by Logan Jacobs
I stood stock-still once I passed the first handful of trees, and I listened for anything that could tell me which direction to take. I distinctly heard the crunching of the leaves, and the whooshing of branches from high above. I could sense I wasn’t the only creature that inhabited these woods, and some were far larger than I was, but there was no scent of demons in the area.
I still had time to hunt before they came after me.
If I were in the Hellscape, hunting would be as simple as tearing into the flesh of my prey with my four dozen chiseled teeth, but this human form had fewer and much duller teeth. I still had impressionable canines that protruded against my lips if I wasn’t careful, but the rest seemed generally useless. For hunting purposes, at least.
I needed a weapon, and I searched around the base of a tree trunk to see what I could find. All of the branches on the ground were feeble and lacked the strength I was after, but I did come across a small rock with a pointed edge along one side. I shoved it into my pocket and then continued to look for a branch, or even a stick, that held the power to pierce a surface beast’s hide.
The forest floor came up empty, so I scaled the first tree I came across, looped one leg over a thick branch, and sat on it like I’d seen men perch on the backs of horses here. The wind was harsher the further up I was, but I easily kept my balance, and with my hands steady on the branch, I shuffled forward to get closer toward the stick in my vision. Once I was close enough, I grabbed it with one hand and pulled it clean from the branch.
The sound of the wood as it ripped from the tree sent a ricochet of noise around the nearby area.
The sharp edge of the rock worked as the perfect tool to sharpen the stick until it had a pointed tip, almost like the prongs that were previously stuck in my arm. I knew it was going to be sharp enough to pierce through the heart of an animal, and then the feast would be mine.
My mouth salivated at the thought, and my body trembled with the idea of chomping down onto some raw meat. I could almost taste the fear and blood on my tongue.
Suddenly, a noise hit my ears. I slowly looked through the shadowy tree trunks and watched carefully as a rabbit hopped along and came to a stop right beyond a shrub.
The animal halted its movement, like it caught on I was sitting in the tree above, but I was faster than it was. Before it had the time to run away to safety, I let the spear fly.
It whizzed through the air, and the rabbit barely made it one bound before my weapon connected with its chest. The creature's legs jerked wildly for a second before it collapsed amongst the sodden dirt and leaves, and I let out a happy grunt.
Easy.
I jumped down, prowled forward, pulled the spear out from the animal’s chest, and then began to skin the rabbit by using my bare hands. These mortal fingers were so blunt compared to the claws I was used to, but my strength was still more than enough to tear the hide to pieces, and I finished the work in a matter of seconds.
My teeth ripped through the flesh, but I didn’t receive the same warm feeling that usually filled my body when I feasted on fresh kill. The flavor on my tongue made me want to choke, and while the meat felt as thick and chewy as it should, it lacked the rich flavor it usually came with.
“For fuck’s sake,” I groaned as I threw the rare meat into the trees. “These damn mortals. How the hell do they survive if their bodies can’t even enjoy raw meat?”
My anger bubbled through me as I realized I’d done all of this only to waste my time, and the meal tasted so rancid, my stomach churned over it. Now, I needed to get a move on and get the fuck out of these woods, but also, I needed to find another way to get some food inside my body.
I pushed down the overwhelming feeling of fury into my stomach as I traced my path back through the trees, and I noticed the rising sun had started to lighten the city ahead at last. The forest still held darkness, but I now had a better view of the area around me. I could see the upper peaks of the mountains above the trees in the distance, and the dark, treacherous forest spilled over the rocky sides and down toward the city.
The street I was on during the darker hours seemed like the best place for me, especially if I could disguise my scent with those of the mortals around me. My distinct scent would be easy to identify by other demons, but if I could hide within the city, it might mix in with the other smells, including the foul stench from the alleyway.
Finding the eviler beings would be ideal, though. Their stench would mask me more than anything.
A lot more people were walking around the outskirts of the city as I arrived. Some women carried mounds of cloth in their arms that matched the ones they were wearing, and another woman draped a bucket over the edge of the well. The bucket had a long piece of rope tied around the handle, and a few seconds after the bucket was lowered, the woman rolled the rope into a ball to bring it back up again.
Then the woman caught my eye briefly, and she blanched as she hurried away with the bucket by her side and a clear look of fear on her face.
I was used to that reaction. It wouldn’t be the first or last time it happened from here on out.
My eyes were a vibrant violet color, and they never changed regardless of my form. People on the surface world rarely knew what this meant, or who I was, or even what I was, but their reactions to my eyes told me a lot more than they ever realized.
It gave me an insight into the makeup of their souls.
I could sniff an evil creature out, and their scent was far more pungent the more evil they were, but I didn’t always need to rely on my nose. If that woman had caught my eye and actually managed to hold my gaze, I would have instantly known she had some evil about her.
No one with a totally pure heart and mind could ever look straight into the eyes of a demon.
