Chapter 32 - Fade’s Lullaby
I only get roughly two hundred feet from the cave before I come across a fresh pair of tracks, I examine them closely and they seem to belong to some kind of boar. Fresh markings rest on the bases of the nearby trees, the boar was marking its territory. The tracks lead me to a empty nest that rests next to a small cave, shallow enough for me to easily look into it; looks like nobody is home. Time to play the waiting game.
- - -
“Okay, he’s far away enough for us to start talking, Isaac.” S.K walks away from the mouth of the cave as the kid stands near the back.
“I was wondering when you’ll start talking again, Sure Kill. What’re you doing here? It’s not time for my pickup, why are you here so early?”
“Isaac, this comes from the top, I’ve been sent here to give you a message. You might want to brace yourself for this one.” S.K comes to a stop as a heavy mask of remorse lays on her face.
“Isaac, your father... He’s dead, one of the test subjects killed him and escaped.” The news hits him like fastball to the face; he breaks down and collapses on the ground trying to sort everything out.
“H-How’s that possible?!” His words become stuttered as he concentrates on trying to speak.
“We don’t know, I watched the tapes personally and all I can tell you is some fucked up looking test subject covered in black scales killed him, a white pegasus with a light blue mane and a human was in the room as well.” Isaac holds back the torrents of tears as he tries to steady himself.
“D-Did my father mentioned anything in his personal notes about Test Subject 00?”
“Yeah, Test Subject 00 was exterminated by Test Subject 27, the same test subject who killed your dad.” This pushes him over the edge as the floodgates holding back the tears swing wide open.
“Why is that so important? We dug into his files about Test Subject 00 and she was just a foal possessed by some spirit and they had to seal her away in a rune covered room.” Isaac looks up with tears still running down his face, his eyes were bloodshot.
“She was my twin sister... Something went wrong in her studies which somehow lead to her being consumed by a spirit...” He wipes away his tears, but more just take their place.
- - -
I’ve only been waiting for roughly thirty minutes before the boar comes back to its nest, I hide myself up in a nearby tree. I simply observed as it wandered back over to its little nest. I’ve laid a trap down next to the nest, a mixture of red and yellow stemmed plants, my first attempt at making a paralyzing poison. I laced a piece of fruit that I found in a nearby tree with the poison concoction, the boar smells the fresh fruit and starts to eat it. After a few seconds the boar falls with a satisfying thud, I drop down from the tree and made haste to my prey.
“Thank you for your sacrifice, may you find peace in the Abyss” The boar is helpless to lay there and just watch as the spines on my tail come out from their hiding place and slit its throat.
The boar bled out quickly, I got to work as I gutted the boar, skinning it, and only taking the carcass with me and leaving everything else for nature to clean up. My tail is covered with the boar’s blood, it wags happily as the blood dries. Before leaving I pick some fruit up for the kid and some herbs so I may brew some potions for the events that lay ahead of us.
My tail carries the carcass behind me, still wagging happily, as if I’d just given a dog a bone. I pick up some firewood as I near the cave we’re staying at, I made sure I didn’t leave any traceable tracks and removed any that we’ve made coming to the cave. I grabbed what I could carry for firewood, just a few small logs and twigs, just enough to get the fire started and a good bed of coals.
“Anybody home?” My voice echoes throughout the cave, S.K appears from the darkness.
“Welcome back, Horror, whatcha bring back?” My tail dangles the corpse in front S.K grins a thousand-watt grin, pleased by my what I brought home.
“Freshly killed boar, I still need to cook it before we can eat it, I also pick up some seasonings for it too, should be interesting how it comes out. You and the kid have any visitors while I was away?” S.K starts to lick her beak, still eyeballing what I brought home.
“But I want to eat it now!” She does a little prances where she stand, adorable.
“You can wait a little while longer, you’ll thank me for this.” I walk into the cave while my tail holds the boar up high so S.K. can’t grab it.
“Hey kid, you hungry? I brought some fruit for you, you need to build your strength up before we head out.” The kid emerges from a dark corner of the cave, his eyes still bloodshot from crying.
“Hey kid, you okay?” He simply nods his head in silence.
