Chapter 131

Chapter 131: Chapter 131

By morning, the marks were still around Dulce’s neck, vibrant as ever, it kept the occupants of the carriage constantly distracted, even Ruoxi, the reason for them.

The journey began in earnest, it would take them a few days to arrive at the outskirts of Marlen, and from the capital, they could then begin the lengthy journey to the kingdom of Mistfall.

"How long are you going to keep those?" Kath’tan was the first to crack, purple fire crackling in his eyes.

Dulce had been browsing through a book, a distracted expression on his face as he looked up. "Keep what?" He asked harmlessly, the only one unaware of the souvenirs of intimacy he wore around his neck.

"On your neck," Kath’tan gritted out, irrationally irked by the sight.

Dulce reached up a slender hand, the tender sensation of the marks on his neck his realization. "Not long, they always heal far too quickly."

Kath’tan’s expression became even more gloomy, disapproving of the Vampire’s forgotten past. Now he didn’t just have to look at bruises that weren’t left behind by him, but he also had to sit with the thoughts of how many intimate partners Dulce had had in his several centuries of living.

-+-

Caedos had created a portal to the Deep Woods on his return and the first few days were spent gathering what few Hellhounds were hidden away in the depths of the forest.

Just as he predicted, they had been relieved to see him, certain they were saved. Caedos handled their lofty expectations with patience, keeping to himself that he couldn’t go against all ten cities of Flaeris alone, even if he was royalty.

He had gathered them to Avalan, their deserted city at the heart of the Deep Woods. The buildings still stood unbroken even after a thousand years of remaining devoid of life.

The vines and roots of the forests grew through windows and wound around walls but that wasn’t because it was deserted, the Deep Woods and the city of Avalan had always been deeply intertwined, the forest protecting it.

Despite his attempts to prepare the remnant of the survivors for an inevitable war, they had called for a coronation, more interested in the gentle ambiance of quiet living than the horrors of war.

Caedos would have approved of it if they were given a choice, but the reality was that hunters would keep crawling through the forest like vermin until every last Hellhound was in captivity.

He had postponed their clamoring coronation under the guise of espionage, in the end, he was still standing alone against their enemies. But it didn’t daunt him, he warped to Flaeris, his ears unhidden.

He started for the closest city to him, he hoped that the survivors left behind in the Deep Woods would have some useful information for him. The trees only knew of what happened in them, their knowledge limited to their plane, so he had not the faintest clue of how Hellhounds fared after they were stolen from their home.

Caedos had no destination, walking right into the city until he was stopped. He didn’t know this city, it was unwalled, Demons living in squalor at the outskirts.

A young but haggard Fiend was doing the washing outside her shabby home, a young child clinging to her back.

They both looked up when he walked past, but their gazes only held curiosity tempered with caution, saying nothing to him as they watched him go by.

Caedos wasn’t just walking aimlessly, his sharp senses were a boon, it was only a matter of time until he picked up the scent of his kind. He slowed to a stop in the middle of a narrow, quiet street in the poorer section of the city, turning abruptly in the direction of the scent, picking up the pace.

It led him to an even more dilapidated part of the city, the narrow streets were black, and it was difficult to say if it was from dirt, blood, or fire. The buildings were barely inhabitable, but there was one exception, a newer building, standing out like a sore thumb amidst the others.

Now he stayed out of sight, taking care to scout out how many hunters were in the building, or at least, that was what he intended to do. But before he could do that, he had gotten a glimpse of the interior.

He scaled the side of the building, perching on an open window facing away from the sun so he didn’t cast any shadows. He saw hunters milling around first, then the cages...

The building was large and strangely built, and that was because it was made to house Hellhounds in small cages which forced them to crouch, feeding troughs placed in their cages for them to eat from, shackles around their necks like they were wild beasts.

Caedos hadn’t thought before his next action, blinding anger churning his blood, the fire burning through his veins before it spilled past his lips, surprising him as much as the hunters caught in the fire.

He stood where he had jumped down for a few moments, the charred bodies of hunters whose last words had been guttural screams at his feet. He could hear shouts and pounding feet as the other hunters came to check on what had happened, the howling that had started up at his first arrival getting louder and louder.

He had spat out fire without shifting into beast form, he didn’t even know that was possible. He didn’t remain stunned for long, going on the move. He dropped down on all fours, leaping into a shift.

A single swing of his powerful paw was enough to destroy the cages, the released Hellhounds immediately doing the same, scrambling to help their captive kind even on unsteady legs and sickly mien.

Caedos only managed to break a few cages when backup arrived. These were hunters who had simply joined in the rush for Hellhounds after their royalty fell, vermin scuttling around to gather up fallen crumbs so they didn’t expect the sheer size of the Hellhound causing the ruckus.

The fire that flooded them was even less expected, what little armor they wore melting into their skin, encasing them in a fiery hell.