A hazy fog covered Eliza's mind as she stirred to the sound of deep guttural rumbling around her. Slowly she opened her eyes, feeling something tugging her boots off. Her vision was blurry, and beginning to swim, she couldn’t make out what the large figures moving around her were doing in the light emitted by the dimly glowing red crystals embedded into the room's walls. Then, a stench so foul that even with her broken nose, she gagged when it assaulted her nose. Her shoulder hit something and pain lanced through her arm, and she couldn’t help but gasp in pain. The pain cleared the fog from her mind.
The moving figures closest to her paused, hearing her gasp, and then started making their way toward her as Eliza remembered what had happened. Immediately she tried to get up to run, but she found that she couldn’t move, her good arm was trapped by something. She turned her head to look to see what it was and came face to face with a dead female. Eliza tried to recoil in shock but couldn’t due to her arm being pinned between the female's body and, looking closer, the bodies of several other people.
Bile filled her throat as she almost threw up whatever remained of her lunch, which she barely managed to swallow before continuing to tug at her arm. Every tug jostled her dislocated arm, sending spikes of pain through her, but she gritted her teeth and finally managed to free her arm. Her small victory was short-lived as she turned around to see that she had been surrounded.
Around her three beasts, men imposingly stood looking down at her, but they did nothing other than that.
“If you're going to kill me, do it already.” Eliza snarled at the group, but they still didn’t do anything.
Eventually, one with the head of a wolf turned and said something to one with the head of a bull in a language she didn’t understand. Bullhead responded in the same language, and they spoke back and forth. All the while, Eliza did her best to muster an intimidating glare in the unlikely scenario that it might scare them off.
Her meager hopes were shattered as they seemed to come to a consensus, and Wolf-head stepped forward with a twisted grin on his face, reaching down to grab her with his clawed humanoid hand. Eliza tried to swat his hand away with her now free good arm, but he grabbed the arm and, with a tug, pulled her up into the air.
Eliza used the momentum of her swinging body to lash out at the wolf-man with a kick. Her kick successfully impacted but did nothing to the wolf-man; instead, Eliza realized that she had struck with her broken leg, eliciting a gasp of pain from her and a chuckle from the wolf-man.
The Demon flung her over its shoulder like a sack of potatoes and turned around, giving Eliza a full view of the cave they were in; at the same time, she got a clear view of the mounds of bodies that filled the cave. Both Human and Rakna, several of the people Eliza recognized as part of other teams.
A quick scan of the mounds of bodies didn’t show anyone from her team, and internally she let out a small sigh of relief. At least there was a chance of them still being alive.
Eliza started to struggle against the hold of the Demon but seeing that it didn’t faze the Demon and that the movement really hurt, quickly opted to conserve her energy to escape later if an opportunity presented itself.
The Demon exited the room and entered a smaller cave. A glowing red moss coated the cave walls, giving Eliza a clear view of the place, the most notable being the tracks they were walking alongside. Eliza heard the sound of a mine cart moving along the tracks ahead of them that they quickly overtook. When they eventually did, Eliza felt sick to the stomach seeing the bodies carried by the minecart. The minecart was pushed by a couple of bull-men who looked smaller than the others.
Eliza closed her eyes and looked away, doing her best not to think about the bodies' fate. Instead, her mind began to imagine what they would do to her. The first couple of possibilities that came to her mind nearly caused Eliza to panic, and she shook her head to clear her mind. Panicking wouldn’t help her at all here. No, it was best to look for any opportunity to escape, any at all.
They quickly traveled through the cave, the movement of the wolf-man Demon jostling her injured arm and leg every so often, causing her to wince in pain each time. At some point, the cave changed from smooth stone into a neatly arranged cobblestone pathway, built in the same architecture as the city above.
It didn’t take long for them to come to an intersection. The Wolf-man Demon went straight through and started ascending some stairs. The track veered off in both directions but didn’t have an end in sight that Eliza could see. At the top of the stairs, the wolfman took a right and went down another hallway with thick wooden doors lining either side. They passed several Demons along the way. Primarily the beast-men demons, but Eliza saw Hell-Hounds, imps, and the occasional goblin along the way. A light red mist hung in the air, seemingly exuded by the veiny red lines that adorned the stronger-looking Demons.
