by David Aries
Quit bellyaching. Do you realize how amazing this is?
“Yeah, sorry,” I said. This level of healing was a miracle. Without it, I’d have perished much earlier. In that aspect, I was one lucky boy. The slimes were only a green threat and they left me looking like an extra in a horror film. Without my regenerative strength, I’d have been scarred for life at best.
The slimes had been yellow when I’d first encountered their kind. If that isn’t evidence of how difficult defending Titania had been, I don’t know what is.
I kept an eye out for more demons, but it was Titania’s shifting which caught my attention. After I had no idea how long, she opened her eyes.
“Where am I?” she groaned, sitting up.
“Still underground,” I informed her, making her jump.
“Shit! What are you sneaking around for?” Titania said, reaching for her blanket. She recoiled, eyes wide. “My clothes!” Titania pulled the sheet over her bare chest. “The fuck are you doing, pervert?!”
“Stopping you catching your death.” I pointed at our drying clothes, spread out next to the fire. She wasn’t the only one stuck in their birthday suit. Less than ideal but my improved half-breed internal heating had shown its merits.
Probably for the best. Doubt store-bought fabric would have survived the slimes.
Titania snatched up her garments without revealing herself. “Who said you could undress me?”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Shut it! It’s your fault we’re here in the first place!”
“Don’t start this again.”
“It’s true.”
“I don’t give a shit. You’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
Titania grumbled but didn’t retort. She threw me out so she could change. I did the same. My clothing was still damp but mild discomfort was preferential to being branded a sexual deviant.
The fully dressed orc emerged with a torch and marched straight past me.
“Where are you going?” I said.
“Finding a way out. Duh,” she responded.
“Give me a minute.”
Titania clicked her tongue and kept going.
I grabbed her wrist. “Didn’t you hear me?”
She wrestled her arm away. “I can take care of myself.”
“You joking?”
“Why would I be joking?”
I gestured at the floor. “Have you seen this mess?” The rocks were stained with blue demon blood and pungent guts. Carcasses littered the area.
“What of it?”
“Don’t play dumb. What are you gonna do about the demons?”
Titania bit her lip and grumbled. “I’ll manage…”
“How?”
“Somehow.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Tell me exactly how you’re gonna handle the demons.”
She grimaced and averted her eyes. “I’ll… think of something.”
“Think now. Think this very second. How are you gonna fight demons alone?”
“Get off my back,” Titania snapped.
“No. I didn’t protect you so you could get yourself killed.” I, again, drew her attention to the battlefield. Pools of red mixed in with the blue. “You can’t handle this alone.”
“Shut up!” she growled, clutching her head. “Dammit! You think I don’t know?! You think I like being this fucking useless?!”
“You’re not.”
“I am! I’m a damn liability. Take away my spear and I’m no better than a damsel.” Titania kicked a piece of ex-demon across the cave. “You had to do this because of me.”
“It couldn’t be helped,” I said.
“And the lake? It’s blurry but I know something grabbed me. And I couldn’t do shit so you had to save me.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Even when falling. You think I missed you protecting me?”
I rubbed my neck. Yeah, that had happened. I cradled her against me so I took the brunt of the lake’s impact. “Better the half-breed take the damage than anybody else.”
“What about that damn dungeon? You had to carry me. Twice! Like I’m some fucking princess. Because I was too fucking useless to do it myself.”
“You can’t help being&emdash;”
“Shut it,” Titania snapped. “Stop trying to make me feel better!”
A roar interrupted our conversation. We had company. Big fuzzy company. A demon bear crawled out of the darkness. I knew the type. We had history. That sort of hideous beast had given me the power to see in the dark.
Titania turned to face the darkness-dwelling demon. She looked at her hands. There was no shield strapped to her forearm. A burning torch took the place of her spear. She had nothing which could handle a demon.
The fiend growled and rushed toward her.
I stepped forward and punched the beast’s face, driving it back.
The first time I’d encountered this type of demon, I’d almost lost my life. How things changed. My demon eye assessed its power. Turquoise. A far cry from the yellow threat which had threatened me that day.
My foe struggled to its feet, face shattered by my drilling blow.
I swiftly put the demon out of its misery. A second punch brought its grievous life to an end.
“Again,” Titania spat. “You had to save me. I can’t do anything on my own. Can’t even protect myself.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said. “Nobody can fight without a weapon.”
“Except you. You can fight them just fine. You can protect anyone. I can’t do a fucking thing without you holding my hand.”
“It’s not like&emdash;”
“Shut it,” she growled, baring her teeth. “I don’t care anymore. I just wanna get outta this shitty cave.” She wafted her torch around the darkness. “People used to sneak in and out of the city down here. There’s definitely a way back up.”
“We’ll find it. I’ll get you back. I promise.”
“Yeah, great,” she said, ambling ahead. “Lead the way, oh mighty savior. I’d do it myself but I can’t do shit, apparently.”
I sighed. At least it was better than her working against me. But she was wrong. She wasn’t useless, even if she couldn’t fight the demons unarmed. I was the weird one, not her.
