The sharp point of Cresil's incisor broke skin as he chewed the inside of his cheek. The sweet taste of blood exploded in his mouth. Feeding on the pain, Cresil's aura grew, lighting up the forest around him. “Come on Nergal!” A deep harshness replaced the kind tones he normally spoke with. “You can’t face me without your tree friend?” he slammed his left fist into the trunk of a pine tree as he let out a guttural scream. The scar in the tree quickly turned black as the tree wilted.

  Nergal tensed up as the enraged Impure approached his hiding place. Anxiety consumed him from the moment Cresil revealed his face. He knew he was screwed as soon as the humans pointed their guns at him. He did not understand how they could have discovered him. He was so filled with fear that he lost all connection with Jimmy's emotions, losing any chance he had at defending who he was. He gave the right answer, but even he felt the coldness in his tone.

  Cresil clawed at another tree, too close to Nergal for his comfort. After checking his wound to make sure the bleeding had at least slowed, Nergal stepped out into the open. Facing Cresil head-on was a dangerous idea, but he had no other choice.

  As soon as he saw Nergal, Cresil charged. Firing his pistol at the Impure, Nergal emptied the magazine. Rusty from not having fired a gun in decades, he missed most of the shots. One bullet grazed Cresil's leg, barely breaking the skin. Nergal crouched down, jumping away just as Cresil swiped at him with irradiated claws. While most Impure were weak on their own, Cresil broke the rules. With his unparalleled strength and combat skills, he worked his way up to become Merihim's second in command.

  Cresil charged forward again, clawing haphazardly at Nergal. Doing his best to avoid Cresil's toxic aura, Nergal continued to evade the attacks. As the forest grew darker, Cresil's radioactive aura became the only light to see by. Clawing at Nergal relentlessly, Cresil drove him back, further into the forest. With a vicious swipe, Cresil made contact with Nergal's chest, knocking him to the ground. The armored plating inside his vest steamed as the scratches burned through it. Nergal reached for the first thing he could. As Cresil launched towards him, Nergal swung a large tree branch. Cresil's ribs cracked from the force of the hit, causing him to stumble back. The second he dropped his guard, Nergal took advantage. Before Cresil regained himself, Nergal swung the branch again, hitting the Impure in the head. Fighting to keep conscious, Cresil fell to his knees.

  Nergal pulled back the branch for another swing. A sharp pain in his already wounded shoulder caused him to drop the branch. He cursed in pain as he saw a dagger buried to its hilt in his shoulder. Ripping the dagger out, he looked around for the new attacker. Keshiema ran towards him with her swords drawn. He barely had enough time to register her presence before she was on top of him. Using the dagger, he managed to block the first few strikes as she fluidly swung her swords.

  Bringing her swords down full force, she sliced through his damaged armor. As the vest fell, he stumbled back, dropping his weapon to clutch his chest. Blood seeped from the gash, soaking the remains of his shirt. He smiled as he held the wound, just as she started to bring her sword down to finish him, he blurted out. “Ipos!” She paused mid-swing, stopping the sword just before making contact with his neck. “Kill me, and you’ll never see you’re precious Ipos again.”

  She jumped backwards, out of his reach, landing next to Cresil's unconscious body. Without letting her guard down or her eyes leave Nergal, she crouched down and placed a palm on Cresil's forehead. “Explain. Now.”

  “I have Ipos as my prisoner.” Nergal watched in amazement as Cresil's more serious injuries started to close themselves. “Escape is impossible. no one knows where he is, so a rescue attempt is out too. We’ve had him for weeks now, and I can tell you he isn’t fairing well.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Cresil opened his eyes, just enough to see Nergal's location. Gritting his teeth, he dug his hand into the soil. “It's okay Cresil, the pain should be bearable soon.” Keshiema tried to comfort him without taking her eyes off of Nergal. “Why would letting you live make any difference?”

  “My second in command is prepared to kill him before the next full moon if I don't return.”

  “And you won't kill him because?”

  “Because you’re going to take his place as my prisoner.”

  Keshiema started to feel the pull on her aura from healing Cresil’s wounds. ‘They must be worse than I thought.’ “Or you could tell me where he is and I don’t torture you for the information.”

  Nergal let out a cry, doubling over as his body started to spasm. Blood spattered from his mouth as he coughed uncontrollably. Red patches and severe blisters formed on his skin. When the spasms stopped and Nergal lay unmoving on the ground, Keshiema approached him cautiously.

  With her sword on his throat, she knelt down and examined him. His eyes stared blankly, unblinking. She knew instantly he was dead, but used her aura to look for a pulse to confirm it. Noticing a dimly glowing residue on the ground underneath him, she stood and kicked his body to roll it away. The glow faintly came through the leaves in a trail leading back to Cresil's hand, still dug into the soil.

  “Cresil, did you kill Nergal?” she asked, doing her best to remain calm.

  “I couldn't let him hurt you, kesh.” He remained on his back with his eyes shut. His wounds were mostly healed, but losing his temper and rampaging took a lot out of him. Even if he had been at full strength, he would still be exhausted.

  “Did you take my aura to do it?” She already knew the answer.

  He covered his face with his hands, groaning in frustration. She stared at him, waiting for a real response. After a moment,t he finally answered her. “Just enough to get the job done.” Opening his eyes to check her emotional state, he was met with her normal icy-blue eyes and lightning-blue hair. “How mad are you?”

  “I don’t know. If it turns out he was telling the truth about Damien and we cant save him in time,” she refused to finish the thought.

  “Kesh, one thing at a time. If he was telling the truth, then we'll find Ipos. The Elders will help too if you ask.”

  “Come on, lets get back to the others.” Thinking about asking the elders for anything after she ran off made her head spin. She helped Cresil up, and the two walked back.

  ***

  The human siblings stared down the two demons walking out of the forest. The dimly lit lantern they carried gave off just enough light to see by. Cresil sat on the ground, relieved to finally be off his feet. Keshiema kneeled down next to him and looked his wounds over carefully. The quick healing she managed in the forest had been enough to get him here, but she needed to finish the job.

  Placing her right hand on his forehead, she focused her aura. The humans watched in awe as Cresil's wounds healed. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen that,” Tobias muttered quietly. Mia walked away, heading up the hill.

  “Is this how she helped you survive?” Zack's question sent Tobias back to the last night she spent at the orphanage. He nodded, thinking about the bat coming down on his head.

  Keshiema stood and looked at Tobias curiously. “Why did Mia think I was dead?” She asked the question flatly.

  “The way we left things when… She kept saying you were going to come back. I knew you wouldn’t. Eventually, I told her we got a letter that said you had died in a training accident. She was young enough to not question it.”

  “Damn Tobi, that’s harsh.” Zack grimaced.

  “No, it’s not.” She looked at Tobias apologetically. “What I said when I left was harsh. I hope you know I was lying, I’m not cold and emotionless.”

  Tobias remembered the deep crimson of her eyes when she shoved him; the way they cooled to haunting electric blue as she grounded herself; the throbbing ache in his chest when she said those last words; the quiet pain of missing her for twelve long years and hating himself for his weakness. “I think deep down I knew that."

  Clearing his throat to get everyone's attention, Zack waved for them to follow him. “Come on, let's head up the hill and get to the meeting place. It’s getting late.”