Ulx leads them up his tower. A clambering journey for all without the ability to fly or hover but to Lavinia’s relief, it’s a silent climb all the way back to the top where Ulx, Seraph and the Jonn usher into a wide, spacious room.
“Make yourselves comfortable.” Ulx says, hovering all the way to the top of the ceiling where shelves as tall as the walls stand full of scrolls and books. He pulls a scroll from its place amongst others and descends to another section, inspecting it with idle hums.
Seraph’s low growling is largely ignored, her waning patience and full attention presses on the evasive Trirax darting about the room. Jonn lingers around Seraph, almost clinging to her side as even Lavinia’s footfalls send jolts through him— much to Seraph’s annoyance.
Wandering much the same as Ulx, Lavinia explores the room finding the tall, opposing shelves of scrolls and books a marvel. Sliding one out of its place and sidestepping the cascade of scrolls tumbling out after it, Lavinia unfurls it as Ulx did in Deran’s Litter. Words of another language scribble across the parchment much to her disappointment, its ideas and powers lost on her.
“Hey! Don’t mess around with that.” Seraph warns, her eye narrowed at Lavinia.
Not bothering to cast even a sideways glance at the Trirax, Lavinia sorts through the scrolls scattered at her feet, unfurling them one at a time for another dose of disappointment as all are written in the same odd language. She stops unfurling as a realization reaches her.
What language is this?
She questions her own tongue rather than the scribbles of the scroll. Before Lucy, her thoughts were voiced by intent and desire rather than anything else and afterwards she spoke in the same tongue as Lucy and Ken— she understands the Trirax as well as Deran so they must all share the same language, right?
Before she can decide what to tell herself, the rest of the room catches her attention. Seraph and Jonn stand and sit by a long, wide and strong looking table. Walking up to it Lavinia spots a thin book with its pages spread open and with screws at the edge of the covers, pinning it to the table. An ink and quill lay beside it and the words written are the first to have some meaning—
“Costs...ability...Crimson Trirax…thirty…incoming shipments—”
Seraph slams her hand over the book, glaring intently, “That’s for Trirax eyes only.”
“Actually, that’s for my eyes only.” Ulx corrects overhead, still sorting through his library of scrolls. “Play nice, Seraph.”
Seraph continues to growl as Lavinia simply walks away to explore more of the room. Ulx keeps a tidy abode, the floors are smoother than the sanded streets or the rough gravel stairs— the correct word escapes her for the moment so she shifts her attention to the wall on the right-hand side of Ulx’s large table and screwed in book.
The wall supports a grey metal sheet with a little bronze knob and an all too familiar slit in the middle. Lavinia turns the knob and to little surprise finds the very cages she sat in for days, right beside Ulx’s table, embedded directly into his office.
Keeping it shut, Lavinia turns to the marvel she’s saved for last— the window behind Ulx’s table. Fractured with trails of metal curve around to form an image of an eye, the window overlooks more than Corym, more than the Trirax in the markets and settlements below— it faces off with the two other imposing towers. Pressing her hands over the window Lavinia stares in awe as the other two stare back, exuding an energy of challenge and rivalry.
“Please can you stop avoiding this?” Seraph pleads with Ulx, interrupting his reading so a scroll tumbles out of his grip and clatters to the floor. “She killed Neibor, drained me of blood three times over and…and…she made Jonn a fuck!”
“Hey!”
“What? It’s the truth. You can barely stand being here with her and all she did was chase you!”
“It was worse than that! I’d made a tactical decision to retreat and as much as I’d have loved to have you with me then—”
“Oh as if, you saved your hide that’s all you need to say, don’t bother defending whatever…this is.” Seraph groans at Jonn with disgust. “This is why I should’ve led the mission, the squad even!”
“Oh enough screaming Seraph, I can hear you fine.” Ulx says.
Crossing her legs over the table Seraph’s sneer deepens, “Can you? I wouldn’t bet on it with you all the way up there!”
Ulx groans and finally descends behind his table. Arms tied behind his back he glances at Lavinia breathing over the glass and shakes his head, “Seraph, you’re a Crimson tier and despite all the advantages that gives you over a Pinkie, that wasn’t enough to defeat her, or was it?”
