Exodius Demon

Leliana

The sun was shining brightly the next morning, warm and inviting, with a cool breeze; just right for a pleasant summer day. I stretched where I lay on the ground before sitting up to see Alucard still sitting exactly where he had been the previous night, gazing at what remained of the fire. I could tell he hadn’t slept at all, which happened to him on occasion, and I suddenly felt guilty. I should have stayed up with him to keep him company instead of going back to sleep as I had.

“Alucard, are you all right?” I crawled over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder gently. He just stared with glassy eyes at the remains of our fire, and I began to worry about him. The only comfort I could find was that his eyes were still their normal emerald-green color. The one time I’d seen his demon take over, even for a little, they had turned a deep yellow and his voice had changed. It was very frightening when it happened, but strangely enough I hadn’t shied away from him. I actually thought it was at that moment that I realized how I really felt about Alucard after spending so long with him, and I couldn’t say how it had happened; it just had, almost as if it were meant to be, somehow.

We were traveling through a dark-wood forest called Luna-vale by the elves of my city because the tops of the trees were so thick they almost closed out the sunlight. That was also why they were called dark-wood trees, because the lack of sunlight on their bark made it dark. We had been walking in the forest for several days, slightly lost even if Alucard wasn’t willing to admit he had no idea where he was going.

One day, after we had walked for what seemed like hours, we decided to stop and rest for a while before we continued trying to find our way out of the woods.

“Just admit it, Alucard, we’re lost.” I snickered at him a little as he leaned against a tree with his arms crossed, faking a pout and looking away into the treetops without smiling.

“I admit nothing, nor can you make me.” He was trying to keep a straight face.

“Aww, come on, now, not even a little bit lost?” I gave him a sassy look as I teased him.

He turned his head away from me, in danger of losing his struggle not to return my grin.

“Well, well, what have we here?” Suddenly a man dressed all in black leather stepped out from behind a tree.

I stepped away from the man and inched closer to Alucard as two other men appeared out of the trees, their bows drawn and trained on us.

“This is a private forest, you know; anyone coming through has to pay a toll.” The man gave a cocky smirk that I wanted in the worst way to smack off his face.

“Take it.” Alucard tossed him our pack, which contained our spare clothes, blankets, and pillow. The man rummaged through it quickly, searching for money or jewels or anything of value that he could take, but found nothing that caught his interest. When he was done searching the pack he tossed it back at Alucard’s feet and crossed his arms, looking disappointed.

“Not good enough. What about your weapons there?” He pointed to Alucard’s daggers. They were very valuable, far more so than a simple bandit like this fellow would ever realize. Alucard’s daggers consisted of strong silver shaped as two entwined serpents for the pommel, separating at the hilt to form the guard. The silver sparkled beautifully where the scant rays of sunlight shone on it through the trees. The blades, made by a special dwarven craft, must have been incredibly difficult for Alucard to acquire, as dwarves were notoriously reluctant to give such things to topsiders. They were made of a dark, diamond-hard gem that was nearly unbreakable; only the dwarves knew how to temper it and focus the magic needed to shape it.

Alucard took them off his waist and tossed them to the man as though they were nothing; the bandit quickly picked them up and took one out of its sheath to examine it.

“What a lovely piece; must have cost a fortune.” He placed it back in the sheath and strapped it around his own waist. “Not good enough, though. Sadly, you need still more.” He began to eye me with a lustful look in his eyes.

“We have nothing else except what is in our pack. Now, leave us alone.” It looked like Alucard was getting anxious. I had never seen him act like that before; normally he was calm, even in the most dire situations.

“Actually, you do have something I am most interested in.” The bandit ran his eyes over me again, more slowly this time, and licked his lips. “Give us the girl and we’ll call it even—you leave with your life, and my men and I get…some enjoyable company for a change.” The two bowmen laughed at his comment.

Alucard began growling, a low and animalistic sound, as though he were a wolf whose meal was prodding him in an irritating manner. His fists were balled up so tightly I could see blood dripping from his palms.

