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Chapter 6

I couldn't sleep that night. I wasn't sure if getting out from the town or Rhynsa's condition was the problem of my sleepless night. I kept watching the fire in front of me, occasionally putting my hand into it to help warming up the fire a little bit for Rhynsa. Somehow my internal heat helped me turn the fire on. Anenka and Azgal fed the fire with driftwoods, anything they could get from any old wooden things they could get on.

(To stay awake was something, but how about Rhynsa's condition?)

(The truth was, I had made peace with Rhynsa around two years ago, some days before I 'died'. It had been a year since I met him. Despite of still having issues with me, Rhynsa nevertheless understood that I wanted to be his friend. I doubted if he ever knew I had a coma for two years. We never contacted together since, and both Lilac and Albreich didn't know anything about his identity. He kept it dark to them).

(I wanted to comfort the now-sleeping Rhynsa when Anenka walked to my side, giving me a hot coffee. I knew his intention was to make me a little more comfortable since I'm a hellhound and I'm not even cold, but nevertheless, I accepted it. I somehow loved the smell).

"(You really care a lot to your general, Ifrit)," said Anenka helping me putting Rhynsa in a comfortable position. "(I wish I had the chance to find Eshdar. But...now that he's dead, I can't have that chance now)."

"(I'm sorry...I should've...)"

The black hellhound then put his hand on my shoulder, which somehow was comforting. He smiled to me and said, "(I know you blame yourself for his death. We all make mistakes, Ifrit, including both Rhynsa and me).

(I sensed something in his voice. Something that was somehow out of guilt. The hellhound also had something in mind).

"(When I was a young hound I was a personal guard to the Winsel monarch)," he started. "(The king is a young hound around my age of 21, and we got along pretty well. That was, until an incident that cost my eyes. Ensalder thought it was his fault, and he abdicated, giving back the throne to his father, all while Eshdar was still a young cub)."

"(I think I see your eyes just fine)."

"(It is fine...only if I am wearing these glasses. The family doctor crafted a special pair of glasses that enabled me to see normally, otherwise, all I can see are any heat-generating objects. The king took notice on my martial arts ability, and appointed me as general to his unarmed combat division. That's when I met with Rhynsa, an even younger general with proficient ability in sharpshooting. Vantwork was a rival and we were at each other's throat many times. By times, though, when the Winsel and the Schelkz family had made a friendship, did we both became friendly rivals. The fact is, despite of me getting into your kingdom's lives, I never even once met you or saw you)."

"(You didn't?)"

"(I only knew you from Rhynsa, as your royal army seemed to also be the royal guards. He once said you're a healthy hound with ebony black fur and red stripes covering your body in best places. I guess he never mentioned how good-looking you are and how that tail of yours looked. It's long and nice. Do you groom?)"

"(No, I...I never even think about that. My, uh...girlfriend told me that fur are not supposed to be cleaned that much. You'll make them fall)."

Anenka then smiled to me. "(Your fur can't be soaked in the water for too long, too. Remember, we're hellhounds)."

(We chatted long through the night, until the sky had started to turn red, a signal of sunrise coming. We packed up immediately as we couldn't waste more time. Rhynsa could barely wake up. The poison had started its worst. I always hoped Azgal had his 'detour' made right for the sake of this mission and for all of us).

(We finally reached the place he indicated just as it was noon. Damn, those horses were fast. It was sitting by a cliff and our journey was rough enough for humans. There were many mountain animals trying to find their preys, but fortunately, we were consisted of hellish creatures that quickly got them either scared or ready to hear reasons, somehow from my weird ability to talk to them in Hordo).

(Back to the town, when we went into the town, it was half-empty, with some of the people were doing their daily jobs normally, except that they did it inside their home and no one even bothered peeking on the arrival of our carriage. Something felt weird here, and that something was demonic in origin).

