(Arc 6) (Book Four) 241: A Terrible Mistake (Patreon)

We’ve made a terrible mistake.

Vir raged at the gods—at Adinat, at Janak, at Badrak, Chala, Vera, and especially Yuma—for cursing them with such terrible luck.

He hadn’t even had the chance to bemoan the muggy air, and the utter lack of prana in the area, or to appreciate the gorgeous, blood-red sunset that dyed the cracked desert crimson.

It wasn’t luck, of course. A stable Ash Gate in the middle of Demonic lands was bound to attract a crowd. It’s a wonder they hadn’t actually met anyone on the other side.

Actually, I suppose it isn’t. They might not be able to handle the prana density there.

“Drop your weapons! Hands where I can see them. Now! If you know what’s best for you.”

The demon’s voice carried a tone of absolute authority. Not only was his speech oddly inflected, his words had a certain weight that compelled Vir to obey.

Standing with their backs against their aggressors’ speartips, Vir and Cirayus exchanged a subtle glance.

Cirayus shook his head. Do not kill them.

Vir nodded his assent while Shan continued to growl menacingly at their foes. Vir was half-sure they hadn’t attacked primarily on account of the wolf.

He’d only just stepped out of the Ash Gate when he’d discovered they hadn’t been alone.

Ash Gates allowed one to peer through, but what lay behind them was another story.

Apparently, an army lay behind. Or at least, a company of soldiers. Using Prana Vision, Vir put their number at thirty.

His mind cleared—there was nothing to be worried about. These were friendly demons who were just being careful. Who wouldn’t be, after seeing them emerge from an Ash Gate in the middle of nowhere?

Vir slowly lowered his katar, before Cirayus’ Chakra-laden command stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Snap out of it, Vaak!” Cirayus hissed.

Cirayus’ voice warred with Vir’s compulsion to disarm and please the enemy demon.

Vir turned to the giant in confusion. Confusion became alarm when he realized what he’d nearly done.

A Chakra attack? He quickly dismissed the thought. He’d had his Foundation Chakra opened the moment they stepped through, per Cirayus’ advice. Then what was that?

“Listen closely, lad,” Cirayus whispered, relying on Vir’s enhanced hearing to carry his words.

Vir’s time in the Ashen Realm had done more than just strengthen him. Prana was the energy of life, and as such, nearly every physical aspect had seen an improvement. His eyesight was better and his hearing keener. Even his sense of taste and smell had grown more sensitive—though sometimes he wished they hadn’t. Some scents should not ever be smelled.

Like the smell coming from the unwashed demon behind him.

“I cannot let my face be seen,” Cirayus whispered. “Few enough half-giants around, but everyone knows me. The moment they do, they’ll know I’m back. They’ll guess who you are.”

Vir immediately thought back to the words Cirayus had told him in the Ashen Realm.

You cannot reveal yourself until we are ready. No matter what, allow none to see your tattoo. Do not give them even a whiff of who you truly are.

“What are you doing? I told you to lay down your weapons!” the man roared.

The man’s compulsion doubled, but so too did Cirayus’ counter compulsion, canceling it. Vir felt like a war was being waged in his head, only he was a confused bystander caught in the middle.

“On my mark, we run.”

Vir nodded subtly.

“That’s it, time’s up,” the demon barked. “Kill them!”

When Cirayus sprang forward, away from their enemies, Vir immediately followed suit. He blasted across the barren clay, Leaping three hundred paces, powering the Talent with his body’s prana reserves.

Not by choice, but necessity. Cirayus had, of course, warned him about the dearth of prana in the Demon Realm, so he’d been expecting it to be bad. Just not this bad.

Gods, this is nearly as bad as the Voidlands.

Despite Prana Current surging like mad, the drain wasn’t nearly offset by using Leap. It was like a leaky bucket being filled by a drip tap. The drip helped, but it’d never match the rate of consumption. Not unless Vir was extremely judicious with his abilities.

Still, Vir could leap like this a hundred times before he ran out of prana.

“I’d like to see them keep up,” Vir said, before realizing he was talking only to Shan; Cirayus was nowhere to be found.

The Ash Wolf looked at him judgingly.

Oh, grak! Vir thought, spinning around. Cirayus was moving fast, taking great bounding leaps augmented by prana… but he wasn’t using Balancer of Scales.

Their demonic pursuers followed hot on his heels, lobbing prana-enhanced spears and firing all manner of spells at the giant. Most glanced harmlessly off, thanks to Giant’s Hide, but Vir could see some small wounds on the demon’s back.

To Cirayus’ credit, he never once looked back.

“Shan. Rough them up, but don’t kill them. Not a lot of times we get to save Cirayus, so let’s not screw this up.”

Shan howled in anticipation.

— —

They’re… monkeys, was Vir’s first thought when he finally neared enough to get a good look at them. Which, of course, meant they got a look at him as well, though that was less problematic for him than it was for Cirayus.

Unlike the giant, nobody knew his face here, and while he hadn’t yet applied any makeup, he was confident one or two sightings of his true visage wouldn’t compromise his identity. This was the Demon Realm, after all. He was loath to wear face paint all the time, like he did among humans. These were his kin… though perhaps distantly related.

There were around thirty, and all of the same species.

