As Haze and I slew the final mantis in a torrent of flames, we collapsed, exhausted, having fought the monsters for almost twenty hours. “Is that all of them?!” I whined as I stretched out my legs and leaned my back against Haze’s.
“I think so,” Haze answered, breathing heavily, “We can never truly kill the calamity class beasts since they’re so powerful. We probably just drove it off. I don’t think it will return for another few millennia or something.”
“Oh … great. We get to do this again … If we live that long.”
Haze turned and wretched whatever sat in her stomach. The smell wafted from the newly formed puddle, and I nearly threw up the mantises I ate. Luckily, my stomach was empty because my tails did most of the eating for me. Wiping a hand over her mouth, Haze groaned, “At the rate we’re going, we just might live that long if we’re lucky. Ugh, I shouldn’t have gotten that disgusting mantis blood in my mouth.”
“Your fault for pouring it all over yourself,” I commented, and Haze elbowed me playfully. I chuckled at her reaction but said nothing else.
We sat there for a few more minutes before Haze stood, pulling me up with her, “All right. Let’s head back to town before I pass out from exhaustion and sickness.”
“Yes, let’s,” I agreed and grew my wings to their full three-meter length. Haze leaned against my back, wrapped her arms around my neck, and I nearly buckled under her weight.
I grunted, “How much do you weigh?!”
“It’s rude to ask that … but …” Haze hesitated a moment before answering in a low mumble that I wouldn’t have been able to hear if not for my exceptional fox ears, “eighty-nine kilograms.”
“Eighty-nine kilograms!!” I exclaimed in surprise, and Haze slapped the back of my head.
“Say it louder, why don’t you!! I don’t think they heard you on the other side of the planet!”
“Right, sorry. Just get off me for a second,” I apologized, and Haze stopped leaning on me. I straightened my back and reimagined my body. I added more mass to my flight muscles and increased my wingspan to five meters. Once my body stopped shifting, Haze leaned on me again. She was still really heavy, but I slowly gained height as I flapped my powerful wings. Usually, I would use my chakra to supplement my flight, but I was nearly tapped out of energy. Once I gained enough height, a couple of dozen meters off the ground, I began flapping my wings to fly toward the volcanic Nifflheim tree.
I soon fell into the familiar rhythm of flapping and gliding, my wings feeling the cold air over the ice and the occasional hot updraft from the rivers of lava flowing through said ice. It felt good. Like I was meant to be up there. It felt peaceful. It felt right.
“BLUGHHGHHGH!” Then Haze threw up again, ruining the moment for me as some of it went down my front.
“Yeah, that’s just great,” I grumbled, then said, “Hang in there, Haze. We’ll be back in town in no time.” Haze gave me a weak thumbs up and shivered as she clung to me tighter. I began flapping my wings faster and gaining speed because I had a new mission. To make sure my master gets better soon.
***
I soon landed with a loud boom as I crash-landed in Sanguine de Savoie amidst a crowd of surprised demons. More than a few of which I am not sorry to say I crashed into, as I landed hard, and they made a good crash pad. Standing on top of the few demons I crashed into, I dragged Haze slowly toward our motel’s direction.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“So, how was the mission?” Guru Shi’en said from behind me the moment I stepped off the last groaning demon.
I screamed bloody murder and accidentally dropped Haze, making her fall limply to the ground. I put a hand to my chest, took a few deep breaths, and calmed my heart rate as Guru Shi’en chuckled heartily at my reaction. “It went fine,” I said once I caught my breath, “but Haze is sick.”
Guru Shi’en stopped chuckling almost immediately as he asked urgently, “How so?” Sensing the urgency in his voice, I quickly explained that she had ingested some of the monster’s blood. A grim look crossed over Guru Shi’en’s face, and he quickly took Haze from my back in a princess carry, “I will take her from here. Meet me back in your room in an hour and not a moment before. Enjoy the sunset, cultivate a bit, do something until then, but don’t come into the room for at least an hour.” Then, he disappeared in a blink, leaving no trace.
I stood there a little dumbfounded as I stared at the spot Guru Shi’en had just occupied. “HEY!” a deep voice said from behind me, and I whirled around to see half a dozen angry and scary-looking demons glaring at me, several of which sported limbs bent the wrong way, bones sticking out of the wrong places, and all injuries seemed to be ignored entirely. A tall, red-skinned, one-horned demon man stepped menacingly forward, the bone in his right forearm jutting out from his skin, and spoke in the deep voice I had heard before, “What was that for!? Crashing into us without a single apology!”
Recoiling a little from his yell, I squeaked, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I needed to get my master help and healing. I really do apologize.”
The demon man glared at me a moment more and shrugged, “All right.” He then grabbed the bone sticking out of his arm and shoved it back into his arm with a loud crack and without so much as a pained groan. “Just next time, warn us when you come crashing down. And be sure to be polite and apologize,” the demon man said in a stern, calm tone, pointing his right index finger at me.
I gaped at his actions, completely dumbfounded. I leaned over a little and saw that the hole the bone had protruded from was healing right before my eyes. I looked around at all the other demons I crashed into. They were healing rapidly as they shoved protruding bones back into their bodies. I nodded distractedly, “Yeah, I’ll be sure to do that. Can I ask you a question, though?”
The demon man raised an eyebrow and put his hands on his hips, “Sure, ask away.”
“Why aren’t you angrier at me? And can I have a sample of your DNA?”
“We demons value being polite and kind to everyone we meet above all else. That way, the people won’t be as scared of us and will be more likely to come by and say hello,” the demon man responded. Then, after a moment of thought, he asked, “What is DNA?”
“It’s the building blocks that make you, you. It’s found in hair, blood, skin, saliva, anything that comes from a living being. I prefer blood, though. Please? I could really use it.” I answered and asked again.
The demon man thought momentarily and asked, “What would happen to me if you took a piece of my building blocks, as you put it?”
“Absolutely nothing. You’ll feel a small cut, and that’s it. Nothing else will happen.”
The demon man thought for a moment more and shrugged, “Okay,” then presented his arm.
I quickly created a claw on my finger and made a small slice in his forearm. I quickly collected a couple of drops of blood, brought them to my lips, and cleaned my clawed finger. The demon’s blood tasted spicey and burned my tongue and the back of my throat as I swallowed. It tasted like I ate a spoonful of ghost pepper sauce with a cup of water. I loved the taste of demon blood. Then I saw the expectant look of the demon man, and I quickly composed myself and bowed deeply, “Thank you very much for your blood. I appreciate it greatly.”
The demon man nodded and said, “You are most welcome young lady. Have a good evening.” He then turned and walked away into the crowd that had gone about their day as though nothing had happened at some point during our conversation.
Sighing contentedly, I scratched my belly and thought about what to do for the next hour or so. Then I heard a familiar yap behind me, and I turned to see Yuki running up to me. A massive smile spread across my lips, and I squatted to welcome her into my arms. She ran right past me and pulled on my pant leg. I sighed and turned to her, disappointed and curious about what she was trying to do.
“What’s wrong, Yuki?” I asked.
She continued to pull on my leg with a soft, playful growl.
“Do you want me to follow you?”
Yuki stopped pulling and yapped in affirmation.
I nodded and stood, “I’m assuming this is what you want me to do for you as an apology, yes?”
Yuki yapped in affirmation again.
“Lead the way,” I said, nodding, and began to follow Yuki as she ran through the town to an unknown destination.
***