SCHAPTER 24: the need for energy

It was the Gwen. She dashed back while grabbing one of the crosses she was carrying. This sudden action cased her a lot of pain due to her rib still being in the progress of healing.

She fell to her knees due to the pain and the balance she lost with her fast movement. I immediately jumped forward to catch her before she could hit the ground and maybe break her rib again.

I grinded my teeth when the cross she was holding touched me. Even with a layer of clothing between me and the cross I felt an incredibly burning sensation.

I carefully put Gwen on the ground and took a few steps back. My left shoulder that came in contact with the cross still hurt.

"Yea I guess we didn't tell you before. We have a demon accompanying us." Alex said while scratching the back of his head in shame.

"Don't worry he won't attack. He even wants to help the people in the stone city!"

Allenya added to Alex's attempts to calm the nun.

The nun was still sitting on the ground holding the cross. Slightly shivering from the fear that had taken over her.

"Don't be afraid Gwen. If he wanted to hurt, you he would have done so already. On the contrary, he was the one who saved you from that snake."

"w, why would a demon do that?!"

Yohan walked over to her and helped her up. "I don't know, but he often helps us as well. Believe me you can trust him."

While they were trying to calm Gwen, I was looking at my wound. It was the first time that I had a real wound since I had become a demon. The blood that came from my shoulder was a lot darker than that of a human, but still had some shades of red in it.

Because I was mostly protected by my clothing the wound wasn't that deep and already started healing.

Allenya noticed me looking at my shoulder and followed my gaze.

"Are you alright?"

Seeing how the wound started to close before my eyes I nodded in response.

She gave sigh in relief. Then she turned to Elisa who was checking Gwen. "Do you think she can make it to the next village?"

"It should be doable. But we would have to make a lot of stops along the way."

Yohan started laughing "It's not like I have any complaints about that!"

And so, we took our leave.

Gert let Gwen lean on him the entire time so we could cover more ground. Everyone was carrying their own stuff, except I also carried Gert's belongings. What he protested against at the beginning, but everyone else already had their hands full and he was helping Gwen. So, he had no choice but to submit.

On our first stop I went to practice magic under the guidance of Elisa. This time I managed to make the illusion cover my hole left arm. But it also drained more energy.

I could only hold it for a minute, and after that I could barely move due to exhaustion. But I managed to stumble back to the others who were resting.

When I reached them, I was careful enough to take a seat as far away from Gwen as possible. Not only to not scare her, but also because I remembered the holy items she was carrying.

The rest of the day went the same way. We would walk for about two hours. Then we would settle down and I would go practice my illusion.

I sighed and let myself fall backwards. I landed on the soft mossy green grass. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't keep the illusion last longer than five minutes. The sun was starting to set, and the others were preparing a place to sleep.

Within two days we would arrive at the village. The closer we got the higher the chance that we would encounter other humans until eventually we would arrive at the village. There was no way that I could perform a perfect illusion that lasted long enough to not be suspicious.

With a low growl I crawled up. Since my energy was nearly drained, I was in need of some new. I could smell a deer that was grazing nearby. I had already brought a few rabbits to the others so that they could eat. So, needless to say I had already consumed some souls. But now I was hungry again.

It crazed my mind. I needed it, I wanted it. Saliva was dripping from my mouth. I turned in the direction I knew the deer was. From the moment I knew where it was, it had already lost all means of escape. Quiet as a mouse I approached the deer.

The wind blew in the right direction so the deer could not smell me. However, its instincts must have alarmed it. It jumped up and started running away from me. This wasn't the first time that something like that happened. It wasn't like I was perfectly camouflaged.

I lanced over some shrubs and gave chase to the deer. Quickly evading any branches and logs that stood in between me and my prey. Now that I was close enough, I jumped in the air and slashed at the neck of the deer.

A fountain of red fluids rained over the green forest ground. I waited until the life faded away from the eyes of the terrified deer and the soul was released. Once it turned white, I immediately grabbed it and shoved it down my throat. However, I was still hungry, so I preceded to consume the still warm body of the dear.

This helped to calm my hunger and ease my mind. Now that my energy was completely refilled, I headed back to the rest of the group.