The next couple of days Mariel spent familiarizing herself with the village. The many adults turned out to be helpful for getting her bearings and explaining the local fauna and wildlife. In turn she helped them out with many minor tasks. The children of the village adored her, and they played a lot together, playing hide and seek down below in the forest, and watching the stars. The children eagerly showed off their skill, casting a variety of spells by using basic sigils. She picked up a few, in case she might be able to do magic herself later.

“Mariel? Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Serani said while looking up at the stars in the sky.

“Sure? What’s on your mind?” She replied, holding the blanket closely around them. The cold, clear night was excellent for stargazing.

“Well, you’ve settled in and everything… But are you going to stay?” Serani looked up at her with the worried look of a child about to lose her favourite toy.

“Eh?” Caught off-guard, Mariel stumbled with her words.

“I know what the village elder told you… His house is like my second playroom…”

Mariel saw the folly of trying to fool the clever child, and told her what she was thinking about. After sharing her feelings about staying and what she was leaving behind, she decided to be bold and ask her opinion.

“Is it okay to be selfish?”

“Sure.”

“I want you to stay!” Serani then hugged her very closely. “But… I think your mother and father would be very sad if they never saw you again, without saying goodbye…”

Mariel nodded and admitted that she felt the same way.

“I really want to stay, but I want to go back to them too.”

“Then you should… But promise you’ll at least visit us here sometime… Pinky swear!”

“I promise.” Following her lead, Mariel made a pinky swear with Serani, whom took great joy seeing her fumbling and hesitant to do something completely unfamiliar.

“I think we should head back now… It’s getting really late.”

“No! Just a little longer… Huh? Look up there! It’s…” Serani’s voice trailed off, and her hand remained raised.

Mariel looked up at the sky, and high above them, the sky appeared to be changing. Then a loud explosion like sound echoed down the valley, followed by the dark sky contorting and twisting.

“That’s… What it was like when you arrived.” Serani said, eyes full of wonder and curiosity mixed together with a hint of uncertainty.

“We should head back…”

The loud sound of explosions continued as they returned to the village. All the villagers had gathered around the water spring where the elder was busy organizing a search party. As soon as Mariel and Serani appeared, the elder motioned for them to step up.

“Serani, you will go home together with your mother… Mariel you’ll come with us, we’ll search the forest for survivors and maybe even find someone you recognize.”

“Be careful okay?” Serani told her, her voice full of worry.

Mariel nodded, and was handed a torch and an old sword.

“What’s this…”

“Just in case.”

Understanding the seriousness, she put the sword away and followed the rest of the group on the long path down to the forest. Meanwhile the sky continued to swirl and contort. When they arrived, they had counted over sixty objects being thrown down from the sky. The elder planted a torch in the ground and explained it would be their rallying point.

They spread out in three groups. Before splitting up, Mariel reminded them of her time when she was sucked in, that there could be soldiers as well as ordinary people. Taking the words of warning to heart, the group went out in different directions.

Mariel went together with Corwil and two other men. They spread out in a line abreast and continued.

“Mind where you hold your torch… The last thing we need is a forest fire… The trees and leaves are dry right now.” Corwil commented.

It was not long before they found their first victim, a young woman lay on an old wooden stub. They quickly checked for life, but the woman was dead.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a human in the flesh… Are they truly as horrible as the rumours say?” He commented while the two others wrapped the corpse in a blanket.

“No. Some of them are as charitable as you were to me… But some are also cruel beyond measure…” Mariel knelt by the body, and recited a small prayer she remembered her mother had said when they once found a dead bird.

“As we can be right? I know. I served during the last war. We committed horrible atrocities and destroyed vast areas. I was wounded in a skirmish but survived.”

The other two had finished covering the corpse, and Corwil told them to bring it to the rallying point while he and Mariel continued.

They continued forward, deeper in the forest, they could hear strange sounds, mixed in with screams and loud shouts. Both put out their torches before approaching. As they closed in, they found themselves on the edge of a small ravine. They laid down and crept forward. Below them at the bottom of the ravine they spotted two groups of people, lit up by a small bonfire.

The smallest group wore suits of armour Mariel had never seen before, and the larger group appeared to be fellow demons, and slaves by the state of their clothes. From the edge of the ravine they could hear them talk.

