The well-maintained road wound its way gently up the hills. Seyari, Nelys, and I took turns looking outside, but it wasn’t until close to sunset when terraced farms gave way to untamed wilderness. We stopped for the evening in a high pass near the start of the descent.

The top of the old mountains here showed just how severe a rain shadow they cast. The forest had thinned toward the top, but there was almost a distinct line separating the green side of the peaks from the dry brown. Only a hundred or so meters ahead of the camp, the road began its descent. The view afforded was spectacular. I only had a brief moment to watch how the mountains descended to the inland plateau where scrubland quickly turned into undulating dunes out to the horizon line, before I needed to return to set up camp.

Just as Aretan had said, I was told to help move the wagons into a circle. To my amusement, I had no difficulty moving them and could probably pull one if needed. However, the weight of pulling a full wagon was notable enough that I wouldn’t want to for any extended period.

Dinner was provided for us, contrary to expectations. Simple fare, but clearly Navanaean in spicing and preparation. I tried my best to maintain the stoic persona of a contracted demon, but I’m quite certain that mask slipped several times as the night wore on.

Aretan and his company were amiable and accepting to the point where I felt myself relax around strangers for the first time since I became a demon. Florian and his employees were more guarded around Seyari and me, but Nelys’ charm eroded boundaries and the two cliques saw their isolation at least partly worn away by evening’s end.

The next morning, we formed back up into a line and resumed our journey; winding down into the scrubland. I’d asked how long to Baetnal and was told a week and that we’d pass through one oasis town on the way. The road didn’t follow close to the river due to seasonal flooding. Before we descended too far, I caught a glimpse of the body of water glittering off to the east and flanked by twin ribbons of green.

Aretan had alternated his morning and afternoon between talking with us in our mostly-empty wagon and drifting along the caravan. He’d quickly grown to ingratiate himself into our group. He seemed inexhaustibly curious about me, but I didn’t get the feeling the reason was unsavory.

The first couple days were, well, boring. While I did interact with the mercenaries, the caravan merchants more or less kept to themselves. I hardly saw Florian, but when I did, he at least didn’t seem to hate me. Neither Seyari nor I had thought to bring something to entertain ourselves like dice, a deck of cards, or even a book. The evenings, however, were quite fun. Once the people of the caravan had gotten over my presence, the three of us were coerced by Aretan into joining games with the mercenaries.

Neither Nelys nor I had the face for betting games. On the plus side, I’d learned that my ability to sense anger could be more subtle given time and effort. Even if I couldn’t win, I could tell when a few of the more intense people hit bad luck. We traded some stories, mostly about the mercenaries. Aretan’s band had been together a few years and mostly ran the major land routes in Navanaea. Unlike other groups, they’d take foreigners. We really had gotten lucky it seemed.

The badlands had faded quickly into dunes, where the “road” was mostly just a compass in the front carriage. By late morning of the third day, I was sick of seeing nothing but things that started with “S”: sand, sky and sun. Seyari was alright though. All jokes aside, I still felt like she was distant for a friend. She’d told me and Nelys much about herself, but it was an open secret that she kept a lot more hidden. Originally, I hadn’t minded, but I was increasingly curious and perhaps a bit apprehensive.

We’d reach the small oasis town tomorrow afternoon. For now, though, the four of us, Aretan included, sat in our wonderfully shaded and relatively sand-free wagon, talking once again to fill the time. For the first time in a while, the conversation turned toward my nature as a demon. Seyari and I hadn’t been too careful about limiting what I could say and do. She found it distasteful and I found it boring. Sometimes, I had started to forget the “demon” part of me and I think Aretan honestly had too, at points. Perhaps out of familiarity, he had decided to dig a bit deeper.

“If I may ask, were you summoned or captured, Zarenna?” Aretan asked. “You have a much more cordial relationship with your binder than I would assume.”

“I was summoned,” I replied, thankful Seyari and I had discussed this.

“Oooh, what did Seyari offer you?” He seemed excited.

