Lupus Diabolus

Her Story, Continued

            Somewhere in the Adaline region, a couple of days trip away from Summinat, one of travelers woke up very early in the morning to continue their journey. They were familiar faces that would bring comfort for those who followed their exploits, especially those who were familiar with their adventures three years ago.

            The one who woke up was a Lycan named Lilac Rezmirn. Her form could better be described as a pseudo-hellhound for she had a body proportion of a hellhound and the eyes of one, only missing the triangle-tipped, cat-like tails and fur markings. Her black fur was once the color of her hair, but it was already a thing in the past. She could no longer transform into several different forms.

            However, the one thing she would surely not miss was the involuntary transformation under the full moon. It was true that a Lycan could control their transformation, but she was given a different opportunity by the one she still loved: Ifrit. Lilac was not ready to move on, despite her friends’ attempts to persuade her to do so. She was still young and fair, and Ifrit was gone, never to return. Yet, Lilac was still stuck in her past and was still unable to move on, especially not when she blamed herself for his death. Aside from her guilt, she knew she would never find any other hellhounds that was like Ifrit. He was unique in his own ways, and had a lot of charm: rebellious, but also caring and frankly, rather out of his depth. A confused foreigner made him quirky, yet fun.

            She must admit that she was a bit intimidated by his brutal and violent way of dispatching his foes. It did not turn her off, by any means. It was so in contrast to his vulnerable, yet caring, personality.

            But then, that devotion to Ifrit was in question when she found more facts about the circumstances of her incident. As she started making breakfast on the portable gas-powered stove, the fire reminded her of a fact that baffled her and the others. Due to her limited knowledge of hellhounds, she never questioned why she lost her ability to transform and stuck in a form that was neither Lycan nor hellhound. The question started at least two years ago, when the trio saved a couple harassed by hellhounds near the zone of conflict. After dispatching the hellhounds, they realized that the couple, a hellhound and a human, had a family of two. The human turned out to be a Lycan when she transformed to protect their children. The fact that they had children confused Lilac, and even more confusing, the children were hybrids. They still had the ability to transform, but they were never completely human. Rather, they had the face of a human, but the eyes and ears of a hellhound, along with their tail. They were inherited from the father.

            It became clear that during their travels, the incident that turned Lilac into a pseudo-hellhound remain a unique circumstance never replicated on other interracial couples, especially those with a family. The question remained in her mind as they continued doing work for Anarim while visiting Sammael every time they returned to Summinat. Due to the current demonic problems, a Barghest would surely cause a stir just as much as the other murderous demons they encountered in their travels.

            As Lilac pondered about her experience since Ifrit’s death, she cooked the scrambled eggs, tomato, and bacon for their breakfast in the campground. Albert, who was making a coffee, approached her and said, “That smells great, Lilac. What’s in it, this time?”

            “Basil and oregano, just like last time,” said Lilac. “Oh, and a sprinkle of dried thyme for taste.”

            “I’ll be sure to appreciate that,” said Albert while yawning. He then noticed Lilac’s bandaged shoulder and said, “It still stings?”

            “It’s been a week, so I think it starts to heal.”

            “You know, Lilac, I never…”

            “It’s just a flesh wound, Al. We’re bound to get hurt in this line of work, as I have been aware for some time. Where’s Esh, by the way? He’s already gone when I woke up.”

            “Hunting rabbits. I insisted on buying some in the town, but he insisted to hunt.”

            “I carved rabbit’s meat and still am. Let’s see if he got any. If not, it’s venison night.”

            Albert chuckled. “You already got it prepared, huh? What will we do without you?”

            Lilac smiled back, feeling rather complimented by her human friend.

            Albert Schafner was a demon hunter who, in his words, ‘moonlighting’ as a freelance cargo hauler, though he stopped his second line of work ever since Tragoria fell into the demons’ hands. It was part of a more elaborate plan to determine where the incursion would start, which happened as Anarim warned him. He managed to tell his guild that it would start in Lilac’s home village, Sidve, based on Lilac’s own deductions, but they had their hands full with the skirmishes that intensified in Dusdolf. If they had to choose, they chose the region they could protect the best, and as a result, Tragoria fell to the demons.

