Azrael - The Rolling Slopes

“Tens and Thirteens! You’re an Ageless Immortal?!”

“I didn’t understand any of the words you screamed,” Azrael was confused at Elira’s sudden outburst and judging by how wide William’s eyes and mouth were, it sounded like it was a big deal, “Ageless Immortal?”

The demon closed her eyes and massaged her temples, “You don’t die from old age?”

“Uh… not really?” He was slowly realizing his mistake, “There are no one who can regenerate their life energy here, are there?”

Elira shook her head at him, “There are constitutions that give bonus to life energy but none that can regenerate it.”

“I know someone with it,” William raised his hand as he volunteered additional information, “June Harriliere, The Life Giver”

“That was only rumours and none from the Fallen really confirmed it,” Elira denied his claims, “you should really stop reading gossip newsletters”

William frowned at the demon and defended the authenticity of his source, “Oh, come on! there’s life in her title!”

“Raea has a mother in her title, do you see any of her kids running around?” Elira rolled her eyes at the man.

“What if she has an illegitimate child? You know, like Serath? Maybe that’s why he abdicated because he was an illegitimate child and the Devourer Queen found out?” William was whispering conspiratorially which Azrael found funny as they were the only people in the vicinity.

“What are you on about, you’re the one that told me it was because of someone he loved,” the demon’s right eye was twitching now, “your sources can’t even stick to one version.”

Azrael sighed at their behavior, “As much as I’d like to gossip, we should do this during lunch and not in the middle of a monster-infested forest.”

As if on cue, the bushes from their far right made a rustling noise. It made the three of them tense for an upcoming fight but only a small tree rodent bounded out of it.

Elira narrowed her eyes at him, “Fine. But we’re still not done talking Mr Ageless Immortal, let me determine the safety of our location first and then you can scout for our target.”

Azrael felt the general impression of Elira change like something was added to her being. He felt it during the previous fight, sudden bursts of speed and strength that were different from the normal distinct energy reinforcement.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” William was observing Elira’s actions, “she’s probably using the soul of her long-eared rabbit.”

“Soul?” he wasn’t familiar with other types of energy as most constitutions from his world uses distinct and life energy.

“Yep, the Phasol Demon Family are few of those who possess the constitution to allow understanding in the way of the souls,” William nodded and tossed a few more explanations, “the long-eared rabbit doesn’t just increase her hearing range, but also the precision of it. She can identify which sounds are real threats and which are harmless.”

“The long-eared rabbit and its ancestors lived their lives as prey,” Elira opened her eyes and spoke to the both of them, “their soul possessed the reason for their survival and I managed to resonate with it.”

“The area is safe despite the ruckus we caused from our previous battle,” Elira nodded in his direction, “you can go scout now, we’ll wait here or contact us through the stone for directions.”

Azrael reduced the pull of the world from his body and jumped to the nearest trunk, using it as a foothold to continuously jump from one tree to the next. It required precise use of energy if he wanted a smooth and quiet transition but he perfected the action long ago.

Guided by his instincts, he managed to cover a wide area before resting his back against the base of a tree; hiding his presence from the gorilla who was engaging against a larger version of the lizard they fought before.

He sent his energy through the telepath stone strapped to his waist and instructed his party members for the direction they should follow.

The gorilla was having the upper hand in the match, possessing an additional limb with a longer reach and striking whenever the lizard least expected it. The deathmatch was reaching its climax when his two members arrived in his position.

‘I will engage right after the lizard dies,’ Elira’s thought arrived from his telepath stone, ‘try to stop him from using his tail.’

Elira jumped out of hiding just as the gorilla delivered the final blow to his opponent, accompanied by a ball of distinct energy rushing from William’s gauntlet. She threw a bottle containing a green liquid in sync with the rushing energy and it hit the gorilla’s hand, its spiked tail being occupied by the ball of energy.

The bottle produced a green smoke around their target and she rushed to confront the disoriented monster in close quarters. The gorilla was a few heads taller than the demon but she was fierce in her approach, unafraid of the difference in weight and size.

