While Rhynsa decided that his relationship with the close-knit crew was completely professional, he found that it might not be the case for long.

The Fuzandre loathed walking around the town in daylight. It wasn’t because he hated sunlight, but he was rather self-conscious with his appearance. Unlike hellhounds, Fuzandre wasn’t exactly good in blending in. His wings and chiropteran appearance did not help in the slightest. Even if there was a kind of bat called flying foxes, they are hardly vulpine, unlike the Hunters.

What made it even worse for him was a weakness Fuzandres had: the need to feed on blood. Fuzandres drank blood both to maintain their power and to satiate their thirst. In the Underworld, it wasn’t that bad since Fuzandre tribes knew what to do. But then, he got the first taste of surface world blood. Compared to a hellhound’s blood, a surface dweller’s blood tasted sweet, like a bottle of wine. Rhynsa especially liked the blood of virgins, both male and female. Also, for some reason, being bitten by a Fuzandre aroused them so much, making feeding awkward whenever they were awake and moaning as if a vampire’s bite was the best sex they had in their lives. Not that Rhynsa minded, though.

He started to think that maybe he worked better alone, considering his need. If Ifrit’s former companions happened to see him feed on someone, they would terminate their partnership on the go, knowing that it would horrify them. He did not really care about what they felt. He only cared about being killed because they were horrified by him, which came close when they chose to blame him for Ifrit’s death. He didn’t deny it because in some way, he was responsible.

His tendency to stay out of the other’s business did not seem to bother the group except Lilac. Everyone had people to talk to, whether it was demon hunters or hellhounds fighting against their hunters. Lilac, a surface dweller who happened to be accidently involved, had nothing to say. She came from a village far from any big cities and towns and the day she and Ifrit ran out of the village was the day she had ever seen her own region beyond drawings on a map. So, her contribution to the effort was almost non-existent. In a way, Rhynsa, who was an independent operator who was exiled from his own tribe, was just like her: a nobody.

It was harsh to say that they were both nobodies, but without meaningful connections, they were. All Lilac did ever since arriving at Summinat was to learn proper medical skills and self-defense lessons, along with skills that complement her own background as a hunter. She enhanced the skills she already had during her own travels, and she was quite motivated in doing so. Rhynsa noticed how she seemed to be preoccupied every time the Fuzandre met her. At first, he thought that she was avoiding him, which was something he would understand. It turned out, after a week or so, that it wasn’t the case.

While Lilac was doing her best gearing up for a possible war, Rhynsa wasn’t doing anything productive. Before meeting them, he was out there to hunt hellhounds and demons as a freelance demon hunter. Now, he simply walked around town while occasionally assisted Albert with recommendations of rifles and any advice on the cleansing bullets, now that Rhynsa revealed that his method was partially improvised and was considerably different from Albert’s original design. In short, he was reduced to a support position, something that he wasn’t comfortable with at first. He was always the kind who got things done his own way, even if his own way would be seen as if he was insane. Years of hunting his targets had made him cynical and sarcastic enough to have a very dark sense of humor.

But even with his cynicism and general aura of unfriendliness, one person actually cared: Lilac. The others did not care about him unless he was causing trouble, but not Lilac. While Lilac was training, she noticed Rhynsa not doing anything and seemed generally bored. It was hard to see his expression under the hood that obscured his face, but his body language told a lot of things to her. He was itching to do something. He might want to kill his enemies. Or maybe go away. Even if it wasn’t his fault, he was still indirectly responsible, so it could be another reason why he tried to avoid her. Lilac already accepted one fact. Rhynsa was not directly responsible for Ifrit’s death; the hellhounds he killed did. She had a bandaged hand to prove it.

In fact, after weeks of medical training and learning how to properly fight, she started to wonder if Rhynsa did not want to go away because he finally realized that he was lonely. Lilac soon felt that Rhynsa’s ‘professional’ relationship wasn’t doing so well, so she decided that it was time he opened up for her.

