Author note: heya, my readers! In this chapter, there's a small reference to the amazing manga (and anime)"Death Note", can you recognize it?
oxoxoxoxoxo
When they were far enough from the clearing, Sekhmet moved to Ulric's side with obvious concern in her dark eyes. "I noticed you have been injured in the fight", she said, nodding towards the bleeding gash in his left bicep, "May I?". He shot her a brief look, "It is nothing". "Don't be stubborn: it must be cleaned and treated, otherwise it could become infected. Please, let me take care of it", she said, her tone soft and vaguely pleading. He opened his mouth to protest, but at length nodded and stopped walking, "As you wish".
"Sit down, please". He complied and she sat in front of him, rummaging in her pack for bandages and a small blue bottle. "What is that?", he asked, watching the bottle with a mixture of curiosity and distrust. "An infusion of medicinal herbs. You should take off your shirt, or I won't be able to do much", she added, her cheeks reddening slightly. Truth be told, she could have easily treated the wound even with him still fully dressed, but since she very much wanted to take a good look at him, she decided to lie it a bit thick hoping he would not see through her ruse.
Ulric did not seem to notice her blush, or if he did, he chose not to comment on it and simply began undressing his upper body, until he was bare-chested. The Firewalker blushed even harder as her eyes roamed over his sculpted chest, arms and abdomen, then she forced herself to focus, "Tell me if it hurts, all right?", she said and when he nodded, she slowly poured the healing potion on a piece of cloth, cleaning the wound with utmost gentleness.
When she was done, she wrapped the bandages around it, tying the knot tight enough for it not to slip off, yet loose enough that he could flex his arm without trouble. "You are good at treating wounds", Ulric said suddenly. Her gaze snapped up and met his own and her heart skipped a beat at the unusual softness in it, "Thank you. I have been trained since childhood in the art of healing". "It shows". Silence fell upon them, a strange yet comfortable silence during which they seemed to get lost in each other's eyes.
The moment was shattered by Wolfstan, who cleared his throat loud enough to startle the two, "I'm sorry, but we should decide what to do: we can keep on walking, or stop here for the night". Ulric's eyes immediately lost any trace of softness and turned cold and sharp as he scanned the surroundings for any threat, "I do not think the bandits will be willing to leave the forest and its protection. We should be safe enough here. We will camp for the night, but taking shifts".
Imoen sighed with relief, "About time! I haven't been travelling so much since the end of the Spawn mess!", she exclaimed, pretending to faint and landing on the ground in a very dramatic sprawl and her longtime companions laughed. "You've gotten soft, Immy", Meg teased her, "All those sweets are taking their toll on you, eh?". "Maybe", the pink-haired thief replied good-naturedly, "I'm not like you guys, always working out like crazy and liking it. I'm normal".
Anomen arched an eyebrow, his grey-blue eyes sparkling with mirth, "Meaning that we're not, I guess". She grinned, "Yep". "Coming from you, that's high praise", he joked and she playfully grabbed her bedroll and tossed it at him, who dodged it with a chuckle. "Careful there: I could decide to keep it and leave you to sleep on the hard, cold ground". "Nah, you're too much of a softie to do that to your poor, sweet, innocent little sister-in-law". "Argh. You know me too well". "That I do".
Griff shook his head with an amused smile, "You really are close to each other, aren't you?". The Helmite shrugged, "We have been through much together and that has brought us close. Some of us more than others", he added, sharing a private smile with Meg. "It shows. You are lucky to have found such happiness: too many people are not so blessed", the mercenary said, his shoulders slumping a little, "I can't wait for this mission to end, so that I can go back home to my wife and daughter".
"You will see you family again soon, worry not", Sarevok assured him, giving him a friendly pat on the back, "We'll capture that necromancer and kill the demon for good. They won't know what hit them". Swire frowned, "You're quite confident about it". "Why shouldn't I be?", the Deathbringer replied with a shrug, "I've spent months battling demons, besides we've bested Demogorgon himself and kicked his ass back to Hell. I doubt the demon in that village could be more of a challenge than him".
