The Star, The Demon, and The God - 7. Star's Pull

Tobias

Luno’s eyes are wide open in fear. I do not think I have ever seen anyone so scared of Angels. Most people think they are good; that they are protectors of the living and those who will safely bring you into the afterlife for “trial”.

No, not this time. Luno knows the truth. I have warned him enough about them. Not only has he heard these warnings, but he has listened.

Most will hear from us, telling the humans of how dangerous the Angels truly are. Yet, they never listen. They continue on as if everything is fine. They will become Angels, and not even realize that they are to spend the rest of their eternity finding souls to add to their ranks.

Angels lie to one another. They tell each other that they are doing the Gods’ work. In that regard, they are not wrong. They really are doing the Gods’ work. Unfortunately, nobody knows which God will be in control of the leash.

When Angels are sent to attack, they have no choice in the matter. A pull in their bodies forces them to attack like rabid dogs over meat.

I remember that quite well.

You could be sitting down for dinner with your family when all of a sudden, you feel the cold touch in your head. You gain a thirst to touch a soul; to bring it back to your masters, the Archangels.

It is when I had fallen and become a Demon that I learned that the Archangels have as much power as the rest of us.

That would be next to none.

Now the Angels are ruled by a handful of Gods. Those would be the God of War, the God of the Sun, the Goddess of the Snow, and of course, the Gatekeeper of the Heavens.

I would say that the Gatekeeper has the most power over the Angels, though she never really uses them; especially now. At the moment, she would be busy with caring for all the souls that are no doubt crowded around the gates.

The souls in this city might even be some of the ones standing there with her. Now wouldn’t that be interesting?

“What are we going to do?” Luno whispers.

Shushing him, I peek around the alley entrance.

Angels in gold armor are walking around the hundreds of bodies that are piled together in what looks to be the townsquare.

There must be around thirty or so Angels. I know I would not be able to fight them on my own. Where are the Demons that Raiyo sends after us? Should they not be here by now?

As if on cue, five portals open up in the alley across from Luno and I.

It is the usual same four Demons, but it appears that Raiyo has sent one of the Ancient Ones with them.

Well that is awfully generous of him. I do not believe I have ever seen one of them away from Raiyo. Not even once in the hundreds of years that I have known him!

“Tobias I’m scared!” Luno pleads next to me.

I cover his mouth with my hand and glare at him.

“You want us to get caught?” I grit out. Luno shakes his head. “Then shut the hell up! Deal?”

Luno nods frantically though his breathing has started to pick up.

Oh gods.

He is going to be the death of all of us!

Breathing in deeply through my nose, I look down at him and squeeze his shoulder.

“Just stay behind me. Understand? You will be fine if you just stick with me.”

Luno nods again and starts taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

Something tells me that he will be quite useless in this fight. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but with his magic, I know he could make this all go faster.

Looking over at the other group, I see them staring after me. They are waiting for the go ahead. Well, there is no use in waiting here. The Angels are not going anywhere.

Peeking in their direction, I see that they are looking at all the bodies. They are trying to find their souls, but they cannot do that because they are not here. Based on what Luno told me, they are all in the Middleplains. A realm that leads to the Gates of Heaven or Hell.

Unfortunately, oraybe not so fonrtunately, they are trapped.

The Angels here will find these bodies useless. What they will do with them however, I do not know. I will not let them get the chance to try anything.

Nodding to the group, they immediately run out of the alley and straight for the Angels. Their warcries can be heard.

Turning to Luno, I grab him and pull him to stand behind me.

“I will protect you,” I say. “I promise. You may choose to help us or not, but whatever you do, do not leave my side. Understand?”

“Okay,” Luno says in a shaky, small voice. “I understand.”

I nod and then pull my weapons out.

As soon as I jump out of hiding, I aim my pistol for any Angels that are closest to me. Instantly they explode into golden ash as one of the demons sends a lightning attack that takes out six Angels at once.

Luno is pretty much attached to my back. His hand keeps ahold of the back of my armor.

Good to know he is actually listening. I would hate to lose him over something this early on for this quest.

Aiming my pistol towards a group of approaching Angels, I pull the trigger.

Orange glowing strings of magic begin to fly from my pistol at high speeds. Most of the Angels need to only be hit twice by them before they die.

Raiyo gave me this pistol. I cannot lie and say that I do not love the improvements he gave it.

Angels flying behind the ones I am shooting start coming our way. They hold bows and immediately begin to rain us with golden arrows.

Quickly, I reach for my belt to pull out my shield stone. It holds a rune that can shield me from all projectiles.

Before I can hold the stone forward, Luno’s hand opens in front of me as if it is pressed against glass. A glowing white shield comes to life from his palm. All the arrows that were coming our way simply bounce off of the shield.

Wide eyed, I look back at Luno for a moment before aiming my pistol at the flying Angels.

More strings of orange magic fly out and kill the Angels. Their dust rains down like snow.

Turning to look at Luno, I nod to him. “Thanks for the shield.”

Luno is not looking at me however. He is staring wide-eyed at the other Demons and the Ancient One. They are slaughtering the other Angels with ease. Since they are causing most of the damage to their numbers, the Angels are focusing on them at the moment.

