“He’s gone”, said Azazel as he returned to their side in the shape of a blonde young man. “Vanished…”

“But why?”, asked Veduca.

She kneeled beside Lodwin, who had fallen unconscious a few seconds after the Knight had vanished.

“I wish I knew”, her father replied, concerned. “I had managed quite the blow against him, but he shrugged it off without any difficulty. If the fight had continued, he would’ve secured his victory, no doubt.”

“Then why retreating all of a sudden? This doesn’t make sense.”

“Who knows what this Divine Lord thinks in calling his Knight back like this. The man’s insane.”

Veduca remained silent and looked down at Lodwin. He was as pale as snow and his breath shallow. In any normal human, this would’ve meant the certain end, but he was to endure it.

“We need to find a secure place”, she finally said. “Once he’s able to walk, we leave the town. Hopefully, it won’t be too late.”

“He won’t leave”, Azazel replied with a tense expression while looking at him. “Never. Not until either he or the Divine Lord has died.”

“So you’ll let him continue?”, she asked, exasperated.

“There are rules I need to obey, dearie”, he replied tried. “I would never tell him the details unless he asks, since it would make dealing with him even more of a pain. But I must adhere to them. No matter if I want to or not. One more thing.”

“Yes, father?”

“Return the silver coin to me.”

“What? Why?”

“This ordeal turned out much more dangerous than I imagined. I can’t stand the thought of you getting killed. This time you managed to save yourself, but next time you can’t hope to be this lucky once more. I’ll find another way to deal with him, should the consequences of our deal catch up.”

“No. You won’t”, she said firm and looked him intently into the eyes.

“I appreciate your determination, but you got already hurt in this embarrassing ordeal. I won’t—”

“You will let me stay at his side. You will let me keep the coin.”

“Veduca…”

“No, father. This is my decision and I stand by it. Besides, I’m not part of the contract. I can intervene however and whenever I like without nullifying anything.”

For a moment, Azazel stared blankly at her, then a soft smile crossed his features.

“You are just as headstrong as your mother, dearie”, he said and patted her hair. “Good. I trust you, but my heart weights heavy at the thought of losing you. You know, offsprings of demons and mortals cease to exist when they die.”

“I know”, she replied, despite her throat tightening.

“Let’s seek a place to hide until Lodwin wakes up”, he said, with a pained glint in his eyes.

Veduca nodded and looked back at the destroyed inn. To her dismay, several people in night-robes or just partially clothed for decency’s sake stood in front of the building. Their faces were a sea of tense fear, distrust, and curiosity. Usually, she would expect them to attack and chaise them out of the town, but no one was armed or looked even willing to do anything of the like.

Suddenly, Liano stepped forward with a dim lantern. His young face, illuminated by the warm light, was almost ashen in complexion, added by his dark hair. His lips were drawn into a tense line, causing him to look older than he was. Yet in his blue eyes gleamed a determination neither Veduca nor her father had expected, judging by his surprised look.

“You aren’t human”, said Liano apprehensive once he was within hearing distance and stopped.

“More or less”, Veduca replied with a nervous laugh.

“And you’re enemies of the Divine Lord?”, he asked slowly, as if he expected to be murdered for the question.

“One could call us that”, she said and tensed up.

Liano looked back at the others. After a moment of consideration, he took a deep breath and turned back towards Veduca. In his eyes there was a strangely hopeful glint.

“W-would you three come with me?”, he asked with a nervous glance towards Azazel, who watched everything intently. “I know of a place where your companion can recover.”

“We highly appreciate your offer, young man, but what do you gain?”, asked Azazel with a hint of danger in his words.

“Gain?”, Liano replied, taken aback and moved slightly away.

“Father, please”, intervened Veduca and stepped between them. “We gladly accept your offer. Is there something you can give us to carry Lodwin?”

“One moment, Milady”, he replied, and almost ran back towards the other people still watching them.

“Are you really willing to trust them?”, her father asked her, while still staring at the people in front of the destroyed inn.

“Do we have any other choice?”, she remarked, and checked on Lodwin, who was still out cold.

“Not at the moment”, he replied defeated and, with a deep sigh, went towards the destroyed inn.

