“It looks like they tried to force a nature into Hamon and Adoa, but it seems they were not compatible with it,” Nikud explains. “Here, let me help you,” Nikud offers as she walks up to Adoa, reaching out her arm. Adoa suddenly slaps it away. “Look, I’m just trying to help!”
“H-help Hamon first,” Adoa demands through several small coughs.
“Very well, then,” Nikud states as she turns to Hamon.
“And hey,” Adoa speaks up.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah, you stubborn elf,” Nikud remarks with a smile.
“Thanks, Nikud...” Hamon mutters as she helps him into one of the beds.
“Just rest now, little elf,” Nikud whispers with a smile as she gently pats him on the head. Before David can offer any help, the guard speaks.
“Next,” he instructs, pointing at David, “is the human.”
“Where are you taking me?” David asks the guard as he leads him down a dark hallway.
“Here,” the guard simply answers, opening a door in the hall. David is shoved in, the door closing behind him.
“Well, hello there, human warrior,” a figure remarks in an almost singing fashion. Before David can respond, he is suddenly held down, being forced into a chair.
“What’s going on?!” David shouts, struggling in vain to move.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. You’re valuable to me,” the figure continues. “You’re gonna live, barely,” the figure declares with a demented laugh.
“Wait, are you the guy at the bloodbath?” David asks.
“I wouldn’t call it a bloodbath, but yes I am,” the figure replies. Once the figure says this David breaks free of his bond, only to be instantly held down again.
“Wow, you are a strong and angry human, aren’t you? I could put that to good use.”
“Why can’t I move!?” David shouts with shock. With a chuckle the figure walks up to David, then whispers in his ear. “The shadows.”
“What?” David responds. “What do you mean?!”
“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough!” the figure exclaims with a smirk. Suddenly, a small shadow type demon enters the room.
“Who’s this midget?” David jeers.
“Oh, just call him the Doctor,” the figure answers. “And for your information, he’s pretty tall among imps.”
“So, this is my... patient this time?” the Doctor blankly asks.
“He’s all yours,” the figure declares with that same demented laugh as he leaves the room.
“All right then,” the Doctor blankly states as he turns to the nervous David, “lets torment a soul.”
The Doctor’s arm suddenly becomes engulfed in shadows. Before David can even react to the scene, the Doctor’s arm slowly starts to enter David’s head. Cries of agony envelope the room as David screams. “What the hell is going on?” David cries out. “Why am I suddenly remembering all of these painful experiences!?”
“Mmm, interesting, this human has a very dark past. I should continue the agonization process,” the Doctor mumbles to himself, ignoring David’s screams of agony.
“This bastard! He’s making me feel this pain!” David declares to himself, suddenly struggling, screams of rage filling the room.
The Doctor jumps back in shock. “Amazing,” he remarks, “most humans would have passed out by now, but you’re even fighting back. You’re definitely something special, David Aestus. The shadows will be quite pleased once you’re finally broken!”
Chapter Nine
Nearing the City of Elves
The night is quiet; the forest is still. The trees, however, know the truth. “Come back, traitor!” a fire demon shouts as Rose, Joshua, and I sprint in the opposite direction.
“These demons aren’t letting up!” I exclaim, panting as I go.
“Come on, don’t lose strength yet! For we are almost in the elves’ territory!” Joshua reminds the group.
“We may have to turn and fight,” Rose suggests, her vines readying to attack.
“They are gaining on us!” I add.
“You’re right,” Joshua answers. “However, Ron, it would be unwise to use that weapon of yours. The noise it makes will give away our position to even more of them.”
“Don’t worry,” I assure Joshua, “I won’t need it.” I grab my knife from my boot. I also begin to charge my shadow nature into my feet. From my many Exdrift exercises, I’ve discovered that doing so makes me lighter, allowing me to move faster. Joshua also charges up his nature, his fist starting to glow red. Rose charges her nature as well, her vines stretching from her back.
