We were rapidly approaching our target. I focused on the forest trying to spot anything suspicious. After a while I saw something that looked like a person.

“Lucy, I found something. Let’s land and have a look.”, I said.

Lucy nodded and pulled out her spear. As we got closer it became clear that we were dealing with a woman. A wounded woman. Dried blood covered her face, her robe was slashed in several places and she favoured her right leg.

When she saw us she shouted: “HELP! Please help!” She staggered in our direction but tripped and fell on the ground.

While it could be a trap I did not see anything suspicious nearby. So I approached the woman to cast a healing spell. “It’s alright. You are safe.”, I said.

She looked at me and whispered: “Safe? Nobody is safe…”

I crouched next to her working my healing magic. It was not powerful enough to mend broken bones but it would deal with cuts, bruises or a sprained ankle. I also pulled out a flask of water and handed it to her. “Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

She accepted the water and quickly drank it. “Thank you. But we need to leave!” She looked behind her nervously. They might be tracking me, we need to go!”

“Don’t worry. We are quite powerful. I am Amaya and Lucy over there is keeping watch. Why don’t we start with your name?”

The woman looked at us, stared at my gear and calmed down a bit. “I am Emily. I am… I was part of the inquisition. I am a mage focusing on illusions. That's how I escaped.” Emily was still on the floor but she moved into a sitting position. “The others… they are all dead.”

“Who is dead?”, I asked.

“The entire battalion… a thousand people… sacrificed.”, she muttered.

“Who sacrificed them?”

“The demons. To summon their lord.”

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“Lord? They summoned a demon lord? Let’s start at the beginning. How did this happen?”

“For months the inquisition has summoned demons and bound them. We kept them in caves at the edge of the forest. The inquisition built a base there with earth magic. Everything was concealed with powerful wards and illusions.” She paused, took a deep breath and continued: “I was a high ranking officer. So I knew most of the plan. The regular soldiers were kept in the dark. They never saw the demons. They were only told this was an important mission.

The Empire wanted to spread the idea of a demonic cult. The plan was to stage various attacks and incidents, then the duke would die and the inquisition would appear. But that was not enough. The high inquisitor wanted to be a hero. He planned a demonic invasion. Not a real one. The demons we summoned would be on the front fighting actual imperial soldiers. In the back he would battle an illusion. He wanted to unleash some big 9th rank magic, make it look like he vaporised an army.

The soldiers were told the cult is real. Elias was even hoping some of our soldiers would fall in battle. It would make the Empire look even better. Real soldiers, fighting real demons. Bleeding and dying for the city. Meanwhile he would unleash his magic on an illusion. With the destructive power of 9th ranked magic nobody would question the missing remains. There would simply be a huge crater in the forest.”

“Wait, he wanted to stage a demonic invasion to make him look good?”, I asked.

“Yes. He wanted the people to worship him as saviour. Then establish a permanent base for the inquisition in Iron Rock. He wanted to marry the duke's daughter and take over the city.”

“But… she is only 6 years old!”

“Oh, he would have only been betrothed until she came of age.”

That did not make it any less disgusting. I shuddered at the thought.

“So what went wrong? How did the demons break free?”, I inquired.

“Several days ago something happened. It was an unfamiliar attack. It felt almost as if magic was draining from the area. Some of our wards failed. We thought we kept all the demons contained. But… we were wrong.”

Magic drained from an area? Several days ago? Pictures of wilted trees flashed through my mind. Was this my fault?

Emily continued: “We suspected an outside attack at first, somebody trying to scry us. Now… I am afraid it was internal sabotage. Maybe there was a cult within our ranks. Soon after the incident Elias left for the city. With him gone they made their move. The escaped demons overwhelmed the guards and freed their brethren. They… they captured the battalion while they were sleeping. I narrowly escaped thanks to my magic. I could only watch while hiding with my illusions.” She paused again. Tears were running down her face.

“They sacrificed them all. They used the soldiers' lives to summon their lord and his army. And now Mantus walks this world.”

“Mantus?”, I asked.

“He is a demon lord. One of the weaker ones but still a lord. We need reinforcements. You need to contact the Dominion!”

This was bad. A demon lord with an army and I might have helped unleash them. Was my ritual truly responsible? If they were close enough, would they not have found the dead vegetation? Did the demons have help from someone within the inquisition? Whatever the cause, we needed to deal with this problem.

“Lucy, did you hear all that?”, I asked. She was standing a bit further away keeping watch. But her hearing was excellent.

“Yes. We need to find a way to stop them Amaya!”

“I agree. Let’s get back to the city, I think we found out enough. We can plan our next steps from there.” I picked up Emily and we flew towards Iron Rock.

I could not call for reinforcements. I had no connection to the Dominion, but I possessed more power than any elf. And I had Lucy by my side.