“Please! I beg you! Spare us! We have nothing to do with the calamity that befell us all! One of the prisoners were shielding the others and by the voice, it was a man.

One of the soldiers stepped up close, and roughly stabbed the man with his sword. A terrified scream resounded from the others as the man toppled over.

“Damn it! Why’d you do that?!” One of the other soldiers roared.

“I couldn’t help it, I’m scared sir!”

“Darn… Now we have to remove the witnesses… No hard feelings, but you fellas gotta go.” The armed men approached the crying and begging slaves. One by one they were put to the sword, despite protestations and cries for mercy, they were cut down.

Mariel up on the edge, could barely contain her stomach from emptying. Seeing the dying and the corpses disturbed her deeply. Corwil meanwhile appeared unfazed.

“What should we do? Should we run?” Mariel asked, her voice shaking, and occasionally interrupted by a gulp.

He nodded without looking at her. He crept backwards and soon stood up, picking up his unlit torch.

Corwil argued that they should continue the search very carefully. While there was an additional layer of danger to the whole search, he reasoned that they should find whomever they could and bring them to safety. With no other ideas of her own, Mariel simply followed, hoping quietly that she would find someone familiar within the forest.

They headed further into the forest. An owl hooted in the distance, causing Mariel to nearly scream. She had been reassured by having a torch handy and the light it provided. Sneaking through a deep forest at night without any way of lighting up the area around her, left her nervous and frightened.

“Halt! Do not move or we will kill you!” A voice shouted to them. Both Mariel and Corwil froze in their step, waiting for the moment when an arrow or a spear might pierce them straight through.

“Who are you? And where are we?” The voice asked a couple of questions, because of the forest, it sounded like it came from all around.

“We’re locals, out looking for those who fell from the sky.” Corwil lowered his hands a little. “This is the demon continent. If you are no demons, you are far away from home, and the nearby garrison has been alerted. Killing us here will only make your deaths swifter!”

“Put down your weapons very slowly, and we’ll let you live.”

Mariel put the sword on the ground as she was told, and backed away from it. Corwil remained in place while dropping the daggers he kept in his belt.

Two silhouettes stepped forward warily. They carried a bow each with an arrow ready to fly.

“What are your names?”

“I’m Corwil, and this is Mariel, she’s also one that fell from the sky.”

“I see… I’m Tizare, and this is my hunting partner Saya, we’re from the human continent… From the mountains of Sankou on the border of a kingdom named Neiah’nan…” The two lowered their bows and pulled back their hoods of their cloaks. Though impossible to make out colours in the darkness, Mariel noticed that Tizare had a gentle expression and gave off an aura of calmness. His partner Saya appeared meek and quiet, standing quietly behind him.

“But Neiah’nan lies along the eastern coast of the human continent… Why are you here?” Mariel decided to ask the obvious, and Tizare shrugged.

“We were in the capital Kay’tah when a strange magical phenomenon pulled in half the population during the summer parade celebrations…” Tizare put his bow over his shoulder and slid the arrow back into its quiver. “We won’t harm you… But if we truly are where you say, we need directions to get back home.”

“You don’t seem to care much? We’re demonkin after all…” Corwil remained wary.

“I couldn’t care less if you were a pair of dairy animals… I just want to get back home, alive, and if this is your kind’s place, we’re prudent to make allies while we can.”

“Allies… Hm, interesting notion, but right now, this forest is brimming with danger. There are many soldiers here.” Corwil picked up his daggers.

“We should find shelter… It will rain.” Saya whispered, pointing to the sky where dark clouds were gathering rapidly.

“We have a gathering point… We should head there now.” Corwil led them back the way they came. As they went, an occasional scream could be heard somewhere, carried on the wind. As they entered a clearing they came upon an armoured corpse, a great lance driven through the plate.

“Look here.” Saya examined the body and retrieved a small book and a pen from the body. She opened the book and handed it over to Tizare whom read it slowly.

“We’ve landed somewhere strange… What sort of evil brought us here? I have found five of the recruits… They are raw, untrained and hot-headed… This forest is strange…” He continued reading. “We are tracking a cart. It’s heavily laden. I found a small stuffed rabbit. I think the cart may belong to a family. I hope not.” His expression darkened considerably as he read the final passage.

“We found the cart. The recruits killed the family owning it. They were poor, but had a little food on them… I’m injured.”

