Chapter 7: Fire

Luti’s eyes flew open. At the man’s voice, trees split in half with cracks. With a boom of cannon fire, men riding black horses charged into the forest all at once.

Human groans and animal screams filled the air. Fires burned everywhere, and mountains collapsed. Everything cried out in its death throes, while thunder rolled and a storm raged in the sky.

Even so, the men on black horses did not slow. The forest was burning.

Sorotel noticed the thick smoke, tensed his whole body, and shot up into the sky. In an instant he reached the top of the Cheonchu tree, Luti in his arms, and bared his fangs with a growl.

“…This can’t be happening.”

Animals collapsed, and the men cut them down without restraint. Human screams and the hoofbeats of black horses mixed with cruelty. Silent screams spread from below, turning the place into a hellfire. At this rate, nothing would remain. Everyone would die, vanish, rot away, and be sealed forever with this forest.

“So, Sorotel…”

In that moment, Luti’s hand, which had been holding the demon, slipped. Startled by the black smoke, Luti seemed to lose consciousness and began to fall.

“Human!”

Sorotel hurriedly grabbed Luti’s wrist. The strengthless body went limp, suspended in midair.

“Open your eyes!”

At Sorotel’s sharp voice, Luti’s eyes opened slightly. Seeing the flames blazing behind the demon, Luti’s eyes grew blurry again.

“The forest, the forest is…”

“Yes, hard to believe, but the forest is burning. It will probably collapse.”

The forest reflected in Luti’s eyes was not the forest Luti had known. The forest that had been so dependable, the forest that had given sunlight, the forest that had gifted clear air and clean wind, was turning black and dying. If it collapsed as the demon said, would Luti’s life end too? ‘What happened to Ru? My precious books, Ru’s ingredients…’

“Hey! Human!!”

Luti lost consciousness and slipped down again. They were so close to the ground that their earlier height seemed meaningless.

“Damn! Too fast!”

With a crash, the mountain began to collapse. The ground shook, and a fierce wind blew with a sound like the sky splitting apart.

Rumble!

With the rough sound of the black horses, everything was swept away. There was no time to delay. Someone had to survive. He was a demon, and the one riding on his back was human. Human and demon. The two coexisted. Humans aged and lost their wisdom, but demons did not. Humans died after a certain time, while demons enjoyed eternal life. But without such humans, a demon’s existence was meaningless. Only when both survived could he truly be a demon. As if he had made up his mind, Sorotel tugged at the human’s thin wrist.

“You might not hear me, but hold on tight.”

The demon raised his tail firmly and secured Luti. To keep from dropping them, he gripped even their wrist and put strength into his whole body. It was then, just as he tried to shoot up into the air at full speed with Luti.

Suddenly, with a boom, a huge iron cannonball flew toward them.

“Damn it!!”

He had to shoot up into the sky, but he could not avoid the cannonball exploding right in front of him. The iron mass was too large, and the fragments flying out blocked his view.

Sorotel drew a deep breath. He wondered if it really had to come to this, but his mind was already made up. Without hesitation, Sorotel pulled out one of his horns. Then he thrust it into Luti’s body.

“Ugh!”

The unconscious body trembled. When the sharp demon horn embedded itself in their body, Luti opened their eyes. A face stained with tears, and odd eyes. The blue and purple pupils, filled with terror, were looking only at him.

“Human. Pull yourself together and listen carefully.”

“So, Soro…”

“You must never pull it out until this is over. Understood?”

Tears welled up in the differently colored eyes. The beautiful purple eye seemed to cling to him, begging him not to go. Sorotel grasped Luti’s face in one hand.

“You go up first. I’ll follow…”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Another cannon fired. The largest mountain in the forest let out a huge sound and threatened to collapse. Afraid fragments would fly, Sorotel pulled Luti into the inner side of his black wings. At that moment, rough hoofbeats rang out, and a man’s voice came from nearby.

“Kill them all. Those with arms and legs cut off can be hung up alive.”

Suddenly, a man in a black uniform fluttering in the wind spotted Sorotel and Luti. When their eyes met, Sorotel hesitated, then pushed Luti away with all his strength. The small human body rose into the air with his horn still embedded in it. The sight of the human crying and screaming was fragile and slender. He was supposed to torment and wound humans, but he could not. He wanted to see the human with those sweet-looking eyes alive again. That was why. That was why he had embedded his horn to keep them alive.

