Chapter 27

Catalina knew she was in danger. She felt like prey in the jaws of a predatar. She knew instinctively that this woman…or however she was could kill her in a blink of an eye. That intense bloodthirst and animalistic brutality was radiating off of her.

She dropped down to the ground and pretended to tie up her boots but she instead took out the twin daggers she had hidden under her pant legs, tied onto one of her legs with leather straps.

"Ha, Ha, silly me, sorry about that. I had to tie up my boots."

The woman growled. Literally growled. It was less of something from a human mouth and more like something from an angry dog. It was animalistic and inhuman.

"Sorry, sweetheart, about that but did anyone ever tell you that it's very rude to listen in on others' conversations? I guess I have to teach you a good lesson."

Catalina was suddenly picked up by the neck and thrown out the window. She went falling down and would have been killed by that impact but Catalina instead twisted and positioned herself so that she instead rolled onto the ground and was able to get back onto her feet. Her body ached and was a bit sore but she managed to minimize the impact damage done to her. Her head did hit the ground before she was able to roll though.

Catalina dodged the blow aimed at her head. The red arrow lodged itself into the stone walkway instead.

More red arrows tore through the air-all of them aimed at Catalina. Catalina dodged all of them with agility and ease. 

Catalina now got a better look at the she-demon now. 

She was beautiful. In a nightmarish and beastly sort of way.

The left side of her face was covered with lots of beady red eyes that blinked and glared nastily at her. The right side of her face was still human if you could ignore the fact that her skin was a pitch black color and her red eyes were silted like those of a cat's. Two curved black horns protrude from her forehead and her mouth was full of lots of sharp, pointed teeth. Her entire skin was milky white with patches of black all over her body: her arms, her legs, her chest and her face. Her hands ended in sharp claws that look like they could tear through flesh and bone.

Her black silk and satin dress looked out of place on her; Catalina noted all the rips and tears in it with the skirt of the dress being torn off so that it barely reached her knees. Her long black hair reached the ground and gleamed like a waterfall of ink behind her.

She raised her daggers and the she-demon laughed. It was a bone-chilling and cold one.

"So, I see you are a warrior too? I'll give you credit for not running away like so many others before you but I still have to kill you for overhearing my conversation with my master!!"

"Who's your master?"

Kakia just smiled, showing off her horrible and nasty looking teeth.

"Not telling you, sweetheart!! Now let's fight!!"

One moment, she was there and the next moment she was right in front of Catalina.

Catalina didn't have any time to react before Kakia sent her flying through the air into some bushes with a good punch in the face. Catalina crashed into the bushes and crushed up many of the bushes into leafy pancakes

Catalina rolled out of the way as Kakia slammed her fist where her head was second before.

The stone wall cracked and broke under the force of her punch and Catalina saw that this she-demon was no easy opponent.

Catalina launched into an attack of blows and slashes with her daggers that the she-demon quickly ducks and dodges, giggling and laughing the whole time. Then a small cut appeared on her left cheek, dripping out green blood.

Catalina didn't take time to relish this small victory as she continued to slash and attack the she- demon, her attacks getting more and more quicker and aggressive. Small cuts slowly started to appear on her arms, legs and chest.

The she-demon let out a scream and she summoned a pair of daggers as well: blood red and like shards of glass, they gleamed and glittered wickedly in moonlight. She blocked a blow from one of Catalina's daggers and aimed her other dagger at Cataliha's eye. Catalina deflected the blow with her other dagger before stabbing her in the right eye with it.

The she-demon screamed and stumbled back but she wasn't going down easily and she instead attacked Catalina with a vengeance, slashing, stabbing and trying to land a blow on her.

Catalina was an expert fighter and she was able to dodge, avoid, parry and block many of the attacks. However, a couple of times her knives got a little too close to her body for her liking. This she-demon was strong and powerful and Catalina had the feeling that she wasn't even using her full power.

She unleashed a poisonous powder that filled the air. A sweet sugary smell filled the air and purple dust floated through the air. The demoness growled and snarled loudly but it was clear that the poison was having an effect on her.

The she-demon was shaking badly, her breath was strained and shallow and one of her eyes was gouged out. She was coughing and wheezing. Catalina decided to pull no punches and go full out with 100 percent of her power.

The she-demon was tough and wasn't going down easily as Catalina found out when the she-demon unleashed another round of those red arrows at her. Catalina jumped and dodged out of the way before unleashing blobs of acidic poison at her opponent. Her opponent was equally quick on her feet and nimble as she danced and avoided the globs of purple deadliness, her globs of poison insteading melting holes into the stone wall and poisoning the surrounding grass and plants and killing them. 

Kakia was starting to admire this female human now. She was a warrior like her!! But she felt a little bit sad that she would have to kill off a fellow female warrior when female warriors should be supporting other female warriors.

But she was a nasty and horrible human who had killed off her own kind many, many years ago when she was just a child.

