Bellies full, they donned their gear in preparation for the journey. Peter had a large rucksack that looked to be quite full and heavy, while Catherine had a slightly smaller, but considerably more stylish pack.
Better add a bigger pack to my list of things to look out for.
While comparing their respective baggage, Henry noticed that Peter had a strange looking book wrapped in a sling, that was tied around his waist.
“Interesting looking book you have there,” Henry said, pointing towards the book in question.
He saw Peter tense for a split second, before smiling back at him.
“Yes, a most interesting book it indeed is,” he replied unhelpfully.
“Oh come on, professor! Henry’s nice, you can tell him!” Catherine interjected on Henry’s behalf.
“I was not implying that he wasn’t! It’s just difficult to explain succinctly.”
“Something you could explain in an hour or so?” Henry asked suggestively.
Leaving the newsagent’s, Henry reminded himself to stay alert. The addition of two allies made travel seem vastly less dangerous, yet he knew that was a foolish assumption to make. Fortunately, it helped that Peter and Catherine both seemed to practise plenty of caution as they moved, helping Henry to do likewise.
“Well lad, I don’t want to shock you,” Peter began, just a short distance away from the shop they’d left. “But, this book is actually a symbol of a pact I have entered with a self proclaimed demon Lord.”
“What!?” Henry exclaimed.
“Please try to keep your voices down,” Catherine added, keeping her voice low, but stern.
“Right, sorry,” Henry replied, gracefully accepting his admonishment.
“Yes, difficult to believe, but completely true!” Peter continued.
A champion… Shit, I’m not even sure how I should react to that. Gyxr didn’t say anything about how to handle other champions… Are we enemies? He did say my tasks would interfere with whatever the other demon lords are up to. Probably best to keep my own status a secret for now… But, what about her?
“Wow, I don’t know what to say,” Henry replied. “I guess with the stuff I’ve seen it isn’t totally unbelievable. Is it the same for both of you?”
“Ah, not quite. Catherine is not directly in a pact with a demon like I am. You see, one of the perks of this pact, is the ability to give a small portion of the benefits I receive to another of my choosing. In this case, the beauty, Catherine.” He winked at her as he finished, and Catherine responded with a glowing smile.
Gifting power to others? Damn, that sounds useful. I hope I get something like that… Or maybe I do already? Still, I can’t help but wonder about Supplicants. Is there someone hunting down Peter as we speak? Or did that mostly take place during the last three days? If every demon lord even allows that kind of thing…
The conversation paused as they reached a corner. And continued shortly after they found nothing waiting for them around it.
“As I was saying, the book. It acts as a sort of… information device I suppose you could call it. Through it I can track my perks received from the pact, and view other important information. It’s really quite useful. I suppose its not unlike something from one of those silly games I’ve seen my grandson play. Ooof, poor Timmy, I hope he survived.” Peter had continued his explanation of the book he carried, speaking the last part mostly to himself.
That’s it! That’s the kind of thing I need. Where the hell is my book? Oh, shit… Did Amanda have one and I missed it? Wait a fucking second… Do I need to find that to complete my task!?
Henry paused mid-stride as the horrible though struck him.
It makes sense… Fuck! Why didn’t Gyxr tell me!? I need to get back there…
Realising his companions were eyeing him curiously, Henry smiled and caught up with them.
I guess I can wait until after we’ve visited the police station. Some proper weapons would be so useful. Maybe I can extract more information from Peter while I’m at it…
“Are there more like you? With pacts with this demon lord you mentioned?”
“Oh yes, I expect so. There are many demon lords from what I hear, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t also have their own … helpers,” Peter replied.
“That does make sense. These others then, they have books of their own as well?”
“I think it very likely, considering how useful they are.”
Gyxr, you bastard!
“I see. So, a pact with demons, huh. Sounds a bit sinister.”
“Yes, it does rather, doesn’t it.” Peter frowned unhappily as he replied. “However, the demon lord I’m assisting has assure me she has nothing to do with this unseemly invasion business. I… Believe her, though I realise how the whole thing must seem.”
