by Dahlia Lu
The beast chuckled at her reaction.
“Drop whatever you are thinking inside your head for a minute. It is not a place of torture for sinful souls. That place is something else entirely, but I will not go into details. Hell is home for us demons –true demons, unlike those clones.”
She remembered the people who attacked her at the arena. “What are clones?”
“Those clones were artificially created from a demon’s DNA. They were not born like us, but were made in laboratories. They roam the earth for thousands of years thinking they are true demons, but they’re just copies. They are nothing like us. You don’t have to understand the terms I used. In plain simple words, they are fakes.”
“If I…go to Hell with you, will I be able to return?” She asked quietly. It was a dumb question, but she needed to know.
“If that is what you choose.”
“Our parents are both there?”
“Only our mother. Our father still slumbers.”
“Slumbers?”
“It’s just a hibernation stage once our kind reaches our power limits. It is almost time for him to reawaken again.”
“What is he like?”
Trent hesitated for a long moment. “I can’t find the words to describe him.”
“Then what is our mother like?”
“She is very gentle.”
“Is she still healthy?”
“She is immortal. Wouldn’t you prefer to meet her yourself instead of asking me questions? She still doesn’t know you exist, but she had always wanted another child.”
Nala shook her head. “I would love to meet my mother, but not now. I have something I have to finish first. After I am done, I will come with you to meet her. I will stay with her always.”
“What it is that you need to do?”
She smiled. “I must help Sayan realize his dream. I will help him reunite Phasia. Then and only then will I be able to come with you.”
Trent nodded and then shuffles her hair. She thought that he would be more persistent in taking her home, but he agreed to her terms so quickly and easily. “Take all the time you need, but I have one request.”
“Yes?”
“You must let Fai protect you this time. Don’t leave him behind again.”
The beast snuggled his head against hers.
“I can’t have him around. He’s going to frighten the soldiers!”
“You will be good, won’t you Fai?”
The beast nodded.
“He won’t hurt a fly without your permission.”
Nala debated whether or not to agree to the request. It would be difficult to explain to Sayan and the others that the beast that had viciously attacked them before was her pet. They would think she was the one behind the attack.
“You can use him as a mount.”
Nala blinked. “A mount?”
“You probably don’t remember riding him around, but his speed leaves even the mightiest of horse breeds in the dust. He will be able to protect you.”
“What if I want him to protect someone else?” She asked. “Will he let someone else ride him?”
Fai growled at the question.
She turned toward the beast and stroked behind his ears. “Will you do it for me?”
Fai licked her face.
“I think he agreed.”
“You’re such a good boy, Fai. How do I mount you?”
The beast lowered his body to the ground so she could mount him easily. He stood up again and she grabbed a handful of his fur.
“Thank you, brother. I will see again you soon.”
Trent lowered his eyes.
“You don’t like me to call you ‘brother’?”
“I’m just a little surprised. You’ve never called me ‘brother’ before. Not since we split apart.”
She smiled tenderly at him. “I will call you ‘brother’ from now on then.” She leaned toward him and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Farewell for now, brother.”
The expression on his face was all too still to see through.
“Oh no, I’ve forgotten Obelisk at that place!” She suddenly remembered. The blade actually had a name.
“You could always summon it again.”
“How do I summon…” She nearly fell backward when Fai impatiently dashed into the air. He then jumped from one boulder to another. Traveling across the mountain had never seemed easier. She imagined he would be much faster on flat land. If that is so, then Fai will be the perfect mount for Sayan.
The soldiers screamed and scattered at the sight of the black beast.
Sayan and his General heard the cries of the soldiers and rushed out of their tent with weapons in hands. For some unknown reason, his blade had gone missing, so he had to grab the closest sword available to him. The black beast had returned. When Sayan looked closer, there was someone on its back. He could not recognize her right away due to the light chestnut hair.
“Nala!” He called out to her. “Nala, don’t let go! I’m coming for you!”
The beast stopped in front of him and lowered his body just as he was about to attack. Nala slid down the beast’s fur and ran to him. Her gown was torn, bloodied, and look like it was going to slip off her body. He instinctually rushed in front of her in a defensive stance.
She pulled his arm back. “No, don’t! He’s our ally now!”
“Ally?” He skeptically looked back at her. “That beast?”
“I’ll show you,” she ran toward the beast. He caught her hand and pulled her back.
“Are you crazy? It will eat you!”
She pulled away from him and ran to the beast. She rubbed his fur down the length of his neck. “See? Fai is a good boy now.”
He couldn’t’ believe it. The vicious beast was being obedient to Nala. “Fai?”
“His name is Fai.” She stroked behind the beast’s ears. “Fai, will you let him ride you from now on?”
The beast growled.
Sayan pulled Nala back. “No matter what, it’s still a beast! Don’t get close to it.”