As long as it helped me get her to safety, I didn’t mind being the biggest weirdo in all of Grabadon.
Chapter 8
There was a way out of the extensive cave system. That was great. Truly wonderful.
If only we could find it.
Hours had passed since we’d left our makeshift camp. At least, it felt that way. We were isolated from all natural light sources. Keeping track of time was impossible. My demon eye made the darkness a non-issue but we were no closer to escaping the winding underground. We’d traveled the entire time and nothing. Titania’s testimony remained all the evidence I had. There were no convenient signs pointing to the exit. It was needle-in-a-haystack stuff.
A pile of hay riddled with demons.
I grappled two of a demon centipede’s wiggling legs and kept my head away from the nasty pair of pincers snapping at my scalp.
Bugs are repellent when they’re normal sized. Imagine scaling one bigger than a human. That’s the shit I was dealing with. A twelve-foot, segmented monster with more legs than a cobbler could handle.
It was an orange threat. Lovely. Just what I needed when I was escorting my unarmed friend.
The relentless oversized pest kept biting as it tried to wrestle out of my hold. Its free legs sliced, but nicks weren’t enough to deter someone who could heal their skin being melted clean off. As if that wasn’t enough, its ground-beating backend swung around in search of purchase. The monster was trying to force me back.
Not happening. Never happening. I would not lose to a supersized bug.
That’s the spirit. Toast this bastard.
I roared and pulled my right, snapping the demon’s leg from its socket. It bought me the narrowest of windows. I
turned the dismembered limb tip up and stabbed it into what I suppose you could call the centipede’s chin.
The beast squealed and stumbled, oozing blue slime from the wound.
I didn’t let the demon retreat. My knuckles turned white securing it’s squirming, trapped leg. I yanked, bringing its body close, and drilled my own right into its jaw.
Cracks spread down its exoskeleton, jettisoning more of that repulsive discharge.
The big bastard wasn’t getting away from me. I kept tugging and delivering, slamming the demon onto my burning fist as much as I jabbed.
Its face caved before its arm, exposing glowing blue, gooey insides.
I shot fire into the hole and baked the fiend from the inside. That layer of crusty shielding had performed a laudable job cushioning my blows. It also acted as an admirable oven.
Once the light drained from the centipede’s eyes, its limp body collapsed back.
I sighed and stumbled forward, grasping my knees. “Demons. I hate them all.”
“What a refreshing take,” Titania said, emerging from her hidey-hole.
“You doing okay?” I asked.
“Don’t pasteurize me.”
I chuckled. “Think you mean&emdash;”
“Shut it. Stop treating me like a damn damsel. Look at yourself.”
Fresh cuts covered my exposed chest. My shirt had been butchered, along with my flesh, and it didn’t have half-breed power to fall back on. There was no hiding my wounds of war.
“They ain’t as bad as they look,” I said. “They’ll heal soon.”
Titania clicked her tongue. “Wouldn’t need to heal nothing if I wasn’t so useless. Hiding from demons. It’s pathetic.”
“We’ve been over this.”
“It doesn’t change anything.” She gave the deceased centipede a kick. “Can’t see. Can’t fight. I’m total deadweight.”
“Not true. Knowing you’re there makes me fight harder.”
She cringed. “Was that supposed to cheer me up?”
“A little,” I chuckled, rubbing my neck.
“Gross. Save that cheesy shit for Dessa.” Titania groaned and rubbed her head. “I thought I was past this. How did I get caught into this mess?” She perked up. “That’s right! Blair! What happened to Blair?!”
“Keep your voice down.”
“Shut it. Tell.”
“We’re kinda in the middle of something.”
“No way. You ain’t weaseling out again.” Titania grabbed the shredded remains of my shirt. “Tell me.”
I sighed. Esther wouldn’t be happy but that ship had long since sailed. I told Titania everything. About what was happening to Blair, who was doing it, and the situation which had put us in this predicament.
“You’re joking,” Titania said upon the tale’s end. “This is a joke, right?”
“Afraid not,” I responded. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “This is a joke. It’s gotta be. Not Blair. Anyone but Blair.”
I frowned and rubbed my neck.
Titania’s disbelieving mask slipped. She growled and bolted.
“Stop,” I said, catching her wrist.
“Dammit! Lemme go!”
“Go where? We’re lost. Running won’t change a thing.”
Her posture settled, but her snarl remained. “Why is this happening? Why didn’t Blair tell me? I could have helped.”
“I tried that. Look what happened.”
“Shut it. I’m different. I’ve always protected her. I won’t let anyone take her.”
Our conversation settled into the most awkward of silences. We were alone in a darkness we were struggling to escape, separated from the one we wished to help.
“Let’s get outta here,” I said.
Titania hesitated to move. “Who else knows about this?” she asked. “Are you the only one, or am I the last to know?”
“That’s not important,” I said after a pregnant pause. “Let’s focus on finding that exit.”
Titania didn’t argue. She held her tongue and moved with an increased sense of urgency.
Running away again. Impressive.
And he could shut up as well. It wasn’t important. Finding a way out trumped everything. It was as simple as that.
