Author's note

I once heard that you don't show your first draft to anybody. Now I know why. Enjoy...

Word count

This chapter: 1706

Total: 26966

NaNoWriMo target for the 17th: 28333

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After walking a ways away from the small forest fire they had started and bandaging Aitken, they stopped to decide their course of action.

“So what are we going to do now?” Cepath asked.

“We’re going to sit down, and see where our goals line up, and where they don’t.” Flasor said.

Aitken sighed, staring off to the side, while Rosedriah quietly looked over at Aitken, lifted her eyebrows slowly and averted her eyes.

With Cepath ready to translate the words of the two imps, they started talking.

“Okay, let’s start. Rosedriah, you wish for demons to be generally accepted, correct?”

“No, It’s a part of it… Do we really need to do this? With him here?”

Flasor shook his head slowly, sighing a bit irritated. “Look, we all dislike the church of light, correct?”

Aitken and Rosedriah nodded.

“So why do you dislike the church of light?” Flasor asked.

“I just dislike the fact that the birth circumstances of somebody decides their fate… Witches, demons, children of witches and so forth, we are all judged… Mostly by the church of light.”

“Good, good… And Aitken?”

Aitken sighed. “Look, they killed me. What more do you need?”

“That’s not a good enough reason, it can’t be that fire in the pit of your stomach that drives you.”

“That’s all there is to it. I’m done.”

“Do you want to make an impact or not? Do you think you can tear down the church all on your own? Haven’t you tried already? Did it work?”

Reluctantly, Aitken answered. “Felt like water under the bridge.”

“You mean lava… Lava under the bridge, that’s how the saying goes.” Flasor corrected him.

“Wha- It’s not.”

“Yes it is. Anyway, you want to make a difference or not?”

“Okay, okay… I get it. Look, they put a plague on my entire village, almost everybody I knew is dead… Including my former self.”

“Almost?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It does.”

“No, really. It doesn’t matter.”

Flasor sighed. “Okay, okay. Look, can we all agree we need to make an impact on the church of light? Cepath?”

“I’m with Rosedriah.”

“You mean to say your burning desire is to be with Rosedriah? Or to do as she asks?”

Cepath hesitated. “I want to become a chef.”

Flasor’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“I like cooking.”

Aitkens eyes narrowed a bit in disbelief. “With lava?”

“That too, it’s another gastronomical tool.”

“Why… Why are you here? What’s this got to do with disliking the church of light? Do they dislike your food or something?”

“They cook differently.” Cepath held a serious gaze fixed on Aitken.

“What?”

Cepath’s facade cracked up a bit. “Of course I don’t dislike the way they cook. It’ll be a glorious inspiration… But they are against me, and thus against me showing my cooking to the world.”

Flasor hesitated for a moment. “Okay… Fair enough.”

A period of silence passed by.

“Ahem. So, our course of action should be figuring out how to hit the church where it hurts, unlike.. say, burning a random church or something like that.” Flasor said.

Rosedriah sighed. “Look, we should go to their enemy, the cult of shadows. I’ve had a few dealings with them in the past, as even I need allies against the church... Since they are so hostile to my kind.”

Aitken pondered for a moment. “I’m not keen on working with the cult, after hearing how they treat demons.”

“We would be working with them, not joining them. Just imagine we are using them to get information.”

“I’m not quite sure they’re going to let us do that so easily.” Aitken said.

Flasor broke in. “We’re going to have a talk with them, see what they can offer us.”

“What? they would just use us.” Aitken protested.

“So what? If their goal is the same as our goal, we are furthering our own goals as well.” Flasor responded.

Reluctantly, Aitken agreed to contacting the cult of shadows. The four started their long walk towards the contact Rosedriah knew.

“You sure we shouldn’t have a look at that corpse?” Rosedriah asked Aitken.

“I wouldn’t trust you with my lunch, much less my former body.” Aitken said, as he walked more to the left, away from her.

She responded after Cepath translated. “Too bad, it would have been fun. Perhaps I could have had you talk human language again, so Cepath didn’t have to translate everything.”

Aitken flinched, and looked at her for a brief moment. “Return to my human body?”

“Now you’re intrigued?”

“Tch. No way, you’re full of it.” He turned his head away, and walked over to the other side of Flasor, striking up a conversation with him.

Cepath shrugged. “He said he would consider it, and that you have lovely eyes.”

“Wha- I- he- what?” Rosedriah said, frowning and narrowing her eyes, finally lifting a single eyebrow.

Cepath let out a deep laugh.

“He didn’t actually say that, did he?”

Cepath shrugged. “He didn’t deny it. Go figure.”

