I've no idea if this chapter is even comprehensible.
But that's okay.
Probably.
Have fun <33
-----
I arrived at the farm safely, managing to avoid any wild demons along the 24 hour journey. On the way, I'd stopped by where I'd escaped from the bandits. The camp was long-since abandoned, and the bandits had left back in the direction they were walking in before they'd stopped for the night. I prayed they were still heading east of the capital now.
Now that I was at Lambda, I entered though the gaping hole Norman had blown open years ago. "Hello?" I called into the once-abandoned farm, walking towards the common area. As I pulled open the door to the common room, I found it busy as usual; the demons were in the middle of their midday meal. "Heyoo..."
"Y/N!" Orion called, leaping to their feet. All the demons glanced up from their meal to look at me. Several of them waved happily while the rest turned back to their food. Though one blue-haired kid seemed a little shocked, maybe disappointed. I raised an eyebrow.
"You're okay!" Orion ran up to me while the other demons began to fall back into peaceful chatter. "What happened?" the kid asked. "I ran all the way here after dropping Addy at the village, and then Benny and Aurelia left after you, but they haven't come back yet..."
I crouched down in front of the kid. "I assume you haven't seen Cozbi, then?" I asked, and Orion shook their head. I smiled thinly. "Cozbi and I were captured, but I managed to escape. I'm not sure how she's doing right now... have you heard anything from Aurelia and Benny? Any letters or something?"
Orion shook their head no. "No, nothing..."
"Alright." I hummed. "Give me a second to get myself some food– I'm starving. Then we can come sit and talk." I walked over to where a large pot of stew sat and scooped some into a bowl for myself. Once I grabbed my utensils I waved Orion over and took a seat on the floor. "Do you know of the situation here?"
Orion nodded. "One of the moms told me... Baron Leuvis is here running experiments. He's already found a way to postpone our degrading, and he says he's approaching a final cure formula. Apparently it could be ready any day now..."
"That's good..." I hesitated. "...ish."
Once I finished my meal I stood quickly to my feet. "Can you show me where Benny and Aurelia left from? I'll try to follow their tracks. If they're heading the same way I am, I'll continue to track them."
Orion stood up beside me. "Okay, I'll show you."
The dark-haired demon showed me to where the tracks started and I studied them a moment, making sure they were indeed Benny and Aurelia's. "See you, Orion!" I waved to the demon before going on my way, once I confirmed that the tracks were the right ones.
Orion waved after me. "Stay safe, Y/N..."
I followed Benny and Aurelia's trail quickly, feet brushing near-soundlessly over the forest floor. Eventually, their tracks stopped at the bandit's old hideout. They were more recent than the tracks at the camp- perhaps by half a day. The footprints wandered around the camp- possibly Benny and Aurelia looking for information.
And then they set off in the direction that the bandits had left in, following on top of the tracks. I followed the footprints until there was no more sunlight, and climbed up into a tree to rest.
I leaned against the trunk and gripped knives in either hand, slowing my breathing down. I would not fall into deep sleep, so I'd remain aware of my surroundings, yet I would get proper rest while I waited for enough daylight to be able to read the tracks with ease.
By early morning, I reached the attack-site I'd escaped from, and raised a hand to my mask in an attempt to quell the scent. The carcasses of wild-demons and a few bandits rested on the ground, unburied and left behind by their companions.
I looked away from the corpses that had been mangled by wildlife in the past few days. Several tent husks laid around- the ones that were burned by toppling lanterns.
I walked through the camp now, keeping a hand up to my mask. By the time I reached the end, Aurelia and Benny's tracks continued on top of the bandits'- meaning that by now, they'd had yet to catch up, and were still following a safe distance behind.
But by mid-noon that day, the tracks deviated, and their pace slowed down as the distance between footprints dropped. They broke off from the camp's trail and drifted to the side. I assumed that at this point, Aurelia and Benny had caught up to the bandits, and started trailing behind them to avoid being noticed.
