“The city’s called Makina City,” Juste was squinting his eyes while shielding them with his hand against the sunlight. It was not his strongest suit, but compared to the witborn and the bloodhunt, he had the keenest eye among them. There was a train track that leads to the city. It was probably the only way for them to get inside. But because of the strict guarding at the entrance of the station—being it a witborn only city, they needed to find another way to break inside that big town. “We need to find a another way inside,” Maxill sighed and expressed his concern. “Chastine, any ideas?” Juste asked Chastine as she was the witborn amongst them. Chastine had been thinking whether her idea would be a good one. She couldn’t think of anything else, so she spilled her not-so-good idea to Juste and Maxill. “I don’t think you’re up for it, but the only way besides that train is underground: the sewer.” Maxill looked with disgust, while Juste didn’t mind getting drenched in sludge.
Chastine’s jaw dropped in shock. Will we be found out? This thought immediately lingered in her mind. It was fortunate that even though Maxill hated sunlight, he chose to perch up above them. The local wasn’t able to see him at all. Maxill, being a black bat, hid in the shadows in the little alleyway they had just emerged into. Meanwhile, Juste was also spotted so he remained a wolf. He started scratching his body with his hind leg and then came sniffing Chastine while wagging his tail, making an impression that he was Chastine’s dog. “Wow, is that your dog?” the local began the conversation with her. Being quick witted that she was, she responded, “why, yes, yes! This is my dog, Juste.” She happily smiled back at the Makinarian and patted Juste at the head. Juste barked happily. “Is it an aggressive one?” “Uhm, no, no! He’s a friendly dog ahehe!” Juste then came sniffing the local on the foot. “Arf, arf!” Juste played along with Chastine’s plan. He was wiggling his tail aft
“Is this really the library?” Maxill pointed this out at Chastine. He happened to be familiar with the urban environment.“Why, what’s wrong about it?” Juste was innocently curious at Chastine and Maxill's behavior towards the edifice in front of them.Chastine mulled over their current situation on whether they would step inside the unconventional book building or not.She told to Juste, “Libraries don’t usually look like these...”“Hello there!” There was suddenly a tall man with a steampunk suit and an over-the-top top hat who sneaked up behind them.Chastine and Juste were startled, while both of Maxill's brows raised up. Maxill was eyeing the flamboyant witborn on his peripheral vision.The tall witborn then rested his hands onto Juste and Chastine’s shoulder, his right hand on Juste’s right shoulder, and his left hand on Chastine’s left shoulder.“W-who are you supposed to be?!” Juste asked while he was still freaked out by the sudden entry of the strange witborn.“Why, I’m Duke
Juste started to move the claw with the directional controls. It was tricky to maneuver as it sometimes wouldn’t budge at the exact place one wanted it placed. But sometimes, it was sensitive enough that a little nudge would get the claw from going out of bounds. Juste was studying how he should control it with just the right amount of pressure. The inner ends of his eyebrows met at the middle. Chastine noticed his struggle with the controls. “What’s wrong, Juste?” He explained his predicament, hoping Chastine would be able to provide a tip at least. “It’s a bit tricky to move. Sometimes it goes slow, sometimes fast, even if I apply the same amount of pressure.” “Duke-X, do you think the claw is broken?” Chastine asked the peculiar man beside him. Duke-X held the brim of his hat and ran his fingers around the its edge. “No, I’m afraid not. It’s just that the level of difficulty for this machine is high.” “Tough luck, my friend,” Maxill commented these words to Juste. With not
Chastine regained consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and felt her head pounding in pain. “Ugh…ow!” She held her head while her hands were tied up in chains. The chains were light, but it restricted her movement. “W-what happened? What is this place?” She slowly scanned the slightly dim room; her eyes fell towards the young fellhound. “Juste!” Chastine shouted out of concern. Juste was still knocked out of his senses. His head was bowed down and his limbs were pinned to the wall. The shackle around his neck was now replaced with a lighter but firmer chain. The expression on his face looked pitiful; it’s as if his whole body was in pain. This misery of his was wholly attributed to his neck chain because it was made of pure silver. Silver is the metallic bane of werewolves. They get weak when the shiny metal touches their skin. Chastine hurriedly went near the fellhound’s side. She tried to see if she’d be able to find its lock, but to no avail. Juste felt Chastine’
“20 minutes. Took you twice as long to bust out of your room than the last time I trained you.”Juste and Chastine were startled at the greeting of a male voice.They suddenly turned around their backs to know of the man who had been waiting for them.It was the army commander, who was sitting comfortably while spending his time nibbling on a luscious fruit.He took one last big bite from it before putting it back on a dessert plate on a coffee table next to his chair.Scion then uncrossed his legs, stood up from his seat, and started to dust off his hands.“For awhile there, you looked like you’ve seen a ghost,” uttered the army chief.Juste was breathing heavily, while Chastine’s eyes were pried wide open because of the tense atmosphere.She looked at Juste, then at Scion, then back at the blue-eyed fellhound.Juste signaled for Chastine to go behind him. She quickly obliged.The young werewolf looked furious. “Release me, Scion. Release us. I don’t plan on going back to father.”Sc