Pouting, Seraph crosses her arms, “Technically I did, lured her here didn’t I?”
Lavinia idly corrects as she stares out the window at the forest and Stelc tramping around, “I meant to come.”
Having about enough, Seraph kicks out of her chair and marches over to Lavinia, “Oh really? And what for? Tell Ulx what you told me.”
Ulx dips his quill in ink and pulls his sleeve back to write, “You already told me what she said back then, but we’ve met and she’s behaved herself thus far. Seraph, I don’t understand why you can’t see the potential here or even the need. The need is glaring.”
“I do see the it but I don’t think letting a wild Vampiric into our house is the best way to protect ourselves. Level me up to mid-Crimson tier and let me command an actual squad for our missions, I’ll bring you results, I’ll be the name in Corym if you just—”
“No, Seraph, that’s enough. Trirax aren’t battle demons.”
“What! All demons are battle demons.”
He slams his fists against the table, “Well, not us! We’re not as powerful even at the highest tiers. How much effort do you think it would take the [Kimpe] to push us out of Corym if they wanted to? Or the [Caldri]? And those are our allies, supposedly anyway. We need a protector and chaffing valuable ESQ down a Trirax won’t make us one.”
“That’s what you think.” Bitterly, Seraph falls back to her seat, ignored by Lavinia and Ulx. Jonn attempts to console her only to recoil at her glare.
With a heavy sigh Ulx glances at Lavinia then back at Seraph, “I know how much this means to you but you’re not ready to carry all of the Trirax on your shoulders. Chaperone Lavinia until she recovers, feed her-”
Seraph’s back on her feet in an instant, “No! First you want me to roll over and now-”
“Feed her.” An intense pressure leaks into the room as Ulx restrains a growl. “Clothe her and teach her all that matters. If you want to contribute to our security so bad, then ensure the demon we’re bargaining with understands what she’s protecting and how. Do it and don’t complain, another word of it and I’ll strip you of rank, you’ll go back to civilian.”
While they argue, Lavinia stares into her blurred reflection on the window. Beyond the mud dried shawl adorning her, Lavinia’s full mane and pointed ears draw the most attention, but not as much as the array of dark scars on her face. Short, dark curves mark her face all over where Henry made the Soul Bond. Three scar in a vertical line on each cheek and another two sit above her eyebrows, leaning over to her temple. Would they disappear with Henry’s death? Or could she carve them off?
Catching her dull red eyes in the faded reflection, Lavinia’s reminded why she’s here and turns to Ulx, “Essence, when?”
He raises a hand to silence Seraph and answers, “With any luck, not too soon, but Corym is on alert. Only the Trirax were attacked and robbed but we’ve been expecting an attack long before so you’ll get your chance. For now, work with Seraph, listen to what she says. Can you do that?”
Lavinia growls but nods, looking back at her reflection. It’s only a few more days before her arm returns in full and she could use the break from the wild, from violence.
The city glows with littered wicks of flame as the red sky dims to a dark red and the forest grows restless beyond the swamp. Henry will return for her someday, somewhere and possibly when she least expects it. Until then she continues to prepare and Corym or at least, Ulx seems like the right place to start.
***
Name: Lavinia
Race: Demon
Class: Vampiric
Age: Immortal – 74days.
Crystal Essence: [Pink]- Lvl.8— 39.41ESQ
[Available Essence Points— 0]
Faith:30
Agility: 25
Intelligence:14
Perk: {Reais Smite}, {Blood Rush}, {Wave Shot}, {Crimson Blink}, {Inspect}
Soul Bond: Curse Marked; Master Henry Vanavil
***
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Lavinia paces about the compact room, pressing her handless arm to her growling stomach. It’s been this way ever since Ulx left her in Seraph’s charge and despite her many complaints nothing has changed.
She tosses a glare at Seraph cross-legged on the long and extremely comfortable chair, her hands busy themselves with the smallest hooks Lavinia has ever seen and a ball of colour Seraph calls ‘yarn’. Seraph’s single eye tracks the movement of rapid flowing fingers pushing the hooks through the yarn in repetitive movement.
Another violent growl erupts from Lavinia’s stomach and she paces over to the metal door sealing the room and taps her head against it, gritting her teeth at Seraph. It’s becoming difficult to withstand the hunger and simply not eat Seraph and her yarn, but it’s clear what happens if she does, if she harms any Trirax or denizen of Corym.
