Chapter 36:

It was already late evening when we reached Leia and Seb’s house. The familiar sight brought a sense of comfort, but I knew the news we carried were anything but comforting.

Leia was sitting on the ground next to the house and jumped up as she saw us.

“Luca! I’m so glad you’re okay.” she exclaimed, her trembling voice filled with relief. “I was so worried!”

I noticed her red, puffy eyes - clear signs of recent tears. My heart sank, realizing that my absence had caused her so much worry in addition to her already missing husband.

“I’m sorry, Leia.” I apologized. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just – “

Before I could finish the sentence, she enveloped me in a tight hug. “No, It’s my fault! You were worried yesterday and wanted to talk, but I pushed you away and locked myself in the room. Then I even left early today without telling you.”

I was taken aback by her embrace and words. She almost felt like a completely different person from the one I had come to know.

Since arriving here, I’d been wary of both her and Seb. My experience in Vedem had worsened my already fragile trust issues, and I found myself doubting everyone’s intentions. I sought only my own gain – planning to use them to learn more about magic and herbology, to have Seb treat Ren, and then disappear once she was better without ever looking back. But their kindness slowly chipped away at my defenses. Even though it had been just over a week, their genuine care and hospitality were undeniable. And I was just a fool.

I found myself returning the hug.

“It’s not your fault.” I said softly. “I just couldn’t sit still knowing that Seb was being held captive somewhere. I had to look for answers too, and…well, we found something.”

“What did you find?” Leia asked, pulling back slightly.

Before I could answer, Axel appeared from around the corner, clearing his throat loudly enough for us to hear and shift our attention to him. He approached with a stern expression.

“That was very stupid of you, Luca.” He said sharply. “I told you to stay in the house and wait. What were you thinking?”

I bristled at his tone. “I’m sorry I don’t enjoy being a bystander, unlike someone else I know.”

He was the last person who had any right to lecture me about anything.

His eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought he might lash out. But Den stepped between us, taking control of the situation.

“Enough.” Den said firmly. “We need to focus. We found something important in Tehl, and we need to discuss our next steps. Tomorrow night is the demon’s deadline, right? That means we have only about a day to figure out what we’re doing.”

“What are you doing here, old man?” Axel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Leia turned to him. “You weren’t around, so I had to ask Den to help bring Luca – “

“Old man?” Den interrupted her, glaring at Axel. “Seriously, kid? I thought you had more respect for me.”

Leia wiped her eyes and suddenly raised her voice before the situation could escalate. “Let’s go inside! We can talk there.”

Her uncharacteristic tone had brought everyone to silence, and we all nodded and followed her inside.

***

Before heading to the kitchen with the others, I stepped into Seb’s workshop to check on Ren. She was still asleep, lying in the same position as when I left, and I sighed with relief.

I touched her arm, recalling the Baron’s words. She was my family, and I had to protect her. But Seb and Leia were no longer strangers to me. They had helped us, and now they needed help. I knew I had to repay their kindness, especially since they were just caught in the crossfire of all this.

I left the workshop and went to the kitchen, where the others gathered around the table. The map of the area was spread before them, left there since yesterday. I joined them and glanced around. Everyone seemed tense - except Axel, who appeared calm and composed. Such situations were probably nothing new to someone like him.

Den was the first to speak, pointing at the spot on the map that marked Tehl. “The kid and I found a dead man in an apartment in Tehl. He was likely killed about a day ago. He worked as a servant in Baron Tremoux’s estate. We suspect the demon placed a dummy illusion of that man, and that’s how they got Seb.”

Leia’s face grew worried. “Did you find anything there that could lead us to Seb?”

Den rubbed the back of his head with a disappointed expression. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to search the apartment. In an unfortunate turn of events, the Stormbringer made a surprise visit to Tehl. And since you mentioned the kid is probably number one on his wanted list, I decided not to test our luck.”

Leia seemed disappointed by nodded in understanding. “Why would Leon Valter suddenly come here, Axel?”

Axel shrugged before replying slowly. “He knows I’m in the area. I guess he assumed Luca might be here too.”

I spoke up, my voice steady but intense. “We also found a giant rune carved into the floor of the apartment. It was the size of a living room.”

Leia’s eyes widened. “What did it look like?”

“Like an hourglass with the base of the top triangle missing.” I explained. “It was carved into the floor and then smeared with the dead man’s blood.”

Leia gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “That’s exactly the same rune I found in the forest, not far from Lind’s east entrance.”

A chill ran down my spine as I realized my earlier fears were coming true. We needed to figure out what the runes meant - and fast.

“Do you know what they mean, Leia?” Den asked.