“Am I late for the party?” The shadowy figure let out a mischievous smile, his confident stare taunting at Scion’s pride.It was Maxill—in bat form—and he came to the rescue. His claws were clutched on Chastine shoulders.“Thanks, Maxill!” Chastine’s smile was beaming from ear to ear.“Missed me already, Chas?” Maxill drew out an amusing smile on his face.The female witborn touched one of his claws. “Hyeah.”Maxill was flapping his wide wings high up in the air.His bat form was quite large he looked like a harpy eagle.The turbulence his wings were making made the airship tilt and sway.At such a high altitude, the wind grew more violent than it was before because of his flapping.Juste covered his face with his arm, while his other hand held on the ledge.It was dangerous for them at the deck, as they might get blown by the strong force of the wind.But it also was dangerous for Maxill to hover that high in the air because of the sun’s rays. Even as a hybrid, he was still suscepti
Juste was keeping himself from panicking.He had a furious and a shocked look upon his face. Both of his hands were occupied in holding down the thirsty bloodhunt.So he quickly ordered Chastine to pull her hand away from Maxill’s mouth.“Chastine, pull away your hand!” Juste’s eyes were fully opened. He was looking at Chastine in an alarming way.The beautiful witborn weakly tugged her bitten hand away from Maxill’s lips.She had dramatically weakened and was on the verge of collapsing, so she had no ample strength left to release her hand from the vampire’s fangs.Maxill could not control his craving and apparently had no plan on letting go of Chastine’s hand anytime soon.With the alarming situation they were having, Juste took it upon himself to force Maxill to let go of her hand.He aggressively squeezed Maxill’s neck so that he would choke and gasp for air, releasing Chastine’s hand in the process.Maxill felt Juste’s powerful grip that was suffocatingly digging around his neck
“Bunny, can we talk?” Maxill approached Bunny along the open deck of her airship.Bunny closed her eyes and heavily sighed. “What now, Maxill?”Maxill wanted to say sorry, but he wasn’t sure if it was the appropriate word to tell her. He’s not apologetic of his identity, and yet he felt he needed to tell her otherwise.“… I’ll make it up to you tonight.”Bunny scoffed. “Maxill, no, I get it. You don’t like me. Wait, let me reiterate—you don’t like girls.”Maxill was rare to speak out his feelings. Feelings of disgust and apprehension, yes, but his sincere feelings, rare. He finds it hard to do so. Still, he really tried hard, just to comfort Bunny in her disappointment. “But as an acquaintance, I kind of like you.” The sulking pilot was a bit surprised. “…you do?”“Yeah. You’ve been supportive and understanding, at least to me. I have my toxic traits, but you still put up with me for, like what, 2 years? You saved my butt too many times, too.”He added, “And for a pilot, you’
“So what’s your plan, Chastine? And why are you suddenly so snobbish with our pilot?” Juste asked his girlfriend with utmost curiosity in his eyes.Chastine wished to tell her beloved about it, but it might spoil all the fun. She merely winked at Juste and said, “sorry, can’t blurt it out to you. But you will know soon…” “Besides, even though I already halved the cost of our flight, I still think she’s charging us way more than the standard rate.”“Money’s not an issue, Chas, as long as I’m around.”“It’s not about that, Juste. We should be practical with money matters. And why are you calling me ‘Chas’ suddenly? Only Maxill calls me by that name.”“Heh, it sounds cute enough, and there’s this feeling of closeness to it.”“It’s fine by me, but Maxill might get a little bit jelly about it.”“Oh, yeah, about Maxill, how did you convince him to agree with your plan? After all, I can see our pilot to be head over heels about him.” Juste sneered. He was quite amused how his girlfri
SWEET-16 is considered an armored flight vehicle by national standards. It has a thin metal alloy for its exterior, and thick fabric panels for its interior. There are offensive and defensive mechanisms attached to the aircraft like the plasmic EMP barrier (for repelling thunders and sun flares), bomb assemblies and small firearm mounts.SWEET-16 stands for Sky Wings Embedding Etherial Technology, with the number as the successful prototype count of the said flight vehicle. It runs on Etherial fuel, an easily melted mineral deposit harvested under the sands of Ham Desert.Bunny Lang was the chief designer for the SWEET-16 project. But because of its high-cost and maintenance, the aircraft was scrapped off by witborn military.She overhauled the last prototype to make it stealthy, and was had finished upgrading it when Maxill and his friends popped out of nowhere.Bunny welcomed them inside the aircraft’s cabin. Inside, there was a small round table with four chairs around it. Th
