Chapter 9 Part 2
-Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil-
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Once more, I find myself walking through a dark forest, alone, and questioning myself about my reasoning for doing what I'm doing. The good thing, though, is that there isn't a slime wolf beast nearby to play with my mind or try hunting me down. These trees, too, are not so familiar to me; they extend high while keeping a strong base, their roots still taking most of the ground, but with the good news of no absurd amount of bushes in sight, so the path forward is in view, making me able to not rely on luck to go anywhere.
The white noise nauseates me as it starts to bother my head, with the only thing stopping it, providing me with a single second of relief, being the occasional leaves I step on or the sound of my feet against the floor as I have to make jumps to get through some parts ringing in the air—a situation easily mind-consuming, so in an attempt to make this whole thing less aggressive on my paranoia, I mumble to myself along the way. On the ground, a hole stops my moment and almost makes me twist my ankle, only saving myself as I lean against one of the roots climbing from the ground up.
As a curse builds on my throat, wishing to escape, something catches my eyes as I move them to the hole that almost brought me down in an attempt to check what the heck it is, finding that the 'hole' isn't what it first appeared as, revealing itself on a closer look to have more resemblance to a man-made trap that someone tried to make in a hurry with leaves atop to hide it from view, just at the passage of one root segment, so there isn't one way to really avoid it; it even has some parts of a rope that were used and cut down. Could it be that this trap was...
It's most probable that what I'm thinking is the right answer; it doesn't make sense for a land that has no humans to have traps that clearly were made by one; if the rope was cut, that means they got what they wanted, with it surely being the cow we are looking for. Circe said this was the path less likely to lead to the ones we search, so why is the trap they used here?
My question doesn't take much of my attention as the sound of people moving starts to echo around me, forcing me to think fast and squat down, getting behind a tree to get out of view, falling in the process due to hurrying myself and forgetting the damn roots—dirtying my clothes—but ultimately managing to do so without getting anyone's attention, I think. The steps grow closer to me, reaching the path I was standing on a moment ago, bounding them to pass by the tree I'm hiding at soon.
"I don't believe that should pose a problem as long as we are careful," A deep female voice comments; I'm not lucky enough to hear what started the talk, but I do get a view of the people talking when I lean my head to the side, peeking from behind my hiding spot. "And if it does, we will make of this hunt something to not let Mother down."
The woman talking is the first one I see, and I freeze at the sight. She's huge, about two meters tall of pure muscle by the way her back extends, and she wears a weird type of outfit, a combination of leather boots with metal plates tied to them, a protective garment like the ones from medieval books: a gambeson colored black and red, with more leather parts for extra protection on her shoulder and arms. Two swords adorn her back—very long and dangerously sharp-looking swords.
While she gazes around to make sure she and the person she's talking with are alone, adjusting her long, Viking-like, braided ponytail over her shoulder and out of the way of her sword's draw, the other speaks. "I don't believe sister Marian or even Mother will be happy with our delay; I say we check the magic signal as soon as possible, after all, the signal approaches our location."
The second voice is revealed to be a young, short boy with short, spikey black hair, a face that screams 'I'm fourteen and very angry' and, like the fine example of a Viking woman, carrying two blades in his body, the scimitar kind of sword. In question of clothing, they wear mostly the same medieval style, which is very protective and leathery, with the boy having more of a blue palette with the scarf around his neck and the clothes underneath the fewer leather armor pieces he has.
"Fine, but if we find a target, I'll be the one to slay it; my swords hunger." The woman responds with her deep, scary voice, like an insatiable beast looking for prey—something I don't plan on becoming today.
To my luck, both of them pass me without noticing my presence as I move around the tree trunk, continuing their way forward where I was going. That gives me a hint that the path I was planning to take isn't the one I should be taking to find the cow; instead, I need to go to where they came from, my right, where they should either be keeping the cow, or the worse option, making it their lunch. Calling Milesian or Circe would be a good idea, but risking an encounter with the sword duo is a no-go; the thought alone makes me not want to be late to save the cow or so slow that they come back, so without giving it a second thought, I start to walk in fast steps in the direction I need to go, fighting once more the terrain as I move.
