Page Nine, Jericho

After several days of travel...

The sun made its steady descent turning the sky to burn in hot crimson, close to the horizon the clouds billowed like red cottons. Pelvin made a campfire for the two, alone, he gathered sticks and then asked some of Blue's fire. The campfire illuminated their vicinity, pushing the enshrouding darkness away

A meter from the campfire, Blue lied down upon the sweet grasses, eyeing the depths of the darkening skies, also the calm breeze of the night air caused his depression to fade away.

On the campfire was Celina and Pelvin roasting barbecued rabbit meat above the crackling fire. Pelvin have managed to enter their circle after a few days of him hanging out.

"Hmmph, that's an interesting story you got there." Pelvin said. "But are you sure about this, letting a monster travel with you?"

Celina shrugged. "Well, besides the fact that I have no choice, yeah, and he may be a monster, but I know somewhere there is still some goodness in his heart."

Pelvin chuckled nervously. "I highly doubt it."

"Blue is just misunderstood." Celina said assertively.

Pelvin then displayed a wide smile. "I kind of understand why you defend him so much."

Celina raise her eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Pelvin's snarky face flickered a grin. "Never mind." He chuckled.

Celina pouted with a suspicious eyes. "Hmmph, tell me."

Pelvin held a steady grin. "Not telling."

She pulled the barbecue close to her lips and munched it. Her eyes turned skeptical as she stared at Pelvin. "Anyway, you haven't told us much of your past."

Pelvin laughed nervously. "Well, I told you didn't I? I'm a merchant who's hunting for mage to get a citizenship, and right now I think I have to give up on that goal."

"Just that, you're not lying are you?" Celina said dubiously.

Pelvin anxiously shook his head, his voice were also unsteady. "There's no way I would lie."

"I'd like to trust you on this Pelvin, because it's refreshing to talk to someone who actually has doesn't get mad every second." Celina said loudly, intentionally letting Blue hear her.

Pelvin nodded agreeing with her. "Of course, of course you can trust me."

"Enough chit chat, rest yourselves early and we'll continue tomorrow." Blue demanded.

Celina pivoted her head and lolled to him. "I'd stay as long as I want." She then rested her buttocks upon the grassy surface with a sated moan.

Pelvin stood back up, then tread to the forest. "I'll go for a piss and don't worry I don't plan on escaping." He said.

After there was no response, Pelvin dipped into the forest, the trees around him were but a tall and dark figures thrusting into the sky, shadowing the entire vicinity into black. As he cutted through the forest, with every steps he took, the grasses muffled pleasantly, he looked over his shoulders making sure no one was trailing him.

At the same time making sure he could find his way back, the insects whistled like rains on a symphony, it broke the silent night he was hoping. The sun has finally hid itself, turning the woods into shadows with threats lurking around its corners.

Upon the shadows a silhouette came into form, Pelvin knew who it was, and there came Grim, stepping into the scene. Grim emmitted his signature gremlin cackle, "Pelvin, what's holding you back? Don't forget you have a deadline for this."

Pelvin sneered with an exhausted gasp. "It's hopeless, the monster is always defending her. I can't find an opening." He said anxiously.

"I heard your team got killed, I wouldn't be surprised since they were weak." Grim said with a jeering tone.

Pelvin casted a desperate stare to him. "No one can beat that guy, I think we should just leave them alone, the girl is no longer worth it. If we touch her, everyone of us here will be in trouble." He said.

Grim cackled, scoffing his words. "Ah, him. I heard of him from the other demons, but you can rest easy. The demon Pages are more powerful than you can imagine, no matter how powerful he is, he can be stopped."

Pelvin bit his lip, sensing his message didn't go through him. "That guy is immortal, there no way anyone can kill him, with the exception of the girl, that's what stopping him from committing a genocide. Not only he will kill the demons but humans as well."

Grim tread close to Pelvin. "Pelvin, there are many ways we can stop an immortal, the demon's sealing abilities are more effective than that of the mages. The humans might see him as a trouble but with the demons on our side, he's just a speck on this vast battlefield, he's nothing to be worried about. As I said, you can rest easy. He won't be a threat for long and not even concerning. Have you seen what the Pages can do?" Grim said reassuringly.

Pelvin shook his head, he breathed irregularly as anxiety swirled on his chest, waiting to hear many monstrosities the world has fallen into.

Grim cackled, his arm came out from his cloak, he then displayed a crystal ball. The ball revealed a scene where a demon was decimating an army of imperial warriors effortlessly. The army tried their best to attack but the demon was undestructible, it was a fierce beast, slicing the army like they were butters with its spear.

"His name is Jericho, he's also called Page Nine. Just to give you an idea, the higher the rank of the Page, the stronger the demon. And there are ten of them."

Pelvin gulped, he knew how strong the empire was. The empire covered a vast lands over the continent, they had one of the most powerful mages of the land of Altheon, which can pale the mages of their kingdom. To think one of them managed to defeat their army was absurd, if the demons can hold their ground against the powerful empire, humanity will falter at some point. It was better to give in to the demons he presumed.

Pelvin sighed. "But, promise me, once I lend her to the Lord. You will free my family, then give us enough money to start a new life and also a good carriage to flee from this god-forsaken country."

