Tasty meat was nearly done and dripping fat into the fire, Heidie’s minions rotated it on a bone spit. The job of the undead minions had recently turned mainly to more domestic purposes. Hunting, cooking, cleaning, and the occasional patrol around the area.

Heidie sat down and prepared to eat. She now ate four large meals a day; The necessary caloric intake of an unreasonably intense boot camp. The first week had been rough. Nightmarish physical training in the morning and afternoon, and study of spell sigils and circulation in the evening.

The second week had improved. Injury became slightly less commonplace. There was something freeing about being totally free to push oneself as hard as possible without fear of consequence. Anything less than a fatal injury could be remedied without much fuss. Still, painful things were painful. 

Heidie could not dispute the results. She was fitter and stronger than ever before. The speed at which she gained muscle and endurance was nothing short of ridiculous. There was a toll in stress and mental health but Heidie was sure everything was fine. She could take it.

Lome’Matar had taught Heidie a simplified version of his regeneration spell. The simplified version had some minor drawbacks. Firstly, it felt super weird, like her insides were crawling around inside her body of their own volition. Second, the simplified regeneration was quite slow to take effect. It required a good half-hour to fully recover from her training.

Even so, Heidie was grateful for the spell. Worn skin and exhausted muscle was restored, stronger than it was before and ready for more abuse. Injuries faded into nothing. Bones set themselves back in their proper positions. As long as she ate enough Heidie could keep going, and going, and going. It was a damn cheat, as far as she was concerned. Heidie felt like an undead herself now.

Heidie typically had to heal herself at least twice a day. Without the regeneration Lome’Matar’s physical training regimen was so intense that it would undoubtedly cripple her. With the regeneration it was merely a moderate to extreme form of torture. 

Circulation and any attempt to proceed towards the second Circle had taken a back seat for the time being. Lome'Matar insisted that Heidie remedy her weak body before going any further.

Mixed nuts and energy bars were no longer enough to sustain Heidie. Her supplies of food from her homeworld had dwindled into near non-existence. Fortunately her Tiger was still an excellent hunter. Now she ate what it brought back from its hunts. 

Totally bereft of non-demonic company, and not wanting to anthropomorphize her soldiers too much, Hiedie had named her tiger Gracey Charlston the Fourth, or Gracey for short. It was her only source of pleasant conversation these days. 

Heidie smiled as the last meal of the day was served. This was fine. Everything was fine. She stretched in her seat before taking a few bites. She was very comfortable.

“Oh, what a lovely settee, you’ve found, Ms. Charllston.” Heidie commented to Gracey, who had been designated at Heidie’s chair for meals as well as bed. “Is it from the new artisan down the way?” 

Gracey was silent. Heidie face twitched. “Where are your manners!? Gracey Charlston the Fourth, you speak when you’re spoken to!”

"Yes Mistress" A ghostly voice from the tiger replied.

Heidie exploded "No! Bad Gracey! Tiger speak during mealtimes Gracey! Tiger Speak!"

Gracey let out a chuff. Heidie was mollified.

“Yes, Hubert was his name, wasn’t it? Handsome man that Hubert, don’t you think?” 

Gracey chuffed again.

“Oh Ms. Charlston, that’s scandalous!” Heidie swooned, shoveling more roasted meat into her mouth and continuing to speak as she chewed vigorously. 

“I Canfph Belphieve yu wouldph du thasht!” Heidie slapped the bone table in merriment and kept eating and talking to the undead tiger.

Green eyes glowing, a demon watched the young woman eat and talk from his backpack in the corner of the room.

Lome’Matar was becoming very worried about his student’s mental health. After some unfortunate events following the demon’s discovery that the marvelous kindle device was running out of battery, his student had negotiated for twenty minutes of her own time with each meal. 

Now Lome’Matar was becoming concerned that making that concession had been a bad idea. Was it too much time to herself or not enough? That was the question.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to talk during mealtimes?” the demon asked.

Lome’Matar and his backpack were immediately pelted with a bone cup and bone cutlery.

“YES!!” Heidie screamed at the top of her voice. 

“This is my time! Mine, you fuck! Now shut up, dildo head!” Raging, Heidie looked like she was about to become violent. More violent, anyway. Lome’Matar shut up.

“You!” Heidie pointed at the closest undead minion. “Butler! Bring me my cup and tableware back.”

“Can you believe him Ms. Charlston? He’s always: pick up those rocks, Heidie, Do more pushups and squats, Heidie, Weigh yourself down and run around the village until you collapse, Heidie, Study that sigil that gives you screaming headaches harder, Heidie. WELL NOT RIGHT NOW!!” Heidie’s rant ended in more screaming.

The tiger chuffed again. Heidie calmed herself and kept eating. Lome’Matar wisely remained silent for the remainder of mealtime. His test subjects had never been given rest days. Did humans need rest days? Perhaps a rest day was in order.

