Raising the next Demon Lord Chapter 3

Raising the next Demon Lord Chapter 3

 

Part 1

Kris exited his abode, bow slung over the shoulder and greeted the demon hunters who waited outside. “Alright, let’s go.” When he attempted to push through the group, Clayton stopped him with a question.

“Pal, you sure the lady wouldn’t like to come along? She seems awfully strong and if we were to run into anymore…”

“Don’t worry.” The large demon hunter’s question cut short, Kris interjected. “I can handle anything we should come across. I’ll protect you.” The young archer’s smug expression riled up Clayton. The demon hunters flanked him as they entered the forest. The leader, Clayton pulled one of his men aside and whispered something in their ear. The man nodded and slowly separated himself from the group.

The lone hunter snuck back to Kris’s home and peered inside. Abagail could be seen seated on the kitchen counter with a book in hand. Flipping through the pages without a care, she aimlessly skimmed through the novel. The hunter sat crouched outside, staring intently at the young warrior woman, partly due to Clayton’s orders to watch the woman, and because he was taken with her beauty.

Abagail quickly began to tire of the act she was putting on. (…Come on a*****e…leave already.) She thought. Pretending to read a book was maddening for Abagail as she could be actually reading it. To make matters worse she’d need to stay focused on keeping her balance as the counter she sat on was the same one she’d smashed earlier in the day. The cherry on top was her hoping that the voyeur would remain taken with her and keep his eyes off of Timaios, the little boy was hidden just out of view in the back room underneath the bedsheets. The battle hardened warrior woman hadn’t felt so stressed in two years, she hadn’t missed it at all.

The man continued to skulk around the outside of the home, while Abagail waited impatiently for him to leave. Just then she heard a scream from the front. “W-Who are you!?” Abagail recognized the voice as Jacquelyn’s. She exited the house and saw the townswoman alongside her daughter Amy, both recoiling in fear of the demon hunter. “Miss Abagail, this man…he was looking into your house.”

“I-I was just…” Caught red handed, the demon hunter tried to come up with an excuse.

An idea popped into Abagail’s head, so she decided to play into it. “Some pervert, huh?” She reached back inside and grabbed her broadsword. “I’ll lop off his little rod, then he won’t have anything to pleasure himself with again!”

“N-No…wait! No!” Metaphorically running away with his tail between his legs, the demon hunter darted into the brush and off into the forest. Abagail chuckled to herself.

“Miss Abagail, are you going to let him run?”

“Huh? Oh, don’t worry about him. If he shows back up, I’ll actually ‘handle’ that man.” She said with a smile, making it seem like a joke despite being totally serious. “Jacquelyn, why are you here?”

“Sorry, I just wanted to thank you and your husband for hunting the Demon Lord’s son again.” Hearing that made Abagail get a bit choked up. “You worked so hard to bring peace to this world…so hard to make it so that humans could be happy and yet, here you are again; having to sacrifice your time and energy to help us. I’m so very sorry.” Jacquelyn hung her head in shame.

“No!” Abagail said in a strong voice shocking both mother and daughter. “It’s true that I’d rather be doing anything else, but…” (But…I love Kris. More than anything in the whole world. He knows more than anyone living with the sins of one’s father and having no control over their life. That boy…I hate him, I can’t bring myself not to. I want him out of my life, but if it’s for the man I love, I’ll help him.) “…The Demon Lord left a mark on this world that will never truly go away. I made a stand against him alongside my husband and the other heroes that day. We all knew what we were facing and still charged headlong into the danger. The scars of that battle will be with me for the rest of my life, as will the memories of those who fought and lost their lives to that monster. I…will not let that suffering happen again!” Her words resonated strong with Jacquelyn, who broke into tears, but even stronger with Amy as she hugged her mother.

“Thank you, Miss Abagail!” Jacquelyn grasped her daughter tightly. Seeing that made Abagail feel both warmth…and envy.

“That’s enough for today. You should go home. It’s been…a hard day.” Jacquelyn obliged and grabbed Amy’s hand as they both walked back down to the town. Abagail quickly rushed back inside and began gathering supplies in a large travel bag. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Timaios peaking his head out from underneath the covers in her room. She angrily stormed into the bedroom and threw the covers off and into her bag. “Get ready.” With a cold and quick demand, Abagail walked away. Timaios didn’t really understand, but he got up and grabbed the dog plush Kris had given him.

