"G...General... There's a black panther in your chambers..."
War against the demons was looming on the horizon, The emperor has not sent enough soldiers nor provisions, the rumoured ruthless General Li can only act the bad guy and snatch up commo...
Upon entering the city, smoke-filled both persons noses, causing one to frown and the other to outright cough.
The smoke surrounding their environment was thick enough to make one squint to see further, as they trotted past on the horse, they could tell that the ground was filled with debris and muck.
YuLin turned his head, this was the perfect opportunity, he thought, as he wriggled into a kneeling position on the horse.
"What are you doing?" The general asked. Head ahead trying to assess how dire the situation was.
"Ah, I want a better look. Your back's too fat, can't see anything."
A vein in LiZhao's neck twitched...fat?
Just as he was about to reprimand YuLin however, he felt the weight behind him disappear. LiZhao snapped his head around and found YuLin in mid summersault. For a millisecond, their eyes made contact and LiZhao felt a stirring within at the sight of those glowing, luminescent, red eyes.
YuLin made a clean land on the ground just as a pair of glowing eyes by his shoulders appeared, scaring LiZhao's stallion into stomping its hooves. YuLin smiled tenderly at the General before saying, "Sorry General. But this isn't my battlefield, I'm afraid I'd only cause trouble." He laid his hand on XiaoQi's furry head which purred in response, it's neck and back muscles vibrating. He mounted XiaoQi with ease and nudged him to take him away.
"Don't!" LiZhao muttered with a sliver of urgency in his voice. He cocked his head, he would never normally express words with any emotions, let alone desperate sounding ones...
YuLin continued away with XiaoQi, an odd tugging at the back of his mind. He smiled nervously. and urger XiaoQi to hurry a little.
Before LiZhao could stop himself, it was like an unknown part of him surfaced as he said, "This is the only time you'll leave my side willingly. You'll regret it later." LiZhao jerked his horse around and shouted "Hya!" and galloped deeper into the city. His cavalry will arrive soon, he had to scope out the area before they arrived. He rode without turning his head once, though he felt it somewhere within that leaving YuLin... somehow felt...wrong.
YuLin, on the other hand, turned around with an obvious frown on his lips. "Xiao Qi ah... that man... feels strange... feels... Aiya nevermind, let's get out before trouble finds us." YuLin leaned close to XiaoQi's fur and clamped his legs along the side of XiaoQi's body. This is so that when the panther runs, he will not fall off. He calls it running but it was more like leaping through the air.
YuLin buried his face in the fur as he felt the wind and smoke whistle through his ears. He only wished for XiaoQi to go faster, faster and faster.
But then he heard a scream, directly to his left. A young woman.
YuLin pursed his lips and urged XiaoQi to leap faster, further. But then he heard the woman's dying scream and the shout of a younger voice. YuLin bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he sat up.
"XiaoQin!" He declared. The panther, of course, knew what his master wanted and immediately spun back in the direction the shout came from. Upon arriving at the scene YuLin saw a woman's body limp on the ground with the torso torn from one end to the other. Intestines spilling and tangled outside her body. And the cloud of darkness tearing at those intestines. If one squinted, you could almost see the outline of a human body but it was so enshrouded in a cloud of murky darkness. The demon gnawed and chewed, blood spilling from its lips as it slurped.
YuLin felt the bile rise in his throat. His casual smile long gone from his face as he watched the creature turn its head towards the source of the other voice. A young boy perhaps twelve of age. Just as it grinned sinisterly and took a step forward, a large crow cawed and dove down scratching at the demon with its sharp talons. The demon hissed as yellow and black pus sizzled out its wounds and turned his head, seeing YuLin for the first time seated atop a black beast with glimmering yellow eyes.
The demon was struck dumb as it stared at the young boy. The rancid blood in his veins aching with the want, the need, to serve and obey. The need to serve the royal in front of him.
The demon staggered in front of YuLin and XiaoQin growled, revealing his impressive set of fangs. The demon did not halt and came right up to YuLin before kneeling on the ground. "Your Highness!"
YuLin's hands clenched in XiaoQi's fur. He stared at the demon and merely whispered, "XiaoQin," before the crow, hidden within the smoke grew larger than possible and charged at the demon.
YuLin turned and went towards the child who stared with wide eyes in terror. He bent and grabbed the kid under the arms, lifting him in front of him before setting off back to leave the city.
"Listen, kid, when I reach the outskirts of this place I will leave you. Once it has calmed down, go seek a soldier and ask to join the army. If you want revenge for that woman, do as I say."
The young boy buried his face against YuLin's thin chest, eyes revealing hatred and bad ambitions.
...
Looking out one of the windows was another unseen demon, one with a female figure this time. She smiled seductively and placed one hand on her voluptuous hip whilst the other hand flipped her electric blue hair over her shoulder. "My my, an interesting piece has returned to the broad it seems."
A small toad at her bare shoulder croaked, "My lady, a cursed one has also entered the city."
The female demon's red lips stretched further. "I say, once all the pieces are on the board, it'll be a good show."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
