There was a cry of pain, a crash, and then a man yelling for someone to get out. Dantae sat bolt upright and looked around. He hadn’t been to many churches, but he suspected that these weren’t the sounds you would typically hear in one, especially during something like confession or communion. When Dantae looked over at the front of the church where Adrian and the priest had last been he was somewhat confused. There was Adrian, standing in front of the small stage like area, and then there was the priest, lying in a heap on the floor with thin smoke rising in front of him. It took Dantae only a few seconds to become interested enough in what was going on to get up from his pew and walk over to them. When he got there he saw that Adrian had his hands over his mouth and his eyes wide, mumbling something along the lines of “I didn’t do it,” while the priest stared down at his own smoking hand.

“Adrian...What in the name of Satan did you do?” Dantae asked in a low voice, staring at the priest’s hand with slight concern. He disliked the men of God, but he would never have done anything to harm one. It was against his peoples beliefs to stoop that low, to the level of a demon. He was taught that even though warlocks were part demon they were not to mess with the close followers and servants of God. He could do whatever he wanted to the normal humans, they were disposable and in alliance with both greater worlds, but the people who had chosen to align fully with the world of heaven were untouchable. To do anything to them would disrupt the rocky peace between the two greater worlds, and bring the warlock’s fathers, the demons of Hell, more trouble from the angles of Heaven than they needed.

“I didn’t do it, I swear!” Adrian yelled as he pulled his hands away from his mouth. “I couldn’t have done it. I would never have done it.” He looked a little doubtful of his own words.

“I knew it was strange for a thing like you to have a human as its servant,” the priest told Dantae. He’d let his voice fill with anger, and he spit as he spoke. Neither boys had seen a man of God act, or speak, this way before. “Warlock’s have not allowed themselves to use humans as servants in hundreds of years. Not since they lost so many of them in the battle that nearly destroyed this land,” the priest seemed to be talking mostly to himself now rather than the two boys, and while Adrian looked confused Dantae looked interested, having only heard a few stories about the war. “They’ve learnt from their mistakes. They know now that it’s impossible to take a human’s free will away without major repercussions.” The priest’s eyelids flickered, and his attention was back on Dantae. His hand was no longer smoking, and seemed not to be giving him anymore pain. “You’ve disguised this-” he pointed at Adrian with some force. “This demon as a human and brought him here to slaughter me. To make it look as if it were a human who’d done it, so that you could place the blame on them and not your fathers.”

Dantae stared at the priest blankly. What he suggested would have indeed been a great plan, and something Dantae was completely capable of pulling off. But it wasn’t what he was doing. Adrian was human. In fact he was so human it was almost annoying. He whined and complained a lot, he got scared easily, he was completely mortal, and he was easily manipulated. There was nothing demon about him. “But I’m not a demon,” Adrian spoke in a whisper, he looked more afraid now than he had before. He turned to Dantae. “What have you done to me? What did you do to make it so that his hand burnt when he touched me?”

“I didn’t do anything to you,” Dantae told him, although he wasn’t too sure. There weren’t many things in the library at his first home about what happened when a warlock took control of a human, or what happened when they transferred their power over to one. The only thing he’d ever read was that these things could be done, but it wasn’t a good idea to do unless the human was strong and you planned to kill it after you were done. But Adrian was neither strong nor did Dantae plan to kill him. “Besides, I’m pretty sure if either of us was a demon we would have burst into flames, or something, the moment we entered through those doors. But that’s only my guess,” Dantae said matter-of-factly, the gears in his mind were turning now, trying to figure out what was going on.

“That’s enough!” The priest yelled suddenly, making both boys jump. “I will not stand to have either of you demons in this holy place any longer! Leave now, or may God shoot you down where you stand!” Dantae looked at the priest, who was now getting up off the floor, as if he were studying some kind of foreign animal. He wanted to say something to the man, to taunt him and see how much farther he could push him to react. But he thought better of it. He’d already taunted him for following God, and Adrian had somehow burnt him. There was only so much Dantae could make this man go through before he went too far and had to start facing some kind of consequence.

“Alright than father we’ll be on our way,” Dantae agreed, saying the word father like it was poison to his mouth. “It’s a pity you couldn’t help my human though. Come Adrian, let us leave this man alone.” He took Adrian by the arm, and dragged him out the of the churches front doors.

The moment Dantae and Adrian were out and down the steps of the church Adrian stopped walking and sat down. He was sick of everything. Sick of the way Dantae treated him. Sick of having to kill people, sick of never getting the answers he wanted let alone deserved, and already sick of the fact that there might now be the chance that everywhere he went people would brand him a demon. “What are you doing?” Dantae asked when he reached the horse and turned to see that Adrian wasn’t following him anymore. “We need to get away from this place before that lunatic comes out and starts trying to throw holy water on us. Although I doubt it’ll have any effect on you. But I’d rather not feel like I have a sunburn, and I think you’d probably rather I not feel that way either. I’ll get quite irritable.”

“You’re always irritable,” Adrian told him, his tone a mix of anger and annoyance. Dantae sighed and walked back over to Adrian, sitting down beside him.

“Why are you humans always so over emotional?” he asked, rubbing two fingers in a circle on his forehead as if he had a headache. “Come to think of it, I guess warlock women are over emotional too.” Adrian glared at him.

“Well isn’t that nice of you? Coming over here and implying I give you a headache before calling me an oversensitive woman,” he said bitterly. “I’m sorry I have a heart, and emotions, and feelings. Not everyone can be a heartless, emotionless, insensitive asshole like you all the time.”

“Ouch,” Dantae said sarcastically. “You’re starting to sound like my ex-girlfriend. Do I have to kiss you and lie and tell you that you’re amazing and pretty and deserve better than me too? Because I’d really rather not, it might be awkward for both of us seeing as I can’t just ditch you here after.”

“Why are you such a jerk to me?” Adrian asked, standing up and stepping away from Dantae. “I do practically anything and everything for you and I never get any thanks for it.”

“Ah yes, but you do it because you’re scared of me killing you if you don’t. Your fear drives you, not your want to do something nice for me,” Dantae pointed out, smiling his unfriendly smile as he stood up in front of Adrian. “Maybe if you went out of your way to do something nice for me you’d get some thanks.” He held out his hand to Adrian, palm up, and bowed slightly. “Now can I help you up onto your steed, my lady?” he asked with a mocking little grin, to which Adrian responded by pushing Dantae’s hand away with a glare, brushing past him, and going over to untie the horse before pulling himself up onto it. Dantae’s unfriendly smile turned into one of triumph, and he hopped onto the horse as well, sitting himself in front of Adrian. Then he took the reins and started towards the town once again.