Rogue Adventures - A Tale from Neverbeen Universe

3

They had followed the leads farther into the snow-covered open fields. Yumír was shivering violently despite the padded fur cloak he was wearing. Step after heavy step he trailed after Sendrith and each time he sunk knee-deep into the snow. When Yumír had wished for staying together and traveling the world he had not envisioned venturing into the cold for two months. He was used to living in the hot unforgiving desert landscape of their Lord's southern border outpost, and the days he wished to return became more frequent now. He was even glad when in the evenings Sendrith wanted to play because that meant Yumír was able to curl up against Sendrith's side afterward and glean some soothing body heat from the demon.

Yumír suffered silently. The young shadow devil rather endured for the fear of being left alone. So he followed Sendrith wherever, even though wherever apparently lay at the very heart of eternal winter. Yumír sneezed and shuddered as he huddled deeper into his fur coat. An icy breeze swept over them and whirled powdered snow through the air like glittering fairy dust. The beauty and serenity of this perfect idyll eluded Yumír, however. He only wished they found this Lord Moony already so Sendrith could do whatever he pleased with him and they could return to warmer climes.

"Come on!" Sendrith urged him on, "We could find another of these Soul Smasher villages anytime soon."

Beneath the hood of his coat Yumír pulled a face. He remembered the last three wandering villages they had found; nice and xenial communities of people who had never met shadow devils and thus were friendly towards him. They welcomed the two strangers and invited them to feast at their campfires. Until Sendrith showed his true colours and attacked them in their sleep or inebriation. There had been so much bloodshed, Yumír sometimes believed he would never stop dreaming of red stains in the snow and whispered death-gargles in the wind. Sendrith was a cruel, wretched man and he would do any atrocity to please their Lord. Often enough Yumír had to participate in the violence, but in his heart the young shadow devil felt for Sendrith's unsuspecting victims.

He did not want to kill, nor did he want Sendrith to slay all these nice people for no other reason than being their Lord's enemies. And yet he didn't protest either; he let these atrocities happen without uttering a single word. He knew objecting would have been useless; he just couldn't stop Sendrith from committing murder. But it also made Yumír the demon's witness and accomplice. He felt bad about it, however he still didn't want to be abandoned. And he knew their Lord was even crueler than Sendrith, so possibly maybe it was kinder to be killed by the demon than their Lord. Yumír didn't think so, but still he took solace in the thought that the many victims — innocent women and children and elderly people alike — didn't suffer much when Sendrith butchered them.

So Yumír just hoped the two of them didn't run into Soul Smasher villages anymore, and that perhaps their adventure might lead them into warmer regions where the Soul Smashers didn't settle camp. However, Sendrith had been tracking Lord Moony down, and the leads pointed northward and farther into enemy territory — a territory of ice and snow, much to Yumír's chagrin. An icy gale had picked up and the young shadow devil bowed down before it to huddle deeper into his fur coat and try to find any shelter from the cold. "P-p-please w-w-wait f-f-for me," his tiny voice pleaded as his teeth rattled and chattered.

Sendrith, who slunk ahead with his spear palmed in his hand and eager to hunt Lord Moony down, slowed and peered at his companion. "Alright," he relented, "let's set up camp and build an igloo before you turn into a snowman."

Yumír was so relieved he could have hugged Sendrith. Instead he helped him dig a hole into the snow and build the circular walls of their igloo. Once inside their refuge for the night it was slightly warmer; Yumír was still freezing, but at least they were shielded from the arctic winds. He sat close to Sendrith and snuggled up to his side; the silver-haired demon let him and even put an arm around him. Yumír sighed and leaned into Sendrith more. He was still shivering and he didn't think the cold would ever leave him.

"I believe we're close to catching that bastard," Sendrith stated, "this is the first decent lead in two weeks. Let's just hope the village is nearby and they're really hiding Moony there."

Yumír nodded quietly. He didn't care about Lord Moony's whereabouts. He just wanted the manhunt to be done and over with sooner rather than later. He was exhausted and trembling, the tips of his claw and fingers hurt and were numb with cold even though he wore a glove and the fur of his claw was thick and fluffy. He rubbed his arms and snuggled closer to Sendrith to glean some warmth.

"The Lord will be so pleased when we present Moony's severed head to him," Sendrith mused and licked his lips, "I can't wait for the rewards."

Yumír shuddered. He was afraid of his Lord and his rewards, but Sendrith liked them. The shadow devil couldn't imagine why, yet he would tag along wherever Sendrith went to get these rewards. After all, Sendrith was the only person not to be afraid of a shadow devil and he was the only person to keep Yumír company. For that he was so very grateful, he would do anything for the older male. Anything at all. Even trudge through the coldest of snow fields for miles and miles, and endure the hardships of winter for months.

After a light dinner they went to bed and Yumír huddled as close as he possibly could to Sendrith's side and tried to sleep the cold away beneath their fur blankets. And in the morning, when they climbed out of their igloo, the gale had settled and the sun came out and promised a false hope of warmth.

Before they could sally, Yumír noticed a black messenger raven fluttering about. "Oh?" Sendrith was surprised. "That's one of the Lord's messengers. What could he possibly want?" he seemed happy to receive anything from the Lord, while Yumír watched the raven sceptically. But when Sendrith extracted the message, read it and proclaimed its content, Yumír could have kissed the magical bird. "Alright, let's head back to the main fortress. The Lord wants to see us," Sendrith exclaimed with a shrewd grin.