Novels2Search

Chapter XII

‘Let’s keep exploring,’ he said.

‘Sure! Now that you’re finally well-dressed, these people

wouldn’t be looking at you funny anymore!’ She grinned.

Alduin rolled his eyes. They continued walking in the pathways

of the Deovhaiits’ village until they reached an intersection. In

the middle of it was a sign explaining the different routes and

their destinations. It was written in the language of demons,

which neither Hanali nor Alduin were able to read. Hanali de-

cided to ask a pedestrian.

‘Hey, you there! Could you help us out?’

A crimson-red demon stopped in her steps and pointed at her-

self in confusion.

‘Yes, you,’ Hanali nodded and approached the Deovhaiit.

The demon’s physique was highly athletic which had rendered

her immensely attractive in Alduin’s eyes. He tried his best not

to stare in front of Hanali and the fact that demons walk around

naked made it way more difficult for him. What he didn’t know

was that Hanali also found herself staring. The female Deovhaiit

had bull-like horns, long black hair tied into a ponytail and a

gold-colored necklace.

‘Oh! You have a necklace! How come? I thought demons

don’t wear clothes!’ Hanali asked in utter curiosity.

‘Uhm... Yes, I do. My father gave it to me, he said his father

gave it to him after he returned from the war in Vanthea.’

‘Oh! How exciting!’

‘I-I guess...? What do you need?’

‘Oh right. My companion and I here found it impossible

to read this sign! We would appreciate it if you could read and

translate it for us!’

‘Oh. Okay, let’s see... The one pointing to the left reads

‘Chapel’ and the one pointing to the right reads ‘Tyl Eona’ which

is our capital city.’

‘Thank you! Did you say ‘Chapel’? Deovhaiits have chapels?’

‘It’s probably not really a chapel, just a prayer site to Vaonie.

I tried to translate it to something you would understand.’

‘Ah, I see. Alright, thank you!’

‘You’re welcome.’

Hanali translated everything the beautiful demon had said to

Alduin.

‘I had no idea Deovhaiits were that beautiful! She looked

like a human just in another color!’ Hanali said in excitement.

‘Uh... Yes! That and also a pair of horns!’ Alduin laughed.

‘Pfft... Don’t be petty. Anyways, we are going to the capital!

Apprently it’s called ‘Tyl Heona’ which means ‘New Heona’ in my

language.’

‘Vaonie wanted to recreate her home in Tyronah. Interest-

ing...’

‘Yes, it seems Vaonie is missing our home greatly...’ Hanali

suddenly wiped off a tear that went down her cheek.

‘Yes, it really seems like it,’ he noticed Hanali’s tear, ‘I-I’m

sorry! I did not mean to remind about it... Forgive me.’

‘It is okay. Thank you for being considerate. My siblings

insist on being all mighty and serious all the time, I missed the

sight of mortal emotion.’

Alduin embraced her. She smiled.

‘Let’s go!’ She said, wiping other tears off her cheeks.

They began walking towards Tyl Heona on a dirt road until

suddenly Alduin stopped.

‘Hey look! It’s water, I think. Why is it so red though?’ He

pointed at a lake nearby.

‘I don’t know. Let’s check it out!’

They went off-road and approached the lake. Alduin leaned

towards it and inserted his hands that were forming the shape

of a bowl. He took a sip.

‘Hmm...’ He said, confused.

‘What? Does it taste weird? Are you going to puke?’ She

laughed.

‘No, actually no it’s quite tasty... It has the same taste as red

wine though... Peculiar.’

‘Red wine? What the hell? Why would a lake in Tyronah be

filled to the brim with an alcoholic drink from Vanthea?’

‘I haven’t a clue!’

‘Hmm... Strange...’

‘Come to think of it, I seem to recall something... The leader

of the Vaermiraiit clan that abducted me mentioned that vam-

pires and Araqhaiits cannot drink anything aside from blood or

red wine. Maybe it’s inspired by Tyronah? Maybe it’s the same

case for Deovhaiits?’

‘Hmm.’

Suddenly, Vaonie’s voice was heard.

