed at Kirin's arm.
Confused, he pulled away. I tried to rip at his wrist again with my fingernails, but he pushed me back. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.
I didn't want to be consumed any longer. The drive to sacrifice was overwhelming. With inhuman strength, I threw myself at Kirin. It was almost as if it were happening in third person and all I could do was watch my own actions in horror. I wrapped my hands around his neck in one fluid motion and slammed him to the ground on his back.
He was just as surprised as I was. So surprised that for a moment he sat dazed giving me the opportunity to ram him into a tree by his throat. "Val…" he croaked weakly, holding my hand on his neck.
I didn't give him the opening to stop me. No more flames. Possessed, I ripped his tunic from his shoulder to expose his flesh. I didn't need a knife or fangs. My pathetic, normal teeth mangled his skin until it finally succumbed to my desire. I latched onto the wound, each drop relieving me more and more.
"My King?" I heard either Mortos or Ronen's voice say. It was too foggy to tell. All I cared about was the sweet, wine flavored rain sizzling out the fire.
"You could have just asked," Kirin whispered faintly under my chokehold.
The flames had died to the point of my consciousness fighting to make it back. I released his neck, but I couldn’t stop drinking.
"We'll catch up," he called to the others as he squirmed under me. I straddled his lap, not caring anymore about Ronen or Mortos. I could hear them walking away and that was good enough for me. My lips pushed on his shoulder harder, seeking out as much as I could. I was worried that Kirin wouldn't be enough to satisfy the debt. Who else would I have to attack?
Instead of pushing me off, he held me against his chest. I could still feel him shifting uncomfortably, but he didn't complain. "This is why you need to be careful," he said in a mildly pained tone. "Don't recklessly do things you can't repay."
I finally parted from his skin, gasping for breath. I licked the last of the blood that had pooled on his shoulder before I had the mental strength to move away from him.
"I think I repaid it just fine," I murmured with more desire in my voice. Everything was covered in the white fog of the blood’s effects. I wanted to be close to him, the person who could kill the flames. My fingers ran against his bare skin under his shirt. I started tugging at the lining of his pants.
"Don't do that," he said sharply, pulling my hands away. I fought him for a second before he swung me around, knocking my head against the tree. I grimaced from the pain.
"Hey!" I said fully coming back to reality.
"It's my turn now. Don't worry—I'll be gentle," he growled with clear irritation in his voice. I was coming to terms with my actions as he pressed his lips against my ear. "And do not tempt me like that again, Valentine," he whispered, sending chills up my spine. His lips moved down my neck and stopped at the base of my throat. When I thought he was about to bite into me, he pulled away.
I felt cold steel in my hands. He had entrusted his small shiv to me. I was still feeling shell shocked from everything that had happened. The guilt of attacking Kirin was starting to weigh on my consciousness. How I had even brought him down like that was beyond me. His glowing eyes were staring into mine, waiting patiently for his turn. Numbly, I dragged the blade across my wrist.
Kirin took my arm into his hands, not taking his eyes off mine. He put his lips near the wound and stopped again.
"One day you'll need to learn to resist the flames," he whispered seriously. "I won't always be there to help you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked immediately. He didn't answer. He pressed his lips against the cut and used my blood to soothe his own burning. Kirin did exactly as he said and was as delicate as he could be. It only took him a moment unlike myself. The cut hissed shut as if the ring knew. We sat across from each other in awkward silence. I was waiting for him to stand up, but he didn't. His hands adjusted and folded me close to him.
"Be more careful next time," he said before helping me to my feet. I gave him a brief hug.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
He gave me a soft pat on the back before we started walking in the direction the others had departed.
I was pretty embarrassed. How much had those guys even seen? It probably wasn’t appropriate Divinus behavior, huh? They hadn't walked off too far, which embarrassed me more. Mortos and Ronen had definitely heard the whole ordeal… ugh.
The voices of the woods had faded to a dim hum in the background. I chose to stay directly behind Ronen and the torch this time so I could avoid falling. They were all mumbling about how much they despised Kaeda and various pro-Naadean statements. Besides all the skeletons and creepy voices, Kaeda reminded me of Earth, so I guess that meant I was pro-Kaeda... not like I was going to say that out loud.
I was thankful Kirin's blood gave me enough of a buzz to keep up with the ridiculous pace they were trying to set. It was a fast walk for them, but for it me it was more like a jog. It only took a few hours for the sky to lighten to the point where we didn't need the torch. As morning came on, the forest shifted into a heavily fogged ghost town. There was no sign of animal (or creature) life at all. Not even water. They didn't seem to notice.
I requested that we stop sometime in the afternoon when the buzz wore off. I was crashing pretty hard and wasn't able to keep up anymore. Kirin and Mortos debated carrying me, but I told them to shove it up their ass and let me rest for five seconds. The captain had been making a lot of jokes since we landed about me being some kind of princess. It might've just been to relieve the awkward tension between all of us. Whatever the case was, I wasn't going to let them treat me like a damsel in distress.
We had all agreed on stopping at the river, which seemed like it was a million miles away, but it was more like one. And per usual, there was a demon waiting for us. I realized how far I had come since I got to Praetis when I was more excited to see water than I was fearful of the demon. The beast was black and similar to the one that had tried to steal our stuff back at the Capitol. It was distracted by the falls for a moment before it noticed us.
Nobody had time to devise a thought-out plan. It came charging at us as everyone drew their weapons (except me; I just stood in the background). Kirin had summoned Famine and was ready to chop its head off, only he didn't get the opportunity. Another black beast seemingly dropped from the empty sky onto th
e other demon's back. The original demon bucked and kicked for a moment before the other one slashed a dagger across its throat.
It wasn't until the second demon stood up fully that I realized it was a bit different. This one looked like some kind of wolf-man, probably closer to old-school werewolves or something. It stood on two feet, had massive, shredded muscles, a canine face, a wolf's fangs, and long, tangled black fur. I assumed it was sentient based on the fact that it was wearing dark green pants. Unlike every other demon I had encountered, it didn't have red eyes. Light blue, in fact. It let out a howl and viciously shook the blood off its fur.
I expected Kirin or the others to charge it, but nobody moved. I hid behind Kirin’s cloak as it moved toward us. I was too weak to fight something strong with the amount I had to use the ring the previous day.
"I'm surprised to see you here, Maundrell," the creature said in a low, growly voice.
"And I'm happy to see you still alive. We could use your aid," Kirin responded with a steady tone. I could see the shadow of the beast moving closer.
"What aid could I possibly give you?" the wolf asked with a cocked head. He seemed annoyed at our very presence.
"We're trying to find the Evyans," Mortos said for Kirin.
"The Evyans live in secrecy now. There's only one thing they'll open their gates for, and it isn't you," the wolfman replied looking at our entire group.
Kirin reached his hand behind his back and grasped mine tightly. "But they will open it for us. I have something they need," he responded to the creature.
"Where is Alexandra?" the growly voice asked instead of listening to him.
Kirin dropped my hand and removed the bone bow from his back. He held it out to the empty air. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
The wolf snatched it out of his hands. The bow actually appeared small in his massive claws. He was silent for a long time. Everyone was.
