Despite having so much power and control over territories, they still managed to fight back. Each day I’m losing more of it, and it’s been the case for a few decades. I don’t know what’s going on…
Kai grunted as he got out of the bath, the dirty, murky water splashing around and dirtying the floor. A tinge of guilt passed by his heart, but not for long as his long, wet hair dripped even more water down his back.
I like the hair but… how do women deal with this stuff? He asked, but he realized that long hair on men wasn’t as uncommon as one would think in such a world. Drying himself up was as difficult as pulling out his wand and controlling the water away from his body. However, he didn’t attempt that and instead preferred the true and tried method of blasting his body with air. Although he didn’t know how to conjure hot air yet, he more or less managed with cold air.
After thoroughly rinsing his mask, he put it back on and donned a set of simple clothes from his ring. There was no point in covering his hair, as both parties knew its color, and wearing a hooded cloak inside wasn’t practical.
As the door creaked open, it revealed Léandro’s figure, as well as the cook’s and Onyx’s. All three of them turned their heads toward him, giving Kai that weird feeling again. “I know I’m handsome, no need to stare so much.”
“Ichor, really?” Léandro asked with a hint of playful mockery. He knew that it was a fake name, but the choice was interesting to him. “You couldn’t think of a better name?”
Kai paused and shook his head. “How was I supposed to know it means ‘Black Demon Blood’ and ‘Blood and Guts’?
“Everyone knows that.” The usually silent cook said, preparing a light snack for the four of them.
“I didn’t.” Kai brushed off the remarks, as he couldn’t do anything about the name now… it was on his official documents. “More important than, that, Your Majesty?” He asked, deciding to talk about the elephant in the room.
Back when they met with Yasa and Lutha, the two didn’t say anything, but the look of shock on their faces said more than enough. Léandro didn’t even acknowledge them, but instead dragged Kai up to the second floor for a much-needed bath.
“Yeah… I didn’t think it was important. I liked the way you treated me… I mean, unlike everybody else that knows me.”
“Well… it wasn’t I suppose. It would be weird to tell someone you’re a prince. Well, I guess they should already know that. To be fair the way you were dressed didn’t leave a lot of room for mystery.” Kai quipped as he sat down and pat Onyx’s fluff. He needs a bath too… He thought after taking a whiff.
“The way you were dressed didn’t say that you were a mage either.” Léandro rebutted as they locked eyes.
“I wasn’t,” Kai confessed softly but didn’t go into any detail.
Léandro’s mouth parted as if he wanted to say something. However, that was interrupted by a light knock at the door. The cook dropped what he was doing - making a bacon sandwich- and ran to open the door. Onyx happily took advantage of the opportunity, and after noticing that neither Kai nor Léandro paid any attention to him, went in for the killing blow.
The cook opened the door gently, and let the one who knocked - Yasa, in. She wore the same thing as usual, iron and leather armor. Her ebony black hair cascaded down her shoulders. Paired with her beautiful brown eyes, she was stunning to look at. The armor rattled as she walked in, not too fast but not too slow, and she stopped five meters before Léandro and then kneeled.
“Your Majesty,” she said, her tone filled with respect.
“At ease,” Léandro commanded, which made her raise and stand upright. “A friend of I… chor’s, is a friend of mine.”
Friend… Kai rolled his eyes behind the mask, while Yasa flinched slightly. The awkward atmosphere didn’t last long, though, as the unaware Léandro continued. “What do you have to say that is so urgent?”
“Your Majesty… the court hasn’t heard any news from you in a couple of months, we were all worried.” She said, implying that Léandro should take better care of informing his family of where he is.
“Hah.” He rolled his eyes, “As if my father would care about a magicless bastard like me.” His disdain-filled voice caused Yasa to look away for a brief moment, but she bit her lip.
“I have heard that Her Majesty… Lady Loretta… she’s worried about your safety.”
“That little brat has nothing to worry about except her jewelry and pets!” Léandro erupted suddenly with an anger-smeared tone. “She and my older brother have…” However, he stopped and took a deep breath. “It doesn’t concern you.”
A shiver ran down Kai’s spine as he saw this side of Léandro, one that wasn’t murderous or playful, but one that demanded respect. For a moment he believed to truly be in the presence of a prince.
“We have not met before but I know of your group. State your true business.”
Yasa nodded and her lips parted. “Indeed, my prince. The truth is that I had some questions. I know Your Majesty has traveled a lot and I was wondering if you knew anything about a new species named ‘gobelin’?”
“Gobelin?” Léandro fell deep in thought for a moment and replied after remembering something long since lost in his memory. “Yeah, I heard Lustra was full of them. Why do you ask?”
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“Your Majesty,” Yasa began reporting. “A small new species of monster has repeatedly appeared all around the kingdom. We have heard of a mass outbreak in Lustra, as you are already… aware, and are heading that way to investigate it.”
After hearing the description, Léandro’s eyes lit up, and he excitedly added. “I killed a few of them! They were small and green, or red or purple! They were weird but not that big of a threat, though.”
Kai shivered upon recalling the long, drawn-out fight he had with the creatures, and did his best not to scoff. “Yeah, for you, not for normal people.” He said without any form of respect, something that made Yasa’s pupils contract. “I fought a group of them and it wasn’t as easy as you make it out to be.”
“What? You’re kidding right?”
“No, when they were together it got really difficult. They have a strange… fighting system.”
“Strange? How?” Yasa interjected almost subconsciously, her face flushing slightly upon realizing that she interrupted someone having a conversation with the prince.
Luckily he didn’t pay her much attention, but Kai decided to recount the events of his fight with the gobelins. He did omit a few details, like why he was in such peril in the first place, or how he won. Kai talked of their abilities for the most part, but just that alone was enough to put the two in very different moods.
