“Lady Diane, formerly of House Culaine?” Ivar asked nonchalantly, adding subtle emphasis along with a wry half smile. The antechamber had undergone some reorganization, and now the chief minister sat at the head of the chamber, with various broken pieces of furniture moved hastily to the sides. He leaned back into the seat of his wheelchair, resting his head lightly on his propped-up arm.
Diane grimaced as she attempted to stand, before being forced back into her own wheelchair by a young miko who looked about ready to rabidly tear into any and every one.
“Yes, Chief Minister… Lady Diane, at your service.” The girl sighed dejectedly, she hardly had the energy to argue. She recognized D sitting quietly in a back corner, and had a vague familiarity with the blond guard at the door behind her. She couldn’t even meet Thistleman’s eyes, as he had been unusually quiet the whole way here. Her only company was Maya’s relentless venting about the summons and how there needed to be more respect for the injured.
“Chief Minister… about the quaran-“ Diane began, before she was cut off by a stern look from Ivar and a single raised finger from his free hand.
“The issue of breaking quarantine is officially of no interest, and as far as we are concerned here, did not occur.” The old man continued, maintaining his professional voice. Instead, he silently continued to evaluate them for another moment, as well as the uncomfortable shifting of the few others in the room.
“I do, however, bear a significant interest in what occurred. Fortunately, the city had the aid of a sanctioned royal investigation, and I would like to make sure we have a complete picture of what the investigator observed and uncovered with your aid.” Ivar smiled wide, savoring the slow turn of confusion to realization on Diane’s face.
Diane bit her lip, her momentary respite disappeared as promptly as it was granted, and her eyes darkened. She slowly began to recount what had happened beyond the wall, from the fleeing daemon to the demons that poured from the dark orb chasing it and her desperate struggle to survive. She stopped at the Bauther, as tears filled her eyes and her small body began to quake.
Maya placed her hand on Diane’s shoulder and squeezed softly, rubbing the back of her shoulder with thumb until the shaking stopped. With a deep breath, Diane finally recounted the appearance of Sayomi and the other demons, her voice shaking notably. She stared holes into her legs, refusing to raise her head, as the room fell into an interminable silence.
“Aye, so you were just lucky then.” Ivar finally spoke, after rubbing his chin in contemplation. “Although…” Ivar’s voice trailed off for a moment, “I can’t help but be bothered by something, lassie. Why did that demoness step in, and why she didn’t just kill you? She was clearly more than capable, don’t you think? And I, for one, have never heard of a demon just letting their prey escape.”
Ivar narrowed his eyes as he watched Diane intently. The girl’s eyes widened and she shifted uncomfortably in her chair, her mouth twitched as if unsure how to respond.
“Let her go?! What about any of her looks like she was let go! Is something wrong with your eyes, or are you just that stupid?” Maya let loose, stepping in front of Diane like a protective mother hen while shrieking in a mix of rage and exasperation at the chief minister.
“Back the hell of yerself, ye damn wench! Whattya even know about demons anyway, if ya knew even half o’ what I know ye’d have questions too!” Ivar shot back, stunned enough as he was by the Miko’s outburst and direct challenge that he broke his professional character.
“And asking that like an accusation instead of a question shows you know nothing about demons either, and instead you’re just a decrepit old fool who likes to pretend he’s smart.” Thistleman cut in coldly, his first words all day. He stopped leaning against the wall, and walked up to join Diane and the Miko.
“Boy, where the hell do you get-“ Ivar started, and was shut down forcefully. “SHUT YOUR STUPID FUCKING MOUTH.” Thistleman snarled, his eyes dilating as he pulled a blue potion out of his pocket, one that swirled much of its own accord and was dotted with what looked like stars from the night sky.
D took a very large step back, his eyes widened almost as wide as his reflective glasses and locked on to the bottle. “Fuck, another one?!” He cursed under his breath, loud enough for Ivar to overhear.
“Now, you’re going to listen.” He glanced towards the closed doors where Ivar initially entered, as Diane scrunched her eyes tightly shut.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“All of you. Demons and daemons… you idiots never bothered trying to understand them, have you? You think they are all just simple, single-minded creatures that will relentlessly chase you until one or the other of you is dead? Did you just assume they are all alike, just based on the rare few you might have seen here and there? Or is it just from an offhand rumor out of Ebenheim, since nobody here has ever bothered with the daemon kingdom to the north? NO, don’t answer that.” Thistleman’s hand shot up to the side, shushing Brunhilde and causing D to sweat intensely, as the potion sloshed vigorously in its bottle. He hadn’t even looked in her direction.
