Chapter 36

Chapter 36

“Master Jeremy, what have I—argh!”

Jeremy dug his heel into the fallen guard’s hand, which caused the man to release Cassis’ chain. Then while pointing at the dropped chain, Jeremy shouted at the other guard.

“See that? The son of a bitch just tried to make a break for it!”

It was obvious that such a blatant lie was meant to place the blame on Cassis and had likely been Jeremy’s game plan all along.

“I mean, just look! This toy is so uncontrollable the second guard couldn’t even hold on to its chain!”

Jeremy then smirked maliciously.

“What nerve, huh? Trying to escape with me right here in front of him.”

Jeremy continued to goad Cassis in hopes the older boy would attempt to flee, but after a complete lack of cooperation, he seemed to be fabricating events in order to get his scheme back on track. Cassis, of course, saw right through that.

At some point, it had become clear that the younger boy’s reason for behaving with such hostility, while showing an unwillingness to actually attack Cassis, had to do with the fact that he was Roxana’s personal toy. The emphasis being on “personal.”

Jeremy had only begun to spew with rage after noticing the welts on Cassis’ neck, which served as further proof of the Blue Heir’s suspicions. As he stared at Jeremy and the two guards on the floor, Cassis slowly opened his mouth to speak.

“It seems you Agreces are not right in the head.”

In truth, Jeremy’s charade had amused Cassis and had not been entirely unwelcomed. It was evident that the younger boy wasn’t capable of considering the possibility that Cassis could actually elude him and escape. And all the commotion Jeremy had incited was so obviously meant to serve as justification for launching his attack. Reflecting on all these points, Cassis couldn’t help but chuckle at the Agrece boy’s bravado.

Then their eyes suddenly met. Jeremy decided to renew his barrage of insults at Cassis.

“A runaway mongrel must be taught a lesson. Perhaps a serious whipping is in order.”

However, whether the lesson would go as planned, or whether the dog could even be caught successfully to receive the whipping was yet to be determined. It was just as likely that it would end up attacking its so-called master.

* * *

As he stepped outside, Cassis’ eyes were flooded with the blinding light from the sun overhead. It was impossible to avoid and felt all the more inescapable since he hadn’t seen it for so long. Beyond a stark, white path, he stumbled upon a grassy yard. Then without warning, a barrage of sounds filled his ears.

Skreee!

A shrill noise cut through the air. He suddenly sensed someone closing in on him. Cassis instinctively ducked just as a foot flew at his head and grazed his hair.

“You damn weasel!” Jeremy shouted hoarsely. His cocky demeanor from earlier had all but vanished.

He charged at Cassis once more, but the older boy whipped the chain linked to his wrist, then hurled it at his attacker. Having already had his fill of Cassis’ chain in the hallway earlier, Jeremy immediately bowed at the waist to avoid it. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t foreseen a swift kick aimed at his head at the very same moment.

Jeremy cursed inwardly as he just barely warded off the kick with his stiff arm.

Clang.

Rather than attack again, Cassis used Jeremy’s arm as leverage to jump back, which caused Jeremy to become even more infuriated. The taste of rust began to flood his mouth, which was probably a result of the blow he had sustained back in the room.

As he glared at Cassis, Jeremy spat out a gob of bloody phlegm.

“Fight like a man instead of running away like a rat.”

Jeremy’s words were meant to egg Cassis on, but if the young Agrece had been honest with himself, he would have been the first to admit that he hadn’t expected things to go so far off track. All he had planned to do was slap the uppity Blue Heir around a bit to put him in his place. But instead, he had been on the receiving end of the beating, then the captive had fled.

I’m gonna murder him...

Jeremy fumed with murderous thoughts as he ground his teeth. Jeremy had given no thought to Cassis’ fighting skills, so had been caught off guard to learn the Blue Heir was both nimble and dangerous. The older boy had managed throughout their brief fight to remain one step ahead of him. It was almost as if the toy was toying with him.

Cassis’ main goal was to escape, not to attack Jeremy. The magical cuffs seemed to remain dormant precisely for that reason. Jeremy began to suspect that the Blue weasel might be using him to fulfill his own purposes. But not only Jeremy. Anyone who crossed Cassis’ path in the midst of the chaos had been swiftly dealt with, but only enough to keep them out of his way. Even at this point, Cassis was quickly moving to his left after a brief survey of his surroundings.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Jeremy hollered ferociously while chasing after his adversary.

As the young Agrece closed in, Cassis swung his knee at him. However, Jeremy managed to evade and in the same move grabbed hold of Cassis’ chain, then yanked on it hard.

Pow!

Jeremy had unwittingly pulled on Cassis’ chain with such force that he brought the older boy close enough to land a powerful punch square in Jeremy’s chest. Jeremy had just barely managed to maintain his grip on the chain, but it finally snapped under the force of both young men pulling on it from either side.

“Scram! I don’t have time to waste on a loser like you!” Cassis shouted while backing away after landing his punch.

“Why you son of a...”

“Honestly, don’t you think following me around and yipping away like that even after I told you how annoying it is, makes you the mutt?” Cassis’ calm voice only incensed Jeremy even more. “I don’t have a bone to throw your way, so like I said, scram!”

“I’m gonna murder you, you bastard!”

More than anything else, it was the impression that Cassis considered Jeremy beneath his own contempt, which really drove the young Agrece up the wall. Plus, for some reason, thoughts of his asshole half-brother Deon had also popped into his head at the same time. Up until then, Jeremy had not considered killing Roxana’s toy, but he had become so riled up that the only thing on his mind was to murder the golden-eyed captive.

“Let’s just see how long your high-and-mighty act will last.”

Jeremy’s eyes burned with rage as he glared venomously at Cassis. By then several more guards had arrived and had surrounded the Blue Heir.

Clang, clang.

With a wild look in his eyes, Jeremy flung the broken end of Cassis’ chain sideways where it landed on a metal door hidden behind the tall grass.

Screeeech. Clang.

The sound of metal grating against metal painfully cut through the air. The broken end of the chain had snaked itself around the handle of the metal door. Jeremy bit down on his lip, then yanked as hard as he could on the end of the chain he was still holding.

“Master Jeremy! What are you doing?!”

To say the guards were alarmed would be an understatement. They made a rushed attempt to stop Jeremy’s efforts, but the sheer brute force the youth had angrily exerted finally broke the lock on the heavy door.

Creeeak.

The metal door began to open with a sickening screech.

Boom!

Skreeee!

In an instant, enormous black blobs rushed past the doorway.

“Aaaaah!”

As the guards began to yell, Cassis couldn’t do much besides focus on the ensuing onslaught. It was only when the guards began to run that he realized he better do so as well.

Whoosh.

Slam!

A large, black blob landed right on top of where Cassis had been standing only moments before. The blobs appeared to be the spider-like beasts known as carantuls. The demon monster that had landed near Cassis raised one of its stinger-like legs from the ground, then brought it down with rapid force. In doing so, it pierced straight through one of the fleeing guards.

Skreee!

Cassis swiveled around intending to go after the culprit responsible for the mayhem, but just as the impish Agrece had done with the door’s handle, Jeremy had flung the chain around a nearby tree branch and used it to climb up to safety.

“You little!” Cassis shouted while visibly seething.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you know those demon monsters’ favorite meal is Blue cretin?!”

Jeremy’s voice was thick with sarcasm as he laughed viciously at Cassis, then climbed further up into the branches until he was completely out of sight.