I was going to take this as a moment to try and calm down Luno, but before I can reach out to touch his shoulder, he jumps into the air and bolts straight for the demons. He creates more shields to protect them from any arrows or spears being thrown at them.

Since I don’t want to be completely useless, I run over to join them.

As soon as Luno sees me, a shield is created around me as well.

Well, for someone who did not want to bring harm to any living being, he sure doesn't seem to mind now.

To be fair, he is only creating shields I guess.

Soon enough, all the Angels that were in the village disappear. They either die in puffs of dust or they fly to retreat to their masters.

It was not a hard fight in all honesty, I did not even do much. The fact Luno thought it necessary to provide special shields was rather kind. Maybe I will not bother with telling him it was not needed.

The Demons nod their thanks to Luno, no doubt they are thinking the same thing.

Raiyo’s Ancient One does not even acknowledge Luno nor any of us. It simply summons a portal and steps through it. It most likely was missing its master.

Before all the Demons can step through their little portals, Luno stops one. She is a demon with tall horns and with skin that has a cheetah fur resemblance. She wears a long dark robe. Her lips are so thin, they are unable to hide her razor sharp teeth.

I believe I can’t place a name on this Demoness.

“Excuse me,” Luno flashes his usual bright smile.

I believe the Demoness smiles back? It is a bit hard to tell in all honesty.

“Yes, your grace,” She bows her head. “How may I be of assistance?”

Luno looks a bit surprised by the way she is speaking to him. I somewhat was? Maybe at first. It hit me a moment later that now that everyone knows he has been identified as a Star, he would be considered royalty to everyone, not just Demons. Angels as well. Possibly Humans but they have never met a Star.

“I-I have a question for you,” He stutters, trying to compose himself again. “Did you attack us a few days ago? I was riding his tiger form when a few Demons covered in shadows chased us. One of them used lightning magic like yours. Is there a possibility that it was you?”

The Cheetah Demoness’ eyes widen to the point that I fear they might actually pop out of her head.

Good on Luno to notice her magic from the previous time. I completely forgot all about it and I was the one that got struck!

“You must forgive me!” She drops to her knees and grabs onto Luno’s hand. “I swear we were never trying to attack you! We only felt this great need to protect you...from him!”

She points a finger to me.

I narrow my eyes at her. “What do you mean you ‘felt’? You didn’t even know what he was. I should bash your head in for using your magic on me!”

She shakes her head and stares me down. “You feel it too don’t you? The Pull? The need to protect him at all costs? The desire to ensure he is safe? His presence alone makes you feel brighter inside, yes?”

Looking up at Luno, I see he is confused and possibly a bit scared? He is looking at me as if he is scared so that is my guess.

“I…,” I pause and look between the both of them. They are both just staring at me. One is scared and the other is trying to force her ideas into my head.

Shaking my head, I turn to the Demoness. “I don’t know what you are talking about. I do not feel whatever fantasy is in that ugly head of yours. Go on back to Raiyo. You are wasting our time here.”

She chuckles before standing. “You may lie to yourself all you want; I know you feel the same thing as I do.” She turns to Luno. “Again, forgive me for the misunderstanding. I had no idea you both knew each other.”

Luno does not speak, he only nods and slowly makes his way to stand next to me.

The Demoness bows to Luno before turning to step through a portal back to Enfierna.

Now there is an awkward silence. Great.

Thank you random Demon who decided to attack me and dump all this information out into the open. Thank you so much.

Bitch.

“I’m,” Luno’s voice pierces the silence. “I’m going to bring the humans back now.”

Turning to him, I see he is smiling up at me before he walks towards the pile of bodies.

Apparently the Demons felt it was fine to leave us before he brought everyone back. I guess the chance of another attack is fairly slim anyways.

Sighing, I turn to find an empty building to stand under. The light that Luno shines hurts my eyes. I try to get away from it.

Not even bothering to check on Luno, I kick open a door to what appears to be a tavern. Perfect.

Hopping over the counter, I look for something to drink. If I am going to think about what that Demoness said, I am going to need one.

After filling a glass with beer, I sigh and sit on one of the stools.

So...a pull? Is that what I have been feeling? I thought it was something else. Something deeper than just ‘a Pull’.

Sure, I guess it is a bit crazy in the head to immediately find myself willing to sacrifice myself for Luno. Honestly, I did not think too hard on that. It felt...natural?

Does the Demoness feel the same way? Is that why she is here with us? Did she volunteer in helping us with our quest? Solely to protect Luno? I imagine the others might actually be feeling the same thing as well.

Well, everyone but the Ancient One.

I know for a fact that, that thing only cares about Raiyo and his orders. It must have hated being told to protect someone other than its master.

The Demoness did not even say much but it felt like she just slapped me with crazy amounts of information.

How would she even know about this...Pull? She has never even spoken with Luno until a few moments ago.

Okay, I guess I cannot bash on her too much for that. When I first saw Luno, I wanted to rub my scent against him immediately.

Looking down at the new arm that Luno gave back to me, I clench my fist and sigh.

