Chapter 7

Vesryn and Ava were on the outskirts of a village that had been nearly destroyed. Vesryn was using a pair of binoculars to get a clearer view of the condition of the village.

Many buildings had burned to rubble and some needed dire repair. Corpses could be seen out on the streets and weapons were scattered everywhere.

Vesryn looked displeased as he stood on top of the hill. He handed Ava the binoculars so she could see what he saw. Ava looked devastated as tears began to form in her eyes.

"There is no time to weep, woman. We must find Taegan before sunset if he's here." Vesryn said as he started walking down the hill toward the village. Ava was too scared to move because she didn't want to find her family dead.

She knew if they were dead, she'd feel so much regret for not making peace with them. Ava looked up at the sky causing her to squint from the glow of the sun.

She sighed as she began to think a silent prayer to the gods hoping her family was alright. As she followed Vesryn she started to feel uneasy. It was as if they were being watched causing her to look at her surroundings.

In the distance she saw a group of figures standing together. She abruptly stopped and froze with fear. Vesryn stopped realizing she was no longer following and turned around.

He realized she was looking at something and turned his head. Vesryn walked over to her and grabbed the binoculars from her and raised them to see who was watching them.

He sighed when he saw the black markings under the eyes. "The mark of despair...they must be half demons."Vesryn said unhappily as he handed her the binoculars again.

"What do we do?" Ava asked hesitantly while she continued to look in the direction of the half demons.

"Stay here, where you're out of my way." Vesryn ordered as he waved his hand causing magic energy to form before him. Slowly, a portal opened in which he leaped into.

Ava stood confused but then raised the binoculars just in time to see a portal open near the half demons. Vesryn decided to attack without waiting for them to make their move.

They all turned surprised as he lunged at one and grabbed him by his shirt. Before the man could react Vesryn withdrew a dagger and gutted him. Blood came spilling out of his stomach as he stumbled forward.

Vesryn then moved around him but slit his throat in the process. A woman with long purple hair conjured up fire and yelled angrily as she threw the flames at Vesryn. It was then Vesryn noticed something under her sleeve.

He realized it was possibly an artifact that could conjure fire. He opened multiple portals for the flames to disappear in. A tall muscular man with long black and yellow eyes leaped in the air with his iron club.

Vesryn frowned as he leaped out of the way when the club slammed into the ground. The power behind his strike caused the ground to rupture a part and debris sprung into the air.

Vesryn was thrown off balance by the powerful force and one of the half demons took advantage. The half demon lunged at Vesryn who was still off balance. Before the demon could reach him, Vesryn disappeared into one of his portals.

He appeared next to the purple haired woman who turned and raised her arm with the artifact. A large flame burst out engulfing Vesryn's arm. The flame grew before Vesryn could touch her and burned his arm. He yelled out in pain as he stepped away from her.

Once again he leaped into another portal to regain distance. Vesryn began breathing heavily as he saw the skin on his arm burning. He was glad it was a normal fire because it meant it was easier to put out. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small vial of water.

He immediately poured it all out on the wound because of how badly he was burned from the flames. Once the flames were extinguished, he returned his attention to the enemies before him. There were four still standing while the fifth one was already taking his last breath.

"What the hell do you want?" The purple haired woman asked, causing Vesryn to turn his gaze toward her. He was silent for a moment when he noticed she was wearing an amulet around her neck.

It was an artifact used to cast an enchantment to disguise oneself. He realized she wasn't truly a half demon but disguising herself as one.

"You invade the land of my people and have the gall to ask me what I want? What I want is simple...I want you dead!" Vesryn yelled as he lunged at her with his dagger but was struck by a blunt object.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see it was an iron club that was hitting him. He went flailing across the field and crashed into the ground. He cried out in pain as his arm began to burn even more.

He knew he had to get his wound treated soon but he needed to get answers. Vesryn raised his left hand toward the sky as magic energy began to form as he prepared his next attack, he saw the four half demons running toward them.

Above them high in the sky a giant portal opened. A shower of spears made of magic energy came crashing down as they ran for him. When they realized what was happening, they no longer were running to attack but to survive.

