Zelak swayed from side to side as he hung upside down on the side of the cart. "So if I keep hanging out here, you'll give me your blood?" Zelak questioned.
"Sure." Kalika watched on in amusement as they continued riding past the increasingly larger trees.
Donovan glanced back, surprised. "Again!?" Donovan exclaimed. "Pull him back up, Kalika. If we lose him, we might never find Bjorn!"
Kalika rolled her eyes. "Fine." She grasped Zelak's leg and pulled him back up.
"Eh! What about the blood?"
"Forget about it, I changed my mind."
Zelak Growled. "Damn it! Why'd you have to interfere you damn human!?"
"Ah, shut it. Kalika already agreed to your stupid terms! When we get Bjorn back, then you'll get your stupid blood!" Donovan mocked. "Until then, the last thing we need is for you to get killed because of another goblin ambush."
"Pah! Those weak things can never kill me! You saw how the champion handled those green rats. She barely had to lift a finger. But unlike her, you only killed three of those little weak things. Just like the weak little human you are."
"Are you kidding me!!"
Kalika leaned back on the cart supplies and watched as the two began to argue. Between Zelak mocking Donovan and Donovan threatening to beat up Zelak, she couldn't choose who was more entertaining at that point.
Hungry, she searched and rummaged through a pouch of dried meat. With the food secured, she began to snack on the dried meat and entertained herself with the spectacle unfolding before her.
"Hey! Hey! What are you doing!" Donovan yelled. Suddenly, the cart began to swerve around, from Zelak yanking the reins. Pouches and large bags alike jumped up, one of which spilled a pile of blue and brown magic crystals.
With great interest, Kalika reached out, grabbing the crystal.
Kalika watched as Donovan posed his fist to swing but stopped short. His hands shook as if some invisible force was holding him back. "Argh! You're lucky I can't punch you, you bastard!"
Zelak laughed in his face. "Serves you right! I bet your blood blade will kill you faster than those stupid goblins, too!"
Kalika crunched into the crystal, chewing it.
Both Donovan and Zelak stopped, drawing their attention to Kalika. They could only stare at her, surprised to see her eating crystals.
"What?" She shooed them away with her hands. "Don't mind me, keep doing what you guys want."
She bit into the crystal again with an audible crunch.
Unknown to either Zelak or Donovan, the cart was now running towards a tree. Seeing an approaching tree, Kalika raised a brow.
CRASH
Bags and supplies flew out from the cart, and one of the bird-beasts snapped free from the cart. But like a brainless animal, it circled the cart like a chicken without a head.
"Is everyone alright?" Donovan called. He winced and glanced around. He saw Kalika leaning on the back of the cart, upside down. She grumbled and fixed her position.
"Zelak?" Donovan peeked off the cart, finding Zelak lying on the muddied ground. Donovan blurted a laugh, but quickly composed himself.
"Looks like I didn't need to throw a punch at all. " He joked.
Kalika peeked at Zelak's muddied state, too, albeit less interested.
Zelak stood up, cringing and wiping away the mud from his body. "
Donovan gazed up, noticing the dimming lights. "It looks like it's getting late. We might as well find and set up camp nearby."
Rustling and the crunching of leaves drew everyone's attention. From out of the bushes, several goblins emerge, excited and ready to attack.
Donovan's shoulders drooped, and his head came down, disappointed. "Again?"
"Those things are everywhere," Kalika said.
The goblin attacked Zelak, who quickly sliced the monster with his conjured blood blade. Another attack from behind, but just as quickly met its demise at the end of Donovan's blade. Zelak glared irritably at Donovan, and just as Kalika was about to jump down, Donovan stopped her. "Just stay there, Kalika! Zelak and I will handle these things!"
"Alright, Fine." Kalika sat back in the cart and watched as one after another, the goblins attacked recklessly, only to get culled.
After killing his fourth goblin, Donovan spoke more loudly. "Looks like I'm one goblin ahead of you, Zelak!"
Donovan slew a fifth with Zelak, easily slicing the head of three with his chain whip sword. "Sorry, I can't hear you on account of me killing these weak things."
Donovan clenched his teeth and continued slicing through the horde of goblins alongside Zelak. All the while, Kalika snacked on more of the crystals until the show was finally over, with Donovan the victor, but just barely as he stole Zelak's kill.
"Alright. So what does that make? Eleven to your ten. It looks like you might be slacking."
Zelak rolled his eyes at Donovan's remarks.
"There were so many of them this time," Kalika noted.
"That's probably because there's a small camp nearby." Zelak traced the direction the goblins came from, finding a small camp with some dead bodies of a succubus and other demons. Donovan followed and bore witness to the scene as well.
"It looks like there might have been some disagreements between them and those goblins," Zelak said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing. Forget I said anything. Let's pull everything here and set up camp. I can deal with the bodies." Zelak started to ponder. "I can probably preserve some of their arms and legs and serve the rest to those garu's."
Donovan glared straight at Zelak.
