Demus: The Prince And The Milkman

Burning It Down

His eyes widening and growing horrified, Janus immediately froze in place, doing just what the figure asked.

"Good." The person straightened up, throwing their hair behind their shoulder with one hand while holding a knife to Logan's in the other. "I've come to take you home. Cooperate." 

Janus swallowed, feeling fear and horror chase each other around in his body, a bright thread of panic alighting in his heart. "I--" he tried to speak, but his vocal cords seemed to fail him as he stammered for words. 

Logan met Janus's eyes, a hard look in his expression. "Janus," he started, but the figure looked sharply down at him, pressing the knife closer to his throat. Logan gritted his teeth and shot a glare at the person, then looked back at Janus. "Janus, run. You must get out of here, you--" 

"Shut up!" the figure hissed, the knife pressing deeper into Logan's neck until a thin red line appeared. They looked back up at Janus, their stare making a shudder go down the prince's spine. "Janice, I'm going to tell you one last time. Come with me, nobody gets hurt. Run, and he dies." 

Janus looked down at Logan, terrified. "Logan," he whispered, his voice coming out in a broken whimper. No, this could not be happening. Not when he'd finally gotten used to being outside the tower. Not to one of his friends. 

The person snorted in disgust, grabbing a fistful of Logan's hair and pulling at it. "You kidding? This thing has a name?" They looked down at Logan, a revolted scowl on their face. 

Looking back at the figure, Janus drew back, a mixture of fear and disbelief pooling in his stomach. "That thing," he spat, suddenly furious, "is my friend. And yes, he does have a name. And a family. And friends. Such as me." 

"Janus, no. You have to get away--" Logan cut himself off with a shout as the person dug the knife further into his throat, and a trickle of blood dripped out of the small slit. 

"Alright, Janice?" the person hissed, their mouth curling down into a scowl. "So you go outside and tell your friends that you found... Logan, and then you come back here and run away with me. And we leave this piece of slime behind."

Logan glanced up at the figure, frowning in annoyance. "I am, in fact, a humanoid person, much like yourself. I am in no way related to any kind of liquid, even if the said liquid is supporting a viable life." 

He met the person's gaze with a steady one of his own that Janus admired. The prince didn't even think that he could trust himself to stand. 

Suddenly, the sound of fabric moving caught the attention of everyone in the room, and Janus's heart stopped for the second time that night. 

"Janus, is everything okay?" Emile asked, pushing through the tent. "Is--" 

He stopped, his mouth dropping open and his eyes sweeping along the scene, taking in everything that was happening. Janus looked back at Emile, a panicked look in his eyes. "Emile, you have to go," he whispered, his gaze darting back and forth between the awful scene and his friend. 

Emile took a step toward his brother before looking behind him to see the figure holding a knife to his throat. His expression changed from horrified to furious, a kind of smoldering fury burning in his eyes that Janus had never seen before. 

The person tilted their head at Emile, drawing back slightly at the furious look on the mage's face. "Ah, another person with... connections to you?" They spat the words out, but there was still a hint of fear in their words. "This is getting needlessly complicated. I don't want to deal with a butterfly right now..." they faded off, scanning Emile up and down. "Shoo." 

At that very moment, Janus knew that something was coming. The level of energy in the tent swiftly rose until the very air was buzzing like it was filled with electricity, the hairs on the back of Janus's neck standing up. A faint shudder went through Janus's body as he watched Emile, his mouth dropping slightly open. 

"Janus, get out of the tent," Logan shouted at him. He turned to his brother, struggling again against his bonds, a hard look in his eyes. "Emile, don't--" 

Ignoring Logan, Emile clenched his hand into a fist and spat out three syllables in a language that Janus did not recognize. The lantern burst into flame, the oil-soaked coal catching ablaze somehow and burning brightly in the tent. The person whirled to look at the flame, backing up. The knife slipped out of their hand and they let out a whispered curse, their entire posture tensing up. 

Janus did not need to be told twice. 

As soon as he ran out of the stall, a loud, agonized howl ripped through the night air, soon followed by a shudder that went through the very earth that Janus was standing on. 

Stumbling and watching the entrance to the tent for any more movement, Janus hid within the crowd-- people had still somehow failed to notice the scream, likely because it mingled with all the other cries of "Thief!" and "Get him!"

Janus stared at the tent flap for any sign of life. After a few more moments, something inside it moved, and Janus nearly fell backward as two people came out. 

He was just about to start running when he recognized Emile and Logan. The two were covered in ashes, and Emile's hand was covered in something that looked faintly like blood, but they were both uninjured. Janus sent a heartfelt thank-you to the powers that be before rushing up and pulling both of them into a tight hug. 

"You're safe," he gasped, drawing back and looking between the both of them. "Both of you. W-wait, Logan, your--" he stopped, looking for the slit on Logan's throat, but it wasn't there. Janus stared at it for a few seconds, trying and failing to speak. 

"Let's just say that magic is a very useful skill," Emile mumbled, taking a deep, shaking breath. He grinned tiredly at Janus, and the prince could see dark circles under the mage's eyes that hadn't been there before. "But it's... also pretty draining, if I'm being honest." 

Logan slipped one arm behind his brother, supporting the other in case he fainted-- which, by the way that Emile was looking, was a fair possibility. "It has to do with the amount of soul energy you have," Logan explained in a soft tone. "The more soul energy you have, the longer and more draining of spells you can use before you pass out. If you use too much of it, you go into a deep sleep for however long it takes for your soul to replenish." 

Janus nodded dumbly, looking back and forth between the two. "I'm not going to pretend I understood that," he whispered. "Let's just... get back to the group. I think it's time for us to meet them at the fire."