Tralkior and the Withered Lord

"One... Two... Three..." The man on the beast whispered to himself.

One of the guards walked over to the man as he was counting and kneeled on one knee as a sign of respect. "Lord Monjee, there seems to be a magic barrier that's stopping us from interfering-"

"WHY THE HELL ARE THERE ONLY THREE GUARDS HERE!?" Lord Monjee shouted angrily. His face became even brighter, and steam started exhausting from the top of his bald head.

Lord Monjee released the wrath of his voice at the guard, taking all of his anger out on him.

"What is that?" Fang asked, shocked at the size of the animal and the fact that it was being controlled by the man.

"The town's lord and his pet," Salika said, her eyes on lord Monjee instead. "He owns the entire village. I heard from the civilians when I got here awhile back that he's known for his uncontrollable voice and poor judgment."

"Poor judgment?" Fang asked.

"He's probably the reason why you were put here in this town's square. Instead of putting you in a proper secure prison, he chose to risk the lives of his citizens by having you out here to be made an example of."

Suddenly the memory of the dream that always appeared in Fang's head flooded his brain again. The dream of people running and screaming for their lives, trying to avoid the omen of death coming their way.

Fang looked back at Salika with worry in his eyes. "Do you know exactly what I did in this town...?"

It was starting to become dusk.

"I guess it's natural for you to lose your memories," Salika said calmly. "You were really out of control. Compare how you are now to how you were back then makes it look like you had been possessed."

Fang waited anxiously for Salika to continue explaining what happened. It was something he needed to know to understand the situation he was in before.

"Here is not a place to discuss such things," Salika said. "I'll be more than willing to tell you another time if you remind me."

Fang looked down at the stone pavement and clenched his fist, digging his nails into his palm. He was frustrated at this fact, but couldn't do anything about it. "I guess I'll have to wait a little longer before I receive my answer," he thought to himself.

"Young girl, what is it that you want with the monster?!" Lord Monjee shouted.

"I will talk to the lord," Salika said, turning to look at Fang. "Hang tight here until I come back. It won't take long."

Salika left Fang and walked over to where Lord Monjee and the crowd were.

"Good evening, Lord Monjee," Salika said in her monotone voice.

"Get straight to the point!" Lord Monjee shouted, pointing his wrinkly finger at Salika. "Why have you released the monster from its cage?! Are you trying to destroy this town?!"

Salika kept her composure and left her face neutral. She felt annoyed by the lord's annoying voice but endured it.

"I have performed a master-servant contract with the Cerulean you have been keeping imprisoned here. I hope you don't mind-"

"I do mind!" Lord Monjee exclaimed, throwing his arms up into the air. "Do you realize you have just released a beast capable of killing thousands!?"

"My servant will not rampage as he did those couple of months ago," Salika said confidently. "He had no control at the time. Please forgive him."

She turned her back against the lord—her white hair flowing beautifully in the air once again. "If that's enough for you to hear, we will be taking our leave."

Lord Monjee gritted his teeth. His veins popped out of his head and steam came out of him, making it look like he was going to combust.

"You dare turn your back on me?!" Lord Monjee yelled, his voice cracking. "I'll have you know; I could have you dead right now!"

Salika dismissed Lord Monjee's claims and continued walking back to Fang. She was starting to feel sick of the lord's voice and wanted to get away as soon and fast as possible.

"Come back here this instant! Otherwise, I'll just have my chimera Tralkior here kill you and the monster!" Lord Monjee shouted. Sweat began pouring from his face from constantly yelling at the top of his lungs.

Chimeras were beasts genetically modified by magic to take on the traits of other animals and beasts. Tralkior, Lord Monjee's chimera in this case, had the traits of a lion, bear, cat, and saber tooth tiger. It was more of an abomination of sorts, however.

Tralkior let rip a fierce roar, showing off its large razor-sharp teeth.

Salika looked back at Lord Monjee one last time whilst still walking away and displayed a disgusted and condescending expression.

Lord Monjee suddenly snapped. How much he could tolerate being disrespected was being exceeded to ungodly amounts. He tightened his grip on the reins connected to Tralkior and shouted. "GO KILL THE TWO OF THEM NOW, TRALKIOR!"

Tralkior let out an even fiercer and more powerful roar. It stood on its hind legs causing Lord Monjee to almost fall, before smashing itself and its paws on the barrier, causing it to crack.

Salika continued walking towards Fang, completely ignoring what was going on behind her.

Fang took a step back, surprised to see the monstrous chimera attempting to break into the barrier. The fact that it was able to carry its own weight on just its hind legs was impressive.

Tralkior roared wildly like a rogue animal and continued smashing the barrier with its paws empowered by its entire body weight. The barrier began to weaken more and more, making a noise closely similar to glass cracking.

