“(This is all your fault!)” said Sammael after they stopped by a pump station. “(If it wasn’t for your vendetta, he would not be killed!)”
“(Shut up, Barghest),” said Rhynsa grabbing the Barghest’s head and glared at him. “(He’s doing this for his girlfriend. This has nothing to do with what I did to him).”
“(This won’t happen if you did not challenge him for something without basis!)”
“(I did what I did to fight him. I even cleared the forest so that we can have a go at each other uninterrupted. You should thank me for giving you a warning).”
“(All you did is hide the bodies and keep us in the dark! That’s not helping at all! And besides, what proof do you have for exacting your revenge? From what I can see, you’re the one betraying master Hynorsi!)”
“(Me? I got branded for being betrayed by your stupid masters, Barghest! I should be the one angry, not you! I lost my family and my standing with the Fuzandres and it’s all because of your goddamn master!)”
“(Shut up, both of you!)” shouted Eshdar, anger apparent in their voice. “(Whatever happened has happened, alright? Don’t make it worse. And yes, if it wasn’t for Mr. Bat here, we won’t even be ready for an ambush!)”
“(Why the hell are you on his side!)” said Sammael, starting to get irrational. “(He killed Ifrit! He should’ve been the one who fall off that bridge! He is a liar and a traitor! He will kill every one of you for being…).”
Rhynsa then shouted out some words, during which the bracelets on each of Sammael’s limbs glowed. There were glowing runes over it, which suddenly moved all over Sammael’s body and wrapped all over him. It quickly immobilized him and forced his mouth shut, preventing speech and even movement.
“(That’ll keep him out of trouble for now),” said Rhynsa with a sigh. “(Damn that Hynorsi. To think he took this Barghest’s free will. I know he’s a demon, but that went too goddamn far).”
“(What did you do to him?)” asked Eshdar as Sammael struggled to be free from the restraints.
“(Letting him know that this is his life now),” said Rhynsa. “(I don’t feel any satisfaction from this, but I have no choice. What a fucking mess…)”
Rhynsa walked away, leaving Sammael struggling to get out of the seal with no avail. He then walked towards Lilac, who was still crying from what happened to Ifrit. Rhynsa could not say anything good to her, knowing that whatever he said would just be interpreted as shallow and nothing but lie. Before he even got the chance to talk, he did not care about Ifrit Schelkz. But, he found that Ifrit was completely different from his birth parents. He genuinely cared for his girlfriend, and he even convinced Rhynsa to stop before it was too late. Ifrit could just leave Rhynsa and throw him to save them, but instead, he saved Rhynsa and Lilac, at the cost of his life. He wasn’t a selfish hellhound Rhynsa thought he was, but someone who was so deeply in love with a surface Lycan enough to sacrifice himself for her.
For Rhynsa, it was something foolish. Yet, that foolishness was not in vain.
“I know you won’t forgive me,” said Rhynsa. “If I didn’t issue the challenge, he might still be here with us.”
“But you didn’t kill him,” said Lilac, who tried to make a brave face, only to be betrayed by tears trickling down her lupine eyes. “I heard what you said before you two started fighting. You blamed him for everything. So, you got your wishes. Now what will you do?”
“Let’s just say he imparted some wisdom against my 20-years vendetta. As stupid as it sounds, I never thought I’d agree with a Schelkz after what they did to me.”
“Ifrit…may be ruthless in his own way, but he will never, ever betray anyone’s respect. Just…how bad did it cost you?”
“Well…banished from my tribe’s bad enough. Still got the scar from where they whipped me. They thought I betrayed them to the hellhounds. Then, the Uprising took everything I ever knew, so yeah. To me, my revenge’s justified. If it wasn’t for witnessing his parent’s deaths, I might be too hardened to be convinced. I did change my mind because of Ifrit, but then I know you won’t gonna accept that.”
Rhynsa was right. As soon as he said that Lilac slapped Rhynsa. Her sharp claws left a shallow mark on Rhynsa’s face. The claws caused him to bleed.
“Believe what you think is right. Ifrit is dead, and it’s all because of you,” said Lilac with a growl of anger. Rhynsa could see a seething anger in her eyes, one that he had seen countless times before as he hunted down his enemies. He had somehow become immune to it after 20 years of killing hellhounds. It was always the same story: people hated their royals for no reason, became blind with their loved one’s suffering, and in their grief, pursued Rhynsa for revenge, never once thinking that the hellhounds they supported did this to themselves.
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He learned to finish the job before confronting them, as he did with the Capricin family earlier that day. People might think he was breaking the law, but in the end, even the law was held back. Rhynsa was a vigilante and would always be one.
Yet, this time it was different. His latest target wasn’t someone with a lot of skeletons in their closets. He just happened to have the blood of the hellhounds who started the whole thing. He even convinced him by sacrificing himself for the one he loved. His poor judgement cost him a relationship, and he must live with that. If this was the first time, he would be drinking his stress out. Unfortunately for Lilac, Rhynsa lost all sense of sympathy after years of it. All he got to say for Lilac was a glare. It may be hard for Lilac to see if he was glaring, but Lilac felt it, and she shuddered. Her anger was suddenly replaced by something resembling fear. It was a fear of retribution. It was as if Rhynsa was projecting all the suffering he endured and said that her pain did not compare to his.
