Emilia took another deep breath. She had taken five deep breaths so far, and still, nothing had walked around the corner. Maybe, something had gone inside or just stood right outside the door. She could look, but that would be too easy. Or, would progress her too far. She didn't really want to go into this next battle just yet, right? Stop being a baby, Emilia chided herself.

"Here we go," Emilia muttered to herself.

Emilia reached into a pocket and pulled out a tube of lipstick as *NSync's Here We Go began to play in her ear. Her hand paused as she nervously applied another layer. Troy tried to harmonize while, again, using his own lyrics.

"Here we go, one the last time. All the vampires are going to die. Here she goes now. Oh yes-yes, here she goes. Emilia kills them; woah!"

"Troy," Emilia hissed. "You are one step away from being sued for copyright infringement or something like that."

The music stopped. 

"No way, 20% rule! Is that not what you needed to pump you up?" Troy asked. "I mean, it got Vijay and me grooving, but he wrote down some other lyrics. Man, you guys are really stifling my creativity here."

"Not the time for you to bring this to the group," Emilia whispered.

Troy huffed. "Okay, just snap when you're ready."

Her lips tingled for a second. Out of sheer paranoia, she hovered a hand over her lips. Emilia paused to smirk before snapping her fingers. *NSync restarted softly in her ear.

"What was that?" A female voice asked.

Someone grunted in response before a male voice responded, "probably nothing."

The lipstick slid into her pocket easily. She looked down at the watch and adjusted the settings. There was no need to be subtle now. Emilia placed her hand forward to peek around the corner and shot a light round into the hall. Bright light allowed Emilia to see how terribly gross the hallway actually was as the two vampires' screams dulled into nothing.

"Y'all really need to hire a maid," Emilia muttered as she turned the corner, adjusting the settings on her watch again while humming along with *NSync.

Once finished, she opened the door and pressed on the small trigger attached to her watch. Emilia waited behind the door as the vampires screamed in the room. She then turned to walk inside. Well, most likely strut to the beat. Emilia could feel the adrenaline of the moment turning her walk into a strut as she reached the final stage. Liv used to say it was a moment like this where you either walked away from it a badass or cursed yourself for becoming a dead-ass.

"Cut the music," Emilia hissed, and the soundtrack stopped.

A slow clap started in the corner as Bresal walked forward. "Oh, but I was enjoying it. Made me want to do a little jig while eating an open arse."

"That's graphic," Emilia scoffed with a curled lip.

I should have guessed he might be able to overhear our conversations.

Bresal revealed a small, round, brown object in his hand with a bite taken out of it. Emilia felt a small trickle of apprehension enter her veins on seeing the jaggedness of the bite. A human wouldn't create those edges. She should know he would be like the other two, but part of her hoped the human mother would make him different.

Emilia cursed her luck. Her muscles already ached, and she didn't think her current energy levels would be enough to beat this jerk. Just breathe, Emi. She reminded herself. Troy said it'd help the magic flow.

"It's a fruit." His golden eyes flashed to her hoodie, and he smirked. "I like that you came prepared for me. It will make this flirtation even more exciting."

She warily watched him make a motion with his free hand for another open arse to fly into it. "I wouldn't call this a flirtation."

A barking laugh escaped him as he examined the uneaten open arse before throwing it to her. She examined the brown fleshed fruit warily. The top of the fruit caved in a little to reveal a smooth surface with lines leading to a small circle in the center.

"I see where it gets its name," Emilia stated with a hint of disgust in her voice as she let the fruit drop to the floor.

"You really shouldn't be so judgmental on what your future husband eats," Bresal chided.

Emilia's eyes widened as Troy gasped in her ear.

"I've got the perfect song," Troy cheered.

"Don't you dare!" Emilia hissed.

Bresal clapped his hands together. "This Tony fellow is quite entertaining. The interaction between the two of you almost makes up for killing my associates."

"If he can hear it, I'm not going to play it," Troy stated. His voice sounded almost cautious. "This guy is too nosy for my tastes. I don't think you should marry him."

"Well," Emilia laughed. "I really didn't think it was up for debate."

Bresal smirked. "Well, if he isn't with me. I think it's best he leaves our conversation."

Emilia watched Bresal concentrate on her for a moment before he frowned. His golden eyes flashed as he made a motion with his hand.

"Still here," Troy taunted.

A hissing sound escaped between Bresal's teeth. He crushed what was left of the fruit in his hand and threw it to the ground. Emilia scrunched her nose at the sight of the brown crushed fruit.

"Do you not know that this is rude behavior?" Bresal asked.

Emilia tilted her head. "Did you not know it is illegal to kidnap women, kill them, and then store their corpses in a closet?"

Bresal waved his hand at her words. "They knew their sacrifice. What about this question." Bresal leaned forward. "Do you know what type of thing you have speaking to you through that earpiece?—It can resist me. Me!"

Emilia leaned back a little before clicking her tongue. "Not to be rude, but apart from being Fomorian, we don't know exactly who you are."

"I am a prince!" Bresal screamed, swiping his hand through the air.

Emilia's foot stepped back before she could stop it. His whole being had changed into an eight-foot-tall horned, goat-like monster before returning to his human state. 

"I am Prince Bres of the Fomorians!"

Troy let out an elongated sound before clicking his tongue. "Are you sure that should mean anything to us?"

"Troy," Emilia hissed. "You are far away, and I have to deal with him if he goes berzerk."

Prince Bres looked angry. He ran a hand through his hair before walking over to a table. Emilia watched him warily as he placed a hand on the table's surface. An arbor covered in vines and flowers floated above the table; through the entry, Emilia could see various creatures walking about.

