Author's Note:

Hello there, it's been quite some time since I last updated this, but that is because I have been busy with schoolwork. and the new story (Zalkions) I am working on. I would love it if you could give that story a try and some feedback since I am writing in third person for that. Here is the link to the Forum.

PS: Updates will be irregular due to schoolwork and since I could be working on either this story or Zalkions. Anyway, enjoy.

PPS: A little heads up for gore warnings in future chapters and a scene in this chapter.

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Volume 2, Chapter 19: Calina's Departure and Secret Tidings

{126 Days Remaining}

It was a little past dawn when I took Efari to see Calina; I had told Efari to act politely in front of Calina, so as to not have any misgivings. Calina had already, during my conversation with her yesterday, looked a little surprised at seeing my hair cut to a shorter length. She did not pointed it out to me, but I had seen her expression and eyes change a little upon seeing my appearance.

“Good morning, baroness,” I said, half-bowing toward Calina. Efari, in turn, followed my lead.

“Who is that beside you, Verath?” asked Calina.

I did not panic from Calina's question. Before coming to meet her, I had already decided upon a background story.

“This is Efari, a woman who lost her family to the Devourers. She wishes to train as a soldier under me, her new-found aspiration to become a Knight Commander.”

“I see...” Calina said, looking thoughtful. “Was there a need to bring her to see me though?” There was a sharp look in her eyes as she said that.

I was about to answer when Efari cut in.

“Yes,” she said in a smooth voice. “Knight Commander Verath brought me to see you because I shall be living personally with him and training personally under him.”

“What! That's...” Calina sputtered.

Eyebrows raised, Efari looked amusingly at Calina, as if daring her to go on, daring her to find fault with that statement.

“...not healthy,” Calina finished weakly.

“Oh, don't worry. We will be vigorously healthy during our night trainings. Lots of exercises. You need not worry, Baroness Calina,” Efari said, flourishing a bow.

Her cheeks reddening slightly, Calina stared daggers at Efari. Then she looked accusingly at me, her grey eyes and face expressed in a way that made it seem as if she was saying, “Why did you not tell me this yesterday!”

Although Calina was the baroness, there was really no law in the military or rules that would prevent a Knight Commander from having a “lady” inside the rooms of the Manor Houses. There was just a silent courtesy.

Bringing Efari along, even under the shaky guise of her getting personally trained by me, warranted suspicion from Calina. Still, she could not really tell her soldiers, especially the commanders and generals not to bring “guests.” Though she was in fact the supreme commander, Calina could not tell us who not to bed, so long as there was a fine distinction between duty and personal life.

Judging from her slightly embarrassed state, it was also highly unlikely that Calina would outright or even indirectly ask if I was bedding Efari. She would not confront me about who was living with me, even though the Manor Houses were, in fact, her property. As a baroness, she could only courteously accept that I was training Efari (though she could, in reality, forcefully command me).

After some more circling conversation between the three of us—actually, mostly between the two women who were glaring at each other—Efari and I left, leaving Calina almost prowling and pacing around like a small tiger in her room. I felt a little unease at the hidden hurt in Calina's eyes, but I figured I would leave it alone until she came back from the king's court meeting.

“You know,” Efari said, walking side-to-side with me, her voice thoughtful, “that girl likes you. It's a shame that I do not share.”

I shook my head a little, giving the matriarch Devourer a small sigh. “And you only made my job all the more harder,” I said, with just the slightest inflection, almost indifferent.

Efari only shrugged at me, before showing off the points of her teeth, which were slightly longer than that of a human, I noticed. “What can I say? I am a very lively female. You could say it is almost draining to be around me.” A slight pause, before Efari continued. “Ah, humor. How I love human expressions.”

“That reminds me. Do you not need to take life essence? You have only been eating human food, while you were with me the past few days.”

“I do not require it yet. When a devourer, especially the female, becomes older and more powerful, they need less and less life essence to sustain themselves. For now, human food will be sufficient, even though I am sharing a small bit of my life essence with you.”

“Interesting,” I simply said.

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At the northern quadrant of Asolance city, I arrived at the Tiger's Bowels, a medium-priced inn, though the name made it sound more of a trash inn than that of a medium-priced inn. This was the place where the three assassins were staying. I had paid a not insubstantial amount of gold for a few months of lodging, cutting a deal with the male inn owner too. It was only fair, and I had been a merchant in my past life, though I did not act like one.

