Xavier closed the book shut and brought his head down. This was sickening. His chain of thoughts were lined with images of his face close to Arianna's doing the most unclean thing. He saw her face, he felt her lips on his, he remembered the feeling of his hands roaming around her body.
She too had responded. He remembered the feeling of her hands on his back and his belly. When her fingers slid down his spine, he felt every cell in his body jump.
He remembered his lower body reacting faster than his head. And he could hear his inner demon howling inside him, begging to be let out completely so that it could ravish its mate to its heart's content. Not the least bit considerate of the consequences of doing so.
Xavier knew that his inner demon had gotten crazy at that time. He knew he would have ripped her clothes off if Army Commander Park hadn't barged in. If he hadn't come, he wondered what situation he would be in now.
Probably one where he would be unable to break the connection anymore. Probably one where he would be with a pregnant female human. He didn't dare think of it too much.
He needed to practice his self-control. It seemed because he hadn't interacted with his inner demon in centuries, it was starting to come over him. He needed to suppress it and keep it in check.
With that, he stood up and walked into a portal. There was no better place to practice than his space where time moved even slower than a snail. 365 days there was just a second in the real world.
...
"What happened to your wounds?" The general asked.
It was then that Arianna looked down at her hands. She saw that the pockmarks from the hawks were gone and the numerous bruises and scratches were also gone. She was surprised. How was that possible? Did she possess some healing capability?
She didn't think she did anything. She just remembered coming for training the day before. If anything happened, it must have happened over night.
"I'm sorry General but I do not know." She said truthfully.
Demons could tell lies and truth apart. She wasn't lying. The general looked at her deeply.
"Shannon." He called and Shannon stepped forward. "Give me your sword." He said. Shannon unsheathed her sword and gave it to him.
Arianna looked at him in fear. Wasn't he too ruthless? She was still thinking when she felt the sword being pushed in her chest. The pain felt oddly familiar.
She screamed and held the edge of the sword. The general didn't even bother with her. He pulled the sword out the next second.
She was in a lot of pain. She fell on her knees and held her chest area. After a while, the pain seemed to have faded away. She looked down at her chest. The general reached forward and tore open her shirt by a fraction, exposing the area where her heart was located.
There was no sign of being stabbed. He once again forced the sword into her chest and Arianna screamed again. But miraculously, before everyone's eyes, the wound healed and disappeared.
"Take her away." He said to Shannon.
Shannon picked Arianna up and walked away. Arianna was left inside a room with a single chair. The chair was in the middle of the room.
She scanned the room. She stood there for some time wondering what she had to do. Should she just stand there and wait or sit down? She was contemplating.
She decided to stand after much thought. So she stood and stood and stood.
After what seemed like hours, the door was pushed open and the general and major general walked in.
General Zord looked at the human. She was different. Very different. His mind drifted to the meeting that happened about an hour ago.
...
"This human... there is something about her that I cannot fathom." Faye, the only official who dared to speak before the general, began.
"Yes. She is quite mysterious."
"No human has ever been able to heal so quickly. She healed even faster than we do." Another official, Dante said.
"Being able to survive in the wastelands empty-handed. Even for us, it would be no small feat. There must be something wrong." Another said.
And soon the air became quite noisy. They were all voicing their opinions. Chattering on and on about how mysterious Arianna was.
The general raised his hand signalling everyone to go silent.
"The human didn't meet any special beasts or plants." He began. "The pecking marks, they were made by the Three Eyed Hawks. She was covered in mud. She must have fallen into The Swamp Of Despondency. There were large claw marks on her back, caused by The Two-headed Wolves. The bottom of her feet were scratched and swollen, she must have fallen down The Abyss Of Endless Regret. There was a faint smell of limestone on her, she must have gone into The Living Limestone Cave." The general said word after word calmly.
"Every beast she encountered were low-grade beasts. Although they were enough to kill her, it wasn't impossible to survive. What bothers me is why the high grade beasts didn't come to attack her. Where they too lazy to care about an ordinary human or where they afraid of approaching a formidable enemy?" The general said.
"I think..." An official began but was interrupted by General Zord.
"The thing is, every animal, every thing did exactly the opposite of what they would do. The hawks were naturally reserved. They never attack large preys even if they were humans, but they attacked her. The swamp always drowns a person's soul in it. Only someone with a strong will can survive it. The wolves never attack on impulse. They simply wait for their prey to lose their guard and then they would attack. The abyss never gives anyone a chance. Standing on one stepping stone means falling on another. It fills one with endless regret. And the cave, the stalagmites and stalactites are alive. They close up into pillars when a person walks into them. Everything she encountered was capable enough to kill her but they didn't. She is..." The general said but didn't complete his sentence.
"Didn't get attacked by The Long Tailed Scorpion. From the terrain she was in, she should have come across The Gray headed Snake. But she didn't get attacked by it. Didn't get attacked by The Red mouthed Koalas. Didn't get attacked by The Flaming Lions. The Aggressive Apes... The Loch Ness Monster." A number of animals more were called. "Even the Towering Bamboo Ants. Nothing. She faced nothing." Faye said.
"Why would beasts so powerful cower away from a human?" Dante asked.
"Yes."
"It's too mysterious."
More and more voices rang in the air and the general once again raised his hand to signal them to keep quiet.
"She has the ability to heal. We must run a test on her."
"Yet, we do not have any equipment or even a room for doing so." Saidra said.
"We must notify the higher-ups." Another official, Hachar said.
"We shall notify noone." General Zord said with an air of finality.
"Saidra, we will bring her blood to you. Drink it. Explain to us the feeling you get." General Zord said.
"But general, if our blood is not compatible, I could die." Saidra said.
Besides, they were demons. They had a slightly different circulatory system and digestive system from that of the humans. If one drank blood, blood was bound to circulate. It could in no way be completely digested.
"Then so be it." General Zord said and stood up.
He left the room leaving people's hearts hanging in their throats.
...
"Human, stretch forth your hand." He ordered.
Arianna brought forth her hand obediently and in some fear.
General Zord took a sharp dagger and instantly made a deep cut on her hand. The major general put a bowl underneath. The general put his fingers on both sides of the cut and pulled it apart allowing the blood to flow faster.
"Ahhh!" Arianna screamed in tears.
The general held it open for some time before the wound started to heal. He took the dagger and cut it open again. This treatment continued for some minutes before the bowl was half filled.
Arianna's back was drenched in cold sweat, her face pale. Although her wounds would heal quickly, it was still painful to be cut over and over again. And the healing did not replace the blood so she was quite weak.
The general left her hand and left the room.
...
The major general pushed the bowl in front of Saidra.
"Drink." General Zord said one word.
"General, I think we should rethink this." Hachar said.
Other officials also voiced their disapproval.
"Will you drink it or not?" General Zord ignored the reproaches of his officials and asked Saidra.
"I'm sorry General but I won't." Saidra said.
The general gave a cold bark of laughter.
"Faye." The general called.
Faye stood up from her chair and walked behind Saidra. Before one could call Saidra, she had already pulled out her dagger and slit his throat. She managed to cut open his left jugular vein in one swipe.
Saidra's dead body fell over with a loud thud, his eyes wide in shock, his face frozen with an unchanging expression of disbelief.