            Lilac saw what happened to her old region and was rightfully angry by it. However, Albert gave her a good reason not to spite the demon hunters, specifically the part where they were Dusdolfians for starters and they were more obliged to protect their own region, which was already under constant attack from the demons. Albert was the only demon hunter assigned to Tragoria, and he knew he would only get himself killed, as did Lilac and Eshdar. So, with a heavy heart, Lilac could only watch as her home region were ravaged by the demons and their hellhound supporters. In just three years, the once fair region of green meadows and pleasant farmlands were turned into a fiery wasteland.

            Feeling helpless, she decided to train to properly fight not as a beast, but as a proper fighter. She had not mastered it all, but she learned the basics and kept fighting her enemies to train and adapt. In just three years, she became a formidable fighter that complemented the others. While Eshdar and Albert fought with their long-ranged weapons, Lilac was more comfortable fighting with her claws and kicks. She even managed to save many towns and villages being assaulted by the demons using her kicks alone, all enhanced by the anti-demonic silver Albert requisitioned from his pugilist friend, Heinrich, who supplied her with a knee guard and clawed gloves tipped with silver. She never had a problem with the silver, until a faithful day where she found that the silver happened to be a double-edged sword, and gave her the answer of who Ifrit really was.

            The faithful day happened a week ago when she helped recapture a Tragorian village. While fighting against the demons and the hellhounds occupying the village, Albert accidentally shot Lilac on the shoulder when she was being attacked from behind. She was in the way, so he was forced to shoot near her, though in the heat of the conflict, she did not heed a simple graze from a bullet. He expected that the shot would only cause a graze wound, but the wound started burning Lilac’s shoulder just as the stray bullet hit a lesser demon, completely vaporizing it. As a trained demon hunter, he knew how to remove the blessing on the get go, but the damage was done.

            The fact that the graze wound burned her like it burned a demon made it clear that Lilac suffered an advanced demonic corruption that somehow stopped before it started corrupting her conscience and herself. Albert explained, with the best of his knowledge, that the demon that gave her the corruption wasn’t a true demon, otherwise, she would be consumed by the corruption a long time ago. Due to it being too advanced, her corruption was irreversible. She thought that it could be during the attack on the bridge where she lost Ifrit, knowing that she was also wounded by the mutated hellhounds that seemed to be demonic in nature, but Albert gave a more embarrassing, more personal conclusion when he had the chance to break the news to her.

            “Lilac, I can sense the source of the corruption.” He then gulped, unable to say it without embarrassing both him and Lilac.

            “What? Where?”

            “It’s…it’s…”

            Albert could only point to her s*x, to which she became flustered.

            “Oh, no. You mean, Ifrit…?”

            “Unfortunately.”

            The news that Ifrit was not a regular hellhound hit her quite hard, especially considering that when she found about it, Ifrit was death and she could not ask the hellhound about it. She couldn’t be sure if Ifrit knew this all along. Still, she held on to the fact that her lover was not trying to deliberately corrupt her.

            And even if he did, it was her own fault to be seduced by a demon.

            Lilac shook her head from the thoughts. Ifrit was not a demon. He was a hellhound. There must be some logical explanation.

            As the sun rose and Lilac prepared the breakfast on the picnic table, she noticed Eshdar walking out of the forest carrying a handful of rabbits and hares. He hunted a lot more than he should, but it was normal for his line of work before traveling with the group.

            “They got a lot of ‘em in there,” said Eshdar as he set down his hunt. “We can skin and sell the fur and keep all the meat. Or do you prefer if we sell some of it? We do have supplies for our own in the cooler.”

            “You do that,” said Lilac. “You’re the hunter. You know the better deal.”

            “Says someone who hunts like a wolf,” said Eshdar while smiling.

            “Don’t get cheeky on me, Eshdar Winsel. Come on, eat your breakfast.”

            Eshdar let out a playful chuckle before he sat down and ate the breakfast. Eshdar’s mannerism did not change as he tried to lighten things up, but deep down, he also felt guilty, not because he was unable to save Ifrit, but because he survived. Ifrit saved him from being pulled out of the car by the mutated hellhound but paid the ultimate price as the result. He confided in Lilac, saying that he was sorry. Lilac understood, for she blamed herself, too.