Azrael decided to support on the sides, throwing daggers at the right time to intercept the tail whenever it was about to attack the demon. William left the role of distracting the tail to him and focused on inflicting injuries with a barrage of distinct energy.

He withdrew his recurve bow from Shadow and nocked an arrow in its string, waiting for an opportunity to release the energy reinforced projectile. He didn’t need his hands to control the flying daggers so he decided to help in the offence.

Elira produced a guttural cry with her throat, getting the attention of the gorilla who was about to bound away in William’s direction. The distraction was what he needed and the string of his bow produced a vibrating sound as he released the tension from it, letting the arrow fly to their enemy.

Azrael expected the tail to ignore his daggers and prioritize the approaching arrow so he redirected its path by opening two cracks in space; one in front of the arrow and another one facing the undefended legs of their target. The arrow made the transition with only a slight reduction in momentum and it pierced through one of the monster’s leg.

Elira didn’t miss the chance and slid through the gap below and sliced the base of the creature’s tail. Her push daggers weren’t sharp enough to cut it in one slice but the injury made the rest of the fight easier.

It wasn’t long before the gorilla fell to the ground, riddled with holes and burns from different projectiles it received.

Elira’s face was dotted with sweat, having taken the brunt of the monster’s aggressiveness.

“We messed up.”

Azrael was confused about her statement, the fight didn’t actually take long and none of them were in great danger during the course of the engagement. Considering its size and strength, he would consider the fight as an excellent start to their mission.

“It’s a female so no manly parts for me to cut off,” Elira stated without emotion at the two confused men.

“...”

“...”

Azrael apologized for the mistake but the two waved it off as they didn’t notice the gender of their target immediately either. Elira chucked it off to the chance of engaging the gorilla after it fought against another inhabitant of the forest.

Elira harvested some useful materials from the dead monster and Azrael took off again to find another target. It wasn’t long before he found another one and he made sure that their target would possess the required materials for the mission.

The fight went just as well as the first one and Elira harvested the corpse while William did his best to avoid looking at the mutilation the demon was performing. Azrael was quick to make his escape from the scene and gave a reason of finding their next target.

It was already dusk when the three made their way out of the forest, the demon and the brown haired human having additional bruises as compared to when they first entered it.

“Ugh… I’m gonna feel this tomorrow,” William was rolling his shoulders from its socket and made an inquiry to their next destination, “so we heading back to the city now?”

“No, we’ll stay the night in the Towering Cairn and then try to find our fourth member in the morn of morrow,” Elira shook her head at the man’s question and directed an inquisitive gaze at him, “unless you have prior engagements Mr Ageless Immortal?”

“Are you gonna keep calling me that now?” Azrael rolled his eyes, “because if that’s the case then consider this team as over.”

The demon just laughed at his annoyance but turned a serious look at him after, “You need to keep your constitution a secret.”

“Would it pose a problem in this world?” he was curious about the insinuations of his regenerating life energy in Lochley, “besides, I think Theresa knows already... though, she assured me of secrecy.”

“Not really, but it won’t hurt to be careful,” She shrugged at his first question and followed up on his second statement, “do you trust Theresa then?”

“Not one bit.” he answered without missing a beat.

“Then maybe you can trust her after all?” was the demon’s offhanded reply.

Azrael stopped in his tracks and stared at the demon with narrowed eyes. Elira stopped as well and tried to explain her reasoning, “Think about it, she could have easily planted a feeling of trust and connection between you and herself.”

Azrael countered her thoughts, “Maybe because she can’t?”

“I’ve seen her do it before, on top of the cliff when you first arrived here,” Elira started walking towards the road again, waving with her tail for him to keep up, “you forgot the oh-so-scary demon and focused your attention on the tall and handsome man instead.”

“Theresa this, Theresa that, who are you guys talking about?” William was pouting on the side for being left in the conversation.

