“Marci-Boy, why do you look so shocked?” I asked as I noticed Marc who waited for us a bit away.
“Why are you pointing at me with a goblin finger?” He said. Between my thumb and index finger, I held a green goblin finger and chuckled happily.
“Because a lady does not point at others with her naked finger?” I commented and threw the finger behind me, away into the forest. A bit of blood landed on my black coat, joining the result of my slaughter peacefully.
“A refined lady wouldn’t leave a trail of blood behind her.” He commented and looked down towards the blood dripping onto the ground.
“True. Which is why you will depart to the front line in a little while without us. We cannot have her be seen like this.” Hannah said and leaned against a tree. “Your task will be to support the human side and capture as many demonic specimen as possible.”
“You are aware how hard it is to capture something like a troll?” He asked surprised.
“Use some ropes. I heard they like bondage.” I said jokingly. I didn’t care how they would do it, I only cared about the results. And if a few of them died, so be it.
“Try to capture those that wander off alone. I´m sure you will manage somehow. Also, don’t bother about money, we have that covered.” Hannah gave him a tip, even though it wasn’t the full answer to his questions.
“Hannah, are you really sure siding with her is what you want? She doesn’t seem very reliable, commands you around without any reservations and asks for the impossible. And besides, she is a vampire. A mystical, bloodthirsty being thought to have died out hundreds of years ago.” How lucky for my that my brethren turned into a fairy tale, otherwise he wouldn’t be as calm as he was.
“I do not care what she is. She is the sole person who saved me from my misery.” Hannah stated and stared Marc down.
“And I can bake great cookies.” I interjected. Never should my baking skills be left aside.
“… she tried to reunite me with my family. I am indebted towards her and I intent to pay her back, no matter what it takes. She has saved my life, and I have no qualms of giving it back to her.” Hannah said, which did indeed surprise me. After all, I did hope she didn’t have these self destructive tendencies I had. She only had one life, and she should cherish it more.
“Even though you can see that you could die any second with her around? She doesn’t even value her own life, judging by how she revealed herself carelessly to the goblins, so why do you expect her to take care of yours?” Marc asked, sightly furious about the possibility of her death.
“The last time she woke up, the world changed. I am sure it will happen again this time and I intend to stick with her, no matter if she asks me to die or not.” Hannah said dryly.
“This … I swear, if my mother gets harmed in any way, I will murder you.” Marc said and glared at me as if I was the source of all evil.
“Now I am scared.” I said and chuckled lightly.
“You better be.” He said, walked up towards Hannah and grabbed her shoulders. She didn’t show much of a reaction as he pulled her into an embrace, other than patting his back lightly. “Stay alive mum. And whenever you need help … you can count on me.”
“Thank you.” She said and smiled a bit, but only after Marc let go of her. One last time, Marc nodded towards her and turned around, naturally not without glaring at me. “Goodbye.”
“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting. Say see you soon instead.”
“You …” I could see the reluctance to follow my advice in his eyes, but also a hint of hope. Did he really expect me to put Hannah in needless danger? He should worry about himself more than her … “farewell, mum.”
In the end, he didn’t follow my advice, but who was I to care. For a few seconds, I watched how he walked through the forest without turning around once until he vanished in the distance. I still stood there for several seconds afterwards as I wasn’t entirely sure that he left entirely.
“Can you … can you make sure no harm befalls him?” She asked shortly afterwards.
“Is anything special about him?” I said and frowned slightly.
“No … he isn’t even capable of using magic in a fight and I … I doubt he will play any big role in the fate of this world. He is as common as a mercenary can be, but I still hold him dear.” She said with a hint of hope in her eyes.
“I cannot promise anything but if his survival is your wish, it is mine as well. I will try to leave him out of my plans.“ I smiled wryly, showing her that I had no intention of hurting him in any way.
“And Lucinda? If he stands in our way, let me take care of it.” I really did hope their relation would never come to that point, but her proposal helped to diminish my worries about his eventual betrayal somewhat.
