(15th June, 03:00, First Quarter Half Moon)
Beast and the Beast
Chapter Five – A Companion without Need
(Please note this story has vast similarities to Beauty and the Beast, yet I claim no ownership over Beauty and the Beast, only my inspiration is stolen from the movie/book.)
x.X.x
He looked up as he smelled something odd, smoke, why would there be smoke so far from the town of Kurast? Very few people dared to come into the forest with all the demonic activity happening in the area.
He considered that a part of the forest was on fire, but it was impossible for two reasons; firstly, the forest was too wet to be set aflame and secondly the smoke trail that he could see was far too narrow to be considered anything other than a campfire.
He decided to investigate the peculiar site, there was a ferry from Lut Gholeim to Kurast so almost no one travelled through the forest and those who did usually didn't survive until nightfall to make a fire. Perhaps he would discover a corpse.
He smelled the fresh air once again, not only to smell the smoke again, but because he had been imprisoned for so long that he had forgotten what it smelled like to be free, a thousand years was a long time to spent trapped to your own mind.
The prison of Tal Rasha had been his home for longer than he could remember and against his will, but now that he was free he would set his sight on revenge and domination, he was after all the Lord of Destruction known only as Baal.
His cape barely concealed his skeleton figure; it would take some time before his human flesh grew over his burned body again. Oh for how long those fires of his prison had licked at him, turning him from a man into a skeleton monster from anyone's worst nightmares. His muscle strings had shot loose from his body creating a vine like appendage on his back and his skin was a milky bone color that looked slimier than it actually was.
In short, he would scare the living daylights out of anything, even his own kin; though the fear of his appearance would be little compared to the fear of his power and once he was reunited with his two brothers they would be unstoppable once again. Not even the Holy Angels of Heaven would be able to stop them this time. No, last time they underestimated the cunning nature of them, but this time they knew all their tricks and it would not happen again.
Besides, all he had to do was get hold of the soul stone the human, who freed him, now possessed. Once he had the stone little would be able to stand in his way, there wasn't a soul who would be able to stand up to him; not even the entire legion of Angels would be able to defeat him.
If there was one thing he was sure of it was that they would never get that stone back into his body, he would never allow that.
He smirked, for now he would amuse himself with whatever lay next to that campfire, possibly under the impression that it was safe.
x.X.x
Sakai felt her senses prickle for some reason and she was on her feet in a few seconds, though the annoying feeling wouldn't subside and she groaned as she took her machete from her bag. She would not be breakfast to anything in this forest.
She was surprised at her sight in the night, even if the dying campfire blurred her vision a bit with its light she could still see exceptionally well, considering the darkness and the half moon in the sky.
Thinking of the moon suddenly sidetracked her as she remembered the promise of being normal for one night; she suddenly longed for it, longed to be able to savor the taste of fruit, the feel the grass slip between her toes instead of watching it wither at her touch.
She was snapped out of that thought when she heard a twig snap from the direction of the dead tree, she looked that way and felt her blood run cold when her eyes met with that of a demon, it could be described as nothing else.
The thing was wearing a cloak similar to hers, except it was brown and the hood was off, she could see something bulging from under the cape at the back and even in her wildest imaginations she wouldn't be able to conjure up what it was. His face was hollow and was the color of the moon, milky white and his lips were puckered like that of a fish.
Though the most frightening part of him was his eyes, it shone a golden color that promised nothing but death and pain. He looked like a skeleton the way his thin body started to move towards her. She immediately took a few steps back.
"What is a human like you doing here?" He asked her and she didn't know how to reply to that, what would she say to him? Her mind raced as she thought of the possible ways this hideous creature could murder her and suddenly she remembered, she was no longer human!
"I need not answer that as you're directing your question towards a human, which I'm not." She stated blatantly and truthfully. The demon didn't seem to take her sarcasm well as his eyes sparked gold in the night sky and with the spark the campfire seemed to be set alight again. She took another step back.
