Azra-El Series Arc 2 Ch. 02

"Though I do not know my worth, I am being groomed to become the next wielder of the Banner. It is my duty to do my best in that role, even if I have to make decisions that I do not like and make sacrifices that I do not want to make.

"We- I thought that having the First Quetzal under the Malakim would help towards the greater cause. I never wanted to take him away from you. I hoped with all my heart that you would join us along with the Quetzal, even if it was against your choice. I was going to prove to you that it was the right choice," Nikolett said in an outburst.

"That's just sophistry. If your cause is all that righteous, why did you not try to convince me before you tried to take him? Just admit it. You wanted Sky, even if it meant taking him away by force. Me joining the Malakim was just an afterthought, and that too, only because I am a Righteous Fury. If I had been some random hick, you people wouldn't have given me a second thought. And don't forget that the whole tournament was rigged in your favor from the start.

"But never mind all that. What hurt me the most was the feeling of betrayal from someone I considered my- friend," he said, managing to put all the frustration that he had built up over the years on that one single word. He did not want to like or be attracted to Nikolett, but he just couldn't help it.

"I- I never wished to hurt you, Blaze. You must know that," she said, turning her face away from him. Blaze wasn't quite sure, but he thought he saw a little moisture in her deep purple eyes.

"Whatever," he shook his head. "I don't care about it anymore, and this is not the time to discuss it. I realize that you may have had your circumstances, and I have already forgiven you for it, but I don't think I will ever forget. Let's just try to figure out a way out of here, first."

"Okay."

"I am sorry for dragging you into another mess..." she said, after walking along the creek for a few moments.

"You are apologizing for the wrong thing. This mess was a consequence of my own decisions, not yours."

***

She spotted the hovering demon, a little less than half a yonder from her location. It was only for a fraction of a second, and she couldn't quite make out much besides her basic form, but the demon's audacity roused her interest. Who would be so bold to give away their position right from the start?

She hurried towards the location and came upon a small stone ruin. Confirming that there was no one around, she peeked inside and found the message.

She was enraged! The words were indirect, but it was obvious that they were a challenge to everyone who had come to Edeina. They showed deliberate contempt towards other participants. Thus, her pride was pricked.

"You will regret this!" she cursed through her teeth and chased after them.

It took her about two hours to catch up, but it was easy enough to locate them; especially since they left markings along their trail, not to mention one of the two being obnoxiously loud. She was singing something about a Caledonian pie and riding a maxi to a levy.

However, she kept her distance. Their boisterousness meant that they were either stupid or that they were supremely confident in their strength. She was confident in her own strength too, especially with an element of surprise, but despite her pride she was cautious. Also, she might not be the only one going after the two, and she did not want to be the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

So, she kept to the trees and silently stalked them, trying to catch bits and pieces of their conversation or any other clues regarding their identities or strength. Despite the lackadaisical attitude of the redhead, they seemed aware of their surroundings.

It was around midday when the two stopped walking.

It was difficult to tell the time of day on Edeina, but she knew how to distinguish the variations in the light that seeped into this strange world.

She lay down on all fours and crawled through the shrubbery until she could peek at them through the fern. There were two demons: one black-haired ivka, and a younger one with hair the color of autumn. It seemed that they had stopped to take a drink from the stream.

She was about fifty feet away, but the wind managed to bring their conversation in low voices.

"Do you feel hot? I feel a little hot," said the redhead, keeping an eye on the surroundings while the black-hair took a long swig from the stream.

The black-hair glanced up with raised brows and shook her head. "... night... not by much." Her voice was lower, and she couldn't quite hear everything she said.

"That can't be. I feel like I'm standing on concrete in hot summer," said the redhead, before proceeding to remove her shirt. She then reached for her shorts but stopped herself short.

Her flat chest was enough for her to realize that this demon was much younger than she had guessed.

"You do look a bit red," the black-hair said, rising up to her feet and giving her a once over. "Have you been eating something?"

"No, what? Where would I get food from?"

"Oh? What pray is that black stain on the corner of your lip, then?"

The redhead wiped her lips with her fingers and looked at them. "Er... A few berries may or may not have sought entry into my stomach..."

