White Demon

>> Chapter 1 B <<

Grand Duchess Zea is now deep in the woods, she is getting closer to the cliff edge that overlooks the creek bed.

A battle is going on down below the valley at the creek bed.

The sky above close to the valley illume red-orange, and turmoil can be heard afterward.

The Moon is bright, and all the Duchess could help is but see her way through the woods.

She has been here several times, most probably in times past when there were no wars.

At the cliff edge, overlooking the creek bed a battle rages, and the smell of gun powder can be perceived.

Lots of gunshots and cannon shells ring out.

Duchess Zea makes it to the threshold of the cliff, and she looks down, she is amazed by what she sees down below the creek valley.

There are two armies camped against each other at the creek bed.

Closer to the side where Zea watched from the cliff, is an army in "blue coats", they look and dress in uniform so much like the soldiers back at the palace.

They are about hundreds of men, with rifles, shooting across the empty creek bed to the other side.

Some of the soldiers crouch on one knee as they shoot, and some lay down on the ground and shoot from that position.

The creek bed is void of water for it is almost the end of Autumn, and the creek is not of much water.

On the other side of the creek bed, returning to the 'blue coat' army is an army in "brown coat".

Their brown coats have a distinctive red collar.

The red collar on the brown coats is distinct and clear in the bright red-orange and yellow illuminated night.

The brown coat army as Zea can see is shooting cannons across the army in the blue coat.

About five hundred meters separate the two.

The Grand Duchess has never seen such a scene of battle going on in its entirety, and in reality.

Men are being shot, and they immediately can be seen laying down as if to take a rest, and they sleep, or so she thinks, as she observes the battle scene.

But who comes to the battle to lay down to sleep?

The Duchess reckons.

As she looks on, hiding by the brushes by the cliff of the creek's precipe, the battle intensifies.

*********************

Omiji has just barely made it about a hundred yards into the woods when he meets with a band of men with torches and pitchforks.

"Halt, who goes there," the leader of these men yawps.

"I am Omiji, a palace guard," Omiji says.

One of the men in the band brings a torch closer to see Omiji's face.

The face of the speaker can be seen in the light of the flames of the torch, he looks much like an old farmer, with a very bad dentition, behind him is a band of likewise looking country folk, they all look very much like the country peasant folk, about a dozen of them.

"And what is a palace guard doing here in this neck of the woods, and by this time of night...eh," the man asks Omiji.

"Step back, I warn you," Omiji says, he reaches for his sword, in anticipation they could be thieves in the woods.

"Stop," the old farmer retorts.

"My name is Bitkov, I and my workers you see are the 'Night Hunters', we are a band of hunters who hunt these woods," Bitkov says.

"We are on a hunt for coyotes, deers, and bears, or don't you see it is the full moon?"

"What does he know about the full moon?" another of the men says.

The man that speaks has a similar dentition to that of Bitkov, a tooth sticks out from the side of his mouth.

"Hush Pam," Mr. Bitkov says to the speaker.

"Ay," the man called 'Pam' replies.

"Oh, you're hunters eh, well, that's great, good luck with your hunting then," Omiji says.

"We also hunt werewolves," Pam exclaims.

"Werewolves," Omiji asks in oblivion.

"I've never heard anything such about werewolves in these lands," Omiji says.

"Ay," Bitkov says.

"How often do you come out of the palace anyway to know what happens in these woods?" says Pam.

"Or, ay, maybe he is a deserter," one of them says from amidst the crowd.

The rest laugh out loud as they make their way up the hill heading towards the River.

The rest of the hunting group takes a last worrisome look at Omiji, then they all rudely brush past Omiji and make their way into the night-woods.

Bitkov and his band of hunters walk into the woods, leaving Omiji standing in oblivion.

The trail down the tracks into the dark woods.

"Wait, mister, erm...Bitkov," Omiji calls out from behind.

He races to the men walking down the trail.

"Shhhh, hush," Bitkov addresses them all, as he turns to Omiji.

"What do you want lad," Bitkov asks.

"I'm looking for, erm...never mind," Omiji says.

Omiji hesitates to tell about the Duchess who ran into the woods.

This he didn't say, in fear of her safety.

He didn't trust these men well enough to know on whose side they were, and if it was safe for him to reveal the Duchess' unlikely position at the moment.

"I will continue my way now," Omiji says reluctantly, and shrugs. "Good luck with your werewolf hunting."

