King of the Tempest

Chapter 11

A tale spun of old

A liar, a storm bringer

A mistake, and a king

Jiao pulled one of the chairs away from the table, sitting and watching for a moment as Liarra put a bucket of water and rag by Tenshi's feet. As Tenshi grabbed the rag to clean away the blood, Jiao said, "You know, I'm really glad to see you. After the explosion, I woke up in Arainat. I don't know how I got here, but I was here. I assume you've been too busy getting in brawls to focus on finding us?" He smiled a little.

Tenshi shook his head. "I would have left them be if it hadn't been her. But I couldn't just leave her, as it was me who brought her there. Thanks for finding me. But what's our next move?"

Jiao scowled, the look unfamiliar on his usually kind face. "I don't know what happened. I don't know how I survived, I should have died on the ship. But we're stuck here, now. We're in Arainat with no way back, no way to communicate with Aritha, and that's not even the..."

"What do you mean, communicate with Aritha?" Liarra asked. "And now that I think about it, why are you here? At first, I thought it was just because something happened to your ship, but it's not coincidence, apparently."

Jiao looked at her. "You're a pretty one, aren't you, and awfully wordsy." He grinned, standing, and gave her a short bow. "My name is Jiao-Long, but you can call me whatever you want."

"Don't avoid my question. Why are you here, and what is your goal," she demanded.

"You know, I really like you. Honest, I do. You're beautiful, you're smart, you know how to clean a wound, it's perfect. But if we told you, I'd have..."

"Just stop, Jiao." Tenshi interrupted. Upon seeing the younger man's curious glance, he elaborated. "You won't hurt her. She kept me from dying, she's under my protection."

"Tenshi, I cannot have her spreading word of assassins in the country!" His eyes went wide. "Well, shit."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Liarra backed away. "If you're assassins, are you here to kill King Ignius?" She exhaled. "Look, Ignius is a tyrant, you won't get any complaints from me if you try to kill him. Our people don't want war. Most of us, anyways."

Jiao blinked a few times. "Hm. Shall we come back to this in a moment? It is of dire importance I tell Tenshi what's going on." She nodded her understanding, then went back to messing with items in one of her storage chests. "She's a real keeper, Tenshi." He winked.

"Jiao, she's probably fifteen years younger than me. Not going to happen. Now what did you have to say?" Tenshi glared at the younger man.

"You sure are no nonsense, as always. Man, someone should've whacked you on the head before you woke. Anyways. We're here, on Arainat. We're separated and we have no idea where the other two are. We have no way of communicating with them nor Cain. And... the Daemons have returned."

Tenshi's eyes widened. "No, you've got to be kidding, right?"

Jiao shook his head. "At night, Daemons appear and start rampaging. They destroy everything they see, kill anyone unfortunate to be near, and the only places safe is where there's a large mass of people. Traveling at night will get you killed."

"How are they back? Is it possible the magic returning has something to do with this? What about Cain?"

"Magic, yes. I think those two are definitely connected. As far as Cain, I think you're just trying to make him evil. He's a vile man, but not one plotting the end of the world." His face paled. "No way, no way..." He began drawing a sketch in the air, mouthing words to himself. "I don't think magic brought back the Daemons. I think the Daemons brought back magic."