Chapter 25: Forfeit of Life

(Eric's P.O.V.)

Lowering my rifle down as no longer felt it was necessary, I turned and looked behind me and saw Sakido staring towards me with that longing expression she constantly had. While I still didn't know its precise reason for her having that expression, I had been able to narrow it down as it being her reaction to something… something I had said or done. Turning my head back forward and eyeing the surrounding land, I reached a hand up and scratched my hair, before saying, "We should camp here tonight Sakido… it is the best spot we have come across so far."

Twisting my wrist and stretching it, I felt the stiffness easing out of it from a fall I had taken after leaving the village earlier. I turned around and walked towards Sakido as I put my rifle on safety, and I saw her smirk widening the closer I got. I felt a butterfly like feeling in my gut as I turned away from her eyes that were observing my every move, but I also placed my rifle against a tree, along with placing my captured AR-15 beside it, having discarded the AK-74 in favor of the larger and more accurate assault rifle. Taking the backpack off next, I took it off and placed it by the tree as well, and took off my cloak so that I could lay it down as bedding for Sakido and I.

Before I had a chance to even spread it out, I felt Sakido place one of her hands on my shoulder, and gently turn me around. Looking up and into Sakido's eyes, I saw that they were already halfway closed, along with how she had already started to lean towards me. I smiled as I reached a hand up and wrapped my fingers gently around her neck, but I didn't attempt to pull her closer as she was already doing that. Closing my eyes as she did, I felt her breath against my lips, but she spoke before anything else could happen, "I'm glad it was you that became my soul-partner Eric…"

Smiling, I leaned forward until I felt her fur tickling my lips, and said, "And the same for you Sakido, my beautiful demoness…"

After I had finished whispering that out, I felt her lips gently press into my own, and I dropped the cloak as I reached my other hand up and held her cheek as I caressed her neck. I tilted my head to the side as we both opened our mouths, and it was then that three things happened. The first was Sakido pushed me back and against the tree that was behind me as she pressed into the kiss more. Then the second thing was I began to feel warm all over my body, especially my face as I knew her heart was starting to pound harder, like my own. And finally, the last thing that happened was a loud and sense jolting SNAP to erupt from around the tree's behind her.

She pulled away immediately as a cold chill ran down my spine, and I quickly ripped my pistol from my hip and aimed it towards the forest as a human child ran from the forest. I quickly pulled my hands back and aimed my pistol at the sky as his eyes grew wide, and he fell down as he slid a few feet. He quickly began to push himself backwards, but was stopped as his back hit the base of the tree he had run past. He was breathing heavily, as if he had just run a long distance, and the way his eyes shone with a fearful light in the brightening moonlight suggested he had experienced something frightening before he came across us.

Placing my pistol back in its holster, I raised my hands up to show I didn't mean any harm as I began to slowly approach, but he shouted out suddenly, "Go ahead and kill me, you and your friends already killed my entire family!" I stopped my movement as I looked at the kid, and he couldn't have been any older than sixteen, but what he said meant only one thing; his family had been killed by rebels. I felt a frown cross my features, and that was when I noticed the tears now flowing down his cheeks. "What, do you want me to let you kill me with my back turned like my family!?"

"Kid, I'm not here to hurt you!" I said quickly as I was in front of him in a few moments, and he flinched as he saw how close I was. I glanced behind me and saw Sakido was looking over with a curious expression, and I motioned for her to come closer. Looking back at the kid, I saw his eyes widen when he saw Sakido, and that was when he began to shake with fear once again.

"D-Demon?"

Moving my hand across his vision to get his attention, he looked back at me briefly, but he quickly looked back over as Sakido knelt down beside me, "She won't harm you, and whatever horrible stories you heard about demons don't apply to her."

"H-H-How do I know y-you're telling the truth?" He asked, as his eyes kept darting between her and my eyes, and I sighed as decided to give him a short answer, but was cut off as soon as his eyes snapped back towards me, "W-Wait! H-How come you speak Lingo but your f-friends don't?"

Placing my arms across my knee before I spoke, I had to relieve some pressure from slouching how I was. Sakido… what is Lingo?

I looked over as a brief wave of surprise ran over Sakido's features, before I heard her in my mind, 'Lingo is the language you are speaking, and how did you not know that?'

Letting out a brief chuckle, I decided I could answer both of their questions in a single one, so I said verbally, "Lingo is called English where I'm from, and the others don't speak Lingo because they aren't from the same country as I come from." Closing my eyes as I brought a hand up and rubbed my forehead, I asked, "Now then, the men that killed your family, are they in a village or was it just your family?"