“W-Will Kris be back soon?” An innocent question, but Abagail got upset by simply hearing the boy’s voice.

“He…!” She stopped herself just short of screaming. “…He’ll catch up.” She gathered everything needed and walked toward the back door. Timaios stood in the middle of the room looking confused. “Well…come on!” She extended her hand and reluctantly, Timaios grabbed a hold. As they walked out the door though they were met with a surprise.

Amy, she stood outside the door with her brown ponytail billowing in the wind. First, the eyes of the girl rested on Abagail, but then looked toward Timaios, then back to Abagail, then back to Timaios. “Miss…Abagail…”

Abagail quickly knelt down and patted the young girl on her head. “W-What are you doing here? Where’s your Mom, sweetie?” Abagail quickly surveyed the area with her eyes to make sure Jacquelyn wasn’t around. She wasn’t, Amy was alone.

“I want to be strong like you!” Amy said with total conviction in her eyes. “I want to be able to protect Mommy and Daddy! Just like you!”

“Oh, then I’ll train you later. For now, I’ve…got to go somewhere.” Abagail reached back and pulled Timaios’s hood over his head.

Amy looked past Abagail at Timaios. “Miss Abagail…who’s that? I thought you didn’t have a son.”

“He’s…nothing to worry about. Go home now. We’ll talk later about your training with me.” She shooed away the inquisitive child. Amy began walking home but stopped and looked back locking eyes with Timaios. She was enamored with the boy’s red, ruby like eyes. And in return, Timaios stared into her cobalt blue eyes. Abagail waved goodbye as Amy returned to her walk. “Come on now…we need to hurry.” She once again tugged the small hand of Timaios as they headed for the woods.

Part 2

Kris unenthusiastically searched the woods, pretending to seriously care. He and Clayton keep watch over each while keeping up the pretense of working together. The other demon Hunters looked around too, but they were clearly instructed to keep an eye on Kris. (What’s their plan? Are they just going to follow me around until I say I don’t see anything?)

“Hey, hey Mr. Kris Pewter the hero, do you like demons?” Clayton’s brash and booming voice came over Kris’s shoulder.

“…What do you mean?” Without so much as a hint of interest, Kris continued to look at tracks in the dirt.

“You killed that Dragonborn woman that burst into your place, right?”

“…In self-defense.”

“Self-defense? Could’ve sworn she was weak and dying by that point.”

(What’s this guy’s problem?) “I was surprised. I don’t hate demons.”

“Demons…they killed lots of people in the war. Mercilessly, men, women, children, the elderly…the demons didn’t care. Losing my eye wasn’t a joke, you know? I really did have a demon cut it out. Killed a few of my men too.”

“Men can be worse than demons…”

“…Oh?” The woods got darker as the sun began to set.

A flash caught Kris’s eye off in the distance. It was one of his arrows jammed into a tree trunk. (A red arrow, that’s our signal.) immediately he knew that Abagail must’ve made it past them and was leaving the village at that time. (I’ll lead these guys around for a little while longer, until they’re satisfied and then I’ll catch up. Abagail, don’t worry, I’m coming.)

Part 3

The village was surrounded by hills with large rocks and tree root bursting forth from the ground, many would have issue traversing the terrain, but not Abagail. Years of training and fighting on a multitude of battlefields made all of that easy for the warrior woman. A problem in the making however was…the child who was lagging far, far behind. Abagail looked back and saw the small boy attempting to climb the hill she stood atop. Timaios reached out with one hand and grabbed a root but held onto the plush dog Kris had gifted him with a tight grasp, being unable to pull himself up while refusing to release his grasp on the toy.

“…” Abagail placed the large backpack down, then leapt to the bottom of the incline. She grabbed Timaios by the back of his cloak, then jumped back up the hill with ease. “You’d better keep up. There are people looking for us and I don’t want to be found.”

“Okay…” Timaios responded with a small voice. Then, his stomach began to growl. “I’m hungry…”

“Now!?”

“Sorry…” The young boy hung his head with tears welling up in his eyes. Abagail grunted and pulled some jerky out of her bag, handing it to Timaios. “Thank you.”

“I swear…” Abagail scoffed, then realized that despite her biases, Timaios was still just a child. “Your name is Timaios, right?” He nodded in response. “Do you know who I am?” Shaking his head, he responded with a ‘no’.

“Where is Kris?” The boy seemed to have latched onto Kris.

