He toyed with his nails, claws shut together. Again, his tail tapped on the wooden floor of the inn, counting every second. His eyes trailed to the clock on the wall. The innkeeper was lighting some oil lamps, because the sun had stopped shining light through the windows.

He finally moved one hand, to lay it on his chest. The painful ache was there, yet he still dreaded. It was late, very late.

He couldn’t take it anymore. When he stood up from the table sharply, he startled Ayako, who had been trying to ease his doubts.

“Something must have happened to him.”

Ayako had really tried to wait; she really tried to excuse Alexis’ lateness. But there was no denying that it was strange, that he should have come back by now. She stood with him as well. He noticed her hand reaching for his, so he spoke firmly.

“Don’t try to stop me; I’m going out to-”

“I’m not going to stop you.” He saw her grab her things, with the same care in her eyes, the same seriousness. All her joking approach was gone. “I’m going with you. He’s careless, but not this much. If he’s in trouble, he does not have his sword with him.”

Uriel gave her a warm smile. In a blink, he bolted out the door, dashing away. He did not need to watch out for her, because she kept his fast pace. Both headed out into the streets, now less crowded in the night.

—————–

A deep breath was all he needed. Scratching the earth below his huge claws, he crept in the night. His red eyes glinted, reacting to the scent of other demons. Their scent, it was unmistakable, like his own, like hers, something he cherished.

He followed it, trailing past an empty desolate road. His ears twitched, hearing the faint echo of voices. The more he neared, the more his fur rose.

It was their scent, but mixed with the disgusting smell of some unknown humans. He could not hear Aurora’s or Ariel’s voices. No, he could hear men’s voices, loud, through the dense woods that bordered the northern fields of the town.

He began to prowl, making himself smaller against the bushes and grass. His eyes narrowed when he set them on a fire in the dark. There, in between tall trees, the cart, surrounded by men that did not look honorable at all. They were dressed in filthy clothes, which struck his senses, wearing what looked like vagabond rags. He did not miss their daggers either, his eyes noticed them instantly.

What bothered him more was that he heard one of them boast, mockingly.

“All we got out of them was that stupid bow! Which would have not gotten us more than two copper coins!” Lykaios’ eyes went wide, both with surprise and rage; those hands had the familiar scent of the weapon, the coal and florae, broken wood and metal. They had attacked the girls. “You couldn’t catch some flimsy demons, couldn’t you?! I thought you were men?! What’s next, you being scared of a noisy mouse?!”

Lykaios really saw red. Even from here, he could smell the shattered pieces, the carefully carved runes and wooden details now ripped. It had been a dear thing to Aurora, now discarded in the woods, garbage to these thieves.

His neck trembled; his head lifted a little to look at the man. As his breath deepened more, his claws stabbed the earth. Years had passed, but he could still recall if he had ever met a human before. He knew this man… and this time, no one could prevent him from lunging.

The men jolted, startled by a faint scratch in the distance. All looked at each other, eyeing the bushes around them. The leader however, after brushing off his surprise, laughed mockingly.

“I was kidding when I said you would be scared by a mouse, you know.”

He turned towards the cart and took out another loaf of bread; at the rate they had been eating from what they stole, they would have no food left once they reached that city. Now the man was leaning arrogantly; he was eyeing his men, who were flustered for being startled by that sound.

“Look at you; I couldn’t tell if you’re strong bandits or flimsy beggars.” He spat down, taking his time to curse, resenting having failed to catch the girls. “Bested by dirty demons, who did not even look all that-”

He stopped. Pale, he stared at the bushes. The men grew confused, seeing all the color leave his skin. Not knowing what was right behind them, they stared ahead, at their leader.

“Boss? What’s wrong?”

The man began to raise a shaky finger, and while stuttering, he pointed behind them, to the shadows. Slowly, all began to lean to look back at what he was staring at. Whatever it was, it had managed to steal all his words.