He waves a farewell to the group of men.

"Good luck with the war also," Bitkov says.

Seen through the moonlight, Bitkov is wearing a countenance of 'sarcasm', a weary smirk trails his lips.

The rest of the hunting group take a last worrisome look at Omiji and walk on by.

"Good speed lad," Pam says, and he peers into Omiji's face in the pale moonlight, and the hunting party disappears into the foggy night woods.

"The Duchess," Omiji suddenly cries out to himself in the middle of the dark woods.

He suddenly brings himself to the remembrance of how he came about this "predicament" of finding himself in the woods in this full moonlight.

He heads East!

This he does spontaneously in anticipation to find the Duchess in that direction.

*********************

The Duchess has been overlooking the battle from high above the creek precipice, for about half an hour.

It is quite a view, like sitting on the front seat of a Hypersonic 3D Cinema.

Zea hears Omiji calling out her name in the woods in what sounds like a very loud whisper.

"Your Highness, Your Highness," Omiji yells in a whisper, wandering through the woods.

The Duchess hears his call but wishes to hide from him.

She quickly climbs down the cliff, getting down the valley, into the clear battle zone.

Now it is known, even in the palace that the Duchess has this flair for taking care of the wounded as it was fondly said.

Rumor has it that she had taken classes to be a nurse, and how much she loved taking care of the sick and the wounded.

So the Duchess climbs down the cliff threshold, maybe in anticipation of getting closer to the 'blue coat' armies and tending to those that are laying on the floor to sleep.

This she does because she sees how many of them "lay down to take a rest" and feels they need help.

“They may be tired,” the Duchess assumes to herself, as she continues her climb down the precipice.

But this is a war.

And little did she know that most of them that "lay down to rest" were either dying or dead.

For no one comes to the battle to lay down to rest, lounging, or take a nap, unless to rest in peace.

Now, the Duchess was about a couple of yards away from the creek bed floors, and the war rages at its peak.

The blue-coat army is so busy fighting that they don't notice Zea a few meters behind struggling through the thicket brushes down the cliffs.

She climbs down the cliff, getting closer and closer to the creek floor.

The diverse military calls from the commander of the blue coat armies Are so loud and clear now.

Zea is feet away from the creek floor.

Omiji finally gets to the edge of the cliff.

He looks down from the edge, downwards, and once again, to Omiji's bewilderment, he sees the Duchess climbing down the cliff's edge.

It is like a Deja Vu, for he had seen the Duchess climbing down the Palace window tonight as much as he sees her climbing down the cliffs right now again.

"Shivering smokes, Your Highness," Omiji screams in shock as he sees the Duchess hanging loose on some loose vines.

For a moment, Omiji couldn't tell which view held him in astonishment, the battle scenery before him, or the Duchess, climbing down by the cliffs on these vines.

For a moment, Omiji watched the battle.

He sees the brown-coat armies which he quickly recognizes as the REVOLUTIONARY ARMY closing in on the blue-coat army, which is the ROYAL ARMY.

The brown coat army is firing cannons at the blue coats, and this has more effect than the rifle shots coming from the blue coats.

"Your Highness, stop, please, I beg you, climb back up to me," Omiji says to the Duchess.

He races to stand right above where the Duchess climbs.

He looks down at the Duchess holding unto the vine some feet below the cliffs.

Omiji reaches forth his hand to the Duchess, but she is about several feet away from his reach.

Omiji releases a rope fastened to his waist belt.

He releases the rope to the Duchess.

Zea sees as the rope drops down before her face.

She looks up, and in the moonlight, she sees Omiji's worried look in the red-orange-fire-laded night.

She takes a second look at the battle right in front, and the blue-coat armies, many of them are laying down like they all wish to take a rest.

The Duchess looks up again for a second moment at a desperate and bewildered Omiji hanging from the clifftop.

Omiji desperately beckons on her to climb upwards to him.

Zea, in a second thought, grabs the rope from Omiji, and she begins to climb upwards to him.

It is quite a bit of a weight pulling the Duchess up the cliff.

And from the standpoint wherewith Omiji stands at the clifftop, pulling up the Duchess can topple him over headlong, down o'er the cliff along, but he held on strong, positioning himself, and he didn't prolong.

Soon he holds the Duchess by the right arm, then he makes a strong pull upwards, and up he pulls the Duchess to the precipice.

Suddenly Omiji hears a soldier afar off yell, and the soldier points straight at them high on the precipe.

