Chapter 15, Son of human, son of demon
Kevin and Lise made their way back to Palo after saying goodbye to Jinn, unaware that they were being watched.
Well, well, well. They managed, after all. Not that it'll matter.
The cliff raven patiently followed the two warriors, smirking in his mind as the weak monsters on the mountain were waved off like flies.
You're an impressive warrior, boy. And that only make things more delightful.
Soon enough the two reached Palo and disappeared into the supply shop. Rakadra calmly waited on the roof. It took only a few minutes before his preys headed towards the harbor. He could almost laugh at how they strolled into his trap by own will.
He smirked again.
"Not many ships go to Mintos, not much to sell," Kevin said as he and Lise got closer to the dock.
"I guess we better try to find a ship to Byzel," Lise pondered, "I believe that that's the only place where we possibly can find a route to our destination."
"Gah…"
She looked up and found that Kevin grudgingly was rubbing his neck as they walked over the dock, glancing strangely nervously at the fishing boats and few bigger ships.
"Are you alright?" she asked, frowning.
Kevin pulled a rare grimace.
"Be fine," he said with a strange determination in his voice.
"Is something wrong…"
She fell silent as her memory sparkled.
"… It's rumored that those warriors can't stand the sea very well…"
The captain bringing her and Hawk to Palo had said that about the beastmen, hadn't he?
"Oh dear. Is it true about beastmen and the ocean?" she asked with a deeper frown.
Kevin grimaced again.
"Got a bit sick when going to Jad," he admitted, "but survive. Maybe be alright now after classchange…"
"Let's just hope so," Lise said with concern.
You make me sick, lady.
The princess was even worse than Rakadra ever had imagined. He just couldn't stand compassion and she was on the extreme. He snorted, and a cruel smile formed in his mind.
She was going to be sacrificed, and he had no orders to keep her more than alive. In fact he had more or less orders to crush everything in his crusade, which he with pleasure did.
This would be amusing, indeed…
Finding a ship to Byzel wasn't that hard, in fact both the ships left in the harbor was going there with goods and merchants that had been kept as trapped by Navarre as everything else earlier. But one of the big boats was still being filled with mountain fruits and salted fish, while the other was ready for departure in a couple of hours.
Lise and Kevin sat on the dock while waiting for the captain of the later ship to announce that it was time to leave. The half blood didn't speak it out, but Lise understood that he didn't want to take chances of suffering seasickness longer than he had to.
"It's a bit silly, really…" she thought aloud with her feet dangling above the waves, "there could be a way of flying even in this country."
"Hmm?"
Kevin looked up with puzzlement. Lise shrugged.
"It's said that there's a creature called the Father of the Winged ones, who watches over Rolante. And that he can be found in the cliffs above the castle. But even if it's true, he'll only show himself when there's no other hope."
She shrugged again, feeling a bit silly for bringing it up when there was no use of the subject.
"It just crossed my mind."
"If no other option then at least that hope," Kevin said with a twitch of his lips.
"Yeah."
For some reason Lise smiled, but she had no explanation to why.
'Ah, why not smile just for the sake of smiling…' she thought and waved with her feet, allowing herself to be a little childish for once.
She found it surprisingly relaxing to simply wait for the ship to leave, no other duties ahead in the nearest future. Kevin didn't seem to mind either, leaning against one of the poles carrying the harbor and with one leg lazily hanging over the water. When Lise glanced at him she found that he had closed his eyes. Maybe not sleeping, just resting. She smiled again.
He was really cute when he relaxed like that, looking so calm and peaceful… no, not cute. It didn't do him justice.
She almost startled at that thought.
'Not cute?' a runaway thought pondered, 'then what?'
The sun glistened in his hair as the salty winds played with it, a few threads caressing his handsome face.
Handsome?
The word startled the princess even more.
'Well you never thought he was ugly, did you?' something inside of her smiled.
Of course not, but…
He looked less than a boy now, even though rest normally brought a peaceful childish look to anyone.
As the few threads of hair kept tickling his face he lazily raised his hand and stroke them away, without opening his eyes. Then the hand fell back to his lap.
'He has to be sleeping,' some third part of Lise's consciousness pointed out, 'otherwise he'd ask if something was wrong since he'd feel the smell of confusion.'
