“Mm...?”
Louir stands up. She waits until Ti’s opened her eyes. “Hey, are you okay?”
She looks at Louir, her tail slowly moving to and fro. “I think so.”
“Your heart doesn’t feel weird?”
“No.”
“Good.” Louir is glad. “Are you tired?”
“Not really. I slept for a while.” Then, Ti seems to realize it. “Did I just... die?”
Louir nods.
“But, I...”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sent you there. I’ll make up for it by staying at your side forever. I’ll never let anything like that happen, ever again.”
Ti doesn’t look too happy. “I can’t be a human anymore...”
“Don’t cry. I love wolves, and therefore, I’ll always like you.” She buries herself into the warm fur.
Ti’s tail keeps moving to and fro. “You won’t leave me alone?”
“Never.”
“Louir...!” Ti sounds happy, yet sad.
Chapter Five of Arc Two
Raid
Louir is riding on Ti’s back an hour later. They’re trying to catch up with Lou and Ion. The raven is following them above. Ti has yet to be introduced to the Void. Although she died a while ago, her vigor is back. She’s darting through the forest like an arrow.
Louir’s been explaining the whole story to Ti as they travel. It’s hard, but she’s slowly starting to understand the situation. She’s yet to comprehend the part about the other dimension, however.
Louir hasn’t heard from her or Ion. She is rather curious about Ion’s well-doing, though if she knew what was going on with the Dragoni Priests, she’d riot. Not only would she find his condition poor, but she’d also go ballistic if she saw Ohan playing with Ion.
Tomorrow, Rajash will declare war on Poer Haem, and Lou will infiltrate the Order with Ion. And now that Louir thinks back on it, she still can’t quite comprehend why she wanted to spare the Order in the end. Indeed, she did ensure they won’t try anything stupid, but why? Wasn’t the whole point to make Lou a Void attuner?
“How far?” Ti asks.
“A couple miles.”
Ti is clearly tired, but since they’re almost there, Ti won’t stop to rest. She can lie down for a long while once they’re within the outskirts of Hantor. Louir has told her the other Lou’ll sleep until morning. On the other hand, Louir won’t rest. She needs to ensure Lou’s safety.
Sometime later, they can see the lights of Hantor from a treeline. They won’t go near it, as they want to avoid any unnecessary conflict. Using the dark of night and the foliage, Louir guides Ti to go around the capital. They’re coming from West, and the hideout where they encountered a lonely Demoni reptile in the previous timeline is on the Eastern side of the city outskirts. That’s where they’re heading to.
“We’re close.”
“Finally!”
“Shh.”
“Sorry.”
Louir pats Ti. To her, Ti is like an adorable child, but she is also a highly intelligent pet. She can’t choose between the two, as they both correspond to what Louir thinks of her.
Soon enough, they’re close to the spot where the hideout is located. Louir tells Ti to look for a comfortable spot where she can rest. Louir will keep watch for the night. The raven serves as a scout who’ll warn her of any danger in advance.
Ti lies down half a mile away from the hideout behind a hill. Louir has climbed on top of it, eyeing the terrain.
There are search parties everywhere, the Void sounds bored.
Don’t tell me, you remember every one of them from the previous timelines?
The raven admits, Yes, they are always the same.
Can you tell which ones threaten us or Lou and Ion?
Not for certain. The other versions of you eradicated all of them for the peace of mind.
Good idea! Louir snaps her fingers. She’s really going to do it. Can you watch Ti for me? If anything happens to her, I assure you, I won’t give a damn about the apocalypse anymore.
Sure. I will warn you at once if there is any danger.
Louir decides to trust the raven. She sets out into the dark of night, hunting down the search parties looking for Lou and Ion. In fact, she can see dots of light in the distance, moving about. The barking of the hounds can be heard too. Soon, those voices will become wails of dying dogs and humans.
