Bleeding Arm

"Wow. I bet if Emily sees this, she is going to hit me so hard, that she would take my arms off my body." Asher said as he watched his master and the king lazily. He sat on one of the tree's branches that is high enough to see the balcony. He has no interest to see in detail how they would passionately kiss each other. Hell, he does not even want to interrupt them because he knows the king is going to chop his head off.

He saw the red eyes of the king, silently saying, 'You are going to be dead.' The king wrapped his arms tightly around his master's waist and pretended that he is a little pup, clinging to his master for affection. His sire, on the other hand, was blushing and his eyes are wide in surprise. His unruly, silver hair is all over the place as the wind blew on it. He can see that he is also a little upset with his interrupting presence. If Emily didn't get herself in a little accident, he will not go in here and feel like he is a worthless scum that should be erased on the face of earth. Hell, he should have ignored Emily in the barn and pretend that he didn't know her if he knew that this is what they are doing early in the morning.

Alex composed his face and placed his hand on the king's shoulder. He went down to Asher's business and asked, "So, why did...Why are you here?" Alex is about to ask, 'why did you interrupted us?'

"Emily's hand was bitten off by the demon hounds in the barn and she is jumping in happiness in there. She said that this is the first time in a while that she saw her own blood splurting and was delighted by the pain. I thought I should let you know because the other human workers are freaking out."

Upon hearing this, Alex removed the king's arms from him in a haste and went to the edge of the balcony. "Demon hound?! What are you doing with the demon hound anyway?!" He asked in a worried voice.

Asher looked at the king and his nonchalant, red eyes are scarier than his angry ones. Because if he is showing a poker face, he can't read his emotions and he doesn't know if he is going to really chop him off or if he is off the radar. So instead of saying that they are working in the castle in place of their sire, he said, "We...we are just wondering around..." and he hoped that the king would be satisfied with his answer while his own master would buy it.

"If you are going to wander around, you should know better to keep her off from the demon hounds!" Alex said in an upset manner and was ready to jump off from the balcony when the king stood on his feet and stopped him. The balcony that they are in is at the third-floor level and it is dangerous for an ordinary human to jump off, let alone a blind, young man! "Just what are you doing, planning to jump off the balcony like that? What, can you fly now?! Do you know how high we are right now?" Kal raised his voice unintentionally because he got scared with what he is about to do.

Alex turned his head back on the king, "Kal. I told you I don't want anyone to treat me as if I am going to break at any point. And who said I am going to just jump off? Of course, Asher is going to catch me. Now, let go, I have a child to tend to." And with that, he shrugged off the king's hand and jumped off from the third floor balcony. Asher landed on his four limbs before standing straight to catch his master.

"Ah, I have a wild kitten in my house." The king commented.

***

Emily was waving her now-handless-right arm in the air while running towards them. The sun is shining on her face while happiness is visible in her eyes. This would be a fine picture if they are going to ignore the fact that her arm is still bleeding and the human workers are all freaking out.

As soon as she came close to Alex, he can smell the metallic scent of blood. She said in an excited voice, "Sire! Look! My arm is bleeding! It is painful, indeed. But that is fine! It is a proof that I am a human once more, right?!"

Alex sighed as she held the hand-less arm of Emily. He asked Asher to retrieve her arm so he could do something to reattach it, but he said that it was eaten off already by the demon hounds. "We were told to use the tong. But this stupid Emily said that she didn't need one and she wants to be friends with the 'dogs' "

"Wait. You told me you are just walking around, why are you feeding the demon hounds?" Alex asked, confused.

"No sire. We are not walking around. That is our job. The king said that we should do the work for your place and not to worry about you as long as you are under his care."

"When did he told you that?" As far as Alex could remember, he never had a one on one meeting with his familiars since they came in here.

"He told us to work in here since that incident in the VVVIP room. We were just told to keep quiet about it for now." Emily said as she wagged her hands and getting fascinated with the blood that is dripping. "He told us that we will do the work for you and you are supposed to work as his secretary."

Alex is once more, getting infuriated by the king. He just told him a while ago to not treat him like a glass that will break at any minute! He will deal with him later. For now, he needs to fix her hand.

