I felt ready for the Mids. Or at least, I had built up enough bravado… survived through enough, to have the confidence to think that it sounded like something I could do. And still survive, hopefully. That there were only seven of us now was neither encouraging, nor surprising. Still, I was the Last Lantern.

Smoke filled my nostrils as I stared at the broom, which was currently burning away, bright flame dancing just a few inches away from my face. A line of scorched charcoal ran across the floor and up the wall behind me, almost to the ceiling. As if her attack had been more of a slim wave of power. Perhaps it was.

Sweat ran down the side of my face, as exhaustion almost made me collapse. I stepped away from the held broom and slumped against the wall behind me. Pearl slowly stood up straight, her radiant eyes not leaving me.

Wight pooled out of me, dropping possession, before he slumped to his hands and knees on the floor.

“Easy,” I gasped, only just realizing that I had been holding my breath. To add to my statement, I slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

Pearl blew out the flame from the broom and sighed deeply. “Sure, you used up all of your energy to avoid the attack. Well done. In a normal fight, there would be three further attacks after that thrust of similar power.”

[That was exhilarating.]

Wight stood up to his feet and stretched out. He looked just as tired as I felt.

[You should hit Eric more often.]

“I’m not sure that was the point of the exercise,” I grumbled. “Knowing I can avoid a single attack from a Highers demon is… pretty neat, though.”

Pearl narrowed her eyes at me, but couldn’t exactly argue. “For a human, it is remarkable. As my life partner, you need to step it up still. Now, breakfast.” She turned and strode out of the living room.

My brow furrowed towards Rodney. “Did she say life partner?”

“Either that, or the attack also burned away my eardrums, too.” He winced and looked at the line of damage across the room. “We have company soon. Now there’s that to explain.”

I shook him away and turned to my patron, the Blank clearly not grasping the weight of my question. “Wight, help me out here. You must have some knowledge of demon conventions, right?”

[Perhaps. It depends on the question.]

My legs protested as I tried to get comfortable and lean closer towards him. “Do demons gets married? Was there a significance to what Pearl just said?”

[No.]

“To which… to which question, Wight?” I clenched my teeth together.

[I feel this is a conversation you should have with the Pearl, Eric.]

I didn’t have the energy to lurch forward and grab hold of him to try to shake out the answers. Why I was so worked out about this… I wasn’t sure. Maybe just an aftereffect of the very short fight where we had somehow avoided one of her full power strikes. Or at least I assumed that it was.

We had never discussed our future much. Together and in love, that had been enough, considering that my future was in dispute. Once I had performed my duties as the Last Lantern, the assumption was that I’d be a smear across whatever hellscape the final battle took place in. Then again, if my life were to be that short, we were life partners in that way.

Still, she had needled me with that information and left for a reason; I was sure of it.

With a groan, I managed to push myself back up to my feet. “Thanks for the new power, Wight. It’s tiring.” Shuffling my feet across the floor, I went and found a place to exist on the coach opposite Rodney.

[Normally we would not need to expend so much energy. But you should be wary of overusing it.]

I nodded, which did little but made my neck ache. No doubt I’d need it in the Mids until I got some sturdy footing - potentially saving my life now and again. Dangerous and with limits, but there’s was a nuance to it that I quite liked. We took risks sometimes… and speaking of that…

“How we doing on that list, Rods? Four demons and two Hunters to go?”

He screwed up his face and finally relented to moving the ice pack from his head. It looked like it had mostly melted now, anyway. “I think. Yeah.” He felt around his pockets for the note, finally withdrawing it and unfolding it. “Huh?”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I sank further into the couch. “That’s not a good ‘huh’, right? We haven’t accidentally completed the list and can have some rest?”

[Perhaps that would have been a better use of your night’s energy.]

My eyes rolled, and I ignored the demon as he sat down in the single seat. With the Church guy coming over soon, it would help to try to act like a normal family. Not that we were anything like one, of course.

“No?” Rodney interrupted my train of thought, his eyes struggling to parse the text on the held paper. “The list has… changed.”

“Demon magic.” I nodded knowingly. “More names, different ones… fewer names?” I dared to dream.

“Mmm. If my memory is correct, and Passage says it is, there are now three names rather than the expected six. One New hunter, two new demons.”

“Aw.” I pouted at Wight. “No tournament arc to blaze through?”

[We could still do it for fun, Eric.]

That did sound fun. Maybe there would be a trophy at the end - and I’d no doubt be the first human winner of whatever silly name the demons gave the contest.

“Haven’t heard of the Hunter before.” Rodney shrugged, turning the page around so I could see. “But there’s also a smiley face, and it says ‘well done’.”

