Dawn- An age of Darkness

We were atop the roofs and running around. Some guards were following us through the roofs as well while others were on the ground. 

"These guys are very persistent."

"They are one of the finest of the country." Lianne definitely was proud if nothing else. 

We were literally running and they were one or two houses behind us. As Lianne said, they were good, very good.

"No shit."

"Yes, shit!" Even in this situation, Dick had the pleasure of being a dick and trying to be funny.

"Shut up!"

My hand was still numb. If I had to fight in this state, it would have been better to just surrender instead.

Just this once I was glad we had the big buy with us though. He was a demon but he was a demon with style. He was singlehandedly carrying all our stuff, running faster than us, and not to mention he wasn\'t complaining either. 

"At this rate, we might have to traverse through the sewers," Lianne said, dead serious as always.

"Yuck!" Dick yelled before I could. But the feeling was mutual. I did not want to be near the sewers, no sir.

"Hey, over here!" I heard a shout, but it was barely like a whisper. I recognized it.

"Guys." I signaled the three of them and they followed me while I followed the sound. 

They didn\'t question me and just followed my lead. I guess they trusted me more than I thought. Why so, I didn\'t understand. 

Before long we were above an alleyway and we jumped down. It was dark. The pursuers stopped right before the alleyway and looked around. They couldn\'t find us and went ahead. I guess these pursuers weren\'t really the best this country had to offer, after all.

Or maybe I was just too used to experiencing scenes like this in the movies.

Relieved, I caught my breath. 

A brat popped out of nowhere. "Hi, lady." He lifted his hand like the little kid he was. He hugged me tightly. For a second I was spooked. "I love you so much! Thank you for saving me, and my sister." He was very excited but didn\'t make too much sound.

I didn\'t feel any malice or lust in his approach so I refrained from hitting him. After all, his face was pressing against my very sensitive spots.

"This kid…" Dick grinded his teeth. "You lucky…you." He held back his curses. This might have been a record for him. 

I got straight to the point. "Anyway, thank you kid. Do you know a way out of the village without being seen?" I didn\'t know why but I got the feeling his kid knew his way around. And given the fact, I busted my ass trying to save him, I could at least demand this much. 

"The name\'s Bene. Nice to meet ya. And yeah, I can lead ya there. But I\'d be needing a kiss." He puffed his chest and presented himself. Even for a kid, he was bold. Hard to imagine this kid was being bullied just a few hours ago. Also, his dialect seemed awfully like the old man\'s. Maybe the old man was from a village like this too?

"The guts of the kid. Let\'s strangle him!" Dick made a fist and finally snapped. This was probably his limit.

But it was kind of commendable he could hold on for this long.

I almost chuckled. I didn\'t know why but this felt awfully comedic for me. 

But I still tried to mediate things. "Don\'t worry. He\'s not as evil as he looks to be." Of course, I was talking about Dick. "Anyway, my name\'s Daarc. Nice to meet you too. Now lead the way." We didn\'t have time to waste.

"Daarc? Is that a foreign name? I\'ve never heard of it…" He pondered for a minute. I didn\'t know how to respond. "Anyway, first comes payment. A kiss!"

"Hey don\'t be greedy. We saved your life!" Dick was prepared to punch this kid at a moment\'s notice, so Servesta had to hold him back. 

I ignored Dick. Bene was a kid and how much harm could a kiss do? "Sure."

I kissed his forehead and his face instantly turned red, flushed as it gets.

"Thi-thi-this way." He was breathing hard and shaking. I guess he wasn\'t expecting me to actually kiss him.

"Are kids supposed to be like that?" I asked aloud.

Dick puffed his chest and declared his superiority. "You\'ve seen nothing. When I was young I used to do this for a warm-up." Was this supposed to impress me? 

I\'m not even gonna imagine what you did afterward.

"Let\'s hope he doesn\'t end up being like you." Lianne eyeballed Dick and just went on ahead. 

Yeah, me too.

***

The kid led us through the alleyway. There were guards running around. But they didn\'t see us. This kid was good. 

We were almost caught seven times and it took a lot longer than I thought. But I was glad I didn\'t have to walk through the sewers. Really, really glad I didn\'t have to go through that experience.

And before long we got out of the village unseen. 

"Whoa! That was close." Dick sat on his behind on the solid ground. 

I had my hands on my knees. Who knew this whole thing would be so endearing. "Yeah. Very."

"Alright, lady. Goodbye…" Bene played with his toes looking down.

I guess this was far enough. 

"But first. What did your father do? The dragon was telling me he attacked him or something…"I was actually wondering it for a long while now. How or why would someone willingly attack a frigging dragon, in the first place?

"That\'s a lie!" He shouted but then calmed down again. "The dragon killed our goat. It was hunting… but then it ate my favorite cow. I loved it. My father loved it too. He was an expert hunter himself ya know. He fired off arrows to scare off the dragon but we didn\'t know it was that ferocious…" His eyes glittered.

Scare off a dragon, huh? 

I wanted to chuckle at their stupidity but after seeing the kid\'s face, I refrained from it.

"Both of you were pretty brave. But next time, think more about what\'ll happen to your family if you die fighting things like that." I got on my knees and patted his head.

Tears streamed from his eyes and fell on the floor. I couldn\'t bring myself to belittle his father. He might have done something stupid and others had to pay for it, but the kid didn\'t do anything wrong. After all, kids couldn\'t pick their parents.

He hugged me again. 

"It\'s okay." I hugged him back.

The others didn\'t say anything. 

"But how did you talk with it?" He wiped his tears. Snorts oozed through his nose. It was kind of disgusting but I tried my best to maintain my composure.

"Well let\'s just say it was magic."

"Whoa! Magic!" He looked too energetic. Lianne patted my shoulder, signaling me it was time. Even the kid understood. "Goodbye, lady."

"Take care of your sister. Bye…" It was short but I kind of liked the kid.. We were kind of similar as both of us lost our fathers at a young age.