One of the half demons was moving swiftly in an effort to avoid the spears. Unfortunately, the energy-based spears came down faster than he could move and struck him down.

The large man with an iron club was half Oni, so Vesryn knew it would be much harder to penetrate his tough skin. The purple haired half demon was easily evading the spears as she was getting closer to him.

This made Vesryn uneasy especially when he noticed the other half demon was missing. The ground beneath erupted, causing him to look down surprised. The half demon came out of the ground and her skin was covered with stone. A large fist made of stone slammed into Vesryn knocking him into the air.

As he was coming down he opened another portal and fell through it and reappeared closer to the village. He was breathing heavily as he felt blood trickling down from his nose.

The purple haired half demon was the first one to get to Vesryn.

"Surrender now and I'll make sure my master doesn't kill you." The woman said, causing Vesryn to spit at the ground near her feet. She glared at him angrily as lunged at him and saw flames coming from something under her sleeve.

The woman who attacked him from underground caught up to them with the two men behind her. They stood back a bit and watched from a distance. "Zali, report back to our leader, tell him that we have trouble." The purple haired woman said to her comrade she was referred to as Zali.

Vesryn watched as she stomped on the ground causing debris to fly everywhere. She then jumped into a hole she created and disappeared. Vesryn was now dealing with three enemies before him.

The half Oni was the first to make a move. He came at Vesryn swinging the club wildly causing Vesryn to become annoyed. Vesryn waved his left hand as a ripple in the space between him and the half Oni formed.

"Forgive me for underestimating you but this is where your lives end." Vesryn said as he waved his hand in a diagonal direction. The half Oni's upper chest was separated from the lower half of his body.

A gust of wind sent an invisible slash sailing forward which tore through the other half demon as well. The purpled haired woman stood frozen with surprise unsure of what she had just witnessed. Vesryn then turned his gaze toward her.

"I can do more than open rifts in space....I can also tear through it." Vesryn said as he began approaching the woman who now stood frightened. She trembled in fear as she watched him get closer to her holding his dagger with his burned arm.

"Where is Taegan Sylren?" Vesryn said in a demanding tone. The woman stammered as she struggled to speak.

"I don't know...we're supposed to be waiting for him." She replied, causing Vesryn to appear displeased.

"He doesn't exactly have a ship so he might be trying to get one." A voice said, causing Vesryn to shift his attention. Ava stood a few feet away from him and the purple haired woman.

"Take her to Astria for further questioning; she's not even a half demon. My guess is she's some sort of spy." Vesryn ordered, causing Ava to look surprised. The purple haired woman raised her eyebrow in confusion as she took a step back.

Vesryn gazed at her as he reached into his bag. "I could kill you where you stand if I so pleased. Though, I prefer not to take the life of a woman." Vesryn said as reached over and tore off the amulet around her neck.

She looked shocked as her appearance slightly changed. Her hair turned silver and the markings under eyes disappeared. Vesryn frowned realizing that she was nothing more than a Vesper.

A magic circle appeared around the artifact before it disappeared. Vesryn looked surprised, causing him to look up to see the artifact in the hand of the Vesper.

"Thou take me for a fool, don't ya? Ya put me in this box and then I get executed by thy queen." The Vesper said in her natural accent which surprised Vesryn. Ava stood by appearing confused and unsure of what was going on.

"You still have that horrid Vesper accent, and you know thief magic. You know I don't need that box to get you to the queen." Vesryn said in a confident tone that made the Vesper uneasy. She covered her mouth as she cleared her throat.

"Pardon me, when I get upset my accent returns. Listen, I am indeed a spy and I'm trying to find my brother." The Vesper said, causing Vesryn to have a suspicious look on his face.

"I assume you're a spy for the Rithen Kingdom. Well unfortunately, the Vespers are not welcomed in the Astren land." Vesryn said in a serious tone as he stepped closer to the Vesper who took a step back.

"Vespers are not welcome in the country of Astria where the kingdom is. Now there's no point to fight me when we have a common enemy." The Vesper said as she raised her hand to stop Vesryn from approaching her. "What is your name, woman?" Vesryn said in a serious tone.

"Amara Beldros and I suppose you haven't heard that the Rithen kingdom has fallen." She said in a serious manner, but it was clear she was saddened.

