“Did she have any family?”

The archer and rogue stood outside Jessica’s house.

“No, not that I could find. She and Dustin were runaways I suppose. Still, the people were not happy to learn about what happened. They started out angry about the mess, got angrier when I told them of Hayley’s death, and they looked furious when I told it was the queen’s orders.”

Sarah turned her attention to the house.

“How’s she doing?”

It had been two days since the group returned from Hammington, Jessica was dealing with the aftermath of her worst hangover, Eric was spending time with Blue to cope. Just thinking about it made the archer shake and feel ill.

“She’s living. The hangover yesterday nearly killed her, thought she might throw up an organ at least. She and Eric are doing their best to heal, but I think it’s going to just be us four for the next sin. Not going to lie Sarah, you look like you should be staying put too.”

“No, we’re in this together.”

“You know, Eric said something similar to Jessy while we were on the road to Hammington. I don’t know if I can trust those words anymore.”

“Where are we going anyways?” Sarah had tried to change the direction of the conversation but was also sincere in her curiosity.

“Gnash. Again, surprisingly close. I have heard talk of a devil this time, so maybe it’s the same one from Branton, but I somehow doubt it. I guess it doesn’t matter, the queen wants us to kill them. Go get Matthew, I’m ready to go and I’ll drag Brian with us whether he’s ready or not.”

The archer and rogue departed, Adriana gathering her things and checking on Brian while Sarah checked to see if Matt was ready.

When the four gathered in the south center, various glances had communicated their concern moving forward. There were no words, however, but each one could feel the regret of the other three.

Exiting the south gate, the old dirt road looked the same but felt so foreign. A simple, innocent road now seemed ugly and daunting, an unfortunate encounter reaching a despicable conclusion awaited them at their destination. Even trudging along, the sun hadn’t budged in the time elapsed during their travel.

In one short inspection of the town, nothing could be gathered. Just like before, no one acted strange, odd, funny, off, or peculiar. The group would have to snoop around, hope that the devil wasn’t masquerading in their human form, even if the sins stood out just as much as humans as they did devils.

Upon inspecting the weapons shop, nothing was out-of-place and no one was familiar. Any place of valuables was not mysteriously bereft of any inventory. No one was seeking special services. That left only one option as far as Matt was concerned.

The group had entered the largest restaurant they could find, three of them keeping the waiters entertained while Matthew inspected the kitchen. Among the white coats and black pants of the cooks, one young man stood out with his blue jeans and western shirt under his apron. Tapping his shoulder, the knight had dragged him out of the kitchen.

“Consarn it, what in the heck is the meaning of this? I’m trying to cook.”

“You’re Clyde, are you not?” The other three had turned their attention to the chef standing next to their leader, analyzing his outfit.

“Why yes, and you look kinda familiar. Do I know y’all?”

“I am Matthew Baronia, and my friends and I have been sent to kill you on Queen Vanilla’s behest after one of you sins killed over one hundred innocent people in Branton.”

“Ooh, that’s unfortunate.” The rotund man breathed through his teeth. “I hadn’t heard hide nor whisper of that, but I reckon you lot didn’t come all this way to hear me say I didn’t do it, so if you could give me a minute to finish my work, I’ll be right with ya.”

“Fine, but we’ll keep in eye on all exits.”

The knight relayed his plan to the others, quickly making his way to the back exit of the restaurant while the others watched the front. It wasn’t long before the back door opened, the man walking out to greet Matthew.

“Well, looks like my only means of escape failed me.” Matt had raised an eyebrow in suspicion, which Clyde had obviously noticed. “I know you might not believe me, but I’m a man of my word, ninety nine percent of the time. I just like to be an optimist as well.”

Making their way the entrance of town, the others stood back, Sarah taking the lead of execution.

“Clyde, I’ll be the one to ask you this: do you have anything to say before we fight?”

“Well, first I’d like to say I’m rather grateful y’all were considerate enough to let me finish my last meal. Second, I’m curious if you killed any of my friends before now, and how difficult it was.”

“We killed two, the big slow one and the tiny one. Only needed one friend to kill the latter, and we’re all still alive.” Brian was impatient with the man, wanting to end this charade and move on.

