It was a while before they got Ilya to calm down a bit. He was hysterical, pointing at the fine gentleman outside, yelling, screaming that now that he was here, this world was doomed, that nothing, and no one, could stop him.

Talia listened to his ramblings with narrowed eyes, skeptical.

“You don’t understand! He’s evil! He leveled whole armies for daring to stand before him! I would know! I was once a knight in one of those armies!”

He was quite the coward for being a knight. Talia would know. She had delivered judgment upon thousands of knights, many of whom daringly regarded her with fierce eyes, receiving their judgment with grace and heads held high. It was a bit disheartening how low the knighthood order in his world had fallen.

There was also this matter of demon lord.

Talia frowned. “Are we sure we’re speaking of the same person?”

“Yes,” he hissed.

“Would that be a problem, then?” she asked.

He stilled, opening his mouth as if to say something before closing it and glancing out the window. “I-I don’t know… I didn’t think I would find him here.” Ilya shifted on his feet, his eyes straying to the demon lord.

Talia could still not believe his words. She had spoken to that soul, sat down with him, and shared her prized hot chocolate with him. Heck, she had lunch with him not too long ago. He was nothing but a perfect gentleman—regardless of the strange aura surrounding him.

She glanced at the frantic Ilya. “Have you changed your mind then?”

His mouth closed with an audible click. He glanced at her, then back at Weylin, his eyes widening at whatever he was thinking about.

“You could still back off.”

He straightened, turning to face her fully. “No. I’ll do it.” He grimaced as if the words he was speaking were bringing him immeasurable pain.

She watched him as he stood there, staring at Weylin like he was staring at his doom. She would have felt a bit sorry for him if she hadn’t spent hundreds of years—and thousands more before that—stuck here with only Aseel as company and the wailings of lost souls. She barely had enough sympathy to spare.

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He took a shaky breath. “Now…? Or…?” he asked.

Talia nodded. “The sooner the better.”

He gave an absentminded nod. “Of course. Of course. Just…” He hesitated. “Do you know how he ended up here? Cause I tell you, that man is a monster. No one could stop him. Not even the high priest. The temple had sent heroes after him, times and times again. Still, they were all defeated. He defeated them all. So, excuse me for asking, but who managed such a feat?”

Talia shrugged. She didn’t know. In fact, if Ilya was being truthful, then this was one more reason for her to get this infamous soul’s tale.

She glanced back at Weylin, pausing when she found him staring back at her. She opened the window, seeing Ilya frantically step away from sight, and leaned down to wave at him.

Now was as good a time as any.

“Are we still on for a cup of coffee today?” she asked. “I’ve just got a shipment this morning.”

“Of course.” Weylin looked up at her, his blue eyes reflecting the azure sky above.

She could see his eyes crinkle as he smiled, and she couldn’t reconcile such a pleasant-looking soul with what Ilya had said.

“A friend might accompany me. I hope it won’t be a problem.”

He paused, his eyes glancing at something behind her, and then he smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I shall wait for you at our usual place.”

Then he walked away, disappearing behind the corner.

“Oh, no. I’m going to die. He’s going to kill me. All of this, only to find him here. What did I ever do to him?”

“Except for attacking him at the orders of your temple?” Talia raised an eyebrow.

Ilya whimpered. He backed away, his eyes still fearfully staring at the window despite Weylin’s departure.

Talia sighed. “Relax. He can’t kill you. No one can kill you.” Except for Idirians. But Talia didn’t say. He was skittish enough around her. “Even if he, somehow, ends up damaging your soul, it would recover.”

He whined, clutching a handful of hair strands and pulling them as he lamented. “That doesn’t make it better!”

“You shouldn’t have followed their orders.”

“I doubt he had a say in the matter. You, of all people, should know how authority works,” Aseel said.

“Well, you won’t find me attacking people who would follow me to the afterlife.”

Ilya shrieked.

“Your words are hardly helping, if at all,” Aseel reproached her. “And we both know that couldn’t be further from the truth.” He turned to Ilya, putting a comforting hand over his trembling shoulder. “Worry not. Ensuring souls’ protection is one of her jobs. She won’t let him harm you.”

Aseel’s words brought a bit of color to the poor soul’s pale face. He turned hopeful eyes at Talia. She grinned, eyebrow raised.

“You…eh…” He licked his cracked lips—cracks that had only appeared a while ago. “You think you can defeat him?”

Aseel snorted. “Of course she can, right?” He looked at Talia, urging her to reassure the frantic soul.

She shrugged. He was being truthful. After all, in all of Idir, no one was stronger than her.

“I hope you like coffee,” she said, ignoring the frantic look Ilya sent her. Didn’t he hear her telling Weylin she would be bringing a friend?