Nothing to do with it? Interesting…
“I’ll take your word for it. Catherine doesn’t seem like she’d be okay with you doing anything evil anyway.”
“That’s true!” Catherine replied.
Peter laughed heartily as he clapped a hand on Henry’s shoulder. “Well said. Glad you understand, lad.”
As their journey continued, Henry tried to gleam anything else of interest he could with regards to demon lords and champions, but his efforts resulted in nothing new. Finally, a bit past an hour since they’d departed, Catherine motioned for them to stop.
“I think I see it, just up ahead on the right,” she said quietly.
“That looks like the place,” Henry agreed.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“How shall we approach it?” she asked Peter and Henry.
“Come now, my dear, we’ve been passing by all manner of buildings for the last hour or so, with little to no enemies in sight,” Peter responded.
They had in fact encountered a single lone imp, about 20 minutes earlier. It had tried to execute an ambush by leaping out of a second story window, but had failed to find its target and had instead collided with the pavement. To Henry’s surprise, Catherine had quickly rushed towards the prone imp and delivered several solid hits to its head, with the metal bat that had up until that point rested aside her pack.
“Let’s just approach cautiously as usual then,” Henry supplied.
They moved slowly towards the entrance to the police station. It was a relatively small building, four stories high, but somewhat dwarfed by the many large tower buildings nearby. There was a modest car park to the left side of the building, containing one or two squad cars, which were both wrecked. Before the building proper was a forecourt sporting a large water fountain that had fallen dormant, though the still water within had an ominous red tinge to it, not unlike the sky above. The building itself had either been rebuilt recently, or was new. It looked very modern, with most of the front entrance being comprised of glass panels and doors. Unfortunately, with all of that glass instead littering the ground, it looked far less impressive that it once might have done.
“It looks clear,” Catherine noted.
“Let’s observe for a bit,” Henry suggested, motioning them towards the fountain.
They quickly moved over to crouch down in front of the fountain, keeping it between them and the entrance to the police station.
I was worried Peter might have trouble sneaking around like this, but it doesn’t seem to bother him at all despite his age… And here’s me with a broken arm… I’m much more of a liability than he is!
Huddled up against the fountain’s edge, the source of the water’s colour became clear. There was a torso floating in the water. It had no arms, head, or lower body, but did have a bloody spine extending out from the bottom. Henry soon regretted his choice of hiding place.
“It looks clear to me dearies,” Peter announced quietly. “Let’s make our way inside, shall we?”
Henry raised an eyebrow slightly at Peter’s strange form of address, but soon nodded along with Catherine all the same. They crept forwards towards the entrance, keeping low, and trying to remain silent. With the glass strewn about everywhere, and crunching underfoot as they moved, it wasn’t easy, but they continued on as best they could, before entering the lobby of the police station.
As Henry had largely expected, the place was a mess. The front desk had been split in half, with one part of it flung across the room. While, the floor, walls, and even the ceiling had been painted with disturbing amounts of blood.
“Looks like they put up a fight at least,” Henry noted.
His observation stemmed from the large number of imp bodies that were scattered across the lobby floor, many of whom were sporting what looked like gunshot wounds.
“Mmm yes, indeed. I don’t see any weapons lying around though, most curious...” Peter replied.
Henry likewise considered the strange lack of weaponry as he conducted another sweep of the room. It was particularly strange, at least with the clear signs of fighting, and the reasonable number of varyingly mutilated human bodies that were mostly still identifiable as police, thanks to the uniforms they wore.
“These poor people,” Catherine said in a sad tone.
“They died doing what they were sworn to do: Protect the people of this fair city.” Peter had pulled Catherine into a hug, gently patting her back with one hand.
“I know...It’s just so sad.”
They waited there in silence for a time, giving Henry ample time to process the sight of humanity’s failure in fine detail.
“Well, why don’t we take a look around,” Peter said, somewhat cheerily. “I was always a staunch opponent of firearms, but I can’t deny their potential usefulness at a time like this. Henry, why don’t you take this floor? Catherine and I, will start on the next floor up, and go from there. If you spot any trouble, give a shout and come running. Naturally, we’ll do the same.”
