-Month 1, Day 28-
Saria woke up surprisingly delighted to see me awake as well. She very briefly described to me how she entered the city of Elisande together with Cynwrig and managed to traverse through half the city to get to this inn. Which was a crazy thing to even do in the first place. I mean, that guy literally almost murdered us for fun. No way was I going to trust entering an enemy stronghold with him, but here we are. Might as well follow the devil for the rest of the tour into hell at this point. I would still be wary of him though.
The thing she talked about the most was how much she loved the human invention of music. I was only out for a day or so, but apparently there was some concert or gig going on yesterday which she loved and wants to listen to again. It's good that she has an interest that is a bit more substance than just working with Jack and Erin.
Right as she was explaining all the adventures and legends she heard about from these bards, someone knocked on the door and promptly entered. It was that bastard Cynwrig. So he was here as well. Saria was still sitting on her bed while talking to me.
(Cynwrig) "Good, you're up already."
(Saria) "Yup, and mister shadow is back too."
Her innocent smile which actually looked kind of dubious just made me a bit angry at her since she was openly sharing information with this guy. I could only wonder how much she let her damn mouth run yesterday while I was out.
(Cynwrig) "Good for you. Come down and get some breakfast."
Without even waiting for a response he just closed the door behind him. Me and Saria just looked at each other.
(Draven) «Isn't he a bit of an annoying jackass?»
(Saria) "Totally."
(Draven) «...And you just went to a human city with him, blindly trusting him?»
(Saria) "Of course. I trust him more so than all those people that act all friendly."
I raised an imaginary brow. That made no sense. People that are friendly sure as hell sound more trustworthy than people that almost killed you for the heck of it.
(Saria) "Well who do you trust more, the person you know that they hate you or the person who is acting all friendly and could betray you?"
My second imaginary brow was raised as well now. That made even less sense. Although I could see where she was coming from, our drug ring on earth came crashing down because of some idiot who ratted us out because he wanted a reduced sentence after being caught for being careless.
(Draven) «Whatever, just go get some breakfast before he storms into the room to test through trial of combat whether you're also a Russian spy or something.»
(Saria) "Russian spy?"
(Draven) «It's a joke you're not supposed to get.»
(Saria) "Oh. Okay."
She got out of bed to put some socks on, I made sure that she locked the door after her with the key that she didn't know was for, and down the stairs we went. This inn must be quite big since she got a room on the second floor and there were eight other rooms on both floors we traveled down. There were more stairs leading higher up, so this actually kind of reminded me of a hotel, albeit not a very luxurious one.
On the ground floor, loads of tables of fine looking wood took up most space, each with benches on both sides. There was probably room for a good 100 people here. So it really was a large hotel~ish inn. Saria looked around for Cynwrig, and she spotted him in the back eating already. Saria was about to head over to him, until a girl leaning up on the wall next to the stairs stopped us with her hand on Saria's shoulder.
(Girl) "Ya his companion, right?"
She looked serious, as if it was a problem that we were. It was a teenager, probably 15 years old if I had to guess, with ginger hair tied into a ponytail and freckles on her face, wearing what seemed to be kitchen clothes. Saria's crooked contemptuous expression revealed itself again just like when we first met the Jack and Cynwrig, and was apparently the expression she used for each human she would meet the first time.
(Saria) "Huuh? So what if I am?"
The girl didn't flinch for a few seconds, but then she suddenly grinned as if she couldn't keep up her facade. Not just a joyful grin, but a pretty smug one.
(Girl) "Heheh, come with me, I've got something to show ya."
While just as confused as me, Saria did follow her to the bar. The girl, on the other hand, went behind the counter and straight into the kitchen after she told us to sit and wait. Shortly after she came out with what looked like some fresh buns, some fruit jam and something to drink.
(Girl) "Here ya go, some food for our vegetarian demon in the house. My name's Mari by the way, nice to meet ya."
(Saria) "How do you know I don't like meat?"
(Mari) "Observation, love. I served drinks yesterday and saw ya refusing to eat any."