Finally, the Wolf-man Demon came to a door and stopped to talk to a couple of guards flanking either side of the door. The exchange lasted a couple of moments before the door was open, and the Wolf-man Demon was through. One of the demon guards yelled into the room as the Demon carrying her walked into the center of the room and roughly plopped her down.
Eliza winced in pain at the rough landing and then quickly surveyed her surroundings. She found herself in a throne room, smaller than any throne room she had ever seen but a throne room nonetheless. A couple of pillars lined a path through the room towards large double doors currently closed. Eliza and the wolf Demon had come into the room through one of the several smaller side doors that lined either side of it. The Demon-wolf had carried her towards a ‘throne’ towards the back of the room, which was naturally occupied.
The “throne’ beneath the Demon was made up of bones, many of which Eliza could see were human. The sheer quantity worsened the nausea that Eliza already felt.
In it sat a Demon who was easily at least twice the size of any of the Demons Eliza had seen up to this point; he had a humanoid chest and wore a dark red metallic chest piece over a black and red silk robe that covered his body. He had two heads, one of a wolf and the other of a bull. He had one leg that had a cloven hoof, while the other had a wolf's paw. What skin Eliza could see had several deep red cracks that exuded the red mist around his form.
He was currently looking at the Wolf-man Demon with his blood-red eyes, who had prostrated itself flat on the ground and was saying something, again in a language that Eliza didn’t understand. In its eyes, Eliza could see reverence and respect for the larger Demon on the throne as it seemed to ask something. The larger Demon said something, and the Wolf-man Demon got excited before getting up and bowing down a couple of times before leaving Eliza alone. Then the giant Demon turned its gaze toward her, and it suddenly felt like an overwhelming force was crushing her. She felt a shiver go down her spine and did her best to meet its terrifying gaze. Then it spoke.
“Human,” he said with his bull head in a deep, guttural, barely understandable voice. A sinister grin came onto both of its faces. “It’s not every day that one of you survives the fall into my realm. What fortuitous luck you have.”
Eliza swallowed the lump in her throat and snorted, “As if I’m sure there’s a reason I wasn’t immediately killed.”
Both heads chuckled in unison, the different sounds jarring in their own right. Then the wolf head spoke, “Right you are. However, it's not every day that a spirit paladin falls into the realm, especially one that's been abandoned by their ‘god,’.” he said and began to chuckle again.
Fear shot through Eliza and her body suddenly felt shaky, “H-How,” She began but stopped when she noticed how shaky her voice sounded. She swallowed hard and tried again, “How did you know?”
The Bullhead spoke this time, “ It’s quite obvious when you’re a Demon as old as I am. The others merely noticed something special about you, but I can see it, or rather, I can see the ‘vessel’ for your magic. A empty vessel.” he said, a hint of glee in its voice.
“I see; so what, are you going to challenge little me to a duel so that you can take the ‘empty vessel’? It's a great achievement, I’m sure.” Eliza said.
The Demon began to laugh until its wolf head spoke this time, “Me against you for that measly amount of power? How preposterous! No, I'm afraid your value lies elsewhere. You see, a vessel is hard to create in a being, and once it's been created, It is filled with the power of whoever created it. Once that is done, as the bearer of the vessel grows in power, so does the one who filled it. But, in your case, it's empty, and an empty vessel can be filled.”
Eliza narrowed her eyes to glare at it, “Get to the point already.”
“Very well, make a contract to serve me. By doing so, I will rise to heights unknown amongst both demonkind and the outer races. The world will tremble in fear of me as I bathe it in the blo-” He was saying, mad excitement dancing in his eyes.
“No,” Eliza said firmly, cutting him off.
He stopped, “No?”
``No.” Eliza reaffirmed and then asked, “did you really expect me to agree?”
A smile came to its face, “Why not? Your God has abandoned you; the mere fact that you were in that camp means your country has abandoned you, and you've been thrown down here because your people have abandoned you. What reason is there for you to hold to your faith?”
“Answer me this, have you made a contract with Gary, and did you send the Alpha Rakna after me?”
He smiled gloatingly, “Yes, I’ve granted the power to that Elf, and I did send the Rakna’s after you, as much of a disappointment as they’ve been. The same power the Elf wielded can be yours if you make the contract.