"Human or not you shall respect me." He said as he walked closer to her and she tried to step back, but quite ironically, her back hit that of a tree. He stopped in front of her and she remembered the machete in her hand; almost immediately she swung it towards him and she felt it come in contact with his bone like features, soon followed by a hollow sound that gave no notion of succession in her favor.
She was right because within a second he had painfully pried the machete from her hand and snapped the thick metal in half, tossing it into the fire, causing the embers of the fire to scatter across the grass, improving the illumination of the area by a fraction.
"You smell like a human." He accused as he forcefully removed her hood from her head and when he saw her appearance he was stunned for a few seconds. "Peculiar." He said and she didn't know what to say to preserve her life, she had never before faced a demon but she was pretty damn sure the weak ones couldn't snap metal like that or take no damage from the blow she gave.
"What is your name creature?" He asked her as he took a step away from her and she saw the harmful intentions vanish from his eyes once he realized she wasn't human; she was instantly relieved and decided to do the only wise thing: Answer him.
"Sakai Vikira." She said and the demon seemed to examine her for a few seconds before accepting her answer as the truth.
"A human name." He said and she immediately regretted giving him that answer, was she a fool? No demon liked a human and here she was basically showing him her birth certificate.
"What makes you say so?" She decided to pry, to try and erase her previous words with more words, to try and prove she wasn't a human, or at least not at the moment, she could not afford to die now; she did not want to die now.
"Demons have no last name." He said and she wanted to face-palm herself for her idiocy, of course demons had no last name, so she had just proved she wasn't a demon to him with her words, how could she salvage this situation, and prove she was one of them, without dying?
She decided to keep quiet and Baal looked her from top to toe, trying to figure something out about her that she had the craziest desire to ask about; but everything in her screamed at her to keep her mouth shut. She had always lived on her instincts and she wasn't about to stop now.
The observation of her continued for a few minutes and she felt her skin crawl with uncertainty as she saw nothing in his eyes to give away his intentions, she wondered whether she could make a run for it and escape him; but she didn't know the forest well and he seemed to be pretty quick on his feet; even for the way he looked.
Finally he opened his mouth to speak and her heart stopped; what would he say? Off with your head? She contemplated all the creative ways he could think of killing her, demons had a knack for torture.
"You're too human to be a demon, but you're too demonic to be a human, you're not a creature as they can't communicate. What are you girl?" He asked and she felt a sense of relief flood her, he was baffled by her and curiosity was a good thing at the moment.
She considered her answer for a few seconds before answering. "I'm in search of my heritage; I'm seeking to go to Hell." She said and he glared at her for a moment before his eyes softened to an 'I might kill you' look and her entire body seemed to relax and only now did she realize how rigid she had been with fear of this unknown demon.
"I am going to Hell as well, I know the path." He said and she didn't get excited at the news at all, she only knew she had to get there eventually.
"Could you tell me how to get there?" She asked and he smirked.
"No, because you'll be travelling with me." He said and she immediately felt the need to decline but as soon as she opened her mouth a light went on.
"Okay." She answered instead as she picked up her backpack, he saw this as the cue to start walking and she started to follow him.
"You are different; I've never seen a demon with a backpack." He said and she decided she wouldn't reply to that one, lest she talk herself into a corner again.
Though it was a brilliant idea to travel with him, he seemed like a demon who demanded respect and if she showed up with him at the demon nest they would probably accept her immediately instead of inspecting or rejecting her. She could not fail with this idea and soon she would be human again.
"You walk too slow, speed up a bit and lose the backpack; you'll only embarrass yourself among our kin." He said and she was hesitant to leave it behind, her clothing and meat was in there, what was she to wear or eat?
"Maybe later." She answered and he groaned as he just walked on, forcing her to speed up her pace and she sensed an uncomfortable anger growing in her companion.
"I suggest you don't try to test my patience." He warned and with that they walked on through the night in silence.