She said so as she was smiling with her head resting on both hands over the counter. I had no idea why she acted all serious before, but apparently she was an employee as I thought. I suppose she did it to talk with Saria as an ice breaker or something?
(Saria) "That's creepy, to spy on me like that."
(Mira) "Well, ya are kinda standing out among all the people here, ain'tcha?"
Just as Saria took her plate after a bit of hesitation, probably thinking to herself that she didn't want to talk to this weirdo anymore, Mari called out to her again.
(Mari) "Hey, by the way, try talking with Cynwrig for me, will ya?"
(Saria) "Talking with him? About what?"
(Mari) "Ooh, anything is fine. Just make him talk. Heheh. Ya'll see."
As if it couldn't get more awkward. Saria shrugged and went over to Cynwrig's table where he just stared at the wall. Cynwrig noticed her once she walked into his sightline.
(Saria) "Hey."
He just bopped his head slightly in response, still eating. But he looked more pissed than usual. I just assumed it to be a bad hangover. I had to tell Saria to put the jam on the bun. Somehow this was the first time she actually had bread with something on it. Luckily she was a fan of it, claiming it to be a good substitute for what she usually likes eating, but during this discovery of a new tasteful delicacy, Cynwrig just stared at her. I didn't take him for a talker but he was awfully silent right now.
(Saria) "Oh yeah, some annoying girl told me to talk with you."
As if it was his achilles heel to be talked to, he suddenly got whatever he was swallowing stuck in his throat. After wrestling it down he looked halfway embarrased, halfway mad. We had no idea what was going on. This Mari girl did though, she was wheezing behind the counter slamming her hand against it trying to hold it in. That went on for a few seconds until he snapped and threw his cup of water at her full-force.
(Cynwrig) "Stop filling my freakin' water with chemicals you crazy witch!"
The funny thing isn't the he managed to hit Mari straight in the forehead, but that Cynwrig's voice was extremely high-pitched, as if he just inhaled half a liter of helium. Saria was drinking some water at that time and spat it out when she heard him talk.
(Saria) "Nahahaha, you sound like a beaver!"
(Cynwrig) "Shut up you hellspawn!"
...
After Mari "deeply" apologized for spiking his water with air juice powder that causes a helium effect to your voice for a few minutes, Cynwrig started to explain what was going to happen today. He said he needed to go to some Association embassy to fill out papers. The annoying part was that we were ordered to stay here for the entire day. So once he got what he needed from his room upstairs, he left to do just that. I sort of wanted to see how the city was, all I could do was stare out of the windows of the inn. Neither I nor Saria wanted to risk getting seen and facing his wrath for breaking the rules he set. And if there was someone as strong as him patrolling the streets we'd be mincemeat for sure, since they don't want demons in the city in the first place.
So we just sort of sat near the window chatting with each other. I told her a bit about my life and how the cities were in my reality. But it's tough to explain how big concrete buildings get built to someone who is not only a kid but also doesn't know about cranes and stuff.
With my 360 vision as a shadow, I noticed that Mari was heading over to us. She was cleaning the tables after everyone left from breakfast and must have just finished. I found her to be an odd-ball, but according to Cynwrig she kept pranking him even if he has thrown at least four wooden cups straight at her face out of annoyance. She was the daughter of the guy who ran this place and was known to be a bit of a mischievous character.
(Mari) "Yo!"
Saria had her head resting on the table and turned her head to take a look at her. As usual, she was smiling and giving a wave with her hand before sitting herself at the opposite side of the table.
(Mari) "Want to play some cards with me? Thought ya looked kind of bored, talking to yaself and all."
(Saria) "Cards?"
She asked about cards, but I knew the word "play" was more interesting to her. I couldn't keep her attention all the time by talking with her and she obviously had an urge to do something instead of sitting around. By now I knew that Saria is one of those people that just can't sit still and always needs to have something to do or work on.
(Mira) "Ever heard of a lil' game called poker?"
Poker? As in, earth poker? She flashed the set of playing cards she had in her pocket. Texas Hold Em' with the boys was probably one of my own favorite pastimes. I urged Saria to try it out through my telepathy and she agreed to.