Suddenly, her vines shoot at some of the demons chasing the us. Her vines slash at their feet, forcing them to fall to the ground. Before they can get up, I rush to them using my shadow nature, slicing them with my knife. A shadow demon, seeing this, slashes at me from the shadows. Before it can connect its attack, however, Joshua jumps in, punching the shadow demon with his fire-covered arm. The force of the blow sends the demon flying, killing him instantly.
“Thanks, Joshua!” I exclaim.
“Of course, sir- I mean Ron!” Joshua responds with a strong smile.
“I believe we are surrounded!” Rose calls out as we regroup. Each of us covers another’s blind spot as we peer into the darkness of the forest.
“How many are left?” I ask between breaths.
“I still sense ten more,” Rose answers, her eyes glowing as she feels footsteps of the demons stepping on the forest’s ground.
She shoots her vines in the direction of the closest demons. They pierce through two.
“Nice work!” I compliment Rose. Suddenly a spear flies out at us from the trees. It’s headed straight for Rose. “Look out!” I yell as I tackle Rose just moments before the spear connects. It pierces a tree behind us. I notice that the wood around the spear starts to rot. “It’s all right, I got you,” I murmur.
“Th-thank you Ron,” Rose stammers, still a little shocked. “It seems as though the remaining seven are going to charge all at once!” Rose warns.
“Oh, I can deal with them,” Joshua states as he starts to take a stance, breathing heavily. Suddenly, seven demons, both fire and shadow, appear from the surrounding trees and brush. “Get behind me! Ron, Rose!” Joshua commands as they charge toward us, their eyes glowing in the night. Joshua takes a deep breath before releasing a fiery breath upon our attackers. Four of the demons are killed by the blast. The other three, being fire demons, manage to resist the attack. However, two are killed soon after to the swift attacks of Rose and I.
“M-Monsters!” The last remaining fire demon shouts, before retreating into the darkness of the forest.
I sit down after the battle. Heavy sighs escape my mouth. “Damn, can’t believe those guys were still chasing us after we ran into them three days ago,” I remark.
“I thought we lost them yesterday,” Joshua adds.
“Ron, thanks again for saving me,” Rose offers.
“Of course! I wouldn’t want to see you hurt, now would I?”
“Good work sir- I mean Ron! Your foes were no match for you!” Joshua exclaims.
“I should be thanking you, Joshua. You had my back the entire fight. And that fire, that was awesome!” I marvel as I raise my arms up in the air.
“Thank you! But anyways, we should keep moving,” Joshua suggests. Suddenly, an object comes flying from the forest, hitting Joshua. The force of the impact sends him flying into a tree.
“What was that?!” Rose shouts as she rushes to heal Joshua, now unconscious, with her vines.
“I-It’s the guy that just ran off,” I reveal in shock as I look upon the demon’s body, which was just hurled at us.
“Ha, what a coward, he wasn’t even that badly injured,” a voice declares from the dire
ction of the thrown corpse.
“It’s a demon stalker!” I realize as it comes into the light of Joshua’s fire breath.
“Ron, I don’t know what to do! You probably need my assistance to beat this foe, but Joshua needs attention too!” Rose cries.
“Don’t worry, Rose,” I reply, “I’ll hold him off--just take care of Joshua.”
“This must be my lucky day!” the demon stalker taunts.
“Oh yeah, how so?” I remark.
“I never thought I’d see you again, here of all places,” the demon stalker sneers.
“Y-You’re the bastard that took David!” I shout.
“Eh, that’s his name? Whatever--I could care less,” the demon stalker mumbles to itself. I ignore the demon’s taunts, instead focusing my shadow nature into my fist. Without warning, the stalker is suddenly right in front of me. It throws a punch right toward my face. I barely manage to dodge its attack. In doing so I fall slightly off balance.
“Decent reactions human! But let’s see if you can dodge this,” the demon stalker declares as it throws another punch. The punch barely hits me, yet I fly back. I immediately jump back into its range, throwing a swift punch to its face. It barely makes it flinch. “Still as weak as ever since we met, huh!” the demon stalker continues.