Human from the neck down, their faces were apelike, though their mannerisms showed obvious human intelligence. They all wielded either spears or seric talwars with so much curve that they more closely resembled scimitars, and their small steel cuirasses hung over chainmail. All of this, plus their intricately carved, pointed helmets clearly displayed their level of advancement.

They also had tails. Long monkey tails.

They’d spoken, demanded his surrender, and had obviously used pranic arts. Whatever they were, they weren’t Ash Beasts. Ash Beasts didn’t wear jewelry like these demons did.

Wish they were, Vir bemoaned. He had no qualms killing Ash Beasts. But unknown demons who just happened to be nearby?

Vir darted around the company of troops pursuing Cirayus, attempting to distract them. He was only partially successful. A group broke of five off their pursuit to engage him. Clearly, they thought Cirayus was the bigger threat.

Vir was about to slip into the shadows and come up behind them when he froze.

Can’t use that one, he quickly remembered, grinding his teeth. Dance of the Shadow Demon was an Iksana Bloodline art. Iksana were exclusively ghaels—gangly, hunchbacked demons—and Vir clearly was not.

This is going to be a real hassle, isn’t it?

But while Dance was one of his most versatile abilities, it wasn’t like he was out of options. Not as he currently was.

“Shan, to Cirayus,” he ordered. “I’m more than enough for these grunts.”

Shan Blinked and disappeared. When Vir saw him again, he’d sunk his jaw into the armor of a monkey demon. By the demon’s cries, Vir concluded his armor had not protected him.

“Who are you? Name yourself! Are you with the rebellion?”

There’s a rebellion? Vir thought. Will have to look into that.

Vir easily bobbed and weaved around their thrusts. Though the five of them surrounded him, not a single one could land a hit. They couldn’t even get him to move from where he stood.

Then they started using magic. Unfamiliar demon magic.

A wave of searing how air slammed into Vir, nearly sending him to the ground. The explosion that detonated after actually did.

Black smoke filled the air, and Vir coughed as he bounced off the ground. Prana Armor had protected him from injury, but it did nothing to clear the air.

Vir High Jumped, gasping for fresh air.

These warriors were far stronger and more skilled than the average human soldier. Not that they posed a threat to Vir.

I’m at a disadvantage since I don’t know how they fight. Vir had only become proficient at slaughtering Ash Beasts after fighting hundreds of them. His first time had been the hardest.

As Vir soared to the apex of his jump, he found Cirayus, still fleeing from a half-dozen ape men.

Shan had done a fabulous job of whittling the pursuers down, leaving a trail of injured bodies in his wake. At this rate, he’d have taken them all out in just a few more minutes. Cirayus could take a thousand of the sort of strikes the monkeys were lobbing at him, so despite the situation, their defeat seemed inevitable.

Time to wrap this up, then, Vir thought as he began to plummet back to the ground. Can’t let Shan hog all the glory now, can I?

Vir was, in fact, slightly annoyed. Opportunities to save Cirayus did not come often. He didn’t want to lose the giant’s favor to a wolf.

Still, Vir mused, without Balancer of Scales, he doesn’t have a lot of options other than to run. Especially since he doesn’t want to kill them or show his face.

Vir slammed into the ground—or more precisely, the leg of one of the monkey men.

The demon roared in pain, causing his buddies to look his way.

It’d been the wrong decision. With Haste active, Vir was a blur. And with Blink, he moved so quickly, he was almost invisible.

Vir delivered a punch to the gut of another demon, sending him flying back several paces. The demon was unconscious well before his body hit the ground.

Using the momentum from his attack, Vir swept two nearby demons. The hardness of his bone and the speed of his sweep meant that, instead of simply knocking the two demons down, he broke their legs.

The remaining two jumped away, using an ability that looked very similar to Leap, though Cirayus had mentioned demons relied on their abstract Aspect tattoos for nearly all magic.

“W-who are you?” the demon’s voice carried the same authority Vir had experienced before, but this time, perhaps because the demon was about to piss himself, the compulsion was easy to break.

“A Warrior of the Ash.”

Virt had expected them to ridicule him for not having named a clan, but instead, the demons clutched their weapons tighter.

They were on edge, and it was his words, more than his actions, that triggered it.

I guess that title really does carry weight, as Cirayus said. Besides, they couldn’t really question it, having literally seen him walk out of an Ash Gate. Works for me.

“Now, unless you’d like to join your friends here,” Vir gestured to the groaning and screaming ape men, “I suggest you put your tail between your legs and scram.”

Vir didn’t wait to see if they’d taken his advice. He Leaped to Cirayus, quickly catching up with the remaining three demons.

Tch. He clucked his tongue. Only three left?

Vir met Shan’s gaze, and he could swear he saw smug satisfaction on the wolf’s face.

It didn’t last long. Vir Blinked, barreling through Cirayus’ pursuers. His momentum, and theirs, did the rest. They slammed face first into the desert. They did not get back up.

Vir threw a smirk at Shan, who growled in displeasure.

“Well, that’s not exactly how I intended to return home,” Cirayus said as they jogged.

“Tell me about it. So, who were those demons? Do they belong to a clan?”

“Hmm? You mean I never told you about the kothis?”

“Uh, kothis?” Vir repeated.

“The Chitran. They’re monkey people.”

“No,” Vir said slowly. “No, Cirayus, you never did.”