The rules were slightly different but I quickly got a hold of them myself. Somehow, Saria understood the rules herself after two rounds. But man, these were actual playing cards, the way I knew them. Well, kind of, jacks were cotts, queens were clergs and kings were barons in this game. Which apparently also was the currency of this place, as Saria pointed out. I really wanted to join in for a three-player game, but revealing myself would probably scare the crap out of the girl and anyone else who happened to pass by.
(Mari) "Ya are surprisingly good at already knowing when to call n' fold, huh?"
(Saria) "The rules are sort of simple though."
(Mari) "Demons learn quick huh? Ya are one, right?"
(Saria) "Of course I am. Can't you see my great horns?"
As if that's your defining feature...
(Mari) "I always thought they'd be lots more scary, I heard they were all strong and cunning n' stuff."
(Saria) "Heh-heh, I see you know your stuff. Demons are much stronger than humans after all. And way more cunning."
Mari was shuffling cards, so Saria took the opportunity to lift her head high and fold her arms in complete superiority while claiming that fact of hers. I just cringed at her surface-level show-off attitude, but Mari clapped as if completely believing her, completely agreeing with her and listening to Saria's ramblings about how she was amazing. Every topic she could brag about, such as having magic, being resistant to heat, stronger physical defense because most her skin was scales...
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The girl we just met just never was exposed to anything but the city and occasional forest strolls, and I wondered if she isn't supposed to go to some sort of school. She seemed adventurous and outgoing, a lot like Saria. And not to mention that I always felt as if there was a hidden side to her that reveled in chaos. Well, a lot like Saria.
(Mari) "So did ya come close to beating the old man then?"
I could vividly feel a shift in her mood, as if she didn't want to hear that.
(Saria) "We- Well, not... really."
(Mari) "Aw squat, thought we could set him up for a hilarious prank if ya could take him on or something."
(Draven) «Are you annoyed that we stood no chance against him?»
(Saria) "N- no! That's not it at all, it's just that I'm... you know..."
(Draven) «Know what?»
(Mari) "Hm? Whatcha mean?"
(Saria) "Oh, uh, nothing."
There was obviously something she didn't want to talk about that had to do with Cynwrig. Hmm, I was wondering whether I should press her to tell or not, I wanted to know since I ideally didn't want any secrets between us, but I had no idea how to handle children so I didn't really know if forcing it is good. At least playing more cards distracted her from what was making her feel bad.
About an hour after he left, Cynwrig comes running through the entrance of the inn running straight towards the stairs while Saria and Mari were still playing.
(Cynwrig) "Piggy, get ready to move!"
(Saria) "Wha- Stop calling me that!"
She exclaimed that by raising up from the bench she was sitting on and her arms stretched down and dropping the cards in her hand in the meantime. But, uh, he's in a hurry? Did something happen?
(Draven) «We'd better listen to what he says.»
(Saria) "Hnn, fine... Sorry Mari, the angry man wants me to do something again."
(Cynwrig) "I can still hear you, twerp!"
Those were the last things he managed to say before he was on his way up the stairs.
(Mari) "Must be an emergency I reckon?"
Saria shrugged. Mari just said "oh well" and started picking up the cards they were playing to clean up after themselves. We went out the door, seeing what I assumed was the horse Cynwrig got here on, just standing there a few meters in front of the door, patiently waiting. A few minutes passed until Cynwrig came storming out the door with most of his gear on him.
(Cynwrig) "Catch!"
He threw Saria her sword he picked up in her room. She attached it to her hip. Was this an emergency fight we were about to head to then? In the city? He jumped up on the horse like a total pro.
(Cynwrig) "Get on! I got an emergency at the embassy."
With his help, Saria got on and sat in front of him like a total princess, and he started getting the horse to move at full gallop. This went from a peaceful morning to suddenly being rushed to work. Cynwrig already knew I existed, so I used my Take Over to talk with him.
(Draven) «"What is this about?"»
(Cynwrig) "Wh- what the hell?!"