Other humans scurried around me as the rain eased a little, but they were too caught up in their morning bustle to look at my face or notice my presence much. Dogs roamed the streets and drank from the puddles of water left by the storm, and children ran around with sticks as they acted out fights and war scenes. The girls wore dresses that swooped at their feet, and some of the clothes were a dull white in color while others were brighter colors like blue and yellow. The boys had on cloth trousers like the men wore, and thick shirts were tied with belts around their waists. A few of them had wooden swords tucked into their belts, and they would pull out the toy all while cheering and preparing themselves for the pretend fight that was in action.
This area was definitely too pure of heart for me to hide within, and I was about to brush off the childish games when a sweet aroma filled the air. It seemed to be coming from a building slightly further down the street, and my stomach reacted to the smell in a way I hadn’t felt before. This feeling wasn’t like hunting at all. Even when I hunted down the rabbit, my stomach hadn’t bubbled quite like this.
I followed the scent down the street and stopped at a wooden building with the word “tavern” written above the door. I’d murdered plenty of beings both inside and outside of establishments like this before, and familiar barrels were piled up in a stack beside the door while liquid stains trickled down the sides of a few of them.
A lanky-looking man walked around me but paid me no attention, and I studied him as he pushed the door open and casually walked in. He called out to someone inside, but I didn’t hear if he received a reply.
I decided to go in and see if I could get some of the delicious-smelling scent inside my stomach, and I found the interior was far warmer than the outside.
Candles on the vast amount of tables and walls cast a warm glow where their light touched. The tables dotted around the tavern were all made of thick slabs of pockmarked wood. The smaller tables had four seats around them, but the larger ones had as many as six. It was still very early in the day, so I figured it would be a while before the place was full, but I could imagine the noise that would fill the air when the tavern was crawling with mortals.
Barrels were set up against the beams in
the middle of the room, and a grand bar took up the far end corner. A large, round man stood behind the bar, whereas the man who had just entered sat on a chair in front of it. They appeared to be in a conversation about something, and the man behind the bar laughed loudly at whatever the other had said.
They paid me no attention when I entered, so I checked the area for any evil entities, but none became apparent to me.
The large man behind the bar then went through a small door, and he returned a few minutes later with a bowl in his hand. It smelled as delicious as the scent I followed here, and he handed the bowl to the other man and then poured a drink of some sort into a cup. The lanky man swallowed the contents in the bowl all down with the drink in the cup almost like he was scared someone would take it from him, but I could understand his urgency.
“Can I help you?” the large man called across to me. That was the first time he’d noticed my presence. His voice was deep and rough, and it matched the expression on his face, but when he took in my glowing violet eyes, he swiftly looked away.
I cleared my throat to swallow back my demonic voice. Even though they knew I wasn’t like them, it wouldn’t have done me any good if I spoke in my natural tone. Then I stepped closer toward the bar as I replied, and I made sure to keep my voice sounding similar to his.
“Give me food.”
The large man took a step back, like he thought I was going to attack. I had no plans to do such a thing, but he had no way of knowing this. He’d seen my eyes, and I could smell the fear wafting off of him.
“I have stew and bread,” he replied warily.
I assumed the lanky man was eating the same food, and he seemed to enjoy it enough, so it appeared like a safe bet.
“I’ll take that.” I nodded.
The large man let out a sigh before he turned on his foot and went through the back door again.
I peered over at the lanky man and noticed he was focused on the bowl of food in front of him and nothing else. He tore off a lump of the food on the side, dipped it into the bowl, and then shoved it into his mouth. He washed it down with another long swig from his cup, and I decided he knew better than to risk a glance in my direction.
The larger man then returned with the bowl in his hands. He placed it down in front of me and pushed it slightly closer before warning me the stew was hot. He’d gestured to the brown liquid in the bowl when he said it, and I eyed the large chunks of food floating on the top. I noticed some meat, but that was about it, and I guessed the lump beside the bowl was the bread he spoke of.
“Four pieces,” he said without looking up from the bar.
“What?” I frowned.
“That’ll be four pieces,” he repeated.
Then I realized what he was talking about and remembered people on the surface world required coins to get the items they were after. I’d been so caught up in the need to escape, and the determination to leave the Hellscape, that I hadn’t even thought about getting myself some “pieces,” as they liked to call them. I wasn’t going to get very far without any, and if I didn’t have the pieces, then I wouldn’t have the energy to keep up the fight when the Lord Captain sent his army in my direction.
“I don’t have any,” I sighed through gritted teeth.
“No pieces, no food.” He shrugged.
The man went to take the food away from me, and he let out a sigh like I had. It wasn’t a sigh of fury, it was more weary and tired, and I remembered this man couldn’t look me in the eye. He was an innocent, which meant he could be dealt with through tactics other than force and violence.
“Please,” I found myself saying for the first time in eons. “I’ll find some pieces and repay you.”