“Okay, if you need anything let me know. Hey mind using your magic to start us a fire so I can cook this boar for S.K. and I?” I arrange the wood into a small cone shape, the kid’s horn lights up and a small beam strikes it, creating fire for us.
I give the kid the fruit and he slowly nibbles on it, S.K still drooling over the carcass that I won’t let her have. After a short while we have a good bed of coals for me to cook on. I finish seasoning the meat with some of the herbs I gathered; hopefully this turns out well. I skewer the boar with a good size branch and place it over the bed of coals on two tall rocks, flames kick up and kiss the meat as grease drips off its body.
“S.K, mind grabbing some more firewood?”
“Why me?! Why can’t you go get it?!”
“Because I don’t trust you alone with this.” A smirk breaks out on her face.
“You can’t blame a girl for trying, can you? Fine I’ll go grab some more, I’ll be right back” She takes her leave, leaving the kid and I alone.
“Okay kid, I know that look all too well, what’s eating at you? I don’t want to be baby sitting you tonight as we sneak our way deeper into the cultist’s den. You want revenge on someone and I can understand, but use that rage to drive yourself so you can keep on fighting.” The kid looks up to me from his half eaten fruit.
“What would you know? You’re a demon for Celestia sakes. I doubt you even know how to feel sorrow.”
“Trust me on this one kid. You’d be surprised at what you could learn from a demon like me. I’ve been around the block and seen and experienced more than my fair share of hatred, sorrow, the whole nine yards. Are you gonna be able to fight when the time comes?” He takes this all in and nods, we sat quietly until S.K returned with more fire wood.
“Luna rape me with the moon! That smells great!” What... colorful language she has...
“It's nearly done, don’t get your feathers ruffled. Just a few more minutes before you and I can dig in.” I re-stoke the fire and rotate the meat so it thoroughly cooks.
“Hey S.K, it’s ready, be careful though, it’s hot!” S.K. bum-rushes me, nearly sending me into the fire.
“Mmmm, thish ish really good!” S.K says between each bite, pieces of meat hang off her beak.
I simply laugh as I watch her go to town on her half of the boar, I start gnawing away on my half; and to my surprise I was able to season this really well. I finish mine in the matter of seconds, I was more hungry than I thought, my tail wags side to side on the cave floor as I lick my lips.
“Okay, here’s the plan; we’ll wait to nightfall before we head out. This is a stealth mission. Our goal is to go as deep as we can into the enemy territory, if anything happens S.K., take the kid out of here and straight back to the palace, don’t stop for anything and don’t worry about me. The night and I go way back; she’ll keep me safe. Stay low and stay quiet, if we must kill then let me handle it, if a fight breaks out then do it quickly and quietly. Now, let’s get some rest before we head out, we have a few hours to burn before the sun goes to sleep and the moon awakens.” S.K nods her head as she finishes her food, the kid just stays silent as he stares into the fire.
I crawl to the back of the cave, I lean my burnt back against it, the cool wall feels good against my back. S.K makes her way towards me as she licks the remaining bits of meat from her talons. She lays down across my lap and my tail wraps itself around her, slowly petting her as she drifts off to sleep. The Kid lays down next to the fire and shuts his eyes, I’m the last one to fall asleep.
- - -
I hear Fade singing in the Darkness, I’m entranced by her beautiful singing. I just stand there listening to her voice.
My Little Horror, My Little Horror, Argh! Argh! Argh! Argh!
My Little Horror!
I used to wonder what terror could be!
My Little Horror!
Won’t you share in the bloodshed with me?
Massive Slaughter!
Tons of Blood!
A beating heart!
Crushed by your hand!
Sharing pain!
It's an easy feat!
And insanity makes it all complete!
You have My Little Horror!
Do you know you're all my favorite prey?
I see Fade gliding through the Darkness as she sings, her song is beautiful but bone chillingly eerie to listen to. As she finishes singing she spots me standing there and admiring her.
“So, do you like the song I made for you, 27?” She vanishes for a split second, only to reappear right in front of me.
“I’m at a loss for words Fade, the song is extremely creepy, but your voice makes it sound as if it’s a childrens song.” She giggles at my response and embraces me in a hug.
“I’m glad you liked it, I’ve been working on it for a few hours now. How’s your back doing? Your scales took the majority of the hit, but you’ve been singed pretty badly.” I return the hug as I wrap my arms around her waist, her cold body feels good against mine.
