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Chapter 15

The group fell silent when Albreich explained to them about the danger. His explanation was so detailed that it was hard for them to believe that it was a lie. Ifrit tried to give the 'it's true' eye to them, which was required at all.

"So Tragoria has fallen to the demons," said Azgal, breaking the silence after the story. "They acted fast. The invasion is coming much faster than what I've anticipated and we're still halfway from that goal. Your race is going to die, sooner or later."

"Tragoria is not heavily populated like Adaline, and most demon sightings came from that region," said Anenka. "Goddamn it, this is not anticipated by Karkos at all. He's telling the inevitable."

"What do you mean?"

"I shouldn't tell you all about this because it's still an assumption, but Karkos saw the possible future when the demonic army invades the regions, and it involved destroying a third of the human's population."

"You mean humans only or all surface races?" said Thotha.

"It doesn't matter if humans or Lycans die. What really matters is what might happen if they get their hands on the remaining monarchs. To save your skins all of us might need to turn ourselves in, but we are demons, and we know firsthand that this invasion won't stop with our surrender."

"Most of us are retired now," said Albreich. "No demon outbreak ever happened since the last Holy War 1000 years ago, and we mainly exorcise demons out of their hosts, except for a..."

"Except what, exactly, demon hunter?"

"I was from the front line of a squad of demon hunters tasked to banish any demons back to hell. At first, I thought this move was a joke and I didn't take it seriously, until I realized that we were really tasked to kill demons that took over a whole island town off the flaschwasser bay, which made it a dangerous place until today."

"Wait, when did it happen?"

Albreich turned to Azgal's question. "Just around 9 years ago. Until now, we are not to talk about this, and that island never has any living beings after our attempt."

"I was summoned by a human assassin named Sheldon who bind me for his service until he took my place as a part of my payment. You know what's interesting? He summoned me exactly 9 years ago."

"But this can't be a coincidence..."

"Okay, I think this conversation leads to nowhere except speculations," said Rhynsa interrupting the argument. "I suggest we move faster now to see if what the demon hunter said is true. Right now, take a good rest, and always be cautious of what awaits us in Tragoria."

The small trailer room became silent as it was, only the neighboring residents were making noises. Rhynsa stood there for a moment when the group started to disperse, leaving only Anenka, Ifrit, and Albreich accompanying the hellhound-bat hybrid.

"(Nice speech you got there, Rhynsa)," said Anenka while making a smile. "(No wonder the Schelkz family has a strong army)."

"(I've never done this before...but, I want to)."

"(When the time comes, Rhynsa, you'll need more friends than yourself. You still have unfinished business, right?)"

As Anenka left them, Rhynsa wanted to talk again, but Albreich knew his intention and said, "If they hear what we're saying, will they think the same of you again?"

"Why? It's a necessary secret."

"We can talk in my carriage. Ifrit is more comfortable there than here, and we can talk as we want to."

Rhynsa couldn't refuse that offer. It's better if there's a private space out of the cramped room of the trailer that would make their conversation out from eavesdroppers.

When they reached the carriage, Rhynsa was surprised when Ifrit quickly jumped inside and felt the wooden framed bed he had been sleeping in. The half-hellhound smiled to himself when he saw that Ifrit had a double bed instead of the single, smaller one that was for Albreich, and another one that was presumably for Eshdar.

Sammael followed them there and he walked to the front of the carriage where the engine was seen. He laid down there, yawning for a while before taking a peaceful sleep, occasionally growling. Albreich made a chuckle when approaching the carriage, saying, "Ifrit and Sam never looked so happy during our travel together. It's a shame Eshdar cannot return to our small group of traders, and now...I gotta worry about Lilac's whereabouts."

"The werewolf girl?"

Albreich sighed. "Never interfere with a heart-broken Lycan. I gotta admit, everything that happens after I told them my real self is all thanks to you."

"I stopped being a murderer, but I will if it's necessary."

"I believe ya. The rumors called you the Black Dog, but you looked more like a batty to me."