“Come on, now, you get to leave this place with your life—otherwise we kill you and take her anyway. Give her to us willingly and nobody gets killed.” The bandit gave Alucard a wicked grin, almost daring him to try and attack.

“Alucard, I—” Alucard stopped me with a sudden wave of his hand.

“Shut up, fool woman. If only you knew what he would give to save you.” The voice had changed into something deeper and colder. Alucard looked at me for only a moment, but it was long enough for me to see the sudden change in his expression, and I noticed his eyes were a deep yellow instead of their usual green. He glared at the bowmen and then at their leader.

“With screeching wings I fly; devouring human flesh, they cry.” He laughed an evil laugh that sent freezing chills down my spine; and though what he said made no sense to me, it was very disturbing.

“You’re a—” was all the man managed before Alucard drove a fist harshly into his stomach, effortlessly lifting him off the ground. It happened with such speed that the bowmen hadn’t even had time to react. Now they aimed their bows at Alucard and tried to shoot him, but he caught one arrow and dodged the other; then, in a blink, he was on top of one of the bowmen with the arrow in his hand.

“Impos—” the man began, but then Alucard drove the arrow through his heart till the tip came out his back.

The last man dropped his bow and tried to run, but Alucard got hold of him and swung him into a tree several times. I clearly heard the sound of bones cracking and breaking with each swing.

“Let him go you, son of a bitch!” I screamed, knowing full well that the demon had taken control of Alucard.

He turned to me with a cruel look in his eyes. “You’re next, while I have the chance.” He charged towards me till he was almost on top of me, then stopped and grabbed his head tightly. “Stop it, damn you!”

The demon fell to his knees, growling loudly as he fought to maintain the control he had gained over Alucard.

“Alucard, fight it! Fight as hard as you can—you can beat him! Kick his arse!” I shouted, doing my best to encourage Alucard to regain control of himself.

The demon let go of his head and laughed hysterically for a moment; then he stood up and walked jerkily towards me, as if something was holding onto his legs.

“Let go of me, damned human!” the demon snarled as he fell to one knee.

Alucard gripped his head again, growling viciously and staring at me, trembling noticeably. I approached him cautiously and froze in place when he stood up, raising his hand as though he was going to strike me.

It was then that I realized for the first time how I really felt about Alucard. It was strange to see him fighting so hard against his demon to maintain control. He was fighting even harder because of his demon’s stated intention to kill me, I knew. A rush of emotion filled me and, overwhelmed by it, I found myself tearing up. Anyone would have thought I was insane to love Alucard, more so for realizing it at the worst possible time.

“Alucard.” I spoke to him in a gentle tone as I approached him again, despite his growl of warning and his hand that was poised to attack with demon strength behind it. “This is probably the worst time I could tell you this, but I never realized how much you meant to me until now.” I continued until I was right in front of him, within reach; if he decided to attack me, I wouldn’t be getting away.

“I...I love you, Alucard. I wish I’d realized it before now so I could have told you at a better time. I don’t want to lose you, Alucard, and it’s ridiculous that it took me until now to see it. For that I am deeply sorry.” I raised my arms to embrace him and he growled louder as I did.

I wrapped my arms around him quickly and held him tight in my embrace, resting my head on his shoulder. He stopped growling and dropped his arm loosely at his side. Alucard’s body began to shake and then he went completely limp and leaned on me. I eased him gently to the ground, as he was too heavy for me to hold up for very long, and saw that he had passed out.

Much to my disappointment, when he came to later that day he remembered nothing of what I had said to him. It seemed I had spoken not to him but to his demon, and while Alucard may have heard it on some level when he was fighting for control of himself, he had no recollection of it now.

“Alucard?” I rubbed his shoulder gently as he continued to stare at the dead fire.

“Hmmm?” He finally snapped out of it and looked at me quietly.

“What’s bothering you? I knew I shouldn’t have deserted you and gone to sleep.” I sat down next to him and leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, Leli. I was just thinking about something,” he said calmly, looking at the ground and playing with his thumbs.