The soldier yells in Russian, "шпион!"

'шпион,' translates in English as, "spies!"

The soldier points at the cliffs where Omiji is pulling the Duchess up the cliffs.

"Spies," Omiji says in perplexity.

He looks to see about five blue-coat soldiers running towards them about two hundred yards away down by the creek bed.

"шпион, шпион, шпион," they yelled in somewhat Russian.

About this time Omiji has pulled the Duchess up the cliff, and the Duchess is yet adjusting her expensive fur coat.

Her fur coat is a gift from the Duchess' admirer, General Rotkov.

At the Ball, on the night the Duchess danced with the General, the Duchess was feeling cold because she wore an open-back gown.

Then General Rotkov after a dance gifted her a fur coat (a wolf skin fur coat made from real wolf fur from Northern Albania, very expensive, and about ten gold bags worth).

This he gifted to the Duchess as a token of his care for her, and for her not to get chilled by the cold Russian winter night.

Or was it really why he gave her the fur coat on the night of the Ball?

The story will tell.

But that was many months ago on New Year's Eve, in what is now remembered as the last days of peace and harmony in the lands.

Suddenly the royal soldiers running by the creek bed yell once again, "шпион, шпион, шпион!"

Omiji hurriedly hurls up his rope as fast as he can.

He ties the rope hurriedly around his arm and affixes it to his waist.

The Duchess is yet adjusting her girdle, and her 'magic mirror', and whilst she swirls around, the mirror on her girdle reflects light across the flames from the valley, and this shines a light reflection from the glass across the cliffs, a mirror reflection, like when light reflects on a mirror surface.

This the Duchess did subconsciously, but she doesn't notice that it seemed like she is giving off a signal across the creek bed.

This made the royal soldiers running towards them (about a hundred yards away now from the cliffs) now take a firing stance.

Omiji looks down the creek bed, and he sees the soldiers taking the firing stance afar off.

The soldiers go on one knee, pointing their rifles at them at the cliffs, and they are ready to shoot.

The Duchess walks majestically into the woods, she heads home, trailing a track a few yards south from the cliffs.

She is completely oblivious to what is happening behind her.

But Omiji standing closer to the cliffs can see that they were about to be shot at by the soldiers down by the creek, though from about a hundred yards away.

Without care, the Duchess walks on by in oblivion.

Zea walks down the trail in the woods, feeling very glad about the so far adventure that she has experienced, and she, being majestic in her walk, is oblivious of the danger behind her.

"Who are they yelling at," the Duchess says, for she hears the men yelling from the creek bed.

Omiji pushes her slightly lightly, for her to make a run for it, then he gazes down the creek bed once again, he sees the Royal soldiers are about to fire.

Omiji yells at the Duchess, "Run, Your Highness, Run."

"What, what," the Duchess says, startled, and confused.

Omiji pushes the Grand Duchess to the ground and a rain of bullets hails across the bulrushes.

A shower of bullets rattles the woods above their heads.

The second rain of bullets rains across the trees above their heads.

Omiji holds the Duchess close to the ground.

They coil up on the grasses like Armadillos.

The Duchess yells and screams so loudly at the sound of the shots, but the sounds of the gunshots prevail extremely louder than her screams.

Her scream sounds like a bird's chirp in a waterfall.

"What's going on," the Duchess yells, as the bullets continue to rain.

She holds her head on the ground, curling up in fear like a puppy.

"They are shooting at us, Your Highness," Omiji yells back, they both coiled up on the floor amidst the bullet rains.

"And why's that," The Duchess yells, yet again.

"I think your mirror, Your Highness," Omiji says.

"Your mirror gave away our position!"

"My mirror," the Duchess replies, in astonishment.

"How about my mirror?"

"Now listen to me your Highness, this is no time for 'I told you so speech'," Omiji yells amidst the rain of bullets.

"When I say run for it, just get up and run down the trail into the woods back to the palace, run like your life depends on it cos' it does, you hear me, Your Highness?"

A rain of bullets hails down again over their heads in the bushes.

"Okay, okay, okay," The Duchess replies quickly, and affirmatively.

Omiji waits a while, then again, the bullets come once more, then there is a pause for about a moment.

Then Omiji yells, "run for it, Your Highness, run now!"

The Duchess gets up and makes a run for it down the trail into the woods.

Omiji follows her with his sword out, his sword glitters and shines in the moonlight.

