Important author note at the end. =)

CHAPTER 13. You Make It So Hard

Minzy and Layl usually followed Aigiel during his tracking trips. And though Aigiel at first had always a twisted face every time one of the female Alphas stood up and followed him out of the cavern, after five or six times with the same routine, he ended up waiting just outside of the cavern, with his arms crossed, to be joined by either of the Alphas.

His routine was the usual tracking route. First, he checked the more vulnerable spots, looking out for scents or easy spottable tracks left by any angel or demon that could be following them. Then he used to fly farther away, hiding inside the deep foliage of the tallest trees to listen and sniff for scents located two or three miles away. Now with one or two Alphas following him, he needed to be more cautious and he was avoiding getting too far, were one inexperienced move from any of the Alphas behind him could get them exposed.

“So, how does the Esh group usually moves?” Minzy had asked him during one of their water breaks. The two demons and the angel were sitting at the edge of one small river in the deep of the forest, relaxing the muscles of their backs and refreshing their faces.

Aigiel put down, over the grass, his small water can and gulped; small rivulets of water ran down his neck, “Well, it usually depends on the mission,” he said and clicked his tongue, “but he tends to prefer to divide the group in three.”

“The first group are the trackers, they always move at the front around four or five miles from the rest,” Aigiel explained.

“Like you do now…” Layl noted, she was wetting some of the feathers on the top part of her wings.

“Well yeah, I was once one of their top trackers,” he chuckled and took another gulp of water.

Minzy frowned and looked up at the sky, “How many trackers do they have?”

“Without me?” Aigiel raised one eyebrow, “Well they got Taur. He is good, probably as good as me, which worries me the most. I worked with him most of the time. He knows how to find hidden scents and, therefore, how to hide them. There is also Ha-jun, she was trained by Taur and me. She is still learning.”

“So only two?” Minzy pressed on.

Aigiel lifted his eyebrow and smirked, “Believe me, you got enough to worry with those two.”

Both Minzy and Layl pressed their lips and nodded in silence. Minzy snorted and emitted a faint growl of discontent.

“The second group is usually lead by Chaerin. She prefers to work with female demons so the second group is composed of the majority of the female soldiers.”

Layl raised her head and squinted her eyes at the mention of that name, “Chaerin? I think I know her.”

Aigiel nodded, “Esh’s only daughter. She was born as a pyromaniac. She controls fire.”

With a gasp, Layl turned to look at Minzy and both Alphas exchanged a private conversation with their eyes, with Minzy frowning deep and looking confused.

“Pyromania is an unusual power. It is said it has belonged to one demon lineage only,” Minzy whispered and shook her head; her wings twisted frontwards, enveloping slightly her body in a protective way.

Aigiel shrugged, “Well, she has been able to do that for a long while. We first noticed when he burnt the wings of two angels during her first battle. When we asked her how she answered she was angry.”

“That’s strange,” Layl nodded to herself but turned to look at Minzy once again, as if both Alphas knew something that Aigiel did not. Something important, “I think I remember someone telling about a demon setting people on fire during the attack to the eighth quadrant shelter.”

Their days were spent that way. The rain was still heavy at times but all the demons predicted they could start moving further in two or three days more, once the storm stopped completely. They needed to move. Meanwhile, Aigiel would tell them valuable things about Esh’s team and tactics while they flew with him. They learned about how without Youngbae, Esh’s team was short and weak on their tactics and strategical team. How Jiyong was one of the best soldiers Esh ever had, but it didn’t mean there weren’t still powerful demon soldiers with Esh who had been trained by Jiyong himself. How they preferred to move by feet and only during missions they moved by wings. And how there were around 10 or 15 other extremist groups dispersed in Shinshi, and most of them wouldn’t doubt to help Esh in finding them and punishing them for their betrayal.