Juste remembered one his mother’s greatest work.Being a herbalist herself, he never would imagine the vastness of Saraise Isaacs' scientific accomplishments if he didn’t look for the ingredients of the Remedium.Her mother’s discovery and breeding experiments landed her a place in scientific books.He started to feel enthusiastic and excited about getting the next ingredient.Saraisium ordinem, also known as ice rose, is a succulent plant that had been specifically bred for the very purpose of making the Remedium.It was fed with a special liquid while being exposed to the sun, and then nipped and attached to a base plant.Repeating this technique many times, Juste’s mother was able mutate a special component in the plant which was one of the ingredients needed in turning a human to a fellhound, and vice versa.Maxill spread the map again on a flat surface to know where to look for the ice rose.According to the codex, the ice rose is endemic to the Ham Desert.Maxill starte
“You think this is gonna work on him?” Juste asked Maxill, thinking if they would be able to be successful in their plan. “Trust me, I’ve memorized the whole guide.” Juste was quite surprised at what his bloodhunt friend just said. His eyes widened and his eyebrows raised up. “Woah, you did?” “Yes. And I bet on my 75 years of life that it’ll work on him.” “What the—you’re 75 years old?!” Maxill added, “And forget about what Scion said. He’s just toying with your head.” He also bothered to comment on Juste’s astonishment regarding his age, “look at me, Juste. For us bloodhunts, age is just a number. I could pass as a teenager just like you. Heck, I’m even young by vampire standards.” “Ugh, well, I just thought you’re around 40 years old, heh.” Juste’s nose showed wrinkles and lines as he smiled in an awkward way out of disbelief and amusement. Maxill couldn’t help but wonder, “…are you flattering me, or insulting me?” “Don’t worry, it’s a compliment.” Juste snickered at what
Everything was not going well with Juste, Chastine, and Maxill.The bloodhunt did acquire what he had planned in getting from the north, but it costed him his peace and composure.He even accidentally killed one of his own, even if he only wanted to beat the h*ck out of Dreon.Not that he cared about the snoopy bloodeye, but he realized that he wasn’t able to control his strength and went overboard just because he was led by his feelings.Meanwhile, Juste and Chastine have had some bad encounter with none other than Juste’s current nemesis, Scion, the army commander of their clan.Not only did Scion burnt each southern thorny wolfbane he could find around the region, he also decided to revisit the pair and take the diary of Juste’s mother to burn it before his very eyes.Among the three, Juste was clearly the most devastated. He was starting to feel that their quest was all for naught.Without any substantial guide to continue their mission, Juste was thinking how they would be
Maxill was quite swift on his arrival to the north of Dianium. The herb codex indicated that the northern thorny wolfbane was along the outskirts of the Dianium, just between their country’s jurisdiction and the uncharted frost beyond. In that boundary, the terrain was filled with tall and cone-bearing trees, and the climate in that region was indeed bone chilling and thin aired. But these were no match for the powerful bloodhunt. Maxill was breezing through the cold winds like it wasn’t even cool season. He was still flapping his ominous pair of wings with elegance and effortlessness. The sound of swaying branches was heard. Maxill perched on one of the lower branches and began to scour the ground with his supersonic senses. As he turned human and was in a sitting position along the high branch, he closed his eyes and activated his sound wave detection to search for the herb. The northern thorny wolfbane is one tricky plant to acquire, both in location and in physical attribut
“Agree,” Maxill retorted to Juste. He was determined to help the fellhound anyway he can.“I’ll go north. I know my way around there.” The handsome bloodhunt had a confident smile upon him that was hard to let down.Maxill continued, “Chastine, you go with Juste. Knowing that he’s quite sensitive to the plant, he needs to have a companion to handle the southern thorny wolfbane. Capiche?”“Yeah, got it.” Chastine was also serious and determined to help Juste as seen on her expressive face.Maxill butted in further into their conversation, gesturing his hand in the air while explaining himself, “Well, y’know, besides me disrupting your smooching sessions, it’ll be better for the two of you to team up. Well, just sayin’…”“Maxill!" Juste and Chastine cried in unison as their cheeks turned red when they remembered the bloodhunt witnessing their love making session by the river.The teasing bloodhunt grinned broadly, baring the set of his sharp canines in the process. “Anyway, south is wh
Juste, Chastine, and Maxill couldn’t be prouder of themselves for getting the first ingredient of the Remedium.No doubt, the root was crimson colored, from the tips to the base. Even its insides were bloody red.They went to a nearby small village where the three species are welcomed: freedom to eat, sleep, and trade.Juste, Chastine, and Maxill quickly headed to that small town’s apothecary. The hospitable assistant lent them the things that they needed to prepare the root for storing and keep it from getting moldy.Juste prepared the root by drying them out in a dry oven, then after drying, patiently grinding it with mortar and pestle. Just as the fellhound meticulously processed the red root of the rabid eater plant, Chastine and Maxill were trying to figure out their next target plant for the ingredient in the Remedium serum for Juste.“It says crown of thorns…” Maxill was rubbing his chin, pondering what specific thorny plant was the poem referring to.“Ugh, there are so many t