“He is all yours.” I said and meant it that way. If Marc ever tried to betray Hannah, his life wouldn’t be ended by me. He was Hannah´s responsibility, just like Tom or Hannah were mine. “Anyways, what now? I read there were a few other new species in this forest?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, there are some new ones. Not all of them are bloodthirsty though. Some new demonic races are even herbivores meaning they don’t attack humans or other races needlessly … they all have a slightly disturbed behaviour though.” Hannah said while looking up towards the branches of the trees.
“Don’t tell me they survive being cooked and spasm on your plate.” I commented horrified. Please, even though that fish tasted like chicken, it still horrified me.
“No … not entirely. Wait a second.” Hannah said and formed a hemisphere with her hands. I tilted my head as she looked a bit focused on something which was in her hands. I blinked a few times as she didn’t say anything and nothing happened at first, which bewildered me quite a bit. I still kept my mouth shut as she focused more and more on her hands and whatever she was doing, bore fruit after several minutes.
A single bird, as tall as my palm flew towards her hands and landed on the edge of her left palm. The red bird didn’t even care as I stepped closer to observe it as it opened its beak wide. Its red eyes were wide open as it extended its wings and trembled uncontrollably. As soon as his legs gave way, Hannah threw the bird into the air where it went up in a blaze. Fire spread in the air horizontally above us for several seconds until the bird fell down to the ground like a rock, charred by the flames it conjured itself.
“Fire birds are quite fascinating creatures. They usually eat every leaf they can get, but once you present them with a bit of mana, they go crazy.” That bird surely became a lunatic after just feeding on mana I obviously couldn’t see, just like she couldn’t sense death the way I did.
“How do they taste?” I asked and looked at the charred corpse down at my feet.
“Spicy.” She said while frowning slightly. Yes, I did intend to waste my time with cooking, especially because I wanted to stay as passive as possible for the time being.
“… it does seem as if we need to experiment a bit.” I said and smiled happily, even though it certainly looked quite gruesome as my clothing was still smeared with blood. Hannah was already accustomed to my antics though, so I even caught her smiling back.
“I want lasagne … can I have pancakes as well? And cookies? Oh gosh, I miss these cookies so much.” Hannah exclaimed enthusiastic. It got me thinking though. There was one question I couldn’t answer myself, no matter how hard I tried.
“… with or without drugs?” With would bring me more pleasure, but my dose would probably kill Hannah outright. If I would reduce the amount though … maybe I could work something out that tasted good and turned me into a giggling mess.
“Without … please.” And there I was, happy about being in a world were Cali flowers existed. I already imagined my drug consumption plummeting into nothingness because of Hannah and I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good, or a bad thing.
“Okay … I need around ten of these birds to look what I can do with them.” Spicy cookies … I was somewhat sure the combination wouldn’t work out at all, but I was still willing to try. You never knew what would come out of your attempts after all.
Hannah nodded soon after my explanation and apparently immediately formed the next ball of mana between her hands. It didn’t take long for another bird to visit our location. This time, it was a black bird though which seemed to annoy her somewhat. As soon as it landed on her hand, she closed her fingers around the little bird and snapped its neck in two with her other.
While I could only look at her strange behaviour for a little while, she rubbed off her hands at her attire furiously as if there was something sticking to them.
“I hate pest birds.” I tilted my head in wonder as she stopped and thus incentivised her to talk a bit more about these birds. “Wherever they go, they spread illnesses. Especially their corpses are a hot bed for infectious diseases. You usually get a cold from getting too long into contact with them, but someone had fun holding them in a cage, giving everyone in his village rare diseases like Divoc.”
“I see. How do they taste?” I asked while nibbing on my lower lip. Diseases in the form of a magical bird … I couldn´t help but wonder about its usages.
“… how should I know?” She asked and shook her head furiously. “Anyways, that means there won´t be any more fire birds for you. I don’t like luring them in if pest birds are around.”
“What a shame …” It ultimately meant there wouldn’t be any spicy cookies for us, something I had a hard time accepting right away. “Well then, is there anything else to do in this forest?”
