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Chapter 2

It was dark...no, it's red. The whole place was hot as always. It was like inside a furnace, but about the heat it couldn't be described.

The least to describe, it's hellish hot, as it was in hell.

"(Son, survive!)"

The voice...the voice that had been inside the dream for many years. He knew he was in the middle of a burning place and he forgot things afterwards, as the dream dissipated into the bright sunny day, where the black creature heard the chirping of the birds and some of the wildlife. He turned his head toward the house, where he saw someone's getting out.

"Oh...um...you're awake?"

Lilac was taking her usual break outside, but this time her view was distracted by the now human-sized Lycan, with the same feature. Now, she could clearly see the horns between the werewolf's ears, and his eyes, which Lilac could see resembled a lizard, yet this one was more yellow and the slit pupil wasn't all that small, giving him a menacing look.

He suddenly jumped on the pedestal, giving a shock to Lilac. Lilac knew this werewolf wasn't a new werewolf since he could attain his form even after full moon, but then he...he was trying to kill her! She was done for without being able to turn into a...

"(Hey! What the fuck are you?! Where am I?! Where the fuck am I?! Answer me!)"

"Wait! I don't wanna die, foreigner! Just...just don't do that!"

"Eh...? Uh...uh..."

Lilac could see he had a trouble speaking English aside from that weird language he was talking to. Calming herself, she said, "Are you...from around here? Where did you come from?!"

"(English?! Shit...I'm thrown way too far...)" thought the Lycan. He then tried to remember his past studies. He then tried to say "Me" while making a gesture to himself.

"Me? That's your name?"

"(Uh...what did she say?)"

"Me, huh? You have no name?"

"(Goddamn it, she so fucking fluent! Okay, let's try tell her my name.)"

Lilac was still puzzled on his behavior, and somehow the foreigner had not even had any good English lesson at all, seeing that he tried to talk with hard tongue. In contrast, Lilac couldn't understand any of his word. They seemed to be something foreign enough to her like English to him.

"Me...Ifrit," said the lycan in desperate tone. "I...find my friend."

"Find your friends? Weren't you alone back there?"

"(Shit, what the fuck is she saying?)," thought Ifrit. Lilac somehow saw through the Lycan's slit eyes, and she said, "You...have friends?"

"Yes...I...," replied Ifrit. "Friend...."

"Okay, we can't communicate this good, and I can wager the whole village can't translate to me," thought Lilac. "Well, at least he's not that harmful. I can ask him to get a bath."

Lilac tried in vain to mimic someone taking a bath, and she was slowly annoyed that the Lycan was really as dumb as a dog. Ifrit himself tried to understand what Lilac was mimicking, until...

"(Oh...I guess this human wants me to pour myself with something.)," thought Ifrit.

"Hey, are you really that dumb that you can even understand what bathing is?!"

"Bath...?"

"Oh, this is getting nowhere!"

Lilac then forced the werewolf to a nearby pond and pushed him there, where he tripped a fell to the shallow water. Ifrit suddenly felt uneasy and exclaimed, "(Fuck! What's wrong with you? What the hell is this thing? I...)."

"Feeling better, Ifrit," said Lilac in an annoyed tone. "I'll go get some goddamn food for you."

When the female Lycan was gone, Ifrit was staring at the reflection of himself. In the place where he belonged, he never saw anything about water. When he felt the water, he felt painful, and of course at the same time refreshed. He was always surrounded by fire, and those eternal flame were his water.

"(Guess I need to find who able to speak Hordo in Overworld)," thought Ifrit while making a dive. "(That female human is one hell of a creeper. I think I need to really remember what they said to me)."

When Lilac returned, Ifrit hesitated for a moment before saying, "Can I...can I have...a water?"

"Feeling thirsty?"

"What is thirsty?"

"It's...like you have no water in your throat?"

"Throat...uh...yes, I feel dry in my neck."

"I go get you some water. That water around you is not for drinking."

