Ren

When Ren woke up the sun was already setting. She was lying in an unfamiliar bed in a simple room that had this “cheap inn” quality to it. Dirty lime-covered walls, sparse furnishings and a terrible smell.

She noticed that next to her bed there was an absolutely gorgeous demon sitting backwards on the chair and looking at her. She had shoulder-length pink hair and orange eyes. The demoness also had black-red horns that curved upwards from her forehead and an arrow-tipped tail that was twitching nervously. She wore blue pants, a brown leather jacket, a black shirt and fingerless gloves. In her right hand, there was a boxy-looking gun, and the left one seemed to be made of some silvery metal.

She recognised her as the woman who tried to save her.

‘If you weren't clearly a demon I would have asked if I died and went to heaven,’ she croaked, eliciting a smile from the medic.

‘Haven’t heard that one before,’ she laughed.

Ren tried to push herself upwards. She immediately felt dizzy and fell back on the bed.

‘I wouldn't move around too much just yet. You’ve spent a lot of time under magical sleep so you might feel woozy and weak for a few more minutes. It will pass.’

‘Why the gun then?’

‘Well… you almost got assassinated.'

‘How long was I out?’ she asked seeing through the window it must have been late afternoon.

‘Five hours give or take. You took a nasty hit in the stomach. Nothing Life Arcana couldn't fix, but such things always take a toll on the body. I would take it easy for a day or two. As for the unspoken “Where are we” the answer would be: the same inn. The owner let us use these rooms after we saved his establishment and likely his life.’

‘Is Ulrech in one of the other rooms then?’ she asked with major trepidation.

‘The man that was with you? I’m sorry. There was nothing I could do for him. He’s gone.’

It was a heavy blow. He was a dear friend.

‘But you know magic…’ she protested, the grim reality of the situation finally starting to set in.

‘There are limits to that, I’m afraid. It was a choice for me between him and you, and had I chosen him I would likely lose you both. Battlefield triage is a bitch sometimes.’

There was sadness in the demoness's voice.

‘And Leera?’

‘Up and about. Leera suffered a nasty hit in the back. If I wasn’t there she would likely never walk again.’

‘Wh-Who did this?’ she asked, cold anger filling her body.

‘Some very dead men.’

‘So… that wasn’t a dream.’

‘No, ‘Savri shook her head. ‘When her friends are in danger, Lilyth doesn't hold back.’

But there were so many of them.

‘Six. Well… seven, but I took care of the last one. There were probably three more but they must have decided that discretion was the better part of valour. I don’t blame them. Seeing a battlemage in action is always terrifying, especially if you didn't have much contact with magic before. One who can seemingly shrug off damage like Lilyth can.’

She shuddered.

‘I’m Savri, by the way.’

It can’t be.

‘THE Savri?’

The demon got really flustered.

‘This will get some getting used to.’ Ren heard her whisper.

Savri then smiled and said aloud:

‘I guess I am. Not many pink-haired demons named Savri running around.

I got saved by Riftseeker Savri.

‘I’m Ren,’ she said. ‘But I guess you know that.’

‘I do, Miss Yamaoka, but l took an oath to help people so I did just that.’

‘An admirable stance, but I fail to see how it meshes with you sitting here with a gun.’

‘Prophylaxis,’ Savri grinned widely. ‘The best way of preventing a crossbow bolt in your chest is to ensure it doesn't get fired.’

‘When you put it that way…’ Ren laughed, but then got serious again. ‘Still…’

‘You really shouldn't stress about it. Once you become my patient, who and what you are is completely irrelevant. What happens afterwards is out of my hands, but I wouldn't worry about it either. My friends are a decent bunch. Unless you act against them, I believe they are willing to “live and let live”, based on what I heard them say. As for me… let’s just say I wasn't a saint in the past.’

‘I understand. If I may: Where did I meet my Leera?’

Savri sighed.

‘You just had to ask. I don’t blame you, but I was enjoying our conversation. The short enigmatic answer would be: it’s a very long story. The longer and much clearer answer would be: let me grab Lilyth, because it’s a very long story and it is mostly hers to tell. I hope we will get to talk again soon, Ren.’

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

An orange-haired woman with long triangular ears entered the room. She had a white-tipped puffy tail and green eyes and was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and blue pants almost identical to Savri. She noticed that there was a ragged diamond-shaped hole in the middle of the tunic that slightly revealed one of the woman’s breasts.

‘So, you turning into a kitsune wasn’t a blood loss-induced hallucination,’ she began.

‘‘No,’ Lilyth shook her head. ‘Though I don’t blame you for thinking that. This is a… recent development that hasn't sunk in just quite yet.’

‘I guess this ties to the very long story Savri mentioned.’

‘That would be correct Ren-san. I’m Lilyth. Nice to meet you, and all that. You know… I had this whole spiel prepared to show you how ruthless and dangerous I am, but I don’t think I can go through with it convincingly enough. I am not a good enough actor, and I know too little about your world to improvise. So I suppose let’s just have a quick chat where we establish some common grounds.’

Lilyth turned the chair around and sat on it.

‘What happened to your shirt?’ she asked genuinely curious.

‘Got run through with a sword. The shirt is soulbound so it will knit itself together, but it’s pretty annoying as it's brand new.’

The statement made Ren laugh.

‘You know… most people would have… other complaints if that had happened to them.’

‘What can I say? It happened to me at least two… no... three times already. I’ve honestly lost count. You get used to it after a while.’

‘This I have to hear.’