The people there moved aside as he walked past them and looked at the debris. With a few gestures, he caused the whole building to repair itself within moments. The people around him let out surprised shouts, and a few fled in terror.

—

About an hour later, they were inside an unassuming abandoned house. The few people who had helped carry Lodwin into it were gone, so only Liano remained with them.

“So you all are some sort of demon?”, said the young man, visibly unwell, after a few tense moments of suffocating silence.

“I… uhm… I’m just a half demon”, replied Veduca, slightly embarrassed to admit it. “Half fallen angel, to be exact.”

“So, this means the blond man right next to you is a fallen angel?”, he asked even meeker. “You called him father…”

“Indeed I am, boy. Shall I reveal to you my true demonic shape?”, answered Azazel, who didn’t even try to hide that he was enjoying this conversation. “Or do you wish to forge a soul binding contract with me to gain all your little mortal heart desires?”

“T-there’s no need for… any of this”, he replied hastily and let out a nervous chuckle. “And… what about the red-haired man?”

“He’s a resurrected corpse.”

“Father!”

“Oh, dearie, it’s just the truth of the matter.”

“I’m sorry about his bluntness”, said Veduca facing Liano, who’s face got an intense green tint. “My father doesn’t speak often with ordinary humans.”

“So it’s true?”, the waiter asked, tense. “That he… that he’s dead?”

“He’s alive”, said Veduca, before her father could make the situation worse.

The silence, which followed, was as thick as honey and as bitter as medicine. Veduca didn’t know what to tell Liano to change the subject. Luckily, her father didn’t continue with his unnerving remarks.

“I was wondering…” murmured Liano tense after a few very long minutes.

“Go on, boy”, Azazel encouraged him.

“Were you able to kill Lord Duodecum?”, he continued.

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“No”, Azazel answered. “He was called back by the Divine Lord, who currently resides within the walls of Castle Eldebourg.”

“The Divine Lord is here?”, Liano asked, shocked.

“Yes, which is why we’re here. But I’m more interested in the reason you and all those who helped us did so. What do you gain? The Divine Lord has gifted this town immunity to all sickness and always offers enough food, it seems. Why do you wish to end this boon?”

“Because once a month, a random number of people are taken into the castle to harvest their life-force, as Lord Duodecum had explained. We don’t die of sickness but at a mere whim it seems, so where’s the difference?”

“You could leave any day”, Azazel replied cold.

“Father!”, said Veduca and frowned at him.

“It’s true, dearie”, he said matter-of-fact. “There are no guards at the gates keeping people from getting in or out.”

“We know we’re weak”, Liano admitted, defeated and somewhat embarrassed. “Plenty of people come here every day from the countryside and tell us how bad things are outside the city walls. Bandits… Monsters… And Lord Duodecum takes people from the whole dukedom to gather this life-force and all the other Lords reigning over the various dukedoms. There is no way to truly leave this misery. So many do the logical thing and come into the city to at least suffer a little less.”

“You never fought this Duodecum?”, Azazel asked.

“Some people tried, but they were taken within minutes into the castle by Shades and never returned. And those who still voiced their concerns were silenced by people who actually like this arrangement.”

“I can’t believe that there are people who think it alright that some are killed every month”, mused Veduca, disbelieving.

“That’s human nature, dearie”, her father replied. “In order to be able to perform feats of good, there also needs to be the capacity for doing evil. Each on their own, good and evil don’t matter. It’s the capacity to do both that’s important. It’s after all, every human’s greatest continuous decision.”

“The problem is, those people most likely have also taken note of your fight”, Liano continued. “We tried our best to keep you hidden here, but there might be the chance we need to flee sooner rather than later.”

That moment, Lodwin stirred. Veduca immediately went to his side and took his hand in hers. A heartbeat later, he opened his eyes and looked at her with his usual glum expression.

“Lod, how are you feeling?”, she asked in a hushed voice, leaning over him.

Bad, he signed.

“Is there something I can get you?”

Yes, water. Please.

“Right away!”

Without hesitation, she went to one of the costrels Liano had given them and returned with it to his side. As she helped him to drink, Azazel stepped beside the makeshift bed and looked at him. Suddenly, his neutral expression contorted into a displeased frown.

