29 - XENOS: Under His Protection

A R Y A

➳

Aramis, Xenos and I were behind the fallen tree trunk right on the edge of the forest, with a view of the back entrance to the rock cave passages. Neither of us said a word while we awaited our turn.

A side glance to my right. Xenos “Razuva” shimmered deadly in the night's starlight, and all his gleaming silver blades attached to his body by several buckled belts added to the tough appearance. Beside me was not the Xenos who had been laughing at the black warpaint on my face minutes earlier, nor was he Xenos, Alpha of the Moonwater Pack. I had met this side of him before, once before the battle against Serdas.

This was Xenos, king of the werewolves, iron soldier of Semeera and defender of his kingdom. A king who once steered me to the back of the army. When I thought back to it now, I almost had to laugh. Our first encounter had been anything but friendly and pretty, and yet that fire, that intense attraction between us, had been there from the start. It felt like an eternity.

When I entered his territory a few weeks ago, he had assured me that if there was a war, he would put me on the front lines—and he hadn't lied to me. I was right here with him fighting for the safety of our country on the front lines.

I was still eyeing him sideways when he turned to me. On any other occasion there would have been tenderness in his eyes, but now there was just sheer trust. He nodded curtly. "Arya."

I silently followed his instructions, raised my bow, nocked the arrow, cocked and aimed. I squinted at the first of the two demons guarding the cave entrance. Then, in a fraction of a second, my arrow whizzed through the darkness, immediately thereafter I already cocked another arrow and let go again. Both arrows hit the bull's-eye and crumbled to dust.

Without waiting for another order, the three of us jumped out of cover and sprinted straight for the rock faces. I ran so fast across the flat and uncovered expanse of grass it was almost as if I wasn't touching the ground and was hovering over it. I was counting down the seconds the whole time.

“41 ... , 42 ... , 43 .... , 44 ... “We reached the rough, cold rock face, pressed against it right next to the cave. Exactly three seconds. I looked at Xenos, who also remained pressed against the wall behind me and returned my gaze. That black paint job really suited him.

“47 ... , 48 ... , 49 ....” And off we go. With my bow raised, I jumped in front of the entrance and fired. The demon was so surprised he didn't even get to screech out loud.

Light-footed and as quiet as the shadows themselves, the three of us ran into the dark, musty, musty cave. There were no torches lined up along the corridor, so I had to rely on Xenos and Aramis alone at first until my vision adjusted to the darkness and I could see reasonably well enough to see the damp stone floor below me and beyond than a meter to see.

With every step I felt the weight of the light, sharp sword slung in the leather scabbard at my hip, at my side, the exquisitely carved bow in my hand and an arrow in the other, ready for the coming demons that would be around in ten seconds the next corner should appear, slaughter.

Xenos and Aramis flanked me, running alongside and a little in front of me. Those who didn't know better would assume it was a protective gesture. But that wasn't true, nor did it rob me of my pride, especially since it was a purely tactical move. I was also equipped with a sword, but for the first leg of our incursion I would fight with a bow and arrow, shooting the demons from afar while the two engaged in hand-to-hand combat with their swords and claws.

Xenos raised his hand and we all stopped at the tunnel's sharp bend. He lowered one raised finger after the other. I counted.” Three, two, one...”

As if by pressing a button, the dark, pale figures, whose white eyes glowed from dark sockets, floated out of the corridors. I shot two with my arrows as Xenos struck down three more with his sword at the same time. Aramis, meanwhile, heaved his hand into the warrior's chest and, like he did with his real hand, also ripped out the hearts of five other hell warriors with his invisible mental bonds. The demons shrieked under our attacks and one by one they dissipated.

I lowered my bow but did not neglect my attention. The screeching of the demons would not go unnoticed - we had to be quick from now on.

The black, slimy heart in Arami's fist was still pulsing, as were all five other hearts that were floating in the air. I watched the nasty goo drip down and arched an eyebrow. "“How effective”."

Arami's teeth bared at his arrogant grin. "One of the many excellences of a demigod."

I cleared my throat to keep from laughing as Xenos ran ahead, ignoring us. He tightened his grip on his sword. "There's at least six more around the corner."

Aramis, now holding none of the deflated hearts in his hands, opened and closed his fist and cracked his head. Teeth bared, he followed Xenos. "Can't wait."

I pulled out an arrow and already put it on. With the boots on my feet I couldn't feel the stone floor as well as I would have done barefoot, but even so I managed to follow the two lightly and without causing a splash in the puddles. "Well then, let's send those bastards to hell."

Xenos didn't laugh, but I heard the icy amusement in his voice. "Whatever the queen asks."

With that we ran, counting each step and the seconds passing, listening for every sound that came through the cave and slaying any demons that crossed our path. Xeno's sword hissed through the air with each swing, bone cracking sounded as Aramis dug his hands into the beasts' ribs, and the smack of my arrows echoed around the room whenever I retrieved them from the dark warriors' hearts crack.

If blood were to flow through their bodies, all of our clothes would be soaked and my hair would be wet and matted. But like this, I was not bothered by crusted blood on my face, nor did my hands slip off my bow.

We didn't stop until a fork in the road loomed in front of us, splitting the passage into three more tunnels. We had already studied this fork on the map and each of the three corridors would take us to the lower, deeply hidden dungeon.

Each of us stepped in front of one of the passages, but before I could take a step into the cave, Xenos grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

Out of habit I already wanted to pull away from him and snarl at him angrily for letting me fight him, for not protecting me. But once I realized what I was about to do, I suppressed my reflex and remembered who I was looking at.

His hands cupped my face and his eyes no longer showed the king, but my mate. “My mate” looking at me from under the apprehension that lurked in the two blue seas with something I had never seen before. Something I've longed for all my life. “Proud”.

"Finish her."

My throat was tight, but I still managed to choke out a harsh, wild "“Aee”".

A hard, firm kiss, then he let go of me. "Three minutes."

Aramis growled and his claws shot out. "Three minutes."

I swung the bow over my shoulders and unsheathed my slightly serrated, double-edged sword. Now that I was alone, I was more likely to get into a melee as well, and as much as I loved my bows, the sword was better suited to that.

I whirred the blade through the air. "Three minutes," I agreed, and then, like the two werewolves, strode down the hall assigned to me. A deathly grin on my face as I ran through the dark underground tunnel and I caught myself snapping my teeth like a wolf.

“Come, little warriors,” I thought, ducking under the first demon's outstretched, clawed hand and thrusting my sword into its chest, spinning and skidding across the ground already slashing the nearest enemy, “my blade awaits you .”