Depthless Hunger

This was the worst possible environment to test her mastery of the Prana Jewels, but Omilaena had no choice. Zae Zin Nim was in terrible condition, already unconscious in Kai's arms. Her soul had come off the Kama Altar strong, but she'd pushed her new ability far too hard too fast. That left her even more vulnerable to the poisons flowing through her body.

"Have her drink this," she said, thrusting a vial at Kai. Then she knelt down beside the smaller woman and did her best to work.

Omilaena slipped her necklace off and held it in one hand while she pulled out one of the black spikes in Zae Zin Nim's shoulder. As soon as the spike was out, she pressed the sapphire pendant against the wound and tried to draw on the power resonating within her soul.

Thankfully the basic principle worked immediately: all the poison in the injury was drawn into the pendant and absorbed in seconds. She could work with that later, but there was no time. Omilaena removed the second spike and repeated the procedure until she'd absorbed the majority of the toxicity.

Unfortunately, more poison had already worked into Zae Zin Nim's system and harmed her body. After hesitating the briefest of moments, Omilaena applied the pendant to the other woman's neck, then her stomach where her robes had been cut open. That managed to extract a little more, but not as effectively. This wouldn't be enough.

"Is she going to be alright?" Kai asked anxiously.

"She'll live, the question is damage." Omilaena got a new idea and pulled off her choker, then placed it around Zae Zin Nim's neck instead. The glittering blue band settled into place, slowing the absorption of poison within her body. That was the best she could do for now.

"Is there anything else we can do?"

"Not here." Omilaena glanced around at the shocked monks and terrified peasants... it was obvious they were done at the Kama Altar. They'd won a decisive victory, but the demons would be back. Probably even sooner than before now that they sensed weakness. "Alright, listen. You carry her and I'll be on your back."

After Kai cradled Zae Zin Nim to his chest, Omilaena wrapped her arms around his neck and hung from his back. He burst away with his new technique, tearing through the air so hard that the wind he formed stung her skin. This was a bit more dignified than being carried, and more importantly it would be gentler on Zae Zin Nim.

A brutal run later, they were far away from the Kama Altar. Zae Zin Nim had gone to sleep and her condition hadn't deteriorated, but it was still tenuous. When they reached a small forest, Kai pulled blankets out of his spatial ring and settled her down as gently as possible.

"What do you need to help her?" he asked. "Wait, no - we need to figure out how they're finding us first, so we know how much time we have."

"Actually, I know the answer to that." Omilaena still remembered the look Troulon had shot at her, a mix of anger and betrayal. In a sense, that was one of many relationships she'd screwed up - had she behaved a little differently, he might have been a valuable ally for them.

Somehow she actually had Kai and Zae Zin Nim on her side. She couldn't lose them here.

"So what is it?" Kai asked.

"Troulon is a Gray Demon, so he feeds on minds. He wasn't able to feed on mine, but we must have connected enough that he's able to track me. It's obviously not precise, but if they get any clues he can hone in on my essence."

"Is there anything we can do to sever that?"

"Unless I can replicate whatever you did with Anaelina, no. Not easily." Omilaena considered her options and came to the obvious conclusion. "One thing I can do is suppress myself and hide, which will work so long as I don't have to fight. That would give me time to fully heal Zin Nim, but that means you'll be on your own for a while."

"Fine." Kai stood up, his eyes hard again. "Whatever you need."

She didn't deserve either of them. Omilaena rubbed the sapphire pendant, feeling the poison contained within and for once not thinking about the potential power. She'd save them, no matter what it took.

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It took them several days to believe they'd completely hidden from the demons, then another two days to find an appropriate hiding spot. Eventually, far away from the main roads of the Commonwealth, Omilaena discovered a cavern filled with gentle chakra that she said would hide them both. It had soft beds of moss and a natural pool in the interior, so Kai hoped that it would be safe for them.

Then he had to step away, because that was the best thing he could do for his wives. Sometimes it felt bizarre to think that way, but somehow that was the truth. They were having the worst honeymoon in the world, but the important thing was their commitment to one another.