SMASH!

The barrier finally broke, making a shattering noise. The mana that created the barrier turned into blue dust and started to disappear into thin air quickly, with some of it coming down on the ground like snow.

Lord Monjee began cackling hysterically to himself. Once Tralkior had broken the barrier, it lunged at Salika with its mouth wide open like an apex predator who finally caught its prey.

"DIE YOU IGNORANT BITCH!"

Fang froze for a moment before, before coming back to his senses. "I have to save Salika!"

Fang, just like before, tightened the muscles in his thighs and calves. He bent his knees slightly and launched himself explosively toward Salika, causing the stone pavement underneath him to crack. "Am I going to make it!?"

Salika sighed. "Ignorant of me to think this barrier was enough. Ignorant of you for thinking a mere chimera could take my life."

Salika opened her palm and a blinding light appeared. The blinding light disappeared as fast as it had appeared, and her white wand conjured in her hand. Salika spun her body around and looked at the chimera's face which was now just a few meters away. Salika brought her arm up so her wand was pointed directly at Tralkior.

"Feel my love, die by my hands peacefully."

Fang, whilst making his way to Salika, watched her. A dazzling ball of white light as beautiful as the sun appeared at the tip of Salika's wand, before shooting itself at Tralkior.

Tralkior Suddenly came to a halt. The light entered it and caused its body to spasm slowly.

Fang finally reached Salika and placed his hands under her legs and back, picking her up. He bent his knees on the ground again and launched himself as far away from Tralkior as possible.

Salika looked up at Fang as she was lifted and carried away. "There was no need to pick me up, Fang, everything was under control."

"What?" Fang asked, confused. "You were about to die, weren't you?! In less than a second you would have been torn to shreds or eaten by that thing!"

Fang eventually stopped and was now a couple dozen meters from where he picked up Salika. He looked back to look at Tralkior.

Tralkior's muscles were convulsing more and more violently by the second. The magic from Salika was working its way throughout its entire body.

Lord Monjee shouted. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU USELESS CHIMERA, YOU LET HER GET AWAY GOD DAMN IT!"

Lord Monjee finally became aware of Tralkior's body becoming uneven and lumpy beneath him. He noticed Tralkior reducing in size as he gazed down. He hurriedly exited, terrified and unsure of what was going on.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Lord Monjee yelled out.

Tralikor's entire body looked like it was being squeezed to death. Its large eyes popped out of their sockets and fell to the ground. The eyes suddenly crushed themselves, letting out juices like crushed berries. Every inch of Tralkior's body was being squeezed tightly and caving in, causing him to be in an excruciating amount of pain and suffering.

Fang watched in horror as the chimera whimpered and moaned from the excruciating pain. "Oh my god..."

Tralkior's body exploded, causing an ocean of its blood and intestines to fly out everywhere. Its remains covered a large area, painting it red.

Tralkior was now nothing more than a mangled body, squeezed like an orange for juice. All of its bones and limbs were broken and dislocated, but it didn't matter anymore. It was already dead.

Fang turned around and his stomach turned. He had never seen something as brutal as what he had seen just now. He then looked down at Salika who was looking away from the sight. She looked sorry and regretful.

The sounds of screaming civilians filled the air after witnessing the gruesome death of their Lord's beloved pet. The questions in Fang's head drowned them all out though, as he continued to look down at Salika. She had killed the giant beast so effortlessly with what looked like such an insignificant amount of magic. It left Fang to wonder what she would be capable of if she used all of her magic.

"We're leaving," Salika said, getting out of Fang's arms. She began quietly walking down a road leading out of the town square, purposely avoiding the horrific scene. "Don't ask me anything right now, please."

Fang gulped and followed behind her but looked behind his shoulder one last time.

Lord Monjee was on his knees, still as a statue. The events that just unfolded left him quiet and in shock. He was drenched in blood and had bits of Tralkior's intestines on his shoulders as well as small chunks of meat.

Fang turned his head and continued to follow Salika. They walked for a couple of minutes, passing the many small shops before reaching a small wooden gate with a sign that read 'Monjee Village.'

"My sister Porch left with the carriage that brought us here," Salika said dully, staring out the gate. "I don't think we're going to be allowed to stay in this village. There is a nearby forest that we can most likely camp in without people knowing though."

"That's fine with me..." Fang said. He was cautious about what he said.

Past the wooden gate was a wide dirt road that went over hills, spanning endlessly across the horizon.

"Tomorrow," Salika said. She suddenly held Fang's left hand with her right, squeezing it firmly. She led Fang past the gate. They were now out of the village and heading for the forest. "Tomorrow, we will get to know each other better—I'll make sure of it."

Fang gulped and went along with what she said. "I'll be looking forward to that, Salika..."