The next morning, we, by which I mean mostly me, did an exhaustive search of the local area for any sign of our attacker. For all our efforts, we couldn’t find so much as a trace. Were it not for all damage, from which Yurielius and I were still recovering, it may as well just have been a bad dream. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a dream and made for a dire portent of things to come.

If another of those things arrived before Yueryurn’s soldiers did, then we might be finished. And that was if it was just one, we had no idea how many of those terrors were out there. Nor what even worse things the Ortisfel might throw at us. Once our search was concluded, Elmidath and I ended up back by the borders of Yurielius, staring into space.

Elmidath took a deep breath. “Well, that’s one day down. And it wasn’t so bad, right?”

“I was the only one who came close to death this time, I suppose that counts as a resounding success by our standards. We didn’t even get anyone else killed.”

Tired as it was, my sardonic wit brought a glimmer of humour to Elmidath’s features before they grew serious once more. “Speaking of you nearly dying, I’d been meaning to ask you about how you recovered so quickly? Did Shotensho do that somehow?”

From her tone, I knew she didn’t believe that and yet she wanted to. “No. It was all a bit hazy at the time, possibly due to the massive blood loss and trauma, but I made a deal or something with Yuriel.”

“I know I can’t blame you for that, given the circumstances.”

“Thank you.”

“But I still do. This is going to make things even more difficult for the both of us and we weren’t exactly on an easy path to begin with.”

“What’s the big deal? She’s our ally, isn’t she?”

I wasn’t naïve enough to think that she’d give me something for nothing given that I clearly recalled her being reluctant, but how bad could it really be? While I wouldn’t exactly call us friends, Yuriel and I weren’t that far off from it. She was probably the person who’d been nicest to me in this world, if you could call her a person.

“I’ll let her explain, she can do it better than I could hope to.”

Elmidath called Yuriel’s name, and we waited as the leaves in the shape of a humanoid floated out to meet us. “What’s up?”

Despite the good humour present in Yuriel’s voice, or perhaps because of it, Elmidath glared at the collection of plant matter. “Tell Cathal what he’s gotten himself into.”

“Ah, right.” She turned to me. “I suppose I should start by apologising.”

“Why? If you hadn’t saved me, we would have been screwed anyway. I don’t think you have anything to apologise for.”

“I know, but still, I’m sorry.”

“Alright, apology accepted then. So, what sort of things am I in for?”

It was hard to imagine that whatever she’d done could make things much worse. Hopefully this was something she could explain, unlike Yurielius.

“It’s pretty simple really, if you travel too far from Soarister’s domain, you’ll wither and die.”

“What? What the hell did you do to me?”

“I had to bond you to his domain in order to heal you, it was the only way. And like I said, I’m sorry.”

Right, well, that made it all better then. “Fine, I get that you didn’t mean any harm, but how do I get out of this then?”

“Um, I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean you’re not sure? There has to be a way to undo this.”

Leaves bunched tightly together, Yuriel drifted gently to the side. “There might be. I definitely can’t rule it out, but I’ve never heard of it happening. On the bright side, this is probably the first time anyone has wanted to break their bond with Soarister. At least that I know of.”

I rather doubted it was the first, given how extensive Soarister’s reach seemed to be and how many lives he must have touched. “Well figure it out. Isn’t there someone you can talk to about this?” I was starting to shout, but I didn’t care. “You did this, now you need to fix it.”

“I’ll… see what I can do.”

She drifted back into the confines of Yurielius, while I stood there fuming.

Walking in front of me, Elmidath met my eyes. “She’ll come up with something. Or if not, then we will.”

“Like what? Staying here for the rest of my life? Great.”

If Yuriel had never heard of it happening and had no idea how it might be done, then there was every chance it was impossible. At least with the resources available to us here.

“You may not be able to leave, but I can. If all else fails, I’ll go out and find someone that can help you, okay?”

I didn’t believe it, but I was also tired of her trying to console me. I just wanted to be alone. “Fine. Let’s get back to work, we can talk about this later. We have more important things to worry about right now.”

“You’re right, we’ll deal with this later.”

She returned to the other side of Yurielius, which was apparently to be my new home, and left me to my thoughts. Was there any chance Yuriel was lying? There wasn’t much reason for her to lie and I was none too eager to see if leaving would really kill me. After all, I was already where I needed to be.