‘This is indeed red wine. It is what I could explain as ’water

for Deovhaiits’. Also, Lysander was right, red wine is the only

mortal drink that vampires can consume and the same goes for

demons. It doesn’t apply to Araqhaiits however as they are divine

and lack such limitations,’ Vaonie said.

‘Oh. Why red wine though?’ Alduin asked.

‘Red wine is the original alcohol.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Long ago when I was still fiddling with Vanthea, I managed

to add a new type of plant to it. I made it look exactly like grapes

but colored it differently, in a crimson-ish tone.’

‘You mean red grapes?’

‘Exactly. Those are not actually grapes however. Those red

grapes are an entirely different kind of fruit, their chemistry

works in a way that when consumed, the molecules cause a

unique effect in a mortal’s body. This effect is dizziness, lack of

control, a bonus to confidence, bravery, foolishness. Basically,

the effects of alcohol.’

‘Huh.’

‘The concept of alcohol was created by me for the purpose of

making mortals cause their own destruction. It renders them

unfaithful to their spouses. Violent. Horny. Prone to crime or

self-harm. Many deaths were caused by them. This obviously

doesn’t effect immortals like demons for example.’

‘So that is why the waters here are red wine?’

‘Yes.’

‘Is that why vampires can drink it? Due to it being an alco-

holic beverage?’

‘Yes.’

‘How come vampires can’t drink white wine or mead then?’

‘Yeah, I’m also curious,’ Hanali asked.

‘Because they are not actually alcohol.’

‘Not actually alcohol? Whatever do you mean by that?’ Hanali

asked.

‘During one of the experiments conducted by ’The Order’,

they found out about the unique aura of a red grape. One of

them was a fan of red wine but found the irregularities of it too

harmful. So, they researched the chemistry of the red grape and

found a way to extract the component that causes the euphoria.

Then, they found a way to mix it with white grape juice and

the like. Those drinks are deemed alcoholic because of their

effects but are not the same as red wine, thus rendering them

undrinkable by vampires and the like.’

‘Fascinating.’

‘Yes. I never knew that,’ Hanali said.

‘I wonder why both vampires and demons can drink it, though.

I don’t recall them sharing any DNA...’

Vaonie stopped responding and they decided to keep going to-

wards the capital. On their way they kept coming across tall

statues of the same demon, wielding two enormous halberds.

One of the demon’s horns appeared to have been cut off in the

middle. The other had the shape of a bison’s. Suddenly, the earth

started moving and they heard the sound of a carriage, pants and screams from behind them. In their line of sight entered

a carriage. However, this was no regular carriage! Instead of

horses, naked humans of varied ages were attached via ropes

to the carriage itself! The driver kept lashing his whip at them

in order to make them run faster. The mortals were screaming

for him to stop and were already bleeding from their backs and

hands. Their legs were covered by mud and blisters. Before

Hanali and Alduin could say anything, they were gone.

‘What in Munesa was that?!’ He asked.

‘I-I have no idea but that was extremely horrifying! What

was it? Why were they used like horses?!’

‘I don’t know! Do you think that’s what happens to mortals

who are sent to Tyronah?’

‘I haven’t a clue! I’m shocked!’ She appeared to be shaken to

her core by the gruesome sight.

On their way they came across a few more of these horrendous

sightings and more statues. Though, they did stumble upon

a few demons using actual horses for transport. A few kilo-

meters away from them they spotted predators hunting other

bizarre creatures that lived in this land. Eventually Hanali rec-

ognized a tall tower in the horizon, thinking it could mean they

are getting close. In addition to the sightings they now deemed

regular, they came across quite a lot of demons wearing some-

thing! Those demons wore the same exact outfit! A black leather

battleskirt and a few arm bracelets made from white gold. They

did not manage to ask them who they were as they were run-

ning off somewhere. They begin hearing noises of hooves. More

horses? Out of the blue, the riders ambushed them.

‘Oh, what do we have here? Mortal fugitives roaming our

land by themselves? Unattended? Baffling it is! Isn’t it, Druk?’

One of the demons shouted.

