'Till We Meet Again (3/5)
A minute of eerie silence passes, and a looming shadow climbs up her curtain. Anna'ri can sense the mountain god just on the other side.
A large, orange pawed hand reaches into the palanquin and slowly parts the curtain…
The tiger's large, round, yellow eyes take a single, brief glance at her before he lets the curtain fall again. "Ugh," Lord Talran sighs in disapproval, "Why would they send me an ugly one?"
"WRONG ANSWER!" comes the pointy-eared man's forceful voice. "The least you could do was remark how beautiful she is before you die."
The pale creature suddenly appears out of the mountain god's shadow. Before Lord Talran can react, the white-skinned soldier swiftly kicks the Tiger behind the knees, knocking him off his feet.
Suddenly, two more pointy-eared men appear out of a slip in space, and they quickly snap a pair of cuffs on the mountain god's wrists, while the black-plumed one claps a large chain around Talran's neck.
Before Lord Talran can make a single counterattack, black, ethereal chains shoot out of the silver cuffs and dig into the ground. The chains then pull themselves tight, and the mountain god is snapped down into a kneeling posture with his head bowed and his neck exposed.
"WHO DARES!" the mountain god screams in anger at first as he vainly attempts to get up.
Hearing the commotion, Lady Anna'ri swings the curtains aside and watches everything that transpires next. It's clear that she's not going to be this Tiger man's bride, so there's no point in keeping still anymore.
As the Tiger god struggles and squirms in his chains, he glances up and sees the pointy-eared soldier with a black feather in his helmet. "Y-you! You work for the Divine General, Lord Haalfrin?!"
The black-plumed soldier nods, "Something like that. Anyway..." The soldier then pulls out a scroll and starts reading out in a monotone voice:
"By order of King Yama Farrith, the Lord of all the Death Lands, you've been found guilty of practicing theft and mutilation - theft of the Death King's property, and mutilation of the Death King's subjects through the use of necromancy.
"The following gods have revoked all legal protection and other such legal bindings with you, in accordance with the laws and treaties with the Death Lands. King Hamdra of the Sarath Mountains, Mistress Teefling of the Tiger Beast alliance... ugh... Can't pronounce that one. Boring. Yada yada. Anyway, time to die."
The pointy-eared stranger then picks up a heavy ax and swings it down Lord Talran's neck.
With a bloody splurt, the mountain god's body slumps to the ground, and his head bounces a little way. A powerful green and blue Aura of Divinity bursts out of the dead god's blood, while the Divine Aura evaporates into the atmosphere and seeps into the soil.
In every sense, the Tiger god is no more; not even his Divinity was allowed to exist anymore.
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After her would-be husband is unexpectedly killed – no, executed, Anna'ri watches with a strange fascination as the pointy-eared man pulls out a black lantern and sucks up the mountain god's soul.
He then summons a few more men to his side – all pointy-eared people, though a few have animal features as well.
He then points to the forest and gives a quick order, "Round up all the victims' spirits and put them safely in a corner. Basti should be showing up any minute to pick them up. I don't want him blaming me for any accidents."
The soldiers all give a quick solute, "Yes sir!"
With the soldiers off doing their task, their leader turns to Anna'i and remarks, "You don't look scared."
Anna feels a little baffled at his words. "Am I supposed to be scared?"
Instead of being angry at her rude tone, the pale man leans back and lets out an energetic burst of laughter, "HAHA! That makes me happy! You really are the same on the inside!"
"What?" Anna'ri blurts out. 'I'm the same on the inside? The same as what?'
"Ahem," her rescuer asks, "anyway, where's your home? I'll drop you off?"
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Once Haalfrin returns Freyya's reincarnation to her family's home, he turns returns to the Death Realm with a giddy sense of excitement.
Truth be told, killing the Tiger demon wasn't part of his 10,000 tasks. Instead, he was actually on his way to battle a crazed pair of Star Elementals when he received a report about a Tiger demon practicing necromancy.
Normally, the general would've just left this kind of task up to his subordinates, but he got the strong feeling that he needed to go down himself.
After practicing Fate and Spirit magic, he's learned very well by now that he needs to trust his feelings.
'Well, I can always visit her on the way back from my mission!' Haalfrin thinks happily. 'Now that I know where she is, I can see her whenever I want…'
He suddenly winces at a few recent memories. 'Well… with how my lord is working me like a dog, I suppose I'll see her when I can.'