Red is what they saw. Red, in between dark. Red, slowly rising, revealing it not to be a shadow, but part of a huge black beast. It towered over them, even though it was still a few feet away. Its long neck leaned up, while a big maw opened downwards, displaying a sharp row of fangs, which trembled with a deep silent growl. A big frame tensed, two big shoulders broadened, followed by a slim slender body and two strong hind legs that inclined. A huge claw lifted, slowly inching over them.

What echoed next in the night haunted the distant town for days. A deep feral wail, which was followed by fearful screams and clawing sounds. A small chase, a game of cat and mouse; a demon toyed with the ones who had dared attack someone dear.

When he was done with them, their clothes were more torn and painted with a little red. As he spat out a ripped slice of cloth, he glared at the last that ran away. Cart forgotten behind, they did not dare look back while they tried to save their lifes.

Slowly, his deep breaths calmed down. He looked away from the road and turned to inspect the cart. His claws laid onto it, to help him peek inside. His nose twitched, as he tried to focus. His senses had brought him here, where the scent was most obvious. But there was another trail now, one much easier to pinpoint. The girls were long gone.

The men were prevented from marching into distant lands, but he knew that fact was unknown to the two young demons. His steps brought him slightly back, where he found a small crevice. The bow rested there, hidden by the road, indeed broken. He glared to the distance, noting the smell of feathers, of demonic ones, dense and plentiful. The northern fields had a trail in the air, one that the weather would take days to erase.

Lykaios moved, he growled again. Anger filled his heart as he chased the girls, now much more anxious.

——————

“Why do you resist?!”

He thrashed in their hold, much more wildly than that one time they cornered him in the woods. Huffing and pulling, he kept struggling to free his arms. He was being dragged along strongly by two of them. The women were quite able considering their looks. They had pulled at him through the slums, into alleys he would rather not see again. Not a single guard, only beggars and shady people, no one he wanted to yell at for help.

His eyes widened, seeing them take him towards a very old, shady, small, wooden building. One of them opened a creaky door and pointed the way in. The house was broken everywhere. It had a caved roof. He did not want to know what they had in it. He was not about to be killed in a place like that.

“Ah, no! I’m not going in there!”

The one of two ponytails yelled, in a way that confused him.

“It’s what we have for now!”

He did not have time to think about their strange choice of words. With a growl, he pushed down one of their hands, which had a tight grip on his wrist. The angel hunters gasped, pushed off angrily. He dashed past them and tried to run away through the alley. He really wanted to get out, but he stopped his feet when he heard one yell the next words desperately.

“Wait, master!”

He halted sharply. Once he dared to look back, he realized that they had not chased. They stood by the entrance of that building, looking at him anxiously. Their hands were clasped together; they seemed to beg for him to wait.

He asked, not having a clue about their strange actions.

“What did you just call me?”

To his shock, the one who said that gasped and quickly bowed down, apologizing in shame.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I know I should use better words, I repent for my manners, highness!”

He did not understand anything, at all. As he took another step away, he kept himself wary. But seeing that they were keeping a distance, he questioned, always curious.

“Okay… where are your daggers?”

Last time, they put an axe to his neck. These hunters were not carrying anything now, in fact, they were wearing tunics, something that was not exactly the best thing to hunt an angel with.

His question led to another confusing answer. The oldest of the three took a step towards him, bowing her head too.

“We couldn’t acquire them yet. They are very expensive if crafted for our vocation. We’re working on it.”

Those words did not ease his anxiousness. He took two more steps away and snarled, eyeing them like they were crazy. Whatever Uriel had done to their heads had done a lot of damage for sure. Ayako suffered sometimes the aftereffects of a memory wipe as well, but not to this extreme. He had not been careful with these three, and it showed. In a rush to prevent them from hunting him again, his demon had erased everything, and they seemed to have some remembrance of it; a real mess.

“Okay, I’m out of here, not going to listen while you try to figure things out.”

In any moment, their minds could gain clarity, and then he would be a dead man. Or angel, whatever.

He turned to jog away, but again, one of them called, begging with a hand raised.

“Please, we don’t know why you scorn us so much! What did we do for you to leave us?!”