“Sure, buddy!” I shout as I suddenly slash at the demon’s face with my knife, which I had hidden behind my back. But a shocked expression forms on my face as I pull back my arm.
“If I let you get away with cutting me again I would have lost it!” the demon mumbles as it crushes my knife in its mouth.
“How about this?!” I shout as I release myself from the demon’s grip. I throw another punch at the demon’s face. Unlike the first attack, this one carries my newly learned shadow nature with it. The demon stalker is knocked back a few feet, but still seems unfazed.
“Haha! I just gave you that nature and you are already using it!? You’re such a great find!” the demon stalker remarks with glowing eyes of excitement. “But you are still too weak!” it yells as it jabs my stomach. I fly into a tree, managing to block the blow’s full effect with my shadow covered arm.
“Now that one hurt, you bastard,” I snap, spitting out a few drops of blood.
“Ron!” Rose yells as she looks up from healing Joshua.
“Rose! Keep healing him! I’m fine!” I yell.
“What are you talking about?! Don’t be stubborn, Ron!” Rose yells, tears starting to form in her eyes.
“You survived that blow? You are going to be fun to play with!” the demon stalker declares with an evil look of excitement. It starts to walk toward me in a slow stride. It’s as if it is walking slowly just so it has more time to plan what evil it wishes to do to me. I don’t hesitate to start getting my gun ready.
“I don’t care if a whole army hears this shot. I’m dead if I don’t do something,” I think to myself as I load my gun.
“Let’s see, what to do first?” the demon stalker asks itself as it nears my injured body. Through the pain, I don’t realize that my shadow nature has started to cover my gun.
“Nothing personal,” I mutter through my teeth as I suddenly jerk the gun upward, firing a shot towards the demon stalker’s face. The demon lets out a twisted cry of agony as it falls to the ground.
“Ahh! It burns!” it yells, holding its face.
“Damn, I shot its jaw off, and yet it’s still alive,” I think to myself as the demon stalker clenches its fresh wound, starting to mumble something, though I can’t understand it due to the fresh blood in its now destroyed mouth. It charges up an attack, but I’m too injured to dodge in time.
“Ron!” Rose cries out as she rushes toward me. I already know she won’t make it in time. The demon charges for me, its eyes filled with seemingly endless rage.
“Wind’s Cry!” a voice shouts. The demon is suddenly flung back--by wind? The force of the gust sends it straight into a tree. The demon grimaces as it holds its cut-up body.
“I-I’ll kill you one day!” the demon stalker manages to shout through the blood in its mouth as it retreats into the darkness.
“Ron! Are you all right?!” Rose shouts, rushing to my side. “I-I’m sorry Ron, that was a powerful foe, and I made you fight it on your own...” Rose cries out.
“Don’t worry... I’m fine. Is Joshua all right?”
“Yes, your friend is in our care now,” a figure assures us as he comes into view.
“Were you the one who saved us?” I ask.
“Yes, I was. When we heard that sound,” the figure pauses, looking at my gun. “I knew who you were.”
“Wait, who are you?” I ask the figure.
“Oh, of course, my apologies for not introducing myself earlier. I am King Terashi, leader of the elves.”
The group, now safe, continues into the elves’ territory with King Terashi as their guide. “I’ve heard tales of the Homathreas in the prophecy when I was but a child, but I had no idea I’d have the privilege to meet one,” King Terashi explains as he shakes my hand.
“My lord, I do realize what this man is... but for your own safety, please stay back. We don’t know his motives yet; after all, he is a human,” one of the King’s Royal Guards states.
“I’m sorry,” I begin to say, “to tell you the truth, half the reason I came here was to learn about this prophecy, and to find out what exactly a Homathreas is.”
“Furthermore, your lordship, one of them is a fire demon,” the guard continues to report.
