“So,” Sybal started in a polite tone. “ Tell me about your sellsword phaze time.”

Andromeda sat beside Sybal who was questioning Rhax, who was sitting in front of them. She couldn’t sleep last night because of the revelation. The Dark Eyed Demon is after Sybal, this was not good. The demon didn’t care how many people he killed to get his job done, the Lykos family can testify to that. Not even the servants and kids escaped the massacre. She is truly afraid of what the demon will do if he gets into the city.

They started to question everyone new or suspicious in the palace, they of course started with Rhax the newest guard.

“Well,” Rhax seemed pained to remember such thoughts but he put on a blank face quickly and started to speak. “My sellsword company was called the Blue Rose, it is fairly known in the northern side of the south region. I have been in multiple wars, the newest and last one was the war between the city of Rloa and the city of Kitro. It was a brutal battle, around 100,000 people died in the conflict. 15,000 of them were from the company I belonged to. I lost my lover in the war, her name was Ursula. She was the medic of the company, but when we retreated she was helping the men and couldn’t leave in time, thus the enemies found her and killed her.” He shed a tear and stopped a sob from breaking. “Then, after that we retreated, we were wholly crushed. Kitro bested us in army and in tactics. When we got back to Rloa I resigned and started traveling and helping whomever I find in need. I have been traveling for some time now, I originally wanted to go to my home city Firebird city but then I heard of what happened and I honestly don’t want to be near The Dark Eyed Demon. So I came to Valaq, I heard that it was peaceful and it hadn’t been in war for sometime. So I figured that this was the perfect city for me to live a quiet and boring life.” Finished Rhax with what she reckoned a hopeful expression.

There was silence for a few seconds, Sybal was thinking and she didn’t want to speak. Because she was not qualified to speak, Sybal told her that he would use magic to detect lies, because magus can lie to mortals like parents lie to children.

After a few seconds more of silence Sybal spoke. “I see,” he had a relaxed expression, which made her heart relax. “I welcome you then into the city of Valaq and I hope you keep my betrothed safe.” Sybal extended his hand for Rhax to shake. Rhax shook his hands and smiled. “That was all, you may get back to your duties.” She ordered, Rhax stood up, bowed to them then went out of the room to continue his shift.

After he was out of the room she turned to Sybal. “So?” She asked. “Is it him?”

Sybal didn’t even think. “No it is not, I’m pretty sure of that. He doesn’t have magic and his heart didn’t even speed up when he talked about his story which indicates he was not lying. But it did speed up when he talked about his lover, but it is something natural.” He concluded with a thoughtful expression gracing his face.

She sighed a sigh of relief, she really didn’t want Rhax to be the dark eyed demon, in the past weeks she and Rhax had become very close. He was like the older brother she never had, there were still some walls between them but it was only their rankings and their upbringing. And she definitely didn’t want him to be that vile Demon. Just thinking of the man made her shudder, he was really a bad person.

She doesn’t know much about him but she knows enough, it was said that students constantly hear screams of agony coming from his chamber. And he also made a girl student named Illyan like his dog, Illyan was said to have gathered a team of people to get rid of the demon but they all vanished. Illyan did vanish too for some days. But when she appeared again it was said that she shivered every time someone mentioned the name of the demon. Illyan now works as the demon’s ‘associate’, but everyone knows that he made her his slave. Maybe not in actuality but metaphorically.

But the thing that really disturbed her was the incident with the couple, he first flayed the man for no reason but to scare everyone who came to the academy with him. Then when the girl lashed out and attacked him he gave her to his mad dog who did unspeakable things to her.

She only knew of these things because of a magus apprentice who visited Valaq some months ago, and she was sure that if she didn’t ask him about his school and the rumors coming about the Raven academy. He would have never told her, he was terrified when he spoke of the demon.

“I met him,” he said with a shaking voice. “It was after the yearly exam, I was rank 2 magus apprentice so I couldn’t partake. But I met the man, he wore his mask and his black robes and walked like he didn’t do anything wrong. A girl who he killed her lover wanted to attack him. But she was held back by her friends, but unfortunately for her. The demon saw her, he just looked at her for a second then moved away. The girl was found dead two days later, poison they said. The demon said that he didn’t have part in her death and someone is framing him. But no one bought his lies. What a scum, he killed an innocent girl just because she was mad he killed her lover.” The man spat at the end of his talk.

She hated such people, people who don’t consider humans as humans. They only see them as something lower than them or a means to achieve something.

‘You will die Dark Eyed Demon, Sybal will kill you.’ She promised.

She was honestly afraid that he would use poison to kill them, after all, he was the apprentice of a poison master.

‘I should make someone taste our food before we eat it so no surprises happen.’ She decided, after all, you could never be too careful.