Tawaragata seems to be stable from here on the mountaintop. I can’t say if we made a real difference in disrupting Nite’s hold on the city. I don’t know where the looking device is, and Haleema is still sleeping in her room.
“Do you think we successfully completed our mission?” I say. Ulrika cuddles me from behind with her arms over my shoulder and her face resting on my head.
“Hmm. I believe so. We’ve really crippled their positions. There isn’t any way they could’ve defended it.” In silence, I accept her answer with a single nod, then lay my head on her lap. She hunches over to look down at me. “Is everything alright?”
“I’m fine; I’m just itching to leave this place.”
“Where do you wanna go.” I think about it, but I’m stuck on where to rest our heads in.
“I don’t know. What do you suggest.”
“Umm,” she hums, looking off to the left while tapping her lips. “We can go back to my home and show my parents we’re alright.”
“Good idea. They’re probably worried sick. Especially your mom.”
“Yeah,” she giggles. “Speaking of mothers, we should visit your mom. We’re literally a mountain away from Kromagia.”
“You wanna meet Thyrna?”
“Yeah! Oh, wait... Where does she live?”
“In Tranquilith. It’s in the middle of the kingdom. It’ll take us a few days to arrive there.”
“Damn.”
“It’s best if we return home, then go see Thyrna. Between our mothers, your mom is longing for your return.” She leans down closer to my face, then presses her hands gently on my cheeks.
“You make it sound like your mom doesn’t wish you back.”
“Well, she sent me off to work the bounties, but I think she wants to see how I’m fairing. A year plus is too long to be away from your loved ones.”
“I agree. We’ll stay a few days with my family, then we’ll go to yours. How does that sound?”
“That’s fine with me.”
“Great,” she whispers, then offers me three soft kisses on my lips. “It’s time we wake up Haleema and move on.”
I sit up and look back down at the city. Seeing it from a distance brings back all the moments from the infiltration to my remembrance. It leaves me feeling sour, but the conversation last night with Ulrika lightened my mood to a near smile.
----------------------------------------
I sit at a table, waiting for Ulrika to bring Haleema over to me. Ulrika walks into the main room with all her swords strapped to her body. She places my sword on the table, then takes a seat next to me. Haleema enters in with a crazy amount of bedhead. Her hair is frizzy and all over the place.
“I hear you have something to say to me,” Haleema says, yawning and stretching her arms out. I look at Ulrika feeling a bit nervous, but she gives me a smile and a nod of encouragement.
“I’m done being a Paladin,” I say, loud and clear.
“What?” Haleema rapidly blinks her eyes and then looks at us with wide-open eyes of shock. “Kaioson...what? Are you serious?”
“I am.” She takes a seat in front of us, staring down at the table before looking back at me again.
“Wa...why...?”
“It’s... stressful. I’m not a battle-hardened fighter. Yes, I’m skilled with magic and with weapons, but most of my life, I’ve never had to deal with fanatics like this.” I take a moment to keep my emotions steady and not get too angry or sad. “For years, I’ve served out bounties for wanted criminals. Being here, as a Paladin, is out of my element.”
“I see,” Haleema says in a gentle voice. “So you two are done fighting against Nite?”
“No,” Ulrika says. “I’ve convinced Kaio that we can offer our help in hunting down targets that fit around bounty procedures.”
“I...I don’t follow. What do you mean by bounty procedures?”
“Remember how you came in contact with Kaio?
“Yes. Olly’s bounty.”
“You showed him a target, their crimes, last known location, threat level, and reward. That’s what I mean by procedures. Kaio and I can still help your cause, but it’ll be done in our operating ground.” Haleema rests her mouth on the top part of her fingers when she looks at me.
“I’m literally on edge here, Haleema,” I say, leaning towards her. “I’m sorry, but I’m not the guy you’ve been looking for. You need someone within your agency who resonates better with your requirements.” I wrap my arm around Ulrika and kiss her cheek. “I made promises to my wife that I plan on keeping. If I stay being a Paladin, greater chance that one of my vows would be broken.”