“Like I said, he’s coming! Do you know about…the war?”

“…” Met with a blank stare, Abagail realized her line of questioning was pointless. It wouldn’t have been possible for the boy to remember the war nor understand the fallout with as old as he was.

(What am I doing? This boy…he’s that b*****d’s son, but he’s still a kid.) “Do you know…who you are?”

“I’m Timaios! I’m 4 years old! I’m left handed! My favorite food is potatoes! My favorite color is red! My-”

“Hold on, hold on, slow down.” (I guess he knows who he is…sort of.) The formerly downtrodden Timaios suddenly perked up when introducing himself, to Abagail’s surprise.

“Inga…told me to always be nice and introduce myself.”

“Inga? Who’s Inga?”

“My nanny…she’s…not around anymore…”

“Guess that must’ve been the Dragonborn woman.” Abagail looked down and noticed the boy tearing up. “Don’t think about her too much.”

“Huh?”

“I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want you to cry and sulk. And I’m totally sure that she wouldn’t want you to get caught. So, let’s keep walking.” The young boy wiped his eyes and followed Abagail as closely as he could.

Part 4

Night drew closer, as the last rays of the sun slowly began disappearing over the hilltops. Kris had shot his bow all of one time throughout the escapade. A single two-headed wolf was killed, then handed over to Clayton as he and his men who spoke amongst themselves kept their distance from the eager to leave archer. Kris waited away from them and couldn’t make out what they were saying. (I need to break from these guys soon. Abagail is probably going to be pissed.)

A demon hunter man ran into the forest looking frantic. He kept looking at Kris out of the corner of his eye, clearly saying something that had to do with him. “Really…?” Clayton responded, stroking his goatee.

(The arrow that Abagail left for me meant she’d already gotten past that point and was headed for the meeting spot. That guy wasn’t here before, and I thought that they were down a member or two…he must’ve stayed behind to keep an eye on her.) Kris concluded as the demon hunters finished conversing.

“Hey, Mister Hero Kris!” Clayton called out. “Looks like we found nothing, so we’re heading out.” The aggressively polite smile Clayton displayed made Kris’s stomach churn.

“Yeah, cool.” Kris dismissively blew off Clayton’s announcement as he just wanted to catch up to his wife.

As Kris began to walk away though Clayton called to him. “Hold up.” Clayton walked over and extended his hand for a shake. “Thanks for all your hard work.” Begrudgingly, he obliged taking the gruff hand and shook it. “I know it bothers you as much as it bothers us, another demon lord. You killed the guy himself. I’m sure that all the people who lost their lives…”

“Yeah, I get it.” Kris shut down Clayton quick. As the young man walked away, he glanced over his shoulder and noticed that Clayton and the others were gathering their spoils from the hunt. It was the perfect opportunity to make a mad dash toward the road leading out of the village.

Rounding the outside of the village and avoiding the townspeople, Kris rushed to reach the destination the couple had agreed on. Said location was off to the side of the road a decent stretch from the village. A small shack that had fallen into disrepair, sat far off to the side of the road alongside the many dilapidated buildings of what used to be a town. Abagail waited inside patiently but Timaios kept inching toward the window.

“Didn’t I say to stop that?” Abagail scared Timaios with her stern voice and expression.

“B-But you said Kris was coming soon…”

“He’s actually a bit late. Wait here. And I mean it, don’t leave this room!” Timaios nodded his head at Abagail’s instruction. He sat down gripping the dog plush as she left the single room hut. Abagail cautiously walked around searching for her husband, but then felt someone’s eyes her. They’d gotten close enough that she hadn’t noticed them before, making the often-cautious warrior woman draw her sword.

She felt the presence approach from behind, so she turned her blade…at Kris, who’d come up with his hands in the air. “Are you mad…that I’m late?” He said sarcastically.

“You idiot! What took so long? No, never mind. I can guess.” Sheathing her sword, Abagail took a breath released a heavy groan. “That one-eyed b*****d must’ve slowed you down, huh?”

“Only a bit. I was able to avoid the townspeople on the way here, so I’m not sure if he stopped to slander us.”

“It’s fine, no one will believe some demon hunter about the heroes who slayed the Demon Lord helping his son. Anyway, we’ve got to hurry; If it gets too late then the woods surrounding Zeme will get dangerous.”

“Is that really the way you want to go? I mean, heading through Zeme is definitely safer and it’ll take way less time.”