Eliza’s teeth clenched, “You’ve granted power to an elf that the mere thought of manages to piss me off, and you’ve admitted to orchestrating my capture. It’s safe to assume that you were behind the attack on the caravan at the beginning of this entire mess which means you’ve killed all those people, my friends included. Putting my beliefs aside, you did all this, and you expect me to make a contract with you? Kill me now, and let's be done with this charade.”
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The Demon began to laugh, a loud bellowing laugh. He leaned forward and stared at her with a glint in his eyes. “What if I were to say that by making a contract, you could save the lives of your friends you care so much about.”
“I don’t believe you would keep them alive even if they survived the fall, and I’d rather die than serve you.” Eliza spat, glaring at the Demon.
“I’m sure you’ll sing a different tune when you see them alive on the chopping block.” The Demon said gleefully before calling out in the unknown language. At its call, a guard came running into the room. They spoke for a few seconds before the guard picked her up much more carefully than the last one had, but in the end, she still ended up over its shoulder.
“I have some preparations to make and business to handle; the guard will take you to someplace where you can think about your decision for a bit. I hope you will reconsider, for your friend's sake and yours.” The Demon said as it stood up and started to walk away. Then the guard took her away.
The Demon Guard took her down a series of hallways before descending a flight of stairs that led to a door. She was taken through the door and into a room filled with cells. In the cells were a variety of Demons, ranging from big hulking beasts to scrawny imps. All were injured in one way or the other. In one cell, she was shocked to see the Alpha Rakna alive but barely moving. It slightly turned its head to look at her along with the other Demons that inhabited the prison. Again she got the feeling that it was saying something to her, but she couldn't discern it.
The Demon guard emitted a deep rumbling chuckle, “Take a good look, human; see what will happen if you continue to resist? Accept the Lord's offer, and you won’t need to suffer as they have. Abernach finds great pleasure in breaking those who defy him.”
“Wow, what a sales pitch, slavery or torture. How original.” Eliza said dryly as they neared the end of the room, and the Guard began to open another door.
It chuckled again, “ Good, try and keep that bravado; it’ll bring Abernach great pleasure as he breaks you down.” It stepped into the room and set her down. Eliza barely managed to stand by leaning on the cold stone wall.
“Master will come for you; I suggest you change your mind soon.” It said as it closed and locked the door. Eliza waited a few moments as its lumbering steps faded into the distance before she slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting. She looked around the room that she found herself in.
In the light of the red crystals embedded into the walls, Eliza could see that the room clearly wasn’t meant to be a cell; rather, it looked to be some sort of trophy room, if anything. The stone walls held the skulls of various large Demons that, presumably, Abernach had defeated before. In addition, various helmets from different human countries were on display around the room. Among them was a very familiar helmet. It was a standard officer's helmet from the Silverian Empire, and it looked like a fairly high-ranking one. The helmet was old and rusted, suggesting that it was from many years ago.
Eliza took in a deep shuddering breath. She tried to draw her knees to her chest, but her broken leg protested, so she settled on just the one, leaving her broken leg extended. She rested her forehead on her knee. Then she slowly released her breath and started chuckling.
“What a mess,” She said, mumbling to herself. She was alone in a crazy demon's trophy room that wanted to enslave her to become more powerful. Her leg is broken, and All her friends are most likely dead or will be used to force her into said contract. Her family lost all of its titles and land to her uncle, and her parents were killed by said uncle on claims of supporting Demons. All because she had been weak enough that a Demon helping her was what it took for her to finish a mission. She raised her head from her knee and rested it against the wall. At some point, unbidden tears had started to stream down her face.
Slowly she tilted her head forward and then lightly hit it against the wall again, “ You bloody fool, “ She said to herself, her voice beginning to choke up. Using her good hand, she attempted to wipe away the tears on her cheeks, but others soon replaced them, and she eventually gave up, letting her hand fall to her side. Her eyes slowly roamed around the room until they landed on a sharp horn that had been broken off of one of the skulls at some point.
She recalled a story she had been taught when she was young—that of a great warrior who had taken his own life rather than surrendering to the Demons.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. “A familiar voice said from somewhere to her left, right next to her ear. A rush of panic flashed through her, and she spun around, flinging her good fist towards whatever it was to hit…nothing; unable to stop her fist in time, she slammed her fist against the cold, stone wall sending a spike of pain up her good arm. Biting back a cry of pain, she looked around the empty room in confusion as she nursed her hand against her chest.
