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Chapter 7

Rhynsa woke up after getting another dream about his family, yet it was a pleasant one, not like the nightmares that plagued him for many years. He remembered the good life with them, but it was especially about his offspring. Oh, how he remembered the happy face they had. Having his feelings awakened by love was enough to feel how the hellish world was going to do to them, and he managed to run from it, despite of sacrifices.

He tried to put his body up, but despite of trying to, he realized his body was so weak that they made that effort seemed like trying to push a heavy object. The next moment was a sting from his side abdomen, with bandages covering it. He only had a small time to think about everything that had happened up to that point when Ifrit walked into his tent.

"(You're still weak from that poison, Rhynsa. Don't push yourself)," said Ifrit while putting a tray of tea beside him. "(Tragorian tea is always the best way to heal)."

"(Kid, your horn...it wasn't because of a fight, was it?)"

"(The same horn saved me from assassins many years ago, before I met you)," said Ifrit trying to rub his cut horn. "(At least your horns are untouched. They are so beautiful)."

"(Kid...Ifrit, I.... Your horn is something that matters to you)."

Ifrit then patted Rhynsa's shoulder and said, "(Sacrifices have to be made. Now come on. You're just in time for breakfast)."

Rhynsa woke out into the open to find the group around the fire, eating the oatmeal given to them. As Anenka saw Rhynsa, he offered the oatmeal. Rhynsa eyed the meal for a second before eating it, which was somehow delicious.

"(Huh, despite of you being a half-bat, you really enjoy fruits, don't you? Bats are never carnivores from the start)."

"(Just shut up, glasses...)"

The hellhounds made a smirk, with Azgal smiling and Ifrit holding back a laugh, which somehow confused the doctor. When Rhynsa saw the doctor's confusion, he cleared his throat and said, "Let's use this world's language so no one's gonna got let out, okay?"

He then turned to the doctor. "First of all, necromancer, we need to know each other if we want to trust each other. You too, kid."

"My name is Mitchel Woodworth," said the doctor.

"My name is actually Azgal, but I took Sheldon's body for myself, so it's up to you to use either name," said Azgal while eating his oatmeal.

"It's better I use that demon name, possessed kid, because I don't actually trust the layer demons."

Azgal didn't reply that, so Rhynsa assumed he understood. He helped them put away the dirty dishes for the cleaning near a river, into a big wagon car that somehow substituted their travelling wagon. The wagon was big enough for the group and more. With a car pulling it at the front, the heavy-looking wagon could move quick enough.

After taking care of the travelling preparations, they set off again, yet this time Mitchel asked them to go to another town for fuel (Dusdolf had a decent technology that helped them invented cars). A half-day trip in the car could make Rhynsa itching for stretching his wings a bit, but it would mean exposing himself as a bat with a rather canine look (with bat ears and a pair of black horns). Yet, he needed it, if not for his wing span.

As they settled near a forest that Rhynsa could freely open his wings, which astonished Ifrit and Mitchel when they saw it.

"We have creatures of fire and a creature of the night. What a group you have here, Ifrit," said Mitchel while preparing the fire.

"Being a half-fuzandre is not all that bad, right? At least you have separate limbs for wings and for arms, so I can go about flying without impairing some of my grasps." Rhynsa then opened the table to put some of the foods for the dinner.

"So what's the catch, travelling around Dusdolf recruiting some allies? Are we having a big war?" said Rhynsa.

"We don't know anything yet, Rhynsa," said Anenka. "All we know that for the past years the rebels and the hellhound bandits were attacking us. Some of our allies were annihilated, somehow assassinated. Karkos was desperate on trying to find out what's going on."

"Who are those people you're trying to find? I might be able to find out about the names."

"I've got the list right here. Take a look."

Rhynsa took the list and read most of the names that was written there. He knew some of the names, but out of respect, he said, "Tell your boss that this list is full of shit."

"What? Why?"

"Let me help you filter these names. Okay, first of all, this guy called Fireman, aka Rondo Madison, is an Adaline arsonist that burned five houses. He was killed two months ago by his own fire. The Beast, aka Yorla Mikhail, a Lycan criminal who went feral, now chained in a prison with silver chains. Don't try breaking him out of there.

"Then, the Midwestern Knight, aka Tanner Grishom, a Lycan warrior who fought in the Midwest Ulrich district as the district's protector. You might be able to find him, but he's dead...with my bullet in his head. The last one I must put away is Natalia Poliska. While being a white hunter is cool, she's my last target, and was buried in the snow."

Rhynsa could hear Anenka made a grunt, and proceeded to say "If you keep killing our potential allies how can we even gather help?"

