Bouncing off the ground, his body rolled all the way towards the fence, stopping with a loud clang as his back dented the metal ever so slightly.
“Ah, ugh,” he moaned as his limbs felt inert, especially his arms. Broken in half on each side, lifting them wasn’t an option.
At the same time, riddled across the entirety of his face, cuts and gashes appeared while a crimson liquid flowed obtusely. Gazing at the distant world painted red, he saw as the demon on the right helped his brother, both flustered about.
Despite it being practically inaudible, he was still able to make out the sounds they were screaming to themselves about, despite speaking in the alien tongue.
“Gien! Geas inlea rekomia kiz bei junt!” The one that raised the left twin shouted, grabbing onto his head while the other finally walked on his own, limping slightly.
“Geas? Arn lei ges! Ugh!” The second clamored in his direction, quickly grabbing himself by the throbbing head.
“Tig, tig, aefrkozs ges mive. Ges nayd yast kiz teug it un nuen,” his brother also barked back, visibly frustrated at the situation they found themselves inside.
“Argh! Kozs scelo geas bie?”
The question lingered in the air around the two suspended in their tracks. Despite their clear blunder, they didn’t move from the place, letting the harsh breaths coming from Lutiel lead their time.
Yet, eventually, they glanced at one another with a pucker around their brows.
“Art inli nuen,” they spoke at the same time, incredulity echoing across blemished faces.
As though gazing through a dawning cloak of fog, his clouded vision flickered as he tried to move his head. Unstable, it swayed powerlessly as the mouths of the demons turned towards him.
“Scelo geas ilku qell ars’o?” One proposed, his brother suddenly closing his eyes in thought.
“Tis inbie crav, ila ars’e umafi li intege’e nuen. Bie ges crav junt maa?” He asked after opening them, clear blue marbles turning to the other twin, whose head nodded briskly.
“Junt li kozs’t tis zeipi,” he replied before the two of them once again turned to the man lying on the fence, his broken arms flopping on the ground.
A few tens steps away from him, his sight suddenly shook as he saw the demons act. From beneath his bracers, the twin on the left brought a long piece of sharpened metal, ending with a finely decorated handle.
Brought out into his right palm, the straight dirk wasn’t gripped tightly. No, it barely stood a moment inside his hand before lying there as he opened it.
At the same moment, it hovered above the sprawled out fingers, floating up in the air before settling in space.
“Zyponia, tis gits geas intane tiri afi dho umev,” he said with a smile brewing on his face, similar to before he was mindlessly shaken. “Arn li ges’e llere kiz bic vic vinis.”
Lutiel’s breath and heart hastened seeing the dagger position itself straight at him, directly where his slave’s brand lay.
Quickly, with his eyes always on the demons, he hoisted the arms up, trying to defend the spot as best as he could. However, adding to his physical agony, the demons only snickered at his attempts.
“It seems they forgot about you, hehe. But don’t worry, we’re doing you a favor with this. Unless you wanted to be tortured by your master,” he added before the flying knife disappeared from its position, accelerating towards Lutiel with a fearsome force.
He hadn’t finished a proper breath before half of the distance was cut.
With gruesome smiles, eyes collared with avarice, the demons awaited his death, already walking towards the corpse.
Still, as they saw the knife hovering in the air once again, suspended before it could graze the slave’s clothes, their bodies convulsed from the get go, realizing that their suspicions were nothing but wrong.
Unable to see through the arm, the human closed his eyes in anticipation, only to open them back once the sound of wind being cut disappeared, replaced with a stutter of the demon tongue.
“C-c-ciko! Geas tomi plin!” One of the brothers shouted with desperation glittering his voice, prompting Lutiel to fully uncover his sight, promptly witnessing a brutal scene.
Standing behind the twins, a certain maid held onto their shoulders, making them cower subconsciously.
Muttering nothing coherent, before they even noticed it, two small knives squeezed themselves through the side of their necks. The red liquid engulfed their necks acutely, strength leaving together with it.
Standing in the middle of the alley, the girl turned her yellow eyes towards the bent fence, gazing at the man.
“Rae-” he managed to mutter out before his eyes fell apart. His head going down, the human’s consciousness swiftly faded into slumber while the maid’s shoes hit against the bricks rhythmically, right towards the human.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
…
Lutiel glanced at the cold ceiling as his eyes shook themselves up. Having opened the eyelids abruptly, he had been staring at the single point for a while now.
‘Was that a dream? No, it couldn’t have been.’ The man wondered to himself, but the idea evaporated quicker than the thought manifested through the hazy veils of memory.
He was stinging all across. Through every fiber of his upper body and arms, he felt as though he had been sleeping under a boulder that fell upon him.
However, one thing was certain to him. Regaining a clear feel for the muscles, Lutiel moved them faintly under the duvet, with no excessive pain forming internally.
Taking the cloth away, he stretched the arms towards the ceiling, looking at the pale, yet bruised skin of his, with no swollen places around the middle. Slowly moving up to his eyes, the right hand fell upon his clear face.
Nothing seemed to be there anymore. All of the injuries he had sustained while bouncing off the bricks were no longer a reality, smooth skin replacing them.