I still have not thanked him for that. I doubt he knows that he even fixed my arm. He brings things back to life and heals so much; this would probably be considered a small thing to him.

No wait, of course it is. He is literally bringing hundreds of lives back from the dead! Bringing back a severed arm is probably considered child’s play to him.

I should really tell him about it when he comes back. That irritating human and his spies can wait a few moments more.

A sonic boom can be heard outside, I do not even move when I hear it. Sure enough, Luno’s light appears as bright as ever. Not even the windows could hold it back enough.

Covering my eyes, I grunt and move to feel my way to a back door. I am pretty sure there was one. I need to get out of here at least. Being around Humans is not exactly something I like to do. They annoy the fuck out of me.

Trying to take a peek through the harsh light, I find a wooden door that opens up into an alley. Luno’s light has pretty much melted all the snow in this village. The stone roads shine back the light, making my eyes burn from it.

Covering them again, I depend on my ears and hand to get as far away from the humans as possible.

There is the small fear that Luno will not find me, but I know that dumb fire chicken will find me for him soon enough.

You know, I used to think a Phoenix would be some almighty creature that must be treated with respect. Luno treats it like some kind of pet, and she loves it.

Wait, forget about the Phoenix, Luno had a full on dragon in his Sanctuary. A dragon! Nobody has seen one of those in forever and there is just this random water dragon in his backyard!

Luno’s light disappears, leaving the world feeling a bit darker.

Shaking my head, I kick at a stone in the middle of the street.

He is unbelievable. I am almost certain he is not real. None of this could be real. For all I know, I may be in a coma from that fight I lost my arm to.

Frowning, I see something in the middle of the road. Walking over, I bend down to inspect it.

It is a wooden sword? A short one as well. No doubt it was for a child. I wonder if it were for a boy who wanted to become a knight, or maybe a girl who wanted to become a warrior princess.

Warrior Princess? Where have I heard that before? It sounds awfully familiar yet...I cannot quite place what is so familiar about it.

Is this another memory I am remembering? Another fragment?

Raiyo did not use his magic this time so did I find this out on my own?

A girl who wishes to become a warrior princess...Yes. That does sound more and more familiar the more I repeat it in my head. For all I know, it might unlock more to my dreams. Would that not be just lovely.

I could really use more headaches on this quest. Maybe the Gods have not gifted me enough by now.

Bitches.

“Tobi!” A voice calls behind me.

Turning to Luno, I shoot a glare at him. “I already told you my thoughts on that ridiculous name.”

He laughs and skips his way to my side.

Yes. Skips.

“You did not get too far this time around,” he says. “You want to go back and say hi?”

I shake my head. “I’ll leave that kind of business to you. Think of that as your new job. I do not do well with others anyways.”

Luno pouts and crosses his arms. “Okay. If you say so.”

Since we are about to see Vlad again, I might as well tell Luno.

“Hey, I never really told you this, but thanks,” I say, giving him a nod but not maintaining eye contact.

He gives me a confused smile. “You’re welcome...I think?”

Chuckling, I hold my new arm out in front of my chest and point to it.

Since my armor has been modified to only dealing with one arm, there is only chainmail that covers my bicep. The rest is bare of any kind of protection.

I am a bit surprised he has not asked about it earlier, but then again, he thought kissing was as normal as a hello.

“Back when we first met in Shurow Bay, you brought back all the life there, remember?” I ask. Luno nods. “Well, not only did you bring back all the nature and animals, you also brought back my arm. I lost it to some Angels a year back. Your healing magics fixed my arm.”

“Oh!” Luno blinks at it before reaching out to touch it. His fingers lightly trace over the veins underneath my skin.

“Well, I am glad you were there!” He beams and pats my arm. “I believe you are the bestest friend I have ever made!”

Now that leaves something feeling weird inside. I do not think I have ever been told that before. Most call me a dick for the attitude I use with them. I guess this is a nice change.

Footsteps can be heard behind us. My chest instantly tightens at the possibility of being confronted by humans.

Well, I was not entirely wrong.

Vlad and his spies approach us.

“So it is true,” Vlad grins. “You must join us! Let us help you! We have all the manpower you could ever need. As you revive more people, that manpower will only grow.”

Personally, there really is no reason not to accept the help. If they were to try something against us, they will have to face the wrath of Raiyo and most likely the Gatekeeper. Plus, these are humans. They tend to know their place when the Gods are mentioned.

Luno is about to speak but I cut him off by stepping in front of him.

“We will accept your help,” I say. “But if you try anything funny, just realize that the Gods are watching over us. Ones that you would not like to cross with.”

Vlad narrows his eyes and looks me up and down. “And exactly which Gods are you working with then, Demon?”

I smirk before answering.

“Raiyo.”

At that, he and his spies eyes all widen in fear. Good.

The next thing that comes out of his mouth surprises me however.

“We have had history with that Archdemon,” Vlad says carefully. “It will...cause some tension if it is mentioned to my leaders.”

Raising an eyebrow, I turn to keep walking.

“You will tell me what it is that happened as we make our way there.”