One night, when Lilac finished her training, she noticed Rhynsa walking around town. She couldn’t mistake the hooded Fuzandre, given that he was the only one whose hood obscured his features. That night, there weren’t many people walking about the town, and he stood out. She approached her, half-thinking that he would notice and simply turn away to avoid her. Instead, he stayed in place and said, “What do you want?” to Lilac.

“To talk,” said Lilac short. “Not about the Incursion. I want to talk about you.”

“About me?” Rhynsa scoffed. “Well, you’ll be disappointed. I’m just a dull Fuzandre with nothing to tell but death and my problems with the House of Schelkz. That Barghest’s glare is the proof of that.”

“Have this happened even before the Uprising?”

“Nope. All he thinks of me is a traitor who tried to spin the story of what really happened. Can’t blame him for being too loyal. Lobotomy can do wonders.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Tell that to the hellhound who did it to him.” Rhynsa sighed. “Can’t blame the Schelkzes for being so ruthless. If they weren’t, the hellhounds would start the Uprising sooner than expected. Well, except the fact that they stepped too many paws and realized their mistakes. The kingdom of Drundas was doomed to fail once the people were hungry and desperate. Too bad it’s like a cycle. Bad leader got deposed, the new leader is as bad, got deposed, rinse, and repeat.”

“But not all of them are bad. I mean, look at Ifrit. Or Eshdar.”

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“I didn’t mean every hellhound is bad,” said Rhynsa with a dry chuckle. “I haven’t fallen that low yet. If I did, I’d die a long time ago for being an idiot.”

“Yeah, well….” Lilac scratched her head. “Let’s hope that’s not the case.”

“It won’t. I can assure you that.”

They soon stopped near a bridge, where Rhynsa leaned over the side to watch the dark river below. Lilac could not see his face due to the hood obscuring his head. She really wanted to know him better, so she said, “Take the hood off.”

“Why?” asked Rhynsa.

“You’re just hiding yourself in there. There is no point in understanding a Fuzandre if you don’t know what they look like. Besides, it makes you look more trustworthy.”

“Maybe you should consider thinking how a giant, human-sized bat won’t scare the shit out of people.”

“Who knows? You might end up finishing a fight without even starting it. And besides, I want to see how a Fuzandre expresses himself.”

Rhynsa was rather reluctant, but then he obliged and took off his hood, revealing his chiropteran face underneath. Now that he seemed calm, Lilac could see that Rhynsa wasn’t all that scary. Rather, he seemed cute, in his own way. Lilac understood why Rhynsa’s appearance would strike fear to those with a weak heart. Unlike hellhounds, Fuzandres weren’t exactly a familiar sight. Unlike wolves, bats were not as visible, especially if they were smaller than owls.

Rhynsa, noticing that Lilac seemed to be staring, quipped, “Pretty handsome, am I right?”

“Handsome?” Lilac chuckled. “Now, that’s amusing. I think you look rather cute.”

“Well, that’s a first,” said Rhynsa, taken aback by Lilac calling him ‘cute’. “Normally, people would freeze before they ran away in hysterics. Then again, I literally made them fear me.”

“I hope you won’t do that to me,” said Lilac.

“I might, if you ask nicely,” said Rhynsa with a smile.

“Oh, you cheek!”

Both started to laugh after teasing each other like that. Lilac laughed the most, but Rhynsa, apparently due to not laughing properly before, could only let out a rather stifled laugh, amused by how easy the pseudo-hellhound Lycan could change the mood.

Soon, however, the laughing stopped. Rhynsa looked away as Lilac thought that she offended him for some reason. He seemed confused as to what just happened.

“Look at us, laughing together like close friends already,” said Rhynsa, half sarcastically. “And to think that earlier this month, you blamed me for what I did to Schelkz.”

“You’re…not the kind of person to mince words, are you?”

“It is what happened. Don’t worry. I have my share of being blamed for someone’s death. Most of the time, I don’t regret doing so. They deserved it. But this time, it started to make me think. With all the things I did for payback, I ruined a lot of lives. I kept telling myself that they deserved it, but at the end of the day, I was just lying to myself.”

