Jinx came to accept that lady luck despised him. The half man half snake that was as pale as the snow swerved at him from above. A unicorn's horn was fixed atop his forehead. Even the sound of his slithering was gigantic.
The viel's jaw stretched like that of a real snake. His split tongue flicked. Jinx screamed one more time, scrambling forward to make a run for it.
"Where are you going? You're my dinner, come back here!"
"I don't taste good, don't touch me!"
"Aw man, and I thought I scared him enough for him to stand still…" the snake muttered in disappointment. He did enjoy chasing his prey, but he missed lunch today. He would appreciate it if his food was handed to him on a silver platter of paralysis.
The distance that Jinx managed to create through his run and trip escape was closed with one dive of the viel. The snake's jaws were already stretched like a well, fangs dripping with venom and saliva.
"AAAAAH!!!"
Lightning with a pinkish hue snatched Jinx from his fate. The reptile's round pupils thinned into a slit. He knew very well to whom this pink lightning belonged to.
The man he was expecting stood firmly on his spear staked to the ground. Both Jinx and the gigantic viel were startled by his sudden appearance but the latter's expression turned from shock into amusement.
"The king's dog, I haven't seen you for a long time. Tell me, for which master does your tail wag for now?"
Kou blankly stared up at him, unintimidated by their height contrast.
"Basil...it has been a long time."
They parted ways with Basil having bitter feelings. The war had ended a long time ago and there was no point sulking about it; they were both retired from their knightly duties anyway.
"It has and you're standing between me and my dinner. I suggest you move away, Kou, we can chat and catch up after I'm full."
Kou peeked to check if Jinx was still in one piece. The boy wasn't missing any limbs but clearly his wits and balls have not been with him since birth.
"This one is not on the menu. Kou will be taking him home."
Basil clicked his tongue. He respected his skills as a knight but Kou's control over them as a general was long over. 333 viels were created and 1 remained loyal to the kingdom. The only thing that had control over Basil was his growling stomach. If he doesn't get his dinner, he will occupy a village and eat their newborns.
"Fine, stay there, forever."
Basil's yellow pierced eyes flashed. Kou pushed Jinx back, causing him to fall on his bum. The viel managed to shout: "Run!" before he was turned into stone.
"Kou! What did you do?!"
"He didn't want to move and dealing with him would be such a pain."
Basil swerved past the stone figure of his ex comrade. "Now, where were we?"
As much as the guilt ate him up, if he stayed to ponder about his mistakes, guilt won't be the only thing eating him tonight. He treated Kou badly, yet despite his maltreatment, the knight showed up to take him home to his master when he had all the rights to slice him, roast him, and offer him to the snake with a side dish.
He sprinted for his life. The serpent knocked down trees in the chase. Short and panicked screams came along with each labored breath. A blood-curdling scream was shoved out of his throat as half his torso was bit from the side. He was tossed up like a peanut, Jinx seeing the beautiful bright moon before meeting his end in the snake's gastric acid.
Basil leaped, like a whale breaking through the surface of the ocean, ready to swallow the mortal. The rose-colored electric current zigzagged past him and yet again snatched his dinner from before his eyes.
He was so close… He was this close!
He was well aware that the power of the eyes he obtained from Medusa wouldn't last long against him. It was worth the try. He had the genes of medusa, a unicorn, and a serpent. The end of his tail was a pointed sting that dripped with poison. The single horn on his forehead that stretched into one meter had skewered into hundreds of human hearts. His eyes have turned the living into stones for two and a half centuries. His serpent-like body had consumed live prey whole that led him into growing into such a mammoth of a size. He was dangerous. He was one of the most menacing viels ever created.
But Kou had experienced the most hell than any viel had ever gone through.
Basil hissed, curling downwards back into the nest of trees. Kou and Jinx remained hidden. Jinx was shivering from being so close to death two times in a row tonight. He had always been chased by death ever since he was a child. He should be used to it by now.
"I thought you became a statue?" Jinx whispered to Kou, who was monitoring the snake closely.
Basil was irked. He was extremely so. Kou had annoyed him ever since he met him. Actually, almost all of the viels hated him. Kou was kind and selfless, but his loyalty to the kingdom and to the king was what they despised the most.
"Oh general, you never changed. It's sad."
The kingdom used them. They took away their innocence and mercilessly tore them apart. They turned them into creatures worse than monsters.
Queen Eris deserved to be shredded that night. The viels detested her so much that the lucky ones assigned to her assassination feasted on her royal flesh after taking her life. It was a beautiful history of revenge for the experimented orphans.
"General, do you still adore your king?"
Despite what the kingdom had done to them, Kou accepted their cruelty and returned nothing but obedience and faith. It made Basil gag. He pitied Kou. He recollected how much he wanted to murder him to stop him from being a slave to the monarchy that abused them.
And tonight, he couldn't stand witnessing him save another pathetic human.
"Kou, come out, let's talk. How have you been since King Kairon's death?" The snake's tone was sweet and cunning. Kou was familiar when he was up to no good.
The forest was silent. Basil stopped slithering, listening for his dinner. The guy was clumsy and stupid. He was bound to screw up no matter how skilled a knight Kou was.
Jinx stood. His legs had gotten numb for the length of time they were crouched. He slightly lost his balance and snapped a thin twig in half that alerted the serpent.
A devilish grin spread on Basil's face. His horn flickered with an electrifying ball of light that sparked with purple, blue, yellow, and orange pigments. The sound was strong, booming, and deafening.