That fragile human was just too… beautiful…

That young boy with shining hair was so dear to him…

Those small gestures, when he had cheekily proposed a deal, stuck in his mind…

Crash!

With the sound of cannons, men on black horses charged. Sorotel tore his gaze away from Luti. Then he shot toward the men on black horses at full speed, his fangs clenched tight.

The forest was destroyed.

Sorotel’s life was overturned just like that.

Luti flailed their arms and legs. Aware only that they were floating in the air, they struggled for a while and felt themselves slowly falling. As if the air that had been packed tight was loosening, their feet seemed to touch the ground, and with a soft thud they landed on the rotten earth.

The moment the body that had been drifting in the air touched the ground, hot emotions surged up. Everything had vanished and collapsed. The forest had been destroyed by invaders. Every animal had been beheaded, and the humans had burned to death or been buried under collapsed rocks and piles of debris, breathing their last.

Everything was broken. Even the water and air were polluted, making it hard to breathe. Their whole body was sticky, filled with an unknown smell that made them nauseous. Nothing existed anymore; only the remains that had died in the black flames were left behind cruelly.

“Ru…”

The thick smell of blood made them want to lose their mind. Misery outweighed the relief of being alive, and they buried their head in the ground and began to cry. Unable to bear the unbelievable devastation, they sobbed for a long time. How long had they cried? Their throat felt like it was burning. Thirst. Even in this misery, their body wanted water and told them they had to drink to survive.

Without stopping their crying, they wandered through the darkness. Clutching their parched throat, they barely forced strength into their legs and walked. The air had stopped moving and hung still, and the ground, still retaining heat, was hot.

They walked, pushing through smoke so thick they could not see ahead.

How far had they walked? Beyond their blurry vision, a horrific scene appeared. It was so cruel it looked like a hellfire. It was the corpse of the forest. A forest completely dead. Everything had burned, people had died, and animals had been slaughtered. Severed heads hung from trees, and beyond half-burned corpses, entrails had spilled out and hardened.

Luti, consumed by terror, sobbed and staggered forward.

Beyond the black mist, dead animal bodies kept appearing endlessly. The more they walked, the more clumps mixed with ash were stepped on. Luti screamed but desperately kept moving. Searching for drinkable water instead of polluted water, they climbed over corpses and reached the river.

When Luti reached the riverside, they collapsed. In the river, filled with traces of fire, red water flowed. The red stream flowing down from the upper forest was not water but almost blood.

Luti began to sob again. This water probably contained the blood of Landter, Swan, Deborah, and Ru. It must be mixed with the blood and flesh of unknown humans, and it might even contain the head of the water snake they had hated so much.

This water was the dead. It was disaster and a curse. Even so, Luti had to drink it. If they did not drink even this, they would truly die.

“Ru, I miss you… Ru… How am I supposed to live alone…”

Their body trembled with fear. Even so, instinct kept saying they had to drink to survive. Luti knelt. Then, as if resolved, they put their hand into the red river water.

With trembling hands, they scooped up the red water. Feeling it slip through their fingers, they could not bear it and collapsed. The cold water splashed, and their whole body grew wet. Then they felt pain below their collarbone. When the red water splashed onto their chest, something was caught at their fingertips along with a stinging pain. It was none other than the horn the demon Sorotel had embedded.

“So..Sorotel!”

Luti stopped crying and rummaged through their clothes. What they felt against bare skin was definitely it. Even checking again, it was the trace of the small demon. The hard horn was lodged firmly between their chest and collarbone, seated deep as if it would never come out.

When they thought that what touched their fingertips was Sorotel, their heart began to pound. After all, in this tragedy where everyone had died, Luti alone had survived. Surviving alone when even Sorotel had died was no different from Sorotel having saved their life.

Luti clutched the place where Sorotel’s horn was embedded. Realizing they were alive, they remembered the sharp fangs on that black face. They remembered how he moved quickly on his nimble limbs. The way he hummed, drunk on lollipops, the way he put on airs and called them an impudent human, his voice that was pleasant for a demon, the touch that had pulled them along, even his name that he had said was proof of their promise. They remembered it all.

Instead of pulling the horn out with force, Luti clenched their fist. Then they opened the fist and put their hand into the red water. Lukewarm, sticky red water came into their hand. They filled their palm with water and brought it to their mouth. A fishy smell of blood and wetness touched their lips. Luti closed their eyes and began to drink.

The small demon had given more than a promise.

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