“There is supposed to be a lake nearby.” She said and grinned a bit as I shrank back in horror.
“That’s a big no from me.” I said quickly.
“I thought you overcame your fear of death?” I did. Whenever I felt my own soul, I felt death itself which made me feel as if I was drowning again. But I could stop it every second I wanted, completely unlike when I was being submerged in water.
“I did, but not the helplessness I feel whenever I drown. Have you even heard what water can do? It can carve a way through stone! Or … or it can rise and flow onto the land! I am so glad we aren´t anywhere close to the coast.” I said enthusiastically.
“I thought you lived on an island the last two hundred years?” Hannah mentioned.
“… haven’t touched the ocean twice though.” I mumbled and balled my hands to fists. I still abhorred water, and I was sure that nothing could ever change that.
“How does it look like?” She asked curiously.
“You have never seen the ocean?” I asked surprised. She was old enough to have travelled there at least once … well, the ocean was an inhospitable place in this century, so there probably wasn’t much of a reason to go there.
“No...” She said a bit embarrassed about not knowing too much about the ocean.
“It is like … a lake, just scarier. Water goes all the way to the horizon and beyond. It is kind of hard to explain … but the sunsets are amazing.” I said and smiled brightly. “I am sure that we will see it someday.” There was beauty in the evils of this world which also included water and probably me as well. A bit happier then, I turned into a random direction and started walking.
“You know that we have to go there?” She asked and pointed towards my left. I looked up, couldn’t really gauge the position of the sun and then around myself to see any indication where we came from. As the world was a bit blurry around me, I couldn’t really see any footsteps or broken branches. It was truly a wonder how she could always tell the way back.
“Obviously. I just wanted to test you.” I smirked happily and strolled towards the direction she was pointing at. Half an hour later, we arrived at the camp of the mercenaries, or rather the trampled down grass where two horses and a bit of luggage were. As expected, they were already traveling towards their next destination without any complaint from the other soldiers. Their discipline was truly something else entirely.
“Marci-Boy, why do you look so shocked?” I asked as I noticed Marc who waited for us a bit away.
“Why are you pointing at me with a goblin finger?” He said. Between my thumb and index finger, I held a green goblin finger and chuckled happily.
“Because a lady does not point at others with her naked finger?” I commented and threw the finger behind me, away into the forest. A bit of blood landed on my black coat, joining the result of my slaughter peacefully.
“A refined lady wouldn’t leave a trail of blood behind her.” He commented and looked down towards the blood dripping onto the ground.
“True. Which is why you will depart to the front line in a little while without us. We cannot have her be seen like this.” Hannah said and leaned against a tree. “Your task will be to support the human side and capture as many demonic specimen as possible.”
“You are aware how hard it is to capture something like a troll?” He asked surprised.
“Use some ropes. I heard they like bondage.” I said jokingly. I didn’t care how they would do it, I only cared about the results. And if a few of them died, so be it.
“Try to capture those that wander off alone. I´m sure you will manage somehow. Also, don’t bother about money, we have that covered.” Hannah gave him a tip, even though it wasn’t the full answer to his questions.
“Hannah, are you really sure siding with her is what you want? She doesn’t seem very reliable, commands you around without any reservations and asks for the impossible. And besides, she is a vampire. A mystical, bloodthirsty being thought to have died out hundreds of years ago.” How lucky for my that my brethren turned into a fairy tale, otherwise he wouldn’t be as calm as he was.
“I do not care what she is. She is the sole person who saved me from my misery.” Hannah stated and stared Marc down.
“And I can bake great cookies.” I interjected. Never should my baking skills be left aside.
“… she tried to reunite me with my family. I am indebted towards her and I intent to pay her back, no matter what it takes. She has saved my life, and I have no qualms of giving it back to her.” Hannah said, which did indeed surprise me. After all, I did hope she didn’t have these self destructive tendencies I had. She only had one life, and she should cherish it more.