Kou grabbed Jinx, leaping into another hiding spot as Basil shot at them with his unicorn wrath.
"Stay here, Kou will fight Basil." The blonde teenager grabbed Kou's sleeve and swerved his head into disapproval.
"That thing is gonna kill you! Aren't you afraid?!"
"Fear is merely an emotion. If you act like a prey, you certainly will be." Jinx uncurled his fingers from Kou's sleeve. The knight smiled kindly at him.
"But—"
"Go home Jinx. Salem is waiting for you. Kou will stay and fight. That is Kou's duty to Canaan."
He vanished, leaving sparks of electricity from where he was last seen. Jinx drowned from the sound of Kou and Basil engaging in a fight. He slowly walked out from his hiding spot and witnessed the two viels tear each other apart. Both of them were on another level or maybe even in another world. They were so strong, God-like even. These were the beings that once fought for the kingdom and then became the very cause of its destruction.
Kou threw his spear at Basil. The spear carried a cyclone with it as it twirled towards the serpent. The trees swayed with the winds, pulling them out of their roots. Basil leaped and dodged the weapon as it broke through multiple trees. Another beam of energy traced behind Kou's running form, burning the land where it hit. The weapon returned to Kou's hold. His wings spread from behind him, ripping through his shirt. Basil watched him soar high with a swirl, acting like he would bring the end with elegance to his opponent.
Kou was the angel of El'Azar and the devil of the war. Basil had always watched him from afar. He wouldn't admit it directly, but he had always admired him for his grace even when he was bathing in the blood of the kingdom's enemies.
Despite the red staining his silver hair, despite the exhaustion tracing his pale and young face, and despite the odds of war, Kou remained. He hated him for it but at the same time, Kou was one of a kind. The king was blessed to have him serve under him.
There was no other knight than Kou and Basil envied the king for that.
Kou dove. Eyes flickered red as the salmon pink electricity surged out and stretched to Basil who in return released currents of his own power.
Force against force, viel against viel, old comrades turned into enemies, and a friendship that turned bitter because of differences in beliefs; deep down, the two enjoyed their reunion.
The opposing energies merged and then separated into one loud detonation that sent winds that hurled Jinx and the two viels into various directions in the forest. Basil groaned. He slithered up with the rest of his snake-like form trailing after him. Kou had flipped and managed to balance himself.
"I give up, let's call it a truce."
Kou frowned; the snake grinned. The tip of his tail erected and released a venomous sting that Kou instinctively deflected with his spear. Basil's shoulders dropped and that cued Kou to finally relax.
"I'm tired Kou. Aren't you tired of fighting?"
The knight tilted his head at him.
"But we are knights. That is our life."
Basil glanced at him with half-lidded eyes.
"I'm done being a knight centuries ago. You should be too."
"Kou doesn't know anything else."
Basil sighed. "Of course you don't. You can't teach an old dog new tricks after all. I don't know anything else other than spilling blood."
"The kingdom turned us into monsters but in the end, it's our choice if we'll act as one or become something better."
Better? There was no changing the past. They killed the queen and ate her. Even if they repented for their crimes, Canaan will still hunt them down and torture them.
"There's no going back, general. The heavens have forsaken us and hell might think we're overqualified to be burned."
"There is no harm in trying, Basil."
He was pure. He was so pure for this damned world that no amount of pessimism could kick him down.
"Whatever you want, Kou. I'm leaving, your little friend isn't even worth eating. I'll just swallow the tiger I saw past here."
Basil could be a real snake when it comes to personality but when he says he's tired, he's not going to do any other vigorous activities especially when he is hungry.
"It's nice to see you again. Kou is happy."
The snake stopped and nodded. "I'll kill you the next time that's for sure."
250 years ago the viels had turned rotten; the vessels had torn down El'Azar, and humanity had once again succumbed to their cowardice.
'General, there's no use serving the kingdom anymore. The monarchy has fallen and El'Azar has crumbled.'
332 viels had betrayed the monarchy, but before Basil became the 332nd, he fought with General Kou. He was a loyal friend who couldn't stand Kou's suffering from his misplaced and nugatory faith.
'Kou will stay. Kou will remain with the king…' His wounds were healing sluggishly. He had overused his powers. He was going to die.
Basil couldn't watch anymore.
'Forget about the king. Forget about Canaan. Save yourself for once! Think of yourself for once!' Basil screamed, grabbing Kou by his arm.
The general pulled his arm away and used his spear as a support for his weakening body.
'Kou is nothing without his king and Canaan. If Basil wants to go...Kou will let him.'
Basil glanced at him with teary eyes. Kou gently gave him a shove outside the gates.
'General…please. Come with me.'
They could finally free themselves from the monarchy's chains. There was no point in staying. There was no point in believing.
'Thank you for being a king's knight...and for being Kou's best friend.'
He thought Kou rested that day with the king. For years Basil had carried nothing but regret for abandoning him.
"Thank you for the meal."
He patted the huge bump in his stomach. The tiger was plump and juicy. It was a better meal than that lanky kid. The snake smiled. It wasn't the kind of smile that scared off babies or made mercenaries wet their pants. It was the kind of smile that only Kou had seen.
"That's good…" Basil murmured.
He was happy to see him again. His unwavering loyalty to the things and people he was passionate about was obnoxiously fiery that it was pissing Basil off. However, he was glad to know that Kou was doing well without the king.
"Time to live again."