Chapter 2
The ground had absorbed so much sunlight that it was burning hot, yet somehow my legs weren't sensing the heat even though they started steaming. It might hurt afterwards. I didn't have anything to cover my feet so I walked a fairly large distance while my feet felt like they were going to melt. I pa.s.sed by many steep ravines and hills, all of which were covered by spiky plants. For some strange reason I felt the desire to cut those plants up into pieces, but then I realized I had no sword.
After walking for a few hours I saw the outlines of many buildings that were in various shapes. They were surrounded by smaller buildings. I thought "This might be a place where I can ask for help." Although it was a long way, I thought I would be able to eventually reach it. Yet I exhausted my stamina completely, and honestly I thought I would be cooked alive. I fell on my back while staring at the three giant orbs in the sky-three suns. The day had three suns while night had three moons! So it really was true! Then it would mean I would be cooked quicker! Oh no! Somebody help me!
"Somebody help me!" Funnily, it wasn't me who said that.
It was a voice of a young girl. I was sitting on top of a hill, so I looked downwards and I saw four figures. One of them was a girl who was trying unsuccessfully defending herself against three men. All three men were garbed in robes that concealed their features. Two of them wore blue robes while their leader wore white robe. Their faces were covered as well. She blocked one of the punches while the other two proceeded to push her down. Then they proceeded to kick her. Such cruelty, yet for some reason they had faces that looked like they were proud of their actions. They were kicking her hard, but she was clutching something to her chest as though her life depended on it. Then one of the men grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up by the throat. He held a silver knife that was s.h.i.+ning with unnaturally bright light.
"Demon, for stepping into the human territory, you have sealed your fate!"
The other two nodded and said in unison "Be gone, Demon!" Both of them were holding their hands together as if in prayer.
The man in white thrust the silver knife at the girl while he was holding her by the throat. The blow would kill her instantly, and then he would take her body and parade it around the Demon city as a reminder of who is in charge! He would pin her head to a pike and make it a permanent stain to demon history!
The knife however did not manage to touch her neck for someone grabbed his hand and made the movement miss its mark. The demon girl was still alive and the one who was responsible was right behind him. The man in white slashed in his direction with the knife, but the man tripped and fell, so he avoided the knife altogether.
I had no idea what I was doing or why I decided to step in, but now their attention was focused on me. The man in white looked in my direction and pointed his knife at me. After tripping I fell down so the man in white looked much taller than before. I could sense some sort of power radiating from him. His aura felt poisonous to me.
"Anyone who interferes with the Judgment of Heavens must be purged!" He slashed with the knife again aiming at my head. I barely managed to avoid getting decapitated. Yet, his knife slashed at the rag I wore around my face. The rag ended up falling on the ground. When the three men saw my face they expressed surprise.
"He is a human!" Instantly their look of surprise was replaced by a look of hate.
The man in white put away his knife in his pouch and looked at me.
"Step away,
Instead of stepping back, I stepped forward. "As you wis.h.!.+" The man in white cried out and proceeded to kick me on my stomach. With a painful yelp I ended up crawling on the ground. The man in white did not stop there; he proceeded to punch my head down towards the ground so that I ended up crawling after I tried to stand up. He forcefully made me stand up with his left arm, while he kept punching me with his right arm. With each punch everything started looking darker in my eyes. He punched me at least dozen times. Every one of my attempts to block his punches was negated by powerful impact. My consciousness was beginning to slip. If I didn't do something I would die from this.
The man in white was focused on beating me to a pulp. My face swelled from impact while my body could barely move. His pouch was within arm's reach. When he punched me, I made a grab for the pouch. While his blow landed on my nose, I managed to get the silver knife out his pouch and immediately slashed with it.
Blood. So much blood.
It was dripping from the severed arm of the man in white. Apparently my desperate attempt to slash him with his own weapon was successful. His right arm was severed and lay on the ground still twitching. I looked at the silver knife in my hands. I was lucky I wasn't slashed by it, this thing is extremely sharp!
The man in white clutched with his left hand at the stump of his right arm. He ended up stepping away from me from pain. When the other two men saw what happened they quickly rushed to his side.
"Master Jama!" both of them cried out. They left the demon girl by herself. Their master's life was at stake. Who would have known that this man could injure their powerful master? Their master underestimated him so he didn't use his ability, preferring to inflict physical damage personally. But now he was injured. The two men in blue decided to use their powers against the man who injured their master.