Say what you like, but I had no need to act like one. It was also, in a way, my father's profession, not mine by choice. I had been, you could say, almost born to it. On a positive aspect, being a merchant involved traveling and seeing many new things, so you could say it was fitting for my personality. I had no need for complaints.

Inside the double bed inn room where Gwen and Ilana stayed at, I met up with the three assassins. I handed the small, tightly sealed vials of blood I had prepared beforehand. It would last them about two months or so, unless the blood dried out. But that was unlikely, since their lives depended on it. Thus, I was sure they would not be reckless with the blood vials.

“Now then, I have a few tasks for you three,” I said, waiting for their acceptance.

Gwen and Ilana raised their eyebrows at me, showing perplexed expressions. Kal only sat quietly on the edge of the bed.

“Really,” Ilana said, “I do not get why you bother waiting for us to reply to your statements. You know that we will have to accept it anyway. It isn't as if we have a choice.”

I formed a small smile to let her know that I had graciously taken her rebuke into consideration. Then I continued speaking, as if I had not heard her rebuke at all. Contradictory, you suppose? Hah, I suppose too, but I was just trying to not let indifference get the better of me. Being indifferent was not good for my health—especially since it gave my other self a small foothold.

Thus, these days, I was trying to show a better degree of emotions, feigned and real. It was a somewhat useless attempt, but hey, it was worth a try.

“I want you three to follow Calina and make sure she is unharmed. She will depart from this city tomorrow from the southern gates a little after dawn.”

“How surprising,” Gwen said. “To think that my dear master actually care for the life of a human, especially that girl.” As she said this, the light blue eyes of the female assassin had a soft glow to it.

Perhaps it was just the lighting of the candles in that dark curtained covered room, or perhaps it was just my imagination, but I could sense some hidden motivation behind her off-handed comment.

“It matters little. I just do not want the trouble of a replacement baron or baroness.” My eyes turned a more unnatural green and they flashed a little as they became eyes of a dragon. “This ruler here, after all, trusts me, Gwen,” I whispered in a soft and deliberately slow voice.

Gwen gave a small bow toward me. “I see. You are wise in doing that then, Master Verath. Wise in binding us as slaves. We shall prove trustworthy to you.”

I left the room of the three assassins then, thinking a little on her words and expressions.

Looking back, I should have perhaps trusted the unnaturalness of her words. But I had believed in the effectiveness of cold logic and survival. In a way, my dampened emotional capacity and my mind which was ruled by pragmatism, indifference, and survival, had backfired on me.

Never would I have suspected in that moment of time, the consequences of assigning the three assassins to accompany Calina and protect her on her journey to the central region of Shail Kingdom, where King Balan would hold court.

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Before I had visited the three assassin early morning, Efari had parted form me. At my urging, she had left to casually stroll around town to look for a victim. The victim of her life essence draining would be a criminal, or a person who would not be missed. I didn't particularly cared who died, but I had at least insisted that she attempt to look for a criminal, before killing any poor, single commoners.

Lives were like gold coins. You shouldn't waste them needlessly.

Actually, not really, since that saying didn't really apply to me in a sense. But you get the idea.

When Efari had left and I was traveling toward the Tiger's Bowels inn, a messenger had delivered a report, telling me that I was to meet with the Two Ministers of War at my earliest convenience in the Third Manor House, preferably in early afternoon.

I accepted the message and gave a gold coin toward the messenger for his troubles. Then I visited the three assassins.

This was how my morning had played out.

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It was afternoon and deep in the underground rooms of the Third Manor House when I met up with the two remaining Ministers of War. The two ministers were supposedly distant cousins of the Serle family and they were twins.

Gria Tearon and Lia Tearon. Those were the names of the two twin brothers.

In one of the many secret underground chambers, Gria was sitting down on a simple, yet elegantly carved white chair. The whiteness of the chair looked out of place in the dark underground chamber, especially when the chair was placed in front of the half-naked man who was quietly sobbing. The man's whole body was almost shadowed due to the dim lighting from the low-burning torches of the room.

Thick, ring-linked steel chains that sprouted from two thick metal poles were bound to the half-naked man's ankles and hands. The man was bound tightly and spreadeagled in an upright position. Spots of dried blood and freshly wet blood covered the man's chest, face, arms, and legs.