            Everyone who was there when Ifrit went missing felt they should’ve done more. However, as the year went by, they slowly started to move on and forgive themselves. No one ever blamed them for that. Like Sammael, they had a choice to blame Rhynsa, but if it wasn’t for his change of mind, Ifrit might not even survive past the bridge. Lilac always knew that the anguish and pain the Fuzandre felt was enough for him to be corrupted by his own desire for a pointless vengeance.

            But their personal grieves fueled them to find the other surviving member of the Schelkz family, who became a person of interest due to his way of dealing with the hellish incursion. Like the demon that wreaked havoc and caused chaos that delayed the incursion before it could devastate Adaline, Nergora Schelkz and his companion, Sovarn, fought the attempted invasion of Adaline, specifically those who disguised themselves among the oppositions. He clearly knew a lot of their enemies’ intel, and the opposition would like to enlist him for their efforts. Espionage and sabotage had become a problem lately, and both could undermine their efforts in protecting the remaining regions.

            They needed answers, and they needed it soon, before it was too late.

***

            Once they finished their breakfast and got into the car, they drove to the place where the person of interest, Nergora, was last reported. The forest slowly disappeared, replaced with a relatively lush grassland. However, up on the horizon, they could see where they would go: the sea.

            Even after Ifrit was gone and their journey continued, Lilac had never been to the sea before. Albert had promised her that they would go to a seaside town one day, but for one year, they were busy doing jobs for Anarim and the hellhounds of Avicelis, mostly gathering allies and liberating towns and villages within their efforts. They managed to meet a lot of them throughout their journey, along with humans and Lycans who were considered outcasts for giving out nonsenses about a hellish incursion. Lycans were treated even worse due to prejudices in some human-populated communities, especially when they showed they could transform. Hellhounds got the worst treatment because they could not transform, but their intimidating nature prevented further troubles. But, most of the times, many settlements adamantly refused the help of hellhounds, and due to that, they fell against the demons. Lilac heard that many were converted and their ideals corrupted by the demons, all because they refuse help from ‘dogs’.

            Fortunately, only the deepest, remotest area in both Tragoria and Adaline did so, and there weren’t many. Albert chose not to find allies there because in his eyes, it was useless. His judgement was right, and as a result, they found a lot of cells that worked with their own ways, separate from the ones in Summinat and Avicelis, but were still willing to work together for a common goal.

            The seaside town of Idrisham was not a big town, but it was due to its nature as a seaside holiday resort and not a commercial center. Those who chose a less expensive seaside getaway deemed Idrisham as a good choice. It had a local brass band entertaining visitors, a short boardwalk with penny arcades for children, and food stalls with the local food that Lilac thought was distinctively Tragorian such as fish and chips, along with some seafoods in the restaurants. The town managed to keep operating despite the problems with the incursion, and it was helped by the fact that the town managed to not become anyone’s interest for three years.

            Due to the travelling restrictions, not many visited Idrisham despite it being a holiday season. However, Idrisham had some motorists who parked their cars in the parking lot, with their own Liz joining them. Albert then secured the car and applied the handbrake before he locked the steering wheel. He was the only car that did so, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

            “Right,” said Albert after he climbed down his car. “The pub’s always the best place to ask for anything.”

            “Agreed,” said Lilac. “But isn’t that a bit too conspicuous? I thought his appearance is too striking and we’re pretty much in a public, tourist space. He will get unwanted attentions.”

            “And considering how notorious he is, I doubt he’s going to be in a pub,” said Eshdar. “Hound’s a bit too careful not to be caught by eyewitnesses. That’s why we haven’t been able to find him.”

            “Well, hiding in plain view is a thing. No one’s going to expect someone to be hiding among the major populaces.”

            As they walked through Idrisham, Lilac noticed a crowd of people lining up in front of a small storefront advertising ‘Comical Exhibitions’. It was clearly not a theatre hall since it was more like a painting or a photo studio. However, people seemed to like it.

            Albert saw it, too, and knew what it was.

            “That’s a nickelodeon,” said Albert. “Not very good in term of comfort, but no one’s gonna complain when some comedic short is shown on screen.”

            “Screen?”

            “Moving pictures. Very recent and very cheap to exhibit compared to elaborate theatrical sets. It’s a way to make entertainment more available for everyone. I know it’s still in black and white and there’s no sound, but life goes on. People once said cars are too ambitious. Well, now it’s not. Unless it’s a flying car. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day cars can fly and films have sound and color.”

