They all relaxed for a moment, now the threat had passed, the glow from Stathis’ blade illuminating the canyon until it ebbed from her, darkness returning. The body of the Hrundarl was already fading, most of its mass magic, leaving only a horned skull and a glowing heart-stone, a sphere of green rock, covered with savage-looking spikes. Stathis took a deep breath, flicking ichor off her blade as Semari approached, looking only somewhat battered by the encounter.

‘C’mon! You promised to take me flying!’

Stathis sighed, even as her wings faded and vanished. ‘Sorry, I can’t keep them for long. And now? Really?’

Semari pouted, but was quickly distracted by the giant axe, straining before managing to pick it up despite its ridiculous size, spinning around but letting go, the thing flying through the air, smacking into the canyon wall in a cloud of dust. Terinth managed to pick up the Hrundarl’s skull, the thing the size of a large dog.

‘Quite an impressive feat! Although I wasn’t expecting the rumours about your parentage to be quite so… dramatically true. I always assumed that was something put about by your mother, to cover up for a more mundane indiscretion.’ He glanced upwards, the sun just creeping into sight above the edge of the canyon. ‘That must be an interesting story.’

‘Yeah, long story. Although I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone. Life’s complicated enough, without getting involved with that sort of stuff. Some people get far too excited about it all.’

He made an elaborate, sweeping bow. ‘As you command. Far be it from me to use a young lady’s parentage against her, if she should prefer to keep it secret, no matter how unusual it is! Now, onto more important matters, as I believe there is only one course of action left to us; to return our trophies to Redcastle, and then celebrate in grand style.’

Stathis staggered against the wall, her head spinning. They’d started off at the Wounded Hart, then passed through a lot of other bars, getting feted at each of them. Turns out, demon slaying was a good way to get a lot of free drinks, especially when you could dump a massive demon skull on the table as proof. At some point, the temple bells rang for last orders, and they staggered through the streets, the still air overly warm, stone walls still hot to the touch.

She turned to Semari and put a finger to her lips, swaying for a moment before managing to find some words. ‘We should be, kinda, quiet. Janaxia’s probably asleep, be rude to wake her.’ They were stood outside, the house dark and foreboding, even though several of their neighbours were hosting parties of their own, sound and light spilling down from rooftop gardens. Semari tensed and she jumped, just as Stathis grabbed her, dragging her back down before she could scuttle up the wall.

‘No! We live here, it’s fine. Can use the door, like normal people.’

She slammed into it, shoulder first, as the stout wood refused to give. She tried again, finding it locked. Semari was already cracking her knuckles, ready to simple smash it down, as Stathis tried to dissuade her. ‘No, can’t do that. Janaxia’ll curse you or something. Have to, have to…’

She was saved from trying to think of a plan when the door opened, revealing one of the servants, still dressed in her uniform, hand bandaged, apparently unfazed by the hour as she curtseyed, crimson hair catching the pale moonlight.

‘Miss Stathis.’

‘Hi. Uh, sorry about this. Been drinking a bit.’ She swayed slightly, vision blurring. ‘A lot. Is Janaxia still up?’

‘Lady Janaxia retired to her chambers some hours ago.’ She looked past Stathis, seeing Terinth and a few of the other hunters loitering in the street. ‘Will you be entertaining? The hall is not currently set up for such.’

‘You’re really good at this servanting. Just like back home, but nicer! Uh, sorry to keep you up, but could we get some food? And maybe some drinks?’

‘Of course, Miss Stathis. Please, if you and your… acquaintances would follow me.’

She walked with good poise and posture, her back straight, bright red hair flicking back and forth with her steps, leading them through the dark hallway and into the dining hall. Even with just a few days of work, the place looked far better, although the new crimson magelights gave the place a decidedly fell aspect, partway between an upmarket bordello and an evil cult. The table, previously dusty and worn, had been polished until it shone, the various ornaments and heirlooms casting sharp-edged shadows.

Stathis sat down, glad that the old chairs had been replaced by ones with actual padding, making the experience comfortable rather than painful. Terinth quickly intercepted the maid, speaking quietly for a moment, her bland expression shifting into a smile, for just a moment, before her decorum reasserted herself. Stathis tried to make a mental note to apologise to the maid tomorrow, or at least find out her name.

It didn’t take long until food and drink appeared, beer splashing onto the table as the celebration continued. The skull leered at them from the table –maybe Janaxia would like it, it managed to fit in with the general tone of the rest of the decoration, even if a bit large.

Semari knocked bottles with Terinth, the two of them now happily in synch. As they swapped stories of their past deeds, a chill breeze washed through the chamber. A door on the far side pushed open, revealing Janaxia, clad in a nightgown, posing dramatically for a moment before entering, glaring at Stathis and jerking her head, pulling Stathis over to a quieter alcove.