“Tell me about it. I’m curious.” I nudged him gently with my arm.

“Well, I was thinking about a really bizarre dream I had once, a long time ago. You said something very peculiar to me in it. It isn’t really anything important, Leli. I should probably just let it go; it was only a dream, after all.” He was being evasive, which piqued my interest rather than dulling it like he probably hoped would happen.

“Alucard, please, trust me with this. You can tell me.” I persisted in the hope that he would stop pushing me away.

“Leli, just drop it. It was only a dream, nothing more. My demon just felt like being the cruel bastard he is, that’s all.” He got up, sounding a little annoyed now.

I would have assumed at that point that his demon was prodding him again about his past with Merrick again, but Alucard himself had said it was about me this time. I couldn’t imagine what the demon would taunt him with involving me that would bother Alucard. Unless it was showing him ways it was going to kill me—but then something I’d said had prompted him to say it was only a dream.

“Alucard—”

“You’re not going to drop it until I tell you, are you?” He was angry with me now for prying. “My damned demon is trying to convince me that you confessed feelings of love for me once! Happy now? I told you I didn’t want to talk about it. I know it’s not true, that you never would, so drop it. Like I said, he’s just being the cruel bastard he is and screwing with me again.” He walked off several yards in the direction we’d been heading and then stopped and stood there, not looking at me.

I was speechless. I had no idea what to say to him, or if I should say anything at all; apparently he apparently had no idea that his demon was telling him the truth for once. It figured, of course, that the one time it did tell him something true, it would use that truth to taunt him even more. It was partly my fault for not telling Alucard myself when I had the chance; he might not have remembered when he regained control, but still, I could have told him again later. Instead I had chosen to remain quiet about it and not say anything, so he had no idea how I felt for him. It bothered me very much that he didn’t remember any of it.

Then something dawned on me: if the demon was using this to bother Alucard, did that mean he had feelings of some kind for me and was perhaps afraid to say so? Why else would the demon taunt him with my confession of love? If Alucard saw me as only a friend and nothing more, then the demon showing him such things was pointless, because it wouldn’t cause Alucard to feel anything. No, the demon would only do it if it would hurt Alucard.

I sat there in shock for several minutes. I wondered if it was too late to tell Alucard now because of what the demon was doing or had done. It was trying to break the bond we shared in order to separate us and make it easier to take control of Alucard, or so I guessed. The only thing I could do was tell Alucard and hope he didn’t think I was mocking him.

I began to gather our things into our pack as I thought about how I would tell Alucard everything I felt for him, hopefully removing the demon’s influence in the process. That wasn’t likely to happen, I knew, but my main concern was to tell Alucard that what he was being shown or told by the demon was, in this case, true.

All our things were now in the pack and it was tied and ready to go when Alucard came back. He was already wearing his daggers, I noticed, and he didn’t look at me at all. He just picked up the pack, threw it over his shoulder, and started walking.

I got up to catch up to him, and despite his fast pace I was able to stay close to him as we walked.

“Alucard—”

“Not a word, Leli. I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.” He was still angry with me for prying.

“But, Alucard, I—”

“Enough!” he yelled.

It wasn’t like Alucard to shout like that. I didn’t know what to do if he didn’t want to talk; all I could do was wait until he calmed down. At least we were traveling someplace fairly scenic, so I could enjoy the beauty of nature. We had been staying off the roads and pathways for miles now, trekking through grasslands and valleys for the last two days. We had camped last night in a clearing, rather than lying in tall grass, to minimize the amount of insect life that would be crawling all over us.

The grasslands we were currently traveling through were known as the Begoda Gnarl, for the thorny plants scattered throughout the area. They were long, clumpy vines with large thorns all over them; some believed the Drow used them to make nests. The area was also full of Drow, not exactly the best thing for us since the grass was tall and easy for them to hide in.