“I was running through some of my books about runic magic all day while you were away.” She said with a conceding tone. “But this rune didn’t appear anywhere. It could be one of those that got lost in time.”

“No.” Axel cut in sharply. “I know what it means.”

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We all turned to him, waiting for him to continue. He grabbed the black oil pastel from the table and drew the rune on the map before us.

“It’s a demonic sigil.” He explained. “This specific one is how they write ‘Unyielding Pride’, or, in the demonic language – Adar.”

My eyes widened as the pieces connected. This symbol represented Adar. Just like the triangle crossed by a diagonal line translated to Vorlexia.

“Demonic sigil…” Leia echoed, shaking her head in frustration. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?”

“It’s okay, Leia. Don’t be mad at yourself.” Den said calmly before turning to Axel. “What are they planning to do with these sigils?”

Axel’s expression darkened. “By inscribing his sigils in two separate locations, Adar is planning to create a Demonic Tether. It’s a way to connect these places through the demonic plane. If my suspicion is correct, Adar plans to teleport everyone within a circle, where the tether serves as the diameter, straight to hell.”

A heavy silence fell over the room as the weight of Axel’s words settled on us. The thought of both Lind and Tehl being dragged to hell was almost too much to comprehend.

“How…can they even do that?” I asked in disbelief.

Axel nodded grimly. “Adar is strong. Some conditions need to be met, but he can likely pull it off.”

“And they want that stone in return, right?” Den asked and Axel nodded.

The silence enveloped us again, and it seemed like everyone was considering handing the calcite over to the demons, unaware that to do so, I would have to die first. I thought about telling them the truth, but before I could, Leia suddenly spoke.

“We can’t trust hellspawn.” She said firmly. “Isn’t that right, Axel?”

Axel’s calm expression shifted into a smile. “That’s right.”

Leia nodded, her resolve clear. “They’re despicable creatures that thrive on lies and deceit. If we bring them the stone, we can already say goodbye to Tehl, Lind, and Seb. If we want to stop them and get Seb back, we must fight them.”

Den seemed grumpy but nodded. “I was going to say that the risk is too high, but you both know these creatures better than I do. If you say we can’t trust them regardless, then we have to think of a plan. We should also consider evacuating everyone. It’ll be tougher to pull off in Tehl, but we can at least evacuate all of Lind’s residents.”

“Don’t be crazy, old man.” Axel blurted out, surprising us all. Even Den raised an eyebrow.

Axel remained silent for a moment before continuing. “We can’t just evacuate thousands of people without raising suspicion from Alaric. If we do something like that, he’ll surely come here, and we’ll have a new problem on our hands with him searching for Luca and the calcite.”

“Then we hide Luca from him!” Den said angrily. “We shouldn’t risk the lives of the villagers because of a what-if scenario.”

“You won’t be able to hide anything from Alaric Belton!” Axel replied, his voice just as angry. “I know him better than anyone else here. We can’t let him have the calcite, just like we can’t let the hellspawns have it.”

It seemed like his words shook something inside of Den as he backed up from his evacuation idea.

“What does it even do?” Den asked, genuinely sounding curious. I hoped Axel learned something new about it, but he remained silent, shaking his head.

“Then, how do we stop them, Axel?” I asked, trying to move us forward. The idea of Alaric Belton coming here terrified me. I had already come too close to being caught by the Stormbringer today, and Alaric Belton scared me far more than he did.

Axel looked at each of us in turn, his expression determined. “We need to destroy the sigils. If we break the edges of the tether, we will cancel it. But it won’t be easy. Demonic sigils are already hard to break, and you also mentioned they were covered in blood. Hellspawns use human blood to fortify their sigils, so it will be twice as hard to break. And we have two of those, which we also must break at around the same time, so we’ll have to split into two groups.”

“But wouldn’t destroying one be enough?” I asked, recalling Leia’s teachings, hoping the same logic applied here. “One single rune is useless, no?”

“That’s not how demonic sigils work.” Axel explained. “Adar can always use himself as an edge for the tether. So, if we destroy only one, he’ll use himself and the second one to complete the task.”

“But if he can do that, why draw two sigils in the first place?” Den asked, raising a fair point.

Axel shrugged. “I assume I managed to damage him enough in our battle in Vedem. He probably lacks the mana to pull it off with only one edge. That’s why he created two - to ease the job for himself. But it doesn’t mean he won’t try if he needs to. And I’m not sure we want to test the capabilities of an archdemon and put so many lives at risk.”

“Fair enough.” Den nodded grimly.

“We’ll split into two groups.” Axel repeated. “Only Leia and I are capable of breaking these sigils, so we can’t go together. That means Den and Leia will go to Tehl, and Luca and I will go to the forest. Is that clear?”