They run like a bunch of children on a strawberry heist.

They run down about a hundred more meters down the trail into the woods.

The Duchess stops running it was obvious that they are now out and away from clear and present danger.

She sits by the track gasping for breath.

She then picks up a big stick by the roadside, and she holds it firmly like a weapon that she would use to strike at an enemy or something like that.

Then comes Omiji bumping into the Duchess from behind.

The Duchess swings the stick at Omiji, oblivious that he is the one at her back.

Omiji docks, and holds the Duchess by the arm.

They both fall on the grass, and they laugh so hard at each other, both are in each other's arms, laying by the grass, in the silver moonlight.

They laugh at the incident that just occurred which they find quite hilarious, for they escaped by a hairs' breadth.

They both could have been shot off the cliffs like ducks.

But somehow, by luck, they both laugh at the excitement and adventure of the escapade.

Omiji stops laughing and sits up.

The Duchess is still in laughter.

She laughs hard and continuously, on the grass, turning from side to side as she laughs.

Suddenly they hear a loud howl from a distance.

Definitely of a very big wild animal, maybe pf a wolf, a coyote, or a bear.

The loud howl brings them back to the reality that they are not yet completely 'out of the woods'.

The Duchess sits up as she hears the howl.

"What was that," Zea asks.

She looks about surprisingly, around the misty woods.

Omiji stands, "it should be a coyote," he says.

He stretches his hand to Zea, to pull her up, she takes his hand, and he pulls the Duchess to her feet.

"We need to start moving," Omiji says.

"After you, Your Highness, I can't let you slip past me anymore," he says.

He beckons on the Duchess to move before him, one hand on his sword, which he has put back into its sheath.

"Let's go, Your Highness," Omiji says.

Again, he gestures for the Duchess to move ahead of him.

Now, Omiji didn't tell the Duchess of the people he met on his way, Mr. Bitkov, and his band of 'werewolf' hunters, or so they were.

Omiji did not mention this to the Duchess for not to scare her.

And he didn't put up a worried countenance either, not to raise her suspicion.

This probably is why he says that the howl they hear can be that of a coyote.

Coyote he says, and not a 'wolf', or a 'bear'.

This he reckons, and he says this not to scare the Duchess, or of any other thing that can be lurking in these woods.

The Duchess looks at Omiji for a moment and perceives he may be trustworthy after all.

This she perceives in her countenance by the pearl moonlight.

She then obliges and follows his lead.

They walk down the trail once again.

The moonlight is getting a bit dim, but they can see their way down the trail road in the woods.

"You are quite a brave guard Omiii....what's your name again," the Duchess says.

They walk on by the woods.

"My name is Omiji, Your Highness," he says.

"Ahh, yes, Omiti..." the Duchess says as she walks along.

"'Omiji', Your Highness, not 'Omiti'," Omiji says.

"Oh, yea, Omiji, Omiti, whatever," the Duchess says sarcastically.

Spontaneously the Duchess leaps in joy as she walks along.

"I saw war today, woohoo," the Duchess says excitedly.

She takes a quick look behind her to see a very worried Omiji walking behind her with his head down.

Omiji looks grim, he stares down at the grasses as he walks along.

"Why are you so downcast," the Duchess asks.

Omiji stays silent.

The Duchess stops and turns around.

"I am asking you a question guard," the Duchess says with some harshness to her tone.

"Why are you so worried," She asks again.

"We are at war Your Highness, in case you didn't realize, what you saw back there, those soldiers in the brown coat, they are coming to the palace," Omiji says.

"Coming to the palace, to do what there," the Duchess asks. "I thought the fight will end at the creek bed?"

"No, Your Highness, you thought wrong," Omiji says. "They are coming to the palace to make war, the Emperor's army, the blue coats, are trying to stop them."

"The Emperor's army, who is the Emperor's army?" the Duchess asks.

"The soldiers in the blue coat are, those shooting at us," Omiji says.

"Keep moving Your Highness."

He pushes the Duchess gently from behind for her to keep moving, the Duchess takes a few steps forward and stops again.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that it was Dad's army that shot at me?" the Duchess says hysterically. "Are they crazy, don't they know I am the Grand Duchess of Russia, I am going back to talk to them right away!"

Suddenly, she begins to head back the other way, the way they just came.

The Duchess walks past Omiji briskly.

She heads back the way they came.

"Where are you going," Omiji says.