Drow were a bigger threat than most other things, as they were fast, vicious, and covered head to foot in scales that were hard as stone and difficult to penetrate with even the sharpest of blades. Drow often stood on two legs, unless they were running; their front legs had long, razor-sharp claws that could slash, and the Drow had mouths like crocodiles’, with an inescapable grip. They tended to be very clever creatures; though they didn’t speak, they usually hunted in packs. A single Drow could be just as dangerous as several.

Alucard was the only one who knew exactly where we were heading, and he was angry with me, so asking him probably wasn’t going to get me very far. I wished I’d asked before I made him angry. It wasn’t long before the silence between us began to wear at my heart, until it was nearly unbearable. I didn’t want him to be angry with me, and, worse, it seemed like I had helped the demon hurt him, which bothered me even more.

“Alucard….” He didn’t stop me this time. “Alucard, I need to tell you something important. Can we stop for a moment?” I asked quietly.

Much to my surprise, after walking a little further he stopped and turned to face me. It looked as though he might have been crying a little, not that I’d ever get him to admit such a thing if he had been. I hadn’t heard him make any noise.

“What do you want, Leli?” He didn’t sound angry any more, just resigned.

“I j-just wanted to tell you that I—your demon i-is—oh, damn it.” I was frustrated with myself for not being able just tell him how I felt about him. Of course, it didn’t help that he was looking at me with one eyebrow up as though he was confused by what I was trying to say.

“Why do you look so nervous?” he asked as I began to fidget with my fingers.

“Ummm, I just w-wanted to t-tell you….” I made my wings appear and closed them over myself so he couldn’t see me when I felt myself blush. “Alucard, I d-do.”

“Do what?” He sounded like he was getting a little impatient with me, not that I could blame him. I was stuttering like an infant trying to speak for the first time. I began to scold myself in Elfish.

“Leli, what is wrong with you?” He opened up my wings gently so he could see me, and I felt ashamed of myself for not being able to just tell him. It was such a simple thing to do, even now, when it had so recently been on both our minds.

“Alucard, your demon is right. I do lo—”

Just then a blood-curdling scream echoed off to our left and only a few yards away, forcing us to break off immediately and look to see what it was. A woman dressed in shredded rags was running towards us, and several men were chasing her. Alucard and I ran towards her to help. This appeared to be a case of bandits doing to someone else what they had so recently tried to do to me.

“Help me!” the woman cried as she got closer. The men were not far behind.

I quickly grabbed one of Alucard’s daggers from its sheath as he took the other one, but the woman, seeing us head towards her with weapons drawn, misunderstood and ducked, frightened, as we ran around her. The men drew their daggers and swords and slowed down a little ways from us, but we kept running. Alucard moved in on their right side, and a few of them turned that way; the rest turned toward me, on their left.

Alucard roared a loud, demonic roar, which he didn’t do often despite being able to, and drew the attention of all of them towards him. I quickly took advantage of the distraction he was creating for me and ran in behind two of them, ramming my dagger into the back of one man’s neck. I spun around quickly and slashed another man’s throat just as he was turning his attention to me. The last one had turned around to face me and raised his weapon up over his head. I quickly turned the point of the dagger until it pointed between his legs and rammed the blade into his groin, causing the man to drop his weapon and grab himself, screaming loudly.

“Let’s see you enjoy those now!” I shouted, twisting the blade viciously. He fell to the ground and rolled in agony, screaming all the while.

Alucard walked over to me, his dagger resheathed, and shook his head at the man writhing on the ground. There was a pitying look on his face for how badly the man was hurting, though I doubted that Alucard would have shown sympathy for any lesser injury.

“Not going to kill him?” he asked casually.

“No. I say let him suffer. That’s what he gets for thinking with his dick.” I wiped the dagger off and gave it back to Alucard to put away.

The woman ran up to us and threw her arms around me, and now we could clearly see how poorly she was covered. The state of her clothes was a clear sign that the men had managed to do something to her—if they hadn’t actually raped her, they must have been dangerously close to it.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she shouted happily, hugging me tightly. “Those idiots have been chasing me through the fields for hours!”