"I r-ran from the village that my f-family was killed in… d-do you think you c-can help?"

"Yes, I can help… how far away is it?" I asked, and I couldn't help but look over at Sakido as I made sure this though wasn't hidden and she got it, I'm going to go and deal with these rebels tonight, but I will need you to stay here and make sure he stays safe.

'No, I'm coming with!' Sakido thought back, but before I could say otherwise, the kid said, "I was r-running for ten minutes away from that direction…" He pointed behind him, and I nodded as I stood up, but so did Sakido, and I looked over at her.

"Sakido…"

"I'm coming with you… last time you could've gotten killed."

Sighing, I was tempted to take out my pistol and shoot myself in my gut, just to prove to her my ballistic plating armor could withstand pistol bullets without breaking, as that was how I avoided injury before; yet I refrained, I didn't want to break it just to prove a point. "Sakido, I have armor that will protect me, and I will be safer if I hide in the darkness… they won't see it coming."

"Eric, I'm sure this human child can watch out for himself while I come and make sure you don't die…"

It isn't him I'm worried about… I don't want you getting hurt. You are a bigger target than I am…

Sakido looked away briefly, and I sighed softly, before saying, "Sakido, please…"

When she looked back towards me, I saw the determination in her eyes, but I also saw that her resolve was indeed coming unraveled, but not fast enough. She opened her muzzle, but before she said anything, the kid spoke first, "I c-can watch out f-for myself here…"

Before I could say otherwise, Sakido smiled as she crossed her arms, and it was an argument I had just lost. Sighing as I shook my head, I knew that now that Sakido was going to be a variable in this upcoming fight, I was going to need to focus on her safety as well this time. I hadn't operated in a squad for over half a decade, so I was going to need to relearn how to watch someone else's back, and sooner than was plausible…

-Thirty Minutes Later-

Stopping besides a building that was close to the center of the town, I felt my heart racing in my chest as I heard the shouting and laughing from around the corner. I looked up towards the sky and was barely able to make out Sakido's form flying above the town, and I asked mentally, How many people do you see in the center of the town?

Closing my eyes as I held the AR-15 in my hands, I let my hand pull the bolt of the weapon back, and I quietly slid it back forward. I didn't want to give away my position to them, or wait until they were lucky enough to look up at the sky. 'I can only see four from here, but three went into a building.'

Easing my way around the corner, I held the gun up to my shoulder as I let the cool embrace of the night air wrap around my body, and this caused the cloak to billow behind me. I had the rifle set on burst fire, which would give me ten bursts per magazine. Looking at the four rebels that were around the fire, I saw one held his rifle at the ready, while the others seemed to be enjoying themselves. Lining the iron sights on the alert one, I took in a deep breath, and I let the rifle butt rest firmly in my shoulder as I slowly pulled the trigger.

BAK!

I stumbled out and into the street as a sharp pain erupted in the side of my head, but before I was able to regain my bearings, I felt the rifle ripped from my hands. Falling to my knee's as a wave of dizziness spread through my mind, I grabbed the side of my temple, and felt a slick warm feeling underneath my palm. I flinched as a hiss of pain came from my lips, and I looked over and saw a man clad in stark white standing their above me with a furious look over his face, and then he began to shout out in Russian too fast for me to follow. I made like I was trying to get away, and as I was pushing my hands on the ground, I slowly reached for my pistol that was hidden beneath the folds of my cloak and in the holster attached to the pants I had acquired from one of the dead rebels.

When he stopped shouting, he smiled as he looked over, and I did as well, and saw that the other four rebels were now walking towards us. I flinched, but I felt a small bit of reassurance, and that was when I realized why. Sa-Sakido, don't do anything-

BZZZT!

…Foolish…

The rebel that had first slammed his pistol into the side of my head fell to the ground as a smoke curled away from his body. As his body hit the ground, I saw a dark shadowy figure with glowing blue eyes standing there. I saw the figure's hands throbbing with blue electrical energy, and small bursts of lightning would flare from the balls of energy. I couldn't help but swallow thickly, even if I knew who it was, but I took this moment of respite to form a fireball in my hand, and I looked at the rebels and saw they were all staring up and into her blue eyes with fear. Two of them began to shake, while another one dropped his rifle entirely.

After Sakido let out a feral sounding growl, the rebels all ran, except one who shakily raised his rifle towards Sakido quickly. I felt a chill run through my body, and I threw my hand out at him.

