My Journey with the Demon King

12 - Captured?

The leader's voice came out in a short bark. "Enough of this nonsense! Move out!" The men were quick to do as he ordered. Turning on his heel, the leader led the way out, back the way we had come.

As we walked through the college grounds, I spotted Almat and his anima-feles. Trying to smile, I waved. Or, at least I tried to, with the way my hands were bound. Almat's face grew pale and he leaned down, towards the cat.

A few minutes later, as we were passing through the large archway, I heard a loud pop and an anima-feles appeared, lithely balancing on my shoulders. I blanched in horror and surprise. Letting out a soft cry of fear, I stumbled back, loosing my footing. Zane must have stepped forward to catch me, because I stopped falling backwards and I didn't think any of the men would help me like that. I heard a low grunt behind me.

A soft, feminine voice in my head made me pause, as I was about to let out a shriek. Please, Lady, I will not harm you. I have been asked by my brother, Felicitamitis, to help guard you. He has explained the situation and says that he does not think you will be very safe with these mortals. I will remain by your side, guarding you day and night, until the Great One tells me I am no longer needed. My full name is Felicitamina, but you may call me Mina, to make it easier.

I blinked. "T-thank you, M-Mina." I turned my head to get a better look at her. Her coat was a dark black-purple. She had blue stripes, the same shade as my markings of the pact. Her wings were a flawless white, like snow. Her eyes were red as well, but they held tiny flecks of gold in them. The rest of her body was shaped the same as her brother, though she was a few inches shorter than him, making it easier for her to fit on my smaller shoulders.

She fell quiet, purring against me.

The leader of the men yelled out in frustration. "What now?" he hissed, finally noticing that the majority of his party wasn't following behind him. He paused, gulping in evident fear when he saw the beast upon my shoulder. "A...An anima-feles..."

Mina opened her jaw in a yawn, showing off her sharp teeth. Her eyes stared straight into the leader's. His weasel hissed before quickly scuttling down his body and back into his pocket. It was a silent threat and the man seemed to recognize it very quickly. Dipping his head in a half-bow, he cleared his throat. "Uh...M-Men, let's go. We still have several days' travel until we reach the capital."

Zane shoved me forward carefully, helping me gain the rest of my balance. Once I was standing on my own, I followed the rest. "Thank you," I told him, over my shoulder.

Hearing his voice made me feel a little calmer. "No problem, Ana." He stepped forward, his longer legs easily keeping up with my shorter ones. He matched his pace to my own, walking beside me. Our tethers made it impossible for us to hold hands, but it was the closest we could get, at the moment.

I will go for now, Lady. But do not fear, I will be watching. If I sense you are in danger, I will reappear to protect you. With that, Mina disappeared with another loud pop.

As we continued through the city, I let out a little sigh. The streets cleared for us to pass, the leader of our captures making a loud ruckus to get people out of our way. We had been walking for about half an hour. Going down hill was a lot faster than up. I chanced a glance at Zane. "This isn't exactly how I expected today to go."

He shot me a quick, sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. I wasn't quite sure how the Divining Crystal would react to you. But the minute you showed even the slightest talent with Arcane magic, which comes out looking purple, I knew something like this would happen."

"A...Arcane magic?"

He nodded, turning his eyes forward once more. "Yep. Basically, that means the most powerful magic, the purest, and rawest of all magic types. Essentially, you have the talent to be beyond amazing in every single kind of magic in the world. You have the potential to become like me, Ana," his voice lowered at that statement.