“Hey, wait a minute!” Rose begins to explain, “Joshua is no threat to his lordship! He came to me because he wants to fight against the shadow demons’ rule!”
“Then fight he shall!” King Terashi declares with a smile on his face.
“But, your majesty!” the guard begins to argue.
“Silence!” King Terashi cuts in, “Any ally of this man is an ally to me.”
“There you go again, your majesty. We just came back from a terrible defeat, and you are already gathering allies,” another guard argues.
“Don’t mind my guards,” King Terashi whispers to me, ignoring his guard’s comments. “They’re just worked up over our recent battle.”
“You were recently in a fight?” I ask.
“Yes, though the enemy was indeed victorious. We lost too many again,” King Terashi answers sternly.
“I know the feeling,” I mutter.
“You’ve lead men before, Ron?” King Terashi asks.
“Well, yes, back in my world,” I explain.
“Interesting. So why are you now in this world of Sarrus, Ron?” King Terashi asks.
“Well, David--a friend of mine--was captured by a demon stalker,” I begin to explain. “If not for Rose, Iwould’ve been captured too.”
“So now you fight for your friend... a noble cause,” King Terashi states.
“Um, y-your majesty, I was told that the Wise Ones would know everything about this prophecy you speak of. I would like to meet them.”
“Of course, of course, but first you should rest. I will make the preparations tomorrow, after we reach the city of Malros, my capital,” King Terashi states.
After some time, we set up camp, only half a day’s journey away from the elves’ city of Malros.
“Are you all right Ron?” Rose asks as I prepare to sleep.
“Oh, yes, I am. Is something wrong, Rose?” I ask.
Rose says nothing, instead she starts to walk closer to me.
“W-What are you doing?” I stutter. Rose suddenly bows toward me. I notice that tears have started to form in her eyes.
“I-I’m sorry, Ron! I was so useless when it really mattered. You would have died if King Terashi wasn’t nearby!” Rose sobs. I say nothing. She continues, “I-I understand how mad you must be. So mad that you would hit me... and I unders
tand.”
I slowly reach out my hand. Rose closes her eyes. “No matter what happens, I could never bring myself to hit you, Rose,” I assure her as I gently pat her head.
“Y-You aren’t mad at me?” Rose asks, tears still in her eyes.
“Of course not! In fact, I’m proud,” I declare.
“Proud?” Rose questions with a confused look on her face.
“Can you keep a secret?” I whisper to Rose.
“Um, sure,” Rose whispers back.
I let out a sigh. “Ok, well, to tell you the truth, my first battle was nothing to be praised over. I barely even fought! I just... well, fell unconscious after killing... a few men,” I admit, as quietly as I can, looking around to see if anyone else heard. Rose tries to hold back her laughter, but it’s clear to me. “Don’t worry, you can laugh,” I mumble with a sigh.
“Aw, Ron, thanks for telling me that! I feel a lot better now!” Rose exclaims. She seems to be back to her normal, cheerful self.
“I’m happy my embarrassing story made you feel better,” I admit. We both can’t help but burst out into laughter after that tension breaker.
“Well, again, thank you, Ron. I think I’ll head to bed after I check up on Joshua real quick,” Rose explains.
“All right then, good night, Rose,” I respond with a smile.
“And a goodnight to you too Ron!” Rose calls out with a smile as she leaves.
“I wish I could, but it seems I can’t sleep as much as I used to,” I tell myself as I turn in my bed. “I hope David is all right--knowing him, he’s probably giving them a run for their money,” I joke to myself.
Chapter Ten
David’s Struggle
“You aren’t gonna do jack!” David yells as he struggles in vain to fight back in his torture chair. His eyes are filled with what can only be described as darkness. Sweat covers his entire body.
“If you would just be a kind little patient and hold still,” the Doctor mumbles to himself. The Doctor continues to torture David for hours, both physically and mentally.
David struggles through the operation. He fares better than Tink, but something is different. Tink had been afraid, sad, and distressed when he was tortured. David, on the other hand, showed only anger and rage.
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