He runs after the Duchess and holds her by the arm.

"Your Highness, if they see us now, we are dead, dead, did you hear me," Omiji retorts.

He holds the Duchess by the arm tightly for her not to take another step further.

"They will kill us, but why, I just heard you say they are the Emperor's army," the Duchess says with a bit of confusion in her voice.

"Well, yes, they are the Emperor's army, but right now, they think we are spies sneaking past them," Omiji says.

"Spies, how," the Duchess asks.

"Okay, what in heavens' name, are we doing in this neck of the woods at this time of night," Omiji asks.

"But I come to this part of the woods always, it's like my second home to me, you can ask Birdie, right Birdie?" Zea says.

She wears a sarcastic look on her face, her hand on her mirror fastened to her waist.

"Was there a war going on then when you came to these woods, were guns blazing, cannons roaring, and who is 'Birdie' I hear you say," Omiji asks.

He is now getting impatient because he perceives that the soldiers that shot at them can be lurking in the woods now searching for them.

He beckons on the Duchess to keep moving.

"Can we keep moving please," Omiji says.

He begins to walk down the road, pulling the Duchess along.

"No, not till you tell me how we became spies all of a sudden, in our land," Zea retorts in a yell.

"And 'Birdie' is my Bird friend by the way!"

She pulls her arm off Omiji's grip, and she keeps her hands folded, then at akimbo.

"Birdie, a bird friend, are you kidding me right now," Omiji says.

"We are right in the middle of the forest, in the middle of the night, bullets are been fired at us, coyotes howling and bears growling, and you make 'bird jokes'?"

"Birdie is not a bird joke," the Duchess replies.

"Okay then what is it, cos' I don't see any birds around at this time of night," he says.

Zea keeps her hands on akimbo, she looks in the other direction, away from Omiji, to show that she's not bothered about what he's saying.

"Okay, you know what, you're right, soon we will have Butterflies and Blueberries too?" Omiji says sarcastically.

The Duchess still stands on a spot.

"Have you not gotten me into enough trouble already to make jokes, can we just keep walking on please, or I will be forced to carry you, Your Highness," he says.

"Don't you dare," the Duchess yells.

But almost immediately, Omiji lifts the Grand Duchess off her feet and carries her up like a doll.

He places her on his shoulder.

The Duchess relents, shouting and kicking like a puppet.

"Put me down, put me down this instant," she yells.

Omiji pays her no mind.

He carries her along down the trail.

"You know I can have you put in jail for this," Zea says.

Omiji keeps walking down the trail as fast as he can.

"Yea, as much as I will be honored for getting the Duchess killed in this neck of the woods," he replies.

"I will rather be jailed, than have you in danger, Your Highness."

Omiji continues down the trail that leads to the palace.

Zea is upon his shoulders, her palms to her chin.

"Are you always like this," Zea asks.

"Like what," Omiji replies.

"Too protective, too stubborn," Zea says.

"I'm just doing my job, Your Highness," Omiji replies.

"Oh, now I see, your job huh, what else is your job, if I may ask," Zea says.

"To die for the Emperor...and to guard and to protect his family," Omiji says.

"Aah, I see," Zea says.

They get to the downhill, the palace is right down the hill about a few hundred meters away.

Omiji lowers the Duchess to her feet.

"We are back to the palace," Omiji says to the Duchess.

He points to the palace.

"Let's make it into your court before it's daylight," he says to her.

Zea on her feet now, adjusts her fur coat, her mirror in her girdle, and she walks down the hill without saying a word to Omiji.

They walk downhill, till they get to the palace walls close to the opening in the fence where Zea slipped away through.

Zea is about to slither through the gash in the wall, Omiji holds her by the hand for a moment.

Zea turns and looks Omiji in the eyes.

In the moonlight, their eyes catch each other in a crystal glimpse.

They stare at each other for a moment.

"I can't pass through the gash in the wall with you, Your Highness, my armor won't let me," Omiji says.

Zea quickly takes a harmonious look at his armor from head to toe.

"But I'm happy you're back safe to the palace," Omiji says.

In the moonlight, Zea looks at him with a long gaze.

A somewhat wind of affection trails the air.

Omiji leans forward, he kisses the Duchess on the hand as in a 'hand kiss'.

The Duchess stays still, she keeps her gaze upon Omiji.

But by the moonlight darkly, Omiji lets go of the Duchess' hand...he recedes, and fades into the night...