Veduca sat on a chair right next to the window facing the inner yard of the Merry Boar Inn. The only light was a dim candle on the table next to her. It was placed in such a manner its flickering light didn’t reach Lodwin’s face. Despite his protests, he had fallen asleep quite fast.

It wasn’t like sleep eluded her. As a Nephilim she didn’t need sleep, but usually, she enjoyed the gentle ease and relief it brought her. She especially enjoyed dreaming, although more often than not those dreams were more like visions of either her past or future. The former of which she enjoyed, but the later she hated even more, like nightmares.

This night she didn’t felt like sleeping. This night she felt as if doom was dangling over their heads like a sword held by a thin thread. Thinking of him, she turned her head and watched him a few moments. Despite everything, he always slept like a stone. If he had nightmares about his death, she couldn’t tell, and she didn’t dare to ask.

Turning her gaze back to the outside, she took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds and breathed out slowly. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear a dog bark.

For a moment, she considered using her scrying to get a feeling for the layout of the castle, but as she was about to concentrate, she felt the air shift. At the same time, the dog stopped with a barely audible whine. Alarmed, Veduca grabbed her staff. Although she didn’t need it to cast any spells, it helped her focus on longer and more intensive spells, as well as allowing her to ready a few by tying them to the charms on the staff.

The magic was subtle, almost elegant in the way it was applied. Veduca felt it gently reaching for her and Lodwin’s auras. But what surprised her even more was the lack of aggression. This spell felt more like the careful tests of a cat before it decided the branch it wanted to go on was safe. Out of instinct, Veduca created a shield around herself and Lodwin, which caused the other magic to retreat. Still, this retreat was all but reassuring.

Veduca stood up in a haste and went immediately to Lodwin. He let out a groan as she rattled him awake. Displeased, he looked at her and sat up a moment later. The questioning look on his face showed her that he knew that something was amiss.

“Someone or something just searched for us with magic”, she explained. “We need to go.”

Without further ado, he got himself dressed while Veduca weaved a few protective spells around her staff, ready to be deployed at a short moment's notice. Before long, Lodwin was done and walked with his sword drawn towards the door. He opened it so fast, it was a miracle he didn’t tear it off the hinges. But there was no one behind it, nor was there someone in the narrow corridor.

Lodwin went out and looked around before signing her to follow him. Veduca nodded despite him not facing her and followed as silently as she could. It was odd that despite the clear magical search for them, the caster seemed to be nowhere near. This wasn’t right. Veduca felt it in the air. This was a trap. The fact that it hadn’t already snapped spoke of the danger.

“Lod, we should use a different route”, she said, uncertain.

Lodwin stopped and looked at her with a contemplative expression. A moment later, he nodded and pointed back towards their room. Without exactly knowing what he planned, she trusted him enough to immediately turn around and head back into their room.

Once inside, Lodwin closed the door and pushed the heavy looking wardrobe in front of it. He then walked to the bed and pulled the covers off. Veduca almost immediately realised what he planned and started to knot the surprisingly nice fabric into a long rope. Despite the whole ordeal being easier and most importantly faster with magic, she didn’t dare to use her abilities too openly.

Just as they had created a suitable long and sturdy rope, the same inquisitive spell looking for them was cast out once more. This time with clear impatience and less subtle. Lodwin also felt the spell and stopped for a moment. Then, with a much more forceful movement, he pulled the window open and threw one end of the rope out. The other one he had already secured with a tight knot on the bedpost. Luckily, the bed was massive enough to hold both their weight. Besides, Veduca could also use one of her spells to secure a soft landing, should the need arise.

Lodwin threw his bag down first, then he let Veduca go ahead. Slightly nervous, she just nodded and climbed down the rope. He followed her immediately and landed just a few heartbeats after her on the ground in the inner yard of the inn.

Their next destination was the door leading to the taproom of the inn. From there they could get out of the side entrance by the kitchen, but to do so they needed to get there first. An endeavour stopped dead mere moments after they had walked into the middle of the yard, which was like a large garden.

“Halt!”, an imposing sounding man bellowed.