Now that I looked at them closely, the two men in blue looked somewhat different from each other in terms of height. Their faces were covered, so I could only see their eyes. The taller one extended his right hand; spikes started sprouting from it as though he was some kind of a hedgehog. The shorter one made a strange gesture with his left hand and placed two fingers on the side of his right hand. Immediately a sparkle started to show in his right palm. It was as though he was coating his arm in lightning. This was bad. They were considering me a threat now. No means of escaping. It was two on one.
Armed with just a silver knife, standing with a trembling and injured body I resigned myself to my eventual fate.
Both men in blue rushed towards me. So quickly, they closed the gap between us aiming directly at my heart to finish me quickly. Just when I thought I was a goner I heard a shout "Ot shang!"
An orb of black and green flame hit the two men, forcing them back. Then, the orb exploded into very thick dust making the two men not able to see. Someone grabbed my hand. "Run!"
I was dragged by my arm. I ran as fast as I could. The dust made it impossible to see so I just followed the person who was dragging me forward. We managed to clear quite a distance by running. In order to prevent dust from getting into my eyes I closed my eyes so I did not know where I was going.
I opened my eyes and saw that I was near a familiar face. It was the girl from before. She was the one who dragged me out that deadly situation to safety. Now that I looked at her closely she resembled a human being with exception that some patches of her skin looked somewhat scaly and she had two tiny horns on her forehead. Also, her ears were long and pointy. Yet the most baffling was her hair, it was green. Yes, as green as gra.s.s or leaves. Of course not the plants in this place, but somewhere I don't remember.
I was still holding her hand.
"I think we lost them" She looked around. After she confirmed those men were no longer nearby her, she sighed in relief. She turned around and looked at me in the eyes. Now that I look at them her eyes were green as well, but the sclera was somewhat yellowish. They looked very beautiful.
"You saved my life" She paused. "Are you a human or a demon? You certainly look human at first glance." She looked at me with questioning expression. I just scratched my head. I really wasn't sure.
"Can't tell me? That is fine. Then could you please tell me your name?"
"Name?" I was surprised to hear the sound of my own voice. It sounded somewhat raspy.
"Yes, your name." Now this was a dilemma. I had no idea I was supposed to have a name.
"Uhmmm, I don't know…" I looked at a plant nearby; it had strange seeds growing out of it. The seeds were triangular. I quickly grabbed one. "This?"
"A seed of a Ren tree?" she looked rather perplexed as if I told a rather bad joke. "You really don't know what your name is?" I shook my head. No matter what I thought I couldn't come up with an answer. It was as though my name was erased from my memories.
"Then I will call you Ren from now on" She put her hand upon her breast and smiled. "My name is Aijasyl." She made a slight bow in a lady-like manner. "I am a servant of Karatengu family."
"Thank you for coming to save me; if it wasn't for you I would already be dead and he would have stolen my body and soul."
I looked at her in surprise. First she gives me a name, and now she is telling me I accidentally prevented her from becoming a trophy for those people. Wait, but that didn't make sense! And what's up with all the demon and human talk?
"Why did they want to kill you? Do they hold a grudge against you or something?" I blurted my thoughts out. "Wait a second; they are not trying to kill you because you committed a crime, right?"
She didn't seem insulted for what I told her. Instead she sadly looked at me and said "In their eyes, my crime is being born." She looked at the sky and sighed." I asked you if you were a demon or a human because a human being would have no obligation in helping a demon, in fact you would have treated me as an enemy, but…" she looked how relaxed I looked "You don't seem to harbor any evil intent against me."
"Of course, I barely know you" I said that while grinning foolishly.
Her serious expression lightened up a bit.
"You are a bit weird aren't you, but that is not bad." She chuckled; it was one of the most pleasant sounds I have heard. It was a mix between a bird's song and whistle of the wind. I couldn't help being impressed.
"Well, I should return to my household" She turned to leave, but then asked. "By the way where you are heading to?"
I was looking at my surrounding with wide open eyes. There were mountains everywhere. I had no idea where I would go once this girl left me by myself. I looked at her with rather pathetic expression. "I have no clue"
"Seriously, you don't know where you are? Did you get knocked on your head too many times?" She looked at my head and noticed several b.u.mps. "Oh, that would explain the amnesia" She thought about it for a minute, considering whether it was safe to bring him with her. The patriarch would say… of course! The patriarch would know!
"You can come with me if you would like, but on one condition"
"Condition?"
"You are to wear a blindfold until we get to my household"
"Oh, ok, I can do that" I s.h.i.+fted the rag on my face to the top, making it cover my eyes. "Is this good?"
"That would be fine" She grabbed my hand. "Follow the pull of my hand and sound of my voice"
"Yes" I nodded. Now I am being dragged into some place I didn't even know existed. Yet, somehow I did not feel fear, just a sense of antic.i.p.ation.
"Then let's go"