The demon in the shrubs only had to take a gander to see the berry shrubs lining the edges of the forest that was split by the stream. It seemed like the redhead had eaten the bluish-black berries they bore.

The black-haired ivka could not believe her ears. "... throw up," she said, her voice rising in pitch. "You cannot digest erefah food."

Erefah food was non-energy-based food, unfit for consumption by energy-beings. Osher food was the term used to refer to their energy variant.

"I was hungry, Niko, and we've- might as well try them out..." the redhead said. "Besides, how bad can eating them be?"

The black-hair looked like she could not decide between cursing the redhead or dunking her in the stream. However, she did not do either, making the demon wonder if the redhead was somehow her superior. Maybe a scion?

She could understand the black-hair's annoyance, though. How could anyone be stupid enough to eat erefah food? At best, one would throw up, but at worst they could be sick for days, and that meant doom inside of Edeina.

"Blaze, you look sick. I think you should-'' the black-hair began to say, a little more coaxingly, but the redhead gacked.

The black-hair jumped away from her, just in time.

"Blaaurghhh," she spewed black bile. She fell on her knees and continued to dry heave for a bit, before she sat on her butt, wiping her mouth with her hand.

The demon pulled out her bow, nocked an arrow, and took aim. The two were distracted, and she wouldn't get a better chance to defeat them and take their coins. If they were half as strong as they were arrogant, they could earn her a lot of points.

"Are you alright?" the black-hair asked.

The redhead sat up straight, licked her lips, and thoughtfully considered it for a moment. "They kinda taste like blueberries."

The comment made the demon snort, and the bowstring slipped.

Twang

The two were startled by the noise, and immediately found the arrow lodged next to the redhead's feet.

Most creatures, especially when sick, take flight when faced with a life-threatening situation. However, the redhead's instinct to fly seemed to have been stunted, probably since hatching.

"GAAAH," she yelled out loud and rushed in her general direction.

A crazy redhead with black stains smeared on her lips and chin, along with the wild glint in her eyes set a frightening visage, and it scared the be-hela out of her. For the first time in her life, she truly understood an old adage, the weak fear the strong, the strong fear the fierce, and the fierce fear the crazy.

She almost dropped her bow but managed to hold on to it by the bowstring as she sprang to her feet and took off into the forest.

The demon got a head start, especially since the redhead had paused by the bushes to figure out her direction, yet she lost ground as she made her way through the forest. It took her by surprise as she considered herself quite agile and skilled at navigating the forest. It made her even more wary of the redhead. Despite her pride, the redhead seemed to cause an instinctive fear inside her. To make matters worse, the redhead kept howling as she chased.

She hoped that the redhead would eventually tire and give up on the chase, but even after running for twenty minutes through the forest, the redhead's speed did not seem to slow. In fact, it was her own lungs that seemed on the verge of giving out.

Just as she began to feel despair, she spotted something that could be her ticket out.

***

Blaze felt a thrill as he weaved his way through the forest, hop-skipping over the roots and shrubs jutting out of the moss-covered forest floor, and ducking and dodging the omnipresent branches.

Twigs and leaves scratched against the bare skin of his chest and legs, but he didn't care. He felt a strange sense of freedom--a freedom in his legs that he had not felt in this life. He felt virile.

He came upon a long and free aerial root, hanging from a branch of a vast tree, and instinctively leapt towards it. Grabbing the root with both hands, he let out a howl of wild manliness as he swung across, frightening a flock of birds taking refuge in the tree's canopy.

"Aahuaaa uaaa uaaaaaaaa."

He landed on all fours, raised his head, and let out an "Awoooo," before resuming his chase. He could not see the one who attacked him, but he heard her feet rushing over the scrunchy leaves. She was fast, but at that moment he felt that she wasn't fast enough. He felt the burn in his lungs, but it was a good burn, a pleasant tingling sensation in their rarely used depths. As he ran, he only felt like running more, and soon, he lost track of time.

Suddenly, however, the sound of her feet went silent. Through the gaps between the leaves and branches, he spotted a clearing formed by a grouping of fallen rotting trees with large gashes along their lengths.

A figure stood waiting for him at the center of the clearing. He paused for a moment as the person's skin looked green, but quickly realized that it was just camouflage.

