Chapter 9
Ayasse pulled himself out of the shadow world and collapsed, clutching his chest. He leaned back, yanked down his mask and sucked in deep gulping breaths. Sweat poured off of him, plastering his hair to his eyes. “Five minutes. I need five minutes.” He sat under the tree and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath he repeated the process ten more times. Afterwards, he stood up and checked the direction from the second moon.
“I’m almost there, Sam. Please wait a little longer,” said Ayasse as he dove back into the shadows.
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Sam stared at the three Demon soldiers scattered on the ground around the fire and dropped the tree branch she’d used as a club. The three were ugly, yet she couldn’t take her eyes off them.
She’d heard the stories about the ‘beast men’ and some people liked to keep them as slaves. They were vicious and deadly looking, especially with the short tusks curling out from the sides of their lower jaws and a pig snout. That aside, they didn’t look that much different than humans.
“Why’d you have to attack me? I didn’t want to hurt you,” said Sam, checking their breathing. She could see their chests moving up and down and sighed in relief. “All I wanted was directions to the Demon Kings’ castle. You didn’t have to rush me.”
“I’ll believe you care about these creatures?” said the male voice behind her. “When will you start acting like a Lady and do as you’re told.”
Sighing, Sam turned around. “Lord Robert, I’ve missed your scathing observations the last few days.” She started giggling and covered her mouth. “When did you decide to dress like an Elizabethan princess crossed with a clown?”
Lord Robert was wearing a long flowing bright pink dress embellished with green pearls and the ugliest jewels. They showed a Porku rearing back and devouring a horse in bright blue and orange. To top it off he had a long-powered wig and a razor stiff linen collar. If he moved his head too quickly, Sam was certain the collar would slice it off.
“Save the sarcasm and how dare you soil my good image,” he waved a fan at Sam and glided forward. “I refuse to accept this, even if I am a victim of your insanity.”
Sam closed her eyes, took a deep breath and shoved the hallucination away. He was easy to ignore, or depending on her mood, fight, but she wished Nadia had been the one to show up. The visions were growing stronger and stronger every day and that scared her. Ayasse warned her that once she couldn’t control them it would mean she was getting closer to death. His medicine was the only thing that held them off. Sam wished she hadn’t driven him off.
“No! That bastard abandoned me. Left me to die,” she growled.
“Are you sure?” Nadia’s voice pierced her fog. “Maybe he left to get you some help?” She was wearing a detective’s outfit, like the one from that famous serial. Complete with a huge curving pipe. Although this one blew square bubbles.
“Maybe, but then why didn’t he tell me to my face instead of leaving a god-forsaken note?” grumbled Sam.
“You’re a scary gorilla. Maybe he didn’t want your tantrum to break something important, like him, by accident?” said Nadia, peering closely at the demons. “Who are these creatures? And why are they so cute?”
Sam picked up one of the soldiers, checked that he wasn’t dead and started to shake him, gently. She needed him awake to answer questions.
“They are my best chance at finding the Demon King. I don’t know how to get through this forest or if the king is even, still alive. They can tell me both.”
“Very well.” Nadia stood up did a pirouette and vanished.
Taking a deep breath, Sam focused on the soldier. She had been able to find the small patrol. However, when she asked them for directions, they attacked. “This was not an auspicious start to a relationship.”
The demon groaned and his eyes flittered open. He saw her and his lip rose in a sneer, exposing his sharp front teeth.
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“Take it easy, I don’t want to hurt you.” Sam looked around the camp at the other two soldiers, “Any more than I have to.”
“What do you want, monster?” said the soldier.
Sam smiled. The demon pulled back as far as he could. She was holding his tunic and that limited where he could go.
“That’s not very nice. I’m not a monster, but I could tie you up and leave you here for the Siguma? I think I saw one not far from here.”
The soldier grunted.
“Could you please tell me how to get to the Demon King’s castle?” She fluttered her eyelashes. Nadia did it often with Lord Robert when she was asking for something. He usually sighed and gave in.
“Oh, and if possible could you tell me if Lord Kale is still alive? Thanks.” Sam smiled again. There was no point in going there if the Demon King was dead.
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“What do you mean you met the Backer?” asked Akira, scowling. “That fat twit of a king made it seem like an honour to be in the same room as him.”
He pushed himself up in the bed with one hand and glared at her. She was supposed to have come to his tent four hours ago for a strategy meeting with the rest of his generals but had begged off. Something about other important business.