Yet at the same time she isn’t allowed out of the city for a well-deserved hunt either— her imprisonment is still well underway despite the veil of friendship and kindness Ulx touts. In the end, Lavinia throws herself unto the long chair, it’s strange fabric manages to be smoother than any bit of fur she’s grown on her own. She spreads her legs and arms in waving motions, feeling up every bit of the chair her body can occupy as she stretches away the hunger.
“Ugh, do you have to do that every time you sit? Can’t you just…sit?” Seraph nags.
Ignoring her Lavinia rotates herself upside down so her head of hair spills to the floor and her feet wiggle all over and invade Seraph’s space all the more. She stops playing with the yarn, letting a low growl as she glares at Lavinia.
Made up of four thick metal walls, the room is made for a team of three as Lavinia had seen them. Jonn sleeps restlessly on the top bunk—a metal construct with a flatbed of clothes for a mattress— and complains that the lantern of DazzleFlies blinds him in his sleep while Seraph takes the lower bunk, keeping a watchful eye on Lavinia who rests between the floors and the long chair. Most times Lavinia wakes to her eye brimming with Essence, anticipating a wrong move on her part.
Lavinia stares into the warm orange light of the DazzleFlies, the Trirax rarely ever use fire for light, not as Lucy and Ken did. Instead their lanterns are filled with flies Jonn has to feed and at times replace as they die off. Their light isn’t as blinding from the floor, the dirt ground itself is covered with one of Jonn’s prized possession; a brown and black carpet of incompressible fluffy patterns. She enjoys it almost as much as the long chair.
At the front of the door, three bags brimming with clothes sit. One for Seraph, Jonn and one for Neibor who Lavinia has effectively replaced. Among the many fabrics to wrap around herself, including the ones spun from Seraph’s yarn, Lavinia ends up with another multi-coloured shawl, cleaner and longer than the last, as well as some fluffy black shorts to combat her withering fur. The shorts are measured for Trirax legs, specifically Seraphs and so it wraps tight around her thighs and barely reaches her knee.
The doors heavy groaning marks Jonn’s arrival but more importantly, food. Lavinia flips over to a ready crouch causing Jonn to cling to the welded corners of their metal barracks. He hands a shiny bag brimming with stick meat for Lavinia to snatch while hiding a separate bag behind his back.
Crashing the door shut behind him he breathes, “Deran threw in the cheap ones for free, just your bag though, don’t know how you stomach that stuff.”
The cheap kebabs in question happen to be particularly blood soaked flesh that managed to have a bit of blood in every bite despite having being fried. Lavinia cherished it. It may not be a fresh hunt but it’s the best thing she’s had here and reminds her of the stubborn tug of flesh.
Jonn stretches past Lavinia ravaging her meal and over to Seraph and they sort each other from a variety of non-bloody foods she has no interest in. They devolve into a range of conversation Lavinia lightly pays attention to, she’s observed this pattern over the course of her stay and predictably, Jonn starts with reports on ‘the kin’.
“Quiet out there.” He says, pinching out of something that looks like a soft brick, “The walls tight too, Robold sent me back the moment he saw me coming but I got a good look, it should be back up in a dozen days or so.”
Seraph hums through a mouthful of something loud and crunchy, taking a moment to swallow before following up, “And the Primes?”
Primes, Demon Lord, Lord Crimson. Lavinia scrolls through an ever growing list of words, titles and phrases that tell of power well beyond hers. Something tells Lavinia that these titles would know more about Henry, his curse and the strength she’ll need to remain free.
Jonn answers with a grimace, “Still boycotting. Even when we’ve all been attacked, everyone is hurting because of this.”
Seraph nods as concern riddles her— as it always does when they talk and eat. She sighs, wipes her mouth and hands and picks up her yarn again. Jonn continues in a whisper, “Ulx must be desperate.”
Even without her name mentioned Lavinia knows she’s the next topic. Seraph groans a shrug, “So were you…to escape, leave me behind.” She doesn’t follow him into the whisper and he recoils as if spat on.