‘I’m healed, somehow,’ he mused. Watching his arm’s muscles constrict and relax properly, he couldn’t help but stay inside his mind, for just a slight moment more. Even if he didn’t want to think that, it all amounted to one thing.
‘It’s magic. My broken nose was also healed by magic.’ With blank eyes, the arms fell down to the fair duvet before he once again focused on the ceiling of his room. ‘Will there ever be no magic involved?’
However, asking himself, the man stopped for a second in the approach, realizing something.
‘Did magic save me at that time? Does it mean I owe my new life to it? To the demons’ prowess?’ A conflict circled around inwardly, only to spiral away into the darkness.
Taking off the cover around his bed, Lutiel’s face winced as he moved his bruised body. Steadily, he used his arms as support, turning to sit on the edge before standing up fairly easily, his legs taking the least amount of damage in the confrontation.
‘What day is it?’ He pondered while staring to the left, looking at the sun that rose timidly. With a somewhat dingy sky, the darkened clouds poured over, though only in the distance. No droplet formed around the window of his room.
Soon losing focus, the man turned to the opposite wall instead, where a set of clothes awaited him neatly, ready to be exchanged for the nightwear he had been sleeping inside. Looking down at them for a few breaths, his mind didn’t fester ill feelings for those who had changed him, quickly taking a step towards the chair.
As per usual, it was all the same. An identical set of clothes from his wardrobe lay folded on the table, prompting him to take off his clothes down to underwear.
Without waiting any longer, he started in a similar style as days prior. Firstly, he put on the socks, followed by the dark trousers and a light shirt. Firmly packing it beneath the black fabric, he tightened the belt before skillfully folding the tie over on itself into the way Raeyine had taught him.
Buttoning the vest that held his tie in place, Lutiel put on the jacket that matched his pants, only to put on the wholly white gloves on and go down to the shoes.
However, as his eyes landed on them, he stopped for a second. Grabbing the shoes, he noticed something on their glossy surface, reminiscent of the events unfolding in the city.
The light coming from the window flickered under the scratches and light grooves breaking down the black leather. Immediately, Lutiel’s mind shook faintly, recalling whatever happened that day.
Feeling all of the times he had bounced off and rolled on the hard bricks thanks to that invisible might, his body started hurting once again.
‘Is this what I’m supposed to fight against? Something so powerful, yet I can’t even see it?’ His eyebrows furrowed completely as he sombered over the matter. Even if he had won against them physically, there was nothing he could do in front of that power.
His eyes started to break away from their shine, the grip around his hands loosening to the point of making the shoes fall down harshly to the ground.
‘Even if it’s the holy capital, what are they to do in this situation? They too must have fallen already.’
Finally, as the thoughts lingered inside his head, he glanced at his right arm. Specifically, at his right hand. With but a single will, something started to battle against the natural rays before waving off into the darkness.
‘What are you for, then? Why were humans chosen to be heroes?” He asked himself, ending the thoughts with a long and harsh breath. He didn’t know anything, and pondering over the matter would only bring about illusions.
Standing up, he quickly opened up a drawer of the desk before taking out a shining, round can containing a wax-like material alongside a brush.
Slowly, he brought his shoes back to their proper state, no scratches or damage seen on them any longer.
Putting them on, the man meant to come closer to the doors, but before he could, his head turned to the noise coming off them.
Three knocks sprawled out through the space while he stared at the door.
‘Raeyine?’ He couldn’t help but think. After all, she was the one to help him the most around the house. However, his face came back to its usual composure after hearing the voice.
“Lutiel? Are you awake?” Thoda’s voice traveled from beyond the doors, resounding clearly in the man’s ears. She stood there, waiting for a few moments in complete silence while he didn’t answer. Though, just as her body started to turn, she stopped.
“Yes, you can come in,” he spoke softly, looking at the doors beginning to open up before nearly touching the wall on their right.
The same way he remembered her, the maid walked in with her messy hair that covered almost all of her face except for the nose. With her hunched back, Thoda stepped on the squeaky floors before stopping in her advance, looking at the man all dressed up.
Glancing at him for a few moments, in a quiet, but not unpleasant silence, Lutiel wasn’t able to tell whatever she was searching for on him.
Still, such thoughts were quickly dispelled as he heard her speak with a gentle tone.
“How are you? Do you still feel pain anywhere?” She asked while the butler creased his forehead ever so slightly.
“I’m sore, but there’s no lingering pain,” he replied with a spry tongue.
“That’s good,” the girl added, nodding. “You will be ready to go to work quite quickly, then.” Raising her head slightly as she spoke, although the hairs separated slightly, he still couldn’t see her face properly.
“What day is it today?” His question made the girl quiet down before pondering for a few seconds.
“Huvday,” she said with excitement before quickly calming herself to a more serene nature. “You’ve been unconscious for about forty hours now, but that’s a given with the amount of injuries you’ve had.”
‘Two days passed, huh? It’s a shame I missed my training, though I still wouldn’t be able to do it with those wounds.’ He dwelled on the fact for a brief moment before swiftly cleansing his mind.
“I see,” he uttered plainly at the girl.