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It was stew! The aroma that I had followed around turned out to be a green suspicious looking stew. Just looking at the color made all my will to eat that thing disappear. It still smelled amazing, but the looks it had? It resembled the rotten bread and soup my parents used to give me when I was in foster care. I was never eating that.
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" Do you not want to try it?" Ashmoder looked at me weird, which I could understand. I had been dragging him through the whole city following my nose for over an hour and when we had finally reached the source of the smell I didn't want it. I could understand his confusion, but as I said before there was no way in hell I was eating that.
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" No, thanks" I almost grimaced looking at the stew. Were those green things peppers?
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Yeah, I wasn't taking that anywhere near my face.
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" Isn't that the reason why we've spent all this time following your nose?" Ashmoder's words didn't have hatred or tiredness in them, just pure confusion.
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" What is it made of?" I asked after gathering all my courage.
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" Meat and a few spices" The woman behind the counter with the stew was the one to answer my question instead of Ashmoder.
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Her answer didn't calm me down. It did almost the opposite. Why hadn't she said what kind of meat was inside the stew?
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" Want kind of meat?"
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" Meat" The woman said, as if my question was stupid.
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Ashmoder also looked at me weird, as if my question was a surprising and unexpected one, but I just wanted to know what kind of meat was inside my stew, was that so weird?
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" Try it out" Ashmoder took a bowl and filled it to the brim with the green stew." Here"
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Ashmoder offered me the bowl, looking at me with expectant eyes.
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I sighed and picked the bowl from his hands, sniffing it for a second, it smelled amazing, and then slowly raised it to my lips and took a small sip of it.
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My eyes almost bulged out of my face and I chugged the whole thing down in a few seconds. Unlike its appearance it tasted amazing. From now on I should trust my nose more than my eyes.
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Once I finished it all I looked at Ashmoder expectantly. I wanted even more of that amazing stew.
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" Do you want more?"
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I nodded slightly with my head and Ashmoder chuckled as he filled my bowl to the brim again.
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" Mmmm" I made small moaning sounds as I ate my stew, so content that I didn't even noticed it when Ashmoder raised a barrier all over me, trapping the sounds inside and making a small cave, where all the sounds reverberated and came back to me stronger.
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The moment I heard my moans I raised my head and stopped making the small sounds I had been making as I stopped eating the stew. Did I really sound like that?
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" Do you like it that much?"
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I had also failed to notice Ashmoder inside the bubble, looking at me with curiosity while he tilted his head.
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" No" I said, stew dripping all over my chin.
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" Okay" Ashmoder smiled while he took down the barrier and paid the woman some golden coins, which I assumed were the currency in Jinasia. " Where do you want to go next?" He asked me as he took my hand.
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" Where do you suggest we go?" I asked instead, dodging the question. As long as there was food I was fine with almost anywhere.
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" I know the perfect place" Ashmoder smiled at me and began walking with purpose towards the main gate of the city, the one that led right into the red desert.
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' Maybe the place he wants to go to is near the main door' I thought, gaslighting myself. I really didn't want to go to the desert, but I didn't want to disappoint Ashmoder. He looked so happy, like a young child that had just gotten the puppy he'd been begging for for years.
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As usual luck was against me. I didn't know what I had done to earn it, but I was sure that whoever controlled luck had a big grudge against me.
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We were outside. In the middle of the desert, and it was hot as fuck.
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I was sweating through my whole body, my whole dress turning a few shades darker as my sweat permeated into the fabric.
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No matter how much I complained and groaned Ashmoder would just look at me for a second and say you can do it. Then he'd continue walking, never dropping his pace.
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I was seriously outlawing any physical exercise. I would have to talk to Ashmoder about it. Earth wouldn't be included, but at least while I was on the demon world I wouldn't have to move a single muscle.
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" We're here" Just as I was seriously considering speaking up we reached the top of a sand dune.
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My whole body was hurting and my legs were wobbly, and to top it all off I even had sand in places sand had no business being in, but what I saw made the journey almost worth it, almost.
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In front of me there was a big expanse of blue. A great lake in the middle of the desert, with greens and blues all around the water. I didn't recognize most of the plants growing in the Oasis, but I didn't need to know their names to appreciate their beauty.
