Chapter 13: Mercy is Friendless

Tetres hadn’t stayed conscious for very long. He’d tired himself out with all of his struggles and gave into the fever within minutes. Keithran merely rolled his eyes as he dressed the wound properly in peace while Ludus returned upstairs and placed a cool cloth on his eldest brother’s forehead.

“Does this mean he’ll be, you know, nice when he’s better?” Keithran asked, glancing over at the red-eyed boy beside him.

Ludus looked at him for a moment, then laughed heartily.

“Of course not!” Ludus exclaimed cheerfully, “He’ll be the same as usual, but at least he’ll be alive!”

Keithran slumped and rinsed his washcloth again, vaguely wondering if he was doing himself any favors by saving this demon after all.

“On the other hand,” Ludus added suddenly, “He’ll probably feel indebted to you Ran-Ran. So he might not bug you afterwards. At least not as much. But that’s just a guess. I’ve been wrong before.”

“Oh.” Keithran pondered this, “What about you?”

“Me?” Ludus looked amused, “He’ll torment me ‘till the day he dies, no question!”

It confused Keithran that Ludus declared this with such a cheerful demeanor. He’d been terrified of his own brother just days ago, but now he seemed totally comfortable. Then again, Ludus didn’t really strike him as the type to hold grudges. He was far too scatterbrained.

The wound on Tetres’ side had taken quite a while to treat. It had become infected, but there didn’t seem to be any blood poisoning. Keithran leaned back heavily onto his chair as he looked at Tetres’s weakened form. If anyone in town caught wind of the company he kept in his home, he'd be in a world of trouble.

As if on cue, there was a determined bout of knocking at his front door. The blonde rose quickly and, to his horror, had to chase down Ludus before the horned demon had made it to the door and answered it himself.

“No!” Keithran whispered hurriedly, “Go back upstairs and stay quiet! If anyone finds out about you two being here I’ll be in SO much trouble…”

Ludus crossed his arms and looked very disappointed, but he turned tail and started back up the steps obediently.

Keithran let his hand drift to the handle and he left it there, his body tense. Maybe the person would go away? But another loud round of knocks shook the door and made him jump, and the blonde had to push his anxiety aside, take and deep breath to compose himself and open it.

Luckily, on the other side was not a hoard of angry neighbors but one of his childhood friends from down the street, a redheaded girl only a year younger than him by the name of Lyris.

“Oh!” he uttered in surprise with a relieved smile, “Lyris, hi! It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

Lyris smiled back nervously.

“Yes it has, hasn’t it?” she shifted her feet awkwardly, “You’ve been going off on your own so often that it’s like you’d become a ghost around here! You were out of town this time, weren’t you?”

“Er, yeah!” Keithran nodded, “I went to visit Mathias, actually!”

“Oh really?” Lyris brightened, “How is he?”

“Gay, apparently.” Keithran blurted, then grinned and shrugged, “I’m not surprised though.”

“Oh my! Really?” Lyris looked positively stunned, “Wow, and I thought he was the manliest one between the two of you! Ah! No offense intended!”

Keithran grinned and waved away the thought dismissively.

“It’s just that you always seemed to have your nose in a book or you were just cooking or concocting some sort of useful remedy, whereas he’s gone off to fight battles and slay demons and such…” she trailed off and giggled, “Things sure turn out differently than we expect them to don’t they?”

“They certainly do.” Keithran agreed.

“Oh, er, speaking of demons…” Lyris started suddenly, a look of apprehension returning to her features.

Oh no, Keithran thought in a panic, she must have seen us last night! She knows that I have those two in my house! What do I do? What do I say?

“Y-yes?” Keithran feigned innocence, “What about them?”

“Well while you were away I noticed something worrisome around your house.” Lyris told him tentatively as she wrung her hands together, “I mean I don’t want to scare you or anything, but I think some sort of demon has made its home between your cellar door and your old tool shed.”

Keithran could have sighed in relief, but instead he furrowed his brow in surprise.

“There’s…there’s something living behind my house?” he asked.

