Donovan glared back. "What is he doing!?" He wrestled to regain control of their panicked garu's. "Is he out of his mind!!"
Both Kalika and Donovna watched from the runaway cart as Zelak struggled to finish the so-called clopsin with his blazing chain sword. The beast grabbed the ends of the chain, turning their battle into a tug of war.
Kalika sighed exhaustedly. "Now this stupid dream is getting annoying,"
"Give me a second. I think I might be able to turn us around- Kalika?" Donovan suddenly found himself alone. "Kalika!?" Glancing back further, he saw that Kalika dashed off to assist Zelak. "You too!?" He thought.
With a regained composure, the clopsin wrestled and flailed his head around, eventually sending Zelak flying into the air.
The clopsin caught Zelak with its huge hands and planted him straight into the ground. He closed in, ready to bite his head off, only to be met with a tug to the neck. Kalika's blue arms wrapped around the monster further, clinging onto him.
The clopsin jerked back, reaching its hands to grab Kalika off its back. In retaliation, Kalika conjured her dagger and drove it into the clopsin's mouth.
The monster roared in pain as her blade cut from within its cheeks. As if on cue, Zelak whipped his sword around the monster's face and sent a surge of fire blazing through the chain. The monster grabbed the firefly sword, trying to pull it off as Kaliak relentlessly stabbed it through the mouth.
He flailed and jerked his body around, trying to free himself from what should have been prey. But with a strong will to live, the clopsin finally grasped Kalika. It pulled her by the leg and threw her straight into the swampy marshes.
Using his newly freed hand, he grasped the blazing chains. Overpowering Zelak, he swung the demon through a tree and cratered into the ground.
Despite this retaliation, Zelak gritted and intensified the flames in his chain, sending a new wave of pain through the monster.
Taking advantage, Kalika threw her dagger at the beast as she stormed through the muddied terrain. Seeing that it bounced off the creature, she growled, irritated, and leaped at the clopsin. "Just die!" She reconjured her dagger and struck between the chained blade of Zelak's sword and into the clopsin's eye.
It shrieked out a roar, shaking the very earth around them.
Just as she tried to pull her blade, the Clopsin grabbed Kalika once again, squeezing her with his palms.
"Argh!!" Kalika winced, trying to break free.
With its newly unlocked rage, it broke free, shattering the chain holding it and charged straight at Zelak. And with Kalika still in his hands, he posed, ready to use her as his weapon.
Suddenly, the cart ran straight into the monster, knocking it to the ground. The garu's pulling the cart fell to the ground and flailed about as they tried to free themselves from the debris that shattered around them.
Kalika quickly pulled herself free from the clopsin's grasp and distanced herself. She stood and coughed blood as she tried to reorient herself. "What was that?" she questioned.
Slowly, the clopsin rose back up from the ground, its gaze fixed on Kalika and Zelak in front of it. But just as it raised its hand, a rock shattered against its head. Like the mindless beast it was, it turned its head only for another stone, hitting its face.
It growled, seeing that Donovan was preparing a new attack in the palm of his hands.
"That's right. Over here, you dumb oversized goblin!!" Donovan shot a fireball that washed over its face.
It's jerked back and screamed in pain. It quickly shook off the attack and charged straight at Donovan with a vengeance. Acting swiftly, Donovan dodged, letting it hit the strange trees behind him.
A slowly manifested new ball of fire, and it aimed it at the beast.
"Kalika, go!"
Kalika froze, taken aback by the sudden command.
He shot the clopsin again, drawing its full attention. "This is your chance to kill it!"
Kalika ran past Donovan straight at the clopsin. "Don't tell me what to do!" She once again leaped at the monsters who nearly blocked her. But in an instant, Clopsin's arms got entangled and pulled by Zelak's reconjured blood blade.
Clawing and gripping tightly to the monster's body, Kalika posed and drove her dagger up the monster's mouth and into its skull.
The clopsin ceased and twitched. Not wanting to stick around, Kalika leaped off the monster and watched as it fell straight to the ground with an audible splosh.
"What an annoying monster," Kalika said, exhausted.
"Yeah, I never thought I'd see a monster that was so resilient." Donovan couldn't help but keep his gaze fixed on the large, ugly creature. "It's a good thing you were able to end it when you did. "I don't think I would've lasted against that."
After a moment to catch their breath, both Donovan and Kalika darted their eyes at Zelak, who was now attempting to skin the beast.
"Yeah, it looks like we'll have to let a butcher handle this one," Zelak said nonchalantly.
Donovan grabbed Zelak by the horns. "What the hell was the big idea!!! Are you trying to get us killed!!?"
"Well, I couldn't let this opportunity pass us by. Clopsins are extremely rare and highly dangerous. But if you're able to kill it, their skins could make for great armor, and the magic crystals they carry in them are big."
Donovan released Zelak at once. "So you got this to sweeten the deal for getting Bjorn back? Couldn't we just mine off the big crystals around?"
"If you want small pieces. Yes. But the bigger the cluster, the more valuable it becomes."
Not wanting to pry any further, he exhaled frustratedly. "Fine! But next time, tell us ahead of time. Don't just jump in and fight a random monster."
Donovan stepped away from Zelak and revealed the sight of an annoyed Kalika. She glared at Zelak before taking her leave, back to the newly wrecked cart.
Tired, Kalilka laid on the splintering floor and stared straight at the sky above as Donovan went to work recovering the garu's.
"C'mon, Zelak! I need some help!"