The three of them returned to the camp before the dark settled up in the sky. And they were received by an unusual group of demons and angels trying to get along and tolerate each other’s presence. Some better than others. Seungri was the best-adapted individual so far. Jiyong and Daesung for their part were the worst cases. One was always scared whenever a demon got close, the other now had a permanent scowl on his face and was never around, if only to grab some food or steal some glances at the white winged angel. It was, by all means, an entertaining sight for Aigiel.

“I need to talk to you in private,” Daesung whispered to Seungri one night after all of them had eaten the earthy broth Layl had prepared for them.

Seungri turned to look at his nervous friend and blinked rapidly, “What is it?”, he asked in a low voice.

Daesung shook his head and his eyes searched for Seunghyun, who was frowning and sharpening his knives while talking with Maeum, at the other side of the camp.

“Somewhere more private,” emphasized Daesung, now looking at SooJoo who was looking back at them with curious eyes. Daesung shivered and looked down, once again, getting all flustered whenever he was the focus of attention of any of the demons. Seungri sighed and rubbed his temples.

“You seriously need to calm down. They won’t hurt you,” he said and poked at Daesung side, which made the angel squirm and snort a laugh.

“But Seunghyun says….”

“Seunghyun is an arrogant ,” Seungri rolled his eyes, his smile unwavering, “I like the guy but he is so full of self-pride one of these days he will end up combusting.”

Daesung frowned and the tips of his ears went read, “He is a nice guy,” he complained, “Your demon alpha is way more arrogant than him. Look around, he isn’t even eating with us.”

Seungri did raise his head and looked for Jiyong. And, certainly, the demon wasn’t any close. And he hadn’t been for many days already. Despite having allowed them to stay, he was avoiding any type of contact with the Alphas. And with it, he was avoiding also his own friends. And that pinched something in Seungri’s heart. Why couldn’t he, at least, try? At times, Seungri wondered if it was unfair to ask Jiyong to make an effort. If he was, in some way, being cruel to the demon.

“Seungri,” Daesung shook him out of his thoughts. He was pulling him to stand up. “They are gone, let’s go,” he said and pointed at the spot where Seunghyun had been sitting minutes ago which was now empty, “Let’s go, I need to show you something.”

Seungri stood up quickly and looked at SooJoo, who was pretending not to see them but finally looked up and smiled at him in complicity. Seungri nodded and murmured an “I’ll be back soon,” and SooJoo nodded her head and caught Aigiel’s and Youngbae’s attention to distract the demons from noticing their departure.

They walked down the cavern to a barren spot just under the spot where Aigiel liked to keep watch late at night. The place wasn’t far from the entrance of the cavern, but it was hidden behind some huge boulders arranged into a circle. If any of the demons or alphas looked down, they won’t be able to see them.

“So, what is it?” Seungri asked and sat down, feeling anxious enough, and once or twice looked around for any strange sounds.

“I… I was able to recover these two,” Daesung said and opened a satchel around his hips, one that Seungri hadn’t noticed before. From inside Daesung took out two small books, “I thought you would want them back.”

Seungri’s eyes brightened at the sight of both books in front of him. He extended his arms and grabbed them quickly, running his fingers over the covers, “The ones the old demon gave to me. How did you…”

“I was able to go back to our room after the-the attack of the de-demons. I remembered how they looked and I thought they might…” Daesung scratched one of his arms and shrugged, “You know, be helpful in some way.”

“Thank you,” Seungri sighed and looked adoringly at the books, “I missed reading so much.”

Daesung smiled shyly and sat down next to his friend, “I’m glad I was helpful. You know? Around so many powerful angels and demons one can’t end up but feeling nothing but a heavy burden,” he sighed.

Seungri’s smile faltered at that and his eyes froze and became glassy, “You are not the only one,” he whispered in a strained voice. His friend tilted his head and his eyes studied his face for a moment.

