Cassidy's Point of View

The Island

The General and Kine were both getting antsy. Even the Priestess was starting to fidget. Ayda and I oversaw taking care of Priestess Elincia, while Floyd loitered about. Many of the soldiers were in defensive positions around the tree line. Not that it would help any of us. If Arthur fell here, even Priestess Arceana would be powerless to save us.

Given how on edge she was, she knew that. “Has there been any word?” Arceana asked the General.

Kheri shook her head. “None.”

Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone else realized how far out of element they were. “Are we not going to discuss the fact that such a powerful Demon was lurking inside of Priestess Elincia?” Ayda inquired in a sad tone.

Nudging her for asking such a stupid question in front of so many people, I sighed as many turned to her. “Ayda,” The Priestess began. “Whatever the Demon’s plans may have been, they have been thwarted. For now, that will have to be enough.”

My Elven companion looked down in thought, and I spoke softly. “There’s a time and a place for everything, Ayda. This aint it.”

“It could be worse!” Floyd suddenly said as he was digging through some sand.

“How?” Ayda asked back with a sneer. “I think this is a pretty bad situation, Floyd!”

He stuck his finger in his mouth before putting it in the sand and lifting it back into his mouth. “Well,” Floyd spat as I watched in disgust and surprise. “There could be more of these Demons on their way!”

Shaking my head, I spoke. “Don’t even joke about that.” My soft reply made Ayda look at me.

Kine spoke up from the side. “Who cares!? Let them come! I say we get as many of them dealt with as we can!”

“I would not wish for any Demon’s to appear, Kine.” General Kheri stated. “Even I know this Demon is far out of my league. If not for the Priestess protecting us, I fear many of us would be injured or worse.”

My eyes shifted to the Priestess who ignored the comment, but a small frown came to her lips. “Arthur is also doin his best.” I commented.

The Zugal General frowned at that. “Yes. His abilities are far beyond what I ever imagined.”

Floyd scoffed. “That’s putting it mildly.”

Many of us looked at him as he started digging a hole in the sand. “Right…” Kine mumbled before we looked back to the forest.

Before anyone else could comment, the entire Island shook as an explosion of magnificent proportions sounded off. My head whipped up to see a cloud rising in the sky as trees, rocks, lava, and other debris were sent flying everywhere. Some even headed towards us, which was promptly blocked thanks to Priestess Arceana and Ayda’s magic.

Arthur's Point of View

The Island

Moments Earlier

Elincia’s Double laid on her back as blood seeped from some of her wounds. They were still healing, but far slower than before. I’d been successful in making her run low on magic. However, something about much of this felt off and wrong. As she laid there panting heavily, her eyes looked up at the night sky.

“It would seem you succeeded.” The Demonic entity stated in a weak tone. “Ask your questions.”

My own form was starting to wane as I had been forced fight a battle of attrition. “Just like that?” I questions.

Her head barely nodded. “Just like that.” She confirmed.

“What are you?” My first question made her eyes dart to me. “I know you’re a Demon, but after fighting you, Tor, the Leviathan, and Thana, there is an obvious difference in terms of power.”

“I would qualify as a Demon Lord.” She informed me and then scoffed weakly. “Or at least I would’ve if I was successful in my take over of Elincia. Rudnurth saved her and stunted her at the same time.”

“A Demon Lord?”

“Thana’s top Lieutenants, or her Generals if you prefer. There aren’t many of us, but there are more than you would expect.”

“How many?”

She was quiet for a moment as her head shook lightly. “I don’t know. When I was implanted into Elincia’s body, there were at least six, but that number has no doubt increased.” The Double’s eyes shifted to mine. “The Demon who took over Elias’s body took after the Queen. Both love to experiment, and with his aid, they increased the strength of her forces leaps and bounds.”

My eye twitched at that. “From what I’ve gathered, Elias is dead.”

Scoffing at me, she replied. “Killing him is almost impossible. He goes from host to host and is the reason I am in this pitiful state before you.” Rolling her head to the side, the Demon sighed. “Elias was to create a way for our forces to become immortal. Not all of us are able to ignore time like the Queen and Tor. Although, it was because of Elias that Rudnurth was able to acquire so much power. I don’t think anyone expected him to mesh quite so well with Demon Magic…”

“Did Elias succeed?”

“In a manner of speaking, but it was in a different way and only the Queen knows how. My knowledge is scarce at best, but Thana has delved deeper into forgotten and forsaken knowledge than anyone. She’s likely far stronger than the last time you faced her. Unfortunately, I can’t give you exact numbers or what she’s done.”

“Why were the two of you implanted into Elias and Elincia?” I inquired.

“The two of us were tasked with taking over in a more discrete manner. Elias was to take over your creation of Klasteris while I was meant to aid Rudnurth in regaining control over Lestrania. Needless to say, Elias was far more successful than I was.” With a frown, she continued. “Our Queen wanted to have a strong foothold in this world and figured Lestrania would be the ideal target. There was talks about there being more behind her actions, but they were beyond me.”

If Thana wanted an installation the size of Lestrania as a foothold, I could only imagine what her overall goal was. Given how large the kingdom was, despite its recent creation back then, it’s likely she was targeting the Elves in particular. She seemed to have some manner of interest in magic wielders, but lost her shit when Aydan confronted her. Maybe she was looking for something in particular aside from the Royal Family?

As I thought about it uselessly, I sighed and crossed my arms. “Backtracking a little bit, how exactly did Rudnurth save Elincia?”