"Anyway. I will talk to him later. I just want to let you know, I am mad that you kept this a secret from me. But I do not want this to happen once more. No secrets shall be kept with us three." Alex became serious and he made sure that the two would feel his wrath. He hates it when they are hiding secrets from him when they are not supposed to!

The two familiars fell into silence once they felt his seriousness. This is absolute will. Where the will of the masters are imposed on their own familiars. They have no option to disobey once their master has used this.

Alex was about to feel sorry when he noticed that the mood of the two went down, but he held himself. He is going to be serious about this matter because he cant trust anyone aside from them.

"Asher. Do you know a way to fix her hand?" He asked to change the topic.

Asher was about to answer when Emily spoke, "It is going to grow back, sire."

"How did you know?" Alex asked while still trying to be careful around her.

Still looking down, she said, "I can feel that the blood has stopped flowing and some bones are slowly growing back. This is painful...like before." Her eyes went on a trance as she remembered the time where she was still alive. "But I am used to this. I just need to sleep this off and by the time I wake up, my hand will be back and good as new." She looked up and tried to smile at her sire.

'This is not the time and place for me to remember that past.'

"I'll be back in our chamber to rest. I'll be with you after some time."

If Alex is going to compare the mood between his two familiars, he can say that she is bothered by something else. Asher, feels relieved after he changed the topic to a more pressing ones, liker her hand. Emily, on the other hand, was surrounded once more by melancholy air, just like this morning when he talked to her about love. He really wants to ask her what exactly is the problem. But he feels that the reason for her mood this time is something that has nothing to do with him. So he let her go. "I'll check on you once we are done dealing with the demon hounds."

Emily objected. "What? You are going to deal with it?! That is dangerous sire! You might get hurt!"

Alex raised his eyebrows at her. "You should have thought how dangerous it is, dealing with those hounds before feeding it with your own palm." He gave her a kiss on the forehead which made her feel light and happy. "Go back and rest. You should know better that I am not weak." He gave her an affectionate smile. "I am not that weak."

***

"We have no way to get in, master. They have an ultimate barrier around. We can only get in unless we are invited." Zenai, the fox familiar said.

She met her master that was hiding his presence, miles away from the boundary of the king's territory. She is sniffing around the castle but she cant find any holes in the barrier.

"Stay in there for a while in case that you would find a way to get in. I will leave you in here for a week. And by the way, I will seal your abilities. Alex is very sensitive when it comes to presence so you should be smart and survive in the wild for a week."

The earth god's hazel eyes glowed when he stretched his hand towards his fox familiar. Her thick, white fur became thin. Her adult-sized body of a fox became small, like a few weeks old pup. Her once firm muscles became soft and her warm body started to feel the chill of the air. She shivered as she walked further in the forest of the king.

Ned watched her for a while before he vanished into thin air.

***

"So, what is the agenda for today?" Alex asked once her presence was gone.

"Uhm...After feeding the demon hounds, we are going to bathe them." Asher said.

"Bathe them? How many hounds are there?" They started walking back inside the barn and when Asher opened the doors, he felt that there were at least, 10 demon hounds. 10!

"Uhm...There were ten hounds. Me and Emily are supposed to take five hounds to finish this fast." Asher was worried that his master would not be able to take care of 1 demon hound. They are really big dogs that are at least the size of an adult horse. One of them even bitten off Emily's hand when they are feeding them! "But I think we should take it slow for today and we will deal one hound together."

Never in a million years would he let his master be alone with one hound!

While Asher was worrying and explaining the strategy on how are they going to handle the demon hounds together, he did not notice that Alex was getting close on one of them and started to rub its neck with his bare hands.

It was said that the demon hounds are used as a hunting dog in the night and alarm clocks of the vampires. He was expecting that they would be feral and would snap at him, given that one of them ate Emily's hand. But they are gentle, night creatures. Their soul is definitely heavy, without a doubt. But the weight of the soul is the lightest that he ever known from the world of the night creatures. The demon hound that he is touching started to lean its weight on his hand and he can feel that it is delighted with him.