"Demogorgon?", Ulric repeated, his eyes narrowing slightly, "I have never heard this name". "Not many 'round here have, but he's a nasty piece of work all right", Imoen intervened, her face more serious than they had seen her in a long time, "He's one of the most powerful and dangerous Demon Lords of Hell, not just some random hellspawn. He was trapped in Watcher's Keep, Anomen here was tasked to kick his tailed butt and we went with him to help, that's also when Sekhmet joined our merry band in place of her cousin by the way".
The Thayan nodded, "They had asked for my cousin to join them, but he was too busy with his career and his studies at home, so he and I together decided that I would take his place in their party. I couldn't leave them without the invaluable support of an Odesseiron after all, that would have been too cruel", she added, causing Imoen to snort with laughter.
"Oh, yeah, that would have been our doom no doubt!", the pink-haired thief joked. "Indeed. But luckily for you I was there", the Thayan said, ignoring her sarcasm, "The battle was something out of a nightmare, that monster just didn't want to go down! There was a brief moment there when I thought we would all die…Yet, in the end, we prevailed and survived. We did have to rest for nearly a month to regain our full health, but all in all, it worked out well".
"How did you manage to defeat him, if I may ask?", Osmund queried, curious. "Team work, as always", Meg shrugged, "We had blessed charms and holy water, plus our weapons had been blessed as well and that turned out to be quite useful against him".
"Blessed weapons...", Wolfstan repeated, eyes pensive as he massaged his chin, "I have often heard of this practice, but I have yet to see such an artefact. Maybe you have one with you now?", he then asked, looking hopefully at them and at his side, Ivo perked up and nodded eagerly, his face lighting up with childlike glee at the prospect of seeing such a rarity.
"That we do", Anomen nodded and showed the mercenary his enchanted mace, which shimmered with a thin film of silvery metal that looked nearly blue when the light hit it at a certain angle, "This mace carries the blessing of my Lord, it has been with me for a while now", his lips curved in a soft smile as he remembered, "It was my reward for vanquishing an unholy beast, the greatest honor I could ever hope for". "You proved yourself worthy of it, beloved", Meg said, stroking his cheek and he took her hand in his and kissed her fingers tenderly.
Ulric shot the mace an intrigued glance, then he looked at Sekhmet, "Is it done?", he asked her, nodding to the bandage on his arm. "Hm? Oh, yes, it's done", she nodded, biting back a sigh as he stood and moved to Anomen's side to peer at the enchanted weapon: she would have liked to touch him a little longer, to be close to him for just another moment, but of course he was interested in a weapon more than he was in her! She snorted: men and their toys...
The terrestrial knight heard her soft snort and turned in time to see her frown and he found himself drawn in by the way her nose scrunched up, it was strangely attractive. He scowled and brought his attention back to the mace, trying to rid himself of that thought, he could not afford such distractions during such a dangerous mission, "It looks like a simple mace", he said to Anomen.
"I know, yet looks can be deceiving: the blessing bestowed upon it makes it extremely effective against evil creatures", the Helmite replied, "The high priest of my church performed the ritual himself, bathing it in holy water and then its head was coated in illithium. Meg's one was coated in illithium as well, but it wasn't blessed". "It does its work pretty well though", his wife commented with a grin, taking out the Mace of Disruption and waving it, "I've definitely kicked some ass with this little baby". "What is illithium?", Griff asked curiously.
"Why, it's a precious, incredibly rare metal that can be found in our homeland! A single rock of it is worth hundreds of gold coins", Jan answered, "Though I'd rather have hundreds of turnips instead, because well, you really can't eat gold right? Not that it stopped my fifth-removed cousin Misa Amansen from trying, bless her, she really wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed you see. Poor lass was a true beauty, to the point that she was chosen as a model for a famous painter and made lots of gold with her job, but...". "Enough".
It only took that single word, spoken by Ulric in a quiet yet glacial tone, to convince the Gnome to cease his ramblings and Sarevok and Anomen looked at the bishop's envoy with undisguised admiration. "You, my friend, have my utmost respect and deepest gratitude for shutting that pest up", the Deathbringer said, meaning every word. "Amen to that", the Helmite agreed, nodding. Ulric's lips curved in a small amused smile, there and gone in an instant, "Let us decide the watch shifts", he said. After a brief consultation, they lay down to rest and this time, Osmund did not leave the campsite.
oxoxoxoxoxo
The reference to "Death Note" is Misa Amansen, a Jansen version of Misa Amane.