Daevas -I- ✔️

Chapter 17: Home

The stench of rotting flesh was wrought in the air. Ari covered his nose, but it was too putrid. He recognized the smell. Only wyhils smelled like that after rotting for awhile. The Khaeo would burn their bodies so not to attract any other demons that feed on their flesh. Even when they burned it smelled, but it was a lot quicker and less tiring than burying them. It did not bode well with Ari. Something was amiss.

Ari searched around his surroundings and saw nothing but dead old trees and snow. It is all he saw for the past three days. When he turned to face Kaval, Kaval put a hand out signaling Ari to stop as he continued forward. 

The crunch of Kaval's footsteps was all Ari heard until birds shot up, startling him. Ari licked his lips and stared on. Ari could not sit on his hands and do nothing. He crept closer to Kaval as he used his footprint to follow. Ari felt around his waist for any daggers. There were none. Being kept for so long made him forget one of the core rules Freir embedded in him since he was young. Always have a weapon. 

Ari sucked in his cheeks and sighed. Rein also taught him that anything could be fashioned into a weapon. He ran over and grabbed a stick about the length of his arm. He put half of it under his foot as he lifted up the other side until it snapped. It was now the size of his forearm with a jagged edge. Ari rubbed it up against a tree doing his best to peel away the pieces that he did not need. It would become pointier.

A growl reverberated through the air. Ari's head turned to the sound. He looked around for Kaval, but he had lost him. His senses were off. Auovin took more blood than Ari was ever without. There was no time to muse on it now. The Khaeo raised him, and they did not raise him soft. He would have to make do. Relying on Auovin's and Cyrus' strength for so long made him softer. There would be no more of it if he was to get both him and Kaval through this.

As soon as the stick was sharp enough to his liking, Ari stalked towards where the fading scent of Kaval lingered. It was hard for him to separate Kaval's scent from the strong smell of rotting demon flesh as he moved further into the cover of trees. The growls multiplied and became more pronounced, but still he saw no demons. When a clearing came into the distance Ari's senses heightened. 

Ari ducked and rolled as something came from above nearly catching his hair in its grip. As it swooped for his head again, Ari grabbed its scaly leg and pulled it down. He climbed on top of it as it screeched and failed underneath him, but Ari had it by its feathery throat now. In one swift movement Ari plunged the stick through its head. Blood spattered on his face. He paid it no mind. More would be coming. He had to find Kaval soon or they would be surrounded. 

More snow was falling and the air grew colder. Ari could only see faint traces of Kaval's snow prints. It made him grow anxious, but he swallowed it down and continued towards the unbearable stench. Ari knew he was being surrounded by some of the lesser demons. He could not pay it any mind. If he wasted any more time— 

Ari hid behind a tree once he felt the presence of a larger demon. It sniffed around and snorted, trying to find his scent among the rotting smell. Its large footsteps shook the ground he stood on. As it came closer Ari held his breath. It inhaled then growled but nothing more. Still, Ari kept steady with his stick ready in hand.  

This demon was tricky and smarter than most lessers. Ari did not know how he knew but he knew. He would have to trick it first. There was no other way around it. As it walked away, Ari moved away from the tree. Soon the demon lunged for his throat, but Ari stabbed it in its eye causing it to howl. It toppled over him snapping blindly at him. Ari struck its other eye ignoring the drool and blood pooling onto his face. Before it could howl for help Ari wrapped his arms around the top of its head and twisted it as hard as he could. Ari tore its head off.