The dome had dissipated from the powerful heaven-sent attack. A light drizzle from the gathered storm clouds was now raining down upon Noth. But despite being able to feel the rain splashing about on his skin, Noth couldn’t see a single thing. He was laid on the ground, having collapsed backwards in shock from the sound, and yet not a single raindrop entered his sight. He could even feel them trying to get into his eyes, and still nothing.

And because he couldn’t see what had become of the demons, he feared that the dome must have been destroyed, and that the wet feeling he was feeling was the slobber of monsters, leaking down onto him.

He held still like a statue, too frightened out of his mind to even conceive doing anything else. All he could hope was that if he stayed very still they would lose interest in him, and if not, that they would at least kill him swiftly so he wouldn’t have to suffer much pain.

He could hear his angel calling out to him, although his hearing sounded quite canned, as if he was hearing her through a wall. He could only surmise that the deafening sound of the lightning striking had actually deafened him. Somehow his blinded eyes could sense the light being cut off by someone leaning over him, or that they were waving something over his face, and yet he still could only vaguely make out her rough outline. She called out his name again, and Noth did his best to choke out some kind of reply.

“Are- Is it... safe? Did we win?”

“Oh. Then… is this rain?”

Noth brought his hand up to wipe away the wetness from his face.

“Yeah. I don’t think I can see anymore. I can barely hear you, too.”

The angel suddenly took hold of his face, slowly taking the time to layer kisses upon his eyes, and loving caresses upon his ears, one after another. After about 7 passes of this, he finally started steadily regaining his sight and hearing. It took about 10 minutes, but he sat up and leaned against Serris, and waited until it seemed like everything was back to the way that it was. Noth breathed a small sigh of relief over the averted crisis. He was feeling a good bit drained from attack after attack on his sanity, and truth be told, everything that happened almost felt like some kind of lie. He stood up and stretched, looking at the now cleared, sparsely cloudy sky.

“Well then. I guess now we go home and I pass out again.”

“Huh?”

“What? But we killed the horde that was going to attack the town already. And besides I… I don’t really think I want to go through any more of that today…”

Her words completely baffled Noth. What could she possibly have been referring to way out here near demon territory? Serris took his hand as if she was delicately leading a child, and started escorting him a small way off to the right, still keeping a good distance from the green hell that loomed in the distance. They seemed to walk for at least 20 minutes, and he was quite confused why she was leading him so far away from where they’d started. However, his doubts were cleared up when a slightly greying head of hair suddenly appeared from a nearby outcropping of dead trees.

“Oh… Oh lord Noct! …What might you be doing this far out?”

Her words were a bit hesitant, as if she was worried to see his reaction to her return, but suddenly the look on her face took a complete turn, and she rushed over to take hold of his hands.

“Does this mean you’ve come out to eradicate the demons? Those rotten, nasty things won’t stand a single chance against a noble as powerful as yourself! They had the nerve to chase my escort and I through the woods; I had to leave the man behind so he could try and fend the fiends off! I’m sure he’ll show up any moment to continue protecting me, though, so no worries.”

Noth’s eyes narrowed at Mellen’s words. If the escort wasn’t someone terribly strong, then they were probably already dead. How could she not have realized this? A quick glance towards Serris pretty much confirmed his hunch. The teen wasn't sure what to say to the woman. Telling her the fate of her escort most likely wouldn’t help anything, and even if he wasn’t already feeling tired, he couldn’t think of anything he could say that wouldn’t end up in another fight. In all actuality, he wasn’t very happy to have seen her again.

It was a trial just trying to force neutral words from his mouth.

“...Yes, I was here fighting the demons.”

Noth’s words came out sounding slightly hesitant from how hard he was trying to restrain himself.

Mellen’s eyes grew wider and more hopeful upon hearing that he was indeed killing off the demon menace that had plagued the town. And then, for some imperceptible reason, the look in her eyes grew suddenly haughty and rude.

“Of course you were. I’m sure you know how much of a big deal removing the corruption infesting this holy country’s lands is. I’d been so worried when you cast me out from the territory along with the others, but I’m glad I made the right choice of notifying the church. Now, with this contribution they might possibly look past the strange incident from before.”

Her words and gaze held the implication that Mellen somehow thought she held the upper hand, like someone tattling to an employee’s boss. Perhaps this was the only way she could think to cast retribution upon Noth for his rude actions to her. And it carried the added bonus that the church was likely to breath down Noth’s neck on the subject of the demons.

“You… You told the church?”

“Why, yes. As it was news pertaining to the amazing new noble installed at the oh so important and treacherous edge of the country, how could they not have sent someone important to listen? They said they would dispatch someone to oversee the situation by next week.”

The look on her face as if she now held all the power was infuriating. Noth’s teeth were already grinding because she’d reported him to the church, but her next words were the straw that broke the camel’s back. It seemed Mellen truly believed his silence to be him showing weakness, and had then decided to up the ante.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“The bishop I spoke with even had a few interesting stories to tell me about you. Of course, I had a few more to add in as well. Honestly, I’m surprised that someone as powerful and awe-inspiring as my dear lord Noct once used to be as useless and repulsive as that ashen girl. How lucky you must feel to have been given such mercy from the God-dess. I can’t imagine what might have become of you, even if you were an Earl’s son. What a sad little life you must have led. No wonder you fell under that harlot’s spell once someone suddenly cared about you. But don’t worry.”

Mellen stepped closer to the wide eyed, quietly raging teen, and put on a matronly look.

