When Dreu caught up to the demonic children, one of the female children had taken charge of the group. The child had long jet black hair and her face was the most human-like out of all the demons he encountered. Unlike the other children, she wore a dark breastplate that appeared to be of the top grade. The girl carried no weapons on her so Dreu assumed she was a spellcaster like Eglallin. The child acknowledged Dreu’s presence but she showed no indication of handing over the leadership role. With no knowledge of the Demon Realm’s wilderness, the young man was fine with the situation. He doubted his ability to make the right call in a completely unfamiliar environment. During the run deeper into the wilderness, Dreu regularly checked behind him to make sure Aggich, Zog and the other seven demon worms were still there. His nine companions stuck to him like glue and kept up just fine. He trusted in Tragthan and the other demons in keeping the human forces at bay long enough for them to flee. Given how dense the forest was, they could disappear very quickly and the human pursuers might not have a chance of tracking them unless the enemy sent more rangers.
“We will take a break here before we proceed further,” said the demonic child once they reached a small clearing.
While the other demonic children all collapsed onto the ground, the girl closed her eyes where she stood and chanted something. After the chant, nothing visible happened to or around her. Seeing the girl concentrating, Dreu sat down where he stood. The demon worms took turns climbing into his lap, earning them a quick scratch to their heads.
“May I ask for your name?” Dreu called out to the child when her eyes opened several minutes later. “It would make communication easier in the future.”
“I am Ragellon,” said the demonic child with her head held high. “Daughter of Braglames.”
“Braglames,” muttered Dreu as he recalled the final battle at the capital.
“You have a vendetta against him?” Ragellon aggressively approached Dreu.
“No, we shared a common enemy so I looked up to him. I was there during his final hour in the human capital.”
Ragellon’s face beamed with happiness upon hearing Dreu’s words. She rapidly asked questions about her father’s final moments. Dreu did his best recalling those moments and, during the entire storytelling, Ragellon’s eyes widened while her smile grew bigger and bigger. After Dreu finished, the demonic child muttered thanks for sharing the final moments of her father.
“I’m happy he died as a warrior as he always wanted to.”
Her smile disappeared when her focus turned to the demon worms gathered around Dreu. They surrounded the young man while Aggich napped in his lap.
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“Why are they here? Why do you have so many demon worms with you?”
Hearing the distaste in her voice, Dreu sighed.
“I know demon worms aren’t known for their abilities on the battlefield. However, I believe that, given a chance, they can prove the old assumptions wrong. Please give them a chance.”
Dreu turned his attention to Zog because the demon worm was two levels away from evolving. The evolution didn’t have to be amazing. Zog just had to prove everyone wrong by positively contributing to future battles. When he looked at the other demon worms, they all cowered behind Zog, clearly aware of Ragellon’s attitude towards them.
“If they slow us down, don’t expect me to wait for them.” Ragellon turned around and stopped after a few steps. "I sensed dangers up ahead and we may have to flee if we hope to survive."
The young man didn’t bother sharing his abilities in detail. First, he saw no need to divulge too much. He was still an outsider and keeping trump cards could save his life. Secondly, he only grasped the bare minimum of his abilities so he lacked the expertise to explain matters properly even if he wanted to. Dreu snapped out of his thoughts when Ragellon led the group deeper into the unknown. With his companions in tow, the young man followed the confident demonic child. He had seen those who weren’t ready to be leaders and Ragellon wasn’t one of those. Her confidence reassured the other demonic children while her decision making thus far proved to be on point. Her calm demeanor earlier when Tragthan said farewell to them only further solidified his opinion of her. The fact they hadn’t encountered any demonic beast could partially be credited to her decision making. Yet, she seemed certain that their luck might be running out as they approached an unavoidable encounter.
Does she have a destination in mind?
When one of the demonic children screamed, everyone turned to see half a dozen gnolls. At least, Dreu assumed they were gnolls given their hyena heads and humanoid bodies. The gnolls he was familiar with were constantly seeking prey to keep their hunger in check. It wasn’t uncommon for gnolls to attack big targets or large groups to maximize their food. If some gnolls died in the hunt, then there would be more food to go around for the others. Despite their humanoid bodies, humans generally regarded gnolls as beasts to be killed on sight.
“Demonic gnolls,” said Ragellon, cursing under her breath.
Dreu was about to ask the demonic child what differentiated demonic gnolls and normal gnolls when the markings on the demonic gnolls lit up. The markings resemble the language used by the demons when he was aiding the defense of Gujash. The young man had a quick glimpse over some documents on a table, noting how everything looked like scribbles to him. The markings gave off a violet light which gathered in the palm of the demonic gnoll’s hands. The violet light then transformed into either weapons or armor, much like how the demon summoned its weapon beneath Berkton. Three of the demonic gnolls wielded polearms, one wielded dual daggers and the last two boasted fine looking armor. Unlike humans, the demonic gnolls in armor had sharp claws as their weapons so they were still very dangerous on the offense. When an inexperienced fighter, some children and weak creatures faced off against demonic gnolls, one thing jumped to his mind.
This is bad.