“Yes!” Lyris seemed to be gaining more courage now, “I mean I’m the only one who’s seen it really, but I was afraid of making a big fuss of it while you were away. I mean, it is your house, after all! So I didn’t tell anyone, you know? But I’ve been checking every night just to make sure it wasn’t making a mess of things or getting into your house, and it hasn’t really done anything yet.”

“Oh…Oh my God!” Keithran ran a hand through his hair, “Wow. A demon. That’s all I need! Um, what does it look like?”

“Well, I haven’t really gotten close to it and you know how bad my eyes are,” the redhead chuckled as she referred to her nearsightedness, “But it’s about the size and shape of a person, and it makes the most remarkable sounds at night! Everyone in town thinks it’s some sort of owl, it’s so strange…And it’s always wet! I think it comes up from the pond a little ways off your property. It’s dug a hole underneath your house too!” Lyris shrugged helplessly at this, “A little tunnel. Nothing to worry about, I’m sure. I mean if it hasn’t come into town it’s probably harmless, but…”

“W-Wet you say?” Keithran grinned nervously, “And making strange sounds at night?”

“Yes! I mean it’s probably not around right now, but you’ll hearing tonight for sure.” She sighed, “I heard you coming back into town around dawn last night, it had quieted down before you’d gotten home, but I figured I should let you know before you started worrying.”

“Well thanks, I really appreciate it,” Keithran replied, glancing around his house from the doorway, “You say it’s been here since I’ve been gone?”

“Yes, about three days now.” The redhead nodded, “And the sound it makes isn’t all that disagreeable either, it just might be loud from where you’re sleeping is all. If it’s not bothering you though, there’s probably no need to call for a demon exterminator from one of the big cities now is there?” Keithran shook his head vigorously, “Yes, and if you really want it gone I have some strong salts that are good for warding off harmless pests, if the sound starts to bother you and all.”

“Wow, thank you so much for telling me Lyris!” the blonde responded earnestly, “I’ll check it out tonight, and I’ll get back to you about those salts.”

“Oh, but do be careful!” Lyris said quickly, “I mean I was some ways away from it when I’d go look at night, I don’t think it saw me at all.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” Keithran assured her. “Actually I was just about to eat, but please, drop by tomorrow and I’ll let you know if I need those salts or not.”

Lyris beamed.

“Well that’s good then, I won’t keep you.” She smiled happily, “Good luck!”

She waved and left, and Keithran waved after her and waited until she’d turned the corner before he closed the door and leaned heavily against it.

From Lyris’s description, it sounded suspiciously like an Aqadyte. Thinking deeply, Keithran made his way upstairs to the spare room and looked up just in time to avoid getting a face full of vase. The vase hit the wall behind him and promptly shattered.

Inside the room, Ludus was wrestling with Tetres and trying to keep him pinned against the bed at the latter struggled to stand.

“I’m telling you I’m perfectly fine, you worm!” Tetres protested angrily, “Get your stupid hands off of me, you’re so useless!”

“You have a fever!” Ludus whined, “You’ll just end up getting trapped again by more hunters! Let Keithran take care of you!”

“I refuse to be cared for by some weak little human beast!” Tetres snarled, “Get off of me, I’m going home!”

Keithran sighed and quietly entered the room.

“It’s okay Ludus, let him try to stand.” The blonde informed his golden-haired friend. Ludus looked confused, but he released his brother and backed away until he stood beside Keithran.

“That’s more like it!” Tetres sneered, “Now if you’ll—Daaaah!”

Tetres had only taken a few steps before he’d had to clutch his wound and fall to his knees. He looked absolutely furious.

“What’s happening?” he demanded, red eyes ablaze.

“You haven’t moved in days, so you’re stiff and your muscles are weak.” Keithran explained with his hands on his hips, “On top of that I had to clean and stitch up that gash near your ribs. Even if you are a demon, you’ll have to take things slowly.”

Tetres was so upset that he was visibly shaking with emotion. The cloven hoofed demon defiantly pulled himself up and crawled back into the bed without a word, sitting down as if with a purpose and clearly thinking some very nasty things about his present company.

Keithran shrugged and turned to Ludus.

“That was my neighbor at the door.” He informed him, “It sounds like there’s an Aqadyte living in the backyard.”

Ludus looked surprised.