Did she betray me?
Now, Mel was standing at the entrance to his tent, wearing a thin shift. The bedrobe she had been wearing was pooled around her feet. moonlight bathing her in a seductive glow, highlighting all of her curves. Unlike Sam, Mel knew she was beautiful and used it.
“Eon wanted to let the Backer know that we were serious about taking down Sam,” she said, gliding forward and sitting on Akira’s bed. She ran her fingers along his sculptured chest and slowly moved down under the sheets.
Akira shivered in pleasure. He had missed this. After Eon had introduced him to Sam, he needed to play the part of childhood friend and lover with her. In the beginning, he still met Mel in out-of-the-way places, but Sam took most of his concentration. Akira smiled at the memory. There had been some benefits to that relationship with her but after what happened in the village, and in Sywind, Sam refused all of his advances. She couldn’t have remembered the village, thanks to Mel’s spell, but something must have stuck with her.
Akira’s smile fell and he shivered. Seeing Mel cast that thing on Sam, was the first time he was scared of the mage.
He couldn’t go to Mel after that, even in secret. The only way to relieve his stress was to sneak around. In the villages and cities, it had been easy. There was always a girl willing to spend time with the hero. Each time he did that though, he felt guilty, like he was betraying Sam, but not Mel. Never Mel. That part of his life was over.
That was the old him. After Sam destroyed his sword and teeth, it was too embarrassing to be with any woman.
Mel was different. Before Sam came into his life, they were a constant couple. During the day they would train together and spend most of the nights in each other’s arms. She hadn’t taken Sam’s arrival well but calmed down when her Master explained things before disappearing. Akira was kind of happy about that. Tysone was odd.
“What did that bastard say?” asked Akira, grabbed Mel’s hand and removed it from under the blanket. The Backer was more important. He had bad memories of the man. The Backer had treated him like a piece of furniture.
“He wanted Sam dead and didn’t care how we did it.” She brought her hand back and walked her fingers down his chest, moving under the blanket again. “When I mentioned my lightning spell, he seemed very interested.”
Akira grabbed her hand, slid his arm under her and pulled her into the bed. She gave him a seductive grin and twisted under him.
“It has been so long, hasn’t it?” Mel smiled. “I can feel your eagerness.” She reached up with her other hand.
Akira sat up in the bed and pinned it to the bed with the first. A fear worming its way into his heart. It had been there for a long time, unsaid, but he couldn’t forget it. He needed to know.
“You’ve never used your memory magic on me, have you?”
Mel gave a shocked look and her eyebrows lowered. “Is that what you think of me? Let me go!” She wiggled out of Akira’s grip and got out of bed, pulling the blanket with her. “I would never do that to you.” She stood in front of him, one hand on her hip and the other holding the blanket, indignation distorting her features.
Akira reached over, grabbed his tunic, and started dressing. He pulled the fabric over his head and picked up his pants. There was no way he was going to sleep now. “I want to believe that, but I don’t know what to expect from you. When Sam mentioned the men you liked to pick up in the pubs, I didn’t think anything of it. At the time I was a little distracted by my broken sword.” He glared at her and got off the bed, pulling his pants on and tightening the belt.
Mel continued to glare at Akira. Her eyes never left his face.
“When I saw what you did to Sam at the village, it scared me and left me thinking, what if she did that to me?” He looked at her and frowned. “I’d forgotten about that until you came into the tent.”
“How dare you think that! Remember what we had before that bitch wormed her way into our lives.” Mel stepped forward and placed her hands on Akira’s face, tears in her eyes. “What we can have again.”
Akira took her hands off his face and went to the tent flap. He picked up his sword and winced at the lack of song. “Don’t touch me again.” He turned away and left her drowning in the moonlight.
Her scream of rage burst from the tent as he moved away. It was followed by the sound of furniture breaking. He went to the nearest soldier standing guard.
“Froth, make sure she doesn’t burn the camp down,” said Akira, pointing back at the tent.
“Yes, sir!” Froth saluted and grabbed two men to cover the tent.
“Don’t hurt her, but don’t go near her,” Akira continued. “Let me know if she becomes a bigger problem.”
Froth saluted again and turned back to the tent.
Akira walked to the darkened training grounds. The second moon was up and bathed the camp in light. It would be a good night to train. He needed to get used to his new sword and work out his frustration.