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The Twilight Town

Rhynsa and Mizarka met us when we returned to Arbal one day. At least it was two months after we went to our own roads. Since then, we have no luck meeting with the others. Our faithful parting had not given us the time to meet each other again, even for once.

Except for Lilac, though.

Truth be told, I was relieved that Lilac is fine and okay. Her furs may be rugged and not combed, but other than that, she doesn't have any serious injuries or problems, which relieves me.

Arbal stays in ruins after the failed rebel ambush. It is still as desolate as it is, but now, it is occupied by Karkos's army. The army uses many of the intact buildings for command bases, while those in ruins become a camp for the hellhounds and the Lycans who wants to fight to take back their lands. It is more or less a merrier place now.

I walk into the warehouse, now converted into a command center, where I proceed to walk to the second floor, where there was a bridge built by some hellhounds to where Rhynsa stays with Mizarka. Then I open the door, letting Rhynsa in first with Mizarka waiting inside.

Since his fight with the hellhound that beaten him into pulp, Rhynsa had trouble recovering. Many of the bones he has are fractured and can't be healed as easily as a broken bone. Also, since he broke both of his legs, he can't walk, requiring a wheelchair to do so. Despite of that, he still insists to be our strategist and left Mizarka in the makeshift home, tending to the hellhounds with Mitchel (yes, I know, he's very easily forgotten. Since he's a medic, he doesn't have any roles in any situations, so he stays in Arbal). I just wish he can return to be a well-bodied Rhynsa again. I missed his sniper...

"(Speaking of your rifle, Rhynsa, what happened to it)," I asked, feeling curious. Rhynsa somehow didn't immediately answer, but he finally said "(It broke)."

"(Broke)?"

"(Yeah. When Artios tried to whack me with the rifle, your girlfriend's brother jumped to him and saved me, but the rifle was thrown hard enough that when it hit the pavement it broke its handle and trigger)."

"(But that was your priced weapon, right? Is it okay?)"

"(She's just broken, along with her user. I don't know if she can still be used or not, the truth still remains. I am still incapacitated from the last fight and I fill the position of strategist for the time being until I can exact my revenge on that ungrateful son of a bitch)."

Truth be told, Rhynsa is never as agitated like this before. I think his past with the hellhound that also killed Jocelyn is far more complicated than our own vendetta to her. For Rhynsa, it is personal.

Lilac's tapping on my shoulder returned me to reality of long thinking. Now that she's safe, I should be thinking on the next move with both Eshdar and Anubis. Yet, before I can do that, she puts both her arms on me and put her head behind me intimately, which makes me blush. Damn, I never get that feeling for a long time.

"Am I a burden, Ifrit? The three of you seems so...rugged and hardened. Does this mean I become one of the weights you must throw?"

It's so direct! Shit, she really thinks that she becomes an excess baggage after so many years being separated due to circumstances. I wanted to ask her the reason to say that, when I suddenly realize that she actually has moved on after both me and Eshdar's 'death'. She matured faster than I am, yet as a hellhound, it's harder to find a replacement when you've settled in with a girl who saved you from culture shock.

I quickly caress her furry arms, which given her a warm response. I know this is my chance to talk seriously about what will happen after the war.

"Lilac, I...never thought of you as something of a burden," I started, struggling to find insensitive words. "But I...was preoccupied by...my race's problems and, uh...I can't return yet, not before I understand that you're heartbroken when I died when suddenly I popped up in front of you like a hallucination. Did I..."

"A simple yes or no is okay for me, Ifrit," said Lilac. "But it's true, we can't return to our previous lives if we don't finish what we started halfway. If that's okay with you?"

Lilac is right. In a war like this, we can't discuss about love yet, but I'll remember this half-done conversation.

Both of us walk into Rhynsa's room, where Mizarka and Mitchel have gathered around a wooden table filled with maps and notes, including some deeper realm's technologies I can't understand (except the earlier wireless headset, of course). Wheeling his chair to the table, Rhynsa takes one of the notes and starts talking.

"Arbal becomes quite a command post that's reliable enough to mobilize troops," said Rhynsa. "Karkos entrusted me with the provisions and army placements, but despite all that, we're still not ready to fight a massive army of a mixed demon soldiers."

"Do you have anything in mind?" said Eshdar.

"Truth be told, I'm not skilled in making decisions. I was in a special operation unit and big decisions like this are not my style. So I want your input. Is there anything particular we want to do?"

I frown hard at the table. It's hard for me to decide, too, since I'm a straightforward character and not a background, thinking type (if you know what I mean). Yet, apparently, Lilac gets the idea and said, "How about if we gather our allies from all around this continent?"

All of us turn our gaze to her, yet she stands on her decision.

"It is the best course of action we have, but we don't have the luxury of time. If the demons manage to overtake this town we will have trouble taking it back again. Not to mention their spies..."