“Aqadytes never leave the safety of the Marsh.” Ludus said pointedly as he frowned, “They may not be social demons, but being around others of their kind gives them a sense of security. It doesn’t make sense for one to leave their Marsh Ran-Ran, especially to be near a dangerous and populated an area like this one.”

“Yeah, well,” Keithran shrugged, “It’s out there and I’m gonna go look for it tonight. Apparently it’ been here since we left, and I’m gonna see if I can scare it off.”

Ludus looked concerned.

“I’ll go too.” Ludus insisted, wrapping his arms around Keithran’s right arm and hanging off of him, “They’re pretty weak but…ever since the last time…”

“You don’t have to feel guilty about that.” Keithran retorted.

“What on earth are you two babbling about?” Tetres growled from the bed, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

“I almost got my soul eaten by one of those a few days ago.” Keithran explained bluntly.

“That would have been a waste.” Tetres noted with a nasty chuckle, “Those things are weaklings! There are far more interesting ways to be done-in, especially when you live this close to the Wood.”

“Um, thanks.” Keithran raised an eyebrow, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You do that. And while you’re at it, get me some more food!” Tetres demanded.

Ludus perked one of his bovine ears up to the side.

“Wanna kick him out?” he asked Keithran cheerfully.

“Nah, it makes life a little more interesting.” The blonde shrugged and handed Ludus the bowl of fruits from the counter, “Just feed him so that he can get better as soon as possible, then we can get ON with our lives!”

“Sounds good to me. Think of being in my position!” Tetres gestured to himself decisively, “I haven’t been in my element for almost a week! I’m being cared for by people I really don’t care for at all—”

“Do you even care about anyone other than yourself?” Keithran inquired.

“No. Now stop interrupting.” Tetres snipped, and then continued to rant, “I’m too weak at the moment to even properly fend off LUDUS of all creatures, fearsome big-eyed beastie of affection that he is… And most horribly of all, my territory is unprotected! That damn Harpie is going to take over my land again! I mean… it’s not like she can hurt me, but those things are fast little buggers! Such a bother…”

Keithran frowned and looked over at Ludus.

“Won’t something try to take over your land too Ludus, while you're here?”

“Well sure,” Ludus smiled innocently, “I mean if I hadn’t put up my demonic shielding spell it’d be crawling with unwelcome freeloaders by now! But unlike Tetres, I always plan ahead.” Ludus paused for a moment, toying with a lock of his long golden hair, “Also, Tetres can’t make demonic shielding spells anyway, ‘cause I got that power from my Momma, and Tetres and I have different Mommas.”

“You…you do?” Keithran blinked at the sudden revelation, “Really?”

“Yup.” Ludus looked up, trademark smile still in place, “Papa was a big Minotaur, and they take different mates every year. Tetres’ Momma was a Gensu, a kind of reptile demon. That’s where he got his tail and the frillies on his back, and it’s also why his horns aren’t as big as mine.” Ludus gestured to his head at this, “Aramis’ Momma was a Laptin, they’re really pretty. They got big ears and pale green skin and they can jump real high and glide of the wind. Aramis can only jump though…and I think his tail is the only trait he got from Papa.”

“And what about you?” Keithran asked curiously.

Ludus’ little bovine ears perked up in delight.

“My Momma was a Changling.” Ludus whispered excitedly, “That’s why I got these,” he turned his back to Keithran and fluttered his two little mismatched wings on his back, the red bird’s wing and the red bat’s wing, “And that’s why I can do a bit of demon Magica, and why my feet aren’t hoofed.” Ludus looked down at his toes and wiggled them to prove his point.

“That’s…really interesting.” The blonde smiled earnestly in wonder. Demons were so strange… “Minotaurs are half-bull, half-being, right?”

Ludus nodded cheerfully. Looking over, Keithran noticed that Tetres was suddenly very quiet. He decided not to talk about their family anymore for now, even though the topic was a fascinating one.

“Well, I better go fill my lantern with oil for tonight.” Keithran stood up abruptly, “We have to deal with this Aqadyte before anything else.”

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End of Chapter 13!

This was SO LATE! I’m SO SORRY! Hey, it was the Holidays! It was inevitable! Anyways, I’ll be updating properly for the next little while, so no worries!

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