I didn’t know how I was going to find some, but I was determined to do so. My anger was rising, my hunger was beginning to burn in my stomach, and I didn’t want to know how I’d react if I didn’t get the food I so desperately needed. I didn’t want to kill this innocent man, but I could have done it in the blink of an eye if I had to.
The man stilled his movement for a second while he warred with his good nature, but then he pushed the bowl back toward me and sighed once more.
“You owe me four,” he grunted.
“I appreciate the kindness,” I said honestly. “I will bring you four.”
I collected the food and turned around to take a table. I could hear the mumbles behind me that came from the large man, but his voice was too quiet for me to hear exactly what he was saying. He probably doubted whether I was going to bring him the pieces when I found them, but I assumed he feared for his life too much to say no to me.
His stench was still ripe with his terror.
I stared down at the brown food as I thought about what I was going to do next. I needed to get away from this port and somehow make it beyond the encroaching forest, but I didn’t know how I could manage it or where I would go from there. I needed to search this city more to find a decent hiding place until I could escape. Then I’d have some time to see what my options were on this surface world, and hopefully, something would come up when I’d visited every spot.
I lifted the bowl to my lips with both hands and drank some of the liquid down. It certainly wasn’t something I was used to, but my human form thoroughly enjoyed it. It was salty, sweet, and had the taste of meat mixed in there. I even copied what I’d seen the lanky man doing, and tore off a chunk of the bread, dunked it into the liquid, and then ate it. My eyes widened in shock at how much better this tasted.
Stew and bread. I needed to remember that. If I found the pieces I needed, I was sure to return and have this again.
I finished off the meal in no time at all, and I used the last of the bread to mop up the remains of the stew. Once it was done, I left the tavern quickly and refused to look back at the men who still sat at the bar. I wasn’t sure what I would have seen, or what expressions would have been on their faces, so I decided not to bother looking.
The street was much more populated by now than it was before I went inside the tavern. Mortals stood in groups and conversed with one another, the children were still playing, and the dogs were still roaming around. A few of the mortals glanced at me, but they quickly averted their eyes before they could look straight into mine.
I set off in the direction that would bring me along the outskirts of the city, with the idea of walking around the entire Port of Rengfri, but it wasn’t long before my plan hit a huge fucking snag.
I’d just turned onto another street and was deciding which way to go when a loud, high-pitched shriek came from somewhere beside me. I turned my head and noticed a woman who stood about two feet away from me.
She looked as though she was in a state of crippling shock, and she grabbed a necklace that hung around her neck. Then the woman took a few stumbling steps back to get further and further away from me, and as she continued to scream, she looked around her with wild eyes. Then she took off running like her life depended on it, and as she ran in the direction I had come, the shriek echoed all the way down the street.
Although her reaction was sudden, it wasn’t something too concerning. She must have caught the color of my eyes, and she only reacted the same way others had done when my presence caught them off guard, except with slightly more volume.
I ignored her distant screams and continued on with my walk along the street. The sun was higher in the sky, and now that the thick gray clouds were more dispersed, it beamed down on the cobblestones. The rain from the night before had stopped, but the water still laid on everything in sight, and the sun made it all shine brighter. I looked up at the high buildings on each side of me and noticed the wooden beams that lined them both horizontally and vertically.
Then a rumbling noise echoed from further up the street, and a carriage headed in my direction with two large brown horses pulling it. The carriage itself was old and rickety-looking, and a man sat at the front to steer the beasts through the street.
Beyond the carriage and into the dista
nce, I caught sight of some pointed spires that seemed to pierce the sky. Some were shorter, and some were much longer, but all were made of stone and were rounded at the base and grew thinner at the top, almost as if they’d be sharp if I touched them.
The street I was on split off in two directions at the top of the hill. The forest was on the left, but I had yet to see what was on the right. I wanted to explore the entire port city, the good sides and especially the bad, so I chose to go right and see where that took me.
I noticed the trees first, which were smaller than the ones in the forest, and then I noticed the fresh green grass which looked to be in immaculate condition. This part of the city, albeit only around the corner from where I had been, already seemed far nicer and brighter. It even looked pure of heart, which didn’t serve my purposes, but I wondered if it would also hold the same foul stench of waste. That would at least be somewhere to start.
But as I finished thinking about the stench, I looked up from the immaculate grass and noticed the building that stood on top of it.
It was much larger than the other buildings, with more vaulted towers than I could count. Glittering spires pierced the sky, and the gabled rooftop of the main structure shone with raindrops. The place practically glowed with a halo in the morning light, and as I took in the giant, stained-glass windows, I noticed the cross emblazoned above the lofted entryway.
It was a church. A huge fucking church.
That was when I realized the Port of Rengfri was the last place I need to be right now.
Chapter 3
Shit.
Damn.
Fuck.
If the Church was here, then my issues didn’t stop with the Lord Captain.
Whenever the Church reigned over a city on the surface world, it was in the name of both the Holy King and the mortal ones. They ruled with an iron fist, rooted out evil, and sought to destroy or enslave all of the undesirable creatures that roamed this world.