Be Swift

TIMELINE: IN LINE WITH CURRENT EVENTS OF KILO AND CASTYR

DENZYL'S POV

"Denzyl, baby, are you in there?"

I let out a sigh as I see my mother's face on the screen.

"Your mom?" Devyn asks quietly.

I nod in confirmation. "It'll be okay."

Devyn looks at me with big eyes before slowly nodding. I let out a breath before opening the door.

"Thank goodness you're still here. I thought I was too late," my mother sighs as she sees me. She hugs me shortly before poking her head around me. "Are you alright, dear?" She asks as she looks at Devyn who nods. The demoness lets out a breath of relief as she walks over to the weary human. Devyn shrinks away as my mother reaches him. "He hasn't hurt you, has he?" My mother gestures to me as she inquires of Devyn.

Devyn silently shakes his head.

"That's good. If he had, I would have killed him. I didn't raise him that way."

"Mom...why are you here?"

She turns to me before answering, "To get you two out. The clan is going crazy trying to find the human. Someone from Hades is coming in a few days to collect."

"What? Hades is coming here?" The news startles me.

My mother nods. "Ah!" She exclaims as she takes the bag around her shoulders off. "Here," she hands me a bag.

I open the bag to see several high-quality lorne.

"Use this to get to Morthram. It has a space station that can get you to a place that's safe."

"Thanks, Mom," I say before hugging her.

"Stay safe, okay?" She responds as she pats my back.

She walks with us to the garage where I keep my hovercycle. I set the bags and our caps in the cycle's container before slipping on one of my sleek, black helmets. I hug my mother one more time and give her a small peck on the cheek.

Devyn dons the other helmet as I swing my leg over the seat. The touch of Devyn's hands on my shoulders startles me. I feel him push down on me and hoist himself to sit behind me. His hands fall from my shoulders and grab onto the tiny hand-rails running alongside the seat.

"Be swift," my mother says as I turn on the hovercycle.

Devyn bows his head in respect as a 'goodbye' as the door to the underground garage opens. The hovercycle hums as we exit the garage and enter the tunnel. I increase the speed as we exit the mouth of the tunnel and whiz across the dark surface of Sendrum. Clouds darken the sky as we speed past the town.

I feel Devyn look behind us suddenly as we leave the town. Feeling Devyn tense up, I quickly glance behind to see three hovercycles racing towards us.

Fuck! They must have been keeping watch at the edge of town.

Devyn wraps his arms around my waist as I increase the speed. I feel one arm leave my waist as the human pulls out a gun. He aims carefully and takes out the cycle on the left with one shot to the rider's chest. Wow, that was kind of hot. Devyn manages to take out another cycle before I drastically slow down.

A red hovercycle races towards us from the front. I hear Devyn curse under his breath as he whips his head around. Only one person owns a bright red hovercycle...Ryiak.

I steer us to our right. The red cycle adjusts to his left and continues advancing. Devyn returns to aiming at the cycle behind us while I rack my brain for a way to evade Ryiak. After two shots, Devyn takes out the last cycle behind us as we near Ryiak. The human gunman readies his hand as he watches the red hovercycle grow nearer.

I speed up swiftly as we meet the red cycle before suddenly slowing and spinning behind him. Ryiak also spins his cycle so we circle around each other. Everything seems to slow as I watch Ryiak pull out a gun and aim it at me. Devyn tightens his hold around me as he raises his gun and puts three bullets into Ryiak's hovercycle. I quickly end the spinning and zoom away as the red cycle rolls.

Devyn watches the rider get thrown on the ground before he relaxes. He returns the gun to its holster and puts his arm back around my waist. I let out a breath as we continue our ride. The chilling wind seems ten times colder as we speed over the dark terrain. I place a hand on Devyn's leg and channel some heat into him. He stops shivering, and his hold relaxes.

After about two hours, the shape of the dendrum ship appears on the horizon. I pull up to the ship and stop about thirty feet away. Four dendrum exit the ship and approach as I get off the hovercycle.

DEVYN'S POV

I quickly put the cap back on after I remove the helmet and adjust my face mask. Denzyl engages in a deal with the dendrum who nod when the demon offers them lorne. Denzyl retrieves his cap and bag as I sling my backpack on my shoulders.

"They agreed to take us to Morthram," Denzyl informs me.

I nod.

"Hey, uh, nice shot back there," Denzyl compliments. He speaks slowly. He is either shy or not used to complimenting people. Or both.

"Thanks," I smirk under my mask. There's still a whole lot more I can do.

Denzyl and I follow the smugglers onto the ship. I clench my fists as we walk past cages full of slaves chained in the exact same way I was fifty years ago. Wow...I cannot believe it has been fifty years. I wonder what has happened during those years.