Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Zaira's POV

A dark shadow flitted across the edge of my vision and I winced. What was that?

I narrowed my eyes and peered into the jungle. The large leaves rustled in the wind and gave little view of the dark interior of the jungle. I sniffed and stuck my nose in the air, but I couldn't smell anything in particular. With a slightly queasy feeling, I turned around and continued on my way.

Soon the path presented would lead me into the center of the village to the community square and I would no longer have to walk alone along the edge of the forest. I felt myself longing for Arami's safety and gritted my teeth. Once I found Rowtag, I would go find Aramis.

Something rustled again in the background and I spun around. The leaves crunched and slowly curled up, their green color giving way to gray. My breath caught as I watched the plants slowly begin to wither.

"What on earth..." I was frozen for a few more seconds when it dawned on me what that meant. Demons were responsible for this and they must have been very close by.

"Oh dear!", I started running, turning between the houses and desperately looking for the right way so I could get to Aramis as quickly as possible and warn him. I had to warn them all. Then I stopped abruptly.

Arya!

Oh god, she was in the middle of the jungle! I couldn't just leave her alone!

Without wasting another thought, I turned on my heel and headed back to the jungle. My nerves were on edge and my heart was pounding wildly against my ribs, so hard I feared my chest would burst.

I felt the mate band with my inner feelers, tried to contact Aramis through it, but it didn't work, I couldn't reach him. Our mate band was just a wisp of thread, not tight enough.

Nonetheless, I couldn't go back. Arya didn't know there were hell warriors lurking out there, they all thought it was a disease. I couldn't help but warn them. I would just find her quickly and then we would retreat from the jungle and warn the others. Yes, that would work.

Arriving at the spot where I last saw her, I briefly considered changing. But I decided against it. I might not necessarily be faster, but I didn't know if she would follow me if I couldn't talk to her.

"Arya!" I yelled as I sprinted through the jungle, searching for her scent. I ran lower through the thicket, spinning on my axis as my eyes frantically searched for her. "Arya, where are you?!"

I squirmed between the tall trees, skirting the undergrowth and using my hands to keep twigs and branches from scratching my skin. Sharp stones cut into the soles of my unprotected feet and I clenched my teeth. "Aryaaaa!"

I stumbled over a thick root and managed to regain my balance at the last moment when I found a small clearing. The grass beneath my feet felt dry and cracked, and the earth contained brittle cracks. I slowly took one step at a time as I stepped into the center of the clearing. The leaves of the trees fell lifeless to the ground and their branches hung limp. I hadn't realized I had approached the trees until I touched their trunk, which looked so pale and diseased that I was dizzy with terror and grief.

The bark felt rough and scratchy, and the more I pressed my hand over it, the clearer I thought I could hear voices. As ridiculous as I felt, I pressed my head against the tree trunk and listened. Now I heard the voices very clearly. No, that's not quite right, it was a voice and it sounded full of pain and misery.

"What was done to you?" My voice trembled.

"You can hear them," a familiar voice said, and I woke with a start.

"What?" I turned and saw Arya.

"The trees, you hear them. Very interesting." She looked at me in surprise.

"Oh," I said simply.

"And I don't know either." It took me a few seconds to realize that she was going back to my previous question. "But it's bad." She stood there, proud and brave as the warrior she was, with a stone mine, but her facade crumbled when I saw the tears in her eyes. She looked away and crossed her arms, muscles showing clearly. Then she shook her head and threw her arms in the air. "Look at them!", her voice cracked. "They die and there's nothing I can do about it!"

A lump stuck in my throat as I saw how much she was suffering. "I might know why they die."

Arya sniffed. “What?"

"I said I might know-" Arya flashed, grabbing my shoulders.

"I hear what you said!" Her intense gaze pierced me and her hands squeezed so hard I would bruise. "It's your fault?!"

"No! No, I didn't do anything!" I assured her, trying to pull myself free. "Please Arya, you're hurting me!"

She loosened her grip, but only enough that it no longer hurt. "Tell me why."

"You're sick because..." I faltered, the shock still in my bones. "Because the demons are here."

I saw it click in Arya . Realization flashed across her face, followed by shock and anger. A lot of anger. She let go of me and turned away from me.

"Hey wait! Where are you going?" I followed her. "We have to get out of here!"

"No." Her grim face defied determination.

"What do you mean no ? Didn't you hear what I said?!" I asked, dumbfounded.

"You go, I stay," she said, running deeper into the jungle.

Arrrgh!

I wanted to shake her so hard that she finally came to her senses.

"You can't fight them Arya, they're way too dangerous!"

"You don't have to tell me wa-" A black shape appeared out of nowhere and threw Arya to the ground with a loud thud. The Hell Warrior crouched over Arya and pinned her to the ground surrounding him like a second skin was floating towards Arya when she violently tore herself free, and with a howl of anger she jumped up, drew her bow from her back and slashed it at the demon.