However, Lilac did not want that to be true, so she stood her ground, trying her best to stop Rhynsa from asserting himself. After a while, it stopped, and Rhynsa chuckled.
“Impressive,” he said. “Keep that anger to yourself, Lycan.”
“What…did you do?” she asked, trembling.
“Fuzandres have the ability to project fear to stop a fight before it began. That ability is what kept us on edge against the hellhounds. It can be amplified by anguish, pain, and rage. If I push it…well, I won’t be doing Schelkz a favor, am I? Like I said, we don’t need to like each other. Allies don’t always do.”
“Are you telling me your anguish is far more than I am? That losing Ifrit does not even compare?”
“Hey, I said don’t push it. Oh, and here.”
Rhynsa threw Lilac a fedora, which Lilac instantly realized that it was Ifrit’s. She started crying after realizing that Ifrit was gone and started hugging the fedora as Rhynsa walked away from her towards Albert and Eshdar.
“You sure know how to talk to a woman,” said Eshdar sarcastically.
“And you are going to say that you will never forgive me for indirectly killing Ifrit Schelkz.”
“I saw Ifrit before he got pulled by those…monsters. He was in perfect health. It was as if you two decided to stop and talk it out. Then, I saw your wing. He did injure you. If it wasn’t for him sacrificing himself to help you, he’d be standing where you are right now.”
“Good eye. Well, I closed his wound with fire. Don’t know if that is a hellhound thing or not, but fire heals him.”
“No…not exactly. We’re invulnerable to fire, but not healed by it.”
“Can’t tell. I’m not a hellhound,” said Rhynsa with a shrug.
“What are you going to do now?” asked Albert. “Hunting down demon worshippers and drink the blood of the innocent?”
“Nah. I’ll stick around for a bit,” said Rhynsa. “Schelkz asked me to protect his girl. I’m kinda reluctant taking orders from a Schelkz, but then again, he’s not Hynorsi and Leahn Schelkz and I still have a lot of questions about the incursion business. Those hellhounds sold their souls to the demons to take back their lives, never realizing that in doing so, they have become slaves themselves.”
“Lilac and Sammael won’t accept your presence.”
“Strictly business, then. Let’s see who’ll stab whose back first. I bet it won’t be me.”
Albert chuckled. “We don’t do that here. Well, not unless you happen to be breathing down our necks and baring your fangs. Now, I get why you said you are the missing fact. You actually solved two mysteries just because you happen to be a bat.”
“Oh? How so?”
“Bats have echolocation, and that is how you snipe blind. However, I also know some species of bat drink blood, and all of them have snub noses that looks like a pig’s snout. Now that I look at your face better, I can see those two sharp fangs out of your mouth. The news can be sensational, but they did say that the victims of the Vampire had two puncture wounds on their neck, as if a snake bit them.”
“Before you say anything else, blondie, I didn’t kill them.”
“Oh, but you admit of being the Vampire. I’m surprised no one ever notice that the Vampire is literally a humanoid vampire bat.”
“Like I said. They’re missing the crucial fact: me.”
Eshdar and Albert couldn’t help but smile. Rhynsa may be a problem, but he did lighten up the mood a bit. Sammael might’ve been too loyal to his previous master to accept this, but as they traveled with the car, even Lilac started to tolerate his presence, if only to a certain degree.
Lilac was still blaming Rhynsa for indirectly killing Ifrit by issuing the challenge in the first place, but he did his best in rectifying his mistake by helping heal Ifrit’s wound and even tried to help him, even if it was futile. He shot down several of the monsters eating Ifrit and was almost going to succeed if it wasn’t for a hellhound shooting Lilac’s hand, causing her to lose her grip. While Lilac was being incapacitated by both grief and pain, she saw Rhynsa shooting down the hellhounds that actually killed Ifrit. For her, that was revenge, and she was alright with that. Even then, Rhynsa had established that their relationship would strictly be professional. He chose not to start anything with Lilac, though he promised to keep her safe per Ifrit’s last request.
Ifrit’s death was such a major blow to the close travelers to the point they looked like they lost all joy in their lives. Ifrit’s unfamiliarity with the surface world often made the situation amusing. For Lilac, their first love making was magical in many ways, and she was hoping to do so again. Sadly, for her, she would not be given that chance. When Lilac realized that, she could only feel sadness as she gripped the fedora tightly in her chest.
That’s when she felt something inside it. There was a pouch that when Lilac opened it, it contained Ifrit’s broken horn. Both the fedora and the horn were the only things that would make her remember him, and Rhynsa giving it to her felt like an attempt at apology for indirectly causing this tragedy.
She turned to Rhynsa and whispered, “Thank you” to him. Rhynsa did not react, apparently pretending to not hear her despite his big, wide ears. Lilac could understand. He was still unforgiven, though this simple act started to make Lilac think that maybe, just maybe, Rhynsa did not expect anything.
As the car sped away, Lilac, tears running down her lupine face, whispered, “I won’t forget you. I simply won’t.”