"Poliska was the last one I killed. When I saw her dying figure I realized how wrong I was. I wasted a beautiful life form in the form of a beautiful white furred true werewolf. She pleaded me to spare her children. She wanted to retire to raise her cubs and gave me a pouch of around 45 gold coins. I acknowledged her as a worthy opponent, but I never got a chance to be friends with her, at least once. That's the story before you guys met me as a vigilante. I vowed never to kill innocent targets again. No one's going to need a sniper as a political pawn, right? The problem is...the Red Star won't let me go since I'm their best sniper. That's the reason with the mercenaries."

"So, you're doing this for redemption, huh?" said Ifrit. "You've changed a lot."

They talked for a while that night, discussing their next steps and the topography of Dusdolf on where they could go and where they would avoid. They resolved to find two more from their lists in Dusdolf before going back to Tanah to drop some of them. The night went old, and most of them had started to go to sleep. Rhynsa himself couldn't go to sleep just yet. Talking about Poliska made him felt guilty all over again. It wasn't just the time to mourn, so he walked outside to watch the stars when he saw Ifrit had been sitting on a rock with his tail waving around.

Rhynsa then walked closer to him and said, "(Now we can talk about our lives for the past three years, kid, starting from you)."

"(I don't know what to start. So much is happening for these past weeks. But first of all...are you alright?)"

"(It can be worse, but I survived. So, how's the old gang? Are you still getting along well?)"

"(I, uh...I haven't met them these past days, actually)."

"(Having a hard time with your Lycan girlfriend? What was her name? Lilac?)"

Ifrit nodded. "(We argued sometimes after Albreich revealed himself to be a demon hunter, but for the past 2 years I wish our relationship doesn't sink too much)."

"(Then how about your best friend? That prince, Eshdar Winsel. How's he?)"

At that moment, Ifrit expression's changed. Not only did Rhynsa realized that the mention of that name changed the mood, but something terrible had happened to the hellhound. Again, Rhynsa asked, "(What happened to him, Ifrit?)"

"(We...we were just travelling down the road, when...when a group of hellhounds...)." His reply was cut off with the shaking voice he had. He couldn't concentrate to the point that his long tongue was rolled out. Yet, he continued as he pulled his tongue in.

"(The...car was attacked and...we held them off but...fuck...why is this happening to me? Eshdar...)"

Now Ifrit was in the verge of breaking down, which somehow troubled Rhynsa. He never sympathized with others before, especially to the one that he was supposed to be protecting. Yet, seeing the condition of the hellhound that was holding his otherwise boiling tears, he slowly extended his arm, then he covered the hound with his wings, warming him.

"(I see...he's gone now, huh?)" said Rhynsa slowly to the hound. "(I'm sorry for your loss, kid. I really am. He might grow into a great hunter)."

He had trouble finding the exact words to calm Ifrit down, as he quickly sobbed and hugged Rhynsa back. Since they only recently met for just a year since their proper meeting in the hotel, he never knew Eshdar well. His chance meeting as a stranger to the rest of the group proved that despite of their seemingly good relationship, both the werewolf and the human were in the verge of conflict with the hellhounds, and the hellhounds became closer by day, as Eshdar was a true friend for Ifrit.

Rhynsa also had a conflicting thought. In one, he thought that starting that conversation was a bad idea when he didn't know Eshdar's fate. Yet, his other thought wanted to make Ifrit straight, that he couldn't have everybody alive for a long time in a conflicted time. Yet, Ifrit was never a soldier, and he had no feelings of grief and hate prior to his meeting with the werewolf.

With silence, Rhynsa opened his wings and let go of Ifrit, intending to leave him alone to grief. On the way, though, he met Anenka, who was somehow overhearing their conversation.

With a snort, Rhynsa said, "(What? He gotta grow up to know that no one's gonna live forever, so why bother talking sense to him if he's still grieving?)"

"(Rhys...he knows Eshdar more than I do)," said Anenka to the bat-hound hybrid. "(He never knows how losing a family does to him...and both of us)."

"(Now he knows, right? This is what I first felt when I lost my family to the deserters, An. This is the reason why the old demons put us out from their circle a very long time ago. We're too susceptible to feelings. We are too related to those...those Lycans. A hellhound is a dog, a low-level demon that can only fight among themselves living in scraps from the circle's damnations. And what you gonna say, huh, about Azgal? That fucking inner circle demon won't respect dogs)."

Rhynsa moved past Anenka while intentionally hit his side to the black hound's side. But, halfway through the camp, Anenka turned and said, "(Are you still angry...about your heritage?)"

"(No one's gonna respect a fuzandre, let alone a hybrid. Look, I'm sorry for the kid, alright, but I admit. Sometimes it's best to leave our pasts behind, especially trying to move on, especially you, Anenka Kolvics, brother-in-law)."

He just said it. Everything that mattered to him had just been said. How could he deny it? His wife, a genuine, black furred, hellhound, was actually a person closer than he thought. Anenka was her brother, and both his heritage and his family had become a burden.

"(Oh, Vilkila...what have I done?)"