‘True, it is! Let’s see here... Elves, huh? Oh, I do like elvish

meat!’ Druk said excitedly.

‘Excuse me? Could you move aside? We’re trying to go to Tyl Heona,’ Alduin asked and Hanali began translating his every

word.

‘Who gave you the right to speak, huh? We’re discussing

what to do with you filthy mortals! Shall we sell you to slave

traders? Or maybe take your as our own? What do you think?’

‘I think this one has got quite the mouth on him! Let’s cut

his tongue first so he wouldn’t be able to bug us no more.’

‘A brilliant plan!’

‘Um. I think you’re making a mistake... We are not mortals.

I am an Araqhaiit and she is a Sarathiin!’

‘Like I would believe that an Araqhaiit would look like an

Elf! Also, what would a Sarathiin be doing in Tyronah? They

all live in Heonmeyu as I recall from my time at school. Don’t

try to play with us, we are not that dumb!’ One of the demons

laughed hysterically.

‘Yeah, what he said!’ Druk shouted.

The other ambushers remained silent.

‘Deciding not to believe us would cost you your lives. Be

wary. I haven’t a lot of patience,’ Hanali said.

‘Wait, Hanali... Are we allowed to hurt them? I don’t want

Vaonie to stop my breathing!’

‘If they fail to believe you, that’s on them. You have permis-

sion,’ Vaonie said.

‘Thank you, lord.’

‘What the hell are you babbling about?’ Druk said.

The demons unsheathed their blades and tried to attack the pair

from all sides, in a circle. Hanali, growing impatient, decided

to kill them all at once with one fatal blow using a light-beam

attack.

‘I had no idea demons were so aggressive in their own land.

I thought they were only aggressive to mortals when they visit Vanthea.’

‘I agree. This confuses me too,’ she said.

After a few more run-ins with highwaymen and bizarre mortal-

powered carriages they had finally reached the capital city gates.

Vaonie instructed the guards to open the doors and let the pair in.

They started walking inside, absorbing the great sight. The city

was full of life. Demons of all ages were running around, doing

their own thing. Children were playing in the streets. Shop own-

ers were yelling out their prices, trying to catch a few potential

customers. Hanali spotted a few signs written in both demonic

and Omnitongue, reading "Hospital", "Chapel", "Brothel", "Tav-

ern" and the like. There were tall, small, huge and tiny buildings

all around. Hanali even spotted a sign that read "Colosseum",

wonder what that could be about?

They even came across a few restaurants! They decided to

enter the pub that appeared to have the highest traffic. They

requested a table from the hostess, who strangely enough was

an elvish woman with scar marks on her face. She led them to

their table and asked what they would like to drink. Alduin, with

the help of Hanali of course, requested a cup of red wine and

she ordered the same. They noticed that all of the workers in

this pub were mortals with many bruises around their bodies.

One of them even lacked one ear that seemed to have been cut

off. The waiters were rather silent and glum. They had somber

faces and walked around with a peculiar vibe.

He asked one of the waitresses why they all seemed so de-

pressed but she cut him off saying she isn’t allowed to talk during

her shift. He found it weird but respected it. They finished their

drinks and got out of the bar, hoping to see some more inter-

esting things. Until, suddenly, three male demons shouted at

them.

‘Well, well, well! What do we have here? Unattended mor-

tals, huh?! I bet I could get a nifty price for that fine specimen

of an Elf, don’t I?’ One of the demons said.

The three started approaching them with their fists in the air,

preparing for a fight. They ignored Hanali’s claims of them

being divine and kept on approaching them. Abruptly, a tall

large female demon came out running from one of the stores

and fought them off using her greatsword. They ran away and

she approached them.

‘It’s very dangerous for mortals to be walking here unat-

tended, don’t you know that you fools? You could have just got-

ten yourselves killed, or worse!’ She shouted.

‘Why? We’re new here, so we are not quite familiar with

what’s going on,’ Hanali asked.

‘Oh, newly deceased, huh? Well, I am sorry to tell you this

but... Mortals serve as slaves here in Tyronah... They serve us.

With neither rights nor privileges.’