He got startled. Oh right, apparently my voice was hellish when I used Take Over. He didn't know I could talk through Saria without going full shadow beast mode.
(Cynwrig) "Is that the shadow talking?"
(Draven) «"Yeah."»
(Cynwrig) "You're even able to talk like that. A small cult of lawless humans just raided a storehouse just outside of the city. Apparently they were forced to barricade themselves inside of it because the guards reacted quick enough."
(Draven) «"A hostage situation?"»
(Cynwrig) "Probably. Someone managed to ride to the embassy with the horse here. Proudthrone headquarters are in the northern side of the city so they likely won't be of help unless word spreads quickly. I should be able to deal with them, but since you were in the inn where my gear was, I'm bringing you along for your healing and backup."
Hmm... Maybe this way we could get a bit of popularity going if the demon of the city managed to rescue hostages from evil terrorists.
(Draven) «"What do we get for helping?"»
(Cynwrig) "What? Seriously, you want something in return for this?"
(Draven) «"We can head there more quickly than on horseback and possibly take some out before you get there."»
He was clearly thinking about it. Looks like he wasn't getting anything for doing this either. Screw it then, I guess. Might as well just get on everyone's good side and be an altruist.
(Saria) "Pay for my food for today and tomorrow."
(Cynwrig) "The stay at the inn is all-inclusive you moron!"
(Saria) "I want tropicots, not salad leaves!"
(Cynwrig) "Fine, I'll pay for your freaking addiction! If you even end up saving one I'll pay for it."
(Saria) "Mister shadow, we need to help those humans."
Yeah, no shit. I just imagined facepalming myself. Why is it always food for you...
(Draven) «"Fine. Where is it?"»
(Cynwrig) "We traveled through the district yesterday. It's slightly to the left of it."
(Draven) «"Good, we'll be getting off then."»
Before he could respond, Saria nodded and jumped off the horse. The horse was pretty slow compared to what our top speed was. I used 100% Take Over™ on her arms and legs and started running on all four. This was slightly slower than just running on two legs, but I could easily tell the difference in strain that it put on her body. We could maintain this for a long while.
(Draven) «You know how to get there, right?»
(Saria) "I remember it."
(Draven) «Great.»
Her directional instinct was once again a blessing. We sprinted away from the slow-ass horse we left behind and ran straight through traffic.
(Draven) «"Meet us there, Cynwrig!"»
Loads of people saw us flying by, but we were quick enough to a point where we had to sometimes navigate through people or carriages, which slowed us down a bit. Luckily the road was straight as a board. It only took us four or five minutes to reach what looked like to be the city gate. I saw smoke rising from beyond it, and barely anyone was at the gate. Meaning we had to be on the right track.
We got through the gate, and Saria was starting to breathe more heavily. The work she did on the orchard helped steadily build up her stamina. Muscle was still the thing she lacked most of, but she is hanging in there rather well for being frail two months ago compared to now.
At this point it became obvious that the smoke was drawing in people to go see what was going on. So this wasn't just a chimney everyone is used to seeing. Another two minutes and we could see the roof of a big building on fire, and a lot of onlookers. We raced towards it and forced our way through. Sure enough, some armed people were surrounding it. Probably police, or guards, or whatever you call them. Saria got back up on two feet and started walking towards the building. One of the guards spotted us and yelled out to everyone else about a demon. Everyone nearby shifted attention to the little girl everyone now perceived as a bigger threat all of a sudden.
(Arthur) "What are you doing here?!"
Another of the guards seemed to recognize Saria for some reason.
(Arthur) "You're supposed to be with Cynwrig!"
(Saria) "Oh, you're his guard friend."
(Draven) «You know him?»
(Saria) "He let us into the city."
(Arthur) "Shh!"
I tried looking behind us, but Cynwrig was nowhere to be found. He would probably be here in another five or ten minutes. No way he could get through the bigger masses of people on the road here with a horse that easily.
(Saria) "I'm going in to... Uh..."
(Draven) «Save the hostages. And ask if we can kill the bad guys.»