********
Kalika sat atop the large clopsin as the cart bounced along the road. She watched the rear as they continued to pass through the trees and marshlands. In the distance, she even saw some strange, slimy green creatures with wide mouths,
A large bird tried flying past one of the creatures, only for it to whip out a long tongue and swallow it whole. Kalika gagged from the unsettling thought of what they smelled like. She then glanced back at the clopsin. "Those disgusting things probably smell as bad as this stupid thing…" Kalika quickly pinched her nose and cringed in disgust. "On second thought, nothing can smell as bad as this rotted thing."
"Hey, Donovan. Are we almost there?" Kalika asked.
"Yeah. Take a look." Donovan said.
Kalika turned to see a large settlement with walls erected from loose tree logs and large twigs. As crude as the walls seemed, the entrance itself seemed much more presentable, with a house-like outpost stationed on top of the large, sturdy doors that could swing open.
One of the demon's guards slowly approached and looked at Donovan, who wore the mask Bjorn had crafted.
Donovan turned to Kalika expectantly. With a sigh, she moved to climb down.
Zelak raised his hand, holding Kalika. ""
"Hmph." Without another word, she climbed back and waited as Zelak talked to the guard on their behalf. As Zelak conversed with the guard, Kalika took notice that the other guard kept a gaze fixed on her. She turned her gaze away and ignored the demon.
After a while, the guards finally opened the door, allowing them to enter.
"It's about time." Kalika chide.
Zelak climbed back into the cart. "He was an old friend."
"Whatever."
As they entered, a strange, musty smell filled the air. The smell was so strong that even Donovan cringed from beneath his mask.
Looking around, the houses were built with wooden planks and logs, while the windows and doors themselves had decorative cloths draped over them, which provided privacy to these residences. Looking at the roof, Kalika was surprised to see a strange white leather covering the entire home with a cobblestone chimney at its center that continuously puffed out smoke.
"Th… thats weird…" She said to herself.
She looked back at the dirt road and saw several strange mushrooms growing in abundance, with other odd flowers she'd never seen before. She saw the demons of the Karnal and Cubus races going about their days, carrying supplies and food as if it were another ordinary day.
Suddenly, they heard the yelps of a woman from the alley. Donovan stopped the cart and rose, but before he could react, Zelak pulled him back down.
"Hey, what are you-"
Not long after, the picture became all too clear as the sounds of yelps became something unexpected.
Donovan quickly sat himself down, practically embarrassed.
Kalia dropped her head and cringed. "That's so embarrassing. Can we go, Donovan?" She quietly asked.
"Y…Yeah." Understanding her sentiment, Donovan continued to trek the cart further into the town, where they came to a wooden road that spanned across rivers and swampy marshes alike.
"Take a right here," Zelak said.
They turned away from the wooden path ahead and parked their cart in a wide building alongside a few other broken-down carts.
Kalika hopped down and explored the area curiously. Inside the building, it looked like a shop with a normal-looking man with long black hair working away, but upon closer inspection, he had horns so small that it was hard to tell he was a demon if he didn't have a tail.
The Incubus glanced at them with his piercing eyes and quickly darted to Zelak.
"
Zelak entered with open arms. "
The tip of the incubus's Sword pointed at Zelak's face. "
"" Trapal said.
" Trapal glanced in the Kalika direction, surprised. " "HUH!?" Kalika glared at the incubus, Indignant. An aura of darkness erupted from here, terrifying the man.
" " " ""
" Trapal narrowed his eyes, suspicious. " " " " " Donovan met with Zelak and closed in with a whisper. "What was that about?"
"He's going to fix our cart. While he does that, we'll drop the clopsin at butcher's and get ogre scum. afterwards"
Kalika grumbled, listening to Zelak. "Well, let's make it fast. So where is this butcher, anyway?"
Zelak led Kalika and Donovan outside, pointing to a hut-like home on the wooden dock path. "There. That's the butcher. I'll handle it myself. Until then, feel free to look around for a little bit. Just don't go too far." Zelak circled and grabbed a bunch of crystals from the cart. "Oh. And if you two come to any of the Cubus Demons, make sure to stay on guard. Some of them can be desperate, and it's breeding season for their kin, and they can be tricky, especially the women."
"Sure." Without another word, Kalika departed.
"H-hey!" Just as Donovan was about to give chase, Zelak had a bag of crystals thrown his way. Donovan caught the bag and glanced back at Zelak, confused.
"Just in case." Zelak waved. "Enjoy yourselves."
Donovan nodded and quickly turned to catch up with Kalika,
********
Blood spat on the decaying wooden floor.
A massive club fell on the shoulder of a big red demon that glared at Bjorn. He prepared his club and swung it again.
"ARAGGGHHH!!"
This time, blood and drool gushed onto the floor.
The ogre demon grasped the white hair and forced up the head of a chained bond Bjorn, looking into his.
" The enormous, red demon with banded, long black hair and red eyes glared at the white-haired incubus.
" " Gorm tightened his grasp, but before he could react, the Incubus opened his eyes and entrapped the demon in his gaze. The clubs dropped, and Gorm backed away. A second later, Gorm regains consciousness.
He clenched his gnarly teeth, glaring at the roughly dressed incubus with ire.
" " " " ""
Bjorn launched himself towards Zigfred, only for the chains to stop him. The remaining chains that hung jangled around them. Playing a tune that was music to the incubus's ears.
Zigfred perked a smirk. " Zigfred pulled up a black leather parchment with red symbols inscribed on it. " " Zigfred sat himself across from Bjorn, waving several more of the black parchments with his sly smile. ""