She left Ifrit alone again. Somehow she hadn't recognized that Ifrit wasn't a 'Lycan', but something deadlier when he breathed fire to the lily beside him, burning it to dust.

"(So, like they said, hellhounds can breathe fire here if they are thrown)," thought Ifrit. "(Talking to the humans won't do me good. I think I gotta stick around and study their language before I got fucked up)."

After Lilac returned with the water, Ifrit was now outside the pond and drank the water in the glass. The water he gulped tasted like he was freezing. The hellhound almost never felt something as fluid and as comfortable as the water before. It was really great!

"(Damn! This thing's really make my throat better!)," said Ifrit to himself. "(Hey, thanks)...uh, thanks..."

"Lilac. My name is Lilac Rezmirn."

"Yes...uh...Lilac," said Ifrit with the best English he could say. He then knew he must study English before he was, as he said to himself, overwhelmed by them. He gathered his thoughts on what he had been taught years before and said, "C...can I...study...Engrish?"

"Study English? Oh...uh, I know you're a stranger werewolf and...I'm not really a good teacher. But, well, if it can make me feel accompanied...I guess it doesn't hurt, right?"

Ifrit at least could also feel accompanied by it, but the hellhound was anxious on his friend, separated when ascending to the Overworld as they said it. His friend could have found a nice human like Lilac, but also could be killed, or held captive...just because he was a hellhound. He knew he was also helpless if he wanted to go around without attracting anyone with his horns and his tail. At least his long prehensile tail was inside his jeans and for now he could conceal his real identity from Lilac.

Then, for at least a week, Ifrit managed to grasp the general verbal English and of course the meaning of some words. Ifrit sometimes got confused by Lilac's accent (which was more Scottish than her brother), but by time he became accustomed with the accent.

"So," said Lilac while giving Ifrit a good glass of water. "Where do you come from?"

"Well, uh," said Ifrit, trying to grasp what kind of words he could use. "It's far, but I don't think you want to know."

"Why?"

"It...it's just...." He paused for a while, thinking, "(Damn, if she knows I came from Hell she'll fuck me up. What should I say to her?)"

"Hmm? Ifrit?"

"I...I came from Drundas! Yes, Drundas!"

"Drundas? Is it far away?"

"Yes far! Far!"

"Uh huh.... There's no town or cities with the name of Drundas around here, so maybe I can guess you're not even from this continent, right?"

"Yeah! Yeah!"

"You seem to be some over-excited fellow, aren't you? Well, then, have a drink. I'll go down to the market and see what I can buy. You can hunt if you want."

"Hunt?"

"It's like you try to ki...I mean, take some animals in the forest for us to eat. You refused to return to your human form so I guess you're good."

"(Uh...maybe she's talking about hunting)," thought Ifrit. "So...that's the English? Hunt?"

"Yes. Can I take my leave, Ifrit?"

"Oh, sure, sure."

"I'll be back soon."

While Lilac was gone, Ifrit stumbled upon some books. Since this was the first time the hellhound had seen any books. Fascinated, he tried to read it...

...and three hours later, he only managed to read three pages, with little success on knowing the meanings. His head was swinging with pain and confusion, seeing the 50 words in front of him.

"(Fuck...there are words in front of my eyes...)," said Ifrit to himself.

"Oh, reading already? You're so eager to learn, aren't you, Ifrit?"

Lilac came back home carrying some fresh raw meats she bought from the butcher. Seeing the meat and the scent made the hellhound realized he was hungry, a sensation new to him. He somehow got the sensation a day after he reached the surface, yet he was at first puzzled by it. Luckily, both him and Lilac had carnivorous appetite, so every kind of meaty foods were alright.

Ifrit waited for Lilac to prepare the foods while watching the scenery outside of her home. While it was calm, the scene of the black forest behind the house made him felt like it was inhabited by many mysterious beings, as back in his home in Drundas he knew black corners were home to deadly monsters he didn't know about, stalking prey to many unsuspecting hellhounds. Not that all dark corners were deadly, but it gave wariness since the kingdom wasn't all that secure. Of course, Hell wasn't the best place to live, especially to humans....

