by Dahlia Lu
“Are you alright?” Sayan asked once they came to a full stop. She nodded.
More screams came from the soldiers. The beast had a man in its jaws and three men under its front and back legs. Its claws tore into their armor, as though it was made of paper. The General Malin followed behind with his sword, but the beast was quick to dodge. Sayan could barely see the transition from one place to another.
“What is that thing?!” Sayan said as he unsheathed his heavy blade from his back.
Nala held him back by his forearm. “Don’t go, you’ll die!”
“Those are my men out there!”
Sayan pulled away from her and charged at the beast. The blade indented the ground, but the beast was not under it. The beast turned around and aimed its fangs toward him. Sayan used the blade to block the attack. The width of the blade was forced into the beast’s mouth. The momentum of the beast’s speed sent him back first onto the ground. The beast pressed forward while Sayan tried to keep it from reaching his face.
The beast pressed a paw on his chest. Its claws pierced him and forced him to choke out blood.
“Sayan!” Nala screamed out.
“My Prince!”
Sayan let out a low angry growl from the back of his throat and kicked the beast forward. The beast landed on its paws. It hunched down and growled back at him. General Malin and a few other brave soldiers charged at the beast. It roared at them. The intensity of the volume was deafening, sending them rolling onto the ground while covering their ears.
The beast’s golden eyes set on Sayan. It had found its target.
The beast jumped at Sayan and he swung his blade. A handful of black fur scattered into the air. The beast turned around and attacked again. Sayan ducked to the ground and swung his blade upward. The blade cut down the length of beast’s neck. The collar on its neck severed and fell onto the ground.
It turned away from him and ran toward Nala.
“Damn it!” Sayan cursed as he chased after the beast. “Get out of the way, Nala!”
The beast stood an arm’s length from Nala and quietly stared at her. When Sayan swung his blade at it, the beast jumped and fled away.
Sayan pulled her toward him and held her tight in his arms. “Thank the gods! I thought it was going to attack you.”
“Please keep your distance from me!” She pushed him back. He bent forward, holding to the pain on his chest. The blood had soaked through the lower part of his armor. “I’m sorry…I forgot…”
Sayan stared at her while she bandaged his wounds. Her eyes were on her hands, on the corners of the tent, on every other object around them but his eyes. She was acting strange and it irritated him.
He caught her hand and she pulled away immediately.
So he wasn’t just imagining it. She pulled away as if his touch repulsed her. He lifted her chin and forced her to look at him. She jerked away. Nala had never acted like this before.
Sayan pulled her toward him in a fluid motion and kissed her. He just wanted to test his theory, but found the taste of her lips surprisingly sweet. She flinched and pushed and jerked away. Her pale green eyes were shocked.
“So that’s it, isn’t it?” He folded his arms in front of his chest. “You are attracted to me. Is that why you have been acting strange toward me?”
“So what if I am?” It was like she was half admitting it. “I warn you Sayan, keep a distance from me.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? A man and a woman keep their distance, that’s why!”
“Didn’t I tell you before that I will never see you as a woman?”
She was speechless as though she was hurt by his words.
“Don’t let something so trivial change anything between us,” he added. “Get out! I will have someone finish the rest!”
She threw the clean bandages in her hand into the hot water basin and rushed out of the tent. She brushed by General Malin as he was coming in. The general eyes’ followed her out and then turned around to face Sayan.
“Your lady looks upset.” General Malin pointed out. “May I ask why?”
“Stay out of my personal affairs.”
“You did say there is nothing romantic about the two of you, correct?”
“And there will never be.” Sayan quickly changed the subject. “How many men did we lose today?”
“I was relieved that it was less than a hundred. It was a good thing you chased the beast away. That weapon is truly a force of its own.”
Sayan ran his fingers down the length of the blade on his side. It had saved him a countless number of times. “It should be about time I returned it to Nala now.”
“This weapon belonged to the girl…I mean, the lady?”
“She asked me to hold on to it for her the night she left. This blade and I had been through so much in the past eight years.”
“Why would a girl like her have weapon like this? And how old was she eight years ago, ten?”
“She may not look it, but she is already in her thirties.”
The general laughed. “Surely, you jest.” Then he thought about it. “If that is true, then I feel less ashamed of myself.”
“Why would you feel ashamed?”
“I was feeling guilty for having an erection every time I see her.”
“…what?”
The General scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. “She is a stunningly beautiful woman, after all. You can’t blame a man for having fantasies.”
“I am not comfortable hearing this at all. And what is that racket outside?”
“Intruders! Intruders!”
A bloodied soldier ran into the tent and collapsed. There was a cloaked figure behind him. The height suggested that it was a woman. Behind her were four handsome young men and behind them were the spears of his soldiers.
“I hope you realize that this is a military camp!” The General Malin shouted at them. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
The cloaked figured walked over the corpse and came to Sayan’s side. She inspected him with her eyes as though he was merchandise and smiled when she was pleased. She pulled back her hood to reveal her face - a beautiful girl with silver eyes and raven black hair.