“That’s a secret,” Seyari stated matter-of-factly.

“I wanna know too!” Nelys poked their head up from the pile they’d made out of our bedding.

“Maybe later,” I shrugged. “It’s really not important.”

“If you do decide to tell, let me know!” Aretan said.

“Why are you so interested?” Seyari asked bluntly.

“I am studying summoning,” Aretan replied, “I’ve no magical capacity to speak of, but the nature of demons and their contracts has always fascinated me. High magical capacity, a host of unique abilities, outstanding physical attributes most of the time, and often they don’t require food or drink.” He listed the reasons off on his fingers. “I know there’s more to them than people think and I’ve always wondered what we could achieve by working with them.”

“Aren’t demons malicious by nature?” I interjected.

“Are you?” Aretan countered.

“Uh…” Come on brain, think of a reply!

“Renna’s not malicious! She’s super nice!” Nelys volunteered. “She’s even nicer than Seyari!”

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Seyari looked at Nelys, then at Aretan. “They’re not wrong I suppose.” She pointed at me. “That one’s an odd case.”

I pouted at being called ‘that one’. Also, Nelys kept calling me Renna. I decided that it was cute and I liked it. Hypocritical? Yes.

“And that is why I am so interested in both of you!” Aretan exclaimed. “Am I too forward? I am excited since I have not met many demons and none of them stood out like you, Zarenna. I want to think demons are not all ‘evil’; just more driven by their nature than us ‘mortals’.”

I had to admit, when we picked this caravan, I didn’t expect we’d run into probably the only demon sympathizer in Navanaea. Actually, considering the nature of demons in the kingdom, it was possible there was an entire faction of Aretans. I’d like to meet them. Well, so long as they didn’t want to ‘examine’ me closely or anything. I suppressed a shudder.

“A bit too forward, maybe,” I said, then hastily added, “but I’ll get over it. Are there others who share your view?”

“Thank you.” Aretan nodded his head. “There are some, yes. The Second Prince is one of them, but he is not going to inherit, so I doubt we will make much progress.”

Seyari looked conflicted. She started to say something and then stopped for a moment before actually speaking. “I don’t think you should take demons so lightly. I’ve met many and Zarenna here, by pure luck, has been the only good one.”

“Oh.” Aretan’s face fell. “How many exactly? Because—”

Aretan cut off as a cry of alarm sounded from the front of the caravan. He was the first to leap up and exit the back of the wagon. Seyari and I followed suit, Nelys close behind us.

Crash!

The sounds of fighting picked up from the front; grunts, shouts and orders from Aretan and another mixed with the sound of impacts on a hard surface.

Seyari had grabbed her bow from inside while Nelys produced a pair of daggers from I didn’t know where. Not waiting for an order, I ran ahead.

Between the fight on the ship and what I was seeing now, I started to really notice how much slower humans were, and not just in terms of sprinting. Their movements in a situation like this seemed deliberately plodding and slightly sluggish. The difference wasn’t enough to notice unless the person in question was trying to move as rapidly as possible.

I doubted I’d be able to cleanly and reliably dodge blades swinging at me, but I felt a clear advantage. That feeling, exacerbated perhaps by the knowledge of my own strength, both magical and physical, made me feel more than a little confident.

That confidence wavered slightly when I saw what had attacked our caravan. An immense sand-colored scorpion the size of at least two wagons, was locked in combat with the front guard of Aretan’s mercenaries. The monster had two tails tipped with wicked stingers which the mercs were only barely holding off. To the side, the lead wagon was overturned and partially crushed.

I lit my claws ablaze and closed the distance. My aura sight picked up a weak magical aura from it, concentrated primarily in the tails. Is this just a regular monster? A demon would have a stronger aura, right?

Still sprinting, I circled around to the massive arachnid. To its credit, the scorpion monster noticed me immediately and gauged me the bigger threat.