Missing his body, I was lucky to instead hit the end of his rifle before he fired, but I was lucky to have hit his rifle at all. His rifle must've been on full auto as it fired continuously, and his aim arced high into the sky. I saw Sakido flinch as the first bullets hissed past her ears, and that was enough incentive for to rip my pistol from my hip and raise it, and then fire half the clip into the rebel where he stood…

(Sakido's P.O.V.)

Looking at Eric as he stopped firing his pistol, I took three large steps toward him and quickly picked him up. Cradling him in my arms as I took flight and rushed to the forest, I reached down and took a bandage from a pocket inside my robe and held it to the side of his head. I felt pain from his wound, and also pain of my own from guilt of letting him get hurt while under my watch. Eric placed one of his hands on my shoulder and said, "Sakido, we n-need to go back…"

Landing in the forest in a clear spot that was big enough for me to land in without harming my wings, I sat down and leaned against a tree as I pulled him closer to me. I frowned as I pulled him tightly to me, and I said quietly, "You will not be going back to that village, not yet… I will finish what you want done."

Pushing Eric out of my lap and onto the ground, I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I looked at his blood in the moonlight, and I leaned forward before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. Pulling my muzzle away as I stood up, I looked down at Eric as he struggled to stand, and I said in a firm tone, "I want you to stay here Eric… I will be back soon."

Turning around and jumping up, I let my wings swoop downwards, and I was being propelled high into the sky as Eric shouted my name, but I did my best to ignore his shouts as anger began to collide with my sadness.

Those rebels will pay for what they did to Eric… I will prove to him that I can help deal with these rebels…

…

Landing without a whisper inside the village, I had seen that all the rebels were walking around the camp, and now I could see that there were seven rebels left in the village. Charging electrical magic into my palms, I walked around the corner, and saw two of the rebels were standing at the far end of the road, and I was able to see their shadows come into view from the light my magic was creating.

When they spun around, I shot my hands forward, and they cried out in pain as they were being electrocuted where they stood. When the last of their cries of pain filled the air, I cut off the magic and melted into the shadows as I heard shouting coming from deeper in the town. When I no longer was within view, I saw the four humans run past me, and that was when I felt like I would be able to kill the last of them in only two more bursts of magic and energy. Before walking into the road again, I charged as much magic as I could in my palms, but I blocked the light that the balls of electricity produced with my wings.

Walking into the road, I quickly swept my wings and arms towards the rebels and used my wind magic to knock them all off their feet; which wasn't hard as they were already facing the other direction and bending over their dead comrades. I quickly dug my hands into the ground, and I saw the lightning crisscrossing over the ground, before it reached, and surged into the bodies of the humans that were on the ground.

The energy that was in my body drained drastically as the powerful spell I had just used sapped me of the energy I had, but not enough that I would collapse like an untrained demon. I pulled my hands out of the ground as lighting lazily zapped between my fingers and the dirt. I felt a yawn start to come to my muzzle, but I shivered as I heard a voice behind me speak in a heavily accented voice, "You vill pay for that you mons'er!"

Turning my head and looking at the rebel that was standing near the center of the village, I saw he had a patch over one if his eyes, and a deep silver color for his other. When a click came from the pistol in his hands, I saw his thumb pull back and away from the top of his gun, and it was then that I knew pure dread enter my mind. I had failed Eric… and because of my failure, it was now going to prove to be both of our death's…

Closing my eyes, I felt coldness spread over my body, before warmth, and I bowed my head as I accepted my fate. "You vill suffer eternal pain you de'vil…"

BANG!

A.N.: Alright everybody, here goes your new chapter, which is shorter than my past ones, but college is draining me… literally. I was able to easily type out this little bit, but it felt… forced.

Krikanalo: Thanks, I try to always put as much detail as I can into my stories.

Spartan: Eric has fingers, just like we do, but imagine slightly larger than your own and covered in fur.

Barber477: Heh, I'm not even going to try and explain what I meant, but at least they don't pick on you or insult you; girls do that a lot more than guys. With guys, we can insult each other and be fine with it… girls are crazy with insults xD

Maturedeath: Don't worry, as I might not be able to type as much, because I am also a freshman… difference though, is I'm a college freshman. But for the story, I will try my best.

Eric is a badass, but with this chapter, I needed to show he is still a human, not a god, and Sakido… she isn't in heat, but I'm thinking about just saying that now since everyone is thinking that. I wanted to more of say she was developing deeper feelings for Eric, but that isn't enough to fit the bill; and now that may not even matter anymore.

And dude, I don't care if you don't like your reviews, because I know I like them. As long as I don't have only 1 person reviewing my story, you can put whatever you want in your review, even if it is a discussion and not an actual review, better to have something to read about my story from someone else rather than nothing.