“Do you mind telling me what it is?” Haleema says.
“That we will make it out alive. If we die, then a dream of a family is gone. A wonderful cabin would never house souls. Daughters would cease to exist.” Ulrika’s eyes begin to sparkle with some tears. “Do you understand our decision, Haleema?”
“I understand,” Haleema says, resting her arms on the table. “I’m sorry for the suffering you two endured.” A tear comes out of her left eye, but she quickly wipes it away. It catches me off guard. She seems genuinely upset.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because I should’ve taken heed to the signs of letting you go, yet I keep egging you two on to fight. Now I understand you more, Ulrika.”
“Hmm?” Ulrika blurts out in a soft voice.
“Why you hate the very existence of me. I brought tensions and worry into your life. Your blurt out when I arrived at your home makes sense now. That was the last straw I ignored.” She rests her face on the table with her hands clamped together. “Please forgive me.”
Ulrika and I look at each other, baffled by Haleema being apologetic. I decide to sit next to Haleema and give her a hug to show my sympathy. She keeps her head down but looks over at me. Her tears have fallen from her eyes, and she has drenched some of them on the table. I rub my thumb under her right eye, clearing the tears from it.
“It’s alright,” I say. Haleema sits up, deliberately blocking the left side of her face with her hair. She wipes her left eye clean with the backhand of her right hand.
“I’ll,” Haleema pauses to sniff her mucus back up her nose. “I’ll create a portal to take you guys out of here.” She turns halfway around her chair with her fingers pointing at the open space in the room. “Where do you wish to go to?”
“Ambagra,” Ulrika says.
“To your home?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Haleema closes her eyes for a moment, then a portal opens to the front of Ulrika’s home. Ulrika walks past my left side, gliding her hand across my back. She stops inches from the portal and turns around.
“Are you coming, Kaio?”
“I’ll join you later, Ulrika. I need to talk with Haleema for a moment before I say goodbye.”
“Alright.” Ulrika steps through the portal and sits on a stone bench a distance from us.
“She didn’t even say goodbye,” Haleema says with a weepy chuckle. “I’m just hated by everyone I deal with.”
“But,” I say, resting my hand on her shoulder, “I don’t hate—”
“No, you do,” she snaps at me. “I’m destined to be a loner!”
“Why do you say that?”
“Everyone can’t stand being around me. I make their life too hectic.” She lays her head down on the backseat, with her arms under her chin. “Glysith was right.”
“Who’s Glysith?”
“A succubus I had a relationship with.”
“Wait. Succubuses are known to... How did you have...?”
“Don’t worry about it, Kaioson. If I told you how it would amaze you with confusion.”
“Okay then.”
“Just to let you know, not all succubuses are sexual deviants as northerners portray them to be. It’s the bad apples that fuck with the world’s perception of them.”
“I see. Some humans say all elves are radical barbarians, but it isn’t true. Depending on where you are, elves and humans marry and have children.” She smiles with a single chuckle through her nose. “I was adopted by an elf. She raised and trained me.”
“Is this the same mystery woman you spoke of when I asked about who trained you and gave you that sword?”
“Yes. She’s my mother. And, I’m proud to say it.”
“That’s amazing to hear.” I believe the mood between us lightens. She smiles, showing a few of her front teeth, but it doesn’t last long. “Oh, Glysith. You truly were right about me.”
“What did Glysith say about you?”
“The way I work. The danger I put myself into seeing the complete annihilation of Nite is too emotionally taxing for anyone who wants to be with me or work with me.”
“Have you thought about stopping? Put being a Paladin behind you?”
“I’ve tried many times, Kaioson. But I can’t morally sit on the sidelines and let those bastards take over the known world.”
“I see. You operate a dangerous life. One that requires a determination like yours. Therefore it seems there’s no one that you’ve come across who can handle it.”
“Correct,” she whispers, nodding. “I was really hoping you’ll be the one who could handle me in my undertakings.” She takes a moment of silence to look out the portal. “But alas, I’ve pushed two away.”