“Even though you can see that you could die any second with her around? She doesn’t even value her own life, judging by how she revealed herself carelessly to the goblins, so why do you expect her to take care of yours?” Marc asked, sightly furious about the possibility of her death.
“The last time she woke up, the world changed. I am sure it will happen again this time and I intend to stick with her, no matter if she asks me to die or not.” Hannah said dryly.
“This … I swear, if my mother gets harmed in any way, I will murder you.” Marc said and glared at me as if I was the source of all evil.
“Now I am scared.” I said and chuckled lightly.
“You better be.” He said, walked up towards Hannah and grabbed her shoulders. She didn’t show much of a reaction as he pulled her into an embrace, other than patting his back lightly. “Stay alive mum. And whenever you need help … you can count on me.”
“Thank you.” She said and smiled a bit, but only after Marc let go of her. One last time, Marc nodded towards her and turned around, naturally not without glaring at me. “Goodbye.”
“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting. Say see you soon instead.”
“You …” I could see the reluctance to follow my advice in his eyes, but also a hint of hope. Did he really expect me to put Hannah in needless danger? He should worry about himself more than her … “farewell, mum.”
In the end, he didn’t follow my advice, but who was I to care. For a few seconds, I watched how he walked through the forest without turning around once until he vanished in the distance. I still stood there for several seconds afterwards as I wasn’t entirely sure that he left entirely.
“Can you … can you make sure no harm befalls him?” She asked shortly afterwards.
“Is anything special about him?” I said and frowned slightly.
“No … he isn’t even capable of using magic in a fight and I … I doubt he will play any big role in the fate of this world. He is as common as a mercenary can be, but I still hold him dear.” She said with a hint of hope in her eyes.
“I cannot promise anything but if his survival is your wish, it is mine as well. I will try to leave him out of my plans.“ I smiled wryly, showing her that I had no intention of hurting him in any way.
“And Lucinda? If he stands in our way, let me take care of it.” I really did hope their relation would never come to that point, but her proposal helped to diminish my worries about his eventual betrayal somewhat.
“He is all yours.” I said and meant it that way. If Marc ever tried to betray Hannah, his life wouldn’t be ended by me. He was Hannah´s responsibility, just like Tom or Hannah were mine. “Anyways, what now? I read there were a few other new species in this forest?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, there are some new ones. Not all of them are bloodthirsty though. Some new demonic races are even herbivores meaning they don’t attack humans or other races needlessly … they all have a slightly disturbed behaviour though.” Hannah said while looking up towards the branches of the trees.
“Don’t tell me they survive being cooked and spasm on your plate.” I commented horrified. Please, even though that fish tasted like chicken, it still horrified me.
“No … not entirely. Wait a second.” Hannah said and formed a hemisphere with her hands. I tilted my head as she looked a bit focused on something which was in her hands. I blinked a few times as she didn’t say anything and nothing happened at first, which bewildered me quite a bit. I still kept my mouth shut as she focused more and more on her hands and whatever she was doing, bore fruit after several minutes.
A single bird, as tall as my palm flew towards her hands and landed on the edge of her left palm. The red bird didn’t even care as I stepped closer to observe it as it opened its beak wide. Its red eyes were wide open as it extended its wings and trembled uncontrollably. As soon as his legs gave way, Hannah threw the bird into the air where it went up in a blaze. Fire spread in the air horizontally above us for several seconds until the bird fell down to the ground like a rock, charred by the flames it conjured itself.
“Fire birds are quite fascinating creatures. They usually eat every leaf they can get, but once you present them with a bit of mana, they go crazy.” That bird surely became a lunatic after just feeding on mana I obviously couldn’t see, just like she couldn’t sense death the way I did.
“How do they taste?” I asked and looked at the charred corpse down at my feet.
“Spicy.” She said while frowning slightly. Yes, I did intend to waste my time with cooking, especially because I wanted to stay as passive as possible for the time being.
“… it does seem as if we need to experiment a bit.” I said and smiled happily, even though it certainly looked quite gruesome as my clothing was still smeared with blood. Hannah was already accustomed to my antics though, so I even caught her smiling back.