“I’ve had worse, this will probably scar since Friend is sealed away in his white box. But thank you for coming to my aid, you’ve numbed the pain so I could efficiently move.” My tail wraps around us several times, resting its tip on Fade’s shoulder.
“I like it better without Friend here, leaves us free for some alone time.” Fade rests her head against my chest and listens to my heart beating away.
“Hey Fade, let me ask a question, why do you appear a human to me and not some other form? I would assume a pony or at the very least an alicorn, worshiping your mistress.”
“Whomever I’m occupying, I take the form of whatever they want, be it pony, manticore, an apple, you name it. But for you, I couldn’t access your memories, your desires; I found out later why though. So I appeared to you as a female human, if you want I can change into something else if you wish.” She giggles after saying this, I can’t tell if she’s teasing me or not.
“I guess that makes sense, playing off whatever your victims desires. And no, I like it the way you are right now.”
“I can’t wait to explore your magnificent body for myself, I hope the scarring isn't too bad before I get to have some fun with you.” She looks back up to me as she lays her chin on my chest.
“I like it when I get scars, helps me to remember why I got them in the first place, like the ones already on my back, you really can’t see them because of the scaling.”
We stay silent for some time, just enjoying each others company. I can hear the Kid stirring from his sleep.
“Looks like it’s time for me to wake up again. I’ll see you later.” She leans in and kisses me, as she pulls away a strain of saliva hangs in between our lips, freezing solid.
“I’m not letting you leave just yet without proper compensation.” She pushes me away, I feel as if I’m free falling before I wake up.
- - -
“You’re a sound sleeper, for a demon.” The kid stands only a few feet away from me, he whispers loudly, trying not to wake up the sleeping S.K on my lap.
“You should see me when it’s cold out, people told me I look like I’m dead.” I keep my voice low as I don’t want to wake S.K up.
“Tell me, how do I become more powerful? A spirit won’t do, I need something more powerful, I need a demon.” This strange request raises my eyebrows, he now has my full attention.
“You wish to gain more power? I see... Are you sure you want to ask a demon for assistance?” He shakes his head furiously in agreement, I let out a sigh before I continue.
“If you desire this, than there’s no way I can talk you out of it. I don’t know if you can feel this aura that’s around this place, but I can. There are evil spirits roaming free around here, and there are some powerful demons too. But you’ll have to be careful when you’re striking up a contract with one. They’ll only speak half-truths to you, twisting their meanings around and bending the deal to their advantage; you must not let them do this, or you’ll end up being consumed alive. When and IF you accept the terms of the contract, you’ll lose every shred of yourself as they make themselves a home in you. You MUST hold onto one thing and one thing only so your individuality is not swallowed whole by the demon. If you fail this; you’re dead,
plain and simple. Also, if you fail, I won’t hesitate to end you. You have some serious magical skills and in the wrong hands, that could become a very big problem. Do I make myself clear?!” A smug grin creeps its way onto his face after I tell him this.
“Tell me, what different kinds of demons are there?” Yet another question that causes my eyebrows to raise.
“There’s too many to count, but I can tell you of some of the more powerful ones. There’s Lust, Madness, Chaos, Pride, Cunning, and Wrath. Those are some of the ones you should try to make a contract with, the lesser ones would only want to take your body for their own. The more powerful ones actually keep their end of the bargain but the debts are a little more steep.” S.K nuzzles her beak into my lap.
“One last question, what kind of demon are you.”
“My, aren't you a inquisitive one? My power is currently sealed by the zebra magic but you’ll find out soon enough, once my power is unsealed your curiosity will be satisfied.”
“Knowledge is power, night approaches, we should start heading out.”
“Time to wake up S.K, we have work to do.” She nuzzles her head deeper into my lap as she starts to stir from her nap.
“Fine... I was having a good dream too, you were in it, Horror” She gives me a wink and laughs a little.
“Come on, there’s work to be done. We need to head out and begin the mission.” S.K lazily gets off my lap and stretches her wings out.
We leave the cave after everyone is ready; night has fallen and I can’t wait to start playing again, so much fun to be had!
Credits
Editor/Song Writer
frieD195