The behavior of the demon hounds did not went past Asher's eyes. "Amazing!" He said in wonder. As soon as he came here with Emily, the hounds started to snarl at them and they would growl whenever they get closer. But with Alex, they are like well-behaved pups! "How did you tame them sire?!"

Alex turned his head towards Asher's direction and smiled. "I did not tame them. They are just the most gentle night creatures."

Asher went speechless.

So for the next few hours, they bathe the demon hounds that are under their care. Alex's side of hounds are well mannered and quiet while the ones with Asher are all growling at him. He has no choice but to bathe them from the stable.

They finished the task around four in the afternoon. Asher has closed the stable and went out. Alex, on the other hand, just placed the hounds in their own stable and left it open. He has no idea how to close it and he is sure Asher will comeback to close it for him.

"Behave!" He told them. The hounds are all sitting quietly and looking at him. The hounds' red eyes are watching him with eagerness and their thick, black fur are still dripping with water. Asher called him from the outside saying that the afternoon tea is about to be prepared, so they better wash up.

The two men went back inside the castle while the barn is open.

***

"Sire! Look, my hand grew back!" Emily said right after she heard the door of the room opening. She saw Asher and her master, still dripping from bathing the hounds. "Why are you all wet?"

"We bathe the hounds." Alex answered. Asher went in the bathroom and prepared it for his master's bath. "How is your hand?" He came near the bed to grab Emily's hand. Indeed, it grew back with all, five fingers.

"It's fine. The process of growing it back is painful, but still bearable." She has noticed the awful smell coming from him. "You stink sire. Get away from me." She said as she covered her nose.

Alex took a step back from her and started stripping his clothes. He needs to shower first.

"Sire! Get in the bathroom and strip in there!" Emily covered her eyes.

Even if Alex cant see, he still rolled his eyes at her before going inside the bathroom.

Asher tells her the amazing story of their master being able to tame the demon hounds. They suddenly heard a knock from the door so he got up from the bed to open it. However, when he opened it, he saw the king, carrying a tray of food for them and he wears a suspicious look.

"Why is Alex taking a shower in your room?" The king squinted his eyes at him. "Do you have any other relationship with Alex other than being his familiar?"

Asher was dumbfounded with this. "M-my king...just by thinking of that feels weird. Rest assured, I do not have that kind of relationship with sire, aside from being his familiar." To be honest, he sees his sire as a father more than a lover. "Besides..." He stopped himsel. He was about to say that he is used to see his master naked and he did not feel an ounce of lust for him. Good thing that he stopped himself on time.

"Besides..." The king waited still squinting his eyes at him.

"Uh, besides..." Asher was feeling muddled with the presence that the king is emitting.

Emily noticed the panicked state of Asher so she saved his ass from the wrath and jealousy that was slowly building up from the king. She went to the door and leaned her arm around Asher's shoulder. The king was surprised and relieved when he saw Emily in the room. At least he is not alone with a man. "It feels natural for master to stay in the same room with us. It s just a habit that he came in with Asher." She gave the king a nonchalant smile.

Kal sighed and said, "Very well. Anyway, I brought snacks." He went in and the two started to arrange the food on the coffee table of the room. To kill sometime while Alex is still in the shower, they started to tell the king the first time that they met Alex.

"Ah, that feels like it has been a while." Emily said as she sat on the floor.

"We were just silently following him to his home everyday since he enrolled in Himori High school. Until one time, he asked us to guide him to the direction of the shrine. What shrine was it again?" Asher asked Emily while he also sat on the floor, next to her.

Emily stared on the roof, trying to remember the name. "Hmm...It is the Mingyun shrine, I think."

This piqued the attention of the king. "Hmm...Interesting. That is the only Chinese shrine that was erected in Kanagawa prefecture. It is also one of the oldest in the area." Coincidentally, it is also the richest shrine of the god of destiny. The king thought.

"What was he doing in there?"

"We don't know." Asher said as he started pouring a cup of tea to the king. "We can't get past the shrine since we are a wondering soul. Though I am not really sure if we can get in now, since we are connected to sire, who is still alive."

The king hummed and then a question popped in his mind. "Why are you following him for a long time anyway?" He sipped a tea from his cup.

"We are drawn by the light of his soul." They both said at the same time.