"Ascadia town, a quaint place in the middle of a mountain," said Azgal to us. "I am pretty lucky my host is an explorer with great things and memories in his mind for me to see."

"Yeah, lucky for you. Now where can we find this 'Doctor Strange' person," said Miza while jumping down from the carriage.

"How should I know? I only recently knew about him in Sheldon's mind. He never met this person either."

"I guess we have to resort to the simple ask and answer."

(Anenka walked to a nearby home and found it opened. He just barged in and asked about the whereabouts of the doctor. I thought that they would either trying to hide him like a criminal, or maybe getting angry on why a stranger Lycan barged into their homes. What surprised me was that they never even got angry. They even greeted us).

"A doctor, my dear?" said the old woman. (Damn, she looked like a husk from here. How old was she? More than a hundred?) "You may need to try getting to the house near the cliff. He lives there."

"Why living near a cliff? Isn't that dangerous?"

"He prefers to be in a near death situation. I can't understand the man, but he sure is a good person, giving many of us a second chance to live."

Anenka smiled to her and said, "You really depend on him, don't you?"

"You can find him in that house. Be wary, though. His house is guarded by two vicious guard dogs, said that they are as dangerous as the hellhounds of legends. Lycans are even afraid of them."

"Thank you. We'll appreciate the information."

(As we went out, Miza pulled me to the side and said, "(Something's really off with that human. She looked more like a mummy than a human. How long do you think she has lived?)"

"(Maybe a demonic influence is keeping her alive. We gotta find out about this doctor and see if he is dangerous or not. If her claim is true, I think we have two demon dogs waiting to shred us to pieces)."

"(Don't be so pessimistic, Ifrit! I have befriended some Ulshurfaks before. How about you?)"

(When she talked about it, I became even more irritated. She understood irritation and stopped talking. Talking about demon dogs made me remembered about Sammael. When we had been travelling for almost 8 months, the demon dog, my friend and pet, had been thinking of having a new family with another demon dogs and considered returning to the Hellish plains. I wanted to let him go, but he became angry and thought that I was trying to left him, knowing that despite of our friendship, he was still a pet and he was bound to a Schelkz's will. I felt sorry for the dog and I didn't want to talk about that, up until my coma. Poor dog. Maybe he sensed that Nergora was the last of the Schelkz family and he left our group to find him. I wished that Sammael could be free from me, but his claims made me looked like a slaver).

(I picked up a scent that was definitely demonic in origin. The mix of burning flame and charcoal was the least of my worries since it was another hellhound, but this one was clearly mixed up with a scent of putrid taste, like a rotting flesh. I didn't understand the second scent's meaning until I saw what the old woman meant about the 'vicious hellhounds').

(There were two normal dogs guarding the entrance, but somehow they were in the advanced decaying state, making them looked like a walking dead. Some of their fleshes had rotted, and their heads were mostly skull with no eyes visible anymore. Some part of their body were exposed and their entrails were falling down from their place since no ribcages in the abdomen part, right?)

(What made me curious was how they barked. It was raspy, like a dying dog, but still felt alive and healthy. They weren't dying. They were alive).

"(W...what the fuck are those things?)" said Miza trying to close her snout. "(They smell like a rotten corpse!)"

"(I doubt that Rhynsa would survive not being dead first. This doctor is not a miracle, he's a necromagi)," said Anenka while opening the door.

"I believe we can ignore the dogs. They looked like walking corpses but they are still mild dogs. One of them wants to play with one of you."

(At that time I was the only one that didn't feel any disgust from the two corpse dog. From the four of us, I am also the only one who could talk to surface animals. I wanted to offer a way to distract them before Azgal moved to one of the dogs and said an unknown hellish language that seemed to make them excited. I felt like I wasn't an exclusive character anymore. Am I?)

"You're not the only one with that kind of ability, Ifrit," said Azgal with a smile that seemed mocking me. "After all, I am a wrath demon. It's common for us to talk to beasts."

