Kath'tan turned away and pushed the fragile, reddened skin out of his thoughts, waiting to the side for the Vampire to scramble around packing up the tent. It had been two nights since he had been taken away from the battleground; if the men hadn't retreated at Captain Erkan's orders, then they had all been annihilated.
He couldn't say if anyone had seen the summoning circle spirit him away, even he hadn't noticed it until he fell through the portal. It meant that there was a possibility that the news of his death had been taken back to the city, to be reported to his father.
Duke Zazrel... Kath'tan could already picture his father's reaction to the report. His red eyes would gleam in approval, the look he generously gave to Kath'tan's half brothers, a look he had craved all his life, and one he would get only in death.
"I'm done," The Vampire's quiet voice broke into his thoughts, a silly smile on his face as he started his march, partly buried by the bag almost half the size of him.
Anger was a familiar emotion to Fiends, they were at their strongest when rage coursed through their veins. Kath'tan wasn't quick to anger, a strange attribute for a Wrath faction Fiend, but there was something about this foolish Vampire that infuriated him to no end.
He didn't give in to the emotion, walking behind the Vampire. He couldn't lose sight of his goal; this was merely a temporary arrangement, an inconvenience that would soon be over.
Reenergized and convinced that he had managed to get along with Kath'tan, Dulce was in a great mood, humming under his breath as he marched through a rough path in the woods. It wasn't often he didn't have to worry about being found out for being a Vampire- he didn't dare strike up a conversation with the Demon, but there had been no more threats, so he couldn't complain.
By mid-morning, they had made good progress. If Dulce hadn't needed to feed, and the rain hadn't fallen, they would have gotten to the next town already.
A jagged stone under his feet caught his attention, and he bent to pick it up so that Kath'tan wouldn't step on it as well. The glassy stone in his hand made his eyes widen. He had stumbled onto obsidian, an important ingredient for summonings.
Dulce was so happy because of this stroke of luck that he slowed to a stop, the gleaming black stone reflecting in his silver-blue eyes.
"I hope you have a good reason to stop," Kath'tan's low voice startled him out of his daze.
Dulce jumped and immediately started forward again, covertly hiding the hunk of obsidian. If an unpolished piece of the crystal was just lying in the path, it meant that there were rocks full of it nearby, but he didn't dare go off to look for them.
He walked even faster, his step springy, a secretive, little smile on his face. He also had his attention on the ground, looking around in hopes of luckily stumbling into more precious stones, he didn't even mind stepping on the jagged stones again.
Kath'tan caught glimpses of the Vampire's foolish expression, the dazed expression drawing attention to his lips that had regained color, a maddening dusky red. He turned away, reminding himself over and over that wringing the Vampire's neck would do nothing but delay them for a few hours, something he would rather avoid.
Unaware of the looming danger, Dulce kept looking around, his eyes sparkling when he found an unlikely mound of rocks a little off the path. Too excited to remember that he shouldn't get distracted, he hurried over to it, expecting to see more glassy stones.
He did see them, the crystals reflecting the few streams of sunlight that were filtered through the tree cover, but these crystals were an off-white color. He crouched and broke off a large piece that would have taken a pickaxe to dislodge, bringing the rock to his lips.
Kath'tan had been about to demand what the Vampire was doing when he caught sight of him licking rocks. Without bothering with words, he grabbed him by his travel bag and walked off in the direction they had previously been walking in, dropping him only when they were a distance from the pile of dirt.
The faint concern he felt was a first, but he couldn't help but wonder how the Vampire had stayed alive for so long. The only merits the Vampire possessed were his strength, which he never used, and his inability to die- the latter was certainly the only reason he had lived for so long.
Dulce right away resumed their journey, his smile even sillier as he hid away the second lucky rock he had found. He had used all the salt he had to preserve the sheep, so finding rock salt was as useful as finding more obsidian. If he found some herbs now, he could even carry out another summoning while they were on their journey.
A Hellhound would be far more pleasant company than a Fiend, and he wouldn't be all alone on his journey back to Dewmire. The more Dulce thought about it, the more it seemed like a great idea.
So when the skies started to darken, he jumped on the chance. "It's about to rain again, we should stop for a bit."
Kath'tan's anger was plain to see on his face, he couldn't help but think that the Vampire viewed this as a pleasant romp through the woods. But he would rather neither of them got wet again, so he gave in. The battle was long over, a few more hours would make no difference. "Fine."
"I saw a cave a short while back, that way neither of us will have to suffer the rain," Dulce spoke convincingly, putting a lot of effort into achieving what he wanted.
Kath'tan didn't give a response, but it was satisfactory enough for Dulce to giddily turn around and walk to the rocks he had seen in the distance. Not only was there a potential to find more obsidian, but he might even find a great opportunity to get his precious puppy.