My eyes wander on the dirt carefully, methodically, using the stranger's footprints as a compass to their previous location; on the way, my nose twitches instinctively at the smell of recently cooked food that fills the ambiance forward as I move, indicating that I'm getting close to where they were. It doesn't take long until I get a visual confirmation of the story the smell tells me: a campfire, very well made, with stones surrounding the dying ambers of charcoal wood. The space itself doesn't have many trees around; it looks more like a circular field in the middle of the forest, surrounded by it at the same time that it exists within.
Carefully, I step out of my hiding spot behind a tree and enter the open space. In a single instant, my world is shocked as my legs are swiped off the ground. The feeling of falling surprises me, but it ends quickly, replaced by pain as my back hits the cold grass with enough force that I can almost feel my lungs escaping my throat alongside the precious air they held a second prior.
Upon opening my eyes, I feel the weight of someone's knees on my stomach, with their feet positioned at my wrist so strongly that I think they are already weakening due to the lack of blood traveling to the tip of my fingers. Still, worse yet, the sharp feeling of a merciless blade stands at my neck, slightly pressed against my skin as a warning, leaving me with a superficial cut that threatens to become my demise if I move against it.
The person responsible for all of this gazes at me with a frown, a woman with short and wild black hair resembling a crow and eyes as deep and blue as the ocean. A single line of red paint crosses her nose bridge captures my attention. Like the others I saw, she too wears a mix of protective clothes and armor pieces, but hers is more metal than leather; even her gloves have sharp metal nails that strangle the handle of the sword she holds against me.
"Who are you and what?" The woman demands an answer, her voice not as deep as the other one but still holding authority like an old friend; her eyes squint as a moment passes, the same one I use to breathe before answering. "My patient is short, so I advise you not to abuse it."
"I'm-" A cough escapes me, clearing my airway, and in the motion, I find my neck ever so close to the blade. "I'm Noma, a normal, regular girl."
The woman's eyes widen with surprise for longer than expected; sure, she didn't expect to find another human out here, so I continue talking. "Look, I'm sorry for invading your camp, but I'm here to-"
In this situation, it is expected that her surprise would lead to rage or deeper confusion, and those would make her act accordingly, but instead of being killed on the spot or bombarded by questions, I'm the one who gets surprised when the woman's lips take hold of mine. A kiss so sincere and desperate that I don't even have the moment to react before my mind blanks; the taste of her lips lingering with the taste of coffee; her tongue courageously trying to get access to mine in an invitation for a dance—it all reveals too much for me to handle in such little time.
She separates her lips from mine only when her necessity to breathe gets the best of her; a smile holds her lips hostage, bearing a familiarity that I can't comprehend until she mutters something. "Akeha?"
Shock, the name that was long gone from my mind, one that served no purpose to me when I was alone; I abandoned it so long ago that it makes no sense for anyone to know it. How can this woman know? My surprise is taken over by a frown, originated by dread and anger so deep that even the woman's smile falters upon noticing it. "How do you know that name?"
The smile that the woman held returns with a sweet laugh, like that of an excited teenage girl; her weight on my stomach and wrists is gone as she moves, sitting beside me and holstering her sword away. "What? Don't you remember your best friend?" Her words prompt me to think, and it doesn't take long for my mind to process what is happening. "It saddens me that you forgot about-"
Before she can finish her sentence, I spring myself onto her, wrapping my arms around her shoulder and almost knocking us both to the ground, but the woman holds her ground pretty well. "Oh my god, there is no way. Maya?"
"Ha, it's been a long time since someone last called me that." Maya confesses, returning the hold as strongly as I. "How does something like this happen? I thought I would never see you again, but now, here you are."
My first love, here in front of me after so long; this is so surreal, but unfortunately, I have to remember why I'm here. I break the hug and sit in front of her, crossing my legs and taking a deep breath to calm myself. "I have so many questions, but there is one I need to ask that is very important."
"Me too, so please allow me to ask first." She asks for permission, but don't wait for me to give it to her before asking anyway. "What the hell are you doing here? This place, you should not be able to get here." I watch as the words escape her, stealing her too, from the happiness of this moment to a suspicion that expresses itself clearly on her brows by the way they arch.