“You’re utterly predicable”, he said. “And, no, I won’t keep you from walking up to him. He wants to speak with you, which surprised me, but don’t think he’ll let himself be skewered on your sword so easily.”

Lodwin replied something. Veduca knew him well enough to notice that he was surprised by Azazel’s decision, but there was also a certain reluctance within him.

“You ought to know him better than either me or my dearie”, her father replied to what Lodwin had told him. “Perhaps he wants to reminisce about your adventures before he decided it was all worthless. Or he wants just to gloat.”

Lodwin breathed out sharply.

“Well, you could already be certain about that if you had played along. This has been your ultimate chance to get close to him without much difficulty, but you needed a fight, didn’t you? Really? You told the Knight that you wanted to kill him. What?! Do you think me blind? I saw the hand motion you made!”

Lodwin turned his head away from Azazel.

“You’re a real joy to be around, do you know that?”, he replied with an aggressive smile. “Anyway. I guess you want to beat him up tomorrow, right? In that case, I only let you do so if you take me along.”

“Father! Are you sure about that?”, asked Veduca, surprised.

“I am, dearie”, he replied with a softer expression while looking at her. “Lodwin has proven that he’s prone to stupid, spur of the moment decisions. And, as I want to see this contract through to the agreed upon end, I’ll do anything to keep things from turning more dire than they already are. Naturally, within the constraints of the contract, but that’s just a formality.”

“I’d rather we would wait”, said Veduca. “You need to recover from the blood loss, Lod.”

There’s no time, he signed her.

“But you can’t fight like this!”, she protested insistent. “You need at least three more days to recover and even then, it’s questionable that you're able to face Rosomil in a fight.”

“A fight might not be necessary if the moron uses his head for once”, remarked Azazel, thoughtful. “He just needs to let his former companion fall into a false sense of security and attack at the right moment. He even has this chance served on a silver platter. The man wants to speak with him. On his terms, true, but if all of us stay vigilant, we can end this perhaps tomorrow.”

“I’m still of the opinion that this isn’t a good idea”, said Veduca sternly. “It certainly can’t be this easy.”

“If I come along and stay hidden, I’ll be able to intervene and get both of you out should the situation become dire.”

Before Veduca could argue against her father, she heard some people shout outside the house. Liano, who had watched them with an uncertain frown, suddenly grew sickly pale and turned to the nailed shut windows.

“We need to go”, he said in a hushed yet panicked voice, and visibly forced himself to sneak towards a narrow door at the back of the room.

The voices outside grew louder and, thereby, closer. Veduca didn’t ask any further questions and helped Lodwin up with her father. After a few moments, they had collected everything and followed Liano into the back of the house. Not a second too late, as someone or something was rammed against the door.

Hasty, Liano closed and secured the door with a massive wooden timber lock. Without another word, he headed towards another door und waved them through it, following in their wake and securing this door as well. This time he pushed a heavy looking metal lock into place and pointed towards the end of the long corridor they were in now.

Veduca nodded and moved ahead, while Azazel helped Lodwin to keep upright. The air smelled musty and the ground underneath her feet was soft. The only light, the source of which was her staff, revealed naked stone, looking like it rather belonged in a natural cave than a homely house. Just then, Veduca realised that they had been constantly moving downward. But there was no time for questions.

Liano urged them forward towards the end of the corridor, where he pushed past her and moved his hands across a certain section of the stone. A few moments later, he had found what he was looking for and pulled. Leaning his whole body weight into the tick rope, a massive timber pushed aside a heavy stone. Something clicked into place and Liano dropped to the ground, his arms shaking and sweat covering his face.

Without a second thought, she healed the young man by placing her hand gently on his head. Liano let out a startled gasp, jumped to his feet and looked at her frightened, his entire body frozen in an enclosed position as if he wished to fold into himself.

“I’m sorry”, she apologised sheepishly. “The first time always feels strange.”

“W-what did you do?”, he asked, his voice just a thin shadow.

“I healed the strain of your muscles”, she explained chipper. “You just need to catch your breath. Moving on should be easier than you’re used to.”

