The Demon Lord And His Hero

After Dinah had left, Syryn began to pack up everything in the room. He wanted to be prepared for a move to another room as soon as possible. Gosan was sleeping alone but Syryn found it unbearable to leave Lucien by himself even for a few minutes.

"Syryn," a small voice called out to him and it was like being hit by a bolt of lightning. Lucien was awake. The boy was sitting up on the bed and groggily rubbing his eyes. "I'm hungry."

"Ok, I'll get you something." The alchemist responded softly, afraid that he might scare the child back into sleep. The relief that was flooding his body felt like a shower of refreshing rain on a hot summer's day. "Don't fall asleep till you've had something, Lucien. I'll be right back." Syryn wasn't sure who it was that he was talking to. It sounded like Luci but it also could have been Red.

The redhead nodded and leaned his head on the wall. "I'll wait."

Syryn wasn't ashamed to raid the kitchen. He scared the cook by showing up through the back door and demanding to use the kitchen. After finding a lunch set that was meant for the village headman, Syryn did a little more threatening and took it away from the cook. "Tell the head man that Riaku's healer snatched his lunch. You'll be rewarded for your work if trouble doesn't come to find me."

The shocked cook nodded his head like he was pounding rice with his chin. "Yes sir, I'll tell him that a stray dog knocked his lunch over and I had to make a new one."

Syryn hadnt seen any stray dogs in the village but that was the cook's problem. "Very good. Come get your reward from me tomorrow when you serve me lunch again, and I want the same quality again."

The alchemist kicked the door open to his room because his hands were holding a tray that was topped with fresh fruits and a healthy lunch. The sound startled Lucien out of a daydream that involved travelling around the world.

"Are you still sleepy?" Syryn asked the boy while setting up a table with food.

"A little bit." Lucien crawled down from the bed and sat down to eat his meal at the table.

"Thank you, Syryn. This looks so good." The redhead smiled up at his brother. "And I'm sorry for worrying you."

"You're aware then of how much trouble you've given me by sleeping like Menak the cat kicker."

"Who?" Lucien asked with some confusion.

"Menak the cat kicker, the man who slept for a thousand years after kicking a cat." Milky sniffed the air and came to sit beside his clean food bowl. Blue eyes that were half closed stared at Syryn with meaning.

"Nevermind. Eat up, Luci. How long did Red say that you would be sleeping?" Syryn wasn't sure if they'd spoken of it but he took a stab in the dark and asked anyway.

"I dont know." Luci took a bite from a warm roasted chicken thigh that was buttery and fragrant. His tiny mouth was moist with grease from the chicken leg as he chewed on the soft meat. "Red told me that everything will be fine. He just needs to sleep for a while longer."

"And he didn't tell me that himself, why?"

"Maybe he didnt want to worry you," Luci answered. "I dont think I was supposed to fall asleep. Whatever is affecting him is affecting me as well but to a lesser degree."

Syryn fed Milky and Navi while he processed what Lucien had told him. "Is it the spell that's causing this?"

"Yes."

Of course, it was. Such a huge spell would have drained Red. The little liar had told him the only price was blood. It wasn't the whole truth. Blood was the price but so was the magic needed to connect the entire setup.

Fearing that the boy wouldn't have enough time to eat before sleep claimed him again, Syryn did not make any more conversation with Lucien. It proved to be true when Luci began nodding off after eating a pink fruit that had little white seeds inside. It was sweet, juicy and tasted almost like apples.

"I need to use the toilet, Syryn." Red slid off his seat and pressed a hand to his abdomen.

"Let's go then."

Lucien was back in bed after a short trip out of the room. Syryn was just tucking in the blankets when his assistant returned.

"I'm back," Rei entered the room without knocking as Syryn had left the door ajar. It was almost time for lunch. Syryn disliked eating alone but there was no helping it. Rei had to help Gosan eat, and he on the other hand, just couldn't leave Lucien alone.

"Welcome back. Did the stitching go well?"

"Yes. The laceration was surprisingly long. It extended from the left sternum to his right flank. I asked him how it happened and he said it was an animal attack though it didn't look like it at all."

"A healer should know better than to lie to another healer," Syryn snorted.

"He may be ashamed of something. Couldn't hold his head up when I called him out on it."

"Suspicious."

"Have you already taken lunch? I asked the innkeeper's daughter to bring three sets of meals for us."

"This isn't mine. Lucien woke up a while back and had a meal." Syryn began placing the bowls back on the tray so that they could be cleared away easily for his own lunch set.

"He woke up then. That's very good news." Rei glanced at the bed where Luci was back to sleeping like a log.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. It's just a side effect of something he did." Syryn hoped this was true.

A gentle knocking on the door revealed a shy teenage girl balancing a large tray between her hand and hip. "I've brought lunch." She furtively peeked at Syryn and looked away when the teen made eye contact with her.

"Put it there," Rei pointed to the table that Syryn had cleared up, "and take away the other bowls."

The alchemist watched the girl notice the special set of cutlery that was meant for luxury meals. "I threatened the cook to get that. Don't worry though, I'll cover the cost of it."

"Oh," her eyes went wide and she blushed seeing how Syryn was smiling at her. "I- I will take it away then."

"Thank you," the alchemist purred silkily. "Let the cook know that his roast chicken was delicious." Lucien had enjoyed the chicken and it gratified the alchemist.

"That poor girl," Rei commented after she had left the room blushing like a ripe tomato. "Her crush is so obvious it hurts."

"I permit you to crush on me if you'd like to. I know how taken you are by my healing abilities. This face is just a bonus, Rei."

"You're a man of confidence," the guard dryly replied. "But have you seen my face?"

Now Syryn was really intrigued. "Take off the damn mask, Rei."

"Never."

"Don't make me get over there and yank it off your face." Syryn approached the guard like he meant business.

"Just kidding," the guard calmly put his hands up in surrender. "I'm not as good looking as you are."

"But you've whetted my curiosity." Syryn raised his head and stared straight into the completely dark eye holes.

"I'll take it off but not today." Rei backed away and separated Syryn's food from the ones meant for him and Gosan.

"I'm am disinclined to forcing people so have it your way." Syryn allowed the man to serve him his meal. It felt nice having a guard and an assistant at his beck and call.

"I'll come down later, Syryn. Enjoy your lunch."

Rei left the room with the tray bearing food for him and Gosan. When the door was closed shut with a soft thud, Syryn's mind drifted to Cami and her inevitable death. Was there a way for him to help her without alarming her family? After seeing the child's catatonic behaviour, he was more disturbed than he wanted to be. Now that his worries for Lucien had lessened tremendously, it made room in his mind for Cami and her family.

Syryn made up his mind to visit the hilltop family again, to offer his help one more time. He couldn't go alone though. The alchemist knew just who he would be disturbing for a trip up the hill. But he decided that it would be done only after moving Lucien into a new room with Rei and Gosan.

The benefits of having both Lucien and Gosan in the same room outweighed the trouble he would go through moving them. Thankfully, Riaku had seen it fit to let Syryn the useful healer guard who kept a watchful eye on both the patients. He hadn't thought about the amount of trouble he was going to be left with if Gosan and Lucien had both been left in his care.

"Red, I don't know what's going on with you. I wish I did. You better have a good explanation when you wake up because I deserve it after being wrung through this."

The redhead slept like a baby, unaware of how much turmoil he was causing to Syryn.