Castaway

LITTLE TALK

Limo woke up late in the morning. He felt his body ached all over, but just like what Baron told him, it’s not that severe. He prepared himself before he went downstairs. He saw Baron entered his storeroom. Calyx and Amaron are busy doing some wrestling when he reached the back of their cabin. He tried to search for Devanna, but she wasn’t there at their shooting ground. He looked around and was surprised when an arrow almost hit his left foot.

“What the—.“ He looked above him and saw Devanna standing at the big branch of a tree while holding her bow, preparing herself to take another shot.

“No!” Limo shouted and ran back towards the door.

“Run for your life, little fox.” Calyx and Amaron laughed and teased him.

He saw Devanna jumped on the ground. She put her bow and arrow on the side, and that’s when Limo decided to walk near her.

“You woke up late. Do a hundred-meter run, a hundred sit-ups, and a hundred push-ups,” she said.

“What? But no one wakes me up—“

“Make it thrice,” she glared at him.

He didn’t try to speak further, or his punishment will be added.

“You’re a hunter now. It would help if you learned by yourself. When we are on a mission, we’re on our own. It would be best if you didn't wait for others to help you. Save yourself, or you’ll be killed,” she lectured him.

She took his gear and threw it at him. Limo caught it and let Devanna walked away.

“Also, stay alert on lost arrows when you make another mistake,” she warned him.

Limo checked his foot and was thankful enough to see them completely and unscathed.

-0-0-0-

Limo was done with his morning warmups and punishment given to him by Devanna for waking up late. He just arrived from running three hundred meters around the forest the Feidon have marked as their territory. It was almost lunch. He took a seat at the stairs on the cabin’s porch and tried to rest. A bottled water was handed to him, and he saw Devanna. He took it and opened it before he gulped it empty.

He felt no one was shouting or walking around the house and guessed Amaron and Calyx weren’t around.

“Did they gone off somewhere?” he asked her.

“On a mission. Cart told them he found three demons at the uptown, an Abalaki, and two shadows,” she said.

“Who’s Cart?” he asked.

“My uncle, our dad’s brother,” she answered.

“Would you mind telling me about your family?” Limo asked her.

Devanna looked at him as the wind whistled and the sun hid itself from dark clouds.

“Well, as you know, my father is a descendant of the Feidon princess. He has a little brother, Cart. My father barely talks about himself and our mom. That’s why we asked uncle Cart about everything. Calyx likes him a lot, and his stubbornness came after him. They like to fool around and even pulled a prank on dad. It turned out it didn’t do great, actually. Dad scolded both of them.” Limo saw how happy Devanna was talking about her family. He thought if maybe they weren’t born in this mess, they could be a happy family.

“You’re pretty when you smile. You should smile a lot.” That came out from his mouth all of a sudden. Even he was surprised by what he said.

“I guess it’s because of my mom’s blood. She came from the eastern hunters. She’s an eastern royal blood. I wished she was here. If only this curse didn’t happen to us. If only the princess has obeyed her family and stopped their love,” she said.

Limo felt his heart was crushed. It was torn into pieces when Devanna told him about the princess’s curse. He saw Devanna’s curse ignited for a second, and that made her groan.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, it stung a bit, though,” she said.

“Devy, Limo, lunch is ready,” Baron called them.

They stood up from the stairs and followed Baron to the dining area.

“Anyway, Limo,” Devanna called him when he was still on the door.

“Belated Happy Birthday.” Devanna handed him a bracelet made with a black cord and a round wooden charm.

“I know it’s very late,” she said.

“No, it’s okay. Thank you,” he smiled.

-0-0-0-

“The numbers of demons increased these past few days,” a man wearing cargo shorts and a black shirt told them.

“Well, it only means we’re going to get busy purifying them off, isn’t it, uncle Cart?” Amaron told him.

“It’s kind of intriguing, actually. The increase is not like before. Their presence is even more intense than the last time we encounter such numbers,” Cart told them.

“And how many times do I need to clear you? Call me Cart. Adding uncle makes me look old. I’m single and young,” he smirked, putting his hand under his chin.

“Oh ho! Being serious is not really your character, unc—Cart. You look cool when you always act like,” Cart told him.

“I know, I know. You always make me look good, Calyx. That’s why you’re my favorite,” Cart told Calyx.

Amaron looked at them, complementing each other. He’s used to this kind of sight every time they got to work with their uncle Cart. Cart is 15 years younger than Vimeon, Amaron and Calyx’s father. It is also one of the reasons why their ideals are parallel when it comes to talking with kids.

Vimeon is strict with rules and regulations and doesn’t show his emotion. The only person who can tame him and softened his heart was Miki, his wife, and their mother. Calyx, on the other hand, is quite a carefree man. He believed everyone is meant to die, and you just have to enjoy life while you’re still breathing. He accepted their family’s fate and didn’t see Devanna as someone who will bring bad luck to them. But even though he’s quite fond of Vimeon’s kids, he doesn’t want to have a family of his own. He will only drag them down in their curse.

“Are you done spreading some honey in each other’s back?” Amaron asked them.

“You really are the eldest,” Cart remarked while laughing.

“Okay, so these two Shadows are always roaming around in this empty room. We have to purify it first without disturbing the Abalaki. It may try to get away before we purify it. I’ll leave the Shadows to you while I’ll check where the Abalaki is hiding. Did you bring with you your elixirs?” Cart asked them.

“Always,” Calyx answered.

“And a spare one?” Cart asked.

“Why we need a spare one?” Calyx asked him.

“i***t, the other shadow might have reached his power and will turn into an Abalaki soon. You know that’s when they get stronger. Stronger than a newly formed Abalaki,” Amaron told him.

“Excellent, Amaron. I might consider giving you a badge. You’ll be my next favorite,” Cart said.

Amaron flinched at the thought of him receiving a badge. He hates that one. He faced Calyx, who’s looking at him. His eyes narrowed, and his jaw tightened, ready to bring Amaron down if he really gets the badge Cart was talking about.

“Okay, now we’ll get moving,” Cart announced.

They took their things and fixed themselves. Calyx checked the knives he prepared under his pants and inside his jacket. Amaron stretched his arms and checked the knives he stole from Calyx days ago.

“What the hell, Amaron,” Calyx said.

Amaron immediately hid the knives and smiled at his brother, who’s glaring at him.

“Gentlemen, we don’t have time to fight each other. We—“

Calyx didn’t finish his sentence when a bird suddenly flew beside his face from behind. It happened to make a scratch on his right cheek deep enough to make it bled. The bird turned its head while it flew over the window, and Cart saw a pair of bloody eyes.

“How come I didn’t notice its presence, and how dare it to scratch my handsome face?” Cart immediately jumped over the window, and Amaron and Calyx followed him.

“Go to the location now before it informs the others of our presence here,” Cart ordered them.