That thought caused her frown to be replaced by a smile.
How could it be like, to have that sense of smell? Didn't it bother him when he walked through a town filled with people and all their personal troubles? Or maybe he could focus it somehow…
You're trying to avoid the subject, aren't you?
Yeah…
"All aboard! We're leaving!" a voice from the ship called out, which startled Lise for a third time.
"Kevin, wake up," she said as she worked herself to her feet, finding her voice much more gentle than she had planned.
But it wasn't really needed; he was already stretching out with a yawn that displayed almost all of his white teeth. They were of human's square form now; fascinating how he could change so much during the night but somehow stay the same still…
Caught. Idiots.
Nobody cared about the seagull landing on the mast, it was far too far away from the man who'd already taken his position in the crows nest for him to notice its eyes. Not a bird's eyes, not a human's.
An old cliché, but what did it help? Changing eyes was a long process, and he couldn't spare that time. He was busy with his preys, watching their every move.
"There have been coming more guests on this trip," the captain informed the princess and the accursed prince, rather sheepishly, "could you share a cabin? Two beds, of course."
The two exchanged glances, looking more startled at each other than at what the man before them had said.
"I don't mind, Kevin," the princess finally said.
His slightly red skin turned a bit darker, but he finally nodded in agreement.
How cute. Sickening.
Rakadra smirked, despite the beak. He would truly enjoy ripping up their fragile little romance.
The ship left the harbor as the sun still was at its peak.
To avoid suspicion the seagull left the mast after a while, circling around the ship and landing at new places. Never leaving though, and not once taking his concentration away from the person of his interest.
He sneered as Kevin seemed fine at first, but slowly began to show signs of feeling bad.
That was just in his genes… beastmen had never throughout their history been friends with the sea.
A few of the sailors and even the other passengers threw sympathetic but slightly amused glances at the young, muscular man with the peculiar skin and hair there he stood by the railing, holding on to it with an almost extreme clamped teeth-expression. It looked even more awkward with the blond, beautiful amazon kindly standing by his side all the time.
"Maybe you should try to sit down," Lise said as she saw that he was shivering a bit even though he surely tried to fight it.
"Don't want to move…" he grunted, his voice much weaker than she ever had known it to be.
It cut into her heart to see him like that, she knew well that her friend was proud of his strength and wouldn't allow himself to be frail in any way. Especially now, after the Mana stone had granted him at least his double power. Still it was worthless to him now.
To notice his shame wasn't too hard.
"You can do it," Lise encouraged in a kind voice, "it'll feel better."
He fought not to grimace as he slowly worked his way down on the deck, leaning against the railing and stretched out his legs before him. His friend sat down by his side, wary not to touch him in case that would trigger his seasickness. None of them said anything for a while.
"Sorry, Lise…" Kevin finally more groaned than said, grimacing a bit.
"It's alright," she assured him, comforting, "being seasick is just human."
She realized what she said and couldn't hold back a chuckle. Kevin was caught by a smile…
Big mistake. Lise hardly saw him move as he got to his feet again and she sadly shook her head at his torments.
Pathetic, but I like it.
Rakadra smirked.
Perfect…
Nobody noticed that one of the seagulls that still followed the ship suddenly disappeared into the shadow of a dark corner. Neither that a rat slipped through the wooden grid covering the cargo room.
Unseen the rat shrugged, getting rid of ten tiny dots it had carried in its fur and earlier between its feathers. As they reached the floor the dots zapped into their natural size of full grown desert warriors that immediately darted into and completely disappeared in the nearest shadows.
Rakadra reclaimed his original form and took his own piece of darkness. It nagged on his powers to keep his slaves tiny enough to transport, and in any case it was beneath his pride to carry them around like that.
The accursed prince was very weak as it was. Many would have dared an attack by now, but even though Rakadra was impatient he knew better than to take chances when it came to… that family. No, he wouldn't risk a loss. His prey could be weaker still.
Kevin wouldn't be able to eat much in his state, which would steal even more of his strength.
An attack in his sleep seemed tempting, but then he'd be able to transform and that could make things complicated.
Better wait until tomorrow.
Another smirk reformed Rakadra's lips as his leathery wings shook with the dark triumph.
