Chapter 351

Vorbuk was able to quickly find their way out of Death's passage with Ashley leading the way in front of him. He was certain it took more then a day due to the fact he was unable to maintain his human form the entire time. By the time they had left the fog inside of the passage he was being carried out in his wolf form while wrapped inside of the vampire's strong arms. The vampire carried him to shorten travel time as much as possible.

As they stepped out of the fog Ashley and Vorbuk found Prince Leo and Sebastian waiting for them with the pirates. Pirate captain, Cory, was standing beside Prince Leo ready to greet them as they came out of the fog. All of them seemed surprised at the sight of them making it out alive on their own. Lives were naturally lost in the passage but thanks to the favor from the headless horseman they had made it out alive.

Vorbuk had no idea that the siren and headless horseman had warned other demons to let them pass freely. Most demons inside the passage feared the headless horseman. They would not go against him unless they were a higher ranked demon. Few inside the passage were strong enough to ignore the warnings of the headless horseman.

"Where have you been?!" Prince Leo asked worried when he saw the two of them coming.

The moment the prince saw the wolf in the arms of the vampire he froze. Was something wrong with Vorbuk? His eyes could not help but glance over the beast as it woke up and realized it was finally out of the passage.

Ashley wanted to refute the prince but held it back as he responded honestly, "We ran into the headless horseman."

"Leo?" Vorbuk yawned and stretched out on the ground in his wolf form as the vampire sat him down after noticing that his master had awoken.

"You ran into the headless horseman?" Prince Leo flinched when realizing they had ran into one of Drethia's guardians. The headless horseman was not one that would be easy to deal with. It made his body run cold with worry.

"Yes," Ashley said to the prince before the wolf had a chance to explain because he could not communicate with the beast like the prince could, "That man seems very interested in using master as a means to get what he wants from the Drethia king. We were lucky that master was able to get out of there safely this time."

"What happened while you were out there?" Prince Leo wanted to ask the wolf more about what happened. How could they safely escape someone like the headless horseman? The prince felt like the beast always found new ways to surprise him.

Ashley responded to the prince with a glance in the wolf's direction, "Master dueled the headless horseman and won."

"You-?!" Prince Leo looked at Vorbuk with a questioning gaze. It was obvious that he wanted to ask more about it.

Vorbuk said to the prince, "In return for winning he let us go and gave me his loyalty."

Although his loyalty is still questionable as long as his head is in the hands of the Drethia King. Vorbuk thought to himself.

"You got his loyalty?" Prince Leo mumbled to himself as he was uncertain they should be trusting the headless horseman. He did not care if they allowed Vorbuk and Ashley to escape safely. There was something uncomfortable about the situation. Trusting that man was not something the prince could do without more time to carefully consider it.

The prince asked the wolf quietly, "Did you mark him with a servant's mark?"

Ashley flinched as his hearing was well enough to hear the prince whispering those words to the beast. A cold gleam in his eyes swept by the prince for asking his master the question. It gave the prince a cold chill down his spine. He did not want the prince giving his master ideas on putting a mark on the headless horseman. That man was not someone worthy of his master's favor.

"No. How would I mark him without someone capable of helping me? I am not going to mark just anybody I come across." Vorbuk responded sarcastically as he questioned the prince's thought process. Completely unaware of the cold gaze that Ashley had given to the prince. Perhaps he had grown tolerant of the vampire's strange behavior. Things that could shock him from Ashley were becoming fewer and fewer as time went on.

The prince sighed as he listened to the wolf verify that the headless horseman had not been turned into a slave. If he had been marked a servant like Ashley it could have become dangerous. Something about the situation made him contemplate deeply.

"What are you guys doing wasting time? We should be moving out quickly from this place before the demons pinpoint our scent. Move it!" Captain Cory was feeling frustrated as they had wasted too much time. When he realized they were standing around talking instead of preparing to leave his blood boiled. He wanted to move location before things got worse and it resulted in him raising his voice at them all. Time had already been wasted because of the prince by staying behind to wait for the beast.

"I agree." Ashley said when he saw the blank expression on the prince's face from being yelled at by the captain of the pirates. "We should be moving out of this place instead of talking."

The group moved out from the area as quick as they had mentioned the idea of leaving. Everything about the area made them uncomfortable as it felt like they were being watched from all sides. A feint hissing of locusts could be heard in the distance. Vorbuk did not want to consider the possibility of it being something worse.

Vorbuk knew that the prince was worried about him. It was something that the prince always did when it came to him. There was nothing he could do to ease the prince's worries about the headless horseman. If the decision to trust him was wrong he would deal with it when the time came.

The beast had a different idea in his mind. When he considered the headless horseman as an honorable man he thought about the desperation he saw in him. He did not seem like a cruel man. Instead what the wolf saw was a man desperate for his freedom. Creed wanted to regain his right to make his own choices in life.

"Vorbuk?" Prince Leo saw the dazed look in the wolf's eyes, "Is something the matter?"

"You do not need to worry about anything. I can figure it out myself when it comes to the headless horseman." Vorbuk said to the prince in hope that his words will at least ease a bit of his tension.

Prince Leo hesitated before saying quietly to the wolf, "I do not worry about your choices in who you trust, Vorbuk. What I worry about is that one day someone will come along and completely destroy that trust that you'd given them."

"I will not let myself be hurt like that." Vorbuk said while considering the fact that he had never had anyone he trusted that deeply. Who is left that could damage me that badly? He could not think of anyone he knew that would hurt him in that way. Though he knew he should always consider the thought that even those closest to him could end in betrayal. It was impossible to know what was truly in a mortal's heart.