‘The first time it happened was when I was in a goblin camp. There was one big hobgoblin named Grazzlag the Butcher. Nearly died that time but mostly from other injuries. The second was an assassin sent after me by a douchebag demon. Alas, he wasn’t informed that this particular method would be ineffective, so he ended up… falling down some stairs. I wonder if they managed to clean up the floor after his guts spilt on it. He got better. I think. And the third one was today. I also nearly got bisected shoulder to hip once, took a necrotic fireball on the chest and shot through the stomach with a semi-automatic rifle at point-blank range. There were also a lot of minor injuries.’

‘You lead… an interesting life, Lilyth,’ Ren said, unsure whether to believe her.

‘My life has been perfectly normal and boring. This is just the past eight days.

Eight days. It can’t be. Not even magic…

‘What are you?’ she asked, afraid for the first time since Lilyth walked in.

‘You know… the guy who ruined my shirt asked me the same question. Unlike him, you will actually get an answer.’

So, Lilyth told Ren her story about being a human from Terra and being summoned to Dwynveia against her will. That was common enough. Her being saved by one of the Old Gods was also something mentioned, albeit rarely. But then, Lilyth started telling her about the Tower of Trials, the Great Game of the Gods, the Akh’Ret’s mercy hospital, the confrontation with The Sun That Burns No More, who apparently was trying to kill them, but Lilyth was awfully vague about the details, and their rescue by The Madness That Dwells Outside. She found some of the details hard to believe. What really perplexed her, however, was that Caeileera played an integral part in the story, which was impossible because Ren last saw her… what… two days before? And yet, according to the timeline the Kitsune gave her, Leera was in the Abyss at the time. But then came the big reveal… of how this all happened on a different version of Dwynveia and that this… Caeileera was not her Caeileera. The one she loved was removed from the world by Lady Madness.

No. That's impossible.

‘So, you see. This Caeileera is my friend and my lover. Well… mine and Aki’s. But some part of her is also your Caeileera. She needs time to sort things out on her own. The time she is unlikely to have now due to, well… the woman she loves to some extent almost being assassinated. So we are going to have to do things the hard way and you will get to talk with her in a few moments.

Ren’s heart leapt at the mere suggestion.

Maybe I will discover that what Lilyth said was incorrect.

Though truth be told, she doubted that. What reason would the Kitsune have to craft a lie this elaborate?

‘And here, I think,’ Lilyth continued, ‘I will need to make something clear. Hurt Caeileera and I will drag you to the Viscount of Ror-Bhyk in the proverbial chains.’

Who does she take me to be?

‘A dangerous criminal,’ a voice inside of her head said.

‘What makes you think that my family doesn’t have some deal with the Viscount?’ Ren asked, ignoring what she assumed was her conscience.

‘It’s irrelevant. Because I know how things work. A branch leader in the infamous Yamaoka Clan being turned in to the Viscount by a bunch of nobodies? One of them being her… confidante? Something tells me the Viscount keeping you under lock and key would improve your life expectancy. Because if there is one thing your world doesn't tolerate, it is weakness.’

Ren winced. If her opponents wouldn't move in on their turf due to this, her own family would remove her from the post for a screw-up this big. But there was something the slimeling didn't consider.

‘So… I either play nice or get sent to the Viscount?’

‘Precisely. As you saw down below there… when it comes to the safety of my friends I don’t fuck around. And you Ren-san… You are dangerous.’

I like her. But well… need to make a point.

‘Why not kill me yourself, then? That’s one sure way of protecting your friends from the wrath of the Yamaoka clan. Because, sure, I might get killed later, but before that, I could make your life a living hell. What then? Don’t forget there is also my family to contend with. One piece of the puzzle you are likely missing is who my grandfather and father are. His name is Yashiro Yamaoka, and he is the head of the clan. My father, Kenji, is his firstborn son, and while I am only his firstborn daughter, my brother, Kojiro, manages our business in Ror-Bhyk. They will likely see this as a massive slight against the honour of the clan and go after you.’

The kitsune had no answer, so Ren broke out laughing.

‘By the gods, you are a rare kind of a fool, Lilyth. Lots of fools want to be heroes. You are a woman who wants to be a hero but convinced herself she doesn’t. You are so out of your depth when dealing with me, it boggles my mind that you are even trying.

Lilyth still seemed to be too shocked to answer.

‘You are lucky, then, that I like fools because I am one too. And we are both fools for the same reason. Love.’

She paused for effect and continued.

‘I understand then why you are so protective of her. If your tale is true, and it’s too insane to be not, then she must be… horribly confused right now.’

‘Aki is with her right now, trying to keep her sane,’ Lilyth said, slowly gathering her wits. ‘All I can ask, no… beg of you - don’t hurt her. Let her figure this out on her own. She was the one who wanted to speak with you and I don’t feel it would be right of us to keep her away. Aki and Sav agreed with that too.’

‘Thank you for that,’ she sighed.

‘There is nothing to be thankful for because we are not the ones who matter here. I certainly don’t, and neither do you, Sav or Aki. The only person who matters here is Caeileera, I think we can both agree on that.’

Ren nodded. She really could not dispute that.

‘Knowing the woman I love is no longer here is a bitter pill to swallow, but I agree it is not about any of us. Don’t worry, I would never dream about hurting Leera. Even if she is not exactly the same one as mine.’

‘Thank you. And for better or worse… I am sorry both for your loss and for us starting on the wrong foot.’

Ren smiled.

‘No problem, Lilyth. You did it to protect the woman I love, even if it was from me. How could I hold it against you?’

Ren meant it too.

In Lilyth’s position, she would have done exactly the same thing.

‘Thank you. I’ll send Caei in.’