Nakoma

The flight from Ireland to New York left me feeling drained, and there were still more flights to come. I mentally groan at the thought of being cooped up in a small space with two demons and a bunch of strangers all day.

“Planes are so cool,” Dica excitedly says once we exit the plane. “It’s like flying without my wings, it’s so much easier.” He grins broadly. Colt on the other hand looked a bit green.

“I prefer flying with my wings…” he grumbles.

“So you both have wings?” I ask. To this they both nod. “Could you show me sometime?”

“Sure, when there’s no people around,” Colt agrees with his signature bright grin plastered across his face. Dica, however, simply laughs at my suggestion.

“Fat chance,” he mumbles.

I sigh. Oh well, so much for that. I wonder what he didn’t want me to see.

We pick up our luggage and go to sit down while we wait for our next flight. I glance at a clock. Looks like we wouldn’t be leaving for another three hours. I could definitely squeeze a nap in there. I sit down, my luggage at my feet and lean back as far as I can. I yawn and close my eyes. As I begin to doze off, I realize that I should probably call George or Martha and let them know that we made it safely. I get up and walk over to a payphone, leaving the two demons alone where they would probably end up bickering again.

I insert some change and dial the number.

“Hello, this is George,” a familiar British accent greets me.

“George, it’s Nakoma, we’ve reached New York safely, we’re just waiting for the next flight.”

“Alright,” he hesitates a moment. “Are you sure you can trust the word of a demon?” he asks.

“I’m not sure, but we’re about to find out.”

“That way of thinking is a bit reckless, Nakoma,” he warns me. I sigh.

“I get it… but I just have a feeling he’s not lying about this.”

“If you’re so sure. But let me know the moment something changes,” he sounds concerned for me. It was kind of sweet knowing he and Martha cared about my safety, or at least the success of my mission.

“I’ll be fine, Georgey,” I tease him. He makes a “hmmph” noise at the nickname.

“Oh, while we’re talking. I found out that the tavern you stayed at burnt to the ground shortly after you left.”

“Oh…” I felt my heart sink. “Did anyone die?”

“Two people, including the tavern owner were caught in the flames.”

Well that sucked. Looks like Dica was right about not being able to change disaster. “I have to go, George,” I say, sadness lacing my voice.

“Take care, Nakoma. We’re rooting for you over here.” With this he hangs up.

I sadly trudge back to where my demons sat, the atmosphere between them cold. I could only guess that they had another small spat while I was away. I really needed to figure out the bad history between those two. I sit down in between them and decide to ask.

“What’s the deal with you two, why do you hate each other so much?”

“It’s a Pride and Envy thing,” Dica says simply. “It’s been going on for thousands of years.”

I look to Colt who fidgets in his seat.

“He killed Sloth…” he mumbles. So Dica killed Sloth, but from what Colt told me about sins, there should be another Sloth that reincarnated.

“Is that true,” I ask Dica.

“Yes.”

Well that was cold and to the point.

“Why?”

“She was a bitch,” he shrugs. “I dunno what you want from me.” I can practically feel Colt seething beside me. I wasn’t exactly sure what to say.

“Hey Dica,” Colt speaks up after a moment of silence, his voice venomous. “Why don’t you tell Nakoma about all of your siblings you’ve killed.” This grabs my interest.

“What does he mean, Dica?” I ask.

Dica remains quiet for a moment, staring into the distance with cold eyes.

“I’ve killed hundreds of my siblings,” he confesses.

“Why?” I ask appalled.

He looks at me, amethyst eyes boring into mine. “Because I had to be the oldest son to get the crown.” Chills run down my spine at the sound of his voice. So Dica killed thousands just to become king? Talk about ambitious. I had no idea he was capable of doing such a thing. But, once again, I had to remind myself that these were demons. They were capable of causing tons of destruction. I wonder why that keeps surprising me.

I decide to let the conversation drop.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I inform them. “No fighting while I’m gone.”

I leave them behind and walk to the restroom. Once I enter I get the feeling that something is wrong considering that it is completely vacant. I shake away the thoughts screaming at me to leave.

“Hello there,” a voice purrs from behind me suddenly. I turn to face an woman with bright red hair pulled up in a braid. Her gleaming violet eyes stare me down as if I’m prey waiting to be eaten.

“H-hello,” I stammer, instinctively taking a step back.

“You’re the one that holds our King hostage, yes?” She stalks closer, I notice she her nails are long and sharp.

“Um…” My brain goes blank as I try to think of something to say. All traces of an exorcism vanish from my mind, not like I would have enough time to say it before she killed me. Suddenly her arm shoots out and her hand tangle in my hair. I yelp out in pain as my hair pulls and her claws scratch at my scalp.