            “Do they have nickelodeons in Dusdolf?” asked Lilac.

            “Not many, but it will soon change. Not sure if that’s going to be the case with everything that’s happening right now, though.”

            Lilac silently praised Albert’s optimism of the future, even though it was still in a dark. Whatever happened next would very well depend on how things went. It was, however, not up to them.

            Feeling that drinking and listening in the pub wouldn’t make things easier, Albert decided that they all spend their day on the beach while keep searching for a peculiar-looking hellhound in that town.

            But before they could even start thinking of doing so, Eshdar looked at the beach and noticed a commotion. At first, he assumed it was just a simple argument from drunken people. However, once he started to notice the details, he soon realized it wasn’t just a fight.

            Five hellhounds and a demon creature dragged a scared young hellhound to the beach while the rest dragged adult hellhounds to the beach, badly beaten up. The humans and the Lycans were horrified by this act and some even tried to intervene, only to be threatened by a shotgun. He quickly connected the dots of what they were going to do.

            “s**t,” said Eshdar as he ran to the beach. Lilac and Albert quickly realized what he saw and ran to follow him.

            Eshdar was close enough to hear the hellhounds, in Hordo, declaring the family as traitors for openly showing their support to the ‘dead royals’, with the rest of the hellhounds agreeing. Their declaration clearly made the onlookers confused, so they chose to said it in Tragorian, possibly to scare the onlookers.

            Instead, it only intimidated them, as for them, it looked like a very prejudiced execution. One Lycan transformed into her wolf form and, without hesitation, clawed one of the hellhounds in the face.

            “To us, you look like the enemy, so piss off before I bite your bloody nose off,” said the feisty lady.

            The hellhound she clawed did not appreciate a ‘surface dweller’ touching him. He felt so insulted that he pulled out his gun and declared that people like her should know her place. The transformed lady only scoffed and bared her claws against the hellhound’s gun.

            Eshdar was just ready to throw one of his throwing knives when a hellhound with a cane approached the group and put his hand on the gun.

            “(That’s no way to talk to a lady, young one),” said the hellhound. His speech was eloquent, but also had a threatening tone to it.

            “(What? It’s within my rights to do this! The royals won’t let you touch them without making it a treason!)”

            “(Oh? Where did I hear that before?)” said the old hellhound.

            “(From everyone! Are you so out of the loop, old dog?!)”

            “(Pardon me, but I’m several decades older than you. I don’t follow the young ones’ fad, let alone one that claimed they finally defeated ‘tyranny’ by a purposeless uprising. Maybe you should get your facts checked before you declared it to be so).”

            The hellhound clearly took the soft-spoken hellhound to be a royal supporter, judging by his rather sarcastic remark regarding the uprising. However, Eshdar knew it was to throw the hellhound off guard, for when he scoffed and said, “(Maybe you should get your tongue and your allegiance checked, old dog, before I put a bullet in your face for supporting those who made us suffer!)”, the light grey hellhound knocked the gun off his hand and pointed it at the hellhound.

            “(And maybe you should keep your emotions in check and not to underestimate an old hellhound like me, lad),” he said. “(I do try to finish this with words, but I suppose you need something a bit stronger than words).”

            “(Oh? You’re gonna shoot me?)” challenged the hellhound. “(Do you realize how outnumbered you are?)”

            Eshdar took this moment to knock some of the hellhounds behind their heads while imploring the family to run away. The hellhound was distracted by this and the old hellhound shot him in the leg, causing him to scream in pain.

            “(Well, you know what they say. Cheaters never prosper…but only when it’s a game).”

            The demon creature did not hesitate to attack the old hellhound, but the hellhound did not hesitate to shoot the demon, either. It unloaded everything in the revolver on the creature, incapacitating but not killing it. It recovered soon after and resumed its attack, but this time, it was stopped by an ice that lowered the temperature of the beach. It was encased in an ice that soon shattered. Its frozen carcass dissipated afterwards.

            The hellhound, already scared by the showcase of the power, could not even say anything to intimidate the old hellhound. The old hellhound slowly moved his face closer to the misguided hellhound and said, “(I think it’s time for you to leave. Leave, and never come back).”

            “(W-we’ll be back soon enough, you traitor!)” threatened the hellhound. “(You and your pitiful kings and queens cannot fight against the masses!)”