“I am impressed, Dark Prince.” Her soft hand glided down the side of his neck. “No human has ever survived a direct attack from a Condemned Divine Beast, but you are no ordinary human, are you?” Her other hand caressed his face. “You are very handsome, too.”
“Who are you and what do you want?” Sayan asked calmly.
“Since you have that demoness by your side, there is no need to explain any further, is there? You know more about us than you think.”
“Demoness?” Sayan looked down at her.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what she is. What a twist. The wench lied to you the whole time, didn’t she?” The girl chuckled. “It is a secret, or at least it was supposed to be. If you must know, I will tell you all about us in…great detail.”
The woman was openly flirting with him. “Why did you come here?”
“I want to strike a bargain with you, my prince.”
“Bargain?”
“I am Lilan, Queen of the Demons, and I am the only one who can help you get what you really want. I have the wealth, I have the influence, and I have the power to give you what your heart truly desires.”
“And what it is that my heart truly desire, Your Majesty?”
“Phasia”
He clenched his fists at the word.
“I can give you Phasia. I can even restore it to its former glory and I can do it within a year. You will be a King – a true King – and you will be at my side as my lover.”
“Are you short of a lover?”
“Heavens, no!” She giggled. “I have had many lovers. Living as long as I do, it would be an anomaly if I did not. Even that demoness by your side must have had a string of lovers in her past.”
That cannot be possible. “Why are
you making a bargain with me?”
Her hands slid down to his chest. “It is because I want you and no other reason. This body, this face, this aura, I want it all. It is how it has always been. I do not have the time to bother with the thing you humans call love. I am not patient enough for feelings to develop. I go after what I want, and that is it. Everything has a price and your price is Phasia. Am I wrong, my prince?”
“I would be a liar if I denied that.”
“Do we have a deal?”
“You want this body and nothing more?”
She tip toed and placed a kiss on his lips. “Yes,” she replied. “Why don’t we seal the deal tonight?”
“Trading this body for a nation, I say that is more than fair.”
“So you do see it my way…” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Send your dogs out, I want some privacy now.”
“You heard Her Majesty.” Sayan said to his men. The General and the soldiers reluctantly retreated. “You can do what you promised within a year?” He needed confirmation.
“Maybe even sooner,” She smiled mischievously. “That all depends on how well you please me.”
Chapter Thirteen
The fireflies were the only thing that kept her company.
Nala stared at her reflection on the surface of the water. The moon had a twin in the water, surrounded by luminous stars, just as she was being surrounded by the stars of the earth. A little one landed on her nose for a short moment and then flew away.
For a brief moment, Nala saw the reflection of another woman staring back. The woman’s hair was the color of ripe grains and her eyes were the color of the earth. The moonlight reflected off the water’s surface drew her further into the illusion. She saw an orchard in front of her. The trees were heavy with ripe fruits. The fragrance of ripe grains was in the air. Perhaps it was autumn.
She saw herself running over the hill and past the colorful meadow blooming with wildflowers. She stretched her arms out, running, giggling, and accidently tumbling onto the grass. When she opened her eyes, she saw the most content smile on the face of a young man, although she could not see his face clearly. It was shadowed by her incomplete memory. He brushed away the flower petals that clung onto her dress and gently stroked her hair.
The scenery melted into darkness and shattered when something caused a ripple on the water’s surface. Nala snapped back to herself and turned toward the rustling bushes. There were two men, soldiers, emerging from the bushes. Just when she thought Sayan had sent them to retrieve her, they jumped at her and held down.
“Get off of me!” She screamed out at them. “Let go!”
She heard them laughed while one of them tried to remove his pants. Their breaths were repulsive and so were their touches. A man ripped off the top of her gown. The other man ripped apart the lower half of it. She felt a wave of anger rise to the back of her throat… an anger she couldn’t control and didn’t want to. She kicked the man who was coming at her and sent him flying at a tree trunk. The tree’s broken branch impaled him from back to belly. She had always known she was stronger than other people, but this was the first time she realized the difference in their strength. She snatched her wrists back and got back up on her feet. Her right hand slashed the neck of the man standing in front of her and opened his throat. He fell to his knees and then fall face first onto the grass.
It felt satisfying.
She stared at her razor sharp nails in bewilderment. Her eyes flew from one corpse to another and then she came to the full realization that she was the killer. She suddenly felt frightened of herself and what she had just done. The most frightening thing about it is that she felt a lack of remorse. She was glad that she had killed them.
They had deserved to die.
She was confused with herself and her emotions. What she felt and should have felt was completely different. She didn’t know what she could feel and could not feel anymore. It was as if her emotions weren’t her own. Her personality wasn’t her own. But if that is so, then who did they belong to?
The girl in her vision?’
“Who am I if everything that I am doesn’t belong to me?” she asked in soft whisper. “What am I?”