“Rhynsa…just let it go,” said Lilac, with tenderness in her voice. “You did what you think was right. Hellhounds I talked to call the Schelkz family a bunch of warmongers. I became convinced that they really did something wrong to cause this vendetta of yours. I don’t like it, but I tried not to tell them that my lover was a Schelkz. I know that name won’t strike fear, only anger.”

Rhynsa did not say anything witty to reply to Lilac, simply staying silent. He knew Lilac was right. He thought his whole life in exile was a life of vengeance. He thought he could take it after 20 years. It was only the tender and forgiving voice of a pseudo-hellhound that took it all away. It was the first blameless words he had since he was banished from his tribe.

Then, he saw her shedding tears. He wasn’t sure why Lilac suddenly cried out of nowhere, but considering what he indirectly did, it made a lot of sense. He finally realized how wrong he was for the first time in his banished life, and it compelled him to say something out of sincerity.

“I’m sorry,” said Rhynsa as he hugged Lilac. “I’m so, very sorry.”

“No, it’s alright. We all made our choices in life. You chose revenge. Ifrit chose sacrifice. I…chose to honor his wishes,” said Lilac, trying her best not to be affected by emotions.

Rhynsa half expected Lilac to try and stab him or bit his neck to kill him while he was at his most vulnerable, but it all happened in his mind, caused by years of expecting retribution from those he killed. Instead, all she did was hug Rhynsa, trying to find comfort. Rhynsa, who had no idea things would happen this way, comforted her further with his big, leathery wings. Lilac felt so warm wrapped in the leathery wings.

It took at least five minutes or so before they broke it off. After they did so, Lilac wiped the tears on her face and said, “Apology accepted.”

“Heh. Thanks. I guess trying to act professional won’t help me in the long run,” said Rhynsa with a sincere smile on his chiropteran face. “And you’re right. I wouldn’t be needing the hood. Maybe it’s time I start to act like myself.”

“You should’ve done this years ago. Then again, it’s never too late,” said Lilac.

“Yet, it’s still a long way for me,” said Rhynsa. “Normally, I’d dismiss you as weird to even care, but eh. I’m weird enough, already.”

Lilac chuckled, amused by Rhynsa’s sense of humor.

Rhynsa knew that Lilac was right. There was no point in causing more harm to satisfy his own revenge. Still, 20 years was a long time, and he was already hardened by it. Lilac and Ifrit were the first who started softening his heart. Now that Ifrit’s gone, it was his girlfriend’s turn to convince him that he was not too far gone.

But Rhynsa knew that no matter how many times he tried to convince himself otherwise, he couldn’t work with the group. It wasn’t because of their animosity towards him, but he needs time to think of what he did. Maybe redeeming himself was still an option.

Except he needed to do this alone.

***

The next morning, Lilac woke up with a yawn, feeling rather refreshed for the first time ever since the tragedy. It turned out talking with Rhynsa did help her relieve some of the heartache caused by Ifrit’s death. All she needed was a confirmation that Rhynsa was truly sorry for what he did, even though by this point Lilac chose not to blame him. She knew it was just a waste of everyone’s time.

But it apparently did not change Rhynsa’s mind too much, for when she woke up, she saw a note beside the bed. She did not recognize the handwriting, but as she read it, she knew who wrote it.

“To Lilac,” started the note. “You’re right. I should have done this years ago. Unfortunately, I can’t stay in Summinat without doing anything worthwhile on my part. I already told the old Winsel, and now I’m telling you. I hunted many anti-royalist hellhounds and I know most of their operations. This time, I won’t be motivated by revenge, but by Ifrit. Keep improving yourself. May we both change ourselves for the better. R.”

Lilac read the note, particularly the words ‘by Ifrit’. She never thought Rhynsa would be inspired to help them this way. She was glad that the Fuzandre finally changed his outlook of life. She should, too, if she wanted to escape the dark pit of grief and regret.

Maybe she should start with Sammael. The Barghest was hit the worst, and it was up to her to make him understand that things might get better if he let Ifrit go and focus on the future, while keeping his memories strong.

It was a fine morning, and the summer…had come to an end.