Up on the deck Lise carefully held on to Kevin's trembling shoulders as he hung his head, feeling utterly humiliated.
"Look, it's alright," she soothed again, "you can't help it."
He had to gasp for air for a few seconds before he could reply. The worst vomit was gone but he was still feeling shaky and very uneasy.
"Thanks…" he finally whispered with another grimace.
Lise held on to his shoulders to lend support, wishing that she could have saved him the shame of her seeing him in this state. But with things being the way they were the best thing she could do was to be there for him.
Kevin seemed pretty well in the morning, at least to start with. When Lise woke up he was already sitting on his bedside, sleepily running his hand through his mane to sort out the knots that had been born during the night.
"Better?" she yawned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes with one hand.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"So, do you dare trying breakfast?"
Considering that he hadn't eaten anything since they had gotten onto the ship she figured he wasn't exactly in the best health.
But by her words Kevin's eyebrows knitted and a slight paleness returned to his face.
"Sorry," Lise hurriedly said as she realized that proposing food hadn't been a bright idea.
"Think be better if just… get some air," Kevin mumbled and walked towards the door, fighting a hopeless battle against stumbling slightly.
He stopped before leaving and looked around, trying to assure her that he wasn't feeling as bad as he seemed.
"You should eat, me be fine."
And he left. Lise sighed and sadly shook her head.
Her heart ached watching him so weakened. She knew that he couldn't possibly feel any worse, and it was because of her that he was in that state. Hadn't he come to Rolante to find her he wouldn't ever have stepped onto a ship…
'And I still haven't thanked him properly for coming all the way here just to tell me about Elliot!' she reprimanded herself, irritated.
With another sigh she got out of her simple bed (it was more of an alcove in the wall, with a mattress, blankets and a pillow) and started working her way into her everyday clothing.
Bringing the spear along would be unnecessary, so she left it in the corner where she'd put it last night.
In the narrow corridor outside of the room she met one of the sailors. He gave her a slanted, compassioned smile as they tried to get past each other.
"I think the cook could make a herb potion for your fiancée to help off his seasickness, miss," the man helpfully said, "do you want me to ask him?"
Lise blinked, dumbfounded at first. Then she forced back a blush and managed to smile.
"Oh, he's not my fiancée, we're just traveling together," she said in a voice that wasn't exactly what she had wished it to be, "but please do ask."
"Err, sorry," the sailor said, a bit embarrassed.
"No, no. It's alright."
"I'll tell Sheran to make a potion, but he might want to finish the lunch first…"
"Thanks."
They continued in either direction.
Lise glanced around to check that the man wasn't looking at her before she reached up to touch her ear. The fingers felt no heat, but her skin up there sure did.
She hadn't considered the fact that people could get the wrong idea about her and Kevin… nobody had said anything when she'd been with Hawk, but maybe they had thought about it anyway…
Heh.
She continued to the dining room/cabin for breakfast. Kevin probably wanted to be left alone in his current state, at least for a while.
The only thing to do for her was to eat breakfast and hope that the cook would be able to make a working potion for her friend.
A handful of other travelers were already in the dining room, chatting with each other while they ate their bread and drank tea. Doubtlessly they were all merchants of some sort, from Palo. Lise could only hope that nobody would recognize her; it would only lead to unwanted attention and complicated explanations.
Not too enthusiastic she took one of the soft pieces of bread from the basket on the big table and sat down on an empty chair. She felt rather miserable, sorry for Kevin's ordeals. Uncomfortable for the sailor's misunderstanding too.
"Is it your friend who's worshipping the ocean?" one of the few female merchants said with a small smirk.
Lise had more pride than to let anger for a rude comment like that show, but it didn't exactly help off her tense state of mind.
"He can't help it," she said, forcefully calm, "he's half beastman…"
She almost bit off her tongue. Her irritation had made her forget discretion. A thick silence suddenly filled the room, everybody stared at her in shock.
Her hand nearly crushed the piece of bread.
Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb…
"A beastman? Are you crazy, miss?" the man sitting beside the now not as amused woman stuttered.
"He's not…" Lise began, anger stinging her voice.
"They are monsters!" another man said with a deep frown, "even worse since they're fairly intelligent!"