“But…,” he stopped and his lips, “I mean, you got this pair of awesome wings and everyone wants you now… And you are so popular and important for some unknown reason and…”

“You think I want this?” Seungri whispered, his eyes kept looking down at the floor but his voice got an agitated edge to it, “All this attention, being separated from my family, being a defenceless prey of some bull extremist group or plenty of them, having a bond with a demon who doesn’t want to have anything to do with angels… always feeling his discomfort and his unconscious rejection,” Seungri voice cracked and he scratched the mark over his arm with frustration.

“I don’t want this, Dae. I never asked for this,” Seungri looked up with foggy eyes, a tear trailed down his cheek, “And yet I have to look strong and not be a whining angel for them. They don’t need me crying around,” he sighed and cleaned roughly the tears from his face, “I hate being a damsel in distress. And that’s all I am now. All thanks to these stupid white wings,” he said and looked at the wings behind his back with anger and hatred.

“I’m sorry. I just…” Daesung choked and sighed, his hands moved over his tights, “I wish we could be of more use.”

“I wished so too,” Seungri murmured and enveloped his friend with his right wing. Deasung turned and smiled at him. His own left wing looking for the comfort given by his friend.

The night got darker but none of them felt compelled to move back inside the cavern. The air was refreshing to the thoughts and not being surrounded by overprotective and more strong and powerful demons and angels if only for a few minutes, was something both youngsters needed desperately.

“Do you…” Daesung murmured, his arms resting behind his head, both wings stretched to each side, “Do you wonder about why were you born with those wings?”

Seungri became rigid by his side, and exhaled a puff of air, “Yeah. Sometimes I wonder.”

“Why are they so interested in you? What is it such a… important thing?” Daesung asked. His questions weren’t meant to be answered but only reflected the agitation of his thoughts and his confusion. Ones that Seungri shared, multiplied.

“There you are!” Maeum’s voice surprised both of them behind their backs and both turned immediately to stare at the angel, who was staring at them with arms crossed and a disapproving scowl on his face, “Seunghyun, Aigiel, and Jiyong are all looking for you,” he scolded them, while his eyes scanned both of them, Seungri supposed looking for any injuries, but his eyes fell and stopped on the books resting by Seungri’s side.

“What is that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Seungri grabbed the books and hid them behind his wings, “Nothing,” he choked.

“What is that?” Maeum asked again, this time his voice got a serious, demanding tone and he stretched his hand in front of him, expectant.

“I…” Seungri stammered and glanced at his friend and then at the floor, “Just… some books,” he sighed defeated and showed the two books, giving them to Maeum reluctantly.

The angel Alpha took the book and inspected the covers with a set jaw and clear distrust. His fingers ran over the covers slowly, he opened them and flicked through the pages reading some fragments; while his scowl grew deeper and more serious, “Who gave you this?” he said, still flicking the pages of the books.

“I bought them… from a bookstore at the eighth Quadrant.”

Maeum shot a suspecting glance at Jiyong and pressed his lips together, closing the book and gave them back to Seungri. Who took them immediately and pressed them to his chest.

“Those books can’t be found in random bookstores, Seungri. No matter the way you got them, don’t let people know you have them. Be cautious,” Maeum told him, staring worriedly at him, “I am serious, Seungri. Keep those hidden.”

“Y-yes, Maeum,” Seungri answered and lowered his head and wings in apology. By his side, Daesung squirmed and looked terribly scared and uncomfortable.

“And Seungri,” the Alpha added, “Don’t let your curiosity take away your sense of caution.  One thing is to be curious and another is to be foolish. Stay alert,” Maeum told him, never had he had the edge of seriousness that his voice had at that moment.

“They are good,” Seungri replied and frowned, “They are not dangerous!”

Maeum exhaled and grabbed Seungri by the shoulders, “Look at me,” he demanded and Seungri complied, the anger just visible in his eyes.

“Maybe they are not. But the majority of demons are a danger for you. The majority of them would want you dead. You gotta keep that in your m