I grabbed onto Jamie’s satchel, pulling him out of the way before baring fangs came crashing out of a nearby bush.

There was no time to spare, as three more jumped out of the forest line and barreled towards our position. One charged forward, towards Jamie, who scrambled for something in his satchel.

Seriously?

I cursed, moving my body to intercept its charge. I met its face with my foot. It scurried, landing back, its head shaking from the impact. The hit should have cracked its skull.

“Is it really the time to be looking inside your man purse?” I scolded, glaring at the hell rats as if I were daring them to move.

Once you looked away, they’d attack. It didn’t matter who you were. These creatures were only driven by their hunger and pure instincts. It was the only way, lower-level demons survived.

He fumbled, frantically digging at the bottom of the satchel, “Hold on! I have a dagger. Buy me a minute.”

I scoffed, my eyes rolling, “Are you really joining the army?”

A hell rat hissed, standing up on its rear legs, its fur spiked up. I glanced back for a second, Jamie still shifted through the contents of his bag.

A minute? I could take them out all right now.

I sighed, staring down at the leading rat, it was the biggest of the pack. My iris contracted and glowed. I felt my teeth sharpen as I flashed a fang.

“Who do you think you’re attacking?” My energy seemed to radiate, the message making itself clear, as the hell rats stepped back.

Their whispers furrowed, tails tucked, and ears lowered. I held my stance.

It wouldn’t work for long. If they weren’t under the control of my father’s authority, then they wouldn’t pause their attacks. It would buy Jamie time.

“Got it!” Jamie jumped up, racing over to my side. I placed the full transmutation magic, my eyes returning to normal and my teeth dulling before he reached me.

He swung a large dagger, pressing his shoulder against me, “What are demons doing so close to the town?” He whispered under his breath, low enough to not spook the rats into attacking.

The result of my appearance in the town meant that the hell rats sensed the demonic energy. Naturally, they ventured closer after noticing I was exuding prominent levels of mana. It must have been foreign for a creature not under a higher demon’s rule. I was at fault, again.

“Don’t look away,” I warned him, “They’ll attack all at once if we look away.”

He nodded, swinging the dagger at their nearing steps. They paced; their eyes consumed with hunger.

If they attacked fully, I would be fine. These small creatures couldn’t hurt me. The problem was I needed Jamie to navigate human society. I couldn’t have them damaging what belonged to me now. He had a purpose now.

I reached my hand over to Jamie, my eyes trained on the rats, “Give me the dagger, now.”

He shook his head, and the dagger moved out of my reach, “Like I’m giving someone I barely know my only means of defense.”

“Like you let someone you barely know tag along this whole time?” I retorted, trying to reach for the dagger but was refused.

“You jumped over a wall! What was I supposed to say? No?” He went on, swinging his dagger at a hell rat that crept closer.

I groaned, “I was helping you!”

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“Like hell you were! I almost died.” He raised his voice, backing up slowly alongside me.

I scoffed, “Fine. Don’t give me the dagger. Die here and see if I care. What did you have in mind then?”

Jamie fell silent, cursing before shoving the handle of the blade in my outstretched hand, “First, tell me what you plan on doing with it.”

I kept my eyes on the largest hell rat, it led the pack closer, all of them growling, “If I take out the leader of the pack, they’ll be less organized to attack. We’ll be able to take them down easier.” I explained under my breath.

He nodded, “What am I supposed to protect myself with then?”

“I did ask if you could protect yourself,” I commented, pulling my arm back, and angling the knife.

“I thought you meant people!” He snapped, jumping back from a lurch of one of the rats.

“Same thing.” I readied my aim.

“It’s really not…” Jamie sighed.

“Well, survive long enough till I take care of mine.” I threw the knife, launching off my foot towards another hell rat that closed in on us.

The knife sailed through the air, its blade sinking into the head of the largest hell rat that had been leading the group.

It had no time for a dying scream, as the blade killed it right away. Its body fell to the ground and the remaining rats charged forward in retaliation over their leader’s corpse.

I gripped onto the neck of the closest hell rat, squeezing till I heard a familiar crunch of bones. I dropped it, watching it fall to the ground in pained screeches as it failed to breathe from the shambled state of its neck.

A grunt sounded from behind me, I darted around, my eyes meeting Jamie’s, who kicked at the other three hell rats. The rats hissed, jumping at him from all angles. Their claws made rips in the satchel that was being used as a makeshift shield.

“A little help!” He shouted, swinging his bag at the herd of rats that continued to surround him.

I bent down, pulling the knife out of the dead hell rat’s head, pulling my arm back, and throwing it at one of the rats. The creature squirmed, trying to free itself of the blade that impaled it through the chest to the dirt road below.

