Chapter 23, Growing emotions in the moonlight
Lise slumped down in the grass with a grimace, with a few tired pulls managing to get her spear free from the latest body. She had a few bruises, but could still go on. If it was luck, skill, blessings of the goddess or everything combined that had saved her and Kevin from worse damage so far, she didn't know. But the ribbon had really helped a lot quite a few times. How many battles had there been now… the amazon didn't even want to know.
"Are you alright?" she asked, rubbing her forehead as she tried to get to her feet again.
"Grah…"
Kevin was stretching his arms, grunting of exhaust and the stitches of all his bruises which the fur hid. He had a few light cuts on his arms and the tunic had been cut up over his stomach. However, he was determined not to let those small wounds stop him, he could easily endure them. Some of the first scratches had already begun to heal anyway, thanks to his genes. The healing process seemed to only become more effective when he was transformed, just like the rest of him.
"Fine. And you?"
"Nothing worse than another bruise," Lise said and shook her head.
Kevin stopped stretching after another two seconds and looked around. It seemed like he frowned, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. Very slowly he walked over to one of the trees, to the princess not different from any of the others. But it seemed like Kevin recognized it as he reached out and put his hand on it for a moment. He straightened up and nodded slightly to himself.
"Can… can rest soon," he said in a low voice without looking around, "know safe place, not far."
Lise's throat thickened as she heard the suppressed sadness in his voice. It wasn't hard to come to a conclusion.
But she didn't say anything. Instead she silently nodded and followed her friend as he walked on, following an almost invisible path between the trees and bushes.
By some kind of blessing they weren't attacked during this short journey.
After about fifteen minutes Kevin turned and showed the way through an opening in the lush greenery. He stopped by the entrance to the clearing, his breathing almost, almost completely steady. Lise's eyes slowly took in every part of the place.
A statue of the Mana goddess stood in the center of the small open field, the moonlight lending it a glistening that made the princess believe that the sculpture was made of gold, or at least covered by a thin layer of the valuable metal. It was the most used image of the heavenly lady, with long, flowing hair, angel wings and a thin branch in her hand. The stick to remind all of her embodiment as the Mana tree.
Behind the winged piece of art a thin river peacefully played by, the sound whispering its duet with the peaceful wind in the trees and blooming bushes. The world's breath played with the flowers among the grass, made their petals sway back and forth to the night's music.
And below the goddess' feet was a small heap of earth. Long dead flowers helplessly laid on it, and a simple cross was pinned into the ground beside the grave.
The amazon's throat thickened even more. She tried to say something, but she didn't know what and her lips refused to obey her in any case.
Letting out a deep breath Kevin walked closer and sat down on one knee by the grave, his clawed fingers trembling almost unrecognizably as he picked up the faded flowers and put them aside.
"Karl… I'm… I'm back."
The words were whispered, in such a low voice that Lise hardly heard them.
Kevin let his heavy head fall and balled his hands into fists.
Very carefully and with all respect the princess put her spear on the ground and walked over to Kevin, sitting down beside him. Rather awkwardly she reached out and picked a few fresh flowers from the ground, then offered him them without looking at his furry face. Unwilling to rob him of any privacy he wanted. But she had to do something for him.
Without a word Kevin took the small bouquet, his claws drawn in as much as possible.
Lise silently watched his big hand lower over the earth and release the flowers, then fall to his side as he sighed. She wanted to hug him in that moment, wrap her arms tightly around him and whisper to him that everything was alright. Do anything, say anything to ease his pain even the tiniest bit.
But she… she couldn't do that. They were close friends, had saved each other's lives more times than she could keep track on and her heart bled for him… but she couldn't reach out for him. He wanted to be strong and independent, just like her. And he probably wanted to pull through this ordeal by himself as well.
He sighed again, clenching his jaw with closed eyes. Lise found herself watching him closely, anxiously searching for any sign of tears or more grief than he could handle. Before she knew it her hand crawled up on his shoulder, and Kevin's eyes opened. He glanced at her, somewhat helpless…?
"Kevin…"
She couldn't get anything else past her lips.
He tried to smile a little, but failed badly. And looked back at the grave.
"Kevin."
Lise bent her neck a little and turned her face at him.
"It wasn't your fault. I'm sure Karl knows that…"
She could hardly hear herself speak.
Slowly Kevin nodded, letting out a deep breath. Somewhere within the sigh there was a tired "yeah…". After a moment he straightened up and glanced at her.
"Sorry."
