Ch. 7:

Once the group set camp at a secluded spot behind some boulders at the outskirts of a smaller forest, Kai disappeared into the night. Tala cast a worried look towards where his brother had gone, and moved then to help the others prepare for the night. Kai needed time to think. He knew that the situation of the demons and Daemon was bad, but now that Enrique had said it out loud, only now did it truly sink in. The blunette knew that he, Tala, Bryan, Ian and Spencer were acting selfish. Still, they just wanted to keep things the way they were. They were happy living the way they did. They had a house in Daemon and a home in the forest.

They had actually planned to leave Daemon altogether, and build a small house in Bryan's forest for them all to live in. Maybe, Kai thought, they could still complete the plan. He could see Bryan and Tala sharing a room and act as if they were father and mother of the house, taking care of everyone. Ian and Spencer would probably each have their own room, simply because they always ended up fighting. Kai's room would be turned towards the west because he loved to see the sunset. And he could imagine Rei there as well, sharing his room. Rei would probably come with him if he asked. The tiger had seemed reluctant to take over the clan after all. And besides, Kai didn't need Tala to tell him Rei was hot. The demon was a rare beauty of gold and onyx. His every movement was made with grace. And yes, Kai knew he was being sentimental and wistful, but he couldn't help it. Especially considering that he might lose Rei, lose everything, once the truth came out.

The blunette stopped and looked around him. In his thoughts, he had wandered quite far into the forest. Also, he wasn't alone anymore. Kai considered fighting but realized that alone he stood no chance. The glowing red eyes quickly noted that he was surrounded. These were all skilled hunters in their prime. That left only one escape route possible. One that Kai wouldn't even have considered had the situation been less desperate. Just as the first arrows sliced through the air, golden and red feathers erupted from Kai's body.

Tala was pacing back and forth, making the rest of the team nervous as well. Every now and then he would mutter something like: "Where are you, Kai" or "He should know better, disappearing like that." It wasn't long before Tala's restlessness had Rei fidgeting. Kenny had long since given up trying to calm the wolf-demon. Suddenly the redhead threw his head back and let out a long, sorrowful howl. What followed was a silence that made Tala pale.

"What's wrong?" Tyson asked. His words nearly drowned in the next desperate howl. Again only silence answered.

"Kai isn't answering," Tala told the group. "He always answers."

"Maybe he doesn't want to," Tyson said.

"Or maybe he can't," Rei concluded, voicing Tala's fears. Tala readied himself for the third howl when the scream of a great prey bird echoed through the forest. Tala's heart nearly stopped.

"Tyson, change! Fly over the forest and take Max with you," the wolf ordered. His voice was cold and even, with a hint of fear hidden in it. It was the undertone of fear that made the others listen to him. "You too, Rei. And take Kenny. We need to find Kai."

Within an instance the pale, red-haired boy was gone. And a big white wolf sprinted into the forest. Tyson's body stretched until it filled the hidden camp. The great, blue dragon lowered enough for Max to climb up right behind its enormous head, and then took of towards the sky. Rei was not far behind as he felt his body grow. His skin tickled as the pelt grew out and within a moment a large white tiger allowed a small human to climb onto its back before running into the forest with powerful strides.

Tala knew that the others couldn't hear what he had heard in the bird's call. He and Kai had been communicating through animalistic sounds since they were children, and understood each other perfectly. Tala had recognized his brother's call for help. And he knew he had to find the blunette no matter the cost.

The wolf made a sudden turn that nearly threw it off balance as a familiar scent hit its sensitive nose. There was blood in the air.

Rei knew something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut. The feeling was so strong that the only thing on his mind was to find Kai and make sure his subconsciously chosen mate was unharmed. The tiger was so engrossed in the feeling that it nearly missed Kenny's call that Tyson had all of a sudden changed direction. Rei cast a look towards the sky and turned then to follow the blue dragon. Soon enough the smell of blood reached him and he forced himself to stop.

