‘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
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
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 :)