(Damn it, Azgal, you really like to give someone a bad impression. Anyway, with him out of the game, again, the three of us tried to meet this necromagi who could return a creature's personality. On the doorstep we tried our best not to make this potential ally a problem, so taking a deep breath, I moved one of my furred fingers to the doorbell and all of the sudden a buzzing sound was heard. I was pretty sure that it was unnecessary to have that loud of a buzz. Nevertheless, I heard a rather Tragorian voice coming from behind the door).

"Alright, alright, wait for me," said the rather grumpy voice. "Aren't you supposed to be afraid of the dogs? Nasty looking ones, aren't they?"

(But then, after he opened the door, I suddenly gasped when I saw the face. I would never forget that face of his).

(He tried to close the door and I held it open, but the doctor kept trying to push it. He was panicked for no reason, while I was surprised by him. He was my life-saver when I almost got killed. No wonder that kind of wound was healed. Now I knew his secret).

"Bloody hell, mate, what are you doing in this town?! Are you trying to get me for what happened with your horn?!"

"It never grows, doctor! What the hell did you use to cut it?!"

"Ifrit, you know this guy?"

"(Don't get into this, Miza. This is between me and this human! My horn never grows back after he cut it!)"

"(W...wait a sec)," said Anenka. "(All of this because of a horn?)"

(I realized his comment made me like an idiot. I was accompanied by two surface dwelling hellhounds that had somehow lost interest with the condition of their horns while I was there arguing with a human over a lost ornament of my own body. The hellhounds might have seen many of their kind getting their horns amputated).

(I eventually relented, which somehow made the doctor exhaled in relief).

"Well, it's bloody time you realize how to give sacrifices," said the doctor opening the door proper. "Getting new companions?"

"No...i-it's complicated, human. I..."

The doctor then smiled. "You learned our language quite quickly, hellhound. The last time I met you, you struggled to find some proper words. And you've got yourself a nice human problem. Come on in, then. Don't mind the dogs; they're just excited with strangers."

(We were greeted by a more Tragorian interior, which I somehow missed. Oh, how time went on. It had been four years since I ever went back to Tragoria. On Lilac's requests, we never went back to Tragoria region due to her wanting to know the world. Adaline is quite a big region and we spent a year settling in a big city making a good sale from deliveries. I missed the day we were together. Now that we were separated, I doubt we would ever meet again).

(As we reached the living room, the doctor hastily went to his kitchen and the next moment as we sat, he had a tray with teacups intended for the four of us and him. I didn't have time to drink, though).

"Do you need a doctor? I can see that in your faces," said the doctor. "Is he a hellhound? If so, I'll be damned if I need to use his horn again."

"Next time use a better knife." I said that with a snarl.

"I apologize for that, but right now I need another hellhound horn or any devil's horn if he's in critical condition. What's his problem, exactly?"

"He's poisoned with something that's supposed to almost instantly kill a human. Rhynsa was lucky he was half hellhound half fuzandre, if you know what that is," said Anenka.

"Yes, yes, I know of hellish races a little, especially those living in the Outer Ring Wasteland. I practiced necromancy for a while, but don't get me wrong. I am not going to kill Rhynsa before resurrecting him as a walking dead."

"Will you join us? We don't have time talking while he's dying," said Anenka.

"Hmm, I wonder.... I appreciate that offer, but I need time to prepare, and to say goodbye to my old friends. I guess it's time for them to go."

"Goodbye? Oh, is it because they're corpses? Well, no wonder that old human was more like a husk than a living flesh."

"I made an illusion of this place being a town so I can hide from the demon hunters. Necromancy is a form of demonic magic, so it's forbidden based on their laws. Although, that friend of yours made quite an exception."

I quickly became surprised. He knew Albreich was a demon hunter? "You knew? All this time?"

"I have secrets I can make, my demon friend. Now, where was I? Oh, pardon me, but this talk make us forget on who needs more help. You can take me to him now, if he hasn't died yet. Otherwise, I..."