I continued following the demon's trails until nightfall again, and rested up in a tree. That night, I was attacked by a wild demon. Though, in this part of the woods, it was infrequent for them to group together in packs, so I managed to kill it without being injured, and then spent the rest of the night resting.
In the morning, I followed the tracks again, but as I continued following along them, I grew increasingly worried. Because while the demons had initially been travelling south-east, they were changing direction to move south-west; in the direction of the capital.
Originally, if they were heading south-west, it could've been because I was with them, as they'd need to head to the capital to claim a ransom for me. But now that they were still heading towards the capital, which was armed more than any village... I started to worry that the stronger ones– the ones from Zev's team who were degenerating, were planning a final suicide attack on the capital. And strong as they were... it would get bad.
Filled with purpose, I picked up the pace while I followed after the tracks. Aurelia and Benny's footprints seemed to continue to follow parallel and behind to the bandits', so I left them alone and instead focused on the large group's.
I was now 4 days from the capital, and the early morning sun shone through the tree branches above. The bandits' tracks still showed no sign of deviation from their path towards the capital. But now, I noticed the addition of something else. Another pair of tracks that joined up with the main group after the camp had passed.
A scout, I decided, and I believed it a member of the Royal battalion. The tracks couldn't have been of been from more than 2 days before me. The scout's tracks soon dropped back from the group. I followed them until they met with the tracks of a large camp, and this time, there was no doubt that they belonged to the battalion.
So there were now two separate trackers following the bandits; Benny and Aurelia, and the battalion. I grinned eagerly at the prospect of seeing the soldiers again so soon.
I now walked until I relocated the bandits' tracks, and started following these again for some time.
But as I walked along them, the tracks suddenly changed. A small group split off from the large one. I continued along the larger groups tracks, a knot of concern growing in my stomach. The small group later joined up with the large one again, and the knot relaxed for a bit.
By the next morning, I discovered a spot that the bandits appeared to have set up camp for the night. There were signs of tents; lots of traffic, and the like. It was difficult to tell when each trail of footprints had passed through the camp because of the amount.
I made my way to the end of the camp. Once I broke through the line of tents, I noticed something strange. From the farer side of the camp, dozens and dozens of individual bandits had split away in all directions. Splitting up? I bit my inner lip. "What the hell...?"
Suddenly, the wind changed. While it had been blowing gently north before, it now blew weakly south. And with it, came a certain smell. I raised a hand to my mask.
The smell of carnage. Of smoke. And faint traces of something metallic- could that be blood?
My throat went dry. Who's blood was I smelling? What was there to burn? There were no villages nearby, so unless– I froze in my tracks.
The only camp nearby. If it wasn't the bandits' camp that had burned...
I turned on my heel and ran back out the other end of the small clearing, looking around myself. "Shit!" I picked one of the bandit's tracks and ran along it, having little care for concealing my presence now.
To my fear, as I followed these tracks, the scent of smoke and blood only grew stronger.
I burst into the clearing that the bandit's careful tracks had led to, and felt my heart drop to the ground. Because in an instant, what had happened was clear.
A massacre.
The clearing was filled with the burnt husks of tents, but far worse than that, the ground was filled with corpses. I pulled off my mask and heaved for breath. The bodies of bandits and the bodies of soldiers mixed together on the ground. There were more than I could count. Some of the tents were still smoking– they couldn't have been burned more than 12 hours ago.
"Carl??" I yelled out, walking carefully over the bodies. I tried not to look at them too closely, for fear I might recognize their faces. "Is anyone alive?" I yelled, throat tightening.
The bodies were all decapitated or had broken masks and injured heads; the sign they were dead for good. A broken or damaged core meant no regeneration for a demon.
"Guys!" I yelled again, making my way to the center of the clearing. "Answer me–!!" I stepped on a limb and tripped suddenly, falling to the ground. I pushed myself to my feet wearily.
"Oh my god." I whispered, standing in the middle of the carnage. And then I saw him, leaning against a tree. "Carl!!" I yelled, running over. "Carl!" I repeated, sliding in beside him.