"Everyone keeps saying that," said Rhynsa with a laugh. "But...how did you know it was me?"

"I suspected as much when I saw Ifrit and Eshdar eating luxurious meals that I can't afford without losing much of my profit in the resort. Next time, if you want to remain inconspicuous, don't treat others with something that can blow your cover. Lilac, fortunately, didn't seem to realize this, because you might kill her if she attacked you."

"I wouldn't kill outside of what my contract said. He saved me from that pit, and made my eyes open from what the darkness had driven me off from my vendetta."

Albreich didn't reply; he just said, "I know a pub where we can talk. Would you?"

Rhynsa wanted to refuse and made another reason about guarding Ifrit, but apparently, when he wanted to refuse, Ifrit came to him and said, "(Rhynsa, just go with Albreich. I'll be fine. You need to clear everything out before we finish this job)."

Since it came from a hellhound that was oblivious (Ifrit was busy trying to find a book and probably came back to Rhynsa without knowing what they were talking about), Rhynsa made a smile, and said, "(You got me there, kid)."

The walk to the place wasn't eventful. The city was very crowded even at night. In fact, there were more people from different races coming to nightlife entertainments lighting up the streets. Night markets sold many foods and liquors, and the pubs were full of youths, most of them travellers.

Albreich directed the half-bat hellhound to an open spaced pub/restaurant overlooking the lake, the main tourist attraction by the day. While it was a city, it wasn't that big, and more to a resort-like suburb since it was mostly dominated by tourists, day and night.

Albreich ordered a drink while Rhynsa asked for a lighter one, which was noticed by the trader.

"I've known some hellhounds and they drink alcohols. Take Eshdar for example. He really liked to open a bottle of cheap beer and drink it all up."

"They are fortunate that they don't get fever after drinking one," said Rhynsa. "I wish I can drink too."

"Why? Ifrit couldn't drink one, either. Do some of you have fire demon blood in there?"

"It's kind of complicated, and a very long story, but yeah. I've read about old surface legends that hellhounds are treated like fire dogs, and it's kind of true, but also not. Some of us can't use fire, and those who can use one are either working as a soldier or becoming an unintentional arsonist. I...kind of taken by the fact that I am able to use my fire to make explosive results, which was kind of cool, and is kind of flashy."

"So that wasn't special explosive bullets that hit us."

"If it was, you would need to get a new carriage."

Albreich made a small laugh, then took a drink. Rhynsa quickly asked, "Why are you taking me here?"

"I shouldn't be talking about this in front of a vengeance-driven hellhound, but, I know who give you that contract."

"You know? Oh, that goddamn little shit, I told him to hide it."

"He hid it well, until I make him talk, with a little help from his girlfriend, of course."

"You wouldn't..."

"Oh, I would. I was a demon hunter. How else to make him talk if I'm not threatening to burn him with holy water, especially to his...private parts..."

"Damn, you act like a demon than we usually depicted."

It somehow jabbed Albreich, for when Rhynsa said that banter, his excitement was gone, and he quickly took another glass of strong ale, which reminded Rhynsa of his own.

"This is the reason I quit.... About the letter, after I get it from Ifrit and Eshdar, I made a digging up. The ink was unholy and not of this world, but the paper was from earthly wood, which took me to Tragoria, where the wood was from a tree native to that region. By the time I was there, there was a rumor going on that a demonic book was in trade, and it was on stores, disguised as normal-looking books. After we lost Ifrit and Eshdar, we wanted to investigate further, that's until Lilac, who couldn't bear on losing her beloved, left us one full moon without saying goodbye. I was...also depressed, and Sammael seemed to notice that, so he ran off, leaving me alone again for another 2 years. I honored my travelling friends to help them finish what they've started, so I dwelled into black marketing.

"At first, I was able to reward myself with luxury, but then again, I'm still reminded for what I've vowed to finish, and I hit a jackpot, if that's what those Adaline people say. I found a small pocket-sized book that was put between the stash of forbidden drugs I've been helping to deliver. This book was not written in our language, and it reeks of hellish crap."