It turned with surprising alacrity and stabbed a tail down toward me at a speed I could barely follow. Memories of the monsters and lesser demons I’d fought on the island flashed through my mind. My muscles remembered and I shifted my body to the side, narrowly dodging the strike.

I slashed at a leg with four sets of claws. The scorpion’s carapace absorbed most of the force, but my flaming finger-blades sliced through just deep enough to score into the flesh underneath.

Focusing my magic and channeling my anger as best I could, I attempted to burn it from the inside out.

The scorpion stumbled, lashing a claw toward me to knock me away. The mercenaries wasted no time and dove on the other claw.

I looked up just in time to see a tail zip toward me. An arrow laced with wind magic pierced the fat spiked bulb at its tip before it could hit me.

I jumped away to the side while the scorpion’s injured tail, thrown off by the arrow, thudded into the sand. Spinning midair, I slapped its partially-cooked leg with my tail and the limb crumpled.

Something slammed into my back from above. I lost control of my jump and fell face first into the sand. Pain blossomed from between my many shoulder blades and I felt a pressure enter my body.

I’d forgotten about the monster’s second tail! I twisted away from it as quickly as I could and lashed out with my claws. To my satisfaction, they found purchase and, enraged, I poured fire magic into the stinger bulb which exploded in a shower of bug goo and venom.

The monster reared away from me. I quickly stood back up, but fell to a knee. My back felt like it was on fire, which was concerning because if it actually was, it wouldn’t hurt like this. I focused on my magic and raised my body temperature, trying to burn out the venom. Something sizzled on my skin, but I felt the burning inside spread.

The scorpion, however, now with both its tails functionally crippled, was fighting a losing battle against the mercenaries. I looked across the battlefield. Only now did I notice at least one person on the ground.

Despite my injury, I wasn’t going to count myself out. I was made of tough stuff and I’d taken worse back on my island. I formed a large ball of fire between my four hands and threw it at the scorpion’s legs. The heat was intense, and a loud snap sounded as the leg directly hit boiled hard enough for the chitin to crack.

With one side mostly crippled, the scorpion listed toward me. My attack took its attention once again from the mercs who used the opening to good effect, breaking another leg on their side. The monster thrust an open, grabbing claw at me

I wasn’t sure I could dodge the attack, so I stood my ground. I grabbed it, two arms to a side. It tried to close, but I pushed back. My limbs were rapidly losing strength, but I pulled on the anger of the mercenaries, taking what I could.

I could still feel myself weakening, but with a sudden burst of strength, I pushed the halves of its pincer apart, gripping hard enough for my claws to puncture its chitin. Free, but flagging, I charred the wounds I’d made and pulled away.

Before I could retreat out of its range, another claw swung at me. I tried to leap over it, but my muscles weren’t responding properly and I moved too late. Hard carapace met my midsection with enough force to drive the air form my lungs. I flew backwards into the sand and rolled several times before collapsing onto the side of a dune.

Again, I tried to pull myself up; four arms under me and my tail to my side. I managed to get to my knees, but my body slowed down. Slower than a human’s. The battle in front of me reached a tipping point and my vision started to dim. Blades of wind and steel had shattered the chitin armoring the monster’s claws. With injured legs, the scorpion tried to back away. I saw the familiar silhouette of Aretan leap on top and drive a polearm into its head. The monster started to spasm as the other mercenaries closed in.

My vision grew darker, and the burning was replaced by a cold numbness across my limbs. I could feel my heart slowing down.

No. I won’t let it end like this. I was careless, reckless. But there’s no way I’ll let myself die now!

Surging my remaining mana within my body, I turned up the heat as hot as I could go. Underneath me, I could feel sand melting and glassing over. My heart thumped irregularly before steadying, but far too slowly.

Slow, too slow.

I saw Seyari and Nelys as shadowy figures running toward me. I tried to tell them I’d be alright. That I’d stopped the poison. The words wouldn’t come. I felt my mana reserves flagging and my flame dimmed before my vision blackened and I fell face-first onto glassed sand.