“True, but if we go through Zeme with the kid, I can only imagine what the town guard would do if they found him. Cutting through the forest is the fastest way for us to reach Fausthood. I get that they’re the unofficial demon country now, but honestly, I’d rather just drop him off in Zeme; it’s not like they’re anti-demon.”

“They’re not, but…I’d rather the kid have more of a chance of being safe. He’s not his father and…no child should have to live a bad life based on the sins of their father.” Abagail noted Kris’s sincerity and came in close with a hug.

“Only because I love you, remember that.” They smiled at each other and walked back to the shack. Through the slightly ajar door a fountain of red hair adorned with a tiny black peered out. “Didn’t I tell you…!” Before Abagail could finish yelling, Timaios ran out of the hut and grabbed Kris’s leg.

“Kris!” The child gripped Kris’s leg tight with a smile on his face. “Look, I kept Bravo safe and he kept me safe too!” Timaios held up the dog plush happily.

“Bravo? Is that his name?” Kris knelt down and spoke with Timaios.

“Uh-huh, that’s what he said!”

“Haha! All the years I had him and he never told me his name. He must like you way more than me!” As Kris petted the young boy on the head, Abagail felt like distancing herself from the two as the sweet aura they were displaying was less than pleasant.

“Are you done now? Can we go?” Abagail rushed the them. She walked into the hut, bringing back a sack, then tossed it to her husband. “That’s filled with everything we’ll need for the trip. It should only take a few days if we keep up a good pace. The sun’s almost down too, so let’s go!”

Kris grabbed Timaios’s hand and followed Abagail. The trio walked quickly as the sun faded behind them. The large stone buildings of Zeme came into view, as did the mountain pass housing the huge forest off to the side. A large checkpoint could be seen with two knights dressed in full armor manning the station. They appeared to be checking the paperwork of some travelers as they herded cattle. The thick leaves of the Zeme forest off to the side almost looked as if sun light was being deflected, with nothing but a void of leaves and trees on the inside. It was the perfect cover for the group as no normal person would dare walk through such a thick brush. The couple waited in line with Timaios at the roadblock behind many different farmers and merchants. As soon as the knights were occupied with the other travelers, they snuck off to the side and into the forest, disappearing with no one the wiser as they ducked into the shadows.

Part 5

Enormous tree trunks covered in moss reached for the sky, they obscured what little sunlight was left. Off in the distance, Kris could hear people discussing passing the checkpoint as he jumped down into the thicket cradling Timaios in his arms. Abagail joined him after making sure they weren’t being followed.

“Kris, I’m going to depend on you for navigating through the forest. I’m terrible at finding my way around places like this, so please, please focus on getting out of here and not on the boy.” Abagail stressed.

“Okay…” Kris placed Timaios on the ground and pointed the boy’s small hand to Abagail. She looked perplexed at the gesture. “Go on. We need to make sure he’s safe. Take Timaios’s hand.”

“…” Disgusted by the proposal, the woman’s face did little to hide her feelings.

“…I don’t want to!” Timaios spoke up as he pouted. “She’s mean! I want to stay with you, Kris!”

“Oh!”

“What do you mean ‘I’m mean’, you little brat?” Timaios ducked behind his preferred caretaker.

“Abagail!” Kris gave Abagail a stern look. She clearly felt angry, but quickly submitted to Kris’s own look of frustration. “Timaios, it’s okay. She’s nice, I promise.” With a warm smile, he assured the frightened child.

Timaios reached out his hand, grabbed Abagail’s and the group trudged on. It seemed that many people had walked through the area before. A well-worn-in path with weeds and tire tracks ran deep in massive roots breaking up the ground.

“We’ll follow this path for a little while, but then we’ll get off it.” Kris ran his hand over the dirt while calling back to his wife.

“Why?” She replied.

“There shouldn’t be many demons left around here, but I’m pretty sure that Zeme’s knights patrol the area by the shape and distance drawn between these footprints. If we stay on this path, we’re sure to be found. Also, I’m sure that one-eyed b*****d isn’t too far behind.”

“You think he’s following us?”

“I wouldn’t rule it out. Point is, we need to make it to Fausthood as soon as possible, all while watching our own backs.”

“Seems like a lot to ask for…” Abagail stopped when she felt Timaios not moving. “What are you doing, come on.” Timaios crossed his legs and began hopping in place.

“I need to pee!” The boy said earnestly.

“Seriously?”