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" Wow"
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It was really beautiful. I was left with my mouth hanging open as Ashmoder chuckled besides me and took off his outer garments, remaining only in his underwear, and ran to the water.
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I watched as he plunged into the water and his body moved underneath it, barely sending any ripples all over the water surface.
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His face suddenly surfaced and he was left in the middle of the lake, swimming slightly to keep afloat, and looking at me.
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" Don't you want to join me?"
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I did, as a matter of fact, want to go there and get into the water. The suns were up in the sky and had been hitting me unrelentingly since we had first stepped foot on the desert. I was sure that if I put an egg on my head it would get fried in a second. That was how hot it was.
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" Coming!" I screamed, running towards the Oasis.
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I almost fell over my own feet a few times before I could stand straight and continue running, getting closer and closer to the water.
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I didn't bother taking my clothes off as I entered the water. The heat instantly dissipated and my whole body calmed down, lowering my temperature.
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I swam a little bit and then let myself drift all over the water, not moving a muscle as I closed my eyes and felt my upper body warm up with the sunlight while my lower half cooled down thanks to the water. The heat coming from the sun warmed my body as the water cooled it down, making a perfect warm, cozy temperature that just made me want to drift off to sleep, which I did.
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From behind me I could hear Ashmoder laugh and splash water around, but I was way too comftable to care.
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Hours passed by and I remained on the water, letting my whole body absorb the water and heat as I drifted through the water, pushing myself against some plants or rocks the moment I drifted off too far to the shore to continue drifting.
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At some point the suns disappeared and the heat transformed into cold. It started permeating into my bones and I shivered. I wasn't comfortable anymore, I was cold.
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Shivering from the cold I opened my eyes and started moving, swimming towards the closest shore, where Ashmoder was sitting on a rock, watching me with hawk eyes, not missing a single beat. Had he been doing that the whole time?
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Just looking at his clothes gave me the answer. They were completely dry. He had been out there long before the suns had set. It would've been creepy if I hadn't known that he had just wanted to protect me, but I did, so to my eyes it was just a sweet gesture that made me even more willing to consider him my father.
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The moment I was out of the water Ashmoder waved his hands and my clothes dried up, not even a drop of water remaining in them.
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" Thanks"
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" We wouldn't want you to catch a cold, would we?" He said instead of an answer. He was cute.
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I smiled at my dad while we walked back to the castle.
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During the night the city was even more bustling than during the day. Ashmoder had to push people off and growl to be able to walk. I stayed close to him, holding his hand as he pushed people away and made our way back into the castle.
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As soon as we were inside I dropped to the ground, relieved.
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" That was hell" There were so many demons I couldn't even breath. That had to be illegal, and if it wasn't I would make it illegal along with exercise.
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" This is hell, after all" Ashmoder said while chuckling.
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" Is it really hell?" I had heard the mages say that Jinasia was hell before, but I thought it was an exaggeration meant to make people hate demons.
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" There is no hell or heaven " Ashmoder said while he took my hand and walked through the castle " that's just what the humans say"
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His words checked out. It was just as I had thought.
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As soon as we reach my room Ashmoder made the wall part and revealed my room, where a tray filled with food was placed in the middle of my bed. It would be truly hard to get it out without spilling everything everywhere, but I was willing to try.
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" Enjoy your food. I'll come by tomorrow" Ashmoder said as he backed away.
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" Are you meeting up with Els?" I asked, making my tone suggestive. I had said that I didn't care about his love affairs, but the truth was that I did. It was interesting and I had nothing, absolutely nothing, better going on.
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Ashmoder tilted his head and looked at me as if he didn't comprehend why I had used that tone, but I knew he was pretending. He didn't want me knowing about his affairs. It was cute. Despite his act I saw all the truth. He liked Els. The way he talked about her and looked at her when they met was enough proof. Even though I had only seen them meet once I knew they were lovers. And I was rooting for them.
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" Yes?"
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I knew it! I screamed in my head as Ashmoder looked at me weird, not that I cared. I was used to it by now.
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I smiled at him and waved him goodbye as I told him to close the wall, and then, when he could barely hear, I wasn't brave enough to say it in front of him yet, I whispered goodnight dad. I could've sworn the whole castle trembled.
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Just as I was turning around to face my bed with an smile on my face I saw a shadow from the corner of my eye and a hand pressed against my mouth, hard.
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and then Add to home screen.