The infernal warrior shrieked and spun around, only to lunge at Arya again. But she was faster. With outstretched hand, she commanded a liana to swing towards her, grabbed it and skillfully dodged the demon. With a graceful leap, she landed on a branch with supernatural speed, readying her bow and arrow.

The demon, even more angry than before, flashed out and charged at her. His mouth was open and black smoke was dripping from his long teeth. Arya didn't hesitate, she drew the bow, took aim and released the string. The arrow shimmered in the air and struck the Hell Warrior square in the chest. He screamed. For a few seconds it seemed as if the pain would bring him to his knees, but then the arrow vanished, fading into nothingness.

Laughing dirty, the demon rushed out and threw himself at Arya.

"Rip his heart out!" I yelled, running towards them without thinking. "You have to rip his heart out!"

She tried to fight him off, lashing out at him, but the demon dodged and grabbed her roughly. His smoke enveloped her like a cocoon and he opened his ugly mouth. The branch creaked and the leaves around it fell dead to the ground. Arya was still struggling, but she was getting weaker by the second. Then she screamed and a bright jet flowed from her body, straight into the demon's mouth.

"Arya, the heart!" I yelled hysterically, frantically searching for a way to get to her up the tree. There wasn't a vine or branch for me to climb up. Then my wolf clawed out and I understood Heart pounding, I slammed my paws into the tree trunk and hauled myself to my feet. The demon's dark legs slipped out from under his robes and I grabbed them. My claws dug into his flesh and I pulled him down, away from Arya, yes he was stronger than I thought and didn't move an inch.

His face snapped to mine and he held my gaze. I couldn't move anymore, the edge of my field of vision went black and all I could see was his white eyes, which hypnotized me. His face lit up and an insane expression set in. He opened his mouth and I knew exactly what was about to happen. The awful cold was already creeping up my limbs, filling me to the core. It would suck my life energy and this nothing, this emptiness would destroy me. Incredible agony would fill my body.

But when the smoke almost touched me, he grimaced and stalked. Arya's arm went into his chest and ripped his black heart out with a jerk. The form of the warrior from hell dissolved with a shriek.

Arya grabbed her bow and quiver and slung them both on her back. Then she catches my eye and nods. "Thanks."

"Nothing," I replied breathlessly, my body still pressed against the tree. I slowly unclawed my claws from the bark and slid to the ground. Arya jumped off as well.

"So you are here." Arya said resignedly and looked into the depths of the jungle.

I shook my body, hoping to shake the cold from my bones. "Yeah, and we'd better get out of here."

"You knew they were here?"

"No. - Well.." I looked down and shuffled my feet. "I assumed so.."

"How do you know? Why don't you say anything?!"

"I wasn't sure!" I retorted, but my disagreement sounded lame even to my ears.

"You should have warned us!", now she was angry.

Yes, she was right, we should have warned her. But we had thought that they would not find us until tomorrow, and then we would already be far away. Plus, Arami's lie would have been blown.

"Okay, okay!" I relented. "You're right."

she snorted. "Then we must warn them now."

With that she ran away. I followed her, trying to walk as quietly as she did. I put down every single step carefully and paid careful attention to where I put the next one.

This part of the jungle was still untouched by the demons and I hoped it would stay that way. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the thought of not getting to the village on time and not being able to warn the others. What would happen to the little kids? Aramis would save her , I thought grimly. He wasn't a monster, he wouldn't leave the Gi people defenseless.

A foul, musty smell hit my nostrils and I stiffened. I knew what that meant. "Arya..."

She stopped mid-walk and listened. We stood motionless and looked around carefully. The jungle was exceedingly still, the only sound being the wind rushing through the plants. The temperature dropped a few degrees and I got goosebumps.

Arya grabbed my hand and pushed me behind a big tree. Then she put her index finger to her lips and gestured for me to be quiet. I nodded.

I could hear the leaves falling and the branches of the trees creaking from drying out so tight. I closed my eyes and pressed myself even closer to the tree. I didn't think they could find us by smell, they didn't have a nose for that. So it made sense if they could only find us by sight or hearing. I prayed I was right.

There was a screech and then silence. The temperature rose again and the putrid scent vanished from the air. Seconds turned into minutes where me and Arya didn't move and waited until we could be sure they were completely gone.

Arya leaned forward and peered around the corner. She let out her breath and looked at me steadily, then she lifted my hand and shook it.

"What is this?" I asked angrily, we didn't have time for something like that.

she snorted. "You need your..." She searched for the right word. "Your weapon."

"I don't have any...", I widened my eyes and understood. "You mean my claws..." ...so that I can rip out their hearts. I swallowed.

Arya gave me a daring look and I flexed my claws. Now she nodded contentedly and announced: "Come on, let's hurry."