Again, against every instinct, he stopped. Slapping himself mentally, he turned with a deep frown and groan. He couldn’t just ignore them, because in the air, there was clear despair and dread, and it did not come from him. After silencing every single alarm in his brain, he looked at them, with a defensive stance.

He did not know what they knew, or what they didn’t, so he entertained their question.

“Why do you think I did?”

It was vague enough. If they remembered what they were, they should say it. If they didn’t, they would say more strange things. Unless they remembered and they were feigning being crazy to appeal to his foolish ingenuity.

The three exchanged a sorrowful look. The tallest one stopped holding the door. In the past, she had held an axe to his neck, but now, she took something far more harmless from her pocket: a feather, golden and shiny. He knew then that this feather had gotten stuck on their hunting armors, so many years ago, and that it had sparked questions when they woke up. She neared a little, and he could not avoid shivering while she displayed it to him.

“We don’t know, your highness. We have tried to remember for a long time. We hoped you would tell us. We only know we did something wrong.” She frowned and gave him a very scared look, which he felt pity for. “In case it was really you. Your necklace is… we are sure it is you. You left us this feather, a thing only a man of worship would hold. We’ve seen your amulet, what hangs on your neck; it is the same, of the same angel. You are a high priest, aren’t you? Who could hold such a thing without being of importance, a man worthy of giving guidance?”

He eyed the feather; he eyed them, and then the small building. Looking better at their clothes, he realized they were priest tunics, just very poor ones. The house was not a house, but an old warehouse that had been tweaked, to look like a small temple, many years ago.

He opened his mouth, trying hard to say something. Still tense, he begged himself to bolt, because the three reached for him. They looked at him intensely, with lost eyes; the spell Uriel casted was obvious in them. Fractured, they were trying to assemble their thoughts, only remembering one thing of their stolen selves, the last thing they reached for: him.

“Please, you led us before, didn’t you?”

“We’ve waited for you to come back.”

“We need guidance.”

Uriel had asked him that day why he pitied them after they tried to murder him. He had to ask himself that question right now. Their hold was gentle, but firm. If he were to run and push them off, he would succeed. They really looked lost, nothing like the murderous image he had burned into his mind.

In the end, he gulped, cursing his own humanity.

“I-I guess… I owe you some kind of explanation?”

Answers were what he wanted himself.

————-

“Smell harder.”

He winced, not liking how those words sounded. As he looked sideways at her, he avoided to meet the curious eyes of two drunken patrons in the alleys.

“Can you not say that?”

“Then breathe deeper! Am I supposed to tell you to beat your heart faster too?”

He let out a very tired sigh, and then kept walking forward. It was not easy to trail Alexis’ whereabouts with precision in a city. Much less here, in the slums, near very small canals that smelled of mud and waste. His beating ache always hinted which direction to follow, but when every step led against a wall, it was not easy to maneuver to the core of the location.

Ayako was looking everywhere, even though she could have no clue where to look. He led, paying close attention to every scent, every pulse of his bond with him, every step. He hated to have to be in the slums, and what it implied. He eyed every beggar warily, wondering why Alexis was here, in the night.

Who could have dragged him here? Thieves? Kidnappers? Cannibals?

He discarded that last one, but he did note the possibility of someone seeing an angel and wanting to drink its blood. He had heard crazier things, and not good ones.

He took another deep breath, another sniff. He was closer to the scent, something that Alexis had held or been near to. He blushed in embarrassment, because an old man stared at him in the alley, smiling with amusement at his deep breaths. With his actions, he had lost all his imposing looks.

While he grumbled and hid his face in a claw, Ayako walked towards the man. She was not apprehensive of poor and unlucky people; without a single care for his looks, she neared the beggar, with a concerned smile.

“Excuse me, sir. You wouldn’t have seen a blond around here?”

He found her friendliness daring. It was rare for people to wander in the slums, and much more that they paid attention to an old beggar like him. While sitting a little more upright in his small makeshift tent, he smiled at her, answering gladly.

“A blond?” He brushed his long beard while he tried to remember. He then gasped, raising a finger. “He wouldn’t have very weird long black streams of hair at the side of his face, right?”

“Yes!”