Unafraid, he pulled out his whip and burst into the glade.

Twang

High on adrenaline, he reacted on instinct, dodging the arrow as it whizzed past his shoulder.

"Washao!" he yelled, whipping his whip after a twirl around his head.

Maybe it was mere luck or maybe it was his rigorous practice with all sorts of weapons, but the whip found its mark. The tiny silver knob at the end of the whip latched on to the upper limb of the short bow.

Blaze grinned at the ivka and pulled as hard as he could, dislodging the bow from the surprised ivka's hands. The whip uncoiled and the bow flew over his head.

"Aahuaaa uaaa uaaaaaaaa," he beat his fists over his bare chest.

The frightened ivka pulled out a dagger from her hip, but Blaze charged at her without giving it any consideration.

Startled by his speed and performance, the girl haphazardly waved her dagger at him. He dodged a swipe and caught her arm on the return. Quickly twisting the limb, he stepped behind her and wrapped his other arm around her neck.

The ivka struggled, but he pulled her to the ground, wrapping his legs around her and holding her in a bear-like embrace. She yelled and cursed, but Blaze didn't let go.

Picking her dagger off the ground, he pressed it against her neck. "Stop struggling and wait till my friend arrives," he panted. He did not fail to notice that the ivka was not as out of breath as he was.

However, she went still upon feeling the cold of the dagger against her skin.

"Blaze!" came Nikolett's shout, after a few minutes. "Over here!" he responded.

Soon, Nikolett arrived with his shirt tucked under her arm.

"That was reckless," she stated, eyeing the ivka confined within his limbs.

"Didn't you know? Reckless is my middle name," he said, but upon noticing the look in her eyes, he changed his tune. "Sorry, I kinda acted on instinct. The berries may have addled my mind a little. Hold this knife, and I shall tie her up."

Nikolett held the ivka at dagger-point, while Blaze used the whip to perfunctorily tie her hands.

Then, he stood up and joined Nikolett to question the ivka. Nikolett handed him his shirt, and he quickly put it on.

"If you ain't gonna kill me, take my coin and lemme go, ya plucking cunts!" the ivka snarled, her lips and nose curling with disgust.

Her words caught Blaze off-guard. In all his life on Azra-El, he had never heard an angel use such language. Even Rebecca often told him off for calling someone a bitch, and she didn't even know what that meant.

I don't even have a cunt, lady. Blaze protested in his mind as his eyes flicked over the girl.

She had a dirty grey knapsack over her shoulders but was otherwise quite meagerly clad. A simple wraparound covered her chest, while a scanty loincloth held up by a leather belt covered her groin. A quiver full of arrows and a dagger sheath hung by her hips.

He couldn't tell her age, but she was about half-a-foot taller than him and lean to the point of bony.

She had shapely, upturned, and conniving eyes, with bright orange pupils that seemed like they might just shine in the darkness. Her brows were long, thick, rounded, and strawberry pink in color. She had a soft and slightly downturned nose, and thin lips that were pretty despite the scowl.

A dark green paste was smeared all over her body, clothes, and hair, though a few specks of strawberry pink still showed under the green.

"Blaze," Nikolett sucked in. "She is a demon."

"Huh?" he muttered dumbly. "How can you tell?"

"Of course, I'm a demon, ya dumb twats. What else would I be? A Pegacorn? Did yer assholes eat something that made ya stoopid?" the demon confirmed.

Blaze's buttcheeks clenched at her words. His asshole never wanted to eat anything.

Her accent was audibly different than the ones Blaze had heard before, and her h's were vividly silent.

"She is the twat," Blaze finally declared, pointing at Nikolett. "I am the twit."

Though, I guess I can still be an asshole.

"Why would a demon be in here?" he asked Nikolett, catching her shaking her head at his unwarranted attempt at comedy.

"I do not know, but this surely means that there is more than one entrance," she answered, with a new-found sparkle in her eyes.

"Wait a plucking minute! Do ya two plucks think you are angels or somethin'?" asked the demon.

Blaze instinctively nodded, a little dumbstruck by the demon's unabated cursing.

