CHAPTER 9 - Bird Hunting
"I heard Marco died earlier this morning, I wonder what you had to do with it, assassin," the hefty, green skinned demon in front of me says.
"Who's to say I had anything with his death?" I say plainly.
"Don't play stupid with me, I know what you did. My imps saw you leave, and they saw the dead body" he says back, his voice gruff and hard to listen to.
I let out a small chuckle, and then I grin slightly; just enough to be unsettling.
"And what are you going to do about it, Yatal?" I ask him, not reacting in the slightest to his 'threat'.
Yatal huffs, his large form moving slightly with it. Yatal then says "Nothing." He pauses then says, "I have something I want, and I've got money,"
Yatal then pulls out a bag and shakes it. It makes clinking noises as it's contents shake about.
"I forgot to tell Angel about our differences in currency… oh well," I think, looking at the bag.
"How much?" I ask.
"1,000, for the initial pay, I'll pay whatever you want once it's done," he says, pulling the bag close to him.
"Hmm," I say, thinking.
"What is it you want?" I ask, getting up off of the wall I was leaning on.
"I know how Marco worked. We were business partners you know. So I know that he was a collector, and he hired you to get something for him, yes?" Yatal asks.
"Yes, so" I say flatly.
Yatal then asks "Well, that's what I want. I want to know what you killed a fellow demon over sin0y because you couldn't get it."
"What makes you think it was that I couldn't get something?" I say, still keeping my composure.
"What does he think he's doing?" I wonder.
"Well, you see…I have this little theory of mine..." Yatal says, taking a step closer to me, causing an imp that was in front of him to skitter out of the way.
"And what might that theory be, Yatal?" I ask, straightening my posture to appear more threatening.
He squints his eyes and grins, obviously receiving my warning to back off.
"It's not important right now," Yatal says smugly.
"What is then?" I ask.
"I want you to get me whatever it is Marco wanted, and I'll pay you whatever you want," Yatal says, his grin remaining plastered on his mildly grotesque features.
"What is he trying to do here?" I wonder, "Whatever it is, I need to be careful about my next move."
"Whatever I want, you say?" I ask, taking a long stride forward while my eyes shine a bloody red.
"Well that is quite the offer you have there, isn't it," I say mischievously.
"Indeed, an offer Dyre the master assassin couldn't refuse," he says.
I smirk and say, "For something that you don't even know, right?"
Yatal looks at me and says, "Well… I have an idea of what it might be."
"You do? Then you must know the terrible deal your making right?" I say with a laugh.
He looks at me with shock and I think, "Perfect! Now I just need to tell him that Marco wanted something worthless, like antlers… or something like that."
He studies my face and then speaks, "Bad deal huh, then why did Marco make it? He only wants the highest quality items and would never make a deal that wasn't good for him."
"Well this was a pretty bad deal, I mean 2,500 for some jewelry? You've gotta be kidding me!" I say with a fake laugh.
"Well that would be a bad deal if it were true," he says that smirk never leaving his face.
I look at him with a
scrutinizing gaze.
"What makes you think I'm lying?" I ask, taking a step closer to him leaving only 10 or so feet between us.
"Well let's just say I wasn't being truthful when I said I didn't know why you killed Marco," he says with a sick laugh.
My mind instantly goes to panic.
"Angel!" I think as I quickly teleport to her, still able to hear the cruel laughter of Yatal.
When I arrive the house is in complete disarray. Things are knocked over, scattered about, and broken. And then I see it, a small trail of blood leading upstairs.
I dash upstairs and find the door to the spare room wide open. When I step into the room, I see the window had been broken.
"That's probably how they got in without her having time to brake the crystal. Then they dragged her out and rnshaked my home!" I think, enraged that Yatal would dare do this.
"You dare take what is mine?" I growl, shifting into my shadow form. My eyes glow a blood red as my blood boils in pure rage.
"I will end you!" I scream as I am sucked into the void. I quickly teleport to where I was talking to Yatal before, but find him missing. My vision runs red as let out a yowl of anger.
I gave her that crystal for a reason. It allows me to tell her location, but when it breaks I feel it. It was my reward for a particularly difficult mission. Glad I did it.
I say a small chant and a string of red light appears, leading to the crystal. I follow it at an alarming pace and find myself in a large building heading into the basement. Without a care I dash down.
The farther down I go, the more chatter I hear. It's imps. Tens of them, like a flock of birds cawing together.
I snarl when I reach the bottom of the staircase and see some of those wretched imps. I pay no mind as they teleport away, most likely to alert Yatal.
"I need to get to her before they hurt her!" I think as I continue to follow the beam of light from her crystal.
Eventually I reach a massive room filled with different trophies such as diamonds, animal skulls, and even other demon's skulls. But in the center, Angel, unconscious and in a giant bird cage. A pretty bird in a cage to be flaunted, that's what she is to Yatal.
"I see you like my new centerpiece, Dyre," I hear the voice of Yatal say. My eyes scan the room until I see him up in a viewing room separate from this one. He looks down at me from behind the glass and I can see his smirk.
"Imps, deal with this intruder," he commands.
As soon as he gives the order, 50 or so imps begin to pop up in the room appearing out of their signature puff of smoke.
Some jump at me, trying to latch on, while others try to bite and claw at me. But I am unfazed. It amounts to being shot with a water gun. It's nothing.
But I don't care as I sprint for the Yatal. I look at him and see him starting to back away. I only grin and leap on to a giant deer head on the wall opposite of him. I then shake off the imps, and look up at Yatal.
Yatal seems amused by this and says, "What? Do you think you can reach me from there? You can't jump half that distance, idiot!"
I grin, showing my sharp, canine like teeth. The sound of flesh ripping echoes through the large room and huge, bat like wings sprout from my back. I don't ever let others see them, but Yatal? He won't be seeing them for long…
I leap, pull out my dagger, and with only one thrust of my giant wings I shoot through the glass, shattering it with my blade.
I land on Yatal, knocking him over and pinning him down. I then look at him, and take great joy in that wonderful, amazing, fantastic look on his face. That one of realization, then terror.
He opens his mouth to scream, but I don't even give him that. I slice through his neck with such rage and ferocity, I nearly cut it off. He must pay for what he did. He took my property, so now I have taken his life. It's a 'bad deal'.
The sound of sudden silence tells me all the imps disappeared the moment I killed their summoner, as to be expected.
I shuffle through his pockets, and find myself lucky. I pull out a key with the words "Bird cage" engraved on it, and look down at Angel. If the engraving is anuthi buff to go by, this should be the right key.
I then quickly jump down into the larger room with Angel in it. I quickly rush over to her, speeding like a car. Her unconscious form lay there beaten and barely breathing in a giant bird cage.
"That monster dares do this to you?" I say furiously under my breath. I then take in a deep breath and force myself to calm down.
If I'm going to help Angel, I need to be calm. I make my wings melt back into my body, as I can't have anyone see them. I then pull out the key I got from Yatal and unlock the cage.
I quickly scoop up the girl, and lift her up. I then swiftly teleport out of the building, and back to my 'home'.
When I arrive, I set her on the couch and think "What am I going to do to help her? What can I do to help her? She an-"
Then it hits me. I know what I have to do. I look at the magnificent sunrise outside, and take a deep breath. It's time I say hello to some old enemies.