“And very thick pointy eyebrows!”

“Very thick and dense!”

“A very carefully trimmed beard that has pointy sides? An unkempt tied hair? And to top it all off, a very black trailing cape?”

“Yes, yes, and yes again!”

The man suddenly frowned, brushing his balding head.

“Hmmm, I think I remember someone like that, but it could have been just another delirium of mine. Age leaves you with a crazy mind, you see. Yesterday, I mistook a dog for a cat! Or was it a pigeon? Take my advice, girl, never get old, it really-”

Uriel had no time for divagations. He leaned onto Ayako’s shoulders and yelled at the man, not aggressively, but with enough urgency.

“You saw a blond or not?!”

“Well, a few beggar friends of mine are blond, lad. So I’ve seen quite a few.” Uriel yelled silently onto his claw, but he stopped when the man said the next words. “But no friends of mine are lucky with girls. There was a young man, dragged along by three really attentive and eager looking women; lucky him, or not, depending on what you think of priests and their vows.”

Ayako and Uriel blinked, because the man laughed and picked up some things out. As he lifted out a few tools, he explained, happily.

“If he’s a priest, I don’t really care about his life choices; those three handed me some of the things he carried in a bag! So generous! Look at this…” He looked at one of the tools, not really knowing what it was. “…thing? I bet it can be useful! They were so nice throwing it to me as they dragged him!”

Uriel discarded the thief theory. He snatched the tool from the man, and then smelled it closely, much to the beggar’s dislike. The scent of an angel was there, Alexis had held this. He looked at her and affirmed with a grim scowl.

“It’s his.”

He handed back the thing to the beggar, and then walked away without saying more. Ayako waved away and quickly followed behind Uriel. She asked, frowning deeply.

“Why would they give away the things he had?”

“They did not want to rob him, they wanted him. There are only two things that could explain it, and I don’t like to think of them.”

“There are no angel hunters here, no headquarters. No demons roam either.”

“And how can you be sure, Ayako? I don’t smell any demons, but hunters are still a possibility; they may have traveled from other settlements to sell their kills.”

“Even if any are here, how could they ever know?”

“Don’t know, and I don’t care. If they are hunters, they are going to harm him. If they are not, they are still in trouble.” He pushed his sleeves back, clenching a fist while he glared fiercely. “Whoever has taken him away, they are going to have to give a very good excuse, because I’m not going to doubt to claw them off of him.”

Uriel jumped over a tall fence without much effort. She huffed as she climbed, swiftly jumping down and following his pace. He was shortening the way, turning only when needed. He did not doubt to step into shady alleys, where thugs eyed them. He eyed them back, silencing their very thoughts.

His senses and ache took them to one last street. They both halted there, looking up to the house, to the creaky roof and messy walls. His violet eyes narrowed, noting small carvings on the wood outside, runes.

“A temple?”

Ayako was the first to near, trusting that Uriel had led them to the right place. Leaning, she inspected the runes, noting how badly they had been drawn on the wall.

“A very bad one…” She stood away, looking at it with dislike. “I mean, there are a lot in this city, some are managed for different social standings. But this one? It is really the worst.”

Uriel stepped in front of her, arm up.

“We’re in the slums, Ayako. We have to be careful. It could not be a temple, but a criminal hideout. Maybe they have mistaken him for a real priest, and they are trying to extort him.”

“Then what are we waiting for?!”

She pushed past him, lunging into it. He yelped and quickly followed, more apprehensive.

“W-wait! It can be dangerous! We don’t know what’s in there!”

Alexis was there, and that was all she cared about. Not her own safety, but his.

She moved like a real hunter. The first room was a small entrance. She glared at the small box of offerings and the small candle on a table. A simple note, asking for whatever little coin a visitor could have. It was a humble dim lighted room, welcoming for some, grim in her view.

Pushing away such sight, she headed through the next arc. She walked through a dark corridor, decorated with rows of candles and scriptures on the walls. Uriel followed; he tip toed and leaned, to not hit the low ceiling with his horns.

They heard voices, women.

“Should we use these knifes?”

