There was a noticeable hush within Ni’aad over the next few days as the town recovered from the demon battle.

Three days after the funerals, trials were to be held—for the two demon commanders currently held captive within the city. For the first, it was merely a formality to be observed before he was inevitably put to death. For the second, it was a truly unique case. Never before had the enemy so blatantly turned her back against her own kind and while that did not make the succubus a hero in the eyes of the townspeople, it was an inevitable truth that without her betrayal and subsequent annihilation of the demon army, the town of Ni’aad and all of its occupants would be dead and the entire kingdom in peril.

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The town square was once again buzzing with activity—this time wooden structures were quickly constructed for the trial and execution, and the platform for the coronation had been torn down, the timbers reused. A couple of hours later, everyone was assembled there. No one wanted to miss the trials and execution of the hated demon commanders. Tarbork sat, chained to a thick iron ring in the centre of the town square. The succubus was also brought out in thick, silver, magic-imbued chains and chained up to a second iron ring hammered deep into the ground.

A light mood and chatter to match it filled the town square as elves laid their bets on how Tarbork was to be executed.

“Hey, I bet an iron damaii that he perishes by stoning!” An elf yelled.

“What? An iron damaii? That’s so much!” Another replied, “Show us that you’re not cheating!”

The elf who yelled the bet reached into his cloak pocket and produced the said coin. The others gasped, eyes brimming with envy. Each damaii was worth twenty seven gylins, the highest form of currency most people would ever see in their lives.

“Well, I bet a gylin, seven seguns and twelve brynus that he dies of burning! Now, be silent so we can hear the sentence!” Another elf shouted, shoving his hand into his pocket and counting the loose change.

“Actually, fourteen brynus, not twelve!” He corrected, having fished out another two bronze coins.

All three elves looked intently at the makeshift stage and at the five judges: Nicon, Aira, Calaepus, Selana and Amiri—the remaining elven royals, as the heirs had not been formally crowned yet, nor had they been training to take over the duties of the deceased royals. Calaepus, the queen of death, was to lead the trial.

She raised her hand for silence, and the talking died down to a low buzz.

“These past days have been a tragedy for us all. But we have all come out of this ordeal stronger than before and we will honour the legacy of those who died for Silvardor!”

Then her eyes, soft and sad a moment ago, turned steely, “Now it is time for the sentences of demon commander Tarbork and succubus Verulyn. For the indirect murder of Euiridas, and the murder of Jaron and Dethemina, as well as our countless warriors and for leading a demon army to Dargon.”

“After deliberation from the other royals, we sentenced Tarbork to death by burning at the stake!” She paused, “A sentence that will be carried out immediately.”

A large cheer went up, and the elf who had bet on that smirked, the others sullenly walking up to him. Money changed hands.

She held up a hand for silence and continued, “The succubus, although initially fighting for the demons, changed sides and her achievement is commendable. As such, we have decided that she will remain a captive and serve us for ten years, where afterwards she is to be released when another portal to the Abyss opens.”

The crowd had mixed reactions, although most questioned the decision made, as the succubus was a deadly enemy.

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“Prepare the bonfire.” Calaepus ordered, and instantly elves rushed forward with logs.

An elderly elf, well into his fifth century but still with a spring in his step, heaved a large log into standing position. Others piled the logs in a pile under the pole. Large iron chains were fixed to the pole, and oil was poured over the logs piled under the pole. Tarbork was led over to the pole, dragged by a quick spell uttered by Aira, and chained to it by both arms.

“Demon! In accordance with our ancient laws, you are granted last words. Have you anything to say?” Calaepus asked, walking down the steps of the platform, to make sure her voice was clearly heard.

With a glare and a murderous glint in his eyes, Tarbork whipped his head to the side and bared his fangs at the succubus.

“Verulyn, you traitorous scum! May the creator punish you for your sins! May Haert punish your betrayal!” He howled, thrashing at his chains.

To invoke the founding father of creation was a great sin, and the faces of the audience went slack with disbelief. The elves moved a step further away from the chained up demon, despite his magical chains being very secure.

Aidan, who’d been watching the proceedings from the sidelines, stepped forward, carefully nudging aside the elves in front of him, and strode towards Tarbork with confident strides.

He stopped in front of the demon and bent down to whisper in a low voice inaudible to the others, “Tarbork, today you die. Sadly not by my hand, but if anyone should have had the pleasure of killing you, it should have been Jaron. I will personally ensure your ashes are scattered so far that you will never resurrect.”

With those words, he stepped back, turned on his heel, and walked away.

Calaepus motioned with her hand and six elves walked up to Tarbork carrying torches lit with twisting flames. They whispered a prayer to him, then dropped their flaming torches on the oil soaked wood. The flames hungrily devoured the wood, and spread higher.

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After the execution, Tarbork’s ashes were carefully collected and sprinkled around the forest, with Aidan in attendance, as he promised. Demons, if killed in the Abyss, could easily resurrect if their ashes were gathered in one place. On Dargon, they could not, but the elves would not risk his ashes being brought to the Abyss and so they used him to fertilise the plants and trees of the forest.

Having finished his errand, Aidan made his way over to where the guardians resided, intending to talk to the girl who had freed him from the tower. The other guardians were training outside, but Aidan could not spot the girl so he strode past their training spot, with the intention of checking the house for her.

As he walked past one of the other guardians—the one called Jason Bladesworn—he felt a strange flash of heat by his side. Aidan stopped and peered at his pocket only to see it glowing and pulsing and emitting a constant stream of heat. With shaking hands, he removed it from his pocket and held it up, squinting.

“What is that?” Jason asked, his gaze fixed on the glowing golden crystal.

As he stepped closer, the crystal glowed brighter and at last Aidan spoke.

“This is a crystal… and I believe it is calling you,” He muttered, eyes widened in fascination, “I’ll be honest and say I have no idea what to do, but perhaps you’d like to try to hold it and see if that will calm the crystal?”

Jason held his palm out, his eyes never leaving the crystal. Aidan carefully placed it in Jason’s palm and immediately the glowing light transferred to Jason and he glowed briefly before the light faded from his body. The crystal lay still, the heat and light fading the moment it touched Jason. However, Jason was not left unmarked.

The brief moment when the crystal’s heat and light transferred to Jason, his brown eyes became golden and his hair, previously a golden blonde, lengthened and acquired a metallic glowing tint. Jason clenched his fist and waved it about before saying, in a voice laced with awe, “I don’t know what this crystal did, but I feel so light and powerful!”

The other guardians gathered around, curious eyes following the spectacle.

“I’ve read that a guardian’s main objective is to protect the crystal of their kingdom… and they are able to draw power from it. That crystal is golden—Anhua’s crystal—and you’re the new golden guardian! It makes total sense that you’d benefit so much from it,” The human nobleman, named Leus, said thoughtfully, then, somewhat jokingly, he added, “Well, I guess you’d better never let that crystal stray out of your sight for long.”

The others chuckled, but Aidan frowned.

There still remained an unsolved question—and quite an important one, at that.

How had Anhua’s crystal, thought to have been destroyed in the last demon war, come into the possession of the demons? And how had Tarbork harnessed the crystal’s power, despite having no connection to the guardians?

Aidan mulled over those questions in his mind.