"Get off, Kenny," he growled. "I can smell a battle ahead, and I think it's beyond your capability." The priest-in-training dutifully climbed off the great tiger's back and watched as Rei continued running without him. Kenny knew he wouldn't be of much help in battle, but still, he walked towards where Rei had run off to. The brunette did after all have a vast knowledge of healing herbs that might come in handy.

As Rei closed in on the fight he started to distinguish the different smells of everyone involved. Most of them were human. Above him Tyson circled, preparing to land. The tiger burst through a few bushes and landed on one of the humans. Within a moment he recognised the clothes and weapons of a demon hunter and sunk his teeth into the frail human throat. The hesitation to recognize the hunter had cost him, however, and a sharp dagger made entirely of bone was jammed in his side. Rei knew it could be dangerous, but it was no time to worry about the injury. From the corner of his eyes he saw Tala break the neck of a hunter with his powerful jaws before immediately going after another. He didn't see Kai anywhere. There was however a strong scent of blood coming from a small, all too small cage made of demon bones and metal. Rei could only guess that Kai lay there, transformed. And that Kai's transformation was smaller than his human form. The others seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Tala fought to kill as many as possible, and keep the hunters away from the cage. Once Tyson came low enough, Max jumped down and transformed into his shield-demon self, placing himself to protect the cage, therefore giving Tala and Rei more freedom to fight. Tyson swept over the ground, catching two hunters in his jaws, and crushing them in one bite. Rei could smell from the blood that dripped from the dragon's mouth that Tyson hadn't managed to make his move without acquiring harm to himself as well. They all knew, either from experience or stories that they had to kill all hunters at once. If one escaped they would return with a stronger force to take revenge on all demons in their path.

Luck wasn't smiling at the group of adventurers. Rei saw, as he crushed the scull of the last remaining hunter, tree, maybe four managed to get away. The injury in his side hurt too much for him to follow, and the trees were too thick for Tyson's large body. Tala had already returned to his humanoid form and limped over to the small cage. The wolf-demon nearly tore the construction open and carefully reached in to pull out whatever there was. Rei was faintly aware that Kenny had reached the battlefield, but the cat-demon focused on what Tala took into his arms as he turned back into a human. Tyson and Max had also changed, and both looked at the cage in anticipation. Hadn't Rei already been sitting because of the wound, his legs would have given up from under him when he saw the creature. It was covered in golden and red feathers. The delicate bird head rested limply on Tala's shoulder. Its left wing was pierced through with an arrow. Tala carefully broke the arrow head off and pulled it out. The bird, the phoenix made a small sound and its eyes opened to look at its brother. Slowly the feathers disappeared and were replaced with pale skin. The eagle sized bird grew out and within a moment it was replaced with a blue-haired boy. Kai opened his mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out. Instead the once strong leader fell unconscious. Kenny hurried over to the two brothers and quickly inspected the blunette.

"He's been poisoned," the priest said. "Hunter's do that to their prey occasionally. Luckily I and Mr. D. prepared for this. I have an antidote." Tala nodded and slowly rose to his feet, with Kai in his arms.

"Tyson, change again. We need to get back to our camp. It's too dangerous to stay here," the redhead said. "You'll have to carry Max, Kai and me." Tala turned to look at Rei and the dagger in his side. "Can you manage back with Kenny?" he wondered. Rei carefully pulled out the blade, hissing slightly in pain before presenting their temporary leader with a shaky smile.

"Yeah. I'll manage," the tiger assured. Tala didn't look convinced, couldn't really do anything given the situation.

"Don't push yourself, Rei," he warned. "We still need you on this quest. Kai needs you." Max and the newly changed Tyson exchanged curious looks. The blond shrugged and climbed up behind the dragons head. Then he helped Tala lift the unconscious Kai onto Tyson's back. Once the redhead was securely seated with the phoenix in his arms the dragon took off into the sky. Tala gave Tyson quick directions to fly a bit past the camp and land in the middle of the trees to confuse possible hunters.

Rei closed his eyes and changed into his tiger form and lay down so that Kenny could climb onto his back. To the cat-demons surprise, the young priest kneeled next to him and gently applied a salve over the gaping wound.

