In a tavern in the middle of nowhere, the night had fallen like a curtain. It attracted the townspeople to spend the last moments of that exhausting day between drinks and bets.

The atmosphere was warm as all the other nights. The locals spent their hours in front of the fire on that cold and wet night on the shores of Lake Arada. The fishermen talked with the merchants and farmers with the blacksmith.

In such a busy area, it was common for travelers to spend the night there and mingle with the villagers of Agrakal. Therefore, bards and entertainers were the ones who made the nights sparkle with their jokes, prowess, and talents.

Even though the place was small and with a thatched roof, every table was brimming with joy and confidence.

However, the situation was about to change, for like the weather, a clear day could turn into a stormy day.

Amid the joy and festivities, the wooden door of the tavern opens, and most of the diners at their tables can't help but turn to it. Through the door, a hooded figure enters the place, and everyone soon opens their eyes at the sight of him. The person had a pair of horns protruding from his black hood; they were grayish in color and leaned backward, so he had to loosen some ties to uncover his head.

The man uncovered himself to the locals, hanging his cloak at the tavern entrance; just like his horns, the man had stone-gray skin and sharp features. His light eyes turned to the masses as he arranged his long white hair.

"Is he an infernal?" one of the locals asked his companion in front of him.

"Yes, ignore him," replied his companion in front of him, tossing his card into the pile formed in front of them.

The infernal walked over to one of the empty tables, glancing around at the diners and letting out a heavy sigh.

"Mother, should I wait on him?" asked the waitress and daughter of the place's owners with concern.

The woman was carrying several pitchers of frothy beer when she finally turned her attention to the new traveler. The woman watched the man. An Infernal had entered the tavern, and the woman frowned in annoyance.

"Treat him with respect. You never know when he might put a curse on us," the woman said to her daughter, alarmed at having such a creature under her roof. "Don't look him in the eyes too much; he might get in your head."

The girl turned to the man, and his unusual appearance went hand in hand with his remarkable attire. The fancy man, in showy clothes, kept his gaze straight ahead even as she came before him to take her order.

"What would you like to drink?" the girl asked.

After a long pause, the infernal spoke without looking at her.

"What do you have here besides beer?" the man asked.

The girl swallowed saliva as she heard him speak and tried to keep her smile.

"Some local wines are grown on the shores of the lake, sir. I can bring you a drink if you wish..."

"Bring me a bottle," the Infernal replied quickly.

"Excuse me?"

Slowly the man's looks were on the girl. His eyes were almost white, and his pupils bore into her.

What may have been seconds, that stare had been on her for minutes in her mind. The girl couldn't peel her gaze from the man's eyes. She only did so when her mother reached her, shaking her from behind.

"What are you doing to my daughter?" the woman spat, holding her daughter by her shoulders. The girl reacted shakily.

"I've been asking your daughter for a bottle for quite a while now, but she seems petrified."

"I'd be petrified too if I saw your face," exclaimed a local merchant, not mincing words and with plenty of alcohol on him at the following table.

The infernal rolled his eyes at the merchant, then turned to the barmaid.

"I just want to sample the local wine, if it's not too much trouble," the man leaned back in his seat, watching the barmaid. "If you like, I can threaten her that I'll steal her memories or grace her milk. That classic nonsense..."

"Very well, we'll get a bottle for you. Try not to cause trouble."

The woman retreated behind the bar with her daughter, still confused with fear.

The hour passed, and the party in the tavern reached its peak as the drunks, along with the traveling bards, brightened up the place. Everyone seemed to be partying, except for one elusive and distant guest.

"How long has he been here?" asked the tavern keeper's husband.

"I don't know, quite a while," the woman indicated. "He hasn't caused any trouble; that's a relief. But I hope he'll be off soon."

"I'll go add wood to the fire," the man indicated.

The woman nodded and then turned to her daughter, "Can you go ask him if he wants anything else?"

The girl hesitated, the fear of feeling paralyzed again was great, but she still had to do her job.

The girl sneaked among those who feasted on the bards' songs and then dodged those who wished to take her in their arms to dance. Then, finally, the girl came to where the gray-skinned man with the longhorns sat.

"Would you like something else to drink, sir?" the girl asked respectfully.

"Do you still have bottles of this wine?" the man pointed out, curious.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, at least now you seem to be able to answer me!" exclaimed the man, looking her in the eye.

The girl watched him back, somewhat nervously.

The man then averted his eye and laughed.

"I'm sorry. Friends sometimes say I stare too much at people."

"You don't have to apologize, sir," the girl apologized nervously and giggled, "I was the one who froze."

"And I didn't have to do anything for that," said the infernal. "Horns and gray skin make things easy..."

With a girl giggling at those words, she was no longer so nervous, and she could finally fulfill the request.

"Hey, longhorns," the voice of one of the locals, drunk, was heard in the middle of the party. "Clear something up for me..."