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Once Haalfrin arrives at his destination, he goes and battles it out with the binary stars. As it turns out, both of these stars were reaching the end of their lives. Being on the verge of going supernova, they both became very afraid and sought to prolong their lives by replacing all the fuel they'd burned away over their lifetimes.
The way to do this is, of course, through devouring other stars and consuming planets.
By the time Haalfrin arrives there, the pair of red giants have become so bloated and huge that they've nearly reached the size of a solar system.
In fact, the only reason why a Death god was called for this job is because of his regeneration abilities. All the mortal gods who tried fighting this thing were turned to ashes and consumed.
Needless to say, the battle is so horrifically tough for Haalfrin that he certainly doesn't escape unscathed.
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-Several months later-
A haggard Arkin stumbles wearily through a thick forest, and his drooping ears bob up and down with every step. His armor is burnt and scarred, and one of his arms is completely missing.
'That was a tough fight…,' Haalfrin sighs. 'Still, I made it back to Freyya's world…' He looks down at his missing arm. 'I was hoping this thing would've grown back by the time I came to find her again. Oh well. I won't be getting many chances to see her, so I don't have time to make myself presentable.'
He still remembers very well where he dropped Freyya – no, Anna'ri off, so he makes his way there without much trouble.
'Eh… Freyya didn't seem to recognize what I am, so I assume Arkin are an unfamiliar race on her world? When I go to see her, it's best if I slip in and don't draw too much attention. I'd hate to make her life more complicated than it has to be.'
With this thought in mind, he casts a powerful invisibility spell, and he completely suppresses his Aura.
Now undetectable, he slips inside and goes straight for her distinct, but weak Aura that's coming down from… below the house?
'Is she in a basement right now? Wait, why is her Aura so weak now? Her spirit feels…'
Suddenly sensing that something is wrong, Haalfrin rushes through the house even faster.
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At first, Haalfrin was hoping that the rooms below the house were just additional living rooms. However, as he gets further down, he finds that the household furnishings are getting less and less sparse, and the chill in the air is getting sharper.
Sure enough, this basement is used for what most basements are for – food storage; that much is obvious, judging shelves of frozen fruits and meats lining the walls.
Then, Haalfrin looks in the cellar corner and sees a small bedroll in a corner with a young girl sleeping on it. Her legs are tucked in, and her arms are wrapped up tightly for warmth.
Seeing Freyya living like this, Haalfrin's fists curl in anger, and he looks up at the house above. 'Her family up there looked like they were living well. How dare they…? Should I just kill them all?'
'No… at least… not yet. This is Freyya's new family, so I shouldn't be reckless. I'll get her side of the story first before I decide what to do.'
The first thing Haalfrin does is conjure a Warmth spell in his hands. Bending down slowly, the Arkin man reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder.
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Anna'ri is in the middle of another bad dream when she's suddenly overtaken with a pleasant feeling of warmth.
'Wait… warmth…?'
Suddenly startled awake, she gasps in shock and tries scrambling to her feet. However, due to not eating in the past 48 hours, she's so lacking in strength that instead of getting to her feet, she just tumbles forward and nearly knocks her head into the wall.
Fearing that her mother has come to visit her again, she covers her eyes in fear and huddles in a corner.
Ever since she came back from her "marriage", her siblings ignored her, her father tried to pretend like she didn't exist, and her mother… Her mother was, by far, the most furious with her.
That old hag was always the most concerned about their family's reputation among them all, so it makes sense that she'd be the most abusive to her upon her return.
"Anna'ri…? That's your name now, right?" says a man's voice. The man has a strange accent, yet perhaps it's because of his foreign voice that she recognizes him.
Slowly moving her arms out of the way, she takes a good look at him. Sure enough, it's the strange, pointy-eared man from a few months ago.
"Who…?" she whispers, then stops herself. "No, why are you here? You should get out of here… before you get in trouble."
Suddenly, Anna'ri remembers that this man is the one who easily killed her mountain god. 'Oh goodness, I must be so tired that I'm not thinking straight. Why would this man have to worry about getting in trouble? He's too strong for that.'
The man sees the guarded look on her face, so he obediently backs off. Then, his face hardens, and he says in a firm voice. "Before that, what are you doing down here? Is your family trying to kill you? Did I drop you off at the wrong house?"
Seeing Anna'ri look down silently – unwilling to talk, the man sighs, "Listen, I'm not going to harm you. Just get talking. Otherwise, I'll make my own assumptions, and I'll kill everyone upstairs."
"F-f-fine! I'll talk!"