“What the hell did you do last night?” seethed an infuriated Alice as she forcefully pushed Claire back against a tree. “You could have gotten us all killed!”

It was now early morning, and as the other adepts were busy dismantling their makeshift camp, the twins had briefly left for a bathroom break in which Alice had taken the chance to interrogate her sister over last night's events.

“I just calmed him down.” said Claire in a defensive manner while refusing to make eye contact.

Alice glared. “Bull! I am your sister, and I know when you are using high-level spells. Last night was the highest mind control type I have ever seen you use...You could barely sit up afterwards!”

“Look, I just added a subliminal hint that would increase his resistance to hurting us that will naturally take root and grow over time. It was just a hint, and he didn't even notice it so what's the harm.

"And..." Claire hesitated, before blushing. "For some reason, I couldn't do anything more. ”

“You idiot! Not only did you repeatedly invade a demons personal space, which by the way is a well-known taboo amongst their race, but you also ignored his warnings and even went as far as trying to manipulate his mind. If he found out or the spell backlashed, he would've killed us all.”

"He did find out, remember." Claire pouted. "Why are you so angry? It worked out didn't it?"

Alice turned and started walking back towards the camp. "The fact we are all still breathing is a miracle, but you couldn't just leave it there could you, when he was about to leave, you made him become your pillow for the entire night. Not one of us slept well."

"I slept pretty well, and I am sure it didn't bother him." Chuckled Claire as she followed.

"All he has done since waking up is complain about it!" Retorted Alice, getting angry at her sister's blasé attitude. "As your older sister, I advise you to keep your distance from him. He is a demon and will turn on you the moment the situation or his mood favours that decision."

"How many demons do you know? I would have thought that experiencing what it is like to have unjust rumours spread about your race; you wouldn't be so quick to judge. Why cant we all be friends?"

“You know I am not talking about just being friends” glared Alice causing Claire to blush and look away. “In the name of Frena Claire! Ignoring the fact that he is a demon, even if he is half basilisk, you have only known him for a week at most.”

Claire let out a frustrated huff. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. Just be thankful I did what I did. While casting the spell I could tell that the need to kill Bruce had nearly solidified into something unbreakable. If we don't take steps to change his mind, he will end up killing him and anyone who gets in his way. In the stories whats the best way to stop a demon without getting everyone killed."

Alice sighed. “Give them something they value more, but you are my sister and I don't want you to get hurt.”

Claire released a gentle, captivating laugh. "I wouldn't worry about that while performing the spell I also managed to take a look at his base personality. Once you are someone he deems important, even if he hated your guts he would still never harm you. I would hate to be the first person to antagonise him afterwards though."

Alice shook her head in disbelief. Her sister was well known as a genius of mind magic and would often know people better than they knew themselves, however, this was a demon they were talking about and she thought Claire was being a little naive.

The pair walked into the clearing to find everything packed and the others ready. Alec was leaning against a tree and once he noticed the girls he revealed a mischievous smile "What took you so long? Go for a shit?"

"Do you get more perverse with each passing day?" shouted Alice before launching into a barrage of abuse that made the elf shrink back.

Claire laughed at Alec's misfortune for aggravating Alice and gave a silent thank you for taking her place before walking over and standing next to Mors, who was stretching his neck causing it to generate loud cracking noises.

"What do you want now?" hissed Mors in a slightly irritated voice.

"Just some company. Still feeling like an old man?" joked Claire.

"My first night sleeping with a girl left me a cripple, what do you think!" replied Mors with a teasing smile causing Claire to turn bright red before briskly walking away. -"Growl, hiss, spit or throw things and you can't get her to leave, one simple innuendo and she runs for the hills... no matter how many lives I have, I will never understand women."

For the next two days, the party travelled along the road leading out of Flatner forest and into the Devils mountains with no major incidents. Much to everyone's surprise, Mors had managed to stay with the group the entire time with little to no conflict with Bruce, only using the occasional suggestive remark to keep Claire at bay when she started getting too intense or asked too many questions.

The sun had finally set on the second day, revealing a magnificent full moon that illuminated the surroundings in a cool, white light when the group were approaching the edges of the Forest. The once straight road that they had travelled, now snaked around large hills and rocky outcrops, densely populated with deformed and twisted trees creating an almost foreboding, unnatural atmosphere.

"Are you sure it's safe to be travelling? Yes, we can see with the moonlight, but we are extremely close to the Devils Mountains. I hear there are a lot of high-level monsters around here as well as a few brigades of bandits and bounty hunters." Complained Aron for the eighth time.

"According to the map, there is an abandoned town an hour or so ahead, once there we can rest for a few days and restock our provisions before moving across the mountains." replied an exasperated Bruce.

Alec, who was walking at the back of the group, casually sped up until he was in the middle of the party so everyone would be able to hear him whisper, in short, disjointed sentences. "Act naturally and don't stop moving. Five men are following us. They are keeping their distance and are heavy armed. I think one of them is an elf which makes it highly likely that it's a scouting party."

The others tensed and as naturally as they could placed their hands close to their weapons as they continued to walk forward.

"We haven't even found a town to buy standard weapons." muttered Claire annoyed that they would need to reveal their soul weapons immediately after being told to use them only as a final result.

Bruce took a casual look around before making eye contact with Alec. "Bandits?"