Onyxfell was a city that rose early, yes, but it was also a city which remained awake until very late in some parts.
Such was the case in D-one, where the wealthy patricians remained awake until past midnight on some occasions, whether for unsanctioned races at the upper track, informal bouts between gladiators at expansive villas, visiting brothels, or any number of other decadent pursuits and minor Victories.
On this particular night, however, a rare, less decadent event occurred.
Publius Paesentius Lucullus and Sergia Perennis, gladiators who had been hired to guard one of the primary workshops for Drusus Bruccius Leontius, one of the older and more famous mechanics for drivers who competed on the upper track, were the ones to notice it first, though it wasn't until later that the full import of what they'd seen became clear to them.
"Hey, do you see something moving over there?" whispered Sergia Perennis, her eyes fixing on the darkened street across from the workshop.
"Moving?" repeated Publius Paesentius Lucullus. He narrowed his eyes. "No, but it looks like there's a couple little spots of light."
"Bluish?"
"Yeah. Oh, they're moving."
"Hey, what're you doing over there?" Sergia Perennis called out in challenge to whatever was lurking across from them.
There was no reply other than further movement of the spots of bluish light.
"Can't see much with these fucking street lamps," Publius Paesentius Lucullus complained, his stat point in Nighteye reduced to uselessness in the presence of the too-reliable lighting that had been added around the city by the Char hero years earlier. "I'm gonna scare whoever it is off."
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And so Publius Paesentius Lucullus shouted out a warning then a directive, following which he began walking across the street while leaving Sergia Perennis to watch the workshop's only entrance in case what was occurring happened to be some sort of diversion. Theft might be punishable by death, but that didn't prevent people from trying on occasion.
As he neared, he became less blinded by the street lamps and was better able to discern what he'd been seeing. It was not, in fact, a pair of blue lights but a pair of eyes. Eyes belonging to a beautiful young woman with golden hair who wore the plain overalls of the poorer citizens in D-five. Only, as he grew nearer, he realized that her hair was streaked with purple, and she had distinct but cute horns growing from the sides of her head.
Publius Paesentius Lucullus gulped. He was surely no coward, having battled well over two hundred times in the arena even before he'd seen twenty years pass, but this…
Was this a demon? There were legends spoken of the fearsome creatures, though none had ever claimed to have seen one, but in every story it was stated that horns were the unique characteristic to distinguish by. The creatures were present in all manner of tale, from being the villains who kidnapped princesses and queens of foreign lands to being wise sages who aided gladiators seeking true strength in ages past.
A constant in all such tales was that should a demon be angered, even incidentally, its rage would know no bounds.
This demon beauty wasn't alone, either. Standing next to her was a living, moving skeleton. It turned its skull as if to gaze upon him.
Publius Paesentius Lucullus paused for a moment while he regained his senses.
In that time, the strange duo began sinking down into the street with accelerating speed. The demon winked at him just before her head disappeared into a pool of total darkness that had formed beneath her.
It was at that moment that Publius Paesentius Lucullus knew he was in love.
It was not, however, until hours later that the workshop was opened again, revealing that the pair of guards had utterly failed in the job they'd been hired for.