Smolder

Chapter 26

Arron could've drawn his sword three times in the time he said, "service."

"To you," the thing inside Russell finished, without even flinching at the sword.

"Who are you and what have you done with Russell?" Elli asked, seemingly recovered from shock.

"As I said your highness, I am Orion, guard—"

He was cut short as Vivi furiously tackled him from behind.

"GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!!!", She screamed as she repeatedly bashed Russell's head into the ground. Arron had to step in.

He grabbed Vivi's hand and pulled her off fairly easily. Vivi was sobbing spasmatically.

"Give him back... Give him back..." She muttered as she threw weak punches at him. Hiccups rose to her throat as tears fell down.

The wounds must've weakened her, after two or three punches she slumped forward and collapsed on him. Still sobbing, she clung to his coat. Lupa walked to them and stuck her snout over Vivi's shoulder, breathing on her face(which was, inevitably, also Arron's chest). She sniffed and licked Vivi's neck. Vivi, suddenly sitting on the ground, grabbed the snout, her crying turned into a slow drone in the back of her throat. Lupa kept brushing her head with Vivi.

"You're uninvited, Orion," said a familiar voice from behind them. Arron turned back to see Orpheus standing there, his wings down and shoulder slumped, grabbing his arm like it was wounded. Arron couldn't care if it was.

"You are uninvited, Orpheus," Elli spoke for him.

Orpheus didn't respond. He kept looking at the ground. Fyl was nowhere to be seen.

At last he said, "It's happening everywhere, what happened to your friend. Human, werewolf, angel, vampire, elves. The demons that laid dormant until now suddenly got the power to fully manifest. They are being laid down."

"You are laying down people?"

"They're lost, all of them. Merged too deeply with their demons. Couldn't be saved," Orpheus seemed too tired to be offended.

"You can't just go around killing people! My people!" Red hot fire flared around Elli once more. Arron had no idea how she still had the energy.

Orpheus stayed silent again.

It took a moment for Elli to calm down.

"So, are you going to attack without evacuating us? Or are you gonna be sensible and—"

"We're not attacking," Orpheus seemed to force out the words, "We're taking the survivors and retreating."

Arron started, "But the war—"

"Is already lost. The beast has won. All we can do now is flee," Orpheus said. Then looking at Russell, "Why did you come Orion?"

"The boy was possessed by a higher demon," Orion replied, blood trickling down his nose from Vivi bashing it to the ground, "His soul was lost. I simply saved him from becoming the demon."

"By killing him? By taking over his body?" Arron couldn't believe his nerves.

"I hardly killed him, your highness. He'll simply reform in the Realm of Chaos. If anything, I gave him a second chance to live. Considering he makes it there, of course."

"And taking over his body? What about that?"

"Now, it'd be a waste to let this body decompose," Orion stood up and streched his arms, "Specially since it's one that has already undergone morphesis."

"Undergone what?"

Orion threw them an annoyed glance and muttered something like, "Royals these days."

Then he swooped down to the ground, his figure changing as he did. Fur grew through the tattered clothes, bright orange with dark stripes. His body elongated to at least twenty feet long, becoming more feline. His face expanded to the size of a shield. He grew a tail. Only his eyes were the same fiery blue.

The tiger looked up to find Arron's sword pointed right between it's eyes. If it winced, Arron couldn't tell.

The tiger looked at him calmly for a moment, then said, "Congratulations your highness. Unlike last time, you managed to avoid—"

The sword poked him between the eyes.

Arron looked over to Vivi, to see her reaction, only to find her fast asleep on the ground with Lupa wrapped around her. Poor girl cried herself to sleep.

"What did you just do?" Elli asked.

"Fear not, your highness. I only changed this body to contain my soul. It is still preserved."

"Bring it back." Elli hissed.

"Your highness, as I said it absolutely doesn't hurt the body. It only—"

"I don't care. You have no right to do that to someone else's body. Bring it back."

The tiger growled. For one moment Arron thought it was going to attack them. But then it leaped to the sky and shrinked back into Russell again.

Orion said, "As you wish."

There was a pressured silence between them for a while.

Then Elli asked Orpheus, "So what do we do now?"

"We go straight to the kingdom. We have the boat made. We take the Hypnodrya river through the kingdom. Demons should be weaker on water. We cross the Lava walls. We get out into the ocean."

"Then?"

Orpheus's head drooped down, "We improvise."

Elli shook her head, "That's impossible."

"Well it's our only chance," Orpheus countered.

"Impossible isn't a chance."

"Then we don't know what else to do."

"What about the salt plains beyond red mountain?"

"Still in reach of the demons."

"Western tundras?"

"Everything connected to us by earth is in reach of the demons."

This was beyond depressing. And that's what Arron would've done, sulk around uselessly and go with the flow, if not for Elli.

"So how do we get out of here?" Elli continued her interrogation after a pause.

Orpheus opened his mouth to speak, but a different sound answered the question for him.

The sound of flapping wings. Large wings.

If it was possible to cast a shadow on an already dark night sky, that's what happened. It flew over them and dropped to the ground.

Enormous paws crashed down on the trees. The creatures enormous neck ended with a crown of horns and a delicate looking snout that was extended towards them. Its wings were wide several hundred yards wide, strong and dragonlike. Its skin was covered with red scales with golden roots. The large tail behind it slammed to the ground.

Elli squealed. Arron was going to scream too, but then he recognized the yellow crown of horns.

It was Argi.

The rider hopped over the dragon's crown of horns. She was wearing black pants and a black leather coat. Her flowing long hair was black as ebony, her fair skin dirty and bloodied. She looked like a young woman in her twenties. As she landed on the ground and looked at them, Arron couldn't help but notice the Stark blue color of her eyes.

"Elizabeth, Arron," Orpheus said, looking at the new girl, "Meet your sister, Isabella Forthfire."