Leave or Die

Salem was always taught by his mentor that beasts were nothing more but mindless creatures that only knew how to charge relentlessly. They were but an open book where their movements could be easily predicted and countered.

But Salem knew better than that. A hunter should not treat a beast inferior to him. A hunter should treat his prey as an equal, because once he underestimates his opponent, that would give the prey a chance to become the predator of the hunter.

Still…

"That is not a beast..." Salem commented as he held a strong eye-contact with the armoured viel.

The armor he was wearing was similar to what Salem was wearing and the only difference was the emblem. A seminarian's sheathing was taken after the protective covering of the Knights of El' Azar 250 years ago. Salem saw a replica of it displayed in the museum of his academy.

No doubt that the man they were looking at was a viel. He had the tail of a white dragon and a tail of a black wolf. It had metallic ears similar to a cat. A lion that symbolized royalty was engraved on his chest plate. The wind ruffled his blue flowy cape and silver hair. Solemn azure eyes stared down at them with slight hostility as if they were being intimidated, investigated, and interrogated.

Salem had seen viels before, but they had already moved on from their knightly years. They mostly lived a hermit life— far from crowds and embraced isolation in the skies, in the ocean, in the mountains or whatever place their dissected bodies adapted well.

But it would seem that there was a viel who still carried out his knightly duties even after two and a half centuries of the king's passing.

"King Kairon is resting. Visitors are prohibited," he spoke calmly yet firmly.

Jinx nudged Karma in question and Reysin gave him a look of perplexity. They had one query in mind:

'Has this viel lost its sanity?'

Most viels had turned against the royal family because of the Project Viel that was established by the Queen. The project was a form of royal savagery. Orphans were brutally experimented on. They were cut open, mutilated, and pieces of otherworldly creatures were sewn to their bodies without permission for the benefit of the kingdom.

But Jinx just couldn't shut his mouth for the benefit of continuously living. Digging his own grave was a mastery of his. Even his companions were royally pissed with how he addressed the late king who saved Canaan from its demise.

"Kairon is long dead so what are you saying? Don't you know who you're talking to?" He boldly took a step forward, acting like a goon with the interest of stealing a purse from a poor woman in the alleyway.

Who did this freak think he was? His master would beat his furry butt in a second. He was offended by how this hybrid feline was talking to his master/guardian. Salem, though excommunicated and abhorred by the many, was the best at what he did. He was highly respected and feared. No one was on par with him.

He was—

A strike to the stomach sent his "Highly Respected" master back into the forest and probably back to God. Electric surges coursed through his veins, contracted his muscles, and rattled his bones.

His back hit a few trees down and perturbed the forest. Birds fluttered away in surprise, leaving their eggs vulnerable to those who didn't have breakfast yet.

The viel appeared out of thin air and struck him further down on the ground, breaking the centre point of the soil, and causing the surrounding areas to rise up into shattered and uneven pieces. Salem was forced to cough blood as the knight twisted his stomach. The seminarian's head fell back as another shock of electricity knocked him out of consciousness.

This was the "Highly Respected" master that Jinx was boasting about. If the knightly viel paid more attention to what the young man was saying, he would have laughed, but he was blessed with humility and sheer focus to protect his king's resting place.

The three males who were left frozen paled at Salem's crushing defeat. The viel that they undervalued, and the viel that Jinx insulted whilst disregarding all his failures in life (that should put him in no place to insult anyone or anything, even a piece of rock) charged at them on his four limbs, like a lion ready to pounce and maul.

Karma shoved Jinx forward and Jinx ducked to the side as soon as the viel released a slash of his sharp claws. The knight was agile, aggressive, and relentless, pinning anyone he sees with his sharp eyes and promptly attacking them.

Reysin was hiding behind a crumbled wall, observing the scene with trembling knees. He didn't expect that the beast that was scaring off scholars and their hired mercenaries was a viel. It would also seem to him that this viel was not an ordinary one.

Based on his appearance and replaced body parts, his attitude and loyalty to the late king, he was the known "Offspring of the Messiah" and "King Kairon's paladin."

If his intellectual guess was true, Salem will have a difficult time with this if the fella was still alive after that hit.

The other two boys were still alive so it was best for him to take this opportunity and grab what he could find from the castle while the knight was distracted. He needed to hurry because these two won't last much against this monster. This was for the best. At least he would get free labour if none of them survived.

Karma gained numerous deep scratches from the assault. The ones that were aimed at his vital organs were luckily dodged. The viel's expression was undisturbed as if he was going easy on them. Karma was feeling on the edge and unsure if he would live the next day.

"Two cows and five thousand cannites! What a joke!" The cheaper Salem makes the mission the more trouble they get. It must be God punishing them for doing missions so cheaply or it must be Jinx doing his magic.

The mutant blew away the strongest person he knew, but to hell if Karma would die in the same pathetic way that he imagined Jinx would be in.

Karma dodged another strike directed to his stomach. He landed on his buttocks. He hastily drew a cross in mid-air, a purple crucifix appeared. He flipped the crucifix upside down and a human-sized laughing skull came out that bit down on the viel's arm.

"You are now cursed by La Muerte. See you in Sheol..." Karma bid, cold sweat forming on his forehead.

The skull's eye sockets gleamed with purple orbs. A black smoke exploded before screams of the underworld erupted on the ground. The skull and the viel vanished into a dark portal where it hauled him inside.

Jinx ran to his side and stood him up. Karma was weak to his knees.

"Master Salem will skin you alive!" Jinx scolded.

Every time he called upon La Muerte, it decreased his life span, so he avoided it as much as possible. He could only summon its head for now and summoning its entirety might cause an even bigger toll on him. Salem will make him milk his cows for disobeying his orders. However, if he didn't summon death, ironically, they would all die.

Just as the portal was about to close, a winged creature flew out with La Muerte being dragged. A pair of white-feathery wings and black bat wings fluttered. Both Jinx and Karma paled when the viel dispelled the skull with a holy cross drawn on its forehead by his thumb.

The skull disintegrated into ashes; the portal was sewn close by holy threads that came out from the viel's fingertips.

Karma was beyond insulted but he earned his immediate respect. They disturbed a creature with godlike powers that was minding its own business. If anyone deserved to die it was Reysin and Jinx.

"The king is resting. Leave..." A feral growl interrupted his sentence before he continued. "Or die."