The villagers cheered me and Noemi as we rode by them. We got off our horses and mingled with the villagers. The big buffoon never talked to me but made passes at Noemi, as I just chuckled a little bit. The villagers handed out wooden plates, nothing of fancy design, just roughly rounded, so you could put food on. The villagers let Noemi and I load up our plates first.
The meat had a nice smoky flavor to it, everything else was unseasoned or maybe I was just spoiled by Noemi’s cooking. They passed around a liquid, that was neither wine, beer or any other alcoholic beverage today, but it had an alcoholic taste to it. I drank two or three cups just because it tasted great but had no effect on me. Noemi was drunk after two and the creeper buffoon was upon her, so kept my eyes on him. She was definitely drunk as she playfully patted his chest and squeezed his biceps. Then another villager bumped into me, spilling my food on the ground. They apologized as they picked up the mess they made. I then turned my attention back Noemi and the buffoon, and they were gone.
Something didn’t sit right with me and strained my ears to listen, I could hear the rustling of bushes beyond the lights cast. I moved fast and went looking for Noemi. After a quick search, I saw the buffoon face down, ass in the air, moving about, next to a tree. I thought Noemi was under him but as I got closer, I saw puddle of blood under him. He gasped and turned to his side, he was holding his throat, which was slashed open. I looked next to him and Noemi was standing up, torn shirt, busted lip, bloodied knife in hand and wild-eyed, sinister smile, look on her face.
“Are you okay?” I asked, but didn’t try to reach out for her.
“Oh, I’m fine, he put up a little bit of a fight, but I got the better of him. I knew he was a rapist from the get-go, it’s something I like to do, hunt them down, make them feel useless.”
“Were you…?” I went to go ask a question but Noemi answered it for me before I could finish.
“Yes, by my own father, then two nights later, I slit his throat and I found joy in watching him bleed out.”
“I killed those who raped me,” I said, not to one-up her, but to let her know she wasn’t alone.
“You were raped?”
“Yes, by two, whole towns,” I said. We went and sat down by a tree and we exchanged out stories in greater detail. I understood her hate for most men, and she understood my hate for everyone. I blamed Lilith for putting thoughts like that in people’s heads a hundred years earlier and they still thought it was okay to do.
“What should we do with his body?” Noemi asked, “I don’t to leave it here for them to find.”
“I will take care of it,” I said, knowing his body would be too hard for her to move.
“SABOR!” I called and after a minute, he came trotting through the bushes. I tied the buffoon’s ankles together then climbed up on Sabor. Together we headed to the river, I could have carried him, but I didn’t want to get my new clothes dirty. We waded out to the middle of river, where I let go of the rope that was tied to the buffoon. We watched a little as the body floated downstream, then headed back to where Noemi was. She had her horse, but wasn’t on it, she was patting its side and talking to it.
I got off Sabor and looked at Noemi, who, even though was sporting a busted lip, had a smile on her face, “I always feel better when I get rid of one of them, do you feel the same way about the demons?”
“I could kill them all and still wouldn’t feel satisfaction,” I said, “There are more than I expected, I’m going to be at this a long time.”
“At least you will be in good company,” Noemi said.
“Are you going to stick with me long?” I asked.
“Until the day I die, I’m glad we met, I’m glad we can get along,” she said.
“Same here,” I said, but a sad realization came to me that I’m either going watch her die in battle, or of old age. Derium and Mylicious could change people, give them the gift of immortality, but I didn’t have that ability, or I didn’t know how to do it at the time.
“I need rest though, do you not sleep?”
“No, I never have, I just watch as day slips into night, slips into day,” I said, in monotone voice.
I watched as she got a thick, fabric mat from the back of her horse and tossed it on the ground, she then used her clothes bag as pillow, “Can you at least come sit beside me, I won’t bite,” she said and patted the ground.
I walked over and actually laid beside her, she put her head on my chest and was soon asleep. I laid there for a while and then I noticed the animals started showing up. First there were birds and as the sun set, some nocturnal rodents, a few wondering pigs, then bats, they all gravitated to the area, they would hang out around me a bit and then take off.
I was lost in their presence, when I heard a scream from the village. Noemi shot her head up and I got up quickly. She
