Yanvirrak watched the older man like a hen watched over her chicks. Richard had been sitting in the same position on his couch in the last ten minutes Azmel and Narvari had been gone.

With eyes shut, Richard cradled his cheek in his palm, while his feet rested on the glass center table. Yanvirrak wondered what Richard was thinking about. Would the man really try to kill himself? As much as he hated to think about it, he knew that could happen. He hoped that Azmel and Narvari would quickly break the hex on the poor man.

Those two must be having a lot of fun facing the Vessel and their cohort of demons. Meanwhile, he was here stuck on guard duty.

Gah!

Yanvirrak stiffened at Pheera’s gaze.

“Is everything okay with you?” she asked, concern on her face.

Yanvirrak sighed. Sometimes it was scary how Pheera could easily pick up on the slightest change in a person’s mood. She had once told Yanvirrak that she had a sense of what a person was feeling if it was strong enough. She didn’t even have to touch the person to do that.

“I’m just bored being here doing nothing.”

Pheera smiled. “We aren’t doing nothing, Yanvirrak. Protecting Richard is important.”

“Yeah, I know.” He nodded. “I just wished I’d gone with Azmel. Do you think he did the right thing taking Narvari instead? This is only her first time, you know?”

“Maybe that’s why he took her along. So he could keep an eye on her.” Pheera paused thoughtfully. “But I also believe that Narvari can handle it even if this is only her first time.”

Yanvirrak smirked.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Pheera chuckled.

“You like Narvari, don’t you?”

He had seen the way Pheera looked at Narvari. How she talked to her. And more importantly, how physically close she was to Narvari, always wanting to touch her. This was the same person who avoided having any kind of physical contact with people like they had a contagious disease. But for some reason, she had no problem when it came to Narvari.

A distressed look appeared on Pheera’s face. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words never came out. She only looked away sadly.

“Pheera, I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, no, it’s not that. I’m not upset.” She smiled, tucking a strand of white hair behind her ear. “I just thought about something.”

“What’s wrong?”

Pheera sighed, the weight of whatever was on her mind heavily weighing her down. “I don’t think Narvari fe–”

The shuffling of feet interrupted Pheera. They both glanced at Richard only to see him taking his feet off the glass table and adjusting himself in a more comfortable position. He finally opened his eyes, returning their gaze.

Yanvirrak held his breath, watching Richard’s every move. When Richard got up, Yanvirrak did the same. He was not taking any chances with him.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“I’m thirsty.” Richard shrugged.

“Okay. I’ll get the water.”

“I can get it myself.”

“Yes, you can,” Yanvirrak said. “You can also poison it. Or I don’t know, get a gun and blow your brains out.”

Richard sighed. “I don’t have a gun but point taken.” He sat without any argument. Smart man.

“Where do I get the water?” Yanvirrak spotted a fridge in the part of the room that looked like a bar. “Never mind.” He nodded at Pheera. “Please watch him.”

Out of the assortment of drinks in the fridge, Yanvirrak chose a bottle of mineral water. Now, where would he find a drinking glass? Okay, maybe no glass. He wouldn’t want Richard suddenly ripping out his own jugular or something.

The sound of shattering glass emerged from the living room followed by intense struggling and grunting.

“What the hell is going on?” he muttered to himself, racing towards the chaos. “What in the actual fuck.” He dropped the bottle of water, gaping at the scene unfolding before him.

He had only been gone for like five seconds and yet the room looked like it had been visited by a hurricane during his absence. The fine piece of center table once was now a heap of shattered glass. All the furniture had been haphazardly tossed away in all directions in the room. But the most shocking of it all was Pheera holding Richard in a tight headlock from behind. Richard struggled intensely to break free however Pheera wouldn’t let go, pinning her back to the wall to keep herself steady.

“Pheera, what’s going on? Did he try to hurt himself?”

“He tried to kill me.”

Richard bared his teeth violently like a rabid dog, foaming at the mouth. Not too long ago, he was completely fine and now he was a man possessed. This must be the effect of the curse, Yanvirrak thought. It was now directly affecting Richard’s sanity, making him a danger to himself and others. Yanvirrak had been so concerned about Richard being suicidal that he had not once stopped to consider that he could be homicidal too.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Shit.

Richard sank his teeth into Pheera’s sleeved arm and she yelped through gritted teeth. Her grip around Richard’s neck loosened and before Yanvirrak could intervene Richard hurled Pheera across the room with one hand.

Okay. So now he had superhuman strength.

He blocked the path as Richard dragged himself towards Yanvirrak with a contorted gait and lifeless smokey eyes coded with one mission — to kill them both.

Yanvirrak instantly summoned his sacros around his fists. “Pheera, are you okay?” he asked his eyes fixated on Richard.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Don’t attack him with sacros. His body might not be able to take it.”

Even if Richard had suddenly gained superhuman strength due to the demon’s hex, he was still human and his body was too weak to withstand sacred energy. They were here to help the man not kill him. With that thought in mind, Yanvirrak’s purple sacros disappeared. He would have to do this the old-fashioned way.

He lunged toward Richard with the quickness of a gazelle then used all his might to shove him. But Richard stood rigidly like a mountain. He didn’t even move a step back.

God, he’s strong.

With Trinity, Yanvirrak could easily wipe the floor with Richard even with his faux superhuman strength. For obvious reasons, however, he would rather not do that. Fighting Richard without sacros would be a little more challenging. The thought exhilarated him, desiccating his boredom into cinders.