“Ah, it is nice to see you back, Gold Knight Commander Verath,” Gria casually said, filing his nails with an immaculately carved filer. His right leg crossed over his left leg, Gria finally looked up toward me after a few seconds. He blew softly on his black painted nails, before putting the filer away into a chest pocket.

“Likewise, Minister Gria,” I replied back indifferently, my voice raised just enough so that the sobbing man would not drown out my words.

“I see you have cut your hair, commander,” Lia said, having taken out a small needle from a box, which had been lying on a wooden table against the stone wall. Beside the table were various weapons with cruel, curved edges openly displayed inside the racks. They were the tools of torture the two brothers used.

“Yes, I felt that it was becoming unnecessarily long, Minister Lia,” I said, turning my head a little to the side to face him.

The twin brothers were handsome men, their ages only twenty-eight. They had long, blonde hair, a strong jaw, a long face, prominent noses, and slender builds. They were also tall, and had the characteristic grey eyes of the Serle family.

No one would have expected the ruthlessness the two twins hid beneath their innocent and almost perfect facades. Even I had not expected it. The underlying truth was that the twin brothers were the spy masters serving under the Serle family.

“Pity,” Lia simply said. “You have such pretty hair too.”

I watched Lia walk toward the chained, half-naked man, the long metallic needle in his black gloved right hand glinting from the dim lighting provided by the torches. The needle was thin and was almost two feet long, its thinness almost making me unable to see it. “Look up,” Lia said to the bound man, holding the needle close to his bloodied face, which was stained by tears and snot.

“P-please, you promised! I have told you everything,” the bound man—the prisoner—shouted in a half-sobbing voice. It made his words stutter and almost unclear to the ears.

“Promises are meant to be broken,” Lia whispered in a cold voice. “You should never trust your enemies.”

As the needle in Lia's gloved right hand moved closer and closer toward the prisoner's face, the prisoner struggled violently, jerking his face away from the thin, but sharp point of the needle.

“Shhh,” Lia shushed the prisoner in a soothing voice. His left hand, which was also similarly covered in a black glove, had quickly moved toward the prisoner's jaw. The fingers then clenched his jaw tightly, so tightly that the prisoner could not even move his neck or face. “You would not want me to make a mess now.”

Agonizing screams burst out from the prisoner as the tip of the needle went through the man's left eye. Lia seemed to almost not care that the man had both his eyes closed. He only exerted a little more force on the needle to pierce through the left eyelid of the prisoner. More screaming pervaded the room, so loud that it almost did not sound human.

A few more seconds passed by as the prisoner continued screaming ceaselessly. By then, the tip of the needle had disappeared into the left eye of the prisoner, probably more than a tenth of the needle's length stuck inside his eye.

With a calm and collected look, despite the screaming of the prisoner, Lia quickly jerked the thin needle up and down, side to side, stirring the needle. Blood flowed even more freely from the puncture wound.

Finally, Lia pulled out the bloodied needle and covered it with a white cloth that Gria handed to him while still sitting on the white chair.

Coincidentally, the screaming from the prisoner also stopped as soon as Lia had wrapped the cloth around the needle. The prisoner had lost consciousness from the pain.

“Screams are so soothing to the ears...do you not think so too, brother?”

“Indeed,” said Gria, “but I believe that I did a better job than you in making our prisoner scream. I am quite sure the prisoner screamed louder during my turn, dear brother.”

“No, no. I am quite sure I did a better job,” Lia replied. “After all, he fainted during this turn of mine.”

“That was only because our prisoner had lost too much blood.”

Lia gave a small sigh. “Very well, I suppose it is once more a tie.”

“Agreed,” Gria said, slightly nodding his head.

As I listened to the twin brothers banter with each other while glancing at the unconscious, bloodied prisoner, I felt a small disgust.

“So, why have you two requested a meeting with me?” I asked, interrupting their conversation. I was beginning to tire of their ceaseless talk.

“Ah right, I almost forgot you were waiting for us. My apologies, Knight Commander Verath. We all forget ourselves sometime, do we not?” Gria said, turning his cold, grey eyes toward me.

