3:075 on the 62nd day of Winter

It was an overcast and moonless night. I had planned, prepared, designed and built everything I would need. I stood on the edge looking out into the pit. The demon army was down there, though I couldn't see them from here. The siege had not been going well. Daily attacks made steady progress at wearing down the defenses. They were focusing on the northeast wall and so the pit to the south was much less heavily patrolled, by both sides. I knew that this was reckless but I had worked hard to minimize the risk as much as possible. I could only hope that it was enough.

I tied off the cord I had made to the base of the metal railing. My stomach lurched looking down but I steeled my resolve. Brading together a million or so carbon nanotubes made a type of super thin rope that could lift an elephant. My clothing was completely coated in vertical nanotubes that resulted in an eerie black-hole camouflage. I was finding many useful applications for nanotubes and was sure I was just getting started. I looped the line through another device I had made with rubber coated wheels and a water mana driven motor. Then I ran the end through a set of loops on my belt designed to apply controlled resistance to the line. Jumping over the edge, I hoped that the line would hold. It would hold. Probably.

Into the pit I dropped. The night grew darker as a shift in the wind pulled smoke from the city over me, blocking the starlight. I was committed now so I tried to put everything else out of my mind. Maybe it was a bad omen. Focus. As I got lower I could see a few small lights in cave openings here and there. Then I was down. I pulled the cord out of the loops in my belt and retrieved a small marble shaped device from my pocket and depressed a small button. The line zipped back up the wall and out of sight. The little remote I had made would lower and raise the line when requested and the motor was strong enough to lift me and a ton of equipment reliably. It also had a safety ratchet built in it so it wouldn't drop me even if it broke.

I hurried into one of the nearby cave entrances while trying to stay as low as possible. I had installed soft fabric on the soles of my boots to help dampen sound and still felt like I was making a horrible racket. I made it to the entrance and saw the demons on watch. There were three of them about fifteen meters in. Two were kith and the third looked like a six legged version daddy-long-legs spider. Each of its legs had a tiny three fingered hand on it and it was currently shaking one of them.

I looked out of the cave again to see if there was another way when I heard a sound like dice rolling from the demons. Sure enough, the spider had just rolled a set of three cube dice. It started excitedly chattering and chirping and the two kith seemed to deflate a bit. Were they gambling? Of course they were gambling. Soldiers on watch passed the time however they could. I just never thought that demons would exhibit such… human-like behavior. They were always portrayed as bloodthirsty monsters in stories. And they had committed systematic genocide of humans for the last thirty years. No, I would not sympathize with the enemy. I needed to get past these guards and if that involved killing them I would do it.

But, thinking about it again, killing them would probably be loud and messy. That would call attention to me and probably get me killed right back. So sneak past them or cause a diversion. How about both? I reached into my belt pouches and pulled out a set of paired devices that made use of a small amount of gunpowder. Pushing a button on one marble would cause the other to pop like a firecracker. Not particularly dangerous, but loud enough for a good distraction.

Then I discovered a problem. I had made the explosive marble red and the control marble blue to easily tell them apart but it was so dark I couldn't see any color. My helmet let me see in infrared with false color displays which, of course, couldn't tell red from blue. I tried turning up the gain on the display LEDs but that only made the dark screen brighter and did not make the color clear. I thought I was so clever and then this happens. I'm such an idiot sometimes.

After staring at the identical looking marbles for a measure I finally figured out a solution. I activated my microscope and looked into the aluminum oxide structure for trace elements of chromium, red, or iron and titanium, blue. Now sure of which was which, I placed the explosive marble just outside the cave entrance. I took a deep breath and slunk back to the guards. I moved very slowly, sticking close to the wall farthest from them.

I kicked a pebble by accident and it made a small sound that had the guards look up from their game. I immediately set off the diversion and their attention was pulled to the cave entrance. The two kith darted forward followed closely by long-legs. I took the opportunity to walk carefully and quickly down the tunnel. I heard their chattering continue for a few minutes but eventually I heard the sound of dice again and knew I was in the clear, at least for now.

***

3:101 on the 62nd day of Winter

I picked my way carefully and quietly down into the depths of the mine. I encountered a few groups of demons at first but after a while it was clear I was alone. Making my way to the cavern I stayed vigilant for any sign of guards or patrols. Eventually I arrived at the collapsed tunnel where I first encountered the demons. I crept forward slowly, peering into the cave with utmost caution. Eventually I made my way to a ledge that looked out over the lake.

Everything was quiet and still. I let out a sigh of relief and made my way down to the lakeshore where I was with Arin before the attack. I looked around for the artificial core but there was no sign of it where we had been talking. It should show up brightly in infrared sight as it was much hotter than anything else down here. I looked toward the lake and sure enough a spot in the shallows was brighter than the rest. I walked over and saw that it was just below the surface. I put down my backpack, took off my gloves and rolled up my sleeves before retrieving the core. Then I took a moment to secure it in the sling I had made for it. I pulled the pack on and stood. Now where is my journal?

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I walked over to the nook where my bedroll was and saw my campsite was mostly undisturbed. Although, I could see that my notebook was sitting on the ground open and there was something warm sitting on top of it. It was small, thin and coiled, like a snake, though snakes are cold blooded so probably wouldn't show up as warm.