“That’s risky.” Den said, turning to Axel. “One of the groups will probably end up facing Adar, and out of all of us, you’re the only one who stands a chance against him.”

“I know.” Axel admitted. “But since we don’t know where exactly he is, there’s no point in discussing it. Hopefully, Luca and I will be the ones to encounter Adar, but if that’s not the case, we’ll destroy the sigil on our side and rush to your help.”

Den seemed unconvinced but eventually nodded, likely understanding that there was some truth to Axel’s words.

“Let’s go.” Leia said determinedly, and everyone was ready to leave, but Axel stopped us.

“Wait.” He said sharply. “We can’t do this tonight.”

“What?” Leia asked, her tone incredulous. “Why not?”

“We shouldn’t wait for the deadline.” Den chimed in, nodding in agreement.

“You’re right, but you’re also forgetting something. Or someone.” Axel said, his tone pointed, though none of us had any idea what he meant.

“The Stormbringer.” He clarified. “I need to make sure my dear comrade has left Tehl - and this area - for good. If he’s still somewhere around, he’ll definitely interfere, and not in our favor.”

He had a good point. Leon Valter might still be looking for me, and who knows what the Baron told him? He could be on his way here right now.

“We’ll do this tomorrow.” Axel said, his tone firm.

“Well, it’s not like we have a different choice.” Den said, his expression resigned. “Tomorrow is the deadline.”

As we were about to disperse, Den’s eyes suddenly lit up as if he had an idea. “Wait a minute...We don’t need to split into groups!”

“What?” Axel asked, surprised.

“Lucas, the Baron’s herald, is a great friend of mine.” Den explained. “I’ll tell him about the sigil in that apartment, and he’ll get one of the Baron’s mages to deal with it.”

“I don’t know about that...” Axel didn’t seem convinced. “Why involve the Baron in this? We can’t really trust him.”

“Don’t worry.” Den assured him. “As I said, Lucas is a friend. He’ll help us without alerting the Baron. He knows how to keep his mouth shut. We can trust him. And we can all stay together to deal with the rune in the forest. It’s a win-win.”

Leia nodded. “It’s a good idea. We’ll do that. Axel and I will combine our magic to break the sigil more easily, and if Adar comes, we’ll face him together.”

Axel still didn’t look convinced but eventually nodded. “If you believe he’s trustworthy, then sure.”

“Then I’ll ride to Tehl first thing tomorrow morning and get him ready to act tomorrow night.” Den exclaimed, clearly satisfied with his plan.

Axel’s gaze dropped to the map on the table and after a moment his eyes widened in shock.

“Wait!” he suddenly exclaimed, almost shouting. “I was wrong.”

“About what?” I asked, confused.

“Look at the map.” He said urgently, pointing at it. “It’s so clear. I’m ashamed I missed it!”

“Missed what?” Leia asked, sharing my confusion.

“Just look!” Axel said, his voice filled with worry. “They’re not going for a simple tether. They’re going for a Demonic Triangle!”

“A demonic what?” Den asked, a puzzled expression on his face, which I think we all shared.

“We only found two sigils, so I assumed it was going to be a simple tether.” Axel continued, his voice hurried. “But look at the map - more precisely, south of Lind. It’s Dureg. I’ll bet my life they’ve set a sigil there as well!”

“So, you think there are three of them?” Leia asked.

Axel nodded. “Yes! All three together create what’s called a Demonic Triangle. If earlier I said that a two-edged tether would ease Adar’s work, then a three-edged one will make it a child’s play for him. And he’ll kidnap another village along the way.”

“Then what do we do now?” I asked worriedly. The stakes seemed to grow higher with each passing second. First a Demonic Tether, and now a Triangle. I had no real knowledge of hellspawn’s capabilities. Leia might have traveled with Axel in the past, slaying hellspawns together, but even she seemed unaware of the terms Axel used. He was the expert.

“Looks like we’ll still need to split.” Den said, rubbing his chin as he stared at the map.

Leia nodded. “Yeah. I don’t see a different solution.”

“We still need to find the sigil’s location in Dureg.” I pointed out. “How do we do that?”

“I can track it with my magic.” Leia suggested.

Axel nodded approvingly. “Good. Then you and Den will go to Dureg tomorrow, and Luca and I will handle the one in the forest. Hopefully, this Lucas fellow will deal with the one in Tehl successfully. Is everyone clear on that?”

Leia nodded. “Seems fine to me.”

Den nodded as well. And me? What could I even say on the matter?

“Good.” Axel said commandingly. “Get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be messy.”