Snorting he tossing lanky arms in the air, “What would you have done? Take on a vampire? Ulx is desperate because she will make sure we’re not tossed; he’s only doing this for our survival!”
Not waiting for a response he clambers up to his blinding top bunk, ruffling clothes over himself.
Seraph rolls her eyes with a twist of her hook, “Isn’t that charming? Defenders of Trirax, the surviving Ulx and his goblin Jonn.” She groans at the disgust of her own words.
Silence reigns for a moment as Lavinia licks the last of her sticks dry. She sets back over her mane, splaying herself star-wide over the carpet and stares into the warm hearth of the DazzleFlies. Her eyes shut for a blissful rest.
“I’m not the only coward.” Jonn shatters the quiet.
“Say it again!” Seraph screams.
Grrr
Off her feet in a bound Lavinia marches in short stride to the door and bangs, glaring loathe at the two, “Outside.”
Seraph smirks and sizes her up as if anticipating this very moment, “No? You can’t go an-”
Flaring her Essence in a single, condensed burst Lavinia bares her teeth, “I can’t kill you but I can bring you close.”
“You’re not allo-”
Flexing her claws Lavinia smirks, “Ulx wouldn’t mind, I’m too useful to lose, right? Now, outside.”
Jonn and Seraph share a grim look.
----------------------------------------
Despite Lavinia’s vocal impatience to explore the city, Seraph still demands they follow procedure and has everyone wear their rings. It’s the same ring Lavinia slipped off of Neibor’s corpse, the one she intended to use as an invitation to the city. Though it’s only now she learns that was a lie on Jonn’s part. In truth the rings only connect you with other rings you’ve made connections with, allowing you to communicate through them with but a sliver of Essence as the cost.
It also happens to be how Seraph pulled off her escape, the rings alerted Jonn the moment they got within range and he organized Ulx goblins and enlisted the help of another squad of Trirax to rescue Seraph. Lavinia learns all this from the condescending tones of Seraph’s grinning boasts and Jonn’s timid confession.
Being deceived like that doesn’t bother Lavinia, after all, she ended up in the city like she wanted and Ulx’s has promised her Essence when the time comes. Though she’d rather hunt when she pleases, having food come to her at scheduled, predictable times is nice enough to sacrifice the thrill of a spontaneous hunt, at least for the time being.
Lavinia leads the way in long strides, her shawl billows about her in the brisk pace uphill a natural incline of the cities sanded streets. At the peak height of the elevated road Lavinia stops and stares out the gap in the city wall, the constant activity around it hasn’t ceased since she first saw it but the hole has shrunk significantly.
Catching up in a huff, Seraph scowls over at the scar in their defences, “Is that what you wanted to come outside for? To see the wall?”
“Who destroyed it?” Lavinia asks as Jonn joins them at last. The wall— among other things— has been on her mind ever since Ulx presented his offer in Deran’s Litter. He was keen in emphasising her usefulness as a protector or guardian for the Trirax— a trump card he’ll feed Essence should she do better than the drooling green-skins and Trirax squads he’s had in charge since.
Seraph’s mood sours even further at the question and she falls silent staring at the gap, fingers curled into a tight fist.
“That? It could be any one of the roving wannabe Noble Generals that often try to siege us.” Jonn says, slowly regaining his voice around Lavinia. She turns her attention to him and he stutters, “B-but, a lot of Trirax think it was done by one of the Primes, because they want us to go back to the way we were before Ulx became Lord Crimson.”
Lavinia’s brows furrow at this, “Who are the Primes? Noble Generals and what is-”
Seraph scoffs, “Of course you’re too young to recognize even the Noble Generals. They aren’t noble at all, of course, they’ve just usurped an old title of legend, back when all of Reais was in a state of constant warring.”
“Some of it still is.” Jonn chips and gets a growl from Seraph for his contribution, “I’m just saying. Some layers are still without any sense of lasting peace, even ones with Dark Red tiers.”
“Dark Red is a myth. Have you seen any demon reach those heights? Don’t answer that, this isn’t about that.” She groans, rubbing her temples as she takes a deep breath and turns to face Lavinia, “The Primes are the three Lords of Corym, each of them are Lord Crimson to their demons as Ulx is Lord Crimson to us. They’re all high tier Crimsons with potential of seeing BloodOrange but most don’t, it’s been centuries since there was a BloodOrange Prime.”