I reached up to my helmet and switched off the infrared sight. In the visible range I could now see that the thing was emitting light. It was a dog sized millipede that was glowing with a soft arora in every color of the rainbow. My heart froze as I realized it was an orialith demon. A tiny one but still incredibly dangerous. I took a slow step backwards only to hear a crunch beneath my foot.

"Aaaaahhhh!" the millipede screamed as it whipped around to face me.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!" I screamed back in shock. Then it started babbling in perfect elementaryan.

"Oh for the love of all that's good and smells nice." it said.

Shit, this thing was a demon. I took out one of my lasers and aimed at the bug.

"Stop!" a loud voice came from behind me.

I spun around to see a subway size version of the millipede looming up from the lake. Its light was filling the cavern now with reds and purples. I pointed the laser at it instead but didn't push the trigger. I looked around frantically for a way out but I was stuck between demons.

"Stay back!" I said waving my laser around. It was a bluff. There was no way my laser rods would kill this thing faster than it could kill me. Maybe my grenades? Then I noticed that it had said that in elementaryan too.

"Stay your hand human." the giant one said. "We want no conflict with you"

I just looked at it, no her, incredulously. Her voice was melodic and soothing. Was this a trick? Maybe I could talk my way out of this.

"I just came for my journal." I said. "Let me take it and I will leave in peace."

"Your journal?" she asked.

Then she bobbed her head back and forth, the colors she was showing changed as well to include a lot of green and some cyan too.

"Then, are you a death mage?" she asked. "Though, if what you wrote is true then that name is a misunderstanding"

My helmet hid my face but my eyes were wide in shock. That implied that she had read my paper on death magic. I lowered my laser a fraction but still held it ready.

"What exactly do you want?" I asked.

There was a pause. The oralith went perfectly still for several marks. I was just starting to think I should leave when she came out of whatever state she was in.

“Interesting, interesting.” she said. “You don't even know the problem you're trying to solve.”

What was she talking about?

"Tell me what you want or I'm just going to leave." I said.

I could just toss a grenade to destroy my notes and run for a tunnel too small for her to pursue me through. I took one step toward the exit when she seemed to refocus on the conversation.

"I want so many things, human." she said. "But a more important question is what can I offer you. To answer that, we need to agree to not try and kill each other for a while. Can you agree to that?"

This was too weird. I checked behind me and the little one hadn't moved from my journal. Well what could talking hurt. Maybe she had called for help already and just wanted me to let down my guard long enough for reinforcements to arrive. But she didn't need reinforcements. She was plenty capable of killing me here and now, whether or not I use death magic.

"Let me retrieve my journal." I said. "Then we can talk out by the lake"

"Of course" she said. "Polenda-nel, come here"

The little one scurried past me quickly. I backed into the notch and bent to retrieve my journal. It appeared undamaged and included the loose papers in the back that made up my draft articles to the Royal Society of Mages. Without putting down my laser I took one strap off of my backpack and stored the journal within. I then put the pack back on and walked forward toward the lake shore. I looked at the exit tunnels on this level but there would be no way I could make it to them before she could catch me. Best to hear them out. Polenda-nel and the big one were waiting together talking in hushed tones in another language. As I approached they both went quiet.

"Good, now we can talk." she said. "I am called Cedrea-nel. I understand that you are Kharon of the river Styx."

What? Oh ya, I remembered that's how I signed the article. I was being ironic with an Earth reference but I suppose it's as good an alias as any. This was just so surreal.

"You may call me that." I said. "So, perhaps you can help me understand what's going on. I have never heard of demons speaking with humans before. Well, not since before the war at least. But that was a long time ago."

Was their bloodthirsty reputation just propaganda? No, that's not right. I had heard from many different sources of the atrocities that they had committed. Whole countries wiped out. There were survivors of course but not for lack of them trying. I needed to keep my guard up.

"Before the war, I used to teach several De-mon languages, at the College of King Lamar" she said.

Her many legs twitched and writhed in a very unnerving way. If I remember correctly, King Lamar ruled over Lamaria until it fell to demon invasion about twenty years ago.

"Now, I teach human language and culture in the College of Maxiska-nel-balar." she said. "We are here as part of a research grant to… well, to study what is left behind in the city of Cinder after its fall."

What the heck? They were researchers! They were going to study the ashes after their army exterminated us. I was getting major British empire vibes from these two. Conquer a country and take all the artifacts back to your museums.

"So, let me get this straight." I said. "You're not with the demon army. Instead you are with a college that has human studies courses. You are here to, what, sift through the rubble after we're all dead?"

There was a distinct color pattern that flashed over both their backs. I was beginning to suspect that they wore their emotions on their sleeves, literally.

"You don't want human culture to disappear once you're all dead, do you?" Polenda-nel asked, speaking up in the voice of a young boy.

I really wanted to squish him right then. That pattern of colors flashed over Cedrea-nel's back. Embarrassment? Maybe contrition?

"You have it right in broad strokes Kharon." she said. "But perhaps there could be a way to avoid that fate. If not for Cinder, for humanity as a whole."

That had my attention.

"A way to end the war?" I asked incredulously.

"Not all at once and maybe not for a long time." she said. "My college is politically opposed to the war. Wishing to study the problem of human magic for a solution instead of exterminating human mages outright."

"The problem of human magic?" I asked. "What by Mez are you talking about?"

"You going to destroy the world." said Polenda-nel. "How can you not know that?"