“Haleema, don’t beat yourself up over this. You didn’t push us away.”
“You should return to your wife. I don’t want her to get any madder at me than she already is.” I look back over to Ulrika, wondering the extent of her displease if I stay just a bit longer with Haleema.
“Ulrika can wait a bit longer. Before I leave, I wanna have you in good spirits.”
“Huh?”
“Haleema, this isn’t a farewell.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s more of I’ll see you later. I’m not going to avoid you just because of the stress you give me.” I rub her upper knee, sparking a sudden awareness out of her gloomy slouching posture. “We’re still partners, just operating in different fields to save the world.”
“You see me as your partner?”
“I do.” She presses the side of her index finger against her mouth. Her eyes tear up, but she prevents them from coming out by wiping them with her forearm. “Ulrika and I plan to continue our bounty hunting trade, but we’ll keep an eye out on any cultist activity.”
“Back to bounty for hire, eh?”
“Mhmm.”
“I’ll be on the lookout for valuable targets and send them your way as I did with Olly.” She puts both of her hands on top of my hand that’s on her knee. “This time, I’ll thoroughly give you details of who you’ll hunt and limit the surprise factor.”
“Thanks, Haleema.” She surprises me with a hug, then gradually tightens the hold.
“No. Thank you, Kaioson. Good luck on the path, bounty hunter.”
“I’ll see you soon, Haleema.” We stand up out of our chairs, but she lags half a second behind me. I make way for the exit, but I give her a final wave before leaving this magical tent. She waves back but stops short in the middle of it. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t mean to offend, but don’t take this the wrong way,” she says, walking up to me. She gives me a single gentle long kiss. Her lips are smooth and puffy. When she pulls them back, some of her salivae remain on my lips.
“What was that for?” I ask quietly, hovering close to her lips.
“It was my way of saying bless you. And... pass on my blessing to Ulrika, with a kiss, okay?”
“O...okay...”
“I’ve never met a man like you who’s so cherished by another and are both skilled with abilities that leave me in awe.”
“Really?”
“Mhmm. I feel like fate brought me to you to make you aware of this threat.”
She moves forward a tad, touching my lips again. I mentally prepare myself for another kiss, but she hugs me instead. I embrace her, then exit through the portal. Before it closes, we wave back at one another.
“So,” Ulrika shouts. I walk over to her with my head down and sit on the bench.
“Haleema will assist us in hunting down cultists,” I say, bringing her close to me by her waist.
“That’s great!” She laughs with joy, but I can’t muster the same glee while feeling sympathetic for Haleema’s story. “You don’t look happy about that.”
“Sorry, Ulrika.”
“What’s up?”
“Haleema is a sad, lonely woman fighting a cause on stressful levels that no one can deal with. It puts too much strain on their relationships with her, whether it be romantic or professional.” Ulrika snuggles on me with her head resting on my chest. “We were the latest people who couldn’t handle it.”
“I’m truly sorry to hear that. Now I feel like an asshole for not saying bye and fighting her.” We stay close together for a time, not moving and enjoying the closeness. I suddenly remember a conversation she had with her mom before leaving the study about seeing her daughter’s marriage be officially celebrated.
“Ulrika.”
“Yes, my love?” I pass on Haleema’s blessing to Ulrika and add on another kiss from my own heart. She doesn’t stop kissing me, but I don’t mind it. I pull her legs up on the bench while lying on her back.
“Oh my. Where’s this excitement coming from?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ooh!”
“I’m also feeling extra excited.”
“Oh, really?” She looks around, then sits up. “I’m feeling that too. I’ve been slowly itching for another sensational pounding.”
“That’s not what I had in mind, Ulrika.” I chuckle at the thought of her thinking I wanted sex, but I wouldn’t mind laying with her later if possible after what I’m about to say.
“So, what is it?”
“Let’s celebrate our marriage!” She stares into my eyes, not moving a muscle. “What do you say?” A smile slowly emerges. Her cute dimples appear, and a short, gentle giggle comes out. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes! By the mighty heavens above, yes!”