‘So the divine punishment for mortals is being enslaved by

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demons?’ Alduin asked.

‘Yes. I apologize but that is just how Vaonie decided it should

be.’

‘I see.’

‘Hmm,’ the demon wore a somber face, an apologetic one

even.

‘Well, you probably didn’t hear me saying it so I’ll say it

again. We’re not mortals. He is an Araqhaiit and I am one of the

Sarathiins. We are both new additions to Vaonie’s high court,’

she said.

‘Oh, really? Why does he look exactly like an Elf then? Except

for the red eyes, of course.’

‘He used to be one.’

‘Well, color me intrigued. Why are you here, though? Don’t

Sarathiins live in Heonmeyu? The original realm?’

‘Well, yes, but I decided to join forces with my other parent.’

‘Ah.’

‘Mhm.’

‘Wait, so you don’t actually know anything of our culture

then?’

‘We know that you don’t wear any clothes,’ Alduin said and

chuckled.

‘Well that is because there is no temperature in Tyronah, so

why should we?’

‘That’s a fair point, I guess,’ he nodded.

‘There are so many things I would like to show you! To have

the chance of teaching divines about my kind’s culture, how

exciting!’ She smiled broadly.

‘We too are very excited to learn and hear about your people,’

he said.

‘I’ve got an idea! Follow me!’

‘Where are we going?’ Hanali asked.

‘The national museum! It could teach you a lot about our

history.’

‘Sounds like it could be fun. Let’s go!’ Alduin said.

They followed her around, letting her deal with the racism and

aggression from the city folk. They finally reached the museum

and she paid for their tickets. They entered and followed an

instructor along with a bunch of school students. Hanali was

in charge of translating back and forth as the tour guide spoke

only Deovhaiit.

‘I will start by honouring our leaders. To your right you can

see six statues of the Araqhaiits. They are the ones who built Tyl Heona in the first place, trying to make it as similar as possible

to their original home!’ The instructor said and pointed at six

statues.

Five of the statues bore an uncanny resemblance to the five

Araqhaiits he had met before.

‘Uhm, Hanali.’

‘Yes?’

‘Ask him why the one second from the left has no face or

shape. It looks like a stone mannequin!’

She asked the instructor

‘Excellent question! That is because we had never met the

sixth Araqhaiit, Lodus! We heard he died a long time ago, before

Vaonie and the Araqhaiits had moved here.’

‘Ah. Makes sense,’ he thought to himself.

They continued following, looking at hanged pictures, statues

and other antiquities. The instructor explained the source and

content of each and every one of them.

‘Now this is my favorite section! To your right you can see

the face of the first and current head of our military, Ugal Zun!’

He pointed at the same statue they saw before in the dirt roads.

‘Excuse me, did you say military? Do you mean that there is

an official army in Tyronah?’ Alduin asked and Hanali trans-

lated.

‘How stupid can you be?’ One kid said while laughing.

‘Shh, that’s mean!’ Another kid responded.

‘Yes! Tyronah is ran by its military. One could call it a mili-

taristic state, like in Vanthea. The army is in charge of enforcing

the law, protecting the civilians, training the troops against any

upcoming war and basically controlling the region. In the head

sits Ugal with his entourage of commanders. Above them, sit

the ring of Araqhaiits, and above them - our maker, Vaonie. The

army is named ‘Sav’ul u Tyronah’ in Omnitongue.’

‘How do you distinguish between regular civilians and sol-

diers? You lot don’t wear anything after all,’ Hanali asked.

‘All soldiers including the high ranking officers wear the

same thing. A black battle-skirt and white gold arm bracelets.’

‘Oh! I think we ran into a few soldiers then!’

‘You probably have. This region is full of them as they are

necessary for Tyronah to flourish and remain in order. Soldiers

are housed in many barracks around the region and their bodily needs like food and drink are met by the military.’

‘Fascinating. So there are laws in Tyronah? I thought it was

an anarchy!’

‘Vaonie wanted us to become a successful civilization. That

could never happen without law and order...’

‘True.’