"For what?" she replied, bittersweetly remembering how he hadn't found anything wrong with her outburst after Rakadra's attack.
The joyless twitch of his long lips showed that he probably remembered that occasion as well. With care he moved a few feet away from the grave before sitting down in the grass. Lise followed him, taking her hand from his shoulder as he seemed better again. But she felt reluctance at backing off like that.
"The statue keep monsters away," Kevin said in a low voice, almost whispering, "can rest here."
It was said that the statues that could be found all over the world had been created by the goddess herself, at least the sort that was so very common. And it was proven that monsters didn't like to come too close to the sculptures, thus creating the belief that the holy guardian had placed sparks of her power in the art pieces. In any case the clearing was safe. And Karl's grave would be left in peace.
Lise wondered if Kevin understood how his decision to visit his dead friend proved his true strength. But she chose not to bring it up. She just nodded, pushed her backpack aside and then leaned back until she laid down, resting her head on her arms.
The stars twinkled down at her, the moons just peeking up behind the thriving treetops. Even though the grass was rather cold she didn't find it unpleasant.
But she was surprised when Kevin also laid down, mimicking her pose. His right elbow almost touched her arm. And for some reason there was a strange tickling in her chest as the silken fur brushed by.
The stars silently shed their light, helped by the more powerful moons. And the wind whispered in the night.
"Used to lie here, with Karl…" the half blood finally mumbled after a while.
Lise closed her eyes.
'Oh dear… am I intruding…?'
"I'm sorry," she murmured, not knowing what else to say.
"Feel sad," Kevin whispered as if he hadn't heard her, "but… not alone now. Glad for that…"
The amazon's breath almost got stuck in her throat, not of shock but surprise. And the warm nectar of the feeling called honest care. She turned her head to Kevin and found him shyly looking at her.
"You'll…"
Her words were cut off by a sudden screech somewhere behind them. The eerie sound was so violently intruding in their peace that both Lise and Kevin froze.
Just a bird… she began to relax again when her friend spun to his feet, glaring towards the exit of the clearing. The wind played with his fur as he sniffed the air.
"What?" Lise hissed, raising up on her arms.
"Lugar…!" Kevin growled, "and not alone!"
He bent down and grabbed her shoulders, dashing to the other side of the open field. Lise stumbled with him, dazzled.
"Better be careful," the half blood whispered and sat down on one knee again while intensively watching the entrance, "believe I can handle Lugar, but not if he have help."
"Alright," Lise gravely nodded.
The world was silent apart from their breathing and the wind in the leaves. But Kevin's suspicious sniffs told Lise that the danger still was there.
"Somebody with him," the prince whispered, growling, "but wind make it hard to tell…"
A minute slipped by, another crawled. Finally Kevin straightened up and let go of Lise's shoulders. She had even forgot he still held on to her shoulder panzer in the tension.
"Gone?" she said in a low voice.
"Yeah."
Kevin growled, his fingers twitching.
"Find their trace, something's wrong."
The princess gravely nodded, trusting his senses.
"Who is Lugar?" she asked while they hurriedly passed the clearing and collected their backpacks.
"Commander of the army, was in Jad. He told the troops to kill me, remember?"
Lugar said to get you, traitor!
Now that he mentioned it she remembered.
Lise grimly nodded and picked up her spear. She followed Kevin past the trees and further over the thin path.
Even as he was crouching to touch the grass with his furry paw hand a growl was beginning to rise in his throat. He darted up again, forcefully muffling his roar of rage to a loud hiss. Lise almost recoiled as she saw the fire of hatred in his eyes.
"Deathjester!" he snarled, "come!"
Narrowing her eyes Lise rushed after Kevin, forgetting the remaining aching of all the bruises. It was hard for her to keep up with the werewolf, but even though he was in rage he realized that fact after a while and threw a glance over his shoulder. Seeing that Lise was doing all she could to stay close he slowed down a little.
"Are they going to the tower?" she growled, glancing at the impressive shape that seemed to shine in the moonlight.
"Gah, think so."
Kevin stopped dead and spun around, meeting Lise's wide eyes.
"Altena! The Mana stone!"
They spoke simultaneously and started running again with almost double speed.
As the two warriors disappeared between the bushes a bat swooped down to the ground where they had been standing. In a dark flash it took an almost human form.
"Hey, wasn't that…?" a rasping female voice said.
Another bat lowered and transformed.
"Indeed I think so," it said with a hungry smirk.
The first one looked around with a sigh.