“I want lasagne … can I have pancakes as well? And cookies? Oh gosh, I miss these cookies so much.” Hannah exclaimed enthusiastic. It got me thinking though. There was one question I couldn’t answer myself, no matter how hard I tried.
“… with or without drugs?” With would bring me more pleasure, but my dose would probably kill Hannah outright. If I would reduce the amount though … maybe I could work something out that tasted good and turned me into a giggling mess.
“Without … please.” And there I was, happy about being in a world were Cali flowers existed. I already imagined my drug consumption plummeting into nothingness because of Hannah and I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good, or a bad thing.
“Okay … I need around ten of these birds to look what I can do with them.” Spicy cookies … I was somewhat sure the combination wouldn’t work out at all, but I was still willing to try. You never knew what would come out of your attempts after all.
Hannah nodded soon after my explanation and apparently immediately formed the next ball of mana between her hands. It didn’t take long for another bird to visit our location. This time, it was a black bird though which seemed to annoy her somewhat. As soon as it landed on her hand, she closed her fingers around the little bird and snapped its neck in two with her other.
While I could only look at her strange behaviour for a little while, she rubbed off her hands at her attire furiously as if there was something sticking to them.
“I hate pest birds.” I tilted my head in wonder as she stopped and thus incentivised her to talk a bit more about these birds. “Wherever they go, they spread illnesses. Especially their corpses are a hot bed for infectious diseases. You usually get a cold from getting too long into contact with them, but someone had fun holding them in a cage, giving everyone in his village rare diseases like Divoc.”
“I see. How do they taste?” I asked while nibbing on my lower lip. Diseases in the form of a magical bird … I couldn´t help but wonder about its usages.
“… how should I know?” She asked and shook her head furiously. “Anyways, that means there won´t be any more fire birds for you. I don’t like luring them in if pest birds are around.”
“What a shame …” It ultimately meant there wouldn’t be any spicy cookies for us, something I had a hard time accepting right away. “Well then, is there anything else to do in this forest?”
“There is supposed to be a lake nearby.” She said and grinned a bit as I shrank back in horror.
“That’s a big no from me.” I said quickly.
“I thought you overcame your fear of death?” I did. Whenever I felt my own soul, I felt death itself which made me feel as if I was drowning again. But I could stop it every second I wanted, completely unlike when I was being submerged in water.
“I did, but not the helplessness I feel whenever I drown. Have you even heard what water can do? It can carve a way through stone! Or … or it can rise and flow onto the land! I am so glad we aren´t anywhere close to the coast.” I said enthusiastically.
“I thought you lived on an island the last two hundred years?” Hannah mentioned.
“… haven’t touched the ocean twice though.” I mumbled and balled my hands to fists. I still abhorred water, and I was sure that nothing could ever change that.
“How does it look like?” She asked curiously.
“You have never seen the ocean?” I asked surprised. She was old enough to have travelled there at least once … well, the ocean was an inhospitable place in this century, so there probably wasn’t much of a reason to go there.
“No...” She said a bit embarrassed about not knowing too much about the ocean.
“It is like … a lake, just scarier. Water goes all the way to the horizon and beyond. It is kind of hard to explain … but the sunsets are amazing.” I said and smiled brightly. “I am sure that we will see it someday.” There was beauty in the evils of this world which also included water and probably me as well. A bit happier then, I turned into a random direction and started walking.
“You know that we have to go there?” She asked and pointed towards my left. I looked up, couldn’t really gauge the position of the sun and then around myself to see any indication where we came from. As the world was a bit blurry around me, I couldn’t really see any footsteps or broken branches. It was truly a wonder how she could always tell the way back.
“Obviously. I just wanted to test you.” I smirked happily and strolled towards the direction she was pointing at. Half an hour later, we arrived at the camp of the mercenaries, or rather the trampled down grass where two horses and a bit of luggage were. As expected, they were already traveling towards their next destination without any complaint from the other soldiers. Their discipline was truly something else entirely.