"The Other World," Bres fondly stated. "It is my home."

Emilia nodded her head. "Okay, then why not just jump through that little portal to go home?"

A forlorn smile spread across Bres's face as he gazed at the image. "I cannot go until a woman wears this ring long enough to provide the path."

"Huh," Emilia almost grunted. "So, all those women combined in the closet weren't enough to keep the path open, but I will be?"

Bres shook his head. "You might be. They provided power to access the door."

"Wonderful," Emilia muttered, backing away from Bres and the table.

The two circled the room. Emilia, moving away from the table as Bres walked around the table, staring at the image. His hand lazily moved up to touch a side of the arbor, causing his whole body to transform back into the goat-like monster.

"So," Troy whispered. "Apparently, Fomorians were known as warmongers while in this realm. They got banished to the other world after being defeated in a war."

Bres hissed. "We were not defeated. Fomorians are never defeated."

Emilia's eyes widened when the golden gaze met her. "Troy, don't say anything else."

"I think it is time we discontinue this nice little conversation, and you put on this ring," Bres stated, holding out a large red ruby on a golden band. "Then, we can see who the defeated warmongers are."

Emilia shook her head. "Nah, I think I'm good. Y'all look like happy creatures on a nature retreat in the other world. Might as well stay there."

Bres raised his arm and clenched his fist closed. Emilia rose from the ground and flew towards him. She floated a few inches off the ground in front of him before he let her fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. Her gun skid across the floor until it hit a back wall.

"This isn't a negotiation." Bres tilted his horned head and revealed a row of straight, square teeth. "Now, give me your hand."

Emilia felt her arm moving up on its own, and she cursed. Her heart raced as she took ragged breaths, willing her body to listen to her brain. Bres held out his furry hand to take hers as his other hand brought the ring closer. Then, she felt a tingle start in her head, and with a jolt, her hand returned to her side. Emilia kicked upwards, causing the ring to fly through the air. 

Bres screamed before taking hold of her ankle. He threw her across the room. Emilia snapped her fingers, causing a puff of air to soften the blow. She could hear him stomp towards where the ring had fallen as she rose to her feet.

Emilia's eyes widened as she saw the outline of Bres's natural form in the light. It looked familiar. She used her arm to rub her eyes, willing whatever memory wanted to surface to release itself. Then, it did.

Liv had been standing over the yellow stone in a lab. She grabbed it without using gloves, causing the stone to glow. It started to release a large amount of energy, and an arbor appeared. Emilia tried to get Liv to release the stone, but nothing worked. Liv slowly shriveled away as the goat-man walked through the arbor. Emilia's heart tightened as she remembered the way he had smiled at her. It all lasted no more than two minutes. He walked over to her, said something, and then walked away.

Emilia's hand clutched the hilt of her sword and removed it from her belt. "You are the reason Liv died that night. That stupid yellow stone killed her so that you could walk through a portal."

"Oh, were you there? How serendipitous!" Bres clapped his hands together before bending over to grab the ring.

"I'm going to kill you," she hissed, crouching into an attacking position with her sword.

"Our first lover's quarrel. How splendid!" Bres taunted, placing the ring in his pocket. "If it makes you feel better. I rather hope you don't die when wearing this ring. It will be nice to see your face when Fomorian destiny comes to pass."

Emilia's eyes narrowed. "You bastard!" She screamed, rushing towards him.

Bres dodged Emilia's sword with a smirk before kicking her. She flew backward against the wall. A cracking sound emitted from the wall, and Emilia groaned. She pushed herself back up to her feet, glaring at Bres.

He tauntingly clapped while walking forward. "Well, aren't you a resilient one?"

Emilia sneered at him while limping forward. She heard a slow hiss of air release in her ear.

"You okay?" Troy asked.

"Uh-huh," Emilia whispered.

The echo of his nervous finger tapping met her ears. Emilia started to use the rhythmic sound as a way to measure her steps around Bres. The golden-eyed monster shook his head at her with a smirk while moving towards his chair. Emilia glared at Bres before snapping her fingers. The chair flew through the air and slammed into Bres's head. The monster stumbled back with a sneer. 

"How dare you," he bellowed, turning to glare at Emilia.

Bres's eyes glowed brighter, causing the room to feel claustrophobic. 

"Breathe," Troy whispered into her ear.

Emilia concentrated on her breathing, making the tension ease in her shoulders and arms. Bres ran at her with his horns down. Emilia dodged him but could feel part of his horn connect with her side. Thankfully, the material of her clothing protected her skin from any cutting blows. But, she would have to add the impact to her bruise and possible broken bone list.

Bres turned. He tilted his head in a ticking type of motion towards his left a few times before running at her again. Emilia dodged him again. This time, she brought her sword down in a slicing motion as he ran past her. The blade caught his side, sending blood splattering from the floor to the ceiling. Bres let out a scream while using his giant hand to slap Emilia.

Emilia spiraled into the floor, and her sword clattered to the ground beside her. She tried to get up, but a force pinned her to the ground. Emilia willed her lungs to inhale to center her magic, but panic had slowly begun to edge its way in as she watched his feet move towards her. The steady dripping of blood accompanying each of his steps.

"You are a very silly girl, Emilia Vos," Bres hissed. "I offered you a wonderful deal; even tried to make it seem fair, but you ruined that. I guess we will have to open the portal to let all of my people in. Fomorians will rise again."

***

Dating Advice from a Hunter,

Sometimes it's better to be single. Who cares if you end up alone with just a bunch of pets. Deleting the app is better than dating a psycho.

Happy hunting,

E.V.

***

Chapter WC: 2.236

Story WC: 25,815