And so it starts. It takes some time to explain it all to her in detail, from all that happened until this very moment, from the orphanage years to Milesian's doorstep, and finally, to this island. The only thing I leave off is the fact that Milesian is a demon, as I'm sure she wouldn't want others to know.
Maya nods her head after listening attentively to the story. "Wow, sure many things happened after I was gone." Her words carry some sadness to them, one that heavys the air and brings quietness to her lips.
"How about you?" I ask, intending to not let the silence take over this moment longer. "What happened after you were adopted? I mean, sure, you have a good story to be carrying a sword and be dressed like a knight and all; congrats on the promotion, by the way."
At my words, she lets out a laugh, smiling brightly once more before adjusting her posture to look confident, a sign that she has some good details coming. "Well, to start, when I was adopted by my new family, things were not cool for a week; I hated them for taking me away from you, and just when I promised to protect you, I fought with my new siblings and broke important things, all in hopes of getting back. But then, I learned of their true nature. They pose as a normal rich family with connections to industries and all. Yet, in truth, they are a secret organization that deals with magic in the world, hunting down monsters, helping out folks, and keeping the world and the magic at bay so they won't mix together, as that will surely mess with the balance of things. So they trained me, gave me a house and food, and only asked in return for me to fight for them—a pretty good deal if I say so myself."
Hearing her story, one thing stands out, and that is the whole nature of things. "Wait, were you supposed to tell me all of this? I mean, wouldn't it be better to keep it a secret?"
"Oh, if it is you, that's okay; you're already involved in this whole mess; besides, I'll take you back with me." Her words are announced with such naturality that they manage to stun me for a moment.
"Wait a second, what?"
"Yeah, you'll come with me, and then I'll keep you safe; I'm sure you'll like everyone. The family can act like assholes at times, but they are good people." Maya, seeing the face I'm making of confusion and reluctance, guides her hand to my face, where she cups my cheek and brings my eyes back to hers. "You'll come, right? I mean, there is nothing for you here, and the witch lady you commented on surely won't miss you by the way you said how she treats you."
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
My own hand ends up in contact with hers, but only to push them away weakly as my head swirls with emotions and reasons. "I... I don't know, I still have things to resolve; one of them is to find one of the daughters from the big cow living in this forest."
"Is that so? Well, you don't need to get your head so worried; the cow you're looking for was already extracted; unfortunately, we needed it to be able to craft magical devices and potions for the raids that are soon to come in the future."
"No!" I exclaim, pushing myself back to my feet and confusing Maya in the process with my sudden outburst. "You need to get her back."
"Why? And don't say it is because it is important to that creature; her reproduction rate is so fast that it won't even miss it for too long."
"What kind of reasoning is that? If you have five daughters and one goes missing, you would just leave it because you know you can make more?"
"Akeha, you're forgetting something very important: these creatures are not humans like us; they don't have feelings like we do." Her words come across as so genuine that it makes me believe she's seriously saying that.
"You can't be serious; of course they have; I can say this because I saw how they hurt, how they are grateful for acts of kindness, how they-" My screams are interrupted by her cutting me off in the middle of the sentence.
"No, you're the one mistaking things here; these monsters can't feel a thing and only mimic human emotions to appeal to our soft side so they can stab us in the back. I saw many of my friends from the other branches of my family be mangled alive by them, have their children killed in combat, and cry for months until suicide became their only path forward; they are ruthless, wild, merciless; they only deserve the coldness of our blades." She stops giving me chances to argue back as she places her hands on my waist and pulls me closer, stealing my words because of the sudden movement. "It is okay, really; they deceived you and used your kind heart so they could keep you at their side; but this can end now; just come with me; my family will surely take you in, and then you can choose; you can fight beside me and we could clean this world together, or you could study and have a guaranteed future, one where you and I can be together this time."
It hurts me so much to hear these words coming out of her mouth, to let myself believe in them, to urge myself to take her hand and be happy for once, to allow myself the privilege of being okay, but that is the old me speaking, the Akeha, who was so afraid that she needed to have a knight of her own, to be loved and protected by them, to be able to love without shame. I'm no longer that little girl; I know what is right and will act upon it, trusting myself enough to say I'm right.