***
When the two obdurate Priests have finally calmed down, Ion leads them deep into the woods where they can’t find more people to slaughter. His heart is at its limit, for no human psychopath will ever stand equal to Tereahn and Ohan. At times, they try to act kind and friendly, and when they do so, Ion is creeped out. Also, Ohan is constantly trying to cling to Ion.
Tereahn, on the other hand, is helping her out with the play. Never before has Ion used Teleportation so much within a day. The fact the spell can disintegrate his body makes him shiver. Just like that, he’d disappear without any traces. He’s glad he hasn’t failed at it thus far.
Just when Ion is sharing knowledge about the Titan’s abnormal physique, she appears again. “How’s it going?”
“I’m very troubled.” Ion recalls the village.
“I’m bored,” Ohan complains.
“When is the Titan coming? I’d like to get rid of it soon so that we won’t have to listen to this weakling any longer.”
“If you’re so eager, you can head to the capital. A few days later, it’ll be there, looking for you,” she suggests.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get going!”
“One oversized colossus won’t get us killed.”
Yeah, you better bet on that one. I mean, you died in the previous timeline. Ion smirks. “Am I free to go now?” He asks her.
“For the time being, yes. Want a portal somewhere? I can get you to Louir or something.”
“Please.”
She summons a portal for Ion. The two Dragoni Priests are leaving. They know where Hantor is located, so they won’t need any guidance. Ion enters the portal, and as soon as he lands on the other side where Louir should be, gore is the first thing that welcomes him. Louir is getting rid of the search parties in the woods.
“Get me somewhere else, okay?” He asks the devil, sick of killing.
“Heh, sure. Whereto?”
“The hideout.”
And before Louir can even notice them, they’ve gone through the portal to the hideout. He’ll rather sleep somewhere alone than watch more people die.
“If you need me, come fetch me. I’ll take a nap in peace and quiet.”
“Sure you will, tee-hee.” She clearly knows what Ion’s been through.
***
After the sunrise, when Lou and Ion are heading to the village in the outskirts of Hantor where they plan to assassinate the guards to make it a base of their operations, Louir returns from her task. Ti is sleeping soundly on the same spot, and the raven is perched on a branch above.
No danger sighted, the raven reports proudly.
Louir nods as a reply. She kneels in front of Ti, studying her sleeping face. She makes up her mind to wait a little longer before waking her up. Ti deserves to have a good rest after what she’s been through.
Just to kill time, Louir goes through all the things she’ll have to do. Later after dusk, she’ll be helping Lou and Ion with the infiltration of the Order. She knows the previous Louir, who failed to keep Ion alive, did help her out back then by drawing the attention of the elites, and she’s going to do the same.
Next, she’ll be fighting Wraithian in Tereon. From there on, it’s the apocalypse that begins in Hantor. However, what’ll happen now that he isn’t present in this world anymore? He said he will see her in another Era or something. Above all else, Louir is most curious about the strange feeling she had in the castle when they were looking for the staircase.
An hour later, since Ti seems restless in her sleep, Louir wakes her up. It takes a while to
shake off the drowsiness, though, but as soon as she’s full of vigor Louir asks her to give a ride. They’ll be scouting out the village to ensure Lou’s and Ion’s safety. Ti’s more than happy to be mounted by Louir, as strange as it sounds.
The place isn’t far, so they get there in no time. They stop to watch the events of the past unfold from afar, hiding under the trees. Ti keeps asking questions about this and that, and Louir answers her with a smile every time. They’re really fond of each other.
At one point, she appears behind them, joining their conversation. She doesn’t have anything important to say, though. There they sit in the shadows, waiting for something to happen. The catapult hasn’t fired yet, which means that Lou hasn’t engaged the Rajash.
Waiting for the apocalypse is boring. The raven perches on Louir’s shoulder.
Surprised by the fact it actually dares to show itself in front of Ti, Louir replies. “Impatient, perverted, violent, what else are you?”
“I agree with the perverted part.” She holds a grudge.
“Huh? A raven? Can I eat it?” Ti is almost drooling.
No, do not eat me.
“You heard the bird, please do not.”
