Prey

" BOOOOOOOMMM!!!" There was no hiding the sound. Shockwaves reverberated through the entirety of the line as everyone, both at the back and the front skid to a halt. A stunned silence filled the air. 

Rumius's ears were ringing. Alarm bells were sounding off like crazy in his head as he looked left and right only to be met with the murmurs and hostile gazes. One shock had only just passed and now another was here.

' He's…dead.' Rumius thought in muted horror. The scene was even more brutal than that with the bear. Only ashes remained of the mighty giant. Even his axe, that twin headed wicked weapon which he held was melted down to a silver, smouldering puddle.

Rumius had known that his new world contained foreign races, but all which he which he had met resembled humans one way or another. Humans with fur and animal traits. Abnormally short but powerful humans. Tall humans with long ears. Unconsciously, Rumius had come to characterise the races which he had met. 

It was not intentional, but it was something that had built-up over time. He had rationed that if these people were at least a part human, then they were in one way or another, like him. It was a convenient and naive fantasy that gave him peace amidst brushing shoulders with these people. It was exactly for this reason that he was finding it so utterly impossible to comprehend the creatures before him.

They were way too inhuman. 

Rumius's grip on his master's cloak tightened. They were surrounded, and worse even, Rumius didn't know what they were surrounded by. It was like staring into an incomprehensible abyss only to see it staring right back at you.

There was one more problem. And that was the obvious. Master had just turned one of these monsters into ox bacon. Rumius gulped through a calmness forced by the situation that they were in as he found himself thinking again: Was this where he was going to die?

It was a strange thing. Seventy years in his old life to only have that thought once. Yet three years here and he had already had it twice. No way this was fair. 

Rumius gritted his teeth. At the very least, he would take one out with him! The mana around Rumius began swirling, a pale green glow building up at his fingertips.

' BRING IT ON YOU FUCKERS!!!' He roared as he steeled himself. 

That was when suddenly, it was like a switch had flicked in his head. To his great dismay, the clamour was dying down.

For a moment, Rumius's still thumping heart made him think that he was hearing things. But once it passed, Rumius realised that indeed, the murmurs were dying down. Not only that, the queue had started moving again.

No weapons had been drawn. No shouts of outrage had been shouted. It was as if the disintegrated Ox-man had been a speck, and the world had moved right on, trampling over his ashes. Not even the Ox-man's companion had said a word. A shocked expression and a simple glance at what was left of his friend later and he had left. 

Rumius was in a silent daze as his legs numbly carried him along. He was partly afraid of being noticed by the monsters and partly just stunned about what had happened. The Ox-man had been laughing and pointing and clearly, he had pissed Master off. And then in the next moment, she had killed him.

It was over in an instant. The monster didn't even have time to scream as the plasma burnt off his skin and turned his body to dust.

' Why? Was that really necessary? Wasn't it too brutal? What had he done? And why is no one saying anything?' Questions began popping up in Rumius's mind in an endless stream.

It was hard to understand but for some reason, it wasn't too hard to simply accept. And that came as a surprise to him as well. He could speculate a thousand reasons why, from a matter of honor to a just a whim. But in the end of the day, what difference did it make? 

Looking at his master's billowing cloak, Rumius reflected numbly how that had just been the first time he saw her use magic. And it had been to kill. Slowly, something inside Rumius began to change. And it all began with the sheer power of magic which he had seen today. 

By the time they entered the city, they had practically wasted the entire day. It was only hours away from sundown. Master Isadora walked with a steady pace around the city whilst Rumius followed suit. They knocked on door after door until finally, they found lodging at a slightly run down inn. Master flicked the innkeeper a few bronze coins and she had gotten a card in return. Rumius followed her up the stairs until they came to a stop at a door on the second floor. 

The room was relatively spacious, with two beds and a hole in the wall that appeared to be a kind of window. 

Finally, since they had entered the city, Master spoke.

" Mind letting go?" She asked.

Rumius realised what she was referring to with a sudden jolt and stepped backwards. His knuckles were still white even after he had released his death grip on his master's cloak.

" Sorry." He mumbled.

Master set down her briefcase. 

" Are you afraid?" She asked tonelessly. 

" Yes…a bit." He admitted. Even now, his heart was still thumping louder than usual. Rumius couldn't glance out through the window and go a second without seeing those creatures prowling the streets. They were walking just like humans did however. Straight backed and on two legs and they honestly looked normal enough. It was just that Rumius couldn't help looking at one of them and feeling a primordial sense of fear stab into his heart, 

" Those are…" he trailed off. 

" Demons. Yes." Master Isadora finished.

" You should try to get used to them. We will be staying here for a while until I can secure a guide to bring us across the desert." 

Rumius turned around.

' Why do we need a guide?' He wanted to ask, but quickly stopped himself. There were better questions to ask. There were smarter questions to ask. Do it in order, he reminded himself. 

" Do the demons trade with Limia?" He asked. 

' If they did, then it wouldn't be strange to go to them for directions.' 

Master Isadora seemed to ponder the question for a moment. She didn't tell him off.

" Not trade…per se. But they have strong connections. Limia is the only Human kingdom the demons don't attack." 

" Why?" Rumius asked. " Weren't the demons in the line just now aggressive towards us? I heard that Ox-man say the word Limia." 

" Aggressive?" 

Master Isadora began to laugh. 

" Dear, that wasn't aggressive. For this lot that was actually rather docile." 

" You see, demons function very differently from us humans. They have no families. No friends. The only absolute thing that you can count on when around one of them is that if you have a contract, they will fufill it to their death. If you don't, haha..well…." 

" Well..? What?" Rumius asked. 

" You pray that they don't eat you in your sleep that's what." Master shrugged then raising a hand to stifle a yawn. 

For a moment, Rumius couldn't believe that he was hearing. His ears must have been playing tricks on him. " E-eat?" Rumius asked shakily. 

" Yes." Master Isadora replied. She frowned for abit then all at once, seemed to realise something. Her stormy look disappeared. " Ah, I suppose I didn't tell you. Humans are the natural prey of demons. We are to them what cattle is to us." Mistress Isadora said with unbelievable nonchalance. Her face displayed none of the absolute horror which Rumius had on his face.

" If you don't believe me then…you're free to have a look at the dinner menu downstairs."