Now the final part of the day before sleep. Heidie tilted her cup imperiously. The soldier designated Butler, brought a bone pitcher and filled her cup with safely boiled water.

Still sitting upon Gracey, a majorly frazzled-looking, but quite fit, Heidie had finished break time and now listened to Lome’Matar’s lecture. Her black hair was sticking up in places and her clothing was torn. 

Lome’Matar looked at his students gray eyes. They looked to be teetering on the verge of madness. Shaking his head, the demon decided to implement an emergency halt to the training and a few days dedicated solely to rest and recovery. Since sigils and training had to be put on hold, history it was.

“I told you of the Celestials before.” Lome’Matar began.

“The ones that caused certain schools of magic to be classified as sorcery and forbidden?” Heidie asked.

“Yes.” Lome’Matar replied. “It goes back far before my time. In the beginning, in all of creation, there were two worlds that rose to heights of power previously unheard of. The demon world, and the world of the Celestials.”

Lome’Matar continued. “The demons and the celestials were both very aggressive races. They had both learned the secrets of traveling between worlds and both expanded relentlessly.”

Heidie listened. This was better than studying those goddamn sigils again. 

“Demons enslaved and destroyed. We became wealthy beyond measure in all manner of resources. Entire worlds were pillaged to feed the growth of the first Demon King and his court. They were ravenous. Countless worlds were subjugated by their hands. Those which offered strongest resistance were destroyed utterly. The first Demon King and his court grew into power that has not been seen since. At the same time, the Celestials conquered worlds and ruled with an iron hand. They had found a way to consolidate power from the raw belief of sentient life. They were worshipped as gods across much of creation and became terrible and mighty. They were creatures of order, and all that opposed their order was ruthlessly destroyed. It is they who imposed the basic tenets of what magic was righteous and what was not. Instilled by force all across creation.” Lome’Matar paused.

“The Demon world is very large. It was filled with the spoils of war. Slaves, diverse species, and subjects from all over creation were brought back during those times. Inevitably, the demon world and the Celestials came into conflict. The First Demon King was mighty. His court unmatched in power. The Celestials were also strong, but they had larger numbers of powerful combatants. The most powerful of the Celestials kept the First Demon King at bay while their greater forces rallied and forced the First Demon King’s forces back from each world they had conquered. They pushed the army of the demon world all the way back to our point of origin. They had underestimated the First Demon King, however. He and his court struck out at the Celestial’s homeworld as they were engaged with his forces, spread out across creation. He killed the leaders of their people, but perished in battle to do so. In his death throes the First Demon King destroyed the world of the Celestials. The surviving members of court of the First Demon King fled back to their own homeworld, weary and broken. Too many Celestials remained for them to fight, weakened as they were. The court felt they had no recourse and sealed the world so that none could enter. The celestials seized the opportunity and added their own seal, one that was to keep the demon world locked away forever. Fortunately we were not entirely cut off. Some information could pass through. We soon learned that after their victory the remaining Celestials vanished from the worlds they once ruled.” 

Heidie laughed, “Didn’t seal your world away very well, did they?”

Lome’Matar snorted. “It held us back for eons. There are ways through the barrier. Souls, for instance, pierce through easily. Some forms of communication with other worlds also succeed, but nothing that truly freed our people. It is different now. Now it is proven we can escape, physical forms intact. It is only a matter of time before the demon world once again rages across creation. Not anytime soon, though. There are those who beheld the portal that brought us here who did not pass through it. They will reverse engineer it eventually. It will take time, however. Additionally, most of the war-ready youngsters of the demon world were ground up and dumped who knows where by the same mistake that brought us together. None of them have...my resilience, so to speak. None of the eldest were among their number either. The true powers of my world live in seclusion, withdrawn from the politics of the young. They are unlikely to risk themselves without sufficient cannon fodder available. It’ll be a few hundred years before my world begins reaching out in earnest again.”

The Demon’s eyes glowed in the twilight shining through the dilapidated cottage. Heidie wasn’t sure how she felt about the announcement that demons would probably start rampaging around the universe in the next few centuries. Sounded pretty shitty. 

“That’s all for tonight, dear student.” The demon said. “The moral is thus: If you follow my teachings farther down this path you will live hundreds of years, at least. Should you seek peace and stability you must have enough power to enforce it.” Green embers bore into Heidie’s eyes “War is coming. Of a kind that hasn’t been seen in countless ages. Will you be ready?” 

Lome’Matar smiled at his student. “Tomorrow is a break day.”

Satisfied, Lome’Matar watched his student sit, unmoving on her undead minion. The demon was pretty sure that the light subject matter tonight and a break from the training would do his student’s mental health well.

“Goodnight, Heidie” Lome’Matar said.