“No, I don’t hear it. Does it speak?”
She cannot hear me. Only humans can. If I could, I would control every animal in this world to bring chaos.
“Ti, that bird can talk to this devil girl and me. Please, do not eat him. He’s my friend, you see.”
Friend? A friend!? I am your master!
“I help him out a lot, and he repays me with kindness.”
The raven is almost crying. Please, stop it.
“I guess I could call him a pet.”
NO! I ain’t a pet £#”&¤!%...! The bird has lost it. It even changes its manners. Never has the raven been so out of character.
“Oh, but what about me? I’m a Wolf, so am I a pet too?”
“No, you’re more than a pet.”
She doesn’t get a verbal reply, but seeing that her tail is moving to and fro, Louir can guess what she is thinking.
A mere Wolf is more important than me? Just you know, your body is in the Void, and I can do anything with it.
“In fact, the bird is really important, like a patriarch, in a sense,” Louir corrects.
“Huh?”
Well, I suppose a Wolf would not understand the word deity.
“So please, show some respect,” Louir is determined to make sure her body in the Void won’t be defiled.
“But ravens are such a good snack! How can that one be so different? It looks just as tasty.”
That is why I avoided her. Apparently, the raven doesn’t want to be eaten alive.
“Ti, trust me, you don’t want to eat this particular raven. You’ll have a serious stomachache.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
The devil girl speaks up, “And also, that raven is a pervert. Never let your guard down, Miss.”
“Eh? The bird is?” Even a Wolf knows the meaning of the word pervert, but the scholar Ion doesn’t.
The raven remains silent.
***
The Rajash declares war on Poer Haem by firing the catapult, and Lou starts fighting them in the village. A little later, the cavalry charge is issued, and the small army of riders is chasing the Rajash men who’re trying to flee.
Halfway the field, a few riders are ordered to chase Lou and Ion. Of course, they don’t recognize them, but since they’re running away from the Army, they’re treated hostile.
The rest of the cavalry won’t ride into the woods, fearing an ambush might decimate their ranks. Instead, they rotate around the terrain, picking off the mountless troops of Rajash from a different angle. As it’s a foreign land, the men of Rajash and the Mages of the Kingdom are lost, and thus annihilated.
The riders return to the capital. The colonel of the cavalry regiment relays his report to the major of the King’s guard, who’ll take it to the majesty himself. In the hall of the King, there is a ruckus. The ministers are at each others’ throats, and the chancellor is trying to speak to the King.
However, the sovereign of Poer Haem is in bad condition. His face is devoid of any emotion, staring mindlessly at his own feet. It’s as if he’d lost his sense of reality, like he was just a husk that sits on the throne, mumbling incomprehensibly.
The chancellor is baffled by the King’s sudden change in condition. He’s asked royal doctors to do something about it, but even they’re left speechless. The King has simply lost his mind. It’s not a physical disease, and thus they cannot do anything. Even the psychiatrists can’t make any sense out of it.
It’s because he isn’t manifesting inside the King anymore. He was his soul, his mind, his very existence, but now that he is gone, only an empty shell of the puppet remains.
The major relays the report in the hall of the King. “Two dozen Rajash men have been found dead in the village. Thirty were killed with the cavalry charge. Thirteen of them were from the Kingdom.”
His message is unheard. The ministers keep fighting over politics like some idiots, and the chancellor is desperately trying to get a word out of the King’s mouth. If they deem him incapable of leadership, the Majesty’s right-hand will act in behalf of the King. And that’d be the chancellor.
In a few hours, the court concludes the King needs to recover, and the chancellor acts as a provisional sovereign.
***
Lou and Ion flee to the cabin where they spend the rest of the day hiding until the sunset. More search parties are issued, but Louir is taking care of them before they find Lou. Ti is with her. She is letting her handle weak groups with no Elementalists.
“I saw something that way,” Louir says.
The nightfall is still hours away. It’s harder to spot the parties during daylight since Louir is a creature of the dark rather than light. Not a human, but a creature. However, they can still listen to the hounds and track them down.