And what, pray tell, is this?

‘Shit, sorry. We didn’t mean to wake you. Went out hunting that demon, managed to find it. Been celebrating since then.’

Janaxia’s eyes scanned over the room, assessing the visitors – as well as Terinth, they’d been followed by a number of other adventurers, none of whom Stathis could be entirely sure of the names of, all still dressed for work, several still dusty and worn. Janaxia made a noise of disapproval.

And what is that thing?

She gestured at the skull, currently sat on the table, casting ominous-looking shadows.

‘Demon skull. Thought that it’d be a neat trophy, fit in with the rest of the stuff here.’ Stathis squinted, forcing herself to focus – Janaxia’s face and eyes looked strange in some way. ‘Hey, no makeup. Makes you look different.’ This was the first time Stathis her seen Janaxia without any colour on her eyelids, no mascara, her lips a natural colour, even as they tightened in irritation. The frown on Janaxia’s face indicated that wasn’t the right thing to say, as Stathis tried to backtrack. ‘You still look great, but I’ve never seen you like this before.’

She was saved from her floundering by Terinth, coming over to introduce himself, taking Janaxia’s hand and lightly kissing it, her expression easing oh-so-slightly. ‘My apologies, most noble Lady Janaxia, for our current states. We rode forth and vanquished a mighty enemy, and are now celebrating!’ Standing up from his stoop involved a little more staggering than was decorous, but being fawned over seemed to cheer Janaxia up. As she ‘spoke’ to him, she moved her mouth in an attempt to cover for her ailment, the movements and mental sounds out-of-synch enough to makie Stathis feel even queasier.

Of course, such a dashing adventurer is always welcome in the Uth Tremari household. I can only apologise for my current state, the misadventures of my companion (a glance at Stathis left no doubt who she blamed) having had an unfortunate effect, which I hope will be remedied soon

From the look on his face, he’d noticed something was amiss, even if he couldn’t quite figure it out, shaking his head as though trying to clear his ears. ‘Of course, it is to my shame that I haven’t visited earlier.’

The servant reappeared, now with a bottle of wine, still slightly dusty from whatever cellar it had been retrieved from, holding it out for Janaxia’s inspection. She nodded, allowing the servant to open it and pour her a glass.

Misutira is such a treasure, it really is surprising no other house hired her first

Both she and Terinth looked at the maid as she exited, nodding in mutual appreciation. Well, if it cheered her up, that was probably to the good. Seeing Janaxia in anything other than full make-up was slightly weird, although even her nightgown was far fancier then it needed to be, dark silk dashed with silver thread and edged with lace, cinched at the waist, flowing around her as she moved, sitting close to Terinth, listening to him, occasionally glancing over at Stathis to be sure she knew she was being snubbed. Even the application of several glasses of wine didn’t unfreeze her attitude, as Stathis stopped drinking, starting the painful path towards sobriety.

There was a clatter, as one of the guests knocked over a wooden box. The cursed sword fell out, skidding across the floor. Before she could stop him, Terinth had picked it up, examining the craftwork for a moment before the curse took hold. His eyes flared red, as he stood, swinging the sword through the air and slicing a chunk out of the table. Dark energy started to curl out from the blade, spiralling up around his arm, as his face changed to a manic grin.

Stathis stepped forward, hand flashing to her waist before realising she’d taken her sword off, and left it by the door, and everyone else was similarly disarmed. As Terinth stepped up, Stathis threw herself at Janaxia, grabbing her and pulling her out of the way of another swing.

‘Semari, deck him!’

Semari looked up from her alcoholic stupor, managing to muster the concentration to stand up and take several steps closer, evading a chop by rolling to the ground beneath it, flowing like she was boneless, swaying as she rose, trying to strike the sword from his hands, the black miasma protecting him and deflecting her attacks.

Stathis put Janaxia down as gracefully as she could manage, before turning back to the fight. The dark glow was spreading, now partway along his chest, tendrils flailing outwards. She charged forward, shoving the table, catching him unawares and knocking the air out of him. Semari swept his legs out, knocking him to the floor before pinning him down, slamming his hand against the ground until he let go, energy fading as he groaned.

That marked the end of the fun, as everyone was suddenly sobered up by the brawl, the others making their excuses and leaving. Terinth was helped to his feet, the servant (Misutira?) appearing again, Semari and the maid supporting him between them, carrying him upstairs, leaving Stathis alone with Janaxia. At least for a moment, before Janaxia glared at her with a contemptuous sniff, and made her own exit.