********
Zelak sighed as he finished catching the bird-beast and tied it to a nearby tree. "
"Oh. You finally got the demon bird." Kalika inquired. She took a bite from a freshly cooked meat stew. She took a second glance at the stew, surprised.
"They're called Garu's, Champion. We went over this yesterday."
Kalika side-eyed Zelak, uninterested. "Who cares?"
Donovan poured a bowl of the stew, still boiling over the fire. "I don't think it matters too." He then offered a bowl of stew. "Here."
Zelak took the bowl and spoon presented and sat on a log, where he took his first bite of the stew. " It's better than the last batch you cooked last night."
"Thanks. So, when will we get to this Bona place?" Donovan asked.
"I believe we should get there sometime tomorrow. We shouldn't be too far now. Maybe another eight or so hours."
"That sounds pretty close," Kalika noted. She then took another bite from her stew.
Donovan, with his bowl, sat down. "If you want, we could leave at first light."
Kalika pondered the thought for a moment, with her spoon still in her mouth. "Hmm… If it gets us there faster, then yes."
'Hey Zelak." Donovan called, "So, how will we find those demons that have Bjorn?"
"Don't worry about it. With my blood magic, I can track them down very easily."
"Is this the same magic you used to find out who we were?" Kalika asked.
"Yes. We call it Clarivoyance in my tribe. It's a blood magic that's been passed down for generations on my mother's side."
Donovan, with a growing interest, set his spoon back down. "Wait. Hold on. So you can track whoever you're looking for down?"
"It's not as simple as you might think," Zelak said. "No. If it were that simple, maybe this power would've been easier to control."
Kalika took another spoonful of stew in her mouth. "So, how does it work then?"
"It's more like moving my consciousness from one place to another. It's almost as if my spirit is leaving my body. I can go anywhere as fast or as slow as I want. I can even watch events unfold in heaven, like how I watched the demon King and queen get slaughtered by an angel."
Kalika stopped abruptly, the spoonful of stew dripped to the dirty ground below, leaving a singular chunk of meat.
"Huh? What's wrong, champion?"
"Stop calling me that." She quietly said.
With a blank, unreadable expression, Kalika turned to Zelak. "I'm not sure whether or not this is the most ironic thing I've heard. Or the most ridiculous."
Donovan saw as Kalika glared daggers at Zelak. "An angel killing Lily, and that stupid Demon King. I can't imagine them dying in such a foolish way."
Donovan gazed at Kalika more curiously as Zelak responded.
"You don't believe me? I could've sworn Rakon told you all about them dying, but not about how he set them up-"
Kalika stood up immediately, spilling her food to the ground. Donovan immediately got up with a raised hand. "Kalika."
There was no response.
Zelak, realizing the blunder, rubbed the back of his head. "I suppose I said too much. My bad."
"I'm going to bed." Kalika turned away and grabbed her bedding, and moved it deep into the forest.
Donovan could only sigh, seeing her reaction. With Kalika gone, he darted his eyes at Zelak, who went back to eating.
"Tell me… How much do you really know about us?"
"The champion. I've known about that woman since the invasion of the heavens.. But you. I've known about you since you pissed yourself looking at her." Zelak chuckled. "I have to say. You either have the worst luck in the world or the best since you're still alive…"
"Alright, I think I get it." Donovan sat back down and stared at his full bowl. " I just can't believe magic like that exists."
"My blood magic is rare. But you haven't seen anything yet. Some of us demons can control and manipulate our blood to enhance our bodies, transform and manipulate the minds, or use it purely as a weapon."
"Jeez." Donovan turned a concerned gaze to his hands.
"Lucky for you, the cubus race is unable to use this power, along with a vast number of other demons."
"Yeah, Bjorn already told me that. But still. I can't let myself fall behind." Donovan brought this hand the sword holstered on his belt. "You were able to transform your sword. Can all demons do that too with these demon swords?"
"A word of advice. You should probably avoid touching that sword if you know what's good for you."
"And why's that?"
"It's simple. Humans like yourself aren't strong enough to handle them. From what I've seen myself, you humans just drop dead after some time of using our weapons."
"But then how am I supposed to fight back!? If I can't fight or use my magic, then how am I supposed to be able to defend myself and Kalika!?"
"Don't be dumb. You can still use your magic to fight back, and even without that sword, you can still defend yourself. As long as the intent is to defend yourself,"
Donovan's eyes widened. Surprised by this fact. "Really?"
Zelak caught a glimpse of a growing determination in Donovan's eyes.
Without hesitation, Donovan shot up and slurped down his stew a s fast as possible. With a mouth full of meat chunks, he chewed fiercely and ran to the cart, grabbing a pouch.
From the pouch, Donovan pulled out a few magic crystals.
"What are you doing now?" Zelak asked.
"The only thing I can do." Donovan clenched the crystals more tightly. "If I want to get stronger, I have to be able to use magic like it's second nature."
"Hahahaha!! What!? Do you expect to master magic in a single day!?" Zelak continued to laugh.