"Do you have it with you?"

Albreich then put his hand under his coat, where he produced a small pocket book that had a novel title for the cover. Rhynsa could feel the hellish trace from it. It somehow made everything around them colder, which the sudden drop of temperature evidently seen with some patrons commenting on the cold aura, which was not the case with both of them.

Rhynsa carefully opened the book. At first Albreich winced from it, but Rhynsa knew that this was because of the unholy aura inside. He moved his fingers on it and felt the ink when it started to glow.

"Xecarinite ink...this is really a..."

"I never peered inside it. The cover is written with unknown languages..."

"It said 'Summoning Hellspawn for Dummies' in Hordo," said Rhynsa with a small laugh. "Oh, and the first page said 'for Lonrak'. Guess this is his friend, huh?"

"It's customary to write a thank you page for those the author wants to give thanks to. Please, just continue."

"Hold on...I think I've got it...nice, this is some work of literature."

Albreich didn't know what Rhynsa was doing opening the last page of the book, which was quickly explained by the hellhound with "They even got an index at the back...which said, 'index, something very unnecessary for a 50-page book, but customary with human readers'. Is this some kind of a joke?"

"I don't know your sense of humor, so just find anything important in it."

"We can't read it here, Albreich, you know what this is going to do with the humans around us."

"It's still winter, alright, so they won't mind a drop of..."

But suddenly Rhynsa moved closer to Albreich and whispered, "There are five hellhounds sitting by the flame not drinking anything except water. One of them is carrying an explosive. There are three humans who were sitting uncomfortably directly behind us. They are shaking and they wear thin tropical clothes on a winter night."

Albreich wanted to turn his head but Rhynsa stopped him by saying, "Don't make them suspicious. Right now, they have known the sudden drop of temperature is from this book. I want you to be ready when I tell you. Do you have any weapons? Do it discreetly."

When the trader showed him a vial of holy water and a cross, Rhynsa said, "I'll give you the signal. They are moving."

Sure enough, a Lycan near them suddenly moved to the bar and sat just behind Albreich. He brandished a sword and said, "Human, that book is not for public use, and not for you."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, give it to us, and we'll leave you die quickly. Try to run or do anything stupid, I'll let you die slowly gurgling to dead, in pain. Oh...that will be very, very satisfying."

Suddenly Rhynsa stood, gun on his hand, and said, "(Suck my dick, you fucking psycho)."

The next moment, gunfire was shot, and the hellhound dropped beside the counter. This quick turn of event was too fast for the other patrons to realize when the hellhounds and the possessed humans suddenly showed their guns and started shooting at them, with Albreich producing a transparent shield while Rhynsa and the bartender ducked behind the bar, followed by Albreich who tried to find anything to use behind the counter.

"What the hell is going on in my pub?! Are you having a problem with the mob or something?!"

"Just stay behind a cover! Al, give me that vial!"

"No, I'm not giving a holy weapon to a demon! Touching it will burn you! Let me throw it!"

"Throw that thing already, man!"

Albreich didn't hesitate. He threw the vial in a wide arch. Rhynsa realized which target he was after; the possessed. They didn't have time to react when the vial broke on one of them, giving out a high-pitched shriek of agony that filled the room. The demon hunter threw another one, this time to the other human ready to run to the counter. It didn't burn them, but it made them writhing in pain after getting soaked by it.

"I'll deal with the last possessed! Do what you must do and be quick about it!"

The shout made Rhynsa ready. Cocking his shotgun, he made a run to the nearest table and turned it over, making a makeshift cover that didn't last long with the weapons. He quickly shot one right at the chest, throwing him across the room. The nearest knife-wielding hellhound lunged to him, but Rhynsa's quick reflex hit him in the face with the shotgun's butt.

Albreich concentrated to the air around him to widen the area of the shield. He turned to the bartender and said, "Go to the nearest exit! I'll cover you!"

"At least grab a rifle from behind the counter," said the bartender. "Bar fights are not uncommon, so I buy one in case."