"Now were are all the boys when you need them?"
"I think all those that were around here are sleeping or got knocked out earlier," the second said and rolled her eyes, "they should really start moving in bigger groups. Never mind the noise! It's far more sufficient, for the high demon's sake!"
"Well, no time to find anyone else. Let's just grab what we can."
"Delighted…"
The tower hovered above them, just about twenty yards away. Lise and Kevin were moving slower now, recovering from their run and trying not to let their enemies hear them. This time the weak wind was blowing against them, thereby helping. Lugar wouldn't feel any scents that could warn him.
"Others here," Kevin growled with tension in his voice, "women… the Altenan soldiers."
Lise was about to ask what he believed about the intruder's chances against the beastman commander, however Kevin didn't have to answer that. There was a flash of light ahead, shining above the trees almost desperately. And several women's voices screamed. Suddenly cut.
The two warriors hissed and dashed forward.
Another goddess statue stood by an opening between the thick bushes, a screeching chuckle was heard from ahead. Kevin's eyes flared and he growled, his claws exploding from his fingers…
Suddenly he yelped in surprise and stumbled. Lise didn't have time to react and ran into him. They fell into the bushes and ended up in a cave of leaves, a closed room inside of the forest's walls.
Kevin tried to get up but a transparent tail violently hit his forehead and his head crashed down… into a rock.
"Gah… gh…"
Normally his transformations went back and forth with an intense blaze, but as he lost his consciousness he more melted back into his humanoid form. The little light he emitted during that process was just a small sparkle.
With a furious growl Lise swung her spear at the small ghost that had harmed her friend. Whether the stories of ghosts were exaggerated or if it was the silver in her weapon that did the trick she didn't know, neither cared. The important thing was that the monster disappeared with an insulted tweet. With a snort the amazon turned to the spirit that had caught Kevin's ankle and thereby had caused him to stumble. It met her glare, blinked and quickly removed its tail, edging away through the branches.
Lise let out a relieved sigh that the encounter hadn't been anything worse and reached out for Kevin to try shaking him back to life. He was breathing, so it wasn't worse than a knock out. But just as she touched his shoulders she heard heavy steps and quickly looked around.
A muscled beastman in a red jacket walked past on the other side of the branches. All beastmen the princess ever had seen had been strong looking, but this one emitted more strength than normal. Much more. She froze, trying not to make a single sound.
Him, she knew, she would never be able to handle alone. Kevin was unconscious, they wouldn't stand a chance if that beast heard or smelled them…
In the moonlight Lise saw the blood on his hands as he walked by, he had killed the Altenan women already. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure Lugar would hear it.
No, he passed…
He stopped.
Lise's breath got stuck in her throat, but this time it was everything but pleasant.
Lugar's sniffs tore through the dusk like thunderclaps.
'Dear goddess, don't let him find us, I can't fight him and he'll kill Kevin…!'
The commander stood still for an eternity, thoughtfully sniffing the air. The wind twirled in the trees, hardly touching the low bushes.
And Lugar snorted. He began walking again.
Very slowly Lise let out a silent sigh of relief.
'Thank you, goddess…'
"Ugh… mf?"
Kevin blinked as Lise's hand shot down and covered his mouth. She pressed her unoccupied pointing finger against her lips. He might be awake, but right then she didn't feel like taking any chances. Especially since he still must be rather dizzy.
"Lugar," she breathed, "wait."
He grimly nodded and she released his face, absentmindedly reaching down in the moss to pick up her ribbon from the ground. When Kevin's ears changed shape the piece of cloth had fallen off.
Slowly he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. It was a rather impressive sight since the movement affected the whole mane.
"He alone?" the prince grunted.
"Yes," Lise grimly replied.
"Gah…"
Kevin straightened up, swayed a little but stood.
"Are you sure about this?" Lise grimly asked, taking her spear in both hands.
"Just catch breath a little, be fine when transform."
The princess nodded and they stepped out of the bushes.
"… And his spell. He doesn't have to know."
The harsh, cold voice came from ahead, through the opening leading to the tower's foundation. Kevin's soul twitched. With a snarl he dashed through the opening and stood before the tower.
And Deathjester just devoured a lifeless body in a swirling, damp light. What once had been a living human faded into nothingness and was gone. At the sight of the man alike creature Kevin forgot everything else in his rage and he stormed forward with a roar. Deathjester turned around, smirking.
"Ah, the lost son of the Beast King has returned!" he sneered.