‘A few general laws in Tyronah are the ones that forbid rape,

murder and thievery between demons. Cannibalism is also

quite a serious crime here.’

‘Meaning a demon can freely rape a human?’

‘A demon can do as they see fit with their mortals. They are

slaved, nothing more and nothing less.’

‘I see. And you said cannibalism is not allowed here? Do

demons actually eat other demons?’

‘We can and will if we feel as though we are starving... It

derives from the murder related laws though.’

‘Uh-huh.’

The child was visibly rolling his eyes, exhausted by the amount

of questions the pair had asked. They proceeded. They were

stopped in front of a few monoliths, each colored differently.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, what you are seeing right now is not

a historical display but rather an educational one. Each monolith

represents a different calling. Do you know what callings are?’

‘Yes, they taught us that many years ago,’ a female child

said.

‘Yes.’

‘Yeah!’

The children seemed excited to show off their knowledge in

the matter. One of them even decided to explain it to the pair

instead of the instructor.

‘Well done children, it is clear that you listened in class! You

missed a few pieces of information however.’

‘Like what, huh?’ The annoying child asked and kicked his

friend’s leg.

‘Well... So as I’ve said before, each monoliths corresponds

to a different calling. This pink one corresponds to the calling

of a ‘Succubus’, while this green one corresponds to that of a

‘Terrorizer’. What you missed was the monolith of ‘Bio-chaos’.’

‘What is that about?’

‘Yeah what is it?!’

‘Yeah!’ The children yelled in unison.

‘It’s a demon who causes changes in the animal kingdom.

Like altering species and such,’ a gray child said all the way from

the back.

‘Pfft, show-off...’ A kid said quietly.

‘Exactly, well done! Do you know of any examples?’

‘Of course I do.’

‘Well, come on then, you twat!’ A kid said.

‘The Vaermiraiits of course. One demon decided to force

himself upon a female human which resulted in pregnancy. That

baby was later known as the first vampire in Vanthea.’

‘Well done! I see you listen in your history classes!’

‘I do, I love history!’

‘Prick!’

‘Jerk!’

‘Nerd!’ His class was not a fan of his bragging.

The instructor told them all to cease and converse respectfully.

They continued following until they were stopped. A tall monu-

ment stood in front of them.

‘This is the last stop of our tour, ladies and gentlemen!’ He

points at its front wall on which a date was written and two large

numbers under it.

‘What is that?’ Hanali asked.

‘That is a monument dedicated to what the mortals call ‘The

Mortal Demon War’. I prefer calling it ‘The Great Plummet’.’

‘Why is that?’

‘Do you know how currency in Tyronah works?’

‘Yes, you pay using entry tickets to Vanthea.’

‘Well, yes. The tickets are basically tokens, each one adheres

to a full hour. However, the token is not really a ticket but rather

a magical seal that suppresses our aura while in Vanthea. This

aims to hide us away from the interference of the Sarathiins,

who will think we are nothing but one of Vaonie’s additions prior

to their banishment. One token equals one hour of remaining

hidden.’

‘Fascinating. What does that have to do with the war though?’

‘Think about it. All of the adult demons in Tyronah were

recruited for the war in Vanthea, and Vaonie wanted to hide as

many of us as possible for as much time as possible.’

‘Meaning...?’ Alduin asked.

‘Meaning that Vaonie issued additional hundreds if not

thousands of tokens for demons in order to increase their chances

for victory,’ Hanali stated.

‘Exactly!’

‘This probably led to an inflation in their economy. A great

rise in quantity of a currency tends to do that.’

‘Exactly! Before the war one single token could amount to

an entire week’s time in Vanthea!’

‘And what are those big numbers under the date when the

war took place?’

‘Excuse me, can we go on with our tour? I have things to do,

you know!’ The kid said.

Hanali, annoyed by the child’s rudeness used telepathy to frighten

him so he would shut up. Alduin saw the drastic change in the

kid’s smug face and understood immediately. He smiled to her

and she smiled back, evil-ish-ly.

‘The first number from the top is the total number of demons

who fell, it has too many digits for me to say it out loud. The

one on the bottom is the amount of demons who died from

starvation due to the inflation.’