“I will show you something, but only you.” Her pale green eyes looked up at him.
He reluctantly agreed and followed her into the tent. He kept himself between her and the beast just in case it decided to attack. At the privacy of the tent that the beast barely fit in, Nala slipped in front of him.
“Nala!”
“Fai, show him your other form.”
A flash of bright light filled the tent, but quickly faded away. In place of the beast was a naked man with fierce, golden eyes and long, jet black hair.
“What in the world was that?!”
“He’s not just a beast, Sayan. He won’t hurt us.”
“I see it, but I still don’t believe it.” Sayan blinked. “How do we know he can be trusted?”
“You don’t,” the man replied.
“And he speaks,” Sayan rubbed the bridge of his nose.
The man wrapped his arms around Nala and licked her cheek. “Although I have agreed for you to mount me, I will only listen to my master’s order.”
Sayan pulled Nala back. “Don’t get too friendly!”
The man transformed back into a beast and growled at him. He moved like a mongoose and separated Sayan from Nala.
She stroked his fur. “Be good, Fai.”
The beast relaxed and turned toward her.
The beast was obedient to Nala and it could be a useful ally. Sayan weighed out the good and bad of having the beast for an ally and couldn’t find a reason not to agree. Still, he could not place his trust in the beast. A beast is simply a beast.
“Fine, he can stay, but he sleeps outside.”
The beast growled at him again.
“What? You want your own tent?” Sayan asked with irritation in his voice.
The beast snuggled his head against Nala’s. She gently laughed. “You can stay with me.” She turned to Sayan. “I get a tent of my own, right?”
The beast panted excit
edly.
He pulled her away from the beast again. “You suddenly disappeared and worried me to death. Then you came back riding on a half-human, half- beast while covered in blood and asked me to let him stay. Now you want to sleep with him?”
“Since you have Lilan to keep you company at night, I assume you two want your privacy. Naturally, I should get my own tent. Who I let into my tent is my own right.”
How does she know about Lilan? “The beast sleeps outside. End of conversation. And don’t growl at me again or I will make you into a stew.” He directed the last sentence toward the beast.
The beast rose to its full height and challengingly growled at him.
“I will make good on my words then…”
Nala snatched the sword from his hand. “Have the soldiers set up a tent for me and Fai. While you’re at it, get a blacksmith here so we can have a saddle made.” She said as she was exiting his tent. “Come along, Fai. What do you usually eat?”
The beast followed her out.
Nala wasn’t kidding about letting the beast stay with her.
Having a beast stay with her is dangerous enough, much less a beast that can transform into a man. He burst into her tent to have another talk with her. He wouldn’t let it rest until the beast slept outside, tonight and every other night that followed.
The beast was resting at the bottom of the bed, but Nala was nowhere in sight.
“You! Out!” Sayan shouted at the beast. It yawned and ignored him completely. “I said out!”
A flash of light came and faded.
“I’m not deaf,” the beast said in his human form. “Don’t treat me like some household dog. I must sleep near my master in order to protect her. This is not your tent. You are the one who should leave.”
“I will only say it one more time. Outside!” Sayan pointed toward the exit.
“I don’t see why you are so concerned. Like you said, a beast is simply a beast.”
“You can read minds?”
“You can’t?” The beast asked sarcastically. “Return to your warm bed with that conniving witch. I will take over your duty from now on.”
“My duty?”
“I will protect and care for my master. You should go back to your place as a high and mighty prince. If it is not necessary, don’t come near her from now on.”
“How dare you try and keep me from her? I am her…”
“Her what, exactly? Her friend? Her lover? I am my master’s companion. I am the one who will walk alongside her for the rest of eternity. You are nothing, but a mere human. As soon as we help you unite Phasia, my master and I will depart for home, where she belongs.”
“You are a liar, beast! She will not leave me! Not again!”
“I am not as crafty as you humans. I only speak the truth. Soon, both of my masters will be together again. That is how it should have been from the beginning. I think Master Trent has thought it through this time.”
That name again. “Who is Trent?”
“Ah, could it be that you do not know?” The beast stepped forward. “Trent is the man that my master desires to be with most in the world. She has loved him for thousands of years. Trent is her first love and her last. She loves him and only him. There is no place for a human like you in her heart. She may not remember it now, but the universe will always pull them together. She will fall in love with him all over again.”
“It doesn’t matter who she loves.”
“As long as she stays where you can see her?” The beast chuckled at him mockingly. “For now, my prince. As soon as you become King of this god forsaken nation, she will have to return home. It is a far, far away place that a human like you can never reach.”
Sayan threw a punch at him, but the beast dodged it. He was just as fast in his human form as he was in his beast form.
“Return to your warm bed, my prince. You are no longer needed here.”
Sayan clenched his fists and exited the tent.
Chapter Sixteen
Northern Borders, 954
“Let me through! I have an urgent message from the Capital City for his highness!”