“Wait—you mean they never—” Alucard began, relief in his voice. He might not know her, but knowing the bandits hadn’t got what they wanted from her made him happy.

“Of course not, you idiot! Why are men so stupid?” She looked at me and I looked at Alucard, who scratched his head in confusion.

“I’m not sure I understand why Alucard is stupid,” I said curiously.

“I’m a Dryad. If they’d had their way with me, I would have died! Tree spirits have to stay pure in nature—not that a stupid man would understand that, and refrain from acting as though he were a dog with some bitch in heat rubbing her arse in his face!”

“Now, hang on a minute!” Alucard was getting irritated now, but he subsided when I shook my head at him to not annoy her.

“So, how shall I repay you for your kindness? A Dryad always shows gratitude to those who help her.” She let go of me suddenly and smiled at me. “Oh, the things I could do for you, lovely, to show my gratitude.” She licked her lips, and I caught Alucard shaking his head.

“Right, so how about repaying her by just leaving quietly?” Alucard sounded a little jealous of her subtle offer.

“Be still, male!” The Dryad looked crossly at Alucard, getting as close to his face as she could. She was a little shorter than him and had to stand on her tiptoes to get at eye level with him. Her golden-blonde hair was a mess over her face, and her skin was fairly pale all over.

“Make me!” Alucard shouted back, lowering his face until it was level with hers. They pressed their foreheads together roughly, scowling at each other.

“Stop it, both of you! I’m not your nursemaid!” They looked at me in surprise, as if they’d forgotten I was there.

“The stupid one started it!” the Dryad cried.

Alucard began to get irritated again and took a deep breath to calm himself. “May we have your name, at least, so we can stop referring to you as Dryad?”

“My name is Melic. Will you stop prodding me for answers? What is this, an interrogation? The grass has told you my name four times already, stupid!” she snapped at him again. She seemed particularly hostile towards men, for some reason, and uncommonly loving towards women. Neither of us had any idea why that was, unless maybe it was because of the men who had been chasing her. No doubt she’d known exactly why they were chasing her and what they would do to her if they’d caught her.

“Stop being so mean! Alucard is a very pleasant man to be around!” I shouted at Melic without thinking, and felt myself blush.

Melic poked Alucard’s nose and looked him over slowly, scratching her head as if puzzled. Alucard dug through our pack until he found one of his spare shirts and my spare pants. He stood up and shoved them into Melic’s arms without a word, then turned his back to her.

“What do I do with these?” she asked as she stood there holding the clothes.

“Put them on. You’re practically naked in those rags.” I went to take off my shirt, but it wouldn’t move past my wings, one of the inconveniences of using magic to hide them. When I made them appear again, they made holes in my shirt in the back where my wings are. I made my wings disappear quickly, and Melic gave me a funny look.

I took off my shirt quietly while Alucard still had his back turned, waiting for Melic to get into something more decent than the rags she had on. The sun felt warm on my bare skin despite the soft breeze that was blowing. I was half tempted to keep it off for a while, but I doubted Alucard would appreciate me being half-naked and Melic roaming practically nude. He never was the type to take such things lightly; he never went the loose route most men did, making up to any willing female he could find. His view, as he told me, was that he was interested only in serious relationships; and he stuck to it fairly well, I think, considering he’d never once tried anything with me.

“Okay, now take this piece.” I showed Melic the shirt. “Put it over your head and pull it down like this.” I slipped mine back over my head and, watching, she did the same. “Now put your arms through the sleeves like this.”

Melic followed perfectly; before I could demonstrate the pants, she put them on quickly, letting her rags fall to the ground. “I know how to get dressed, don’t worry. Usually I just choose not to wear clothes. Nature feels good against my bare skin.”

‘Why am I not surprised? Then why have me make an idiot of myself by explaining it to you?” I crossed my arms irritably.

“You took your shirt off. I rather liked it,” she said with a big smile on her face. Her gaze slithered down my body in an almost tangible caress, and suddenly I felt like I needed a bath.

“Are you two done yet? How long does it take to put clothes on?” Alucard piped up suddenly.