He was bleeding. But he was alive. "Carl?" I begged, shaking his shoulder.
Carl heaved for breath. "Y/N." he huffed weakly. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
"Oh thank god." I whispered. "You're–"
And then I realized. He was bleeding. He was still bleeding.
"Carl?" I asked again. "Carl, how long ago were you hurt?" my voice shook.
He grinned a spiky-toothed grin. "I'm afraid I don't have much time."
Some part of me already knew, but I asked anyway. "Carl, why won't you regenerate?"
A painful cough racked his body. "I'm at my limit." he grinned. "Sonju told me not to come 'cause of it, but I came along anyway."
I shuffled through my first-aid pack. "Just sit still." I whispered. "Just sit still. Don't talk, I'll–"
"They won't help." Carl whispered. "You know that. I'll keep bleeding till there's nothing left to bleed." he smiled, though it was a partial grimace. "Don't waste them on me."
"Dammit!" tears welled in my eyes. "I should've stayed with you. If I'd gotten here early..."
"Oh, Y/N." Carl chuckled. "Don't say that. You're plenty strong. But not even you can change the past." he smiled. "They were...stronger than we thought. We could take-" he coughed, lurching forward. "–we could take most of them, like you said. But that Zev– and a few others... I couldn't... I couldn't save them."
"Carl," I spoke, swallowing drily as I tried to keep the fear out of my voice. "Carl, where's Celia?"
The demon man smiled weakly, shaking his head. "Somewhere along the bunch."
"Oh god." I covered my mouth, hands shaking.
In that moment I felt Carl weaken, as he stopped sitting so upright and his hands rested against his stomach. "Carl?" I spoke, anxiety growing.
Carl smiled, weaker than ever. "Still kicking."
"Carl, you've got to stay alive." I spoke firmly, grasping his hand. "You've got kids–"
"Y/N, I've been close to death a thou– a thousand times." he murmured. "And I know... I'm not coming back from this one." he grinned. "You've... met Jack and Sally, right?"
I wanted to shake my head no. To do something to stop this. But instead I nodded slowly. "Yeah." I near choked. "Yeah, I've met them."
"Please...Make sure they're taken care of."
I nodded again. "Yeah."
Carl coughed again. "All this time I thought... I'd die by Sonju's side." tears sprung into my eyes. "But... it isn't so bad, dying by yours." his voice grew quieter as he lifted a hand and rested it on my cheek. "It was a pleasure... meeting you, Y/N... You're a good kid."
He raised his other hand, holding something in it. "Please... for Sonju..." he whispered, holding up a dagger in a shaking hand. "And my wife... necklace...to the kids..." I nodded in understanding and took the dagger into my own hand.
Not a moment later, Carl's eyes clouded over. "Mujika...Sonju..." he whispered. "It's been a pleasure, serving you."
I bowed my head and set the dagger to the ground beside me. I gripped his long, clawed fingers in my hands, and slowly pressed them against my forehead. "Thank you for your service." I whispered.
By the time I raised my eyes and set down his hand, a peaceful smile rested on Carl's face.
He was already dead.
I rose to my feet shakily and placed his dagger into my belt. And then I drifted through the corpses until I found Celia's body, surrounded by a dozen bandits she'd taken out with her battleaxe before finally falling.
I kneeled at her side and noticed her hand clenched. As I opened it, I found the necklace Carl must've mentioned. It was something of a locket and I pocketed it, and then gave the bloody camp one last look before leaving, following the tracks the surviving bandits had left.
As I continued my journey, a feeling besides sadness slowly wormed it's way into my gut.
It was a feeling I hadn't felt in a long time...
Cold rage.
-----
Can't say I didn't warn you. Though maybe I shouldn't've ;)
Things are really picking up pace now tho! (hopefully) We're sort-of approaching the finale to this demon world bonkers. You know what that means~~~
ANYWAYS, see ya next update babes <333