“And what of your report Private?” Captain Tasius asked the young guard standing before him. The guard being an oak wood elf dressed like a hunter, his clothing and tools were even grown by a druid like how most wood elves with good relations with their homelands.
“I found the cave sir, and I found a small group of wealthy looking warriors in there as well sir. They had all sorts of valuables and boxes filling the cave, I didn’t really get a good look as I was forced to leave to avoid being spotted.” The elven guard replied with a straight expression and posture.
“And this was all in the cave that I directed you to investigate?”
“Yes sir, I even looked around the area for any sign of people or animals, but I found nothing that wasn’t inside of that cave. Whatever those people were doing they didn’t want anyone stumbling across them.”
Captain Tasius remained quiet for a moment thinking about the information he was given. “You may leave now, and don’t tell anyone of this conversation or your orders.” The captain said dismissing the young guard and becoming alone in his office with his thoughts.
Around a day ago today the captain received two notes from an anonymous source regarding the origin of the bandit activities in the southern territories belonging to the city. The notes were very detailed regarding the name of the bandit group but also giving a description of the leader of said bandits. The only problem was the secrecy of who delivered the information, clearly they wanted the bandits gone, but Tasius didn’t know why.
‘Things would have been different if the source of this information had delivered it to me directly, but they chose to slip it in through my open window instead. Were they trying to avoid being caught? Were they a criminal trying to get rid of the competition? Or were they just not very trusting of the city guard after what my predecessor was exposed to being doing behind the scenes? I honestly wonder what the higher ups were thinking when they appointed me to this position.’
While this was worrying information, captain Tasius now had a way to deal a massive blow to the bandits and their leadership, without this imperial bandit leading the operation they should become weakened and easy to clear out.
‘Now I just need to build up sufficient forces to strike at their base of operations. I don’t think I will have enough men to keep the streets safe while also taking out these bandits, I may need to employ some mercenaries to help with this strike, I just hope the crown approves the funds to hire these mercenaries.’
********
Vel and I waited nearly an hour for the guild mage with the restoration division to arrive, when he did we immediately understood who he was as he was dressed like a stereotypical human wizard. He wore a pointedly tipped yellow hat and matching wizard robes, he had a thick and well groomed grey bread and carried a wooden staff that looked like it was a branch off a tree and on the end was a glowing yellow gemstone.
“Excuse me, I am looking for a Laelia Nabor. Do either of you young gentlemen know where she is?” The wizard asked us with a soft smile on his face. You could tell even without him saying anything this old wizard was a kind soul, like one's own grandfather.
“Yes, she is expecting you.” Vel quickly answered as he stepped up to the wizard. “Please come with me.” Vel quickly turned and led the wizard to the back room where Laelia was staying. With three loud knocks Vel called out to Laelia and the door opened.
“Good afternoon sir Wizard, please come inside.” Laelia quickly brought the wizard into the back and closed the door, again the sound of the door locking could be heard as she locked the door to keep us and anyone else out.
********
“Why, aren't you very stressed out today Laelia.” The old wizard commented as she led the wizard to another room that was also locked. “Well I recently found this massive parasite in the stomach of a young boy, when I managed to get the thing out of him my newest apprentice identified it as a demon. So yes, I am very stressed right now.”
“Your newest apprentice identified the parasite and not you? Who exactly is this apprentice? He sounds rather knowledgeable for someone taking such a job.” The wizard asked as Laelia dispelled the magical locks she placed upon the door.
“His name is Arthur, he is an evoker within the guild. I was actually doing a background check on him when the boy and his older sister showed up.”
“Interesting. An evoker who has experience with demons, and a keen enough mind to notice certain details that give away the identities of such creatures even with a vastly different type.” The old wizard thought out loud as he stroked his thick grey beard. “How long did you say he would be working under you for?” He asked shamelessly.
“Today is his first day, I haven’t actually taught him anything yet so I have no idea. And just so you know we are in the middle of something very important.” Laelia said as the lock clicked open revealing a small room made entirely from stone bricks and a multitude of engravings across the walls that glowed softly. In the middle of the room was the parasitic demon in the jar.
Laelia quickly entered the room and picked up the jag before stepping back out and handing it to the old wizard. “Here is the damned thing. Now tell me, is it a demon?”
The wizard held the jar with just his left hand and spun it around several times before he started casting any spells. The first spell he used took him almost a whole minute to use, when he was done the spell penetrated through the glass of the jar and was absorbed into the parasite glowing for a few seconds before dissipating.
The wizard unhappy with the outcome sighed and began casting another using his staff this time to help, this spell took even longer and had a similar effect on the parasite, only this time the wizard looked happy with the information he received.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Interesting… Very interesting.” The wizard commented as he placed the parasite and the jar in a bag he had on his side. “Your new apprentice was correct in his assessment, though he obviously didn’t get the full picture.” The wizard said to Laelia as he fished out his communication orb from his bag and placed it on the nearest table and activitied a toggle.
“Wait, Quintus. What do you mean? Was Arthur correct when he said it was a demon?” Laelia asked, rushing up to her old friend and mentor.
“He was partly correct, however I do not blame him for his lack of knowledge. This is not just a demon Laelia, this is a demon that has been modified to make it both small and parasitic as you saw with that young boy. That doesn’t mean that its life force and soul are any weaker than a normal demon, quite the opposite actually, it just doesn’t have any way to directly fight without finding its way inside of someone first.”