"So, Ifrit," said Lilac while putting the meat into the oven. "What can you say about Drundas?"

"(Hmm?) Drundas...oh, yes, it's good! The place warm...and...and...very crowded."

"Crowded, huh? You come from a capital?"

"A kindom."

"Oh...a big kingdom?"

"Yes...a big kindom..."

Lilac then sat near Ifrit while taking an English book for the hellhound to read. Of course, he couldn't read many of them since it was written in a language alien to him. He could only speak English a little, even getting some wrong phrase as Lilac said to him.

"(Oh, not again...)"

"Don't worry, I'll teach you how to read. Oh, fascinating, this is the story of the hellhounds."

"Hellhounds?"

"A hellish creature race said to resemble dogs guarding the gates to hell. You know hell, right? The fiery place where you got eternal punishment?"

"(I don't know what she said)," thought Ifrit. "(But I am damn sure she is talking about my race when I see this picture. Fuck, that's a dog, not hellhounds!)"

"Hmm? Feeling unwell?"

Ifrit snapped out from his grumbling. He was thinking too much on the pictures. Of course mortal beings had no knowledge on how they looked like. Ifrit was uneasy on how the humans imagined hellish beings to be deformed abomination while they were more animal than monster.

"No, I just feel...hellhounds are ugly."

Now that he said it, he could wish he didn't think himself as an ugly being, seeing that he was considered good-looking down in Drundas. That was just only for commenting Lilac. Needless to say, Lilac smiled to the hellhound, making the hellhound felt both confused and troubled if the mortal in front of her would do things to him.

"You're a real nice Lycan," said Lilac. "Are your always like this? You came from a big family?"

"I...have family. What is that?"

"I don't know what you say about that in your language, but it's about a group of people living under a roof with blood connections. Even if they far, we will always have that feeling, waiting to meet them again."

"Oh.... (that's unique)."

"What?"

"Nothing! Just...it's my language."

"Maybe if you are willing to teach me a little about your language? It's better if we can communicate with each other easier."

"Uh...that's not a good thing to do."

"You mean, a good idea?"

Ifrit changed his view to another place, thinking hard of a reason in English.

"(Damn fuck! I'm not that idiot to teach her Hordo! Her tongue won't last if she talks with that language.)"

"Hmm...if you say so, guess I won't try to peer inside. Is that place...Drundas, I mean. Is that place in conflict? I have heard many rumors about wars out there. Many rulers try to take over big cities, towns, and villages, just like wolves."

Lilac walked to a long chair near Ifrit and sighed before sitting down. "Speaking of wolves, are there many types of Lycans out there? You must have a kind of race. What is yours?"

Now from here Ifrit wasn't able to even reply. He was not that stupid to give away his real race, right? He was trying to say of a reason in the language he learned when Lilac made a wolf grunt.

"Oh, bother. We don't have any food supplies left," said Lilac. "How about if you follow me to the market and see the meats you want to eat? I'm sure you're also hungry."

Ifrit made a sigh. He was saved by Lilac's delayed mind. For now, the black hellhound felt he still needed to try to act at least like a human. The place seemed pleasant enough, unlike what he knew on the city he tried to get through as a human city.

While walking with Lilac to the town, the woman said, "Ifrit?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you want to return to a human? You've been in this form long enough."

"I...uh, don't know how. I've been in this body for some years that I forgot how to be a human," said Ifrit with a lie. "The knowledge is lost to me."

"You mean, you lost the knowledge?"

After Ifrit nodded, Lilac said, "Are you fine with the body? The curse? Do you have friends?"

"I..."

"Don't talk more. I know your feelings, Ifrit. The meat shop is just ahead. We can talk back home, alright?"

"Uh, Lilac, I think it's better if I stay outside," said Ifrit. "The hu...I mean, people are...uh...looking at me?"