“Come on, Timaios.” Kris walked back and grabbed the young boy’s hand, taking him behind one of the trees to relieve himself. Abagail pulled out some jerky from her bag and started eating it, feeling irritated. “Oh, is that from the boar I caught?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“You’re really good at making jerky.” Kris smiled.

“Don’t try and butter me up.” Abagail exaggeratedly turned her back to her husband. “You want some…?”

“Yes!” Abagail pulled more out giving it to Kris. “I know…that you don’t want to do this.”

“Yeah…”

“With all the chaos that Uzziel caused, finally being rid of him was a weight off the shoulders of humanity. I can’t deny that, but Timaios is just a kid.”

“Kris, you’re too soft on children. I mean, I get why, but it’s a pain.”

“…Where I grew up there wasn’t much difference between the demon kids and the human kids. If you didn’t have parents, then you were the bargain bin workers that anyone could pick up. Kids have it hard, and it’s usually some adult’s fault. It’s the same with Timaios.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that I love you, I wouldn’t even give this a second thought, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know. What do I owe you for all this?”

Abagail smiled and grab Kris by the collar of his leather chest plate. “We’ll discuss that later in private.” She strolled over to the tree just as Timaios finished. “Come on, kid.” Kris was happy to see that his wife was being a bit more tender toward the young boy.

Deeper into the Zeme forest the group went. With occasional animal cries and the sounds of Zeme at night barely piercing the forest, they were constantly being put on alert. So long as they continued at the rate they were walking, they’d escape the wooded maze by late evening. The pitch-black darkness of night had finally rolled in, fortunately Abagail came prepared. She pulled out what looked to be torches until they were struck on the ground. The tips lit up like a glowstick, illuminating some of the surrounding area. After passing one off to Kris and keeping one for herself, Abagail noticed Timaios ogling the glowing torch, eyes filled with curiosity. He wanted to hold it.

“Kris…can I have one?” The child innocently asked, already reaching his hand with Bravo the stuffed dog in it toward the light source.

“One? You mean a torch?” Kris answered. “Sorry, bud. We need these. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to see. I’ll let you mess around with it later. Okay?” Timaios’s cheeks puffed out as he pouted.

“…Here…” Abagail sneakily handed Timaios her torch. The boy looked confused for a second, but then quickly took it with a smile, his pale cheeks being eaten up by the boy’s happy expression. Abagail unintentionally smirked a bit but caught herself doing so. (No! Stop, don’t forget who this kid is…) She turned away suddenly and retracted her hand, making Timaios drop the torch. It rolled across the ground as the young boy gave chase. “Timaios!”

Timaios ran after the torch, Abagail following suit. The torch bounced down a small hill and Timaios, unthinking, jumped after it. Abagail grabbed the boy by the back of his cloak and pulled him tightly into her chest while sliding down the slope. Upon landing on the ground, hard, Abagail tucked and rolled. She’d accidently released Timaios who was launched toward the torch.

“Ah, I got it!” The little boy cheered as he reached out, halting when something stirred near the light. Long, spindly legs unfolded out and over the torch, as half a dozen beady eyes opened up, locking onto Timaios. Up rose the massive, ten-foot-tall body of a spider, with its dripping fangs drawn. Timaios was petrified with fear, gripping Bravo the stuffed dog for dear life.

“Timaios!” Abagail quickly grabbed Timaios by the waist and darted away. As the fleetfooted warrior woman ran, she felt the monstrous arachnid giving chase as the ground beneath the weight of the monster quaked. With her powerful legs, Abagail leapt up the hill the they’d chased the torch down. Overhead a rush of wind blew past. As she looked up, the spider landed in front of them. Now locking eyes with Abagail, she knew they weren’t going anywhere without a fight. “Wait here…and don’t move!” Abagail placed Timaios on the ground, dropping her bag as she drew her broadsword.

The clouds opened up, allowing some moonlight to break through the trees, giving Abagail a clearer look at the beast. Its red and black body shined; as did its sharp poisonous fangs. Abagail backed away slightly, sizing up the enemy. The spider drew slowly closer.

(I had no idea that they got this big in Zeme…no wonder this place is mostly uninhabited with these beasts running around.) The spider quickly lunged forward with its fangs drawn. Abagail blocked the attack, despite it pushing her back with great force. She’d been pushed so hard, that she nearly bumped into Timaios who sat behind her. (This is bad. If I move, it’ll just get the boy…what do I do?) Out of the corner of her eye a glint of light caught her attention. Straight into the abdomen of the spider flew a myriad of arrows.

