Chapter 53: Talk

Damien hurried and searched for the stables, following the familiar smell of horse manure. There he could see Nightshade sleeping with Fierce.

“Fierce… Damn it.” Damien had forgotten, it wouldn’t be just Krista and Amelia he’d be leaving, he’d be leaving her too.

He couldn’t let that stop him. Night was falling, now would be the most opportune time to escape. Damien woke up Nightshade who nuzzled up to him, followed closely by Fierce. She was excited to see Damien again opting to dance around his legs.

Damien felt his heart tug, “I’m sorry girl, I’ll be leaving for quite some time. Make sure you grow big and strong, so you can take care of Krista and Amelia for me.”

As if feeling the sadness in his voice, Fierce started to rub on him and called out worriedly. Ready to leave, Damien kissed on her forehead and moved to unlatch Nightshade.

Suddenly, Fierce toppled over and fell to the ground. In her side was a small pink dart. Damien’s eyes shot towards the direction of the firing where he was met with a familiar face, “Mind taking a second to chat?”

A blinding rage overtook Damien as he jumped off Nightshade, right on top of the speaker, “Dante!”

Without a weapon, Damien opted to throw a punch, but found himself lying on the floor as Dante flipped his attacker over him, “I guess you do mind.”

Damien spun to his side and swept Dante’s legs from under him before mounting him, “I’m going to enjoy breaking your teeth!”

Damien brought fist after fist down, using the metal braces as a weapon as he attempted to break through Dante’s guard. Just when it finally broke, Damien through a hasty punch allowing Dante to dodge and grab it.

Dante wrapped his legs around Damien’s neck and grabbed arm and pulled. Damien cursed at himself, as he tried to wriggle free to no avail. These movements only served to make it harder to breathe.

“Wouldn’t move too much, unless you feel like leaving this place with a broken arm,” reasoned Dante.

Damien slowly began to struggle less and less, this was getting him nowhere, so he’d have no choice but to speak, “What did you shoot Fierce with?!”

“Nothing dangerous, something to put her to sleep while we talk. Same thing Raven did to you. Had a feeling you wouldn’t be too happy seeing me again, and I really didn’t feel like trying to calm down both of you at the same time.” Suddenly, Dante let go and got to his feet, even offering a hand to help Damien up.

The thought of attacking again crossed Damien’s mind, but he held back, though he didn’t take the help Dante offered, “You seem lax towards an escaping prisoner.”

“Prisoner?” Dante laughed. “Why in the world would I try to keep you prisoner?”

Damien was furious, “Stop playing with me! You were waiting for me here because you knew I’d try to escape with Nightshade.”

“And I also came alone because of… reasons, right?”

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“Alone, you really expect me not to know that Raven or Animus is hiding somewhere?”

Dante smirked, “Raven, Animus you have my express permission to kill Damien. Get on it.”

Damien knew it was a trap! He readied himself for the attack that never seemed to happen, “Where are they?”

“Not here, like I said. Believe me, if I were to give either one of them permission, they’d be more than happy to oblige.”

Damien hated to admit it, but Dante was right. Even as a joke, if either one of those two heard those words, he’d have been in trouble, if they were there, “What’s your game here Dante? I’m leaving here one way or another, you’re not going to stop me.”

“And I’m not going to try to! It’s like you’re not even listening to me.”

“That’s because you’re obviously lying. You know who I am, and you know that I will stop at nothing to see your end.”

“Well, obviously! You’re my villain. It wouldn’t be right for a hero to hold their villain as prisoner. At least not at this point in the story.”

“Story?” In a moment, all of Damien’s anger seemed to dissipate, replaced instead with utter confusion. “Are you sane? What do you mean story?”

“The story of Sir Guile the Great, a tale with even more significance than the Moonlit Knight. The story of a poor orphan boy who grew up to free his people from the parasites known as the Grand Trees, and you the villainous foil who will stop at nothing to attempt to make that hero reach his end.”

Damien stared at Dante for a short time sizing up what his adversary had just said, “Is this a joke to you?”

“Truth be told, my whole life has been a series of jokes where I was the punchline. I’ve just decided to laugh along and tell a few jokes of my own.”

“You’re insane.”

“We’re insane, because you know exactly how I feel.”

“This isn’t a game to me Dante! I don’t care about your stories; I just want to put you into the ground.”

“I don’t think that’s true; I mean, you said it yourself. I freed you, didn’t I?” Damien didn’t respond. “Our circumstances were different, but we both learned the same lesson; being true to ourselves.”

“Why even come here to talk to me? You want something, what is it?”

“It’s just a call to action. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed by your capabilities. I like your drive, the motivation is there, but if Raven can just take you out that easily, then you’re not putting up the necessary threat of a good villain.”

Damien marched forward and grabbed the front of his shirt, “I should just- Ah!”

Dante grabbed Damien’s arm and twisted it behind his back, “Check that, if I can do this, then you really aren’t threatening enough.” Dante pushed Damien away and tossed him a large bag he had been carrying. “Some things you forgot.”

Damien was going to throw it back in his face, but a familiar green pattern stopped him from doing so. Inside, Damien found his cloak and bow, along with some ruby chips and other supplies.

Damien immediately put on his cloak, regaining a sense of comfort that he had been missing, “What, no arrows?”

“I may be a bit lax with the way I live my life, but I intend to keep living it,” Dante joked as he turned to leave. “Think about what I said for when I return to Journey.”

Damien shouted out, “What?!” but Dante was already gone.