Lilac realized the people were watching them, but she didn't want to make a problem on them. It was normal that they had been in doubt of the siblings. Lilac always heard about the cursed Rezmirns or the wolf siblings, but the thing that bothered her much was the people around her. She was like a monster walking among men. Yet, she was shier than her brother, Hans. On many occasions, her brother would stay in his Lycan form walking around with Lilac while talking with some friends he had made. While her brother was more outgoing she was more to books, reading many limited knowledge she had about the things around her. Not all books could go into the small village.

While Ifrit stayed outside, Lilac went through the wooden oak door into the meat shop, where the scent of fresh meat scattered around were teasing her. She still had her grasp on her humanity, though. Most Lycans, because they had no proper training to control their lupine curse, would become an animal and would attack anything they thought as food, and survived with instinct.

She reached the butcher, who was a big muscular human. Many said that he was a Lycan himself, but only fellow Lycans knew about the other's cursed self, because of their distinctive scent.

"Oh, you're the wolf's little sister?" said the butcher while cutting a fresh skinned goat. "You sure you're not trying to steal one of me goods, eh?"

"I haven't have heart for stealing, kind sir," replied Lilac. "I'm not a fox."

"Aye, you are a wolf," grunted the butcher. "Where's ye brother?"

"He's into an exploration to the new world, Mr. Bard. Haven't he told you?"

"Hans had not given me any farewells. He isn't buying from me for the past months, lass. What do you want?"

"The usual."

The man went to the back of his shop while taking some meats out from the storage room. As he put it on the table, the freshly cut meat was overwhelming to Lilac to the point she almost ate it there her own. She could hold herself and said, "How much?"

"Fifteen bronze coins."

Then Lilac put one of her hands to her purse, and took fifteen of the bronze-colored coins. While they weren't as rich as the others in the village, they could still afford the foods and many other basic needs like books. They took many resources from the forest behind their houses and Hans did most of the hunting and working, while Lilac did what a woman would do to have money (except prostitution, of course).

When she took the big meat out with her massive strength, Bard said, "Ye know, Rezmirn. Why don't you walk around the village more? You have controlled that wolf, aye?"

"Not really, Mr. Bard. The beast can only be hold for much longer, I don't know. The best thing I can do for the moment is to stay away from this merry village, especially under the full moon. But, thank you for having a concern for me."

Ignoring the man's waving hand, she wanted to go to Ifrit when she realized he was on a roof, watched by some people. She put down the full sack and shouted, "Ifrit! What the bloody hell are you doing up there?!"

"I climb!"

"Don't do that! Are you trying to give me bad impressions?"

In truth, Ifrit wasn't climbing normally. As he was too bored he was walking around the village when a small child was crying with his cat went to the roof. Without hesitation Ifrit jumped to one point and climbed quicker than most normal beings to take the cat with him. The cat was clearly spooked and unable to move when it realized who Ifrit was.

The hellhound then jumped down from the roof, landing beside Lilac. He gave the cat to the child, as he gave a reluctant thank you. Lilac had no other reasons to stay longer, so he pulled Ifrit's hand and ran toward their house, not knowing that some of them were admiring Ifrit.

As they reached home, Lilac was clearly furious on what Ifrit just did.

"Ifrit, for god's sake, don't do anything stupid in your Lycan form," said Lilac while closing the door, giving a wolf growl. "The humans don't trust us, and whatever you do it's useless to change their attitude."

"But, I'm trying to help the people..."

"Just listen to me, Ifrit." The female Lycan put her head closer to the hellhound. "I don't know how they treated werewolves in Drundas, but this thing for sure, here, nobody will respect a wolf man."

Ifrit wanted to reply, but he knew he lost his words in English while in his mind, everything was in Hordo. As Lilac left the hellhound, she kept wondering if her beliefs were true while a proof was in front of her eyes. Both Hans and Ifrit believed on the prospect that Lycans could be human's friends, like dog to their masters. Lilac didn't, however. She knew very well from lores and legends that Lycans were savage beasts feasting on humans, and thus, while she still had her humanity left, she must try not to be too close to humans.

Yet, Ifrit made her doubt her decision.