They both paled, even more when they heard Alexis yell.

“No, no, those are too sharp!”

They saw the shadows, casted with the light that came from an open door ahead. One shadow towered, over the outlines of another one, with a very sharp point. Clearly they were holding a dagger, over his head.

When Uriel and Ayako burst into the chamber, they did so loudly and fiercely. Both almost broke the door as they pushed it; they yelled at the top of their lungs.

“Drop that damn dagger now!”

“Alexis, don’t worry, we got you!”

They both blinked. Alexis blinked back. The women did too.

Ayako stared at what was going on ahead. Past many rows of seats, there was a wooden altar, and there, three women and Alexis. There was a tablet of clay, which one of the women was carving with a knife. They were not stabbing Alexis, he was not bound or held down, but looking over them while they did whatever they were doing to the clay. The knifes they held were not real ones, but ceremonial ones, designed to carve traditional objects.

Alexis’ surprise was obvious, not having expected them to lunge so fiercely into the scene. Uriel was surprised too; at first he was bewildered and a little taken aback, until he paid more attention to the faces of the three hooded women.

“You?!”

If a demon was scary without being angry, one could not describe how demonic Uriel looked at that moment. The three women screamed, seeing him begin to sprint towards the altar, claws up.

Luckily, Alexis reacted fast, after a sharp yelp.

“Uriel, stop!” He did, only because Alexis threw his hands forward against his chest. Uriel panted, mouth agape, looking down at him with the most confused of stares. “Don’t hurt them! They are not plotting anything!”

Uriel looked again at the women, who were peeking behind the altar, sweating with shock. Then, he looked down again at his angel, who looked slightly troubled, gulping nervously.

“W-what are you doing with them?! What are they doing with you?!” He threw his claws up, only to let them down. “Don’t you remember what horrible things these idiots did?!”

They were hunters, angel hunters, which chased him in the woods. They shot at him, gave him have a very painful landing, held his wings open forcefully, and tried to cut them down in a single slice, to then attempt to murder him. They had intended to rip him apart, to sell him like a simple hunted animal.

Alexis could not forget, but he could forgive. That was why he was there right now.

“Shh!” Uriel winced, because Alexis stepped on his foot, intentionally. While biting his lip, he moved his amber eyes sideways, signaling him to follow along. “Of course I remember…! How could I forget all the stealing they committed, all the lies, the sinful ways in which they lived! Not only they failed to redeem themselves then, but dared relapse in their crimes after they swore to become servants of our deity! They got so drunk that they wasted all their money and savings; left nothing in their name! Shameful! That’s why I left them to their luck! I couldn’t keep on teaching them! But I have realized, that leaving them to learn alone is not going to please fate, oh no. We can forgive, in the name of goodness! After all, high priests have to guide their sheep, and you know the rest, flocks and all that.”

Uriel shook his head, honestly lost in all that ramble.

“What in heavens are you-”

“Of course you don’t understand!” Alexis slammed a hand on Uriel’s mouth, looking at the women while he pretended to scold him sternly. “You demons have a hard time forgiving! You have to read more scripture, Uriel! After years of trying to follow my teachings, you still are too stubborn to apply them! In fact, come here and look at the nice tablet we were trying to carve before you lunged in! A nice amulet, to hang on a wall, and remind we have to be very, very… VERY mindful of the things we say. Think before you speak, will you?!”

He finally moved away his hand from his mouth. Uriel stood there, under the very intense stare of Alexis.

“But… they, you-”

“Oh, no need to worry, loyal friend of mine! They have changed!” He walked back to the altar, and there, he slammed his hands down, like if he was a real important priest. “Look at this temple they took care of! Without my help! They help in the poorest districts, and give things around, everything they can!”

The shortest of the three nodded, a little reticently.

“We do what we can.” She looked at Alexis, like if he was an idol. “We try to be as humble as him! We saw him there, carrying a big bag full of gifts, which to give to the needy! His clothes could not be more ordinary!”

Alexis cringed a little, coughing with a little bit of resent.

“Yes, gifts… very costly gifts that they better appreciate…”

The one in the middle was much more vocal, and dared to face Uriel’s judging stare.

