Hellbeast

6

970 words

•———————•

Mavic was wrong. It was harder to find this guy than he previously thought. Two days later, and he's fed up with the forest, this cute stranger, and he's about ready to just give up and let him die. Who the hell cares anyway. He knew it was reckless to just give a random dude the seal, but at the time, he had thought, 'how bad could it be?' Oh, it could be bad.

In the span of two days, he had reached a dead zone. The forest had just suddenly got quiet. There were no singing birds, no squirrels rustling in the leaves. He even squinted at the ground and peered into cracked edges in the bark, no insects. He smelt ashes, and sulfur. Whatever happened here, had killed everything. And he had an inkling of suspicion that perhaps it was connected to the burst of pain he felt, and the redheaded magic apple man.

At this point, his long ginger hair is messy, his clothes are starting to smell, and if it there was anything Mavic was not, it was unkempt. His boots were caked in mud even though he had just washed them in a nearby stream, and his pants were ripped, either by low hanging branches or whenever he leaned on a tree to catch his breath. He was tired, and promised to himself that when he found this guy, he was going to force him to give Mavic a massage. 'Ya know, since I'm saving his ass an' all.'

•———————•

A long ass seventeen hours later, and Mavic had finally located civilization, along with a pub. 'Thank god for liquor,' he thought, gulping down another bottle and groaning. Drinking on an empty stomach was probably not the best idea, but he didn't have the energy to find food. Only the energy to find good rum. Out of nowhere, and hand slapped his shoulder, and guy laughed merrily. "Man can you drink. You look like you gotta a helluva story. Tell me what ails you and the next rounds on me."

Four bottles later, Mavic and his newfound friend, a guy by the name of Eris, were laughing over the tale of this redhead, drinking their own weight in alcohol. Turns out Eris was a pirate, and a famous one at that. "And then, *hiccup* he fuckin disappears!" Mavic snorted, waving a hand around dramatically, bottle in the other. "Can you believe this guy? I offer him royalty and he dips." Eris cackles, "Sounds like he's straight, you aiming too high man." Mavic scowls, "I'm at the top, how can I aim higher than myself?" Eris laughs louder.

Later that night, Eris and Mavic are stumbling drunkly up a couple stairs, having rented a room in a nearby inn, when things take a sudden and unexpected turn. Eris takes off his coat, revealing the back of his shirt, which has a noticeable insignia printed on the back. Mavic immediately sobered up. "Holy shit. You're a royal?" Eris stiffens then turns his head to look at him over his shoulder, unbuttoning his shirt still. "That a problem?" Mavic only grins. "Not at all, glad to see a familiar face though. I knew I recognized your name."

Eris turns, dropping the shirt and raising a brow. "You know me?" Mavic nods with a snort. "Course i do, haven't I introduced myself? I'm Mavic Lress." Eris bites his tongue. "Lress? like the royal dragon family?" Mavic nods and falls back onto the soft sheets. "Mmm, are you a prince too?" Eris nods, cautiously." The ginger dragon grins cheekily, "Don't worry- I don't bite. I mean, not unless you want me to." The mer barks out a laugh.

•———————•

The next morning, Eris wakes the dragon up by throwing breakfast on his face. Mavic groans deeply, and grabs the sandwich. "You scoundrel, why." The mer just grins. "Get up you big devil, I've decided to help you on this quest of yours. I must say I'm intrigued as to why the crown prince of the dragon kingdom is chasing some stranger. You don't even know his name. But i'm curious, so I'll tag along." Mavic smirks. "You weren't calling me a devil last night." The Mer flushes pink- er- blue.

•———————•

'It's been three days. Surely I've lost them now?' Just as he finishes that thought, a rustle in the bushes captures his attention. Like the devil was on his tail, Horus turns and runs. Hours of nonstop running later, he pauses to listen for any more sound, and breathe, and promptly passes out onto the ground. He didn't dream this time.

It wasn't hours later until he awoke. The sun had set, and it was freezing. The chill made him shiver, and he sits up tiredly. A croaking alerts him to a presence, and he jumps up and palms the short sword strapped to his belt. He counts thirty seconds of silence, when suddenly a fucking shadow lunges out of a tree, straight at him. Barely having time to think, he falls underneath the thing. Struggling to keep the black being's sharp teeth away from his face, he drops his blade, and curses.

It lodges its teeth into Horus's flesh, and pain shoots up his arm. He inhales sharply to prevent a scream, finally snatches up his blade, and plunges it into the thing's neck. It roars, blood bubbling up in its mouth, dripping onto his face, shivers, then stills. He breathes deeply, pushes the thing off with all his remaining strength, and hastily wipes the black blood off his cheeks. He wipes the short sword onto the grass, stumbles up, blood dripping down his arm from the deep bite, and continues running. 'It was a mistake to stop,' he thinks, 'need to keep going, no matter what.'