“A modified demon!? Who would do such a thing? Who would even have the ability to do something like that?”
“I don’t know. The usual suspects come to mind, but we have no evidence of the empire's involvement. All we have is this very dangerous specimen that will need to be quarantined and then studied to create a medicine or spell to easily eliminate them.” Without waiting for Laelia to speak the wizard Quintus called his superior with his communication orb. Only a few seconds passed as the person on the other hand picked up the call.
An old female voice came from the other side. “What do you have to report, Quintus?”
“We have a dangerous situation here ma’am. The parasite that was discovered here is in fact a modified demon that has been changed to act like a parasite without diminishing its life force in any way.” As Quintus spoke Laelia went quiet, she didn’t recognize the voice on the other end but very few could make her mentor and friend act like a proper wizard.
On the other end the voice went quiet for a handful of seconds before she spoke again. “Who else knows of this demonic parasite?”
“Only a handful of others. There is my former apprentice Laelia who is standing next to me, her two apprentices who found the parasite, the victim who is a young boy, and his sister who brought him to this clinic.” Quintus answered quickly as the voice on the other end went quiet, she was likely considering the information she was just given.
Eventually she asked another question. “Can they be trusted to keep this quiet?”
“Laelia is more than trustworthy to keep such information a secret, the other however I don't have the authority to speak for.”
“I may speak, I will be more than happy to talk to my apprentices and convince them to stay quiet for the time being.” Laelia quickly spoke moments after Quintus was done. “The boy and his sister however I don’t think will be easy to keep quiet, it may be best to take them elsewhere for the time being to keep them safe and quiet.”
“You have a good head on your shoulders Mrs. Nabor, we shall do as you suggested.” The voice spoke, a hint of amusement detected in her tone. “I recommend you bring your apprentices in here right now so I can have this conversation recorded. Best to keep their promises saved in case something happens.”
“Of course ma’am, I shall do so right away.” Laelia gave a quick bow to the orb and the unknown voice before exiting the room and calling Arthur and Vel into the room.
Seconds later both Arthur and Vel had joined Quintus in the room and stood before the communication orb while Laelia kept an eye on the boy and his sister.
“From what I understand one of you identified the parasite as a demon.” The voice said not even a second after the two were within detection range of the orb.
Vel subconsciously shivered at the sound of the old woman's voice on the other side, it reminded him of his grandmother who was a particularly mean woman. Arthur instead stood straight and spoke. “Yes, that is true. It was me who identified the demonic parasite ma’am.”
“How did you know that the parasite was a demon? To my knowledge you are just an evoker, someone like you shouldn't be encountering anything nearly as dangerous as demons let alone being close enough to notice key details about them.”
“I was on an expedition exploring the old dwarven settlement of Dom Badaher under the leadership of Lyra Vettonius. While we were there we uncovered an underground cavern system that housed a demon, we ended up fighting against it and eventually came out victorious though we did later leave due to the large goblin presence down there.”
For nearly a minute the voice didn’t speak as she considered everything Arthur told her and looked through the files she had access to to see if he was telling the truth.
“And what about you Mr. Vel? Do you have any experience with demons like your colleague?” The voice asked, almost suddenly and surprising Vel.
“Um… No ma’am. This would be the first time I have ever seen a demon.” Vel managed to say as the nervousness he was feeling practically radiated off him like a bonfire.
“Do the both of you understand the situation and why you must keep it a secret?”
“Yes ma’am.” Both Arthur and Vel quickly answered, though one was more confident and convincing than the other.
“Good. In the future the guild will send someone to interview the two of you, this will likely be within the next few days. For the time being continue doing your jobs and do not under any circumstances tell anyone about what happened unless it is under the mages guild roof.”
Shortly after Laelia returned from the clinic lobby and brought Arthur and Vel back out to deal with patients and to keep an eye on the boy and his sister. While Arthur wondered about what was being spoken now that they were gone Vel was more of a nervous wreck.
“Hey Vel, are you alright?” Arthur asked when all the patients were gone and the two had a moment to relax.
“No. No I am not.” Vel replied as he fiddled with his hands. “We are in way over our heads Arthur. I mean what kind of demon was that? I have never heard of parasitic demons before. If they were normal then you would think they would be in a medical book or something covering parasites and other diseases.”
“Do you think the guild isn’t capable of dealing with these parasitic demons?”
“No, it isn’t that.” Vel sighed as he collected his thoughts. “I really like to have a routine every day. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but I like starting a job at a certain time of day every day, I also like ending a job at the same time as well. Stuff like demons and war, it makes things all confusing and chaotic. There isn’t any rhyme or reason for what happens when things become chaotic, and now things are going to be changing a lot since we witnessed the demon parasite being ejected from that boy's stomach.”
Arthur didn’t have a response for what Vel said, while he did like have a routine for extended periods of time he did like to change things up every so often like how he was now an apprentice to a healer. But he did understand why Vel felt so worried about the future, he recalled the first time he looked at the demon deep below the surface in the caverns of Dom Badaher. Demons were certainly dangerous when they were big and noticeable, how dangerous will they be when they are small and can jump out from anywhere without warning.