(Saria) "Yeah, save the hostages. And can we kill the bad guys?"
(Arthur) "You're... What?"
(Saria) "So can we or not?"
He was just sort of lost for words. He looked around. The guards that had their attention on the burning roof previously were all wondering what this interaction out of nowhere was.
(Arthur) "You want to go in, alone? And save humans?"
(Saria) "Oh my god, just answer my question you annoying talking-bag! If I go in with any of you you'd just slow me down!"
(Arthur) "Ye- yeah, kill the Dharmqir members if you need to... Ah, fuck, are you seriously trying to save people?"
This cult Cynwrig mentioned calls themselves "Dharmqir" then I'm guessing.
(Saria) "Of course, else I won't get any food."
(Arthur) "Food...?"
It's as if she doesn't realize that she gets breakfast and dinner served by staying in that inn... Whatever, we got permission to kill, but I suppose we would do them a favor by just gravely injuring them so they can go to magic prison or something. If they're just normal humans without magical swords like Cynwrig, this should be easy enough. And if it isn't, we could retreat pretty safely and wait for him to arrive by using Shadow Substitute to heal Saria from any wounds she might get.
(Draven) «"Alright, we're going in."»
I used 50% Take Over™ on her entire body. I just decided to name the technique that allows us both to control her body while giving a substantial boost to her physical abilities. It makes it easier to use it since it's easier to imagine in my head. It caused loads of black veins and lines to form on top of her skin and scales. It didn't coat her in shadows, it was more like reinforcing her body from the inside with energy. I had no idea how this works, but it works.
We ran straight up to the main entrance. The fire looked to be something people were dealing with as some were shooting water from some of the crystals that Jack also had on his farm, but even so, there was a risk that everyone inside could die from carbon dioxide poisoning at some point.
(Draven) «Count the number of bad guys, I'll count the number of hostages.»
She nodded. I probably should have asked that guard earlier if they knew. It might have been wrong information though. She took out her shortsword and kicked in the door with a powerful kick. It was restrained enough to the point where it didn't cause damage to her leg. I wasn't the only one who improved control of my skills, she was constantly applying a light amount of healing to her entire body. I could barely feel the strains that running here from the inn caused. Light magic is pretty damn good if you think about it like that.
The moment the door was kicked in, I saw people. One, two, three, four... That's it. Four people on the ground. Four hostages.
(Draven) «Four hostages.»
(Saria) "Six bad guys."
(Draven) «Less than I thought.»
Actually, three hostages. One of them, a woman, was in a pool of blood and had no reaction to us barging in. Another one looked to be quite injured, but the man reacted to the sound and was clearly still alive.
(Cultist) "That's!"
(Cultist) "No way!"
They were... Happy to see us? They dropped their weapons that they happened to have in hand.
(Cultist) "You've come to save us!"
(Draven) «Go. They think we are on their side for some reason. We can take them out quickly like this.»
She nodded. On of the cultists kneeled end started praying. The hell is up with these people? Do they worship demons? Doesn't matter, Saria really didn't give a crap about them or their feelings, ran straight up to the leftmost one, and kicked him right into the wall. The hostage he was holding screamed in shock. "Good luck surviving that" was the only thought in my head. I was just in backseat mode, ready to react in case Saria didn't in time. We might have shared control currently, but for some reason I still had the master key and could overwrite her control. One cultist down.
She ran straight towards the kneeling cultist immediately after, who was equally in shock of what he saw. A hostage was lying next to him as well. He didn't have time to react either. He was just about to draw his weapon before he got stabbed right through the shoulder with her sword, pinning him to a wall behind him. The stab was so deep that the hilt was up in his shoulder. No way would he be able to move anytime soon. We secured an area of the storehouse that had two of the three living hostages. The only remaining one was the man who was clearly more injured than the others, out across the room next to the four other cultists. Two cultists down.
The element of surprise was gone now though. They clearly weren't happy that we just took out two of their friends like that.
(Cultist) "Why?! We've waited for you to save us for so long!"