So Kai loped far from their location in order to make sure the demons didn't track them down. Omilaena was fairly sure she could hide herself and only worried if Troulon had long periods of time to try to sense for her. So long as Kai was roaming the countryside, causing trouble, the demons would have no reason to go hunting in tiny random caves.

Just to make sure he was noticed, Kai started by torching another demon fort. But the truth was that he had a limited appetite for that sort of thing: it was no challenge and it barely harmed the demons' military capabilities. Once he managed to suppress his anxiety over Zae Zin Nim, he began to think about what strategies he could deploy against them.

Eventually he happened across a group of merchants nervously crossing the uncontrolled space. Kai pretended to hire on as a guard, accepting the low rates they offered because the real coin he wanted was information. What he learned troubled him.

Apparently war had broken out between the Commonwealth of Traebor and the Elven Wilds, completely locking up northern trade. There was no word on the reason and the merchants seemed to believe it was just more international politics, but Kai couldn't help but wonder if he had been partially responsible. If the demons had recognized him, which they would have since Anaelina's first encounter, then they might well have blamed the elves.

That should have given him an additional sense of purpose - the more demons and other forces he was drawing away from the front lines, the more he was helping the elves. Yet it all felt so futile... would he or anyone else be better off at the end of a war like this?

The merchants largely seemed to agree. They had no love for the demons and especially the new CTG under Anaelina, but they expected the elves to be even worse. Most of them seemed to just hope that it would all be over soon, one way or another. He didn't tell them that based on what he knew, this war was likely to extend for a long time.

After a week Kai was beginning to wonder if he should go back to check on Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena. Crossing the wilderness with the merchants wasn't giving him any new information and there had been no sightings of demons. It was easy to make himself anxious and imagine that he had been ignored and the demons had pursued his wives instead.

So when he saw the flying ships on the horizon, he was relieved in an odd sense. "Go!" Kai ordered all the merchants and their guards. "I'll fight them here."

They looked at him like he was mad, and a few of the guards even tried to convince him otherwise, but in the end there were demons bearing down on them and they weren't going to stay to let themselves get killed. Kai began running at an easy pace to put some distance between them.

The most important question was who was in the palace-like ship, which was difficult to see from the ground. He assumed they were smart enough to have noticed how his Thunderbird's Wings ability worked and tried to develop countermeasures, so he didn't throw himself toward it. Instead he just used his spiritual sight to inspect who he could.

It felt like a half dozen weaker soldiers, well under 400 Power, but the three remaining people entirely outweighed that. The only one who wasn't hiding his soul was Troulon - over 700 Power was nothing to be lightly dismissed. Yet the other two... they seemed to be stronger, and their shrouds felt familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly who they were.

As it turned out, he didn't need to. The palace-like ship descended toward him, not yet having attacked. Troulon bent over the side, adjusting one sleeve and inspecting him through his spectacles.

"She's not here," he announced. "You think you can defend them?"

"I can try," Kai said, but his attention was on the other two.

Gorutiel stood at the back with his arms folded, and when he saw Kai he shook his head as if disappointed. Some of the other fighters looked ready to attack, but he stayed back. Unfortunately, the same didn't apply to the last demon.

"Where?" Lilaetiel hurled herself out of the ship, trying to rake her qi claws through Kai.

He dodged aside easily enough with his new speed, but underestimated just how fast she'd pivot. Those claws reached for his chest again and he barely managed to grasp her wrists. The demoness had immense strength, driven further by the madness in her eyes. Her claws grasped at the air as if trying to crawl toward him, but she wasn't using her full strength.

"I can smell her on you!" Lilaetiel hissed. "Where is she?"

"You'll find out when she kills you," Kai told the whole group. Then he leapt back, activated Thunderbird's Wings, and shot away at top speed with the demons in hot pursuit.

Surviving against the demonic hunt would be difficult, but the war in the north could be even more brutal, and Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena might have the most difficult challenge. All he could do was accomplish his part and hope it was enough.

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