            “(And I’m looking forward to it),” said the old hellhound. “(By then, maybe you should consider which one of us is the traitor who sold their souls to the demons. I doubt slaves like you even understand anything about a revolution).”

            The hellhound could not reply with something clever and could only spew out hollow threats as he scurried away from the scene. This time, he saw Eshdar and his tail ornaments. Eshdar clearly noticed that he considered giving out a strong insult to the royal, but a simple glare and a knife scared him away, along with the townspeople clamoring to beat the hellhounds up. Eshdar simply shrugged as he saw how they started limping away after being thoroughly humiliated.

            “(And you, Hunter),” said the hellhound when he turned to Eshdar. “(Care to explain yourself?)”

            “(I can say the same thing to you. From what it looks like, this is the first time this town has ever seen such brand of ‘justice’ before).”

            “(There is always a first in everything, young lad. Idrisham’s always a quiet beach town, but lately, with the Incursion already on the way, even a quiet place like this still has its own shares of hellhounds standing behind their demons).”

            “(No one bothered to defend the town?)”

            “(Unfortunately, we are the only ones capable enough to do so).”

            “(Yeah. I can see why. Anyway, my name’s Eshdar Winsel).”

            “(Winsel?)” said the old hellhound, surprised. “(You a royal?)”

            “(What of it?)”

            “(It means a lot. We are fully aware of Anarim Winsel, presumably a relative, trying to find us. The young master is adamant that we work for ourselves, but I told him to reconsider).”

            “(And I will reconsider),” said a voice.

            Eshdar looked behind the old hellhound and saw a peculiar-looking hellhound. His fur was entirely white like a snow and quite bright as it reflected the sunlight. His eyes were icy blue and cold, just like most of his fur. Another interesting thing he noticed was that as he approached, the area grew colder until it quickly became as cold as winter, despite of it being a beachside town with no known occurrence of snow. Eshdar never thought a hellhound like him exist, considering how the Underworld would be uncomfortable for someone who seemed more comfortable in a cold surface winter.

            Lilac also noticed the hellhound and his features. She quickly realized they had found their person of interest.

            “Then, we can assume that you’re Nergora Schelkz?” said Lilac to the white-furred hellhound. She gulped and said, “You’re…Ifrit’s brother?”

            “Well, you seem to know him well,” said Nergora. “I always know Ifrit’s a capable hound, even if we’re only half-brothers. How is he, by the way?”

            Everyone looked at each other nervously, unable to tell him what they knew of Ifrit’s fate. Nergora caught on and understood their sudden change of mood.

            “He’s…dead, isn’t he?” He said, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

            “We…didn’t know things would turn to the worst,” said Lilac.

            “I…really want to meet him. I only knew him as a cub, so I wish I could tell him how much we need each other. I never hold a grudge against him, even if he was the true heir of the Schelkz family. Well, it’s all for naught now. I am the sole inheritor of the Schelkz legacy, whether I like it or not. I never even wanted to inherit anything.”

            “Ifrit…thought the same. He was never raised as a prince. He wanted to meet you, Nergora, but…”

            “I know.” Nergora’s expression slightly softened. “I’d like to talk, but we cannot involve this town’s people after what they did to those hellhounds. They will have their revenge after such insult. Just like the close-minded humans, these hellhounds do not like those who doesn’t look like them.”

            “Is this town prepared against a demonic assault?” asked Albert. “If not, I am willing to put out wards that will keep this place safe.”

            “And I’ll tell them they need some surface protection,” said the old hellhound. “I hope they understand that we cannot stay in this town for too long without endangering them.”

            “Both of you do what you need to do,” said Nergora. “I’ll pack our bags. Where should we meet?”

            “I’ll show you,” said Lilac. “Come on.”

            They all left the beach before they attracted more attention, with the old hellhound and Albert doing what they planned to do. The crew knew they had accomplished their mission without even thinking about it, though it was a good break after following leads that turned out to be dead ends.

            While Nergora’s merit as someone who potentially had the info against the demons, Lilac saw things a bit differently. She never thought Ifrit’s brother would be so vastly different from the wolf-headed hellhound she loved, and she clearly did not account for the fact that the hellhound had the power of ice.

            But then again, Nergora, like Ifrit, also had a secret of his own, especially regarding his blood.