“I will tell you this much, although it won’t matter since you’re all going to die anyways.” He continued, a seething hatred gushed through his teeth.
“Demons are monsters by any measure you have. You’re right to fear them, but you are wrong to underestimate their drives. Some are moved by an insatiable hunger, some thrive off the suffering of others, some plot to ruin the lives of those better off than themselves and some seek to assert their superiority and dominance over others. Just to name a few different types. So if you’re going to ask that question, ask it like a real fucking question, because if I have to deal with any more of this stupid shit, I will melt every last one of you.”
Ivar managed to regain his composure, and with a motion of his hand, the sound of a blade being sheathed barely slipped through the door to his side. “Hmph, cheap threat. I’ve seen that before, and I know that without fire its not a problem.”
Diane reopened her eyes halfway, drained of fear and instead radiating a cold rage. She simply flipped one palm upward, and without a single word, a ball of deep crimson flame formed above it.
Silence reigned in the room.
Ivar cleared his throat. “My lady, I see we might have a misunderstanding here. So, we don’t all need to die then, do we?”
Thistleman put the potion away, as the fireball dissipated into the air. “That depends on you. At most, you have tonight, maybe tomorrow night if you are really lucky.” The boy stated matter-of-factly, some of the edge cutting out of his voice.
“What, by the demons then? Aren’t they fighting each other?” Ivar asked, concern creeping into his voice.
“Oh yes, they are. But the other demons probably don’t know that yet. You see, the daemon kingdom to the north has certainly fallen. Why else would Carinthus’s demons be chasing down a survivor, if not to silence him and prevent warning of their coming?” A cruel smile crept onto the boy’s face. “And what if those scouts never returned? So what are they to think? What are they to do? And with such a scene, what are you supposed to assume?” Ivar’s blood ran cold at the mention of the Demon Lord’s name.
“Oh… fuck.” The blood drained from the faces of everyone in the room, and it fell to an uncomfortable silence for the umpteenth time this day.
“I’d like to go now. Thistle, if you’d please?” Diane broke the silence, calmly motioning towards the door, her voice back to its usual self.
“Certainly, m’lady.” Thistle grinned as Diane pouted at the emphasis. The miko hurried to open the door for them, still pale at the thought of what was to come.
“Before you go, what of those other demons? What do you think they will do?” D shouted out, his face strained as if he almost didn’t want to hear the answer.
“Well…” Thistleman turned back, a really nasty smile stretched across his face as a streak of black blood began to drip from one of his eyes.
“If I had to guess, they live for a great fight, wouldn’t you agree, hunter? So they’ll hit all of you at the same time. And if you manage to survive that, well then… wouldn’t that be very interesting indeed.” With a swift wipe, he cleaned the streak off of his face before pushing Diane out of the room.
Ivar looked between the now closed door and the vampire hunter. “So, how many men do you think we’ll need?” He asked gruffly. The lord’s entry door silently opened wide, and Krom squeezed through the doorframe quietly, barely fitting through in his full plate armor.
D stood in silence, his fist gripped so tightly that blood began to pour from his hand. “I know why she let us go.” D said quietly in response.
“… what? That’s not what I asked? That boy-” Ivar blinked, and stopped himself at D’s pained expression. “I believe… she wanted to fight me again when I got stronger. So she let us go. I hate to think about it, but those expressions… they’re the same. Ivar, if she was any measure of strength… do you think this city can fight the demon lord above her?”
Ivar wrung his hands. “If he’s a demon lord, then why the hell is he letting that girl order him around? And… what? He’s helping us grow stronger so he can have fun fighting us?”
D smiled mournfully. “That is the question now, isn’t it? It would be a mistake to treat them all the same, and that… it makes things a lot more clear now, wouldn’t it? We underestimated the demon lord of malice, and this new one shattered all our illusions. Those lords who revolted… how long have we been under attack and not even known it? What kind of a fight could we put up if we were caught entirely unprepared?” D continued, before a roar rumbled over the city followed by a thunderous impact.
“The hell was that?!” Ivar shouted.
“It was probably the airship I saw outside the window.” Krom spoke in his deep and thunderous voice, startling D and Ivar.
“Fuckin’ hell, let me know before ya do that.” Ivar grunted. “So whats this about an airship?”
“Hmm. It had quite the smoke trail behind it. So… that sound? It crashed.” Krom spoke as if it was simply a matter of fact, or perhaps it was that he just stopped thinking anymore?
“Oh. Right. An airship just showed up and crashed.” Ivar slunk down into his wheelchair, and let all concern melt from his face. D nodded in assent. Then, they all started to laugh.