If I really did have to stay here once this was all over, it might not be so bad. It’s not like my life had been great in the outside world either, but it was more the principle of the thing. At least I was free out there. I mulled over that last idea for a few moments before bursting out laughing. I’d never been free in this world, not really.

And maybe that wasn’t so bad. After all, I’d been free enough back on Earth, but what had I ever really done with it? Mostly just wasted time without doing anything meaningful. At least here, in this world, I could truly make a difference. In fact, I already had. Sure, it wasn’t always a positive difference, but I was doing important things here.

Now that I’d had a little time to think it over and process, what Yuriel had done to me wasn’t so bad. Sure, I wasn’t over the moon about it, but I could cope. I had to, there were people depending on me now and failing them would mean I failed at the only worthwhile thing I’d ever done in my life. When I thought of it in those terms, it felt more manageable. Despite all that, I was still angry at Yuriel and I probably would be for some time. It didn’t entirely make sense, but I felt betrayed.

Having resolved my inner conflict, at least to some extent, I turned my full attention back to the outer one we were still in the middle of. After last night’s attack, I assumed the Ortisfel would wait until nightfall again, but I kept my guard up anyway. When I spotted the first speck on the horizon, I called Elmidath. She decided to remain where she was for the time being, in case it was a feint or they were attacking from multiple sides.

To both our relief, however, once I was able to make out the distant objects, I realized it was Yueryurn and his men. Sighing with relief, I gave Elmidath the good news. We were both happy that they were finally here, even if they were a little late. Leaving Elmidath to guard Yurielius just in case the Ortisfel tried something, I ventured forth a short distance to meet Yueryurn’s party.

Several of the members were clearly injured, but Lord Yueryurn received me warmly. “Sorry about the delay, we were ambushed not long after setting out by a few Tertium. We saw them off well enough, but we had to take a few of the wounded back home to recover.”

“That’s fine, what’s important is that you’re here.”

“Of course I am, I gave you my word that I’d come.”

I contrived to look embarrassed for having questioned his integrity. “I know, I didn’t mean any slight upon you. It’s just that we live in uncertain times, anything could have happened to you and yours on the way here.”

“Too true. We were lucky they didn’t have more to throw at us.”

“Unfortunately, I think it’s only a matter of time before they muster greater forces to bring against us.”

Frowning, Yueryurn narrowed his eyes at me. “When you put it that way, our defeat sounds almost inevitable.”

“Right, because it would be were it not for the promise of Soarister’s aid. It should be less than a week before he can provide substantial assistance.”

Looking past me, the demon lord eyed Yurielius. “So, this is what we’re to protect. Under normal circumstances I’d be more than happy to help destroy the whole damn thing.”

“War does make for strange bedfellows, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

“That it does. Though I’ve never had any quite so strange as these in my bed.” He chuckled. “Hopefully my wife doesn’t take offense to the new company.”

I smiled politely, pleased that our meeting was going smoothly. “I’m sure she’ll understand. Now then, you and your men could probably use a rest. Most of you can take the rest of the day off, the Ortisfel likely won’t be back until the suns go down.”

“Back? They’ve already been here then?”

I nodded. “We’ve already had to fight them off once.” I told him of our encounter with the Ortisfel’s minion and suggested he inform his men about it. Knowing more about it might not help them much, but it couldn’t hurt. Lord Yueryurn thanked me for letting him know and congratulated me on our victory, before going to get his men settled.

I took a rough head count as the soldiers set up camp; there were about eighty of them. It was far more manpower than Elmidath and I alone could bring to bear, though I still wasn’t sure it would be enough. In fact, if some of them turned to the Ortisfel’s side, they might even be a liability. Assuming they hadn’t already turned. Then again, maybe I was just being paranoid. I assumed Yueryurn knew his own troops.

Watching the weary demons sit down to rest made me wonder if I shouldn’t do the same. I’d certainly been on my feet long enough, and yet I didn’t feel the least bit exhausted. Apparently being bonded to Soarister had taken care of my fatigue as well. While it was rather convenient in theory, I can’t say I was overly happy about it given that it just allowed me to continue my watch.

And continue I did, my gaze roving across the barren expanse in search of the Ortisfel’s minions. The broken ground, with its many crevices, continued to hold onto its secrets, no matter how hard I stared. I was beginning to wonder if even the terrain around us now served the Ortisfel, when I decided that my body might not need the rest but my mind surely did. After a quick word to Yueryurn, his men formed a perimeter around Yurielius and I finally took some time to relax.