"You know what I mean!! I can't sit down and do nothing. The sooner I can use magic effectively, the better our odds will be if we get into a fight."
Donovan raised his hands with the crystal grasped within and slowly manifested a small round stone. He aimed at the tree and shot the stone, shattering it against the tree.
Zelak watched as Donovan repeated the process several times. And sighed.
"You should try to make sticks with a pointed end instead."
Donovan stopped, confused by what Zelak was saying. " Then take some meat and skewer it on them. If it crumbles away, you've got to try again. That should be good practice." Zelak took one last gulp of his food. With his meal done, Zelak stood up and departed.
"And what's that supposed to do?" Donovan questioned.
"If you're going to earth magic you want to strengthen it first." Zelak waved. "Well, that's it from me. I'm going to turn in for the night, too."
Donovan watched as Zelak entered his bed to sleep. Now alone, he turned to the left to see dried meat. "So make a stick and skewer the meat, huh?"
********
A goblin swung its small axe at Donovan, forcing him back. He touched the hilt of his sword, tempted to pull it out, but quickly decided against it.
"I can burn him too!" He aimed his hands. "I just have to concentrate!" He stepped back to distance himself, only to trip against a tree root. "Crap!"
With luck on his side, Kalika sliced through the goblin's neck, saving him. The last Goblin charged in from behind Kalika, but was shot in the face with a fireball by Donovan.
"It's so annoying that they keep attacking us!" Kalika complained.
"Well, they're dead, so let's get going," Donovan said.
Donovan hopped back into the front of the cart and with everyone back in the cart he continued their journey out of the forest. They slowly entered into a region with more humidity and watery and muddied lands with even stranger trees that looked to stand up with legs. Being in the strange climate made Donovan even more drowsy than before as he stared straight ahead with bags under his eyes.
"Are you alright, Donovan?" Kalika asked.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I just didn't get a lot of sleep this time around, is all."
"Stayed up training your magic. So, how many sticks were you able to skewer?" Zelak joked.
Donovan scoffed. Irritated. "Wouldn't you like to know."
Looking up, Kalika noticed the pit wall to their right, riddled with nothing but holes like a nest of bees. Donovan quickly took notice as well and looked on in complete shock.
"Wh-wh… What are those?"
"Those? They're birthing holes. Back in the old times, some of us were born there. But that was before ye olde King made it so we had to look after our mates. Of course, this was also before the Heroes of Prophecy killed him."
"I don't get it. So the women would make these holes."
"They would dig 'em and die in 'em. And after all the food ran out, the little one would be forced to go hunting." Zelak gazed at the holes, feeling a sense of nostalgia.
"It sounds like a cruel way to start life if you ask me," Donovan said.
Kalika remained silent as she observed the passing holes. Within one, she saw something resembling a body lying with two tiny figures lying atop it. Despite her curiosity, she ignored the scene and looked elsewhere.
To their left, Kalika saw a vast open wetland, with a settlement in the far distance. "Is that it?" She pointed.
Zelak took a glance and nodded. "Yup, that's Bona."
Suddenly, the sound of fleeing goblins filled the air as goblins fled from one of the pit wall's holes, past the cart and into the marshlands.. The Garu birds flailed, and from the corner of Donovan, a giant humanoid monster emerged from the hole.
The large beast was fat and bloodied with a simple piece of leather wrapped around its waist. It had a rough gray skin, pointed ears, and holes where the nose should've been. Its eyes were gray and lifeless with gnarly, bloodied, small teeth held with blistering green gums.
Donovan's eyes widened, shocked at seeing such a creature. "Wh-what the hell is that thing!!"
The monster drew its gaze to the cart speeding past it.
"Crap!" Zelak erected, watching the beast chase after them. "It's a Clopsin!"
"Clopsin!?" Donovan glanced back as he tried to control the terrified birds.
"They're mindless monsters the size of the ogres! They'll kill and eat anything they get their hands on. The damn thing must've preyed on a group of newborns."
A large rock suddenly shot their way, breaking a piece of the cart.
Kalika dodged and glared at the chasing monster, annoyed by it. Kalika unsheathed and threw her dagger straight at the clopsins head, only for it to bounce off like it was a piece of rock.
"Don't waste your time using your dagger, Champion. The clopsins have skin as tough as Valtrop's."
"A valtrop? What's that?" Kalika questioned.
"Let me guess!" Donovan interrupted. "It's another big old monster that likes to eat meat!"
"Yes. But these clopsins like to play with their food, unlike these things." Zelak conjured his sword in his hand and shook it into its whip form. A blazing heat was emitted from it, drawing Kalika's attention.
"Hey what are you doing!?"
"I just realized that this is a great opportunity."
"Opportunity? Opportunity for what?"
Without warning Zelak jumped from the back of the cart and whipped around his sword chain, wrapping it around the beast's gaping mouth. Landing behind the clopsin, He grabbed the other end of his fire-chained sword and pulled, halting its movements.
"We can kill this beast and reap its parts!"