"Is he tame?"
The princess very slowly turned to the last bigmouth, and he almost recoiled on his chair. In the back of her head Lise calculated the memory of Angela's coldest, most detesting looks at Duran for ultimate effect.
"I did not hear any of that, do I make myself clear?" she said, her voice almost freezing the air.
Her fingers released the crumbled piece of bread on the table, and she stood up while running a glance filled with pure anger over the other travelers. They watched her nervously with distrust. Lise didn't care the slightest about what they thought of her, but if she hadn't left her spear in her and Kevin's cabin she could have done something she would have regretted later.
Through the years she had heard a lot of insults, but never, never had she been this angry about any of it.
"Tame"!? As if Kevin was an animal?!
Just like the captain on the other ship…
Idiots! They didn't know anything at all!
She stormed towards the door in rage.
And almost ran into an empty eyed ninja's dagger. With a surprised shout she stumbled backwards and managed to keep her balance only thanks to the wall. Her shout was followed by shocked gasps and halfway strangled squeals from the other passengers.
"What the…?!" Lise hissed and automatically fumbled for her spear.
Uh-oh.
"You're not going anywhere, princess," the ninja lazily said in a lifeless voice.
Lise clenched her fists. No weapon. Alright, don't panic. There's only one ninja…
She heard a sound and leaped aside just before another shadow of the room grew two hands ready to catch her.
The merchants were trying to get as far away as possible in fear while Lise cautiously backed with tightly clamped teeth.
"What do you want?" she growled.
No reply. They just advanced towards her, making her back even further…
Too late she realized that it was a trap. Hands grabbed her arms from behind and locked them against her back. Lise made the mistake to struggle and groaned in pain, purple stars flashing before her eyes.
"Let go you demons…!" she growled through teeth clenched in rage and agony.
"No, no, no."
The voice was like the rasp of claws cutting through an armor. Lise tried to look up and the hands released her just enough to let off the blinding pain.
She wished they hadn't.
Several screams of horror came from the other passengers.
"They aren't demons," the creature smirked, "but I am. Halfway, at least."
The princess blinked, blood leaving her face.
He looked mostly like a human, but his skin had a yellowish tone and seemed to consist of scales here and there. Dressed in a dull black tunic and pants, lifelessly dark hair, thin and sickly yellow eyes with a pupil like a standing black line…
His fingers ended in one inch claws; so did his bare feet. And on his back were a pair of big leathery wings, which he now spread for no other apparent reason than to make it perfectly clear that they were real.
With another sneer he bowed, mockingly.
"An honor to finally meet you like this, princess Lise," he scornfully said, "if you'd care to remember my name, it's Rakadra."
More gasps from the merchants as her truth was unveiled, but Lise was not in a situation when she cared about it.
"What do you want?!" she growled.
"I have received an order to bring you to my master Jagan so that he can release the power of the Wind Mana stone, your highness."
"Oh no you don't!"
In desperation Lise tried to break free from the ninjas holding her, all in vain.
"No need to be so harsh, and I'm afraid I can't go against the commands I've been given," Rakadra calmly said.
The ninjas were too strong for her, and even if she'd been able to get loose… their master didn't look like something she could handle alone.
'Kevin…'
He was in no shape for battling… dear goddess…
There was a sudden crash from above, and a familiar roar. But Lise's hope died before it was even born; her friend's voice hadn't the usual strength and spirit. He was weakened…
Rakadra looked at the roof with a scaly eyebrow raised. A small, cruel smile was on his lips.
"Ah, he's willing to play. Shall we?"
(No, I have no idea why meanies say all those traditional things when they have the upper hand :P but clues can probably be found in your nearest web comic! author's note)
It was not like Lise had any choice. None of the merchants were brave enough to try helping her either; the desert warriors and Rakadra were a far too impressive sight. The two ninjas let go of her arms but walked between her through the corridor after the half demon, the other couple of hypnotized men staying to keep an eye on the merchants.
Hadn't it been for the two daggers on either side of her throat Lise maybe had tried to leap into one of the rooms… but anyway it probably wouldn't have helped for more than a few seconds.
Dun, dun, dun, dun…
Normally I don't ask for reviews but I'd like to know if anyone still is reading this. Thanks in advance!