No new threat emerged the night of Yueryurn’s arrival, or the night after that. While it was a welcome reprieve, it mostly just made me nervous. The Ortisfel had struck quickly last time and their delay now meant they must be well aware of our current status. Time was still on their side until Yurielius was grown, which meant they must be waiting in order to bring the greatest force against us that they could.

Yueryurn and the general soldiery didn’t appear concerned, but that was probably just because they didn’t know what they were in for yet. Their experience with the darkness was only a fraction of what Elmidath and I had been through. It was something of a miracle that we still had the will to resist at all, now that I thought about it. I was sure many would have given up in the face of such an overwhelming foe.

The sun was dipping low in the sky and I was staring at nothing when Elmidath sought me out. “Hey, how’re you holding up?”

“I’m doing okay, though I’m not sure how much longer I can keep doing this. It has to end eventually or I’m going to go crazy.”

“You’re not alone there. Try to keep it together for now though, we’ve still got a lot to do. You have my permission to lose your mind once Yurielius is safe.”

“Thanks.” I glanced back at the vast collection of greenery, which had more than doubled in size since we last returned. “I never thought I’d be protecting a damn plant, especially for so long. It’s quite ridiculous when you think about it.”

“You could say the same about much of life in my experience. Existing can certainly make for a strange journey.”

“I guess.”

I didn’t much care for such existential discussions at the moment, when so grave a threat was hanging over our heads. Especially when nightfall was approaching. This might finally be the night the Ortisfel returned.

“Do you mind if I wait here? I can leave if you’d rather be alone.”

So Elmidath really could be polite, who knew? It was a pity she didn’t show that side often.

“It’s fine, we may as well wait together. Yuriel is the only other person I know around here and I don’t want to talk to her.”

“Hopefully we never have to see her or her kind again once this is over.”

While I didn’t quite have the same dislike for them in general as Elmidath, I could hardly argue right now. I certainly wouldn’t miss them.

“That would probably require more luck than we possess.”

“Yeah, probably. By the way, there was something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Can it wait?”

I had little idea as to what it could be, but from the way she brought it up, it was surely nothing good.

“I suppose. It’s just something I thought we’d be better off resolving sooner rather than later, while we still have time.”

“Fine, go ahead then.”

“Okay, so, on the off chance that we can’t free you from your bond to Soarister in the short term, I’ll have to leave you alone here. I know that’s probably difficult to hear, and I didn’t make this decision lightly, but my people still need me.”

I shrugged. “Alright, makes sense to me.”

“You’re not upset?”

“Why would I be? We both know that they need your help more than I do, it’s not like you can do much to get me out of here anyway.”

“That’s more or less what I thought. Thanks for being understanding about it all, I know it can’t be easy.”

“Honestly it’s not so bad now that I’ve gotten over the shock of it. I’m not sure how that will change though, once I’m actually stuck here against my will.”

“I know it’s not much, but you’ll still be able to contact me even if you can’t leave here.”

“I know.”

Having both spoken our piece, we were content to linger in silence and I felt a curious sense of satisfaction creep over me that I hadn’t felt in a long time. For the first time in this world, or maybe even my whole life, I simply appreciated my surroundings. The parched earth had a certain bleak, minimalistic beauty to it, with its harsh edges and vast tracts of empty space.

Grander still was the sky above, a deep azure canvas dominated by crimson infernos that endlessly pursued one another through the heavens while every earthly being looked on in wonder. And even beyond the everyday majesty of these celestial bodies, there was a rich assortment of local splendours ripe for rapt contemplation. All around me were heroes, clad in their shining panoplies, poised to give their lives in defence of the greater good.

A greater good made manifest in the verdant blooms of this soaring sylvan sanctuary that promised to cast back the tide of darkness and bring about a new era of magnificent transformation. The boundless potential that was soon to be unleashed beggared imagination. Even the grandest mental conjuring could bring forth only the merest imitation of the future’s vast bounty.

Phantasms of unspeakable beauty danced before my eyes, clad in brilliant hopes and picturesque dreams. Grinning ear to ear, I beamed at Elmidath and the illusion shattered. There was terror in her eyes; they were here.