“I promise I’ll take care of all these little mistakes of yours. You’re still a child, but I can raise you into something befitting of your position. You wouldn't want to upset the church even more, would you?”

Noth was absolutely disgusted by what he was hearing. How was this woman always so arrogant? How did she think that by learning about his past and gossiping about him to the church that she’d somehow gotten the upper hand over him? She’d even called one of his beloved family members, as well as his past self, useless and repulsive! She knew nothing about what she was talking about! Nothing!

In the end, as his rage consumed him, Noth once again retreated back into icy cold anger.

He would not put up with this woman anymore.

The only things that ever slid out of her mouth were poison to him.

Such a disgusting creature served no purpose in his lands.

“Mellen. It would be a shame if your escort had to wander through the forest all alone. I’m sure nothing bad would happen if you went in to find him now.”

Noth’s sudden off-topic words were completely unexpected to the woman.

She’d been so sure of herself, but now something about him was scaring her.

“What? B-but there’s…”

“No, I’m sure of it. You belong in there. You deserve the same fate. Perhaps the escort didn’t, but you…”

Mellen stumbled backwards, fearing the cold words she was hearing. Had she pushed her luck too far? Had she chosen her words poorly? Maybe her leverage wasn’t quite as good as she’d thought it was. The cold eyes that were staring unblinkingly upon her were freezing her mind, and the only thought that could escape was that she should run. There was a chance that if she made it to the town and hid somewhere, that she could survive until the messenger of the church came. It was possible that they might protect her against the Count and take her back if she promised to give them more information, regardless of if she really had anything more important to tell them.

But as Mellen turned and tried to run, Noth’s chilling voice stopped her in her tracks.

“No Mellen, that’s the wrong way. ”

***

Mellen ran and ran, regardless of her will. Her eyes nervously searched through the passing trees, hoping that she would soon find her escort so that she might be set free from this hellish spell. The further into the lush forest she went, the more her fear grew. Her heart may have been beating as if it would break from the exertion, but she knew that even if she hadn’t already been running it would have been beating just as violently from her terror. Any minute now a demon could show up and decide to do something horrific to her.

Speak of the devil and the devil will appear.

Inevitably she spotted a small group of demons nearby.

And yet, she could do nothing about such a discovery.

The only things her legs could do was run straight through the foliage in the direction she’d last seen her escort in.

She was not allowed to change course.

She was not allowed to turn around.

She could not move out of the way.

She would never regain control of her body again unless she found her escort.

And so, Mellen smacked directly into the hard, lanky body of one of the demons.

The impact was hard enough that Mellen bounced off and slammed her head on the ground. Her vision spun as she blacked out, unable to handle the way her brain had been rattled. And when her eyes next opened up she found herself tied with vines and being hauled over someone’s shoulder like a fresh catch of game. Her legs were still frantically trying to run, despite the fact that it would be practically impossible in this position. Her muscles ached and burned from overuse, but they just wouldn’t stop. She could even feel that she’d somehow managed to sprain one of her ankles, but her body kept moving, her feet repeatedly knocking uselessly against the hard scaled chest of the demon carrying her.

All around her were flames and crude huts. She could see a small crowd gathered around her, following her. They all seemed to be looking at her as if she was something delicious. They would lick their lips and sometimes make mock biting motions nearby her, as if to scare her. For the first time in her life, the older, dignified woman felt like she might pee herself any second from her fear. She almost screamed multiple times when she felt the occasional long nails swiping at her skin and drawing blood, but the way her lungs were burning from overexertion and the position she was being held in wouldn’t let her get enough air.

Eventually she was thrown down to the ground. An immediate smell of decay and the sound of flies greeted her, and when she frantically looked around her surroundings, she quickly realized where it was coming from. Only an arms-length from where her head was laying she could see shoes, hovering above the ground. She stood up quickly to get a better look at the horrible scene in front of her, not even noticing that she had suddenly regained control of her legs. When she followed her gaze up the long, tattered, pants covered legs that were coming up from there, she found a body, hanging from a plank jutting out of a nearby hut’s roof. The body’s shirt had been torn to shreds, and it was easy to see the big gaping cavity that used to be the man’s chest and stomach. It was completely torn open, supposedly by claws and nails if the scratch marks were any indication, and all of the internal organs were gone, with only little sloppy scraps of viscera left behind. The corpse’s eyes were wide open with terror, as if it had died experiencing the horror of its insides being consumed instead of from the hanging.

And it was obvious to Mellen from the man’s face that this was the escort she’d been searching for.

He was tied up in the exact same way as she currently was.

His blood even still looked fresh.

As she trembled in terror over the fate that was about to befall her, a graceful and lovely demon appeared. For all that the previous demons she’d seen looked bluish purple, this one looked a shade of purplish red. She had magnificent horns, and an ethereal beauty that would captivate any who looked upon her. Her long flowing, almost translucent white hair waved in the breeze as she came towards Mellen, and instead of the language of the demons that she’d been hearing since she’d been captured, the beautiful demon spoke to her in the country’s tongue.

The demon’s perfect hand trailed over one of Mellen’s legs, gracefully yet lewdly dragging up the woman’s skirt high enough to show off the length of the appendages.

Her perfect hands still held dastardly looking nails, and only a second later Mellen felt a stinging pain as those nails made four long cuts through her thigh. The pain wrenched out a wretched and shrill shriek from the woman’s throat.

And with those words the demon suddenly ripped off the leg she’d been touching and threw it into the crowd that surrounded the spectacle.

The feast had begun, and Mellen was quickly but painfully torn apart and consumed.