Still visibly uncomfortable, he relaxed a bit but stayed weary of her. Veduca noticed this change and felt embarrassed. Still, she just smiled and allowed him to move past her without even looking at him.

On the other side of the stone, he pulled on something else but with less strength needed, and the timber retreated and let the stone slowly slide back in place with a thud.

“What is this?”, asked Azazel as he looked along the tunnel, which was pitch black but to him probably just as dim as a moonlit night.

“This was once a rout to smuggle goods past the guard inspectors at the gates”, Liano explained as they moved on while keeping his distance to Veduca. “Mainly expensive wines and leather. The tunnel leads to a cellar of the remains of a former farmhouse outside the city walls. While not the best of places to be at, you can stay at the farm for the rest of the night.”

“And you know about this because of what exactly?” Azazel asked with a mischievous undertone.

“My family used the tunnel during the old times”, he answered, much more honest than Veduca thought he would feel comfortable enough to be. “But business went south fast once the Divine Lord had taken fully over.”

“Good to know”, Veduca’s father remarked.

A few moments later, they arrived at a set of rough-hewn stone steps. Liano went once more ahead and opened what sounded like an ordinary lock. Once he had made sure everything was as it should be, he returned and waved them up. Veduca, her father and Lodwin followed the young man without hesitation and found themselves in an old cellar. Right next to a half fallen in cupboard, there were only a few empty barrels and another set of stairs, this time made from wood and visibly worn by decades of use.

Liano led them up the stairs into a huge, empty room. Beyond the remains of the fire place in the middle, there wasn’t much left of the former inhabitants. Luckily, the roof was still mostly intact.

“It isn’t much, but you can stay here”, Liano explained after pushing one of the few windows open. “A fire I can’t recommend, though.”

“Lod and I had worse places to stay in”, Veduca remarked and pulled the bedroll out of her staff.

Once she had placed it on the ground, Lodwin sat down. He was breathing heavy, his skin was cold as ice and his whole body drenched in sweat. Seeing this, she wanted to try to convince him to abandon his plan, but she knew that it was easer to move a mountain than get him to even entertain the thought of retreat. Instead, she just gave him one of the costrels to drink out of. Almost greedy, he emptied the first one and nearly empty half of the second one.

Is there something to eat?, he asked after he had regained some composure.

Veduca just nodded and reached for their bag of supplies. Inside were just a wheel of hard cheese, a few cured sausages as well as some dried fruit. Seeing this, she wasn’t too keen on giving him any of those rather difficult to digest foods, but it was all they had, and he needed all the strength he could gather.

“I need to return to the inn”, said Liano, after a few moments of mellow silence. “I doubt that those fanatics will find the way to open the secret tunnel, so you should be safe in here until daybreak.”

“Thank you, Liano”, said Veduca with a tired smile. “But how do we get back into the city with those people looking for us?”

“I’ll return to you about an hour after sunrise with some old cloaks and take you back into the town with the tunnel”, he answered thoughtful. “The cloaks won’t be much, but they should get you up to the castle relatively easy if you’re heading straight for its main gate. Furthermore, if the Divine Lord really wants you alive, I guess he will announce it soon or has already done so.”

“I understand”, she replied, tense. “I do hope you won’t be in trouble because of us.”

“Trouble…”, he repeated and let out a dry, amused huff. “Perhaps we can become trouble for the Divine Lord. It’s about time.”

“Don’t do something reckless”, she said and stepped towards him.

“No, I won’t”, he replied with a smile. “And don’t worry about me, Milady. I see you and your companions later.”

With that, he left them behind inside the farmhouse. Feeling lost, Veduca turned to Lodwin, who was unconscious once more.

“He’s fallen asleep like a baby after eating”, Azazel commented with a soft smile while sitting beside him.

“Tomorrow won’t end good”, she said, and sat down on Lodwin’s other side.

“That’s not decided until everything has run its course”, he replied in a hushed voice.

Veduca didn’t know what to say and took a deep breath. Although the chance of success was minimal, there was still some hope, she forced herself to cling to. In preparation, she started to weave some of her more complex protection spells onto her staff.