“Yes. Interesting topics and activities can often time lead to distraction, though it is wise to remember that distraction can lead to careless mistakes. Mistakes that could cost lives.”

The twin brothers did not even blink an eye at my not-so-subtle threat. Their faces showed no reactions. Instead, both of them formed a small smile simultaneously. It was almost eerie. “Quite so,” they said at the same time.

“The prisoner behind me,” Lia said, “is a captured spy.”

“Care to guess who and where the spy is from, dear Commander Verath,” Gria asked in a feigned mocking tone.

I didn't reply, knowing that the minister did not really expected me to answer his question, which was more of a statement. Rhetorical, I suppose, though it was not really that in the truest intent.

“The prisoner's name, after extensive”—there was a brief pause—“research, shall we call it that, is known as Three. His name, however, is rather unimportant. I just felt like divulging that information to you.” Lia gave a small chuckle, but it only sounded feigned. A fake laughter. “No, what is important is that this spy is from our neighboring kingdom. Falinor Kingdom. Now then, can you guess what this spy was doing in our northern region?”

“Spying,” I said, my voice uninfected.

Lia gave a small snicker. A fake snicker—I had never seen the twin brothers truly laugh at jokes. No, they only laughed when they were bantering with each other or “researching.”

“Very well. I can tell that you are impatient,” Lia continued speaking. “Let me be blunt, Knight Commander Verath. This spy has divulged to me some information which makes us brothers suspect some plans of invasion from Falinor Kingdom.”

“And what better time than now to invade, when our kingdom has just slightly recovered from the turmoil Malice has caused. The eastern region, especially, is still heavily recuperating from its wounds.”

I was not surprised that the two brothers knew of Malice—we had, after all, cooperated in cleaning all traces of Malice from the northern region during the time of turmoil.

Malice had slightly dirtied their pride as spy masters for the northern region—the twin brothers had never expected the organization to catalyze and engineer a kingdom-wide rebellion. It had broken the implicit treaty between the darker organizations, the rule of “you leave us alone, we leave you alone.”

“We have already placed spies for long years in the neighboring kingdom, Knight Commander Verath. It will not be long before we will make contact with our spies there and know of Falinor inner court workings. It should only take about two months, give or take. I am sure the king's own spymaster will have already heard about this. Perhaps there is a hidden agenda to this court meeting,” Lia suggested.

I knew what Minster Lia was hinting at. The twin brothers had delegated upon me the task of protecting Baroness Calina. I was, after all, her most trusted subordinate.

“I see...my thanks for the information, ministers.”

“No need for thanks, it was only a matter of time before you would have found out about this, anyway.” Lia said.

I nodded and said a farewell.

Then I left the underground room, feeling two pairs of cold, grey eyes staring at my back.

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The newly-gained information from the two Ministers of War made me change some of my plans. I would need to delegate more people to protect Calina. Thus, I went to see Kina, the contract Shinobi. Then I went to see Grandmaster Kizam Vulcram and his elder brother. The two warriors were drinking deeply from a wine bottle when I went to meet them in their shared room.

I explained the situation and the two Grandmasters accepted my request. All six of the Grandmasters were loyal, personal retainers of the Serle family, and every one of them would have been glad to protect a member of the Serle family. I, however, felt more confident in these two Grandmasters since I knew them better than the others.

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{125 Days Remaining}

The next morning, a little after dawn, Calina departed with an entourage of guards, including the three assassins, Kina, and the two Grandmasters.

Before Calina left, however, she bid me a soft farewell after tightly hugging me for a few seconds. I returned the hug with a few pats on her head, which had made her frown. She had often told me the pats only made her feel short. Still, I knew that it was just light complaining. Calina actually liked the pats on her head—I had seen her hidden smiles when she thought I had not been looking.

Finally, I watched the multiple horse-drawn carriages leave from the southern gates of Asolance, where a large crowd had gathered to see their baroness off.

The crowd of onlookers, however, instantly parted when I walked back inside the city. My white hair, now shoulder length only, was a telltale sign of the infamous figure known as the White Demon. Some people also called me the Long-Leashed White Dog of Baroness Calina, but that was just whispered rumors. Perhaps it had some grain of truth to it, but I never truly bothered with the names.

Still, I could only thought wryly to myself at that—

My reputation, it seemed, preceded me.

Volume 3 (Chapter 1)