The guards at the gate let the messenger through, after showing his pass. The messenger rushed into the tent and knelt down on both knees. He presented the documents with both of his hands.
“Your highness, I have an urgent message from the Capital City!”
“Speak,” Sayan granted permission.
“The Western King has been assassinated in the middle of the night. His son, Prince Ce, has ascended the throne.”
“What is so urgent about that?” The General asked.
“The new Western King has declared war on us and has sent his army to invade. They have captured four cities to the west and they are coming to the Capital City!”
“They have captured four cities already?” The General walked around the desk to face the messenger directly. “Why was I not informed of this earlier? They couldn’t have captured four cities already! We have only been away from the capital for four months!”
“His Majesty… At first, His Majesty said that he could handle it himself.”
“And now he is seeking reinforcement, after losing four cities?! We can’t move sixty thousands soldiers to the capital city overnight. Plus, we need soldiers here to protect the borders! What is His Majesty thinking?”
“Now is not the time to get angry, Malin.” Sayan said to his general. “How far are they from Capital City?”
“They should be three days from Capital City, your highness.” The messenger replied.
“Malin is right, reinforcement may be too late. How many soldiers are being mobilized?”
“They have about fifty thousand heading toward Capital City, your highness.”
“There are only fifteen thousand soldiers at there!” The General shook his head. “Defeat is inevitable.”
“We have lost many soldiers while defending the other four cities. His Majesty is seeking reinforcement from the other five cities to the east, but the nobles are refusing to send troops. They do not trust His Majesty’s judgment with the lives of their men.”
“Either way, those nobles are just going to surrender to whoever wins anyway. It looks like they are betting on the Western Prince.”
“Two Kings were assassinated around the same time frame. This is more than suspicious.” Sayan pondered. “I wonder who is pulling the strings.”
“Are you curious?” Lilan appeared behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He still hadn’t gotten used to her appearing and disappearing all of the sudden yet. “If you really want to know, my prince, then I will confess. I am responsible for both of their deaths.”
Sayan and the General sharply turned to her.
“The Southern King hired me to get rid of his enemies for him.” Lilan said. “He paid me plentiful for their heads too.”
“Why would he hire you?” The General asked.
“I am not talking to you.” She shot the general a disdainful look. Her eyes softened again when she looked up at Sayan. “Have you ever heard of the Trader’s Guild? It is the network that I have governed for centuries now. I gained power, wealth, and influences by private contracts with the clients. There are different levels of affiliates, but I make contracts with kings and the highest ranked nobles. That is how I will make good on my promise to help you.”
“Yes, I have heard of your guild.”
“I am telling you this because I want to renegotiate our deal, my prince.”
“What do you want in addition to me? A side dish?”
“I want you to get rid of that eyesore of a woman of yours.”
“Nala?”
“It’s impossible to kill her, unless you decapitate her head. I find that to be a challenging task, especially when she has that powerful half-breed and that traitorous beast protecting her. That half-breed destroyed my palace without so much as lifting a finger. Send her away to some god forsaken place. I want you never to see her agai
n.”
Sayan chuckled after he heard the terms. “Is that all that you want?”
She smiled at him. “I knew you would agree!”
“Our agreement terminates here. If you don’t mind, I have urgent business to deal with right now.”
“What? Have you been listening? Do you know what I am offering you?”
“You offer me Phasia, and I decline.”
“For that woman?”
“Let me just clear one thing up with you. I can get Phasia by my own strength. The only reason I took up your offer is because you promised the least amount of time and that would avoid many unnecessary loss of lives. If you want Nala to be part of our deal, then I am not interested in doing business with you any longer.”
She growled at him.
He turned to the General. “I will ride to Capital City by myself first. Send twenty thousand soldiers as reinforcement as soon as you can. If you cannot, I will understand. It may be too late by then anyway.”
“I will watch you with open eyes, Sayan!” Lilan screamed at him. “I will watch you die before your dreams are fulfilled and I will take great pleasure in doing so! You can never do it without my help!”
“We shall see now, wont we?” Sayan exited the tent.
He paused when he saw Nala standing in front of the camp. The black beast was behind her. Her pale green eyes stared at him and then quickly trailed to the side. He didn’t have to ask her how much of it she heard. He had no time to talk to her right now. He was racing against time to Capital City.
“Wait,” Nala called him back.
He turned around to look at her. “Yes?”
“Take us with you.”
When she said us, she refers to herself and the beast.
“I’m going alone.” He started walking again.
She ran after him. “Fai can get us to the city in a third of the time, maybe even less.”
The beast can be useful. “He I can take, but you are staying here.”
“What makes you think it’s safer here than where you are going?” She asked. “You may be forgetting something – I am immortal.” She mouthed a word and pulled the heavy blade from thin air. She handed the blade over to him. “Take me with you.”