After walking through countless hallways, hiding from guards, beating up guards, and stealing some much-needed items like money and lockpicks, we finally found the chamber where they were keeping the half-demon in.

The door was open and two men were starting to inject a serum into the half-demon’s arm. With a look at Oda, we both jumped the two unsuspecting men and silenced them. While Oda closed the door, I moved the bodies to the back of the room.

Looking at this hulking man, I was honestly impressed with this group for being able to capture him. They must have suffered some casualties. I know our original plans were to have this guy cause a commotion, but I think it’d be in my best interest to have him be my ally instead. Oda poked the man’s arm and the giant man jerked.

Letting out a surprised cry, Oda fell backward onto his ass while the large man started to wake up. I quickly stepped in and helped him destroy the restraints and he crankily sat up. As he sat, he stretched his arms, and all the while he stared daggers at Oda and me.

As he was sitting, I was able to take a good look at him. He had various scars on the lower half of his face and his body was full of muscles. He appeared to be wearing some type of uniform, which I made sure to pin to the back of my mind.

“Look, we’re half-demons too and we want to get the hell out of here. Want in?” I asked point-blank.

The man looked around at his surroundings and quietly stood up.

“Yeah, we heard that they were going to take you to the Paladin! We gotta get outta here!” Oda said nervously.

He silently gazed at us and nodded, “I agree. We need to escape”.

“Right. So what’s our plan of action?” I asked with my arms crossed while checking to make sure that no one was coming to check in on the supposed sedation process.

We quietly discussed ideas and in the end, we decided to free the other victims and let them cause confusion. If needed, we’d fight the kidnappers but we’d mainly look for a way out while they were getting the crowd under control.

Oda and I led the man back to where we woke up. On the way, we made a pit stop to the storage room where the large man found his weapon: a large two-handed warhammer. He also donned a long navy cape that had a tall collar that hid his facial scars. Once we were back in the room Oda and I woke up in, we quickly freed everyone from their restraints. Hopefully, the natural darkness of the room would help hide our black eyes. Then we set to waking up all the people who were crammed into this room and as we suspected, when they awakened, they started to panic and scream in confusion.

A couple of guards came by and Oda and I quickly took care of him. I yelled out to the others cowering in the room, “Go! We’ll keep them busy!”

With that, they all made a break for it. People were running and screaming down the halls which were catching the attention of everyone on board.

Making quick work of the initial guards, we quickly slinked back into the now empty room. I closed the door.

Touching the wall opposite the door, I mused, “Maybe this is an outer wall. If we break it, it could lead us to the outside”. I turned to look at the man and pointed at his large hammer, “Think you can break through with that hammer of yours? I hope it isn’t just for show.”

The man silently hefted the hammer and motioned for Oda and me to get out of the way. We stepped aside and he released his anger to turn into his demon form. Two large sweeping horns protruded from his head while dark navy scales covered his arms and hands. Was it just my imagination or did he get even more buff than he was before? Then he ferociously swung his hammer. It took a few powerful swings but with the scream of tearing metal, he was able to break through the wall to reveal the sunlight.

The loud bangs reverberated and one of the nearby soldiers opened the door and saw the gaping hole in the wall. One soldier screamed to another “The half-demon is escaping with some other prisoners! Go contact the commander immediately!”

I guess the soldier was so focused on the turned half-demon in front of him that he didn’t notice Oda’s or my demonic features. Quickly taking out a bobby pin, I chucked it towards him and it pierced his eye.

Turning around I yelled at the others, “Let’s go now!”

Due to the chaos, the vehicle was stopped and we were able to easily jump down to the ground once the soldier was dealt with. As we fled the scene, I looked back and saw that we were held in an Imperial warship which was adorned with bright purple and gold accents that glinted in the sun, the flower sigil of the imperial family emblazoned on the side of the warship. I didn’t have time to speculate about this revelation so I put my energy and focus into running into the forest.

Once we were far enough away, we rested in a small cave. Heavily breathing, we all sat down and leaned up against the walls of the cave in silence. Once Oda regained his breath, he asked a flurry of questions to the newcomer, “So who are you? Why did the imperial knights want to capture you? What the hell were they doing kidnapping people?!”

The man only answered one question, “I’m Aldric”.

I piped up, “I have questions of my own”. I looked at Oda and asked, “How did they capture us at the cottage?”

Oda looked terrified and hastily explained, “I think they drugged us! I remember smelling something weird before I passed out”.

“That explains one thing. Also, that will be the last time I listen to any of your suggestions,” with a look at Aldric I addressed my next question, “Why are you on the run? Depending on your answer, I’ll just ditch you here”.

Aldric seemed lost in thought as he pondered what to say. With a heavy sigh, he finally responded, “Let’s just say that the Paladin isn’t as holy as she pretends to be”.

“Looks like the capital is hiding many shady dealings from the general public, eh?” I sarcastically quipped.

“Seems you have more of a reason to avoid the capital Noct,” Oda said fearfully.

Questioningly I looked at Oda, “Noct?”

“Oh uh, sorry, that just slipped out! If you don’t like it, we can forget I said it!” Oda fumbled over his words.

“It’s not bad. It’s just . . .weird,” I replied. Pulling out the world map, I asked angrily, “Now, where the bloody hell are we anyway?”

We then had a short discussion about how none of us knew where we were exactly but Aldric gave us a general area we could be in.

“Heh, you’re more useful than Oda. Maybe I should keep traveling with you and ditch Oda,” I said with a cocky smile on my face.

Oda looked terrified at the prospects of being left alone by himself. “Please don’t abandon me! After all, we’ve been through! I swear I’ll be useful!”

I rolled my eyes and didn't reply.

“Well first things first, we need to figure out where we are,” I stated while looking at the sunset. “But I guess we can stay the night here and figure that out tomorrow”.

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