Kris sat atop a branch, eyes trained on the beast as he readied more arrows. “Come on…look over here, you ugly freak.” Kris mumbled to himself. The spider turned its attention to him just like he wanted, but only for a moment. It quickly lunged for Abagail again, but forced its head past her, launching a thread from its mouth that latched onto Timaios’s leg. “No!”

Abagail raised her sword into the air preparing to cut the thread, but at the same time Kris had already shot an arrow at the same target. Her sword and his arrow bounced off of each other throwing Abagail off balance. A rare instance of the two being totally off in term of cadence. The spider shifted itself and pushed Abagail down the hill and out of sight.

With its fangs watering the monster drew Timaios in closer and closer. “N-No!! Kris help!” Tears flooded down the boy’s face as he cried.

“…” Kris remembered something just then.

A horrible memory of a boy crying for help as a demon stood atop him. The demon looking down on him, badly wounded; the boy crying for help from a much older and stronger soldier. The soldier, only tossing the boy a knife said. “What good is a kid that can’t earn his keep.”

Kris screamed as he leapt onto the spider’s back and jammed a knife into the beast’s head. As the creature howled in pain, the ace archer grabbed the thread running from its maw and attempted to cut it, but when the spider fell back to the ground it threw Kris from atop it’s huge frame, slamming hard into the dirt. He landed right between Timaios and the monster. The spider tried to attack Timaios again, but Kris had already grabbed the boy in his arms while using his legs to keep the beast’s fangs at bay.

The beady eyes and enormous mandibles opening and closing as it got closer made Kris realize the situation had turned dire. The spider was clearly wounded, but still too strong for Kris to fight off barehanded. He wanted to reach for his bow, but with Timaios in his arms he couldn’t. A deep pain began to dig into Kris’s right calf. The beast had dug its fang into Kris and was looking to make him into a meal as well. “This…is bad!” Kris grunted. (If I toss Timaios off the hill, he may break an arm or something, but he’ll survive, right? I can’t take that risk!) “Abagail…where are you? Abagail!!”

His call was answered as from behind him and Timaios, over the hill, with such speed it felt like something was shot out of a cannon, leapt Abagail, sword drawn over her head. The warrior woman swung her mighty broadsword down, cleaving the beast’s head clean in half. Then, she jumped onto its back and ran the blade down the spider’s whole body, splitting the monster from head to tail with ease.

“Kris, are you alright!?” Abagail ran up to her husband, still covered in the massive bugs guts.

“I’m fine dear…ow! S**t!” When Kris attempted to stand he’d noticed that the fang on the spider had dug deeper into his calf then he originally thought. “W-we need to clean this, quick!” Kris got to his feet leaning on Abagail’s shoulder.

“Kris…” Timaios grabbed onto Kris’s pantleg looking distressed.

“Don’t worry, everything is going to be okay.”

Part 6

Underneath a large rock formation sat Kris, breathing heavily with sweat pouring down his face like someone emptied a pitcher on top of his head, and the still unnerved Timaios. The encroaching darkness of the night was staved off by the moon’s rays peeking through the tall trees and the warm glow of the campfire Abagail had constructed. Timaios kept quite a distance from Kris while eying the wound on his leg. Even with it being cleaned and bandaged, the venom had clearly taken effect. From the shadows walked Abagail with a dead doe slung onto her shoulders and freshly picked berries in hand.

“Are these the ones you wanted?” She asked Kris, who only barely kept himself seated upright with his unsteady hands placed on the ground.

“Yeah…I…think so…” With that, he collapsed.

“Kris, wait! Hang on!” Abagail shook her husband trying to wake him up.

“Sorry…” Kris opened his horribly bloodshot eyes trying to focus on his wife’s face.

“Don’t be. Just…close your eyes and sleep. I’ll figure out how to fix these. You said it wasn’t that hard to make this medicine, right? I can do it. Just rest.” She laid him back down on the ground using her bag as a makeshift pillow. Timaios inched closer to check on Kris, but Abagail shot a furious glare in his direction, making him retreat.

“Abagail…please…don’t…be upset with…Timaios.” Kris said as he closed his eyes and tried to relax.