(Draven) «Don't listen to what they say. And don't be afraid to break yourself if you can handle the pain. I can heal you up quick!»
(Saria) "Roger."
The most muscular one of the four remaining cultists was clearly outraged.
(Cultist) "Die! You fake prophet!"
Did these people make a religion out of worshipping demons? Do they not know that demons are complete bigots? For whatever reason he swung his sword from a good distance away. Was he desperately going to swing it? No, wait.
I took control of Saria and jumped to the side.
(Draven) «Shit, watch out for that sword!»
It's one of those air slicing swords Cynwrig had. We couldn't defend against it because it cut indiscriminately, and who knows if it had the ability to completely chop us in half from a distance. Saria realized this as well. She was quick on the uptake.
(Cultist) "Hecate! Energy Beam!"
Another one behind the guy with the sword shouted that out load. For some reason I remember it. It was the lightning beam that the people in the mansion used when I was summoned here. Out of his hand, lightning struck right into the wall behind us. I was able to dodge in time. Those two had magic tools. That much was obvious. The other two remaining cultists in the back just seemed to have regular swords. They weren't making a move. One of them was crying though. It was the only woman in the group of cultists.
(Cultist) "How could you betray our trust like that!"
Was what she yelled. Part of it at least, she kept yelling things at us. She was angry and sad. Not our fault you put faith in literal devils, you idiot. I relinquished control back to Saria. She knew what she was dealing with now, and even if she couldn't get much closer to the two, she did manage to dodge most attacks. The hostages managed to get up and run out of the storehouse. Only a minute or two had progressed despite it feeling like way more. One of the flying cuts of that air sword did manage to hit Saria since he was cutting the air left and right, but her constant healing at least closed up the wound relatively quickly. Luckily it wasn't as strong as Cynwrig's. The real threat was that lightning freak. If we got too close to him, he could easily hit us point-blank. And I thought humans weren't supposed to be able to use magic. Here this dude was shooting lightning out of his palm every seven seconds.
Out of nowhere, the lightning freak suddenly got hit straight in the head by an arrow. He promptly fell to the ground, lifeless. It was the perfect opening. The guards were at the door and one of them had taken the shot to back Saria up with bow and arrow. The hostages must have told them the situation as they fled.
With the most dangerous guy down, Saria pushed straight ahead and took the opportunity to ram straight into the air sword cultist who was still suprised by his comrade dying all of a sudden. She really put full force into this even if she was cut straight across her body with one of his attacks at the very end. It was an extremely quick tackle that launched him across the room and even managed to hit the fifth cultist to knock him out cold as well. We could both feel at least one bone break from this in Saria's body. But the guards were now starting to rush in as support. The last cultist just shivered and didn't know what she should do. She dropped her weapon in defeat.
Saria backed away from the two people she tackled into. They were knocked out, probably had a bone or two broken themselves. The guards quickly went over and restrained them, while Saria laid herself down on the floor. I removed the Take Over and used Shadow Substitute. The guards were more than enough to handle the situation now. This was the second time I was drained of juice in a short period of time. The injuries this time weren't as bad, so I still held consciousness due to having enough juice left. Nevertheless, this was a success I'd say. She was out of breath as the adrenaline started wearing off though.
(Arthur) "Holy shit, you actually did it."
She just raised him a thumbs up as he was looking down at her. I could feel she was tired.
Saria almost fell asleep on the spot as Cynwrig walked in once they apprehended the ones that were still alive. The man who got stabbed by Saria's sword and the lightning freak who was hit in the head by an arrow were dead, the rest still alive, some more injured than others. Cynwrig looked around and saw her. He walked over and sat down on the floor next to her.
(Cynwrig) "I heard what happened, good job."
(Saria) "See? We're not that weak."
(Cynwrig) "You can say that when you're actually able to put up a fight against me."
(Saria) "Hnn, you just want me dead, don't you."
He laughed for the first time. After a while he picked Saria up and carried her to his borrowed horse. Needless to say, we made an impression here today. And if nothing else was won, he at least bought Saria enough tropicot from the stalls in town to last her a few days.