I did feel like I had done a decent job of mopping up the Hunters. The magic demon was a bit wishy-washy. We’d killed him, but I wasn’t sure what lesson I had taken away from the encounter. Other than Wight and I working together was a force multiplier that easily ascended whatever the Lowers could throw at us.

“I’m no gambling man,” I said as I tilted my hat down over my eyes. “But my guess is that Frank somehow knows I’m going to the Mids, and changed the targets to something more appropriate.”

There were a few seconds that passed before Rodney replied. “So the Hunter is probably one currently in the Mids.”

That was a dangerous game then. With only seven of us around, killing one without drawing suspicion would be a tough task. Still, I wasn’t too sure of the demon’s plan for us in the long term, or what boon he planned to grant me after I completed these murderous acts. I still needed to ask Pearl if she knew him or what he was about. Questions were stacking up, and we hadn’t even met with David yet.

“Breakfast is at the table!”

With an almost pavlovian response, I was up onto my feet and gesturing for the other two to hurry up. Being the Last Lantern was hungry work and I wouldn’t leave my stomach wanting. We entered the dining room and sat. Pancakes and fresh fruit - but perhaps even nicer was the strong smell of coffee.

Pearl gave us a warm smile as she leaned against the counter. “David have any dietary requirements, Rodney? I’ll make us lunch later.”

The Blank paused, his fork already laden with some of the prepared food. “Oh, yeah. He… doesn’t eat meat.”

After a brief silence, she nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

I was too busy shoveling pancakes into my mouth to make any comment. It was any wonder I could eat everything I did, after some of the sickening sights I had seen in the Hells. My stomach must be Level Ten as well.

[Not going to join us, the Pearl?]

Wight was holding up a strawberry, inspecting it. I wasn’t sure if he’d even had one before.

“I have already had my fill of everything I desire.” She stepped forward and placed a hand softly on my shoulder. “I’ll be upstairs renovating while you have your meeting, but I’ll pop down to meet and probably scare the Church man.”

I tilted my head as she went to leave. “Thanks, Pearl. Love you.”

She turned and blew me a kiss, before continuing up the stairs.

Although I didn’t get a chance to ask her any questions, that whole interaction seemed to go quite well. Things were pretty good, considering. Which only meant some strife was ahead. “Org sent over the details yet?”

Rodney shook his head, before blowing steam from his cup. “You’ll be the first I tell, believe me. I’m rather anxious about it.”

“They tell you much about the Mids in Blank training?”

Another shake of his head. “Depending on what they believe your proficiency is, they’ll give you some basic Lowers stuff and then the bare minimum to do your job.”

“That knife training has paid off, huh?” I grinned at him as I waved my fork over my plate.

He rolled his eyes. “Maybe if I had one, I wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”

[You should request the Passage to help craft you a knife.]

Rodney turned his gaze over to my patron. “You think? That would be easier than a firearm, for sure. Could change the runes to be more receptive to my energy.” His brow furrowed as his eyes unfocused in thought.

“About that.” I jostled him from whatever he was planning. “You can do a lot of weird stuff these days.”

“Coming from you?”

“Don’t deflect.” I picked up my mug of coffee. “Your divine energy is increasing somehow? Being able to reach across the planes to deliver a true name, or locate and disable return artefacts, both a step above just watching my dumbass in Hell.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Why do you think that is, Eric?”

[Yes, Eric, why?]

I sighed. Wasn’t sure I felt like answering, but the possibility was staring me right in the face. Or would be, if I had a mirror. “Eric Redd is a magnet for power. You’re getting more divine power from somewhere due to your close proximity to my destiny.”

Rodney whistled. “Pretty big-headed there, cowboy. I just thought it was because I’d been eating my vegetables.”

With a grunt, I rolled my eyes. Didn’t even care to give a smart retort to that. Instead, I just drank my coffee and allowed it to steam up my glasses.

[How much of the truth are you intending on telling the David?]

I paused and relented to putting my cup back down. “I figure he’s as trustworthy as they get. Right, Rods?”

He pulled a face and shrugged, but didn’t intend to stick his feet in his mouth by giving me a verbal response.

“What could the Church really do in opposition to us at this point? Better to be honest with each other and hope fate puts us on the same side.”

[Their goals do align with your destiny. I would like to see them pay a more active role in your success before we accept them wholeheartedly.]

I watched the demon for a moment. A rather pragmatic approach for him, but I couldn’t deny that it made sense. Getting some tangible evidence that they were pushing us forward would go a long way to us trusting them more. The scant information shared hadn’t really moved the needle much.

“Alright.” I clapped my hands together. “Let’s go work out our game plan for what we want out of this meeting.”

Rodney raised an eyebrow. “And hope that he doesn’t question the scar of charred wood running through the room.”

I smiled widely. “No. I hope that he does, and sooner realizes his place in this.”