Grim cackled. "As I said, you shouldn't think about the reward since it will come, rather, you should focus more on how you can take her away." He spun and left the scenes. "Well then, til we meet again. There are others that I have to monitor as well." He went away and vanished into the thick shadows of the woods, his presence completely gone after.

Pelvin could now breath normally, the air around him felt more loose without Grim. But another challenge resurfaced, it burdened his chest even further, but regardless he returned back.

As he strolled closer to the campsite, he noticed the orange rays of beam penetrating through the woods, he heard bantering noises turning loud. Walking further he saw Celina frowning, her lips active and assertive. While Blue on the grasses were snorting out loud, probably annoyed of her presence. He didn't even realized it, but their constant hurl of insults was fun to watch, he smiled for a bit.

Pelvin walked across them and sat close to the firewood.

Celina gave him a quizzical stare. "That took you long enough, where did you go?"

"Well, I talked to a cat." He said.

Celina chuckled. "A cat on the forest?"

"A seemingly dangerous cat." He added with a hidden tone that slightly hints threat.

Celina blinked while slightly confused, assessing whether he was just jesting, she attempted to find some humor on his words, it was quite an answer she didn't expect.

Pelvin then sprang up, upon noticing something uncanny from afar, he peered into ends of the road, as far his eye sight can see. "Miss Mage, something's coming.

Celina stood back, he eyed upon where Pelvin was staring and there he noticed three demons were approaching. They were hurling a wheeled cage, which she could presume where the mages were kept.

She dipped into the forest alone, leaving the campsite.

Pelvin turned to Blue. "Umm, sir could I suggest we should help her, since she could get herself in danger." He said anxiously.

Blue sprawled still on the grasses, never lifting a muscle. "She can't get strong if she relies on me forever, besides if she can't even kill these weak demons then I wouldn't have put that much faith on her to fulfill my wishes." His voice weary.

Pelvin nodded slightly confused, he looked at the scenes and noticed Celina was hiding behind the bushes, waiting for the demons to come close.

On the distance, upon peeking through the cracks of the bushes, Celina eyed their were only three lower demons, they held a spear on their arms. With a quick assessment she knew she could take them on, inside the cage were mages in shackles. However, the iron rings clamped on their arms were reeking in black smoke, it might be a sealing tool, keeping them from using their mana.

With no time to waste, she gripped the hilt of her blade tight, at the right timing she dove right in, when the demon saw her, they growled. They rose their spears as she went close, Celina took a deep breath, focusing her mental energy into her arm.

The demon closest to her charged forward, she went across the demon, slicing the side of its rib along with its right arm. The demon snarled in excruciating pain, Celina stepped backwards and stabbed its back.

With a quick pull from its flesh, the demon fell on the ground. She noticed a spear were thrown into her, she quickly dodged it, it went over her chest tearing her cloth. She got startled a bit, but hardened her face back, she braced herself and cut down another demon approaching her, it then fell shortly after.

"Duck, quick, behind you." A person inside the cage said.

Feeling the looming presence behind her, she crouched, dodging the spear that went over her head, she pivoted her heels, turning backward then lunged her sword upward. She pierced the chin of the last demon, running her sword upward, the tip of her blade reappeared above the demon's skull.

With a quick pull, the purplish blood smeared on her, she became winded as she sagged to the ground. Somewhat relieved it was all over. The demons were left bleeding on the ground.

On the gate of the cage, she struck the lock with a stroke of the blade, battering it until it came loose, she heaved the door open. Then out came three teenagers, one was a shy looking girl who wore a white robe, another was a lively boy who wore a leather apparel, the remaining one was a boy with a black robe who seem sullen and edgy. They were probably thirteen or fourteen.

They fumbled for the keys on the demon's bodies and removed the shackles.

The lively boy lifted his thumbs up to her. "Nice moves you got there."

Celina smiled, she shifted her eyes to each characters.

The girl went close to her. "Thanks for saving us."

"Anyway who are you kids?" Celina said.

The lively boy chuckled. "Who you callin kid, as far as you know I already have a hair."

Celina narrowed her eyes, unamused by his joke.

"Umm big sis, we are adventurers who were splitted from our leader and got captured by demons. Our leader's name is Razinshu, he has a thin eyes, and often wear a scarf, he's also from the werewolf clan. By any chance have you seen him?" The girl said.

Celina shook her head. "Well, no."

Checking history, the werewolf clan were decimated by the empire, threatened by their physical prowess, the werewolves were forced into hiding. Luckily the werewolve clans were sparsely located across the country, thus they avoided extinction, but their numbers were steadily declining.

"I think he's left on that bridge." The boy said.

The girl sighed. "I can't believed he stayed and cut off the bridge, to protect us from the elite demon chasing us. I hope he's alive."

Celina gasped upon a realization. "So it was you guys who did it?"

"Razinshu did it to protect us."

Celina chuckled. "Don't worry, he's still alive. In fact, I even saw a demon corpse floating on that lake."

The young mages' eyes lit up, while excited they nodded and scampered away. "Thank you for that." The boy said waving his arm

"Big sis, thank you." They waved their hands as they were shrinking away.

"Now we need to hurry." They said.

On the distance, Pelvin was in a trance as he gazed at her, he gulped anxiously. "Even without the monster, I can't believe she's strong, I can't also underestimate her." He said inside his mind.