"You take it with you, okay? I'm not spilling more blood in your pub. I'll pay for the damage."

"You better be."

They both ran towards the nearest opening, occasionally they ducked behind an overturned table when a hellhound started shooting a machine gun to them. Albreich also noticed Rhynsa had started to move already, trying to find an opening from two hellhounds pinning him.

Suddenly there was a fire out from behind one of them, while the other was attacked by an unusual dog that was obviously Sammael. Ifrit was carrying a broken chair leg which he enhanced into an almost transparent baton, hitting one of the hellhound in the face. His hit was strong enough that they could hear a cracking skull and the hellhound dropped dead. Sammael also made quick of his prey by ripping his throat out.

"C'mon! I've warned the others! We gotta move, now!"

"When did you..."

"Safety first. Come on!"

True to what Ifrit said, he was attacked by at least three hellhounds with guns. His senses had been trained to see everything slowed enough to actually know the timing when the gun was cocked and ready to fire. Grabbing Sammael, he took a nearby cardboard and reinforce it with his new ability while rolling into a sturdier pillar. He took a glance at Rhynsa. Both nodded before Ifrit said "(Make a run for it, Rhynsa!)"

Rhynsa quickly took another pistol, clearly a revolver, from a holster inside his coat. Channeling his fire into the bullet, Rhynsa shot one. Instead of exploding into fiery flame, it expelled smoke thick enough to cover their escape.

The crowded night was their main way of escaping. Blending in the crowd, they pushed through the crowds panicked after the shootout happened. Rhynsa could see many hellhounds trying to find them, and Albreich directed them away from possessed humans. The bartender parted ways with them in the crowd while the group managed to reach their motor carriage. Anenka and the rest of the group had started to move, so they went to Albreich's trading carriage and sped away after making sure than no one was following them.

When they had reached out of the city, they stopped on the side of the paved road. Anenka said, "(What the hell do you think you're doing?! Don't draw any attention to us, Rhynsa!)"

"(I was just having a drink at the bar, glasses! Maybe one of them know my face or something)."

Rhynsa was trying hard to explain to them a reason, while leaving out anything that could reveal the book's secret. After much convincing, they settled down, agreeing to be more careful in exploring the towns they visited. It was still a week and a half from their position to the Tragorian border, and to stop making the same mistake, it was decided that they took different routes, but agreed on getting to a town within the same days they had given. Albreich took a far longer route, while Mitchel took the direct one.

During one night, when Ifrit and Sammael were sleeping, Rhynsa walked to the front seat and said, "Are you sure you can drive all night?"

"I haven't been driving this much since settling for a trade at that town. We're lucky we are given three days before they moved to a different town. I have to make a couple of stops, gathering necessary things and allies."

Rhynsa then took a seat beside Albreich, watching the night road with the white-haired man.

"You kept the book a secret. Why?"

"I haven't read this book yet, so I can't be sure if this book is the reason why that portal is there, somewhere in the Tragoria region."

"Oh, so that's what this little band of misfits is about," said Albreich to the half-bat hellhound. "You're going for a suicide mission into the enemy territory. No wonder I've known notorious faces in your group."

"Such as?"

"That blondie girl is Jocelyn Mary Weatherby, a demolition expert who had been destroying many buildings. She was a genius in bombs and explosives and made experimental ones. While many thinks she destroyed old abandoned building out of a compulsive disorder, many rumors said that she was destroying criminal rat holes, like the one in a small industrial town, a tenement full of drug abusers and violent people. She disappeared after she accidentally kill civilians, but I know her face very well, and that is not a crazed person face.

"That Lycan is Thotha Izverg, a criminal who still used dark magic to his own disposal. Last I heard of him was when he was freed with terms, but the national Dusdolf court overruled every charges on him and he walked out as a free man, with the basis that it was a magic trick. Over time, he lost his infamy and...well, become a good wolf like he is now. Then there's Mizarka Agedal, which is more infamous as a Lycan, then that necromancy doctor, and then you."

"What of me that's notorious?"