When Richard’s fist lunged toward Yanvirrak’s face, the latter flipped backward twice before landing right next to Pheera.

“We need to end this now before things become worse,” said Yanvirrak. The worst-case scenario was if Richard finally directed the violence to himself. They couldn’t let that happen. “Any suggestion? One that doesn’t involve me ripping his gut open. He may seem strong, but I don’t know how much his body can take if I hit him.”

“We need to restrain,” said Pheera. “Keep him busy. I’ll be right back.”

Pheera was already gone in a flash before Yanvirrak could nod in agreement.

Richard charged towards him like a blind bull but he deftly zoomed out of the way. For every attack Richard hurled at him, Yanvirrak evaded it with the swiftness of the wind. Though Richard had somehow become far stronger than normal, he was still painfully slow. It made it easier for Yanvirrak to evade all of his attacks without having to lift a finger himself. This was even more boring than babysitting him. With his sacros flashing around him, Yanvirrak sped towards Richard sending a single chop into his neck.

Though Yanvirrak had only used his average strength, Richard still dropped to the ground. Only the whites of his eyes remained as he thrashed wildly on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Yanvirrak froze. Did he hit the man too hard?

His blood froze upon seeing Richard sink his teeth into his own hands, gnawing at it like a savage beast. Yanvirrak quickly wrestled Richard’s blood-stained hands from his mouth, pinning him to the ground with his entire body.

Richard’s convulsion did not stop. No, there was something more going on here. This couldn’t simply be because of the simple chop he had sent to the back of his neck. Turning on his sacred vision, Yanvirrak took a closer look at Richard’s hexing rune.

He narrowed his eyes. The previously black markings were all now fiery red and it was not because of the blood. It was like the rune had been drawn with magma. The hex was taking root. It was almost complete. Oh, no. They had anticipated they had a few days left but for some reason, things were going faster than normal. It seemed like something was speeding up the hex.

Did they fail? The thought sent bile up his throat. Did it mean something had happened to Azmel and Narvari?

“I found something,” Pheera interrupted his morbid thoughts. She held a white fabric long enough to be used as a rope. She imbued the rope with her blue and white sacros, making it tougher than before. It should suffice as a rudimentary holy chain strong enough to restrain Richard.

They firmly tied up Richard’s hands and feet, keeping him in place on the ground. When Yanvirrak was certain that Richard could not break free from the shackles, he got up.

Without the sacros around the rope, Richard would have long freed himself with all that thrashing and struggling. His growling became louder and more savage. It was followed by a long piercing cry — the cry of someone in agonizing pain.

“Pheera, sacred vision.” Of all the sacred bodies, sacred vision was the most exhausting to use. If that were not the case, he would be using it all the time.

Discarding the thoughts of his limit in using sacred energy, he gazed at the hexing rune slowly withering away in tiny red cinders as though been burnt by fire. Maybe it was being burnt away by fire which could explain why Richard was screaming in so much pain.

“I think the hex is breaking,” said Pheera.

Yanvirrak wasn’t sure what was happening. But from the way the markings of the rune were burning away in embers, he had a feeling that it was indeed breaking. After what felt like an eternity of watching the poor man suffer and scream, every last trace of the hexing rune vanished. Richard’s body froze, his convulsion disappearing without a trace. His brown irises reappeared and his eyes shut. He looked so peaceful.

Yanvirrak and Pheera exchanged a glance. They cautiously approached the man’s body. Sweat drenched his entire body like he had been plunged into the fiery pits of hell.

Yanvirrak gently kicked Richard’s leg, but the latter did not budge. “Is he dead?” It would be too bad if the man died after the curse was broken. Or had they been wrong to think that the curse was broken?

Pheera knelt beside him.

“Pheera, be careful.”

She nodded, touching Richard’s neck. “He’s still alive.”

“Thank goodness. That was too close.”

“I don’t know when he’s going to wake up.”

“Who is going to wake up?” Richard said sleepily in a muffled voice. His eyes fluttered open, curiously staring at Pheera. “Are you an angel?”

Pheera chuckled. “I’m afraid not, Richard.”

Then his eyes fell on Yanvirrak. “Oh, it’s just you,” he said.

Just me?

Richard tried to sit up, but the bindings stopped him from moving.

“Why am I tied up on the ground?” Richard looked around him, shock deepening on his dark features. “Jesus Christ, what happened to my room?”

Yanvirrak raised a brow. “You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Never mind.” He snapped the restraints, helping Richard to his feet. He and Pheera helped the man to one of the sofas left standing amid the chaos.

“What happened?” asked Richard when he sat.

“We don’t understand yet. But the curse has been broken. I think.”

“Really?” His tone said he was ecstatic, but his expression was much more cautious. As if he would suddenly be told it was all a lie.

“Well, how do you feel?”

Richard sucked in the air like he had been deprived of oxygen for so long. “I feel like a big burden has been lifted off my shoulders,” he said. “I always felt like I was carrying a heavy load. But I don’t feel like that anymore.”

“Good. I’ll call the captain and let him know you’re alright.”

“Don’t worry, Yanvirrak,” said Pheera, “I’ll call Azmel.”

Yanvirrak nodded, sitting next to the man as Pheera excused herself to go make the call.

Richard fished his phone out of his pocket as soon as it rang.

Richard’s eyes reddened with emotion. “It’s my wife,” he said before picking up.

Yanvirrak smiled. She wondered what Azmel and Narvari had to do to get the Vessel to break the hex.