“You should listen to your spiritual guide more respectfully, devil! Our master is so devoted, that he took time to teach us again, after all our failings! He has reminded us what we must do! No wonder we have such an unimpressive temple! Our efforts are not enough, and our studies of the books are completely wrong! All temples contradict each other, with different traditions and ceremonies, but he has cleared our doubts and told us how to guide the common folk in a more caring way! Before, we were not managing to attract people to worship and peace, but now, we will! We are but servants, uneducated-!”

Alexis interrupted her, smiling awkwardly.

“Didn’t I say something about not cursing oneself?”

“Y-yes, of course!” She bowed, holding up a hand against her fist, a sign of respect. “This useless unworthy vicar thrives to follow your ways!”

Ayako was eyeing them all with a disbelieving look in her eyes. She stood next to Uriel, and then whispered worriedly.

“Who are these people?”

“…I’ll explain later, but remember years ago when I told you he had a bad encounter with humans?”

“Yeah?”

“These are those fools.”

She frowned, eyes narrowed. She asked, suspicious.

“And why don’t they remember a thing and mumble about being drunk? Alcohol can’t possibly do that, and Alexis is definitely not a priest.”

Uriel began to fumble with his claws, becoming pale again.

“I might have… messed with their minds a little.”

“You did what?”

He lifted his claws up, incapable of lying to her.

“It was necessary, I swear! Not only had a demon set eyes on him, but them. They were giving him trouble, and I had to if I wanted them to not chase him again.” He was still whispering, but his voice trembled with anxiety. “I wouldn’t have done it if I could have avoided it. I just wanted to protect him.”

She eyed him, a little scolding. He trembled under her icy stare, fearful of her thoughts for such a spell. In the end, she sighed, pushing away the matter.

“We’ll talk about it another day, not now.” She looked at Alexis again, who was scolding the three about some abuse of incense. “I’m more worried about him right now. I don’t like these people.”

It was a good thing Ayako did not remember these hunters, not after he had invaded her mind too.

Uriel took a seat and stared at the murals around him, like if he was trying to find some closure in his mind. While he tried to meditate in the dim lighted chamber, Alexis looked at Ayako, who watched warily.

“Hey, Aya, come here for a sec, I’ve not been here for nothing.” He looked at the tallest priest, smiling with content. “Tell her what you told me an hour ago.”

The woman nodded, serious as always. Her monotonous voice echoed while she detailed everything that was said before.

“Master had asked us about other temples in this region. We understand he’s a really busy man, and that he can’t possibly have traveled the entire world. As a priest, we have the choice to join pilgrimage, to ancient shrines and places of worship. He has visited all kinds of temples, but never any abandoned ones. For him, history is very important, and he wondered if we knew of any place that could hold ancient importance to our beliefs and traditions. Which we do, to some extent.”

Ayako felt interest. One of them took out a very old map, while speaking softly.

“We bought this small temple because it was abandoned. Inside, once it was ours, we found this in a safe. It’s a map, not the most expensive, a little old. It shows some routes for pilgrims to follow. For some reason, someone has drawn a line, which leads north, with an x and a note that says not to follow it. We wonder why. Maybe it is because it goes through very dangerous snowy paths over the mountains. One has to wonder if the old priest that owned this place tried to go north. No one goes there, there’s only a small town. Then, after it, nothing but towering peaks.”

Ayako commented, with the same glint Alexis’ eyes had.

“A pilgrimage route, huh?” She looked at him, worry all forgotten. “Maybe it leads to the fortress you search for.”

He was grinning, heart beating with hope. His fear for these humans was all forgotten now.

“It is the safest bet, yeah.”

They both stared at the map, which showed the geography of the country. Past Feiren, there was a huge river, vertical to the city. At each side of it, two large long mountains, which blocked the way at the sides. At the top between them, there was a huge stony ancient dam, which held the water that came from the snowy north. It was a huge valley, filled to the brim with water. At the west, the left mountain had a crossing, a guarded outpost that led past said dam, towards that lonely town.

They had a route.