"I'm still alive, doctor..."

(That voice was raspy, but I knew that it was Rhynsa by the door with Azgal helping him. He was leaning on his rifle and his condition wasn't all that improved. I helped him to the doctor when he stumbled and fell on the carpet, staining it with blood).

(The doctor quickly helped him onto his couch. He made an examination on his body and his worried face made me ready for the worst. I was fortunate it wasn't).

"The poison is all over his bloodstream, but I can still save him. I have some herbs and modern medical application to combat poison, and he's..."

"You gotta do it quick, doc," said Rhynsa weakly. "The rebels have found this place already and they are coming."

"He's telling the truth. The dog company is coming from the road we came from. I don't know for certain but those dogs carry guns. This town might die."

"Then let me tell you another secret, young man. This town is already dead."

The doctor pulled out a knife and, rolling that sleeve of his, he cut his wrist, which made me gasped. I almost thought that he was trying to run to hell so he wouldn't be killed by the hellhounds. Suicide was more or less treated exclusively in hell. Azgal might've known where he would end up since he's in the Circle, but my thoughts were cut short when he was still alive and he mouthed a spell or some sort, as the next moment that happened was that the house was surrounded by a semi-transparent shield with creepy aura. I could hear screams everywhere. His hand then slowly healed itself.

"The perk of being a necromagi...," he said with a grin. "I won't be running to a conflicted place. Not yet."

(I wanted to ask him about the process, but right now it wasn't a good idea. We were lucky that the shield protected the carriage, too. Otherwise we would have scarce supply along the way. I wanted to run out there and get all of our things when I saw the same human woman from before walking out from her house and smiled to us, which was somehow greeted by the doctor with a simple, yet emotional 'I'm sorry').

"Be safe, dear boy," said the woman. "Thank you...for giving us the chance to see the future beyond our lives."

"Release us from this earthly burden, young necromancer. It's time for you to go. The mortal world needs men like you," said a much younger man. "Heed our warning, demon travellers. The time of the devil is coming."

That warning was vague at best. We will remember it soon enough but right at that time, we were trapped inside a shield with screaming souls while those souls sacrificed themselves to save us. The doctor somehow became a different man when he saw them rush into the battle and getting slaughtered. I never thought about him as a better human except as the one who cut my horn permanently. Yet, now...his expression changed.

"Hounds," he said to us. "I must take care of your friend. I have something to tell you."

"We will protect your procedure no matter what happened, doctor. We won't die here."

"This is a serious matter. I must cut a horn again or he'll die."

I almost wanted to say 'what?!', but his face was a serious one and not the one that met me before. Both Anenka and Miza had started to try to cut the tip of their horns, but I guess living on the surface for too long made you forget that a demon's skull is as strong as a diamond, so to say.

I felt like my whole pride was useless. I knew Rhynsa was also as prideful as a true hellhound, but I realized that now I developed a human's feeling, toning down my pride was useful. I knew that the human's method might never make me grow my horn, but it was necessary to save Rhynsa, whatever our past was.

"Cut my horn, doctor," I said.

"Are you sure? You seem pretty mad about that last time."

"Look, human, my only military general is dying and without him, who will help us? My horn is cut anyway so don't waste the beauty of his black horns."

I knew he hesitated. He never had any other way to cut my horn without permanently damaging it. The scalpel he was carrying with him had a sickening aura of it, which mean that it had a holy power. Yet, the doctor smiled, and said, "Ifrit Schelkz...if there's any demon who tried to be human and done it perfectly, it's you."

I understood that he was trying to compliment me, but nevertheless, I knew what was coming for my race. As he cut my horn in a single stroke, I glanced at Rhynsa, who was in disbelief. He was still as demon as he was, but I would put his fate on this necromagi's hand.

Assured with his safety, I readied my claw, and prepared to fight. Fate might give me a chance for knowing what the message given to me led me to.