A heartbeat later, two Dark Priests materialised like meandering shadows to either side and closed off Lodwin’s and Veduca’s sides while keeping some distance. Lodwin immediately placed himself as good as he could in front of Veduca, who weaved a few offensive spells. A moment later, a giant of a man dressed in massive looking parts of metallic yet lightweight looking armour and a yellow doublet emerged out of the darkness as if he were made of it. His head and face were hidden by a cowl of some sort as well as by a nauseating spell, which made Veduca’s head almost turn on itself.

“The Divine Lord invites you, sword-bearer, to his castle”, the man with the hood said, his voice a deep booming sound reverberating in Veduca’s bones without being too loud or even harsh. “What say you?”

Lodwin answered by raising his sword.

“There is no need to be afraid”, the man continued. “Should you come with us out of your own free will, we make sure no harm will befall you.”

“Lod?”, she asked uncertain and placed her hand on his left arm, so he could still draw his sword. “Shall I speak with them?”

He shook his head.

“We have no business with you, witch”, the man said. “You better leave and never look back.”

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“I’ll never leave his side!”, she protested.

“Think again, witch. The Divine Lord often gifts his enemies the chance to flee in the face of his might, but he does so only once. If you insist on interfering, then we have no other choice but to kill you. Our Lord just wants the man called Lodwin.”

To her shock, Lodwin attacked before she could say something. She was barely fast enough to cast a shield around him and herself before the Dark Priests’ spells could hit. The Knight, on the other hand, just blocked Lodwin’s sword with his gauntlet.

“It’s unwise to fight us”, the man said unbothered while still blocking the sword without even trembling. “Our Lord knows of your affliction due to your unfortunate contract with a demon. He ordered us, should we find you disagreeable, to use force.”

Suddenly, Lodwin withdrew a step and lowered his sword. A heartbeat later, he made an inhumanly fast move and stabbed it into the shadow of the hood. Although long enough to protrude through the back of the Knight's head, the blade vanished within the darkness. At the same time, the Dark Priests called forth Shades with long, slightly curved naked blades.

Veduca instinctively cast a fire spell at those closest to her and managed to incinerate them. But before she could aim for the rest, she was face to face with one of the Priests. She just saw the blade in the almost skeletal hand flash for a second. In a blind panic, she tried to deflect the weapon with her hand, but only managed to shove it aside a few inches.

Enough inches to miss her heart and kill her.

But not enough to avoid injury.

—

Out of the corners of his eyes, Lodwin saw the Dark Priest attacking Veduca. Using his advanced speed, he turned around, but before he could get even an inch closer, the Knight grabbed his wrist of his sword-hand, twisted it and pulled him towards himself. Lodwin fought against the monstrous man, but he couldn’t get free. Instead, he felt the bones of his wrist grind on each other and break, as well as the tendons twisting into each other. But the pain was soon overshadowed by the blades driven into his shoulders, chest and abdomen.

Like an insect, Lodwin was pinned down while more blades followed, until he felt his hand being twisted and torn off without regard. Bones were pulled out of their sockets while nerves, tendons, and muscles ripped and tore. The pain was somehow worse than all the, for normal humans, lethal cuts, slices, and bites he had suffered until that point. If he still had his voice, he would’ve lost it that moment.

As he hit the ground, the last piece of ligament tore and left him on the edge of consciousness. The only thing keeping him from allowing the temporary relieve of unconsciousness was Veduca’s laboured breaths, clearly caused by pain.

“What shall we do with her, Lord Duodecum?”, asked one of the Priests, while Lodwin’s sword clattered to the ground right next to him with his torn off hand.

“Kill her”, the Knight replied, as if talking about the weather.

Those words were enough for Lodwin to force himself up despite being skewered on too many blades to count. Using his remaining hand, he grabbed one of the swords to use as leverage. Its edge cut deep into his fingers, but he pushed himself up nonetheless. But for every other inch he gained, he lost one, sliding back down and causing a wash of blood to pour out from his wounds while widening them.

“Lodwin!”, Veduca cried, which forced him to use even the last speck of strength he had left.

To no avail. He couldn’t even move one leg underneath his chest to push himself up, as they too were pinned to the ground.

