The prick pushed his horse to a gallop and took off over the rocks, heading straight to the mine. Ell screamed in frustration as they chased after him, the pounding of her head in sync with the horse’s bounds. Bloody hangover.

Bal thought he was so Gods damn clever. Of course she knew running around the wastes was bloody pointless! There wasn’t anywhere else to go but this barren shithole! She hadn’t fled here because she liked the smell of dust and incest! The wastes were her best chance to escape the horde of murders her beloved siblings had set lose on her. She just wanted to disappear, but Bal had other ideas.

How the fuck was she supposed to charge back to the capital and take back what was ‘rightfully hers’ anyway? Her siblings had armies at their beck and call. Armies. All she had was a knight who got turned on by the thought of an honourable death and a smug prick of a ‘demon’, if that what he really was. She would die of embarrassment long before an assassin got her if she showed up with those two.

She needed to find a way to banish Bal soon. His voice was like a shiv at her temple, each time he spoke it dug a little deeper. She didn’t know how much more she could take before she snapped.

“I can feel you ranting about me in your head, Miss.” Bal shouted over his shoulder.

Her pounding head screamed as his voice ripped its way in through her ears. Bal was going to die, and she would even do the dirty work herself. If she died from the supposed ‘harm’ that would befall her, well then so be it. Her dying wish would be for Cas to complete the task. The honour-horny knight would do it; Cas wouldn’t even break a pinky promise if it came down to it.

“Oh, that’s not very nice Ell. I thought we were friends!” Bal laughed.

Could he have …. no, the bastard had a smug grin on his face. He hadn’t read her mind, he was just mocking her again. He was going to die very soon. Very, very soon. She was going to rip him into fifty different pieces, stuff them into tiny boxes and scatter them in the farthest corners of the world. She rubbed her temples in attempt to sooth her headache. Gods, she needed more whiskey; it was the only known cure for a hangover after all.

Lost in her fantasies of bloody murder, Ell barely noticed that they had arrived at the mining village. Cas swung off his horse and offered Ell a hand down. She swatted it away when she saw Bal smirking at them. He thought she was so damn useless. Hypocrite. She jumped off her horse and looked around.

The mining village wasn’t much. A couple of shacks that had been hobbled together using whatever wood they could get. The building formed a semicircle with a large hill at the back of the village. A large hole had been blasted haphazardly into the rocky hill. The mine, apparently. A strong wind blew through the village, setting doors to banging and walls to creaking. All in all, it was just another shithole, just like every damn town and village in the wastes. A good enough place for an ambush she supposed, if that was what Bal was scheming.

Cas began surveying the village and went to check in one of the shacks. As he approached, the door promptly exploded in his face. Cas flew back and landed on his ass a few feet back, smouldering slightly. He leapt back to his feet, grinning as he drew his blade. Exploding doors were probably one of his fetishes for all Ell knew.

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A small scruffy man jumped out of the shack rolling on the ground before springing to his feet. A second man, taller and much lankier than the first, emerged out of the shack after him.

“Still kicking there, feller? Should know better than to open the infamous Boomy brother’s door! Ye had it coming!” The first spat in an unintelligible accent.

“This is why we never have visitors, brother. You always use your explosion spells on strangers! We’re going to die alone.” Moaned the second man, shaking his long black hair out of his eyes.

“Well we sure will if ye don’t quit your bitching! Now come down and do the thing!” The first man hissed at his brother.

“No, brother, please don’t make me do that! It’s embarrassing!” the tall man whined.

“It is a Boomy family tradition! Don’t insult it! Now get!”

The tall man shuffled down next to his brother, not lifting his gaze to meet Ell’s. He got into position beside his brother, huffed, and then struck a pose at the same time as his brother, pointing at Ell’s group.

“I’m Blast!” Cheered the small brother.

“I’m Bang.” Mumbled the other.

They shuffled around each other, arms swinging wildly around them. Ell guessed it was some kind of dance. Could be a mating ritual though. Who knew with these hicks.

Eventually they arranged themselves into another pose and finished, panting hard.

“Together, we are the Boomy brothers!” They said wheezed discordantly.

It was impressive, Ell had to admit; they had only just introduced themselves and she already detested them. Two more targets for when she got around to snapping, it would seem. Bal began applauding enthusiastically, cheering and chanting ‘Boomy! Boomy!’. The demon had found two new playthings to entertain himself with.

Bal’s continued cheering brought forth a tide of pain in her head once more. Damn, she really needed some more whiskey now. She hadn’t enough time to grab anymore from the saloon before they ran. Maybe these hicks had some; she could tolerate their existence better if they did.

The smaller brother, Blast, smiled demurely at the response. Ell could just picture these two idiots practicing this daily waiting for someone showing up. With no one else about, this had probably been their first time showing it off.

Bal, predictably, was the first to address the Boomy brothers.

“Well that was simply spectacular, friends! I’ve seen many introductory dances, but I have to say, that was in the top five, no, the top three, easily! Miles above the competition!”

Even the tall brother blushed at Bal’s compliments. How they couldn’t hear the sarcasm leaking off Bal’s snake tongue, Ell would never know. The glimmer appeared in Bal’s eyes again, twinkling as he got closer to the brothers.

“Aw shucks, you’re too kind stranger. That wasn’t nothing much.” Blast chuckled as he blushed, hiding his face by looking at his feet.

“Nothing much?! Preposterous! That shuffle towards the end had me in awe. It must have taken some intense practice. Do you think you could do it again for me? I was just so entranced by the beauty of the dance that I don’t think I fully appreciated it in its entirety-.”

Bal’s speech cut off as a third figure appeared in the door to the shack, causing the entire front wall to shake. A wave of terror shook her gut as Ell turned to look at the new comer. The thing was easily eight-foot-tall, muscle layered on all over its enormous body with three horns sprouting from its head. It radiated hate as its massive chest heaved up and down in furious breaths. An eyeball was missing from its brutal red face, but the other glowed with a fierce yellow intensity. Having spent the last few days with Bal, she almost didn’t recognise it for what it was; a demon. This was what a demon was supposed to be like. A being of pure evil.

Completely unlike Bal.

The Demon’s muscles tensed as it landed its gaze on Bal. Yellow eye igniting, it screamed in an earth-shaking voice.

“BAAAAAAAAAL!”

The true demon charged towards Bal in massive strides. Bal’s sleazy smirk had been chased away by a concerned look. Ell might have found some enjoyment from that if it wasn’t for the slab of muscle hurtling towards them. She just hoped that Bal would die first.