***
Our desire for freedom didn’t magic up an exit. We continued along the same vein for a vexing amount of time. More demons came, disturbed, and had their miserable lives ended by my hands.
After far too long, we discovered a narrow derelict stairway. It brought us back to the sewers we’d spent so many wonderful hours clearing. Compared to what we’d just experienced, that wasn’t a joke.
Getting from there to the surface was a doddle with the rat infestation suppressed. An evening sun greeted us. We’d either been stuck underground for minutes that felt like hours or we’d been missing an entire day. My limbs were exhausted, my eyes were sore, and my stomach growled. Something about all that suggested the latter.
We trudged through the murky backstreets and returned to the club, at long last. It’d been far too long. I couldn’t wait to have some grub, a hot bath, and a long kip.
“Where have you been?”
Esther’s cutting voice dragged me back to reality. Her piercing stare was sharper than any blade.
A shiver ran down my spine. We were only a step into the lounge and our backs were to the wall. “I can explain.”
“I’d like that,” Esther said. She held up two posters. “These as well.”
They were bounties, searching for two dastardly criminals. A tall human male who’d performed an act of terrorism and his petite orc accomplice. She was believed to be Titania, a former guard who had betrayed the city.
“It’s his fault,” Titania said, pointing at me. “I’m innocent.”
“You’re as guilty as each other,” Esther said.
“No, she’s right,” I confessed. “I dragged her into this mess. It’s on me.”
Esther stern glare jumped between us. She released a loud sigh and loosened up. “I warned you. Why didn’t you listen? I’ve been so worried.”
“Sorry,” I said, lowering my head. There wasn’t much else to say that wouldn’t sound like groveling.
“It was bound to happen eventually,” Dessa said, sauntering her way into the conversation. “He can’t help himself. Such a naughty troublemaker.”
“That doesn’t make it okay,” Esther grumbled, clutching her head. “What are we gonna do? Attacking a noble of all things.”
“He started it,” Titania said. “That’s what he gets for harassing Blair.”
Esther glanced at me. “You told her?”
“Damn right he did. Unlike you.”
“You didn’t need to know.”
“Blair’s my best friend! I deserved to know!” Titania said.
“It was for your own good.”
“What about her?!”
“There’s nothing you can do.”
“Yes, there is! There has to be!”
“No, there isn’t.” Esther slammed the bounties on a table. “This is what interfering gets us. This is why I kept it from you.”
“That wasn’t me. I’ll be different. I’ll be better,” Titania growled. “I’ve always protected her. I’m not gonna stop now!”
“Simmer down, Tina,” Gall said, snatching Titania in a headlock. For a big girl, she came out of nowhere. “You’ve caused enough trouble as is.”
“Lemme go, old woman!” Titania snarled, squirming around.
“You ain’t going nowhere. Not with that big fat bounty on your head.”
“I can do what I want.”
“No, you can’t,” Esther said. “Gall’s right. You’re the city’s most wanted. If you get caught…” Tears welled in the corner of her brown eyes.
I gritted my teeth. It was all my fault. All because I couldn’t control myself. If I’d listened to Esther in the first place, it would never have happen
ed.
“It’ll be fine,” I told her.
“You don’t know that,” Esther sniffled.
“Sure I do. It’ll be okay. I promise.”
“Don’t do that. Stop promising things you can’t guarantee. It’s not fair.”
I was taken aback. “No, I never…”
“She’s right, darling,” Dessa purred. “I know you want to cheer up our darling kitten but aren’t you using that phrase too lightly? You can’t promise things outside your control.”
“I-I wasn’t trying to,” I said, rubbing my neck.
“We know, darling. Your words were just. True. However, they were also confused. Confused between things you know you can accomplish and only those you believe you can. Not everything will go the way you envision. Promising the world, only for the world to let you down, is so very cruel.”
Esther nodded. “You’re too idealistic. You need to use your head a little.”
“Isn’t that what makes him so endearing?”
“It’s also the reason he gets in so much trouble.”
I bit my lip. It was like being back in the principal's office. “I’m sorry.”
“What’s done is done,” Esther said, composing herself. “We can’t change it. We can only respond. No matter what you say, you’re both in danger. We need to leave the city, but…”
“But that’s gonna be hard while they’re on high alert,” Gall said. “Gates are on lockdown. No getting through until they get bored of looking. Could take a while. You two need a place to hide.” She threw Titania over her shoulder and carried her squirming niece into the cellar.
We followed and observed. The basement was what you’d expect from a boozy establishment. A huge brick space filled with gigantic beer-filled casks.
Gall tugged an inconspicuous lever. One of the huge wooden barrels swung open, revealing a secret room. It was the most basic of dull concrete chambers. There was a single bed, that belonged on an army base, and a lone wooden box tucked in the corner. That was it.
Didn’t matter. My eyes twinkled. “That’s so cool.”
“Ain’t it just?” the smirking Gall said. “You kids can hide with me.”
“We can’t impose on you,” Esther said.
“Impose away! I insist. In fact, I ain’t giving you a choice. You’re staying with Auntie and you’re gonna like it.”