Suddenly, a goat screeched in the distance. A heartbeat, the sound of massive hooves came closer at a speed not even the fastest horse could manage.

Then, like a storm, Azazel jumped into the garden in the shape of a golden goat the size of a massive ox. He trampled the Priests and Shades and immediately attacked the Knight. Together, they broke through the walls of the inn and fell onto the street in front of it, where they continued to fight.

Spurred on by anger because of the demon interfering, Lodwin put once more all his strength into standing up. But before he could truly try to slide off the blades pinning him down, the swords were lifted out of him. With them gone, he could move freely once more, but at the same time he started to bleed profusely.

Veduca was immediately at his side, using one of her healing spells to keep him from bleeding out. Still, he already felt the usual fatigue followed by blood loss. But he needed to go. He needed to kill the Knight and then walk up the castle and kill Rosomil.

Like a force of nature, Lodwin forced himself up and fell into Veduca’s arms.

“Don’t”, she breathed and held him surprisingly firm on the ground.

He shook his head and tried to push her away.

“You can’t!”, she protested. “We must leave! It was a bad idea to go here!”

Again he shook his head and looked at her. She looked disheveled and the dark splotch on her blue dress was all too apparent.

“Lod…”, she murmured while picking up his torn off hand.

Despite his lightheadedness, he held the frayed stump towards her, so she could reattach the hand. Without another word, she used her magic along a firm, painful push to place the hand back where it belonged and healed this wound. For a change, Lodwin felt like he held his whole arm into an ant's nest, but the feeling vanished as the nerves fully healed. The only temporary difference remaining was the coldness, which was slowly but steadily passing.

Without further ado, Lodwin grabbed his sword and stood up. The light-headedness was causing him to stumble for a moment, which was enough for Veduca to stand up and hold him back.

“Please! You can’t win like this!”, she protested, exasperated. “We need to flee!”

Suddenly, Azazel let out a pained scream.

“Father!”, Veduca screamed and turned around.

Lodwin used this moment and pushed past her and ignored the blood-loss. Ready to fight, he ran towards the point of origin of the scream, which was a nearby marketplace now deserted for the night. Azazel stood in the shape of the large goat in front of the Knight. His coarse golden fur was stained with blood, all the while a deep gash on his flank healed shut. The Knight, on the other hand, didn’t look worse for wear. The only traces of the fight on him were a curved dent in his chest plate and the demon’s blood on his yellow clothes. In his hands he held an evil looking black axe which was sizeable enough to decapitate a horse.

“What are you doing here?”, Azazel asked Lodwin once he stood at his side. “Flee, you damnable fool!”

No!, he replied inside the demon's head. He is my prey! Mine!

“Are you insane?”

“Retreat demon”, the Knight said in a tone, which could only be described as bored. “The Divine Lord’s only business is with the red-haired man.”

“That man is my property”, replied Azazel, lowered his head and scraped with one of his split hooves across the cobblestones. “Until he faces your master, I’ve every right to interfere.”

You don’t!, protested Lodwin, fuming. Step aside, goat!

“And let you be torn to pieces and brought before your former friend like some butchered animal?”, he replied angry and let out a snorted towards him. “No! This isn’t what we agreed upon!”

The Knight, despite his calm demeanour, grabbed his battle-axe and ran towards them. Azazel went in-between them before the Knight could hit Lodwin and deflected the blow with his horns. A second later, he kicked himself upward and rammed his head against the Knight’s.

The Knight was thrown backwards but managed to stay upright. Lodwin lunged forward and swung his sword at the man. But his opponent deflected the blow with ease and rammed the pommel of his axe into Lodwin’s abdomen, causing him to throw up. But instead of using his temporary weakness, the Knight let him retreat.

“I’m giving you your last chance to end this peaceful”, the man said. “Be it whole or in pieces, you will come along.”

Lodwin glared at him while moving his thumb across his throat. At this, the Knight laughed maliciously.

“So be it”, he said with a finality, which made a part of Lodwin regret his decision.

Nevertheless, the other, much larger part of himself was eager to fight this monstrous man. Without sparing another thought, he attacked.