The music grew fainter and fainter as the man's loud voice drew the attention of some of the diners.

The man approached the infernal man and smirked.

"I have a question about you..."

The infernal man let out a sigh and soon dissolved to put away the papers he had on the table, "Go ahead..."

"Who fucked who?" asked the drunken merchant, "Did your father fuck a demon, or did your mother get raped by one?"

Tempers over that question were mixed, some denoting horrible taste and others causing him to giggle uncontrollably and nervously.

The gray-skinned man with drunken horns weaved his head, trying to find the answer to that question.

"I must say I don't know; both cases would be curious. But not as interested as yours, sir; I've never met anyone whose father fucked a cow and had progeny like that..."

"What did you say about my father?" asked the man as he banged his mug on the table. Some laughed at the answer, and others expected the worst.

"Ah, sorry, maybe it should have been your mother with a bull..."

"You fucking demon!" shouted the man with a great desire to leap across the table to beat the hellish man to a pulp but being stopped by a couple of locals.

The gray-skinned, horned man rolled his eyes as the man was pushed against a table to stop him.

"I'm not done with this, you fucking demon!" the man shouted, trying to wriggle out of the grip of his colleagues.

"I am with you; better luck next time," exclaimed the infernal man, pushing through the group of people trying to revive the revelry.

Reaching the tavern's bar, the infernal man turned to the barmaid.

"I think I'll order two more bottles."

"Sounds good," the woman said, eyeing the man suspiciously.

"Get off me!" the drunk shouted sonorously. Then, like a raging bull, the drunk merchant pushed his companions off his back, aiming to settle his matter with the infernal.

The man pushed through half a dozen people in the tavern to get to the infernal and grabbed the knife he carried in his belt.

Turning his back to him, and as the woman set the bottles down on the bar, the infernal's eyes glowed a silvery color. Then, as he extended a hand in the air, he swiftly brought it down along with a spell.

The man's passage was impeded as his feet and ankles froze. Quickly, the warmth of the place was lost, and now the man's legs were frozen and coated with ice.

"Monster! Look what he did!"

The woman stared in terror at the infernal in her eyes and soon regained their usual appearance. Then the infernal turned and saw how the subject was almost a handful away from him.

"You'll regain movement in a while. But, don't move, or you'll lose your legs..."

"What do you think you're doing, demon?" one of the locals spat.

"Take out the monster!" shouted another, unsheathing his hand ax.

"Calm down!" shouted the barmaid behind the bar. The situation seemed to be getting out of hand at any moment.

Then the door opened quickly, and a brown-haired girl ran inside.

"Kyrus! I'd found you!" the girl shouted excitedly.

"Peck," greeted the infernal to her friend. "You're late. I was expecting you here an hour ago."

"I didn't know where you were. I traveled part of Adwar to get here!" exclaimed the girl annoyed.

A sepulchral silence pervaded the atmosphere.

"Wait a moment..." exclaimed the bard, trembling.

"Kyrus...?" a local questioned that name with trepidation.

"Kyrus, The Eye Of The Storm," said the bard, pointing to the infernal, "is the one of whom they sing 'In The Eye Of The Storm!"

Kyrus looked at the bard, then at his friend.

"Thank you, Peck," Kyrus thanked her friend, then turned to the merchant paralyzed in ice.

"Oh, no problem," replied Peck without a clue.

The man began to shiver, not from cold but from fear.

"Do you still want to know if my mother was raped by a demon?" the infernal one asked the man.

Kyrus, doubly marked, stood a few steps away from a merchant who could barely contain his bladder at that moment.

The infernal turned to the tavern keeper, "So, how much for the bottles?"

"Take them away!" the barmaid exclaimed in fright, hugging her daughter, whom she had exposed to such danger. The girl watched Kyrus in terror. "Take them away and get out of here!"

Kyrus rested his hand on the bar counter, and as he lifted it, several gold coins lay on it.

Then, he observed the woman coolly, "Don't worry, they're not cursed..."

Kyrus grabbed his cloak and walked out of there along with his friend.

"Did I miss anything?" the girl asked.

"Oh, no. Nothing out of the ordinary, " said the infernal, "Did you get Ronan's letter?"

The girl nodded energetically, "Rawani didn't get it, and neither did you; what happened?"

"I was hiding," the horned man, buckling his cloak, "Some martyrs were looking for me, so I tried to hide my resonance."

Then, Peck asked about the fight inside de inn, "What happened back there?"

Kyrus caught Peck out of the corner of his eye and softly pursed his lips. One look was enough to answer.

The girl lowered her look but soon asked again. "What shall we do now?"

"Xindal sent me a letter earlier today. He said he might know where they plan to take Rawani. Follow me."

Just like that, Kyrus took the form of a giant black bird, and accompanied by Peck, they flew through the night sky, quickly losing sight of the villagers.