Lavinia nods along, ears perked to absorb all of Seraph’s interesting words. She points over at one of the looming towers, the one closest to the Trirax’s settlement, “Prime attacked Trirax?”
Seraph shakes her head, “It’s not so simple or maybe it is and someone is just lying.” With a sigh she starts walking off towards the tower, Lavinia and Jonn trail behind her, “Ulx isn’t wrong, Trirax aren’t battle demons, at least not effective ones anyway. We produce and sell. Magic, food, clothes, weapons…even cities. We’re best at creating than we are at destroying but I promise you we can do both.”
Jonn matches her pace and shrugs, “Maybe we can, but if Ulx’s suspicions about the Primes funding that attack to terrorize us back into buying their protection is true then…I’m not sure how much time we have to get as good at killing and destroying as we are at creating.”
Lavinia trails quietly in the middle of the two, watching as Seraph nearly explodes raising her point, “What are you even talking about? Don’t you listen to the stories of how all of this was created? We were part of the first peaceful demonic city, we standardized Essence tokens, we made the layout for several, if not all of the demon cities that stand in peace today, including this one!”
Jonn rolls his eye, “That doesn’t mean we can fight and win. Look what Lavinia did to us and you’re no exception just because you’re excited to be violent, a Pinkie Vampiric was all it took to put us down.”
The tip of the tower is lost to the clouds as they approach. Lavinia stares up in marvel at the dark twisted thing, the scent of wonderful meats waft into her nostrils and beckon her into the settlement. Seraph snatches her arm, her single eye narrowed as she wordlessly shakes her head at Lavinia.
With a deep sigh Jonn says, “We don’t want to go in right now. Things are tense in Corym…Ulx accused the [Kimpe] of supporting the attack since they watched as several Trirax were murdered in the break-in.”
“It was an invasion!” Seraph yells out loud, spitting and glaring at the familiar, curly-tailed demons going about their business within, “Corym was attacked, not just Trirax! Don’t act like it doesn’t concern you!”
Here Lavinia is confused and says as Jonn ushers Seraph away from making a larger scene, “You didn’t pay for their protection. They didn’t protect you.” It made perfect sense to Lavinia that the Kimpe, Primes or whoever wouldn’t risk themselves without reward.
“It’s not that simple, Lavinia.” Jonn quickly says before Seraph can scream a fervour filled response. “Corym and all the demon cities like it exist as a safe haven for demons that want to escape the chaos, that don’t want to be eaten and are sick of killing to survive. The Primes, individually are meant to curate a space for their species and work with other Primes to integrate with other species so an actual peaceful city is feasible.”
Seraph completes the next part as she turns down a corner, “And collectively the Primes are meant to protect the city as a whole. And the [Kimpe] and [Caldri] failed to hold up their end, taking advantage of our weaknesses to extort us of Essence tokens and even living space. Trirax have given several concessions already and now that Ulx says we won’t give anymore…”
Humming, Lavinia nods in understanding, “Duty.”
“Yes! That’s right, Lavinia!” Seraph yells, throwing her hands in the air as passer-by goblins and sneering curly-tailed [Kimpe] trudge past, “The Primes bear a duty to all of Corym and its demons! Trirax are not humans or monsters, we’re demons!”
Jonn chuckles sheepishly at the odd stares tossed their way and Lavinia turns to him, “So…who can I eat?”
“Uh..uh..that’s something for Ulx to decide but it won’t be the Kimpe or Caldri. Their Primes failed us, not them.” He says, trying not to shrink under her intense stare he adds, “But what about you? Vampiric demons aren’t rare but they’re sort of like us Trirax; in the wild we don’t survive long. How did you get your name, Lavinia?”
Seraph joins to ask, “Yeah, I’m also curious how you got that staff, Ulx is amazed by it. Oh and those scars on your face, demons rarely have scars.”
Lavinia blinks at their interest and curtly answers, “Lucy named me. Lucy left it with me, Lucy is dead so now it’s mine.” Her fingers drift to the plethora of dark curves scarring her face, fingering them as the memory of Henry searing hands erupts in her mind, “I was curse marked. A man wants to find me again and use me but I am preparing to kill him.”