Black blood pooled around the hell rat, its hissing subsiding before a gurgling sound. It went limp, unmoving around the other two that still lunged at Jamie.

“These pesky little things,” I grunted, punting one into a tree, and heading over to Jamie’s side,” Just don’t know when to give up.”

I dodged the snarling demonic rat’s lunge, barely missing the swiping of its claws.

I clicked my tongue, rolling my eyes at the creature, who seemed relentless in its attacks. It had no rationale to not fight a dragon. It won’t surprise me if it dared attack the King himself.

They remained pests, even outside of Hellion. We should really call for an extermination of the species in its entirety.

The pesky creature focused its attacks on me. Its fangs snapped at every opportunity it had. It was too slow and failed to snag onto me, which angered the vermin further.

Jamie had dug the knife out of the chest of the dead hell rat, scrambling over to me.

I moved my head back, watching the claws pass in front of my eyes. A vein from my forehead popped out.

My patience had a limit.

“Okay, you’re pushing it.” I reached my arm straight out, catching the demon in mid-air.

It fought against my grip that tightened around it. It whimpered, trying to reach out to bite my hand without success.

“Jamie, hold the knife straight out!” I called over.

“What?” He clamored the knife at his side.

“Shut up and hold the knife out!” I yelled, chucking the hell rat toward his face.

The creature screeched a dying yelp, as the knife intercepted his flying body. The blade slipped through its body as its weight betrayed it.

Jamie held the knife with two arms, his eyes wide as he watched the dagger cut through the top of the sliding body. The hell rat’s body cut through twice, landing on the road dead and unmoving.

I exhaled, holding a thumb out to Jamie,” Nice catch.”

Jamie dropped the knife, flinging the spilled blood from his hand, “You tried to kill me. Again!” He cried, furiously pointing at his face and the dead hell rat.

“I wasn’t trying to kill you. If I wanted, you dead I would have killed you way earlier. Trust me.” I explained, bending down to pick up the knife.

“Oh, there’s blood stuck on it,” I grabbed the handle, rubbing the bloodied blade on the dirt to wipe it off, “There, we go.”

I dusted off my pants, hopped to my feet, and put the handle of the knife in Jamie’s hand, “There. Good as new.”

He stared blankly, a mixture of shock and horror, “What’s wrong with you? Who are you?”

I paused, “I thought I told you, my name? It’s Asta.”

He sighed, glaring, “You know that’s not what I meant. The rats and the…the knife!” He held it up, like a child, swinging it around with odd sound effects.

“You did this!” He made a whooshing sound,” Then this! And then you had a perfect aim?”

“I’m not sure why you’re confused about this.” I sighed, bending down to pick up the corpses of the hell rats, moving them off the trail.

It would be better if they dissolve on their own instead of their bodies being discovered by passing travelers.

Jamie exhaled loudly, cursing to himself, “Forget it! Don’t explain it to me. Just know it’s not normal to take out hell rats on your own.”

Humans couldn’t take out hell rats. I scoffed, “Why did this race have to be the one that put me in this state?” I groaned, reminding myself of the state of my wing.

Or ARC was the exception? Either way, it sucked.

“Where I come from, you grew up learning to defend yourself before you learned to walk. It was up to you to protect yourself.” I interrupted his complaints.

Jamie fell silent, a gentler demeanor took over, “Oh. I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that. It just shocked me, that’s all. You’re a talented fighter.”

Of course, I know that.

He hesitated.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why did you run away?” He asked, his eyes looking at me with worry.

He was soft. Were all humans like that?

I sighed, not needing his pity. Still, I needed to be in his favor to reach Trane.

“I didn’t run away. My father kicked me out. I’m useless to him right now,” I admitted. It was mostly true.

“Oh,” Jamie's breath caught, his gait pausing slightly at my comment.

There was something I wondered, myself.

“Why are you living in the potion shop?” I asked, expecting a fair trade of questions.

“Let’s just say that you and I are in a similar boat,” He tried to explain, “Except, my father and I have different ideas about how to live life. I got kicked out, but I was the one that decided to not go back. I could have.”

Is that so?

“I see.”

Jamie spotted a small building in front of us, ending the mood with his pointing, “Oh! Wait, we can hitch a ride here!”

I looked over to the old, worn tavern with horses attached to wooden storage carriages.

“Here?” I asked, my tone full of uncertainty.

“Trust me on this. If my negotiation skills are good, we may be able to get to Trane by next nightfall.” Jamie rushed to the wooden doors of the establishment.

I peered up at the cracked sign above the building. I could smell the lingering scent of booze and puke from the other end.

“If you say so…”

I stepped into the booze-scented dump, hoping I wouldn't get sick from the overwhelming scent that escaped to the outside.

Truly, I failed to understand how a building that looked like it was going to collapse was our ticket to Trane.

But okay.