“Scum...” Corwil spat angrily on the ground.

“Let’s continue… Lead the way.” Tizare patted Corwil’s shoulder and they continued.

They returned to the rallying point to find the others already having arrived before them. The other villages were distraught to see Tizare and Saya, but after Corwil’s assurances, they grumbled and let them join.

“Several dead… This forest isn’t safe anymore. We must speedily arrange for a messenger to be sent to Rhonvel to ask for reinforcements. There is a storm coming, which will make movement difficult…” The elder advised the others. Before he could finish, Tizare raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“Draw your weapons… We’re surrounded.”

Before any of them could draw their swords, Saya had loosed three arrows into the undergrowth, and a bunch of screams echoed. Using the respite, every villager got their weapons out and went into battle against the soldiers hurling out of the treeline. Tizare fired an arrow at one of the attackers. It passed straight through, and the body tumbled to the ground. Corwil was fighting two hooded and cloaked figures in a deadly dance of dagger swipes. Saya had disappeared from sight, but arrows flew from a nearby tree. The first few villagers were cut down with ease, leaving one badly wounded and one dead. The attackers closed in on Mariel whom held her sword with shaking hands. In desperation she raised her sword and charged. The attackers stood and waited, upon getting close, she brought her sword down.

In the blink of an eye, she felt a big fist close around her neck and lift her up into the air. Her blow had been parried. She choked and desperately tried to loosen the deadly grip with her hands. The other attacker whom was covering his partner was cut down by an arrow through the throat. Mariel saw a shadow approach from behind. Her attacker noticed and quickly threw her to the ground. With a closed fist, he turned around and drove his punch into Saya’s gut. She fell to the ground coughing and choking as the attacker raised his blade.

Still in shock, and dazed by the lack of air, Mariel laid on the ground. Before her she could see what was about to happen. Her sword was lying uselessly a distance away. In panic, she gripped the first thing her hand found and threw it at the attacker.

With a thud, the stone impacted on the warrior’s head, knocking him off-balance and causing him to drop his sword. Recovering, he quickly kicked Saya’s head, and rushed for her, his face red with anger.

“S-stay away!” Mariel shouted and tried to scramble away, but her body felt heavy and painful.

The big warrior groaned and stopped in his tracks. Through his neck, a pointy metal blade emerged, sending a spatter of blood landing on her face. The blade dug deeper, and blood began seeping down along it, flowing onto her clothes.

With a twist, the sword was pulled out along the side. The body promptly tumbled onto its side on the ground.

“Mariel! Corwil rushed over to her and cradled her in his lap.

“You’re safe… I got you. Try to remain calm…” He tried to calm her, but Mariel’s feelings had long since overflowed as the panic began to settle into her. He closed his arms around her, trying to ease her shivering and loud sobs.

Around them, the battle was dying out. The attackers had been defeated.

“We lost two… But if not for our newfound friends… We would have lost many more…”

“You people fought well… You don’t look like soldiers.” Tizare approached, wiping blood from his dagger.

“Most of us served during the last demon-human war… We may have become complacent, but we haven’t forgotten our second nature just yet.” Corwil helped Mariel to her feet, but all her strength had left her body. He held onto her.

Behind Tizare, Saya climbed back on her feet and came over.

“Saya! I’m glad you’re up and going again.” Tizare smiled and patted her back.

“I’m dizzy...”

“Yeah, you took a pretty rough hit back there… How bad is it?”

“I’ll live… Is Mariel okay?” Saya looked at Mariel, half hanging from Corwil’s shoulder.

“Huh? The first person you begin caring for, and it isn’t even me? And a complete stranger to boot!?” Tizare threw his hands up into the air in a dramatic, but playful gesture.

“Tizare, you’ve never saved me before.”

“Huh? Sure I have! What about that time on the top of Overlook Ridge?”

“I pulled you up after you fell.” Saya stated curtly, while giving Mariel a hug.

“Oh… Right. Oops, my bad.”

“Either way… Let’s head back to the village… You two are welcome to join us… We need to prepare our dead and plan our next move.” Corwil straightened. A pair of villagers formed up at the front of the group, while the others carried the dead, wounded as well as any weapons and equipment that remained salvageable, using the cloaks of their attackers as makeshift sacks.