Then the voice spoke again, “Looks like you still got spirit. Good, you’ll need it.” the voice spoke again, this time from above her. She followed the sound of the voice only to see nothing again.”
“W-Who are you? Show yourself.” She stuttered out, chills going down her spine.
Then the shadows began to move, coalescing into the space right in front of her and forming into a dark shadowy figure with slight hints of a purple color discernable in the darkness. Any distinguishable features of its face were hidden by a shadowy hood and robe that covered its figure. “Hello, Eliza,” it said in a clear and easily understandable voice.
“How do you know my name? And you never said who you were.” Eliza said warily, glaring at the entity.
“To answer your first question, I’ve been watching you. As for who I am, let's leave it at someone who can help you.”
“Why wo-,” Eliza began to say before coming to a sudden realization, “By chance, the price of this help wouldn’t be a contract, would it.”
“In a manner of speaking, yes, a contract would be required,” it said.
“I told your Demon friends that I won’t make a contract with a Demon; why don’t you go and bug someone else,” Eliza said, her gaze returning to the nearby sharp bone shard lying on the ground.
The Demon chuckled, “I can assure you that I am no friend of Abernachs or any of his servants for that matter.”
“I don’t care what your relationship to Abernach is; the answer is still no.” She said, slowly pushing herself up to move towards the bone shard.
“Even if I can help you save your friends?” It said
Eliza paused and then glanced at the Demon, “What?” She demanded.
“You heard me; I’ll help save your two elf friends and that boy. As of right now, they are alive, but I cannot guarantee anything should we tarry for too long,” it said calmly.
Eliza slowly sat back down, a brief feeling of hope surfacing in her heart. Before, it was replaced by wariness. Clenching her teeth, her voice shaking, she said, “ The answer is still no; I got myself into this mess because of a demon. Nothing good can come from trusting a demon.”
It was silent for a few moments before saying, “your parents was it?”
“How do you know that?” Eliza asked.
“As I said, I’ve been watching you,” it said, nodding its cowled head.
“Then you should understand why I can’t trust you.”
“No, the one deserving of that is your uncle,” it said.
“What do you mean?“
“A Demon may have helped you, but your uncle used that to displace your parents. And because of him, your parents were forced to sacrifice themselves to save you. And because of him, you are now about to make their sacrifice pointless by taking your life.”
Rage surged up at what he said about her uncle; of course, she hated her uncle, but what could she do, she hated to admit it, but she was a young girl with no options.“What other choice do I have?” She hissed, “ I either die as me or die a slave to a demon.
“You can make a contract with me,” it said calmly.
“How is that any different?” Eliza snapped.
“It seems like we can finally start discussing conditions. To start, I will help you save your friends and get revenge on your uncle if you so wish.”
“And what is the price of that help?” Eliza said, glaring at the Demon.
“To make a contract with me,” it said, tilting its head as if that was obvious.
“I know you want to make a contract with me, but what would I need to do as part of the contract?” Eliza said, a hint of exasperation coming to her voice.
It paused for a few moments, contemplating something before seemingly coming to a decision. “Free me and help me grow my power.”
“Free you?” Eliza asked.
“Yes, free me; in some ways, I’m in as much of a desperate situation as you are, Eliza.”
“If you're in such a desperate situation, how can you and I help each other?”Eliza asked
“Because you are the means of getting me out of my situation, and I am the means of getting you out of yours. My spirit is tied to a vessel in this stronghold. By making a contract with you, you can become my vessel to which I can tether myself to. And then when you leave, so do I.” It added, “ Ah, I won’t be in control of your body if you’re worried about that; I will simply reside within your empty mana vessel.”
“Okay, how does designating me as a vessel help me?” Eliza asked.
“You got a taste when you fought with the Wraith. But my power can do more than that. At the very least, you’ll be able to walk in spite of your broken leg, and you’ll be able to fight any of the Demons you come across. As I grow in power, so will you, and you’ll be second to no one else that's under me.”
“But, ill turn into a Demon.”
It hesitantly nodded, “You’ll turn into a Demon, but surely that's better than watching your friends die because you’re too weak to save them?”