Amara was also nervous because she understood that Vesryn was unpredictable; she had no idea what he was planning.

Before she could do anything else he appeared beside her. He sprayed a strange substance in her face causing her to fall to the ground. She struggled to get up but realized something was wrong.

Her body had become heavy, and her movements were slowed. Her eyes became weighted as she collapsed slowly losing consciousness. She looked down at Amara for a moment until Vesryn held out the amulet he took from her. She took it from him confused.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Ava panicked, causing Vesryn to look at her vexingly.

"Saria and Solara will probably be more worried about you than heading to Astria. You can either meet back up with them or go directly to Astria before she wakes up. Report her to the queen and let her decide what to do with her." Vesryn said as he turned away from.

Ava sighed as she watched him walk toward the village. Ava walked over to where Amara was laying and picked up the artifact. She twisted it and placed it beside Amara, then she took a step back.

The object activated and opened as chains surrounded Amara. After a second she was pulled inside the cube, and it closed. Then it shrunk back down to its original size. Ava looked in the direction of Vesryn once more.

He was a person that seemed to bemuse her by his actions. One minute she felt she understood the kind of person he was but then she didn't. What did he plan to gain from trying to kill Ky? Now, she had to wonder what he'd gain by taking this Vesper as a prisoner.

It was clear he did everything as a means for his benefit so what opportunities would this provide him. Ava's heart raced at the thought of the days to come and what other tragedies would transpire.

***

Saria was on the ship in the control room sitting down reading a book. Solara came rushing in the room frantically as she began speaking absurdly fast. Saria looked at her confused before raising her hand to silence her.

"Take a deep breath then exhale so you can speak sensibly." Saria said gently, causing Solara to relax a bit as she let out a deep sigh.

"I went back to the healing center and Ava wasn't there. I asked the Terran that took care of her where she went and said an Astren came after I had left. When I asked her to describe him...she gave me his name." Solara hesitantly said, causing Saria to drop her book. Gradually, she stood up out of her chair trembling.

"Vesryn?" Saria choked out as Solara nodded to confirm. Vesryn was a knight that had been to many cities around Astria doing jobs for the queen. It wasn't a surprise that someone in the city Noswell knew him.

"How the hell did he know where we were going?" Solara cried as she began to become worried. Saria looked over at the computer and frowned.

"He saw the coordinates on the computer before he left, probably. My guess.... he took Ava so she could direct him to her village." Saria mumbled with a slight hint of worry in her voice.

"Are you certain he didn't kill her?" Solara asked worriedly as Saria shook her head.

"As long as I've known him, he's never killed a woman. Although, he's definitely hurt a few female assassins before taking them into custody. Still, I'm certain Ava is alright." Saria said reassuringly as she approached Solara.

"Well, I don't know the name of her village or where it is. Do we wait for her to come back here or what?" Solara asked, still seeming to be concerned. Saria sighed as she pushed her hair back from her face.

"I need to go home to report the failure and to let my family know that I'm alright." Saria said unhappily as she began to think about Ky. Solara stepped closer to Saria and placed her hand on Saria's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry about Ky and I'll accept the punishment for all the trouble." Solara said nervously but Saria took hold of her hand while she shook her head.

"I don't think Ky would want that despite the fact you beat him up." Saria smiled with a small laugh causing Solara to smile back.

"What do we tell the queen about what transpired last night?" Solara asked as Saria then became conflicted. It was clear they needed to come up with a story of what happened without the whole truth.

"If what Ava told us was true about demons coming to this land, then maybe we say they attacked us." Saria said as she placed her thumb under her chin.

She bit her lip as she continued to think about what to say. "Also, Taegan after he discovered what was happening in his village." Saria said, sounding unsure of herself. Solara nodded hesitantly as she waved her hands.

"Well, hopefully, this story is believable. Let's just get going so we can quickly head back out to find Ava before it's too late." Solara said, causing Saria to snap her finger in agreement.

Saria turned away from Solara and walked over to the main controls to start the ship. A part of her was dreading her return home since it would be without Ky and also Vesryn.

She no longer trusted Vesryn and she had to deal with the fact she left Ky behind to die.