“Alright, let’s do that. I’ll follow you up once I’m done here,” Henry replied affirmatively.
“Right you are, see you shortly then!” Peter turned to address his student. “Come on my dear, let’s get going shall we?”
“Okay…” Catherine’s response was quiet, clearly still upset about the large loss of life that had taken place with the station.
I doubt Peter’s faring much better. I’m sure not… Still, at least the officers had a fighting chance.
With Peter and Catherine having disappeared up the stairs, Henry let out a tired sigh as he continued staring at the grim scene.
Strange that there are only imp bodies here. I would have thought armed police would have had little trouble against them, they really don’t seem to be too tough.
Henry started towards the door on the left side of the lobby, while he continued his pondering.
Maybe, there were simply too many imps. That combined with the element of surprise, could have been enough I suppose. Police officers are trained to deal with hostile threats from humans after all, not sinister demon-like creatures leaping through portals.
Searching the left side of the building didn’t turn up anything, other than more carnage. He made his way across to the other side, picking his way past the ruined desks and other clutter, and found a room with a mesh fence dividing it in half. There was a single door, with a keypad next to it, providing access to what lay beyond.
An armoury! This is what I came here for!
Henry rushed forwards with excitement strumming through his body. However, a quick examination of the room revealed it was void of anything even remotely resembling a weapon.
Ugh, of course. What did I expect? It’s been three days, other survivors must have come here and looted it. Either that or the demons… The imps are essentially brain dead, but then there’s Gyxr and whoever Peter works for. Probably safe to assume there are more intelligent demons roaming about the place. Maybe even some of those I saw as I was dying back in the office… Or that one that killed me in the first place…
Recalling the all too vivid experience of his own death, Henry shuddered uncomfortably. Forcing aside the unpleasant recollections, he continued searching for anything else of interest, but other than a door that seemed to lead down into the pitch black basement, he found nothing.
Moving back to the lobby, he began his ascent up the building to find Peter and Catherine. He hesitated on the first floor, wondering if they had moved upwards already. It was just as he started up the next flight of stairs, that a voice reached him.
“Henry! Find anything?” It was Catherine, with Peter following close behind.
“No not really, just an empty armoury. Oh, and the basement. But, it's pitch black down there. How about you two?”
“We found a hat!” Catherine exclaimed, beaming happily at him. She was wearing a medium sized, flat topped, straw hat, which had a long purple ribbon ran around the base.
“But, naught else I’m afraid,” Peter added.
“That’s too bad. Well, shall we continue up to the next floors?” Henry suggested.
They continued upstairs, but found nothing of interest on any of the upper levels.
“I suppose we could check out the roof, but with all these large buildings around, I doubt we’d see much of anything,” Peter said as they moved back to the central staircase.
“What about the basement? There could be something down there! Maybe gold!” Catherine added excitedly.
“I’m not sure about the gold, but as I said before, it’s pitch black down there. I don’t think we can consider exploring it without a light source,” Henry replied.
“Mmmm, you might be right there,” Peter agreed.
“But, professor…” Catherine shot Peter a sad look along with her words.
“No, I’m sorry my dear. I don’t think we’ll find much of anything in there. Henry here, already found the armoury, and it doesn’t look like there’s anything else of value here.”
“Okay...” Catherine hung her head dejectedly.
“Oh cheer up, you found that nice hat after all.”
They made their way back down to the lobby, past the carnage there and back outside. As they did so, Catherine spoke up.
“So, what now? Shall we head west, to the base?”
“Mmm, yes, nothing else for it I suppose. You’re free to join us of course lad,” added Peter.
Henry considered the offer for a moment.
Sticking together would be good. Their upbeat attitude is kind of annoying… But, at the same time, maybe that’s what we all need with the world being as fucked up as it is. Hell, maybe I’d even have a chance with Catherine if I stayed.
Of course, I need to get that book from Amanda’s body. Trying to explain that without revealing I’m a champion, or a killer… Yeah, probably not going to happen.
“I’d…” Henry was interrupted by a loud clang coming from the direction of the police station.