Again, I don't have the best decision in this matter. The other two are also speechless. This is getting harder for the three of us, not to mention that we've just saved Lilac four hours ago.

I make a gesture for Lilac to take over the meeting while the three of us walk outside. Apparently we have our own way to talk about a course of action. It's all because of our journeys that we grow very close, like brothers tied to the same past and same fate as orphans struggling to survive in the unforgiving world. Not that I have all the memories of my past, but still, we saved our backs during the journey, and we rescued more royalists along the way.

Then something suddenly popped into my mind. I turn to them and said, "(Hey, I think we might get something to say to them)."

"(You mean the small group of Lycans in that small town? But they won't fight for demons, you know. Remember what was their reaction when they saw our long tails? I don't think convincing them of the problem will give us any way to gain more allies)," said Anubis.

"(Last time we saw them, they were havin' a problem with a nearby cave, saying that there's a disturbance they could feel because they're wolves)," said Eshdar. "(Maybe it's our demon?)"

"(We checked that place, but there's nothing there)," said Ifrit. "(I guess we won't get their help, huh?)"

We make a sigh of disappointment. That idea is crappy as shit. Like I said, I don't have a knack of decision-making. Maybe if I didn't play too much as a wandering hero-for-hire I would find more allies than six former generals and Lilac. I wish I can go back home...

Wait a sec. 'Go back home'?

"(That's it!)"

My shout is taken notice by my friends. They take a glance on me, both of them curious on what went through my mind. I am eager to talk to them about what I got, because it's the greatest idea that came up in my mind.

"(I remember the small village I stumbled upon when I first reached the surface world)," said Ifrit. "(I know it's destroyed now, but we still have allies there)."

Both of them are still wondering about my suggestion. I know they will react like that. They don't know who is there right now.

"(The dragons, guys. The dragons)," I explained, while emphasizing the 'dragon' part to them, which caused them to snap out of the thinking session.

"(You're right! The hell wyvern is helping your girlfriend's brother to liberate their hometown!)" said Eshdar.

The three of us then decided to talk about it with Rhynsa, which he perceives as the best course of action. Smiling to us, he said, "From Arbal to Sideview only need five days with our current automotive technology. We might be able to get an easier ally there."

"Hold on just for a second," said Lilac. "I know Hans and the dragons are our best allies, but how do we suppose to bloody go there without attracting as much attention as before? The three of you are notorious enough and I doubt my village is still standing after that invasion three years ago."

"I know it won't be intact after...an old affair." I know Lilac understands about it. "But if there's a chance that we meet your brother and the dragons along the way, we might be able to find more help than we need. Also, we could find more supplies and technologies along the way, including some allies and base of operations."

"But your idea would need more hounds to travel in a tight group, which would attract more attention than the three of you."

"That's why I ask you of this soldier deployment. Along the way, we stumbled across many hellhounds not loyal to the Invaders, but they managed to hold because of a simple reason: they are still considered hellhounds. If we use unknown hellhounds to go find suitable places for making up a base, we can expand our hold into Tragoria."

"Oh...you want to use a scouting strategy. But, isn't that a little bit risky?"

"It won't be," said Anubis. "They got us."

Rhynsa looks unsure on the decision, and I know that's because of the risk, but more importantly, because of us. Since we're their best fighters, we are also their valuable asset. If anything goes wrong, there's a chance the three of us won't survive, and there won't be any other Royals to replace us, except a handful some. Yet, months of fighting together have made us very close to each other, as if our minds become one, especially when we are fighting. Anubis and Eshdar are the best comrades and friends I can ever get in this immoral world dominated by demons.

We stay for a night before we leave them again. Now that Lilac is safe with Rhynsa and the others, I shouldn't have any worries, if not for her coming to my room in the middle of the night.

"So, you will be leaving, right?" said the werewolf to me.

"Yes. When dawn breaks I will go deep into Tragoria to find Hans and his dragon. Just...I don't know how to say it, but...will you, wish me well?"

I can see Lilac became silent after I said that. I wonder if my choice of words are wrong, but Lilac just moves closer to me and say, "If, by any chance, you find anything that's of our significance, make sure Hans takes it back here."

"I will. I know what it is."

We become silent together. I can see Lilac has no intention to leave sooner or later, but then, I never would think of what she does the next minute.

Lilac stares at me for a while, but I can see that it isn't a blank stare. At that same time, we both know what each other are trying to do. We move even closer and closer to each other, until our snouts are barely touching each other. We quickly embrace each other before kissing passionately, and full of undelivered feelings that go off as soon as our tongues look to each other. Lila once told me about it being strange to kiss someone with a snake tongue (literally), but I guess she doesn't get any of that concerns tonight, as we quickly go into beastly desires, and went on all night.