"I'm sorry, but I can't." My hands, now no longer weak, push Maya away gently so we can truly look face-to-face. Confidence is what I fill my gaze with before speaking. "Don't get me wrong; I would love to go with you, but you're wrong about them."
"Kalyn, WAIT!" Maya screams, but it is too late. Strong hands grab the back of my head and drive my face to the ground so strongly that my whole self trembles with an echoing pain that strikes most of my nerves, giving me instantly the worst headache I ever experienced. The blood that starts to coat my tongue threatens to drown me for a moment before it flows out of the thin path between my lips. "I said wait, dammit."
"Your 'play pretend' session is over; the sole reason we stayed on this island for longer than Mother wished was so you could confirm the source of the strange magic our sensors captured; now that we have it, we are to leave immediately." The deep voice commands as her hands push my face deeper into the grass, dragging out a few painful groans. "At least the secondary target is tougher than expected, but that won't be a problem for long." At her words, she raises my face from the ground and motions to drive my head against the ground once more to knock me out.
"No, don't, please," Maya begs in desperation.
"Sister Marian isn't one to beg often," The same boy from before makes himself known. "Take it as a bad sign and stop, or else Mom will know of your transgressions."
The words from the boy seem to strike the tall woman hard, as with a click of her tongue she starts to let go of me, but before all can be resumed to a calm talk, a figure steps out of the shadows, holding a familiar cane on her gloved hand and an inexpressive skull face.
At the sight of her face, a small smile comes to my lips, and I try getting up with some difficulty, spitting off the blood pooling in my mouth before having my head shoved back into the dirt by a strong boot.
"Stay put." The woman, Kalyn, commands me with an angry voice and pulls out one of her blades, pointing the weapon's tip in Milesian's direction to intimidate her. "You, witch, reveal your identity at once and leave before you find a fight that, I assure you, you won't want."
Milesian, at this point, has started her stride towards me without regard to the woman's threats; her eyes look at the blood escaping from my mouth, and my dizzy expression filled with pain. Something in her eyes changes; the blood red turns bright, glowing like two red suns as her mouth opens to let out a breath so hot that it clouds the air on its way out.
"What the-" One of Milesian's ravens dives down the skies and passes by the woman's face with its sharp claws, ready to rid the woman of her ability to see, only to be struck down by a cold, trained blade. The woman's face transforms in a second, from anger to surprise, ending in a wide, vicious smile.
All three of the hunters ready their weapons as the realization dawns on them that a fight is to come. Maya is the first one to step forward with the intention of talking first. "Wait a moment, witch, let us talk this out; there's no need for a fight."
"Pitiful humans, you rip off what you want, spread the blood of anyone who dares cross your path, and yet you dare ask to talk?" Milesian talks in her usual inexpressive voice, but this time it sounds more terrifying, deeper, and deathly. "My apprentice, daughter of men as you, bleeds out painfully for what? Your values are not to be trusted."
"You want to talk values? Have I to remind you of the dark times of magic? Your kind and mine both washed our hands in innocent blood."
"The human belief that the lesser evil loses the status of being wicked when confronted with a worse being is something that makes me question if it isn't in your nature to be nefarious. My apprentice and I will return, and you all will be at the justice of Circe for trespassing into a territory prohibited to your kind."
"No," Maya answers sharply and reaches for something on her belt, pulling out a revolver and pointing at Milesian with a cold stare—one that mimics the lack of humanity present in the witch. "Akeha will be coming with me, away from the likes of you, where I can protect her." Squatting down, Maya reaches her hand to my face and wipes the blood from my lips slowly, allowing an affectionate smile to climb to her lips. She mutters words that I can't hear as my head rings with pain, too focused on dealing with it, but her expression tells me she's trying to apologize. "The one thing I vowed to protect; I'm sorry I never had the chance to show you how much I love you."