She had to die.

Kakia's vision turned blurry and she was feeling a bit sick. She collapsed onto her hands and knees and her skin started to blister and peel.

This bitch. Her poison was working its way into her system and was now left in a badly weakened state.

Catalina's hair was a mess and her dress was all ripped up and dirty. Small cuts and bruises were dotting her body but she was smiling nevertheless.

"Took long enough. It looks like you have a higher tolerance for poison but my poison is super deadly."

"You…BITCH!!"

Kakia didn't have much choice but to retreat for now. One moment she was there and the next she was gone.

Catalina felt the adrenaline high coming to an end and saw that she had a bad cut across her stomach that was bleeding really deep and badly. Her head was pounding and hurting really badly; She must have taken a heavier blow when she was thrown out of the window than she expected. She must have been too caught up in the fight to notice the injury that was inflicted on her. Blood stained the front of her uniform, growing larger and larger, blood dripped onto the stone pathway.

"Shit."

Catalina collapsed onto the ground on all fours.

No, she thought, she couldn't die here like this.

She forced herself to get up on her feet and get help.

She slowly pressed a hand to the cut and she slowly made her way back the way she came from.

….

Dinner was surprisingly simple for something that was served to a prince and princess.

It consisted of just rolls of white bread with some sort of creamy and rich soup with chunks of potatoes and chicken in it.

Ezekiel and Arya were all alone in a small and more cozy looking dining room.

Ezekiel scooped up some of the soup with the bread and popped it into his mouth with all the princely elegance and grace he had.

Arya found the soup to be warm and hearty and the bread butterfly, soft and heavenly.

A male servant poured Arya some water into a gold goblet.

"I had a long day today, Ar-Ar. I had to sit through 4 meetings today. Those old geezers sure love to talk."

Arya nodded.

"Yes, Ezzy, I know. You know that the food quantity and quality has been decreasing recently? I'm sure something's wrong with the food supply line. I know food doesn't appear from nowhere."

Ezekiel smiled. His smile was covered up when he was drinking from his glass of apple juice(No, he doesn't like drinking alcohol even though he was legally an adult now).

"Smart girl. Your mind is as sharp as your swords are."

"Thank you, I guess. But surely other people must be affected by the decrease in food. What about the nobles or lower classes?"

Ezekiel would never stop being amazed by Arya's observant and sharp mind.

"If you had any interest in the throne, you'll be one opponent nobody would underestimate. Yes, food supplies have dramatically decreased due to a sudden spike in murders happening all over the countryside and in areas where agricultural production takes place along with a sudden pandemic of rottenness and spoilage of food that destroyed at least 75 percent of all food resources. Not just food costs have soared, but the cost of weapons, clothing and other necessities such as medicine have also sky-rocketed as well. Blacksmiths, tailors, doctors, and other necessary professions are dying off in great numbers and it seems too much of a targeted and coordinated attack to be random and a coincidence."

"You think someone is responsible for the murders?"

Ezekiel nodded.

"Yes. But the attacks are random and take place at an unpredictable level so I ordered all guards to increase their patrols of areas where such targeted individuals live. Investigations are on-going but I have big reason to believe that Catalina and Elijah's claims are true. That they have returned."

"Who?"

Ezekiels grew serious and grim.

"The monsters and beasts of the ancient myths and legends. People think they're just stories but they're not. It's a royal secret passed down only to members of royalty and I'm going to tell you the secret right now."

….

The royal healer, a skinny and scrappy looking man with brown eyes and black hair dressed in white and red healer robes, did his best to heal Catalina.

Catalina groaned and winced when he disinfected and sewed up the cut on her stomach as she laid on the bed in the medical ward.

She told him that it was a training accident and he seemed to take her word for it.

Catalina was given a painkiller and sedative in order to relieve her pain.

It made her feel sleepy and tired.

Elijah was on a different patrol in the royal capital. He probably won't be back until morning.

….

"Once upon a time, about 250 years ago when the kingdom was first established, monsters and beasts roamed freely among humans. They terrorized and slaughtered our kind, sparking a war between us and them. We actually had a reason to train and fight since we had to fight those beasts. Royalty and nobility alike fought on the frontlines against those monsters, blood was shed and lives were lost-both commoner and nobility and royalty alike-during those dark times. Until Princess Persephone, the only surviving members of the royal family, sacrificed her life and used her rare and omnipotent ability-the ability to create extra dimensions-to create a sort of prison to trap those beasts in and save mankind. It seems like those beasts are finally escaping their prison that Princess Perpsephone trapped them in."

Arya frowned. These seemed familiar.

"I read about it in a book before."

"Yes, the same book that all children of royalty read. Baron Pax must have taught you well."

Arya just started at Ezekiel as he finished up his soup.

"Does everyone else know?"

"Do they? No, they just think they're nothing more than silly stories. Everyone expect me. And that's going to get us all killed in the future."