"Great! Just spiffing great! My day can't get any plucking better! How the pluck does one run into two crazy pillocks who think they are angels?" the demon animatedly shook her head, spewing spit as she spoke.

Nikolett knelt and took the dagger within an inch of the demon's eyes. "Listen demon, if you do not control your mouth and answer our questions, I will plucking pluck your eyes out," she said in a manner that unnerved even Blaze.

"Whoa whoa, ivka! Calm yer perky titties, will ya," the demon scurried backwards. "No need to get yer panties in a bunch. I shall answer the be-hela out of all yer questions. Just lemme go afterwards, okay? I'm a pretty good hunter, so I can earn ya two a lo-tta points."

"Why did you attack us?" Blaze asked.

"Attack you? You attacked me!" the demon cried, seemingly offended, but then she reconsidered. "Oh, you mean the arrow I shot at ya? What did ya expect when ya came 'owling at me like a crazy carnike. Ya scared the 'eaven out of me!"

"Oh, then I guess it was a tree that shot at us while we were down by the stream, eh?" Blaze asked sarcastically.

"Ugh, what stream? I was just minding my own damn business when I heard yer 'owls. Almost lost my panties in fear, I did. Thought ya were some sort of a crazy new beast, so I rushed into this clearing to defend myself..."

"Do not lie, demon!" Nikolett said before Blaze could say anything, angrily stabbing the dagger into the ground close to the demon's calf.

"I swear!" she said, making sure that the dagger hadn't cut anything. "The first time I saw either of you was when the redhead jumped me out of nowhere. Do you have the arrow that was shot at you? You can compare it with mine. I use pheasant feathers. If the other arrow is different, it'll prove my innocence," she hastily explained, showing the arrows in her quiver.

The arrows were about two feet long with round tips and colorful pheasant feathers at the tail. Blaze could not recall the arrow from before, but the way the demon spoke made him believe her words.

Did I lose the attacker somewhere? No, I only lost track of her footsteps near this clearing... Is it possible that she spotted this demon and decided to use her as a scapegoat?

"Okay, different question. Where are we and how can we get back to Azra-El?" he asked, instead.

"Are we really gonna play this game?" the demon rolled her eyes. She was unconvinced by their 'acting'.

"Just answer the darned question," Nikolett narrowed her eyes, pulling the dagger out of the ground.

"We are in Edeina," the demon quickly answered. "We can get out in a week, when the spatial dimension is reactivated."

"She asked how we can get out, not when," Nikolett waved the dagger in the demon's face.

"For Hela's sake! Can you please tell yer friend to stop making me nervous? I don't think too well when I'm nervous," she asked Blaze.

Do I seriously have to play the good cop? Blaze wondered, before saying, "Patience is not really her virtue. She also has a bad temper, so don't waste time with nonsense," he said, trying to put on an ameliorative smile.

"On the morning of the eighth, if ya arrive within a hundred feet of the Bruegel tower, you will be transported out of the spatial dimension."

"Where will we be transported?"

"The same place where we entered?" The demon sarcastically questioned his sanity, but when she saw Nikolett narrow her eyes, she quickly answered "Zagros City."

Blaze had seen enough maps to remember the location of Zagros. It was a city in the nation of Ersipa, and quite some distance into the Hela Empire.

"Is there no other exit? A place from where we can enter the Heavenly Union?" Nikolett asked.

The demon let out a fed-up sigh.

"Listen. Ya can't just pretend to be angels and waltz into their land. Besides, this place has been scoured many times over. If there was a way to angel-land, we'd know about it. And if the angels really found a new entrance, why would they send a couple of clueless brats to explore? So, stop with the pretense already," the demon complained.

Blaze decided that he had enough of the charade. They needed a guide, and the guide needed to know who she was dealing with, so he quickly materialized his wings--only a couple of feet long in order to conserve energy.

"Unholy breasts!" the demon looked at him awestruck, before going into a ramble. "Ya cunts are actually angels? How the freak did ya get here? Oh Goddess! What have I gotten myself into? Are ya gonna kill me cuz I'm a demon? I hear ya angels are super benevolent. Since I shared important information with ya kind angels, can ya let this poor, weak ivka go? I swear I don't pose any threat!"