"You're the only one in the group that's famous for being a vigilante called 'Black Dog'. I heard that you refused to kill criminals and using gadgets for your own disposal. At around the same time, I heard rumors of a giant bat flying over a town under the pale moonlight, watching its citizens in a wicked twist of a guardian. Is that also you?"

"Do you know any man-sized bats around here except me?" replied Rhynsa.

"Apparently, I knew many demons than humans for the past 2 years after your first defeat to Ifrit. Do you know a giant humanoid bat who called himself a Duke?"

Rhynsa snapped back to his serious face and said, "Duke? You mean Krozani? He's still alive? So that's not a random bat saving Ifrit from me."

"I've remain in contact since. He is trying to save his fellow Fuzandres from your political problems since they were massacred during the taking over of the kingdoms and the fall of your monarchy system. We will meet with him and some of his contacts around Adaline."

"Why don't you tell the rest of us if we're gathering more allies than the ones we currently have?! This might be a great way of counterattack and very advantageous!"

"I may have more allies than you think, Albrech, but we can't risk having a very announced force for them to easily destroy. No, we need to make them gather in a particular city, and planned a strategy. I've met more monarchs than you think. Aside from Eshdar and Ifrit, there's this very peculiar hellhound who doesn't look like a wolf at all, and not having any horns either, which strike me as strange, but he claimed to be the crown prince of Caropus..."

"Anubis Caropus. He's a good hound, around the same age as Ifrit. I've known his father when my king took me to their kingdom. They might come along just fine. Then?"

"Aside from Krozani being a Duke to the small settlement of Fuzandres up north, there's this young, brash, and rebellious young hellhound which I never knew his name, but we'll be meeting him again after the next town. Anyway, can you drive?"

"We can stop if you're tired."

"No, I'm not tired after that fight. Just tell me when I'm going to sleep, and I take it you can't drive, then."

They went on, talking all night, until the next sunrise started to appear on the horizon. After a tiring journey through the night, they finally reached a small town for refuel and supplies. Ifrit went on with Sammael buying stuffs for breakfast, leaving Albreich and Rhynsa alone with refueling in a gas station, during which the bat hellhound started to talk.

"But finding a hellhound prince blending with the crowd can be hard, especially if this town is big enough to have a theatre of its own playing moving pictures. We can't wait for them to accidentally bump into them, right?"

"That's why we need to find him," said Albreich while drinking a tea. "While you and Ifrit had black fur, he's an albino carrying a sword, so we need to make sure they are safe."

The description, however, intrigued Rhynsa. He knew an albino hellhound prince, but it can't be...

"Albreich, that hellhound..." said Rhynsa to Albreich. "Does he have blue stripes with the same pattern with Ifrit's?"

"Yes, and that's the thing that make him unable to blend in."

"Does he have...blue eyes, cold aura around him, and...." Rhynsa gulped. "Carrying a slim, slightly curved sword?"

"You know him?"

Rhynsa grabbed Albreich by the shoulder, giving a panicked look and disbelief. He KNEW the hellhound, long before he deserted the Schelkz family. He was the hellhound's best friend and now, he's going to be hunted down, and Ifrit would lose another kin, again.

"That hellhound's name...is Nergora," said Rhynsa slowly, which caught Albreich in surprise. Lost in words, Rhynsa walked to the owner of the gas stop and asked, "How much for the gas?"

"It's 35 silver 12 bronze coins for that kind of car. Are you in a hurry?"

"I'll pay in advance."

"Hey, that's not how your do things around here, son. Just wait until it's full and pay it."

Rhynsa was pulled back by Albreich, but the trader was more confused that surprised by the name. He asked, "You're making me nervous, Rhynsa. I've heard that name, but vaguely remembered it, though. Who's that?"

The bat hellhound turned his head to Albreich, giving a statement that left the trader aghast, surprised by the revelation.

"The hellhound was...Nergora Schelkz, the next in line to the Schelkz monarchy family...and Ifrit's older brother. He's alive, Albreich. He is still alive!"