SEASICK

30- Dangerous Trails

[[ I do NOT own the art or music. Please enjoy this chapter - L RANDY ]]

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"A hike?" Alana asked as she looked down to the boots Ivo dropped at her feet.

It was early in the morning, a bluish hue cast into her room from the balcony window.

Alana was sitting on the edge of her bed, after being startled awake by Ivo running his fingers through her hair.

"Yes, Little Dove," Ivo nodded once. "Trust me, I hate the sound of it too." He smiled.

"I do not know if I hate it, I have never done anything close to it," Alana admitted.

"You will hate it," Ivo smiled brightly. "And unfortunately, this is not a typical stroll through the woods, we will be hunting."

Alana's eyes widen by a fraction.

"Hunting? Hunting what?" She wiped a bit of sleep out the corners of her eye.

"Possessed." Ivo stepped over to her window to look out towards the jungle forest in the distance. "People who made contracts with demons but did not have the ability to control them, and thus were reverted to shells for mindless beasts."

That does not sound very safe to be hunting.

"Why are you hunting them?"

"We will be going in groups, Hadan, and that Chusi woman is leading another group as well. We will make the mindless beasts into soldiers for the war against Taycia."

Her heart started to race at the mention of her Kingdom.

"How? If they're just shells."

"They submit to higher demons, such as us." Ivo turned to her with a smile that did not reflect the mood in the room.

"Is it safe for me to join you?" She finally asked, again glancing down to the hiking boots Ivo somehow got for her.

"If you stick with us, then yes, it perfectly safe. You can just enjoy the walk and pick flowers."

Ivo came to sit by her on the bed.

"But if you run off, then you could be killed." He warned her with an evil smirk.

"O-okay." She nodded warily looking into his pale ivy green eyes for some sort of comfort, but she knew she would not find it in Ivo.

"Well, then get dressed we will be leaving in fifteen minutes." Ivo patted the hiking outfit he had set on the foot of her bed when he first arrived.

Fifteen minutes?! Alana's jaw slacked by an inch as she watched Ivo stalk out the room, unknown to her but with a smirk on his face.

He was supposed to tell her all this yesterday and give her an option of staying at the Inn, but he thought it would be more fun this way. And from the sound of her scurrying out the bed and racing into the bathroom, he was right so far.

We are going into the mountains to hunt demons, huh? I do not know if I will be able to keep up with them, I might end up slowing them down. Alana thought worriedly as she brushed through her bed head quickly, tying up her now almost shoulder-length hair into a tight ponytail.

She brushed her teeth hastily and washed the crust from her eyes simultaneously.

Why did they wait last minute to tell me?! She thought as she ripped off her pajamas.