Heavy droplets of tears slid down her cheeks and dripped down her chin. They landed like dewdrops on blades of the grass. She needed comfort and she needed reassurance. She wanted to be told that it doesn’t matter who or what she was. She needed the warmth of another.
She walked back to the camp barefoot. She had lost her sandals during the struggle, but it was not like she needed them to walk. All she felt was shame and humiliation as she walked past the soldiers in a torn gown with her breasts exposed. It was not hard to guess what had happened to her.
She brushed aside the fabric and entered the tent where she was expecting Sayan to be. He lay asleep with a naked woman by his side. The woman was a silver-eyed, raven-hair beauty with a scent similar to, but not that similar to her own. The woman’s head was lying on his bare chest and a triumphant smile grew on her face when she saw Nala.
Comfort was not here.
Nala left Sayan’s tent and wandered into the next tent. The general was sitting at his desk when she came in. He jumped to his feet when he saw her and immediately noticed the state she was in.
“What happened? Who did this to you?” The General ran to her side and placed his cloak over her body.
“May I borrow your bed tonight?” She asked in a soft and exhausted voice.
“Yes, of course!” The general agreed immediately.
Nala calmly walked to the bed and slipped under the blanket. All she wanted to do was sleep. Maybe she can find comfort in her dreams.
Sayan descended from his horse and strode into his tent. He was covered in the blood of his enemies and his own sweats. He needed to bathe. The hot water should melt the aches from his muscles and the stress from his mind. It wasn’t the worst battle he had ever been in, thanks to Lilan. She had proved herself to be a most powerful ally. The men under her control were fewer than a hundred, but they had helped him wipe out the enemies in a fraction of the time.
“I need to bathe,” he said to the servant as he removed his cloak. Lilan wrapped her arms around him so suddenly that he almost struck her down by reflex.
“I will help you,” Lilan slipped to the front and helped him removed his armor. “Have I ever seen a finer warrior?”
“I like to bathe alone, thank you.”
“You seem to have forgotten our deal.”
He detached himself from her. “I’m your lover, not your slave. I want my time alone.”
Instead of being angry, she seemed thrilled with his answer. “You sound like a king already. Fine then, I will come back another time.”
General Malin entered as she left. “We have minimal loss on our side, my prince. A thousand dead and a thousand more wounded. It was better than we had anticipated.”
“Where is Nala, Malin? I haven’t seen her around in a couple of days.”
“She’s sleeping, your highness.”
“I have been asking the same question and you have been providing me with the same answer. Nala has never slept more than a few hours a day, if that.”
“My answer is the same, because she never woke up. She has been sleeping for the past four days.”
“Sleeping for the past four days? Why wasn’t I told of this? Have you summoned a physician?” Sayan rushed out of the tent. “Take me to her.”
“I didn’t want to distract you with trivial things before you went into battle.”
“Trivial?!” Sayan turned around, grabbed the general and then pushed him back. “I want everything about her reported, understand?”
The General took the lead and led Sayan into his tent. “The physician said there was nothing wrong with her.”
“Would a perfectly healthy person sleep for four days straight?” Sayan came to Nala’s side and placed a hand on her forehead. There was no fever. “Nala, wake up. Nala!”
/>
“It’s no use. I have tried that.”
“Nala!” Sayan gently shook her. She remained in her sleep. “Why is she like this? What happened before she went to sleep?”
The general lowered his eyes. “I don’t know. She asked to borrow my bed and has been sleeping since then.”
“Nala!” He gently tapped on her cheek. “Get another physician! I want to know what is wrong with her.”
“A physician already…”
“Get another one!” Sayan shouted at his general. “Get as many here as you can. Could it be from that time I stabbed her?”
“Right away,” the general obeyed and left.
Lilan appeared by his side as if from thin air.
“I don’t see why you are so concerned about her. She can’t really die unless you severed her head from her neck.” Lilan pulled Sayan toward her. “Weren’t you going to take a bath?”
“Not now.”
“She wants to sleep, so just let her be.”
Sayan pulled his arm back. “Leave. I need to be alone right now.”
Lilan made a dissatisfying sound at the back of the throat and then disappeared.
The two physicians arrived as soon as they could and took turns examining her. They switched back and forth until Sayan impatiently slammed his fists on the table. They lowered their heads, frightened and speechless.
“What is wrong with her?” Sayan asked impatiently.
“…There is nothing wrong with her physically, your highness.” One physician replied. “From what we can tell, she is only sleeping.”
The other physician agreed.
“How do I wake her up?”
“W-we don’t know. It may be psychological. The only thing we could do right now is to wait for her to wake up on her own. As for her physical body, I will prepare a special tonic.”
All three physicians came to the same conclusion. Even if Sayan wanted to get angry with them, it would be unreasonable of him. The irritation has built up again.
“You are dismissed.” He said to them.
The physicians bowed to him and left. They returned within the hour to deliver the tonic and were dismissed again.