“Let’s make this quick,” she snarls, dragging me to a stall.

“No wait!” I beg as she throws me down against the toilet. My head knocks against it and suddenly I remember the collar around my neck. As she puts force on the back of my head, I call out.

“Dica, Colt, help!”

The last words leave my lips just as my head goes underwater.

I don’t know how long she held me there, pressing my head down, but eventually the force against my skull vanished and someone pulled me out of the water.

Coughing and spitting out water, I realize that my savior, holding me in his arms was Colt.

“Are you okay?” he asks me. I nod and turn my attention to where Dica was facing off with the demon who kneels before him.

“Who sent you?” he demands.

“Lord Furfur, your Grace,” the demon responds. “He sent me to bring you home. Your kingdom needs you.” Dica sadly fixes her in his gaze.

“Believe me, I wish I could go home. But I can’t.”

The demon rises to her feet. “But once I kill that girl, you’ll be able to.” She snarls and runs at me. Dica lunges across the room quickly, grabbing the demon by her throat.

“I can’t let you hurt her, not even if I wanted to,” he informs her. “Now go back home before I have to kill you.”

The demon appears to contemplate his words before she nods weakly.

“I understand, your Grace,” she rasps. Dica seems pleased with this answer and drops her to the ground where she coughs, clutching her throat.

“And tell Fur that I said thank you,” Dica instructs her. She nods and suddenly she’s gone, as if she was never there in the first place.

Dica looks to me and sighs. “You look like Hell,” he grumbles. “C’mon Colt, let’s leave the lady to finish her business.”

***

We hopped planes a few times that day. And finally, once we made it to our last plane, night had fallen. Once we had taken off, I made myself as comfy as I could and tried to get some sleep. Despite being haunted by the memory of water and a burning throat, I was able to get comfortable enough to pass…out…

There was so many of them. I could feel them lurking in the shadows and the heavy fog swirling around me, thick like a sheet of snow.

As I pressed through the darkness, I saw them as they drew in closer. Some were tall, towering high above me like skyscrapers, too tall for me to make out any features, some were winged like wicked birds of prey with curved beaks meant for tearing into flesh, while others were low to the ground with long cruel claws and eyes that glowed like hot embers. They sniffed the air as they grew closer to me, catching my scent. One licked its fangs like a dog would, then it howled like a wolf leading the others closer to me… I knew what would happen to me the minute they got their claws in me. I would be ripped apart into millions of tiny pieces. Or maybe they would drag out my pain, make me suffer as they killed me. The shadowy beast, moved in closer and closer, breathing heavily with each step, trapping me in between their bodies.

“Die!” One of them hisses and pushes me down. Suddenly they’re all upon me, pressing down against my chest…

I can’t breathe.

Can’t breathe.

...breathe…

“Nakoma?” A voice calls me from the abyss of blackness. “Nakoma wake up.”

My eyes open and I meet Colt’s. I gasp for air and notice a few tears on my cheeks. I immediately cling onto Colt and let the tears fall down my face.

“Shhh,” he pats my head. “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

I don’t let go of him as I continue to cry, just relieved to be awake. As I pull away from him, I realize that the sun is rising.

“What a nice view,” Dica whistles. “You sure don’t get views like that at home.”

“Yeah, and you don’t get views like that from a tower window,” Colt adds on.

“Oh yeah, you were locked up for fifty years, weren’t you?” I ask. Colt nods.

“Because somebody would have killed me,” he shoots Dica a dirty look.

“I regret not killing you when I had the chance,” Dica grumbles.

“Shut up!” I hiss at them. “I don’t want to hear anything more out of the two of you for the rest of the flight!” God, I sounded like a bitchy mom.

The plane touched down not soon later and we made our way by taxi cab to the hotel we would be staying at.

“God, it’s hot,” I complained, wiping sweat off of my forehead.

“Sorry, it’s because I’m here,” Dica winks at me. I shoot him a dark look and shake my head. We arrive at the hotel and make our way up to the room, greeted by, once again, a single bed. I made a mental note to ask George about getting either more beds or another room next time so the demons had a place to sleep.

Once settled, I looked over at Dica. I realized that I hadn’t had to chance to look at the name over Dica’s heart since I was in such a rush when we originally met.

“Hey, Dica?” I ask. “Can I try something with my Saint Sight for a moment?”

“I guess,” he agrees hesitantly. I close my eyes and offer up my prayers before I open them. Among the blue I notice Dica’s name above his head then I move to his chest where I spot another collection of letters.

“In a bit of pain, can we hurry this up, please?” Dica complains.

C O L T S U G O M A L U M it read, and for some reason it broke my heart to see.