"It'll stop the bleeding until we reach the camp," the brunette said and carefully covered the wound with a fist sized leaf. "I'll take a better look at it when we reach safety." Rei nodded and once Kenny was safely on his back he sprinted off towards the camp.

The two arrived before anyone else did, so while Rei was turning back into his humanoid self, Kenny revived the fire and started brewing the antidote for Kai. Once the priest was content with the potion bubbling over the fire, he moved on to ready a paste for Rei's wound. The cat-demon watched Kenny absentmindedly. Perhaps what worried Rei the most was that the injury didn't bother him half as much as the feeling of betrayal born from the revelation of a live phoenix. All this time a member, rather the crown price of the royal family had been travelling with them, without them knowing.

Oh, Tala knew. And surely Bryan, Spencer and Ian did as well. Probably even Mr. Dickenson. And that meant that Rei had been right. The quest had been a lie all this time. The quest was a lie. Kai was a lie. Everything..! And yet, Rei was so painfully aware of why no one had been told. It was to protect the king's only living heir. The tiger was also pained by the thought that Kai was completely out of his league.

'I knew i shouldn't have gotten attached to him...' he thought bitterly. The black-haired boy nearly jumped when Kenny kneeled next to him.

"Take of your shirt," the brunette ordered. "I need to clean the wound and bind it." While speaking he placed down two bowls, one containing boiled water and a clean rag and the other containing the paste, onto the ground and then dug out a few rolls of Band-Aid. With some help from Kenny, Rei carefully slipped out of his shirt.

"Don't worry about me," the cat-demon answered. "I can take care of myself. You should worry about the antidote instead. Besides, I can hear the others approaching now."

As proof of Rei's words, Tala ran into the camp, carrying Kai on his back and closely followed by Max and Tyson. The redhead carefully placed his brother down next to the fire and with one last concerned look at Rei's injury, Kenny hurried over to lift the antidote from the fire and rinse the liquid from the herbs.

"Max, could you help Rei with his wound?" the priest said more than asked over his shoulder. The blond nodded and sat down next to the tiger. Rei insisted on cleaning the wound and applying the paste himself, but he allowed the shield-demon to Band-Aid his torso.

"What was the real reason for this trip?" he asked, looking directly at Tala. Although, it was more of a glare than a regular look. At first it seemed like Tala hadn't heard him, but after a while he answered:

"I'll tell you once Kai wakes up. I'd like my brother to be able to speak on his own behalf." Rei forced himself to understand the wolf's point of view. Tyson tried to protest but Max quickly shushed him. The shield-demon might not have fully comprehended everything that was going on, but he caught on to the sober air surrounding the two older demons and the human. After a few moments of silence, Rei spoke up again:

"Even if we're hidden now, the hunters are still a threat. We need to place out guards." Tala nodded in agreement. He looked at the three younger demons closely before making his decision as temporary leader of the group.

"I and Max will take the first watch," he said with a pointed look at the Band-Aids covering Rei's abs. "Rei and Tyson will rest now and we'll wake you up when your turn comes. Kenny, you stay with Kai in case something happens. Any objections? No? Good."

Rei didn't think he would manage to sleep that night. Maybe it was the aftermath of the adrenaline rush or Kenny's drug, but soon after laying down and closing his eyes, the cat-demon was fast asleep. He was woken up later by Max to take over the watch.

Sometime during the night Kenny detected a rise of fever in Kai. It was a good sign, the priest-in-training said. It meant that the poison was clearing from his body.

Though revealed that their leader would survive, Rei couldn't help but dwell in the depressive thought that he had been right. He should never have fallen for Kai. Kai needed an heir to take over the throne. The phoenix needed a female. Rei and the prince were simply not meant to be.

TBC...

Sorry... I know I promised two weeks, and it's already been three weeks since my last update, but to my defence I can say that my muse was slacking. He ran off somewhere and delayed the progress of the story. But here you have it. I hope you enjoyed it.