‘Tragic,’ Hanali said.

‘Truly is.’

Alduin was in mixed feelings regarding this. One the one hand,

he realized that demons are quite similar to humans and there-

fore these statistics should cause him frustration. However, this

war caused the lives of even more mortals. His own kind. He

could not feel sorry for them, despite trying to seem for the

instructor’s sake.

‘Well, we are done here! Thank you for coming and I hope

you have a pleasant afternoon!’ The instructor said and left to

attend to another group.

‘That was absolutely fascinating! Don’t you agree?’ Alduin

asked.

‘Yes! I had no idea about all of this,’ she replied.

They headed out of the museum, excited. They regrouped with

the tall demon who aided them and told her of their experi-

ence. She was glad they enjoyed it and offered them one last

kind gesture before leaving to run her errands. She led them to

a massive building she said was the most popular elementary

school in all of Tyronah. After a bunch of convincing, brib-

ing (and threatening) she had convinced the chairman of the

school to let Hanali and Alduin join the classes of the children,

in order to learn about Deovhaiits and Deovhaiitic culture

(Speech 100). She also showed them the way from her house

to the school and allowed them to stay there for a whole week!

The pair were very excited and had a perfect attendance score.

Alduin’s Deovhaiitish improved but still required Hanali’s con-

stant aid with translating the material. They were introduced

to the fact that demons couldn’t eat plants because it would de-

crease their lifespan but also how it was the only way to treat

their wounds/sicknesse (of which Tyronah had many variations

of) via potions, ointments and the like.

They were also taught about the whole reasoning behind Ty-

ronah’s economy. Apparently, despite being immortal demons

had a fixed lifespan. Sounds contradictive to you? Imagine how confusing it was for Alduin and Hanali! The answer was

simple, they were immortal simply because their fixed lifespan

had no limit to its value, meaning it could be increased indefi-

nitely. Each species of Deovhaiits had a different "calling", one

calling was butchering mortals, the other was causing havoc

via influencing mortals to commit crimes, another was using

mortals’ lust against them (like a succubus). These could only

be completed during a demon’s time in Vanthea. After having

completed a session of said calling, a demon would go to one of

the chapels of Vaonie that were spread all around Tyronah and

pray. This would lead to Vaonie deciding whether that demon’s

lifespan shall or shan’t be increased.

This system aimed to motivate demons to fulfill their tasks

(callings) and also use their "money". There were even a few

businesses that would let you pay them in exchange for sending

an employee of the same species to go into Vanthea and fulfill his

calling in your name, granting you the right to pray for a greater

lifespan. This sharing system was probably used by the busier

and/or richer demons that were living in Tyronah. While tasks

in Vanthea would increase a demon’s potential lifespan, one

must emphasize the word "potential". You see, the fixed lifespan

was nothing but a potential one. A demon must also tend to their

bodily needs for fluids and food - Blood/red wine and meat.

Demons could eat animals, mortals or even each other to sate

their hunger. They could also get killed in battle.

They learned that demons were able to give birth, though

way more painfully than it was for mortals. Demon babies, be-

ing the ignorant nuisances that they were, had no idea about

the prohibition of cannibalism in Tyronah. They would eat their

way out of their mothers’ wombs. This would cause the mother

a grave injury that could only be treated with herbs and the like,

inherently causing a decrease in her lifespan. Ironic, isn’t it? In

general it seemed that each and every idea of Vaonie, including a lot of new ones, had come into shape in Tyronah. Atrocities

such as tornadoes, typhoons, unique diseases et cetera. In addi-

tion, demons possessed basic regenerative abilities (similar to

that of a vampire) and could use psychic powers like telekinesis,

telepathy and the like. From inspecting the students and their

behaviour, Alduin had realized that demons were also capable

of emotions like compassion, sadness, happiness, anger, fear

and sympathy. They could even cry!

At the end of the week, Alduin and Hanali thanked the

woman for her hospitality and ventured back to Vaonie’s castle.

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Author's note - I hope to get reviews and feedback. Thank you :)