Léandro’s eyes shone with the desire to do battle, and more than that, with the desire to know the intricacies of such metamorphisation. Yasa, on the other hand, wore a half-terrified and half-worried expression. After all, if these monsters could transform like that when they were in groups, things could get sticky fast.
The cook remained silent as he prepared the snacks, and scratched his head at the sudden absence of a few ingredients. Onyx licked his snout as he listened and even mended his old wounds that had yet to fully heal.
“This… Your Majesty this is… I need to send word immediately. If you will excuse me.” Yasa said with urgency and left as soon as the nonchalant Léandro gave the go-ahead.
“Do you think we can find some around here?” Léandro asked, turning to Kai.
“I’d rather not, personally.” He got up and pulled out a large cloak with a hood. “And we need to go see how Lilith is doing.”
“Right, Lilith!” Léandro jumped to his feet and almost rushed out the door. “Let’s hurry. Melon, you can stay here, and order a couple of drinks for us.”
“Mghm.” The cook grunted with a nod and kept preparing the snacks in silence.
“Oh, and some food!” Léandro added before the door shut with a muffled thud. Melon shook his head but smiled underneath his moustache, and muttered to himself with a happy-go-lucky whistle.
The sun broke to morning as they walked through the town. If it were a couple of weeks ago, Kai would have had to refuse and stay cooped up in his room, unable to do anything but sleep for the day. However, now, after what he did to Hideoyoshi… he could indeed live like a normal person.
Sometimes the sweet irony taste of the man’s blood came back to haunt him. The feeling he had as his fangs dug deep into his flesh, the euphoric ecstasy mixed with regret and pain… Kai’s body longed for that feeling yet again, he wanted to taste human blood again, he wanted to feed on it.
However, his mind refused to do so. He doubted what would happen if he followed his instincts, he feared the consequences. Kai figured that after such a ‘feast’, he would be more than content and good to go for the next few years. Yet, just like an addict relapsing, he felt himself wanting for more, and more. He didn’t dare allow himself to give in to those feelings.
The sunlight fell upon the trio, and the daytime crowd felt a tiny bit different compared to the drunkards of the night. Kai noticed that the gazes falling upon them became more intense, and he walked with a lowered head to avoid eye contact. Luckily for him, most of them were aimed toward Léandro, whose handsome figure, even if not anyone knew he was a prince, proved hard to ignore.
A boy with sparkling blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes. It felt like people had no choice but to look in his direction. If not for him, then at least for the Obborik walking next to him. Although his white fur wasn’t as white as before, his magnificence only increased as he grew older.
Only Kai remained obscured and in the shadows. Though he didn’t mind, it was better like that for him, after all.
The line to get out of the city stretched far, as merchants, nomads, and all other sorts of people left early. Mercenaries surrounded the wealthier-looking groups, while only one or two adventurers accompanied the shabbier one man or family.
“Is this area so dangerous?” Kai asked in a whisper.
“Yeah, bandits and monsters are running amok lately. It’s been getting worse over the year.” Léandro replied softly but didn’t go into detail. He couldn’t, not right then anyway.
Kai was surprised to find that the queue moved fast, as the guards didn’t inspect anything past the guild ID cards or other forms of identification. If I wanted to I could walk out of here with a corpse huh?… He thought, mockingly, but then it struck him that some people might have done that already.
Léandro simply showed a badge to the guard, which immediately let them pass without any further question. “Being a prince sure has its perks,” Kai remarked jokingly, and he expected his friend to reply with at least a laugh, but he didn’t. Léandro remained quiet and an awkward air surrounded them. He let out a dry cough, but that didn’t help, so he just decided to let the silence linger.
As they walked a good enough distance away from the town and headed toward the camping place, Léandro’s timid tone reverberated in the air. “Being a prince isn’t that great.” But that’s all he said, and it didn’t seem like he wanted to continue with the topic. Kai let out a soft apology and dropped the topic. They soon entered a darker part of the forest, but not nearly as dark as the night.
Someone… close. Onyx told Kai as he took a few whiffs of the air. Sumeone… strwong.
Kai’s footsteps halted and he cast his mana out, scanning the area like a bat. Léandro stopped too and remained silent, his guard rising. Kai didn’t detect anyone close by, or far away. He quickly determined that his wanna-be spell was useless against strong opponents and stopped wasting mana.
“What’s going o-” Léandro wanted to ask, however, a whooshing sound slicing through the air stopped his words, and the three immediately jumped out of the way. Not even a second later, a giant spear etched itself into the place where they were standing. It dug into the ground and uprooted trees as it traveled through the earth. Such a strong throw made Kai’s hair stand on end, and Léandro’s weren’t that far away either.
Watching the direction the weapon came from, their eyes widened as a towering figure, half as tall as the trees slowly dragged its feet toward them. Its vein-covered muscles swelled as the ground shook slightly under its steps.
It wasn’t much, but enough to be noticed. More than that, its burning red skin gave the thing a demonic air, and, paired with the long, dirt-red hair cascading down its muscular body, Kai truly got the picture of a hellish devil emerging from hell.
Its body was decorated with tribal tattoos which shone with a soft light as it moved.
Despite its large appearance, the thing was as silent as a snake, and both boys stared at it with a tinge of shock. That little time was enough for the creature’s tattoos to explode with a red light, and it almost instantly appeared next to its thrown weapon.
It dug it out of the ground and cleaned off all the mud, roots, and worms, then glared at Kai, and sent him a threatening look. Then, it raised its hand and pointed at him, the tip of its sharp nail aimed right at Kai’s neck. It then made a swiping motion, as if it cut it off, and let out a horrifying chuckle that filled Kai’s mind with a sense of dread.
Is she cute?