“…” Abagail crushed and mixed the berries along with water, then poured the concoctions into a bowl over the fire. In order to occupy her time, Abagail began skinning the doe and making rations. “…It’s because of you…” She said under her breath, eyes trained on little Timaios. “…” Though the stressed wife wanted to explode and yell at the boy, she relented as Kris would’ve disapproved. In her mind, if not for the for the little boy existing then her beloved wouldn’t be in the situation he was.

“I’m sorry…” Timaios said while crying into the stuffed dog he carried.

Abagail caught wind of his words, then got up and snatched away the plush dog, looking down on the boy with disgust. “This belongs to my husband, it’s not yours. Your father, he took away my happiness… and now you’re trying to take away something that belongs to the person I love most in the world.” Timaios was confused and scared as Abagail continued to rile herself up. “You being here, you simply existing is causing everyone and everything in my life to be thrown about!” Abagail continued to increase in tone. “Why? Why did it have to be us!? Why couldn’t you just have…!” The boy was back on his seat, tears running down his cheeks as he looked at the furious warrior woman in front of him. “…This isn’t yours.” She left it at that. Kris was still sweating profusely, so after placing the stuffed dog down near his head, with a towel in hand, Abagail went about wiping his brow.

Timaios looked over to the bowl of medicine. Believing the concoction ready, he walked over prepared to retrieve it. “…It’s done…” Which was said in the smallest voice possible.

“Don’t touch that!” Abagail shot up to her feet and slapped the boy’s hands down. “…I need it for Kris.”

“Uggh…uwaahhh!!” Timaios began to cry loudly.

Abagail ignored him as she walked over to her unconscious husband. The medicine had in fact been warmed sufficiently. She began spoon feeding it to Kris. Timaios slowly stopped crying and sat clutching his legs near the fire.

The two remained silent as Abagail simply watched over Kris. After a few minutes he sat up, surprising his wife and the young boy. He rolled over and threw up all the contents of his stomach.

“Kris! Oh no! Did I mess it up?” Abagail stroked the man’s back.

“No…this is…what I wanted. W-Water…I need water.” Abagail frantically searched for her canteen in her bag, not realizing it was on the ground behind her. Timaios grabbed the container and gave it to Kris who guzzled down all the contents and almost immediately fell back onto his headrest. “I’ll sweat out…the rest. I need sleep for now.”

“…” Abagail stroked her spouse’s head gently.

Timaios looked at Abagail, then ran back to the other side of the campfire and silently went back to clutching his knees. Abagail got up and finished working on the doe meat. She threw some jerky to Timaios and sat down near Kris. “I’m sorry…” The young demon boy reiterated.

“I don’t care. Just eat and then go to bed.” Abagail blew off the boy’s sincere apology and went back to caring for Kris. (After everything we’ve been through, you and I…if you were to not make it out of here…I don’t know what I’d do.)

The sound of firewood crackling helped break up the merciless silence. While eating, Timaios began messing with the horn atop his head, it was somehow sharper than he’d remembered. After finding a leaf on the ground, he ran it through with the small black horn. Then he picked up another leaf and did it again. It was clearly amusing the little boy who wanted to try something harder; so when Abagail wasn’t looking, he crawled over to what was left of the dead doe. With all of his might he rammed his tiny black horn into the side of the doe’s body. It pierced the flesh with ease. “Hahahaha! It’s so sharp!” Timaios laughed, but quickly realized that he was stuck. His horn, being slightly jagged got stuck in the doe’s rib. “Aghh! Help, help! Kris!”

The boy began to flail and buck unable to free himself. He was scared he’d be stuck forever, until he heard a loud snap and flew back onto his butt. The rib had been broken by Abagail, who looked down at him coldly. “…Go to bed.” Was all she muttered as she returned to Kris’s side.

Scared of angering Abagail again, Timaios tried to lay down and sleep but wasn’t able to find a comfortable position. He eyed Bravo the stuffed dog, which sat next to the sleeping Kris. “Can…I have Bravo back?” With Bravo in his arms, surely Timaios would be able to sleep; is what the young boy thought.

“…Fine…” Abagail thought back to Timaios bringing water to Kris and gave in, feeling she owed the child that much. As she picked up the plush and walked over to the young boy ready to hand it off, rustling in the woods caught her attention. “Shh…stay quiet.” Timaios had no idea what was going on, but still hid behind Abagail.

“Well, took longer to find you than we thought!” Far worse than a monster, out from the shadow walked Clayton and his men.

End of Chapter 3