Suddenly, a gory sound of breaking bones takes over the ambiance by surprise; the raven, who was struck down, lifts itself up with half its body open, expelling the same black smoke I remember well. Black wings sprout off Milesian's back, growing in size until they cover most of the background behind her; the skull face transforms as many ravens appear from the trees, turning it darker and pointy. It reaches a point where the thing standing there isn't Milesian anymore, but something else, something resembling a big monstrous raven with glowing eyes; from her mouth, a good quantity of black smoke is exhaled, turning the surroundings into a foggy mess, one that makes the day look to turn night.
"Hold on a second; transformation spells cannot turn you into something so big; so that means?" The boy starts questioning himself, his voice becoming more scared and anxious. "What are we fighting agains-"
His voice turns into a painful scream as the sound of his body being hit echoes; his groan grows distant, like he was thrown far away. Maya and Kalyn join their backs and hold their blades ready for the confrontation, staying silent to try to get the upper hand and using only hand signals to communicate.
As this happens, all I can think about is getting up so I can help Milesian; whatever is happening to her is not right. But first, I need to think of a way to end this fight without anyone else getting injured or killed. My mind travels in memories, swimming in a lake where all the things I've read these past days stay, floating around aimlessly, to be found before sinking down into forgetfulness.
Kalyn rushes forward when red eyes reveal themselves from the middle of the fog. A shot rings from Maya's revolver so loudly that it hurts my ears; if it hits or not, I can't see, but both the red eyes and Kalyn disappear.
I arrive at a conclusion once I remember about the door at the train and Milesian's talk about magical ways to transport; the bad part is that I was in such a bad state after her teleportation spell that I was not able to look at it so much. Once more, the lack of knowledge leaves me helpless in certain situations. No, there needs to be a way to do something here, something that makes sense, so let me use my brain.
Milesian said the island is protected by a strong magic that should not allow anyone outside the permitted people to get here; I'm sure they did not come with us on the train, so they surely used some magic to get here. 'Magical devices', Maya said something about it; perhaps she has something with her that should allow them to get out of here.
Pushing myself to my feet with renewed energy, I focus my magical energy and let it flow through my body. If magical energy can make magic happen, surely it can do something to the human body, right? I gather a good quantity in my eyes, feeling an indescribable pain take over me. My eyes pulse painfully, and my vision turns red. For a moment, I believe I did something wrong, but upon looking around to test my eyes, I see that I'm able to see through the fog. I do not spot Milesian or Kalyn, so instead of looking for them randomly, I gaze at Maya, seeing that she stands not far from me. Upon doing so, I see something inside her shirt, hanging from her neck, glowing brightly with magic.
I take a step forward in her direction, stumbling all the way until she notices me. She puts away her revolver and sprints to my meeting, placing her hands on my waist and helping me stand up properly. "Hey, it's okay; you don't need to move."
"Maya, I'm sorry," I whisper lowly, earning a sigh from her that quickly turns into an affectionate gaze as I place my hand in the middle of her chest. She locks her eyes on mine and shakes her head.
"There's no need to apologize; you did nothing wrong." She replies sweetly, almost making me feel bad for a moment for what's to come. "I'll get you out of here as soon as we end this."
"I'm really sorry. I hope we can see each other again."
"Wait, why are you saying that?" I use her confusion to grab the item hanging from her neck—a small ampule with some sort of device stored inside that pulses with magic. The moment I close my palm and it breaks, a faint light starts to surround both of us, but before anything happens, I shove Maya away, watching as the light stays with her until she disappears.
With that dealt with, I gaze around once more to find Milesian, finding her eyes locked on mine still in beast's form, blood flowing off her skull beak as she watches me intently. What did I shove myself into?
Blood tears leave my eyes as my vision hazes; the price to pay for brute forcing my way through magic, it seems. It really isn't easy to keep myself calm; a primitive fear strikes my core as I look at the monster, but reminding myself that it is Milesian that is inside it, I do my best to smile.
There are no words from me; I just stumble close to her form and watch as she accompanies my movements with her eyes, waiting. My head tells me I'm about to pass out, so as my last action to save her too, I place my kind hand on her body and lean my head against her. The last thing I'm able to see is her form smoking away, the return of her gloved hands, and the face I know so well.
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