Eliza went silent, not able to dispute that. She hated to admit it, but as she was, she had little to no chance of saving her friends. But she had heard the stories about the Demons; She had fought them and seen many die to them. Most of all, she didn’t know if she could trust one.
She looked back at the Demon, “Help me save my friends, and I’ll… consider it.”
“All I could do is help you walk again and at least make you able to fight, but that’ll be nowhere near enough for you to save your friends. Any more magic outside of a contract would be dangerous to both you and me.”
“...That's fine, help me as you helped me against the Wraith, and I’ll… trust you.”
“Was helping against the Wraith not enough to gain your trust?”
“It was enough to get you a chance to get me to consider giving up being human, which is far more than I’ve given a Demon before,” Eliza said painfully, pulling herself up and using the wall for support.
The Demon considered her silently for a few moments, “Fine, but only if you agree to make a contract on your success; I’ve waited for too long to get my revenge to allow anything less than that.”
“Revenge against who?”
“Those that trapped me here, Abernach included. Are those conditions agreeable?”
Eliza hesitated for a few moments; revenge, that was something that she could understand, “Fine, If you help me save my friends...I’ll make a contract with you.”
It felt like something shifted in the air, and then the Demon said in a seemingly feminine voice, “I’ll hold you to that, do not go back on your word, human.”
“You think I won’t keep my word?” Eliza asked, a little insulted.
“Historically, humans have been known to be untrustworthy, but so long as you keep your word, there won’t be any problems.”
Eliza snorted, “Why would demons be any different.”
“A Demon that does not make contracts cannot become powerful in any significant capacity. And no contract can be made with a Demon that does not keep their word.”
Eliza raised an eyebrow, “I thought that was only a rumor.”
“It isn’t; now we don’t have much time, the guard returns.”
“How long?”
“About a minute.” It said, its voice now clearly feminine.
“How do you suggest dealing with him?” Eliza asked as she painfully struggled to her feet.
“I suggest stabbing it.” it, or she, said, turning her head to look at the sharp horn on the ground. “I take it I don’t need to tell you where to put the pointy end?” It said,
``No," Eliza said dryly, "it will be a bit hard, though; a broken leg and dislocated arm tend to inhibit fighting,”
“Hold on a moment,” The Demon said, and a portion of the shadows separated from it and surged towards Eliza.
Eliza winced and closed her eyes, feeling it flow into her. Almost immediately, it surged towards her arm and leg. Once it reached those areas, it rapidly expanded. She felt her arm snap into place and felt the bones moving within her leg. She barely managed to restrain herself from shouting in pain as she stumbled forward. She managed to catch herself, now walking on both of her legs. She shot the Demon a glare.
“A warning would have been nice.” She hissed through the pain.
“Have you never dislocated your arm before? Of course, it would hurt to relocate it suddenly like that. By the way, while we're on the topic, your leg isn’t healed; the mana is holding the bone together. You can use it normally, but once you run out, it will still be broken; I recommend doing whatever you humans do to heal broken bones. Now, you have 10 seconds; I insist you get moving.” It said as its form dispersed into the shadows.
Eliza shot the Demon one last glare and quickly crossed the room to snatch up the bone shard that was more like a horn. Just as she snatched it up she heard the door opening behind her. She turned to look at the wolf-demon guard, who looked at her first with confusion and then with panic as it started to reach for his axe that was slung across his back.
Eliza poured strength into her legs and charged the Demon. In an instant, she covered the distance between them, causing it to step back in shock. Eliza barreled into it, causing it to lose its balance and fall backward. she went down with it.
Disbelief filled its eyes as it looked at Eliza, who was also shocked. She was the first to recover and immediately stabbed its throat with the bone horn. The disbelief in its eyes turned into blind panic and terror, and it desperately tried to throw her off. It managed to grab hold of her and toss her off but not before she had stabbed its throat a few times.
Eliza flew through the air and landed, rolling a few times before she came to a stop. She immediately clambered to her feet, but she didn’t have to worry. The wolf Demon almost managed to climb to its feet, its claws desperately trying to stem the flow of blood from its neck. But it didn’t, its legs giving out at the last moment, and it collapsed to the ground. Eliza walked forward until she stared down at the body. She felt something warm on several different spots on her face. She wiped at one with her hand, and it came away smeared with blood; since she didn’t have any wounds, it had to be the Demons.