The rest of the walk through the forest went by quickly, but in relative silence. Aitken mostly talked to Flasor, and Cepath with Rosedriah. A gentle forest fire still burnt in the distance, as the four of them headed to a port city to meet a contact from the cult of shadows.

“Let’s make camp here.” Flasor said.

“Aye-aye, captain. Except, we don’t have tents or anything like a camp.” Cepath said.

“How did you sleep under the sky, then?” Flasor asked.

“Simple, a fireplace and… well, an open sky.”

Flasor looked around. They had been walking for half a day after exiting the forest. This place was essentially a grassy meadow, with no trees in sight. The evening dew had already fallen, and the grassy meadow was wet, making boots and pants soaking wet after walking through the tall grass. “I guess we will skip the fire.”

Laying on the gravel road, the party went to sleep. Yet Aitken, didn’t. After a while, he got up, and headed further out on the meadow.

He sat in the grass, and the dew clung to his black armour.

He extended a finger, and ignited a flame the size of a candle. “Grow.”

He poured energy into it, once more. “Tonight, this night I will make a breakthrough.”

He sat for a while, trying to increase his flame, to no avail. He grit his teeth. It’s hard work not having any innate talent. Perhaps I will never be able to do it.

“Problems?”

Aitken was startled, and looked over to see Rosedriah.

He put his hand on his hunting knife. “What do yo-.. Ah, you can’t understand me.”

“Now now, don’t be so hostile. I haven’t come to finish off what I started… yet.”

“Then what, gloat at m-.. Ach, this is frustrating.”

“I wish to ask you about your time as a human.”

“Does it look like I can speak with you, smartass? … Or want to, for that matter.” Aitken said annoyed.

“He said that he appreciates your concern, and that he wishes his magic was as strong as yours.” Cepath said.

Aitken glared at Cepath. “You lying son of a succubus.”

“Hey, I’m just translating your true feelings.” Cepath shrugged, speaking impish.

“What do you think you are, a mindreader? I don’t think what you indicated I did.”

“Really now? Then why’re you practicing magic here?”

“That’s completely irrelevant to your statement!” Aitken said annoyed.

“What did he say?” Rosedriah asked.

“He said he has trouble being honest with his feelings.” Cepath answered.

Frustration showed on Aitkens face. “She condemned me to eternity in the darkness of a void! How do yo-.. Just stop putting words in my mouth. Gah! The only reason I’m not stabbing you right now, is because of Flasor.”

“Whoops, that looked like he was annoyed.” Rosedriah said.

“He’s a bit embarrassed that he likes you the way he does.”

“Wha-..” Rosedriah was stunned. She looked away briefly. “Wait, are you sure that’s what he said?”

if imps had blood veins that could burst on the forehead, it might have at this moment. “Oh, that’s it. I’ll tear your throat out” Aitken yelled, as a flame burst forth in his hand. The flame was the size of a small torch.

Aitken was so surprised at the size of the flame, that he lost focus and it disappeared right away.

“You’re welcome.” Cepath said as he turned around.

Aitken’s eyes filled with confusion. “Huh? Wait, I’m not done with you!”

“I’m a demon, I’m immune to fire as well. Yes, we are done here.” Cepath said calmly as he and Rosedriah walked away.

Aitken stood completely still for a moment, then decided to see if he could recreate the flame.

Cepath looked at Flasor. “You sure about this? It seems Aitken is getting more angry rather than less.”

Flasor nodded. “I’ve seen this work. The old demon king used this on the succubus princess and the prince of fiends.”

“That actually worked? Wait, didn’t the old demon king get assassinated by an incubus?”

“That was an angry lover, and it’s unrelated to this.”

“I sure hope you are right, I’ve got the feeling Aitken might be using that dagger on me one of these nights.” Cepath said, scratching his neck.

Many uneventful nights later, they arrived outside the port town of Wildburgh.

“We gotta go in?” Flasor asked.

“No, that’s too dangerous. We will see her outside.” Rosedriah pointed over at a single tree, poking out of the grassy meadows. The tree was an old and large oak, filled with yellow leaves.

“Place and arrow there, will you, Cepath?”

He nodded and shot the arrow at the designated spot.

“Now, we will wait by that tree, till midnight. Then we can talk with the cult.”

Time passed by, day turned to night. Finally, in the distance, a shadow moved slowly towards the tree.

A dark haired lady with lips as red as blood looked at Rosedriah. “Quite the following you have here. What gives?”

“We have decided to aid you against the church of light.”

The lady smiled “Excellent, We could use some more direct action from you, Rosedriah.”

“Investigating a plague isn’t direct enough for you, Molly?”

“You’ve had a particular lack of blood shedding, something you are very good at. Now, let’s get to business.”

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