Azrael ignored the other man and tried to recollect his memories during that day. What Elira told him was the truth, he remembered the sudden urge to speak and the quick way he adapted to the presence of the demon. He shuddered at the subtle way Theresa’s power work and considered it as more dangerous than the aggressive illusions that most telepaths prefer.

The demon’s eye twitched at the sulking man, “No one, just be thankful you haven’t officially met her.”

They arrived at the wide official road between the two cities and waited for a free carriage to pass by. Azrael was busy with his thoughts when their female companion interrupted it with an advice, “Just ignore her for now and hope you don’t meet her again, unless you plan on joining their guild?”

He didn’t answer the demon and tried organizing his thoughts about the matter and other problems he is currently facing. A carriage that could ferry them to the Towering Cairns passed by around that time and he decided to think about his problems inside it.

His first and foremost problem would be the thing inside his Shadow as it’s likely the source of all his problems. He was sure that his brother would try and find him for it… but when and how?

His brother would assume that he was already dead in the abyss so even if he realized that the missing thing was with him, he’ll have to retrieve it from the abyss. The thought of his brother dying in the abyss if he ever decided to look for it made him chuckle which broke the silence of the carriage.

Azrael ignored the curious looks of the other passengers and decided to move on his next problem, though, it was more of a question than a problem: how did he survive the trip to the abyss and how did the thing end up with him.

Nevan, or anyone, would have died if they touched the thing but she was still present during the exile ceremony. However, now that he thought about it, the woman was looking quite worried at that time; in contrast to the happy freedom spiel the day before it.

He concluded that the thing hated his brother as much as him and decided to escape with his body, saving it in the process from the abyss. He was not sure if it possessed any sentience to prove his theory but he didn’t want to think about the other alternative.

“You’re looking quite funny with your expressions.”

Elira’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “As much as I hate to disturb you from your musings, I thought you’d like to see the Towering Cairns from afar.”

Azrael looked out the window and saw the city, or specifically, its namesake.

A tower made of stones stood proudly on the horizon, its height twice as tall as the surrounding walls of the city. The cairn blocked a part of the setting sun, highlighting the rays of light and shadows it cast into the city, with a painting of orange skies and dark clouds decorating it as the background.

It was beautiful. His new world was... beautiful.

He was glad he struggled for life, for fighting against the crushing force of the abyss, for not giving in to despair. He thanked his brother for the exile, for the words he whispered before they activated the Wesh Root.

‘This is not an exile Azrael, this is -- execution.’

It made something inside him burn.

His brother had expected him to stop struggling, to stay obedient like how he lived his whole life in Ost, to accept his fate, to silently die.

Like how he stayed silent as he was assigned to the front lines, as his brother fed his cat to the birds, as he listened to the testimonial of his beloved against him, as the judges made their decision of exile.

Nevan had always cried for him but he had stayed silent throughout all of it.

But the fire inside him burned at that time, he screamed at the abyss as it tore through him, crushing his every bone and flesh, trying to put the fire inside him out.

‘Live’

He didn’t know where the voice originated; from himself, from someone’s soul who perished in the abyss, or from someone created by his own mind. It was like a light for him in the darkness of the abyss, he followed it, and so he lived.

“Hey… I think you broke hi-- oof”

William’s voice brought him back to the present and when he looked up, he could see the blurry images of his companions. The man was curled up in his seat, rubbing his palms at his sides; mumbling about domestic violence.

Elira reached out to his face and dabbed the tears streaking on his cheeks, worried face surfacing as she wiped the tear drops from his eyes.

“Are you alright?” her voice was quiet but strength and concern were evident behind it.

Azrael stared at his two friends; one who was looking at him with a weird face, the other full of concern and silent support.

“Mood swings and being glad, that’s all. Thinking that this world is beautiful and that both of you are beautiful,” he gave them a full grin, their faces flushing red at his compliment.

The man tried sputtering something but couldn’t make the words with his mouth while Elira closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh.

“William is right… I think I broke him after all.”

End of Chapter 13