Curled Horns

30. The Pixie

Mingi detected Seonghwa on his desk, bent over until his chest was pressed to the tabletop. On his back and holding a gruesome weapon that had Mingi's stomach churn upon sight, sat another one of the cloaked figures. Seonghwa struggled against him, but all twisting and bucking were in vain as the attacker merely tightened the hold of his thighs around the taller demon. A dainty hand adorned by horrible claws was wrapped around one of Seonghwa's horns, while the other one hurried to sink the blade of the ornate saw down on it.

A piece of cloth muffled Seonghwa's mouth, but his scream chilled Mingi's body to the bone when the blade bit his horns. A horrible crunch sounded and blood sprayed everywhere when the pixie brutally ripped the blade back and forth.

Mingi scrambled in their direction, helpless under the overwhelming need to intervene. He nearly slipped on the clothes that had tumbled to the ground, just barely catching himself on another pile that also got sent falling.

Tears streamed over Seonghwa's face. His body twisted like a snake pinned down when the saw dug into him again and again.

It was over faster than expected. The moment Mingi's hand grasped onto the cloak to rip it back and the pixie off Seonghwa hopefully, the sense of urgency reached the attacker, too.

Seonghwa's horns had never been thick, only a third of Mingi's in girth. And yet, the horrible crack when the pixie merely broke off the second half he couldn't saw would haunt Mingi into his nightmares.

Seonghwa slumped onto the table, passing out with tears and blood covering his face. The stump of his horn bled and bled, never stopping to bleed. The sight petrified Mingi, his heart still in his chest as he gazed upon his friend.

The pixie whirled around, cape effortlessly disconnecting from Mingi's fingers. The sudden movement had the hood slip, and for a moment, they stood face to face. Tears brimmed in Mingi's eyes as he stared upon the smaller male full of hatred, but his sight was clear enough to see his long blue hair slip free, hidden in two loose pigtails under his hood. His ears were pointy, poking out behind his head in their length. More piercings than Mingi could count on the brief occasion adorned them, some dangling, some rings that held a plethora of intricate, filigree decorations on them.

His features were just as pointy. A pointy nose, a pointy chin. Bowed lips that had pulled back in a snarl to expose his small pointy teeth and the double tips of his split tongue peeking behind them.

His eyes were chillingly silver. And they held all the malice and deviousness in their lands combined.

The pixie stared back at Mingi, assessing him as a threat. Then his eyes flicked to the door.

He was fast. Faster than Mingi could turn his head, he jumped off Seonghwa's back and pocketed the single horn he had stolen from him. Then, he dashed out onto the street with his hair and cape flying behind him.

Mingi barely heard the commotion on the street, the multiple voices of the guards nearby assembling to chase the flighty pixies over the roofs. The rushing in his ears nearly took over. Before he could collapse, Mingi willed his legs forward to Seonghwa. A broken sob spilt from his lips at the sight of the man. Unable to help, Mingi just pressed the first cloth he saw to the man's horn stump, trying to still the bleeding. He didn't have enough hands when he tried to exchange the cloth regularly, brush Seonghwa's blood clotted hair back, and free him from the painful bindings that held his arms trapped on his back.

"Please-" Mingi sobbed. The blood was too much, and he wasn't sure if Seonghwa's life was in danger. His fingers trembled so bad, and he was afraid to hurt Seonghwa even further when he heard a weak groan from him.