11. Hunted Down
"Okay, we don't know where to find Yukino." Kanmuri started. "As far as I can remember from reading the ancient texts back in the royal library, the only sort of people that can track her are Mystics, and they live inside the mountain caves. Maybe we can start there."
"Or," Shachihoko interjected, trying to act like the smart one, "Considering that she took over Princess Tsukino's kingdom, don't you think she would be there, and sending out demons and whatnot to do her dirty work?"
"That is a point, but...wasn't it destroyed?" Kawachi asked.
"Kawachi. Think. Yukino's queen of the demons! She could totally just use her almighty powers to rebuild the place." Shachihoko told him. "That makes sense, right?"
"Well, if you put it that way, that does indeed make sense." Sylvan responded, doing his best to face the others as he continued. "I have seen her literally rebuild palaces before. Unfortunately, it takes at least a whole day for something like that to be built, depending on how massive the architecture is, and other factors of building the palace add up, too. Her power is great, but it takes a lot of time to rebuild something like that. Then again, considering that she has other evil creatures guarding the places she has conquered," He crossed his arms briefly, before uncrossing them, "She would have enough time to do so, as well as more protection from invading enemies."
"So, you're telling us she's got rule over not just Tsukino's territory, but other kingdoms, too?" Monica asked, surprised. "That's got to be hard to control for her...I mean, that's got to be a lot of land to take care of."
Sylvan nodded. "Yes, she does have rule over more than one territory." He answered. "First, she wiped out the Kaysers and conquered their territory, and then proceeded to claim three other territories; first of those three being Prince Shadow's territory. Shadow, I believe, is rumoured to have gone into hiding and is trying to build up troops to fight back against Yukino."
Sylvan paused again, and Kai noticed a grim expression on his face as he spoke the next few statements. "The second of the three is...where I used to live. It was formerly ruled by Lord Ken Matsushiro, who is rumoured to have teamed up with Shadow to rally troops. The third..." He paused for a moment before finishing. "Princess Tsukino, I believe that would be your territory. And it's not terribly difficult for Yukino to rule over so much land, since she has many evil creatures at her disposal."
"Like you?" Tsukino spoke up, giving a stern glance towards Sylvan, who and looked down at the ground, suddenly uninterested in speaking any further.
"Well, I guess we can't really depend on thinking Tsukino's kingdom is where Yukino is, then." Shachihoko concluded. "She could be in any of those four places."
"I guess that means that we'll have to go to the Mystics for help, then." Kanmuri added. "It shouldn't actually be too far from here. I mean, the mountains are that way-" He pointed to the north, "And the caves are at the base of the mountains, so they shouldn't be too difficult to find. If we start travelling now, we might be able to reach the caves by nightfall."
"Sounds good!" Mizuno grinned as she spoke in response. "Being a witch means to really be a Mystic-in-training, so I know a shortcut!" She told them proudly.
"Are all Mystics women?" Azuma asked, curious.
Mizuno shook her head. "Nah. There's guys, too, but mostly women gifted in magic actually try to become Mystics, which sucks. Male Mystics-in-training would be called warlocks." She explained.
"Wait a moment." Everyone turned to Kai, who finally spoke up. "Sylvan," He started, turning to the blond-haired demon, "Didn't you say just earlier that there are most likely other demons sent by Yukino to kill you, considering you've decided to fight against her?"
Uh oh. Everyone else seemed to forget that minor detail. Things weren't looking good now...
"Yes." Sylvan spoke after a brief moment of silence. "They'll probably be here within a few minutes. We might want to start running now."
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US ABOUT THE OTHER DEMONS EARLIER!?" Kawachi shouted at Sylvan as the group ran for their lives.
"I did. I don't think any of the rest of you really wanted to pay attention to that, though." Sylvan calmly responded as Mizuno summoned a few trees to smack a few evil spirits out of the way. "We can just continue trying to take flight away from these beasts, but I think fighting will be our only option at this rate."
"Well, if you say so..." Kanmuri whipped out a bow and three arrows, aiming them at one demon before shooting. Two of the arrows hit said demon in the eyes and mouth, and Kanmuri silently cheered as soon as he heard the demon's screeches of pain.
"Good shot!" Tsukino told him as she summoned a streak of lightning to electrocute another demon.
"Thanks!" The archer responded quickly, before shielding himself as a demon tried to strike his face.
Kai took out his katana blade, and turned to block a demon from clawing him, before he thrusted the blade forward and cut through the demon's neck. The demon let out a gurgle of pain as blood burst from its mouth and dribbled down its neck when Kai pulled out the blade. Monica followed suit by strongly kicking it farther away from them. She turned, punching another in the face as Kai stabbed it in the chest afterwards.
Kawachi and Azuma were pretty much sitting ducks, meanwhile, and trying their best to shield their princess from any harm coming her way.
Sylvan turned to the others, stopping in his tracks. "This is where I have to leave you." He spoke after a moment of silence.
"What?" Kai asked in disbelief. "Sylvan, are you-"
"I'm not betraying you. I'm just simply repaying the favours you did for me." Syvlan responded, turning to the demons. "Go. Get to those Mystics, figure out where Yukino is and...kill her for me, for the sake of the land. Alright?"
"No, we can't-" Kai started, but Shachihoko pulled him away from Sylvan, dragging him further through the woods. "Sylvan!"
All of the demons that were trying to fight the rest of the group now focused themselves on Sylvan, who just simply extended a hand and made a gesture to come and get him. They surrounded him, circling him several times, and Kai swore he heard several screams of pain from the poor demon. When they vanished, Sylvan was gone away with them, too.
When Kai had decided to officially team up with Sylvan earlier, before everyone else found them, he seriously wanted to help him in a way, whether it be killing Yukino or bringing his sister back to life or turning him back into a human. And deep in his heart, Kai felt like he failed Sylvan completely right at that moment.