“Shall we check it out?”
“We have to. If there is a search party, they will find the cabin, and with it, the other me is endangered. Of course, the risk is small, but I’d like to ensure Lou’s safety.”
And then, they hear the barking of a dog coming from the direction where Louir saw some movement.
“Let’s go!” Louir mounts Ti.
“Yey!”
Ti strides in the direction of the barking. They look for the hound first. It keeps making noise stupidly. In no time, Ti tracks it down and lunges at the animal, crushing it with her fangs. A short, very high-pitched wail is the last thing it lets out.
“Look for the humans next!” Louir tells.
“Will do!”
Ti climbs up a hill to scout the terrain. She stays still, listening carefully to the noises of the woodland. Louir knows what she’s up to, and she tries to remain as quiet as she can as to not interrupt Ti.
After a short while, the Wolf’s ear twitches. “Found them!” She dashes again, hunting for the search party. The trees get in her way, but she’s lived in a forest all her life, so she’s used to it. Ti ricochets off the surfaces of the terrain expertly. Louir is pressed to her limits. No bull would ever prove to be as difficult to ride as Ti.
When they find the humans, Louir steps behind a man at their rear, using the Void to close the distance. She stabs a Living Weapon of the Void through his back, brutally tearing him open. A few seconds later, when the others are finally aware of Louir, Ti lunges at another knight, eviscerating him swiftly.
“What the fuck!?” The leader of the small group cries out. “Kill them!”
Louir hurls a Void bomb at the group, eradicating two knights and one Elementalist in one hit. There are no other Elementi attuners in that party. Ti lacerates two more, tearing through their armors with ease.
With that, no human is left alive.
“We’re done here. Let’s go.” Louir walks adjacent to Ti.
The cabin where Lou should be watchin
g through the window even now is nearby. They actually walk past it so that Lou can see Louir and Ti next to each other. She mounts the Wolf in front of the building, and from there on, they’re off to the woods to look for more threats. That’s what happened in the previous timeline too.
Just you know, tomorrow, I will have to look after Lou, not you, the raven reminds.
I know. I still remember how you came to me. You’ll do the same to Lou as well, I assume. Well, no worries, I’ve got this.
The search parties are growing sparse. Maybe they’ve exhausted the resources the Order has at its disposal? Whatever it may be, Louir doesn’t care as long as Lou and Ion are safe.
How’s my Ion doing, I wonder? With that thought in her mind, Louir and Ti lie down on top of a hill to scout the forest.
Occasionally, they spot a new group of knights, and they get rid of them as soon as they can, always returning to the same hill. They keep at it until the nightfall. Once it’s dark, they set out to Hantor. Ti will wait near the outskirts while Louir does her part.
It’s going to be a long night. Louir needs to wait until Lou finds her way to the headquarters of the Order, and Ti will lie down somewhere for the night. However, in the previous timeline, Louir heard there was a Wolf with the Void attuner. Since she won’t bring Ti with her, she changes the outcome.
When Louir unmounts Ti to enter the city alone, Ti starts to look for a spot where she’ll hide for the night. She doesn’t dare to sleep unless she is well camouflaged.
Louir heads to the city with the raven. She shrouds herself with Void flames to make her silhouette hard to spot. The tall grass of the plains disintegrates around her as a result. Once she’s close enough, she steps through the Void to cross the moat. From there on, she glides upward, and upon landing on the wall, the guards are alarmed for a second, until she disappears right in front of them, appearing in the city down below. They start searching for her, but after a while, they treat it as a hallucination, so the alarm bells aren’t rung.
The raven flies above, scouting the streets for her. Whenever the Void spots a guard, Louir hears about it. She crosses the streets by constantly stepping through the Void, thus avoiding the curious eyes. She is heading to the headquarters of the Order, but she won’t do anything until Lou has found her way inside with Ion. If she recalls the night, she should have half an hour before the action.
Apocalyptic Life (Era Series Book 2) Page 20