III

Anger, i could see it in her eyes, red sparkles filling them . The creature was running fast towards us pissed by the pain my first drager made, she dodged the second one and flew next to me spreading her bat wings. Baekhyun was faster then me, he dashed forward and jumped on the creature ,crushing her into the wet ground.

She tried to stick her sharp nails in Baek's torso but he retreated quickly. That's when i jumped in front of the feared creature and studied her in a blink of an eye, I thought about all her weak spots and clenched my hands on my knife that was lightly sparkling in the dim light.

The creature moved fast. So fast that I nearly missed seeing it. But the visions began along with the fight and my body seems to react on its own. I slid to my right, opposite the direction she was trying to reach and saw her next move with the help of my ability, she was about to stretch my shoulder with her long claws that where about the size of my knife.

But i stopped her attack at time with one of my dragers making a deep wound in her arm and sticking another one of my dagger in her side. Baekhyun was right behind her ,he ripped one of her wings off with his strong jaw and spun around to deepen his claws in her ribs . Right at that moment something jumped on my back and i crashed along with it in a pond made by the rain ,i realized it was another aswang as soon as her claws shoot in front of my face ,missing by inches away.

I used this moment to entirely cut her wrist and she backed off groaning in pain, leaving her arm stuck in the ground next to me. I laughed as the creature looked around to find a way out of the village once she saw her 'friend' being ripped apart by Baekhyun, he killed the first creature and was now looking at the remaining one with hungry eyes.

I had another quick vision and dashed immediately at the back of the creature "Trying to get away ?" i hissed at her back, grabbing one of her wings and ripping it apart with my knife while Baekhyun was running in front of her showing his sharp teeth .The aswang tried a finnal attack but i was aware of it and duge it turning on her right side and stucking my dragger in and quickly backed off as Baekhyun jumped on her ripping her head off.

He raised from the dead body of the creature and searched the area "Done." he whispered and immediately turned his head towards me and checked for wounds with his eyes ,like he always does.His gorgeous black fur was stained with dark blood along with his claws and canines, his deep blue eyes where screaming danger and the strange black smoke around him was getting denser .

This happened after every fight, that's when Baekhyun's true self showed up. He was an animal and a bloody killer.There was one time when i was afraid of him, i still remember all the fear i had towards him . I stared at Baekhyun as  he switched his attention ,i could see his figure now ,slightly blurry because the smoke was still lingering around him once he transformed.

Black strands of hair were covering his slightly sweaty forehead and I watched him as he brushed the blood that covered the smooth and fair skin of his cheek. The wind carried the fresh smell of blood , that smell filled my lungs and i gulped down as Baekhyun makes his way towards me.I started in his eyes full of hate and anger but they suddenly softened. He stretched out his hand to my hair, his eyes where now filled with love and his beautiful smile cured all my fear.He suddenly pulled one of my strands and looked at me disgusted "Gosh you look awful, stand up already."

Good, he was back."You don't look better ,stupid cat." i said punching his chest.Baek frowned at me, wanting to push me with his elbow, but I was faster, I caught his arm and took it back. I started grinning and Baek whimpered at the small pain.

"Next time don't mess with people who can see the future." I said releasing him.Only when we finished our little quarrel we saw the haze of people that gathered around us. After a few awkward seconds of silence, a tall, well-built man began to applaud and cheer us and everyone followed him.We looked at each other confused, carefully analyzing the faces around us, not knowing what happened.

"Damn, ten minutes ago they looked at us as the greatest criminals, and now they cheer us like we are kings or something." Baek whispered softly in my ear on a slightly mocking tone. After the crowd calmed, the same man that began to cheer us earlier separated from the crowd, walked towards us and began speaking in a thick voice as we shook hands.

" Thank you, thank you so much. Without you we wouldn't be able to face those terrible monsters, and I'm afraid that my child would not have survived in their claws." he said bowing a few times.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I was immediately interrupted by Baek which transformed into a jerk ,pulling all sorts of stupid things out of his  mouth."Yeah, that's right, cheer us.That was a fierce battle. You were lucky we where around and we saved you from that disaster.It wasn't a big de- ouch !" i didn't wait for him to finish the sentance, I slapped his shoulder shooting angry glares.

"What ?! It's the truth." 

"Stupid cat !" I said rolling my eyes and turned back to face the man with a shy smile."It's not a big deal, we are happy that we could help you." i said and the man shook my hand another time ."You have no idea how grateful we are. Is there any way that we can repay you?" I didn't think too much ,knowing already what we needed.

"We would like to know the direction to Axis. Our train derailed and currently we have no idea where to go." I said scratching my neck slightly.He frowned and looked at  both of us from head to toe "I assume you're not from around here .I'll give you a friendly advice. Nobody wants to go there." I looked at him strange, though somehow I expected a similar response.

"We came for the tournament." I said awkwardly smiling. The people around us let out a sound of surprise and some people further back began to whisper,i already started seeing fear in the eyes.I saw a trace of hesitation even on the man's face, but finally that image tamed and he began to speak.

"Axis is a two-hour drive from here. But this late at night no one will take you there, and walking is too risky.The night is more dangerous than the day, not knowing what creature can appear in front of you and tear you to pieces.I would propose to stay in town tonight and I'll take you there tomorrow morning. You can sleep at the inn, with my family." 

