ODE TO THE END: A BALLAD OF BROTHERS

CHAPTER 28

ACHIM

With the help of the Caitlyn Queen, the battle between Achim and The Beast had been won. Achim could now push the pestering demon aside, but that was all he could do. He was forced to lie there, beside his badgering foe, as Mave approached with a small squad of agents. Indeed, Achim had won, but the results were not in his favor.

The Caitlyn Queen examined The Beast up close. "This thing. It looks like a girl no older than my daughter. In fact all of you have been rather young so far. Outsiders too," said Mave. "Exactly how old are you, Mr. Arbitor?"

"I'm too tired to think," Achim responded. And yet he gave the question, as well as Mave's choice of words, a quick thought. "I don't know. Fifteen?" As they spoke, the fiend grabbed the air in the dark boy's direction. The primal desire of that battered beast was incurable but, after the battle, ultimately harmless. Achim simply sighed. "A little help."

In response to Achim's request, the Caitlyn Queen slammed her boot onto the demon's wrist. Looking up and realizing the woman's lack of stacher, Achim was surprised. Naomi's mother was not his equal in height, and definitely not in weight, but The Beast struggled to pry it's hands free. The dark boy knew he would have even less luck pulling himself from the heel of her small foot. A fact that left him uneasy.

As much as it agonized him on a cellular level, the dark boy dragged himself into a seated position. He needed to know the location of Mave's agents and, sure enough, they encircled him and his opponent completely. "...So, Naomi's mom, how did you know my name exactly," said Achim with hollow swagger.

"A singular report actually. That and a file left by your most recent employer," said Mave. The monster teethed on her steel-toe boots while she spoke. Tolerating none of it, Mave stepped away and left The Beast to writhe. "Are you related to this thing," the woman asked.

"No. I've never seen her before today," said Achim. As the dark boy spoke, his brain pressed against his skull as if it was primed to explode. Achim cursed his condition and held his head to prevent it from popping.

"What's wrong, Mr. Arbitor," asked Naomi's mother. Her tone sharpened with a barely detectable smugness.

"Nothing," he responded. The truth was that he used way too much power.

"Hmmm," hummed Mave. "Is this your first encounter with something even remotely similar to you?"

It was a straightforward question, thought Achim. One that would not betray his weakness more than his physical appearance already had. "Yeah," he said. "I used to think I was the only one, but I guess that was just another stupid thing I've always been wrong about." He sighed before turning a gaze to the Caitlyn Queen and her entourage. "What about you?" He asked, "It isn't exactly easy to find someone who can step up to me in a fight."

"Oh," Mave responded. "Do tell."

Achim sensed a misstep. He was silent for a moment. "...I've met people in The Wilds who can do some crazy things despite them, for the most part, being normal people. But you did even better than them. Almost like you've done this before."

"Did I?" Mave played the fool poorly as she walked circles around him like a vulture on a fresh carcass. She then stopped and turned to the dark boy, her dark eyes aloof before the power oozing out of his.

"You did," said Achim.

At his response, Mave did not betray a single feeling. All Achim saw was a cold warden. She spoke on. "Perhaps the reports made on account of you and your brother prepared me." She then walked away from Achim and The Beast, the hook left to dangle "Adlai Arbitor was his name, if I am not mistaken."