Life in a new Kingdom

Drawing my dagger from my side is my only viable weapon. I turn to Lukia, and we both nod to each other. In her demonic rampage, Celia takes on the Shadow Hunter, taking only minor damage from the creature as she doesn't relent. I take a deep breath and bank our chances to survive on what I am about to do.

"Lukia, when I stop Celia, you will finish off the Shadow Hunter. A moment too late, and we'll both be killed."

"Leave it to me; it should be weak enough. I'll make sure it dies." She clenches the sword in her hand. A gasp of air leaves her lips. We have been through a lot within these past few days.

I race forward and watch as Celia kicks the beast into the air. The body flails around and tries to recover by using its tendrils to guide it to the ground. Celia steps forward, grabs the tendrils, and uses her strength to lift the creature. Its claws slash her cheek, blood running down her cheeks, but she pays it no mind.

"Celia!" I shout and leap onto her back, wrapping my arms around her. I instantly feel my skin start to burn from the intense heat that burns under her skin. Barely budging from my interference, she punches the Shadow Hunter, swinging me aimlessly around.

Holding on tight, slowly slipping on my grip, I grit my teeth to hold on with one final punch, then slamming the Shadow Hunter into the ground, causing the ground to explode, raining dirt from the air. The battered beast lays barely alive; its purple-tinted blood drains from its wounds. It breathes heavily, showing how much stronger Celia has become.

"I command you to stop!" I shout from the top of my lungs into her ear, hoping my voice could help bring her back to normal.

"C...Caleb!" With a hint of recognition, Celia holds her head in pain as she fights back her demonic instincts. But it isn't enough; her rage and anger have consumed most of her mind. She attempts to reach for me to pull me away, but I slip past her hands.

With a thought, I wrap my legs around her and reposition to use both my hands. I hold my dagger out and press my hand onto the blade. Closing my eyes to the pain, slicing open my hand, dark crimson pulses out my hand onto her neck and chest. The smell of my blood so fresh and up-close causes her to freeze.

"Drink my blood! Use it to satiate your anger!" I hold the bloody palm right under her nose and lips. Her shaking hands grip my arm tightly; I hold back any grunts of pain she caused and notice her hesitation. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me, but this is the only thing I can do to help!"

I force my hand to her lips and let the blood slip into her mouth. Celia feels the overwhelming sensation of my blood touching her tongue. A switch flips inside her mind. Losing the tension in her body, she held my arm and licked my hand. Her long tongue relishes the iron taste, and the sounds of her slurping and sucking causes my body to shiver. Each sensation brings a weird feeling that plummets down my spine. With the extensive loss of blood I have endured, I begin to grow weak as she gulps down my blood. She suddenly stopped, loosened her grip on my arm, and stared into the sky with a blissful expression. High off the feeling, she extended her tongue to clean her lips and teeth before swallowing the remainder of the blood she could gather.

"This taste..." Before she can express herself at that moment, I forcibly pull her back, falling to the ground with her on top of me to avoid the slower-moving tendril of the Shadow Hunter, nearly piercing us both.

"Lukia!!"

In a flash of movement, Lukia dodges to the side and slices through the weak tendrils. The Shadow Hunter growls in pain before it finds her sword shoved deep inside its chest, exiting its back. With a simple twist of the blade, Lukia drags the blade through the creature and retracts instantly. The beast gives one final howl before the life escapes its body. The cosmic spray of its blood contrasts the muddy dirt. Covered in its blood, Lukia takes a heavy breath, holding the stained blade before falling to one knee.

"Is she... Is Celia okay?" Lukia looks back and wipes away some of the creature's blood.

"She's calm. I don't know how long it will be for her to regain her senses." I sit up with Celia's head in my lap. Pale-faced from blood loss, I quickly take out a rag and wrap my hand to patch the wound. "I think we should rest for now. Give us time to prepare our way back."

"Agreed, I need a drink." A soft smirk across her face as she feels a rush of surviving such a harrowing encounter—a face of relief and achievement.

"Are you okay?"

"Me? I am just fine. I feel amazing, actually." Lukia stands, wiping the blood off her sword before sheathing it. Her amber hair was dyed purple by the blood, and her cloak was stained by grime, dirt, and blood. The same is true for Celia and myself; I've also been through the ordeal; it almost felt unreal. After some moments of rest, Celia began to regain herself. Sitting up from my lap, she looks confused and lost until she blinks softly and turns to Lukia, then me.

"Did I lose control..?" She looks down as she asks. I gently pat her head and smile softly.

"Just for a bit, but don't worry, as your Lord and Master, I made sure you didn't do anything regrettable.

"But I... I drank your blood! You don't know what that will do to" I place my hand on her lips.

"I don't care. As long as you are safe and in control, it was worth it." Celia looks away, unable to respond back. Her long fire red hair drapes below her face, hiding her emotions. "Take your time; we have the time to," I say softly and close my eyes. The exhaustion and strain weighed me down.

Lukia doesn't speak to Celia, leaving her alone for now. She focused her time and effort on skinning the Shadow Hunter, doing her best to get a somewhat decent conditioned pelt. Its hide is tough, so any damage to it afterward would be minor or neglectable. After twenty minutes of cleaning off the hide and preparing it for transport, she strapped it to her adventure pack. Celia had regained her composure during the respite and got to her feet.

"Well, if we travel back as quickly as possible, we should reach town within a day. I hope you guys can keep up; your wounds are far worse than mine." Lukia adjusted her bag straps and turned to both of us.

"My wounds have already healed because of my Demon blood. Honestly, I am much stronger than before, thanks to this. It won't be a problem for me to continue. Caleb might need to take it easy, however."

"My have stopped bleeding; with some makeshift bandages, I can keep up. Eckhart didn't train me for survival and endurance for nothing."

Taking extra moments to patch myself up, I took a moment to search for a usable sword. The condition didn't matter; I needed something to protect myself besides a dagger and artifact. I bump my foot against something. Nearly stumbling over it, I quickly turn to examine the object. Kneeling close, I find probably the Shadow Hunter's latest meal before it tried hunting us.

"Poor guy must have been alone when he was attacked-...Wait, is this?!" To my sudden realization, the corpse had been mostly devoured and seemed to be a couple of days old at least. But seeing the half-eaten skull of the person shows the distinct characteristics of a Demon. Sharp fangs, dimples in the skull where horns could grow out of, and a hint of mana surrounding the Demon long after death. "A Demon... But... Why is one out here in Heistorm?" Upon closer inspection, chains are shackled around the neck and hands. They are broken but were left on, possibly on the run from whoever captured them. He was hunted mercilessly by the creature and then killed.

"Hey, Caleb! We need to get moving!" Lukia calls out to me.

"Y-Yeah, be there in a second!" Taking one last look at the corpse, I make sure to keep a mental note of anything important before quickly getting up and finding an old sword in the dirt. I sheath it speedily and catch up with the girls. The lingering thoughts of the discovery plague me as we continue back on the path to town...