I hesitate a little."I don't know what to say. We do not want to cause any trouble." The man quickly shook his head in disagreement.
"I don't want to hear anything. You saved my village and my child. I must repay this somehow ."

I looked at Baekhyun and he nodded at the man's words.I stayed a little on my thoughts and finally ,we agreed to stay.We took our backpacks and in 10 minutes we were at the inn.They gived us a quite spacious room with a double bed placed in the center.It was framed by two tiny bedside tables, and somewhere in a corner was a tiny table with two chairs made out of solid wood.

I threw myself noisy on the bed , it cracked slightly under my weight. Baek climbed near me burying his nose in my hair and putting a paw over my arm."This was a long day." I sighed, gently his back ."All I want now is to take a bath and sleep. " I continued, closing my eyes. 

"And the food?" Baek asked lifting his head and giving me the look i couldn't resist those wide blue eyes staring at me.Just at that moment my stomach began to protest and my thoughts flew to the untouched food that we leave behind when those monsters appeared.

After a few minutes of idleness I sat up, I took Baek in his arms, and went down to the bar to order something , but in my surprise the food was already there and i looked at the man's wife and a warm smile crawled up on her .We started to eat and the owner of the inn joined us a few moments after.

"Since we haven't formally presented." he said smiling. "I am Woobin, the village chief, but I think you have already guessed that.And you ..?"

"My name is Gain, and this little cat is Baekhyun." I said, gently patting his head.Baek growled at me, but he was too preoccupied with his food so he left me alone and didn't say anything.Woobin laughed at our interaction, but soon took a serious face and looked at me intensely.

"And why a girl as pretty as you would want to hook up the exodus?" he asked and I could see  the suspicion in his eyes.
"I want to show them humans aren't helpless and they shouldn't be treated that way" . I lied the man, munching on my food.I must do that in order to protect the secret.I could see the amazement on his face. He certainly did not expect this.

"Fascinating. I've never met anyone like that. If you need any advice, they are all at your disposal."i placed the fork down and swallowed "Actually i want to ask a few questions about Exodus." He nodded raising his glass of beer "Well my daughter is a maid at the castle so i can help you with that. Im listening," he said, glupping the last drop of beer.

I took a shaky breath and started "I know there are seven, all magical beings. And I know something about their leader, Kai." i said, thinking of all the things said by our leader."Ok, first of all. Kai is a fallen angel, not a demon as everyone tends to believe and that boy's sin is the cruelest, but we are not allowed to talk about this. You must find it by yourself."

"Got it. Anything else?" i said thinking about the sin he mentioned.

"The closest members of his group are Sehun and Luhan, Kai trusts them the most.Sehun is a demon, a merciless one. At first Kai wasn't that bad but growing up with Sehun , he attracted him to sin even more.Basically ...they kill just for fun. On the other hand Luhan is a vampire. Just like Sehun, Luhan is kai's old friend. Together, the trio created Exodus , the rest joined along the way.

Kyungsoo is a ghost.We don't know anything about him. He's very quiet and doesn't make its appearance out of the palace . Then we have Chanyeol. The noisiest one. He's an elf. We have no idea how he joined Exodus. He's a cheerful type of person and animal lover, he handles the bow so well that you could say he was born with it in hand, but i'm sure he has his dark past. Next is Lay. A wizard specialized in healing and the last but not least is Tao.We don't know a lot about him, just that he's a werewolf and has a bad humor.

"Ugh, i hate werewolves, they stink , the smell of a wet dog." Baek commented jumping on my lap.

"That's all I know about Exodus. Any other questions?" Woobin asked raising his brows. "No, I don’t think so." i wispered my words and Woobin suddenly stood up."Ok, then I'll leave you. I'm going to retire to my room. Tomorrow we leave early so sleep well." I said good night and continued eating.

"I'll go on a little walk." said Baek after eating and jumped out the window into the mists of the night.

I went alone into the room and straight to the bathroom , feeling the need to take a relaxing bath after all the that happened today. I the water to flow and I slowly started taking off my clothes one by one.I entered the bath and left my body to slide in the hot water until it reached my chin.I don't know for how long I stood there, just me and my thoughts.

It came to my mind all the events that had taken place in the last 24 hours: The Vision, the future teller, the train derailment,that fire, Him...Who was he really? Why his eyes were so empty? Why I couldn't see anything in them. There really are people in this world without feelings? Was that guy Kai , the powerful, mighty Kai that everyone feared. And finally ..what great sin he committed ?

I had a headache from all those thoughts. I completely immersed in water and remain so until I ran out of air.

When i finally pulled my head out of the water, two big round eyes startled me .Baek studied me with those eyes on the other side of the bathtub.
"Kitty, what have we got into ? What if we fail? " a chill went through my whole body."If someone kills us in the tournament?" I made a little break willing to avoid those words. 

"Don't think that way"  Baekhyun said coming at me and sat down on my shoulder. "I'm sure we're gonna make." He said , rubbing his little head on mine encouraging me." And everyone speaks about us and how we saved the village.

We're small heroes." he told me trying to wink ,but he failed in doing it just because he was a cat now. I smiled a little, it was very nice the fact that he was trying to raise my morale. As a reward I his neck gently and he started purring in my ear."Ok but if we succeed in joining Exodus as you said-"

"We shurelly will." Baek interrupted me and gave me an encouraging look . 

"Ok,ok, when we join them , do you really think we can live with a sadistic demon, a hundred years old vampire,a ghost who