“Shoot, Dustin and Hayley? Poor kids died too young. Thought they were pretty tough, but I guess if they didn’t take any of you down permanently, I don’t got much chance. I guess for my third statement, I’d like to ask you something: How do you all feel about pain? You in the mood for that dish? Because it’s the only thing I can and am willing to serve.”

Transforming into a round devil, Clyde pulled out a giant spatula. “Dustin and Hayley may have left their weapons at home, but I make sure to always carry this baby. I won’t let you get away with taking my friend’s lives.”

The ceaseless consumer did what he did best: his stomach had opened and created a large wind tunnel that pulled the four toward him. To his surprise, a fireball smacked him in the face, stopping the wind tunnel and letting the others continue to beat on the helpless creature. Bouncing back further and further, Clyde felt hopelessness settling in until he could stand up again.

“Oof, I ain’t cut out for this fighting business, but I can’t let you all get to the others. I guess I’ma die anyways, so…”

Clyde began consuming again, the large wind tunnel fiercer then before. Brian attempted another fireball, but it couldn’t escape the winds. The four had done everything they could to ground themselves, but the wind force was too much for Sarah; the elf was having flashbacks as she came within inches of being eaten, only to suddenly fall onto the ground.

Looking up at the beast in front of her, she could only see his charcoal black skin until she stepped back to see just how much be ballooned. The already large devil was now massive, torso completely sphere-shaped. With a leap, the devil bounced toward the elf, Sarah running and barely escaping the earth cracking impact.

Continuing to run and gain distance, the elf pelted the balloon with arrows, Brian and Adriana joining in with their own projectiles while attempted to turn the tables by creating a metal pole where the devil would land. The lightning bolts and fireballs bounced off harmlessly and the metal pole bent over, but the arrows managed to lodge themselves into Clyde’s stomach.

As he landed, the rotund devil realized that continuing like this was fruitless, he was simply too slow to reach them. Releasing the air trapped inside, he began deflating, the wind force now pushing the others away with too much force for them to approach. Continuing to expel air, Clyde could feel liquid also being expelled, a sign to stop if he were in a normal situation, but he kept going, his body continuing to wane beyond its normal size.

Finally, the wind had stopped, the group could see again. Behind them, a couple of trees had been uprooted, and in front of them stood a completely new looking person. The devil was now stick-thin, flaps of skin hanging off in strange places; in a second, said devil was rushing toward them, glowing red spatula in his hand.

Matthew jumped ahead of the group, ready to parry whatever move his opponent had in mind. Once he approached, the spatula had hit the knight’s arm, burning it and causing the him to retract the sword hand while trying to retaliate with his shield. Just as he though one of his weapons would work, the devil’s stomach suddenly expanded, sending the swordsman flying behind the rest.

Seeing her chance, the rogue jumped in to strike at the expanded stomach, but her effort was rewarded with another whirlwind, sending her soaring twice as far as her leader. The dragoon sent a fire blast his way, which he promptly ate with his stomach, launching it back at triple the speed. Narrowly avoiding it, the dragoon got within melee distance, but any actual melee attempts were stopped just like with the knight. Clyde attempted to repeat the process, exhaling air, only for the dragoon to stand his ground using own wind.

Clyde was about to speak before a sharp pain exploded from his knee. Looking away from the dragoon for a split second, he could see an arrow embedded where he would no longer be able to bend his left leg. When he saw the dragoon’s smug, he attempted to inhale air, only for Brian to stop him. Persistent, more holes had opened around his body and even on his arms, too many sources for Brian to plug. This time, he exhaled a hurricane which overpowered the dragoon.

Huffing and puffing, Clyde realized he had used up too much energy. Even the simple act of breathing hurt, but at least he had won. Or so he thought, before another arrow pierced his chest. In his anger, the anorexic devil forgot about the archer. Looking her over, he could she her feet wrapped in vines attached firmly to the ground, now beginning to relinquish her.

Sarah approached her target cautiously, willing to strike him at any moment. Her nerves relaxed when she saw him return to his ‘normal’ self, his body still grotesquely thin especially compared to before the fight. Falling to his knees, the elf quickly caught him.

“Do you have anything left to say?”

“I got to live my dream as a cook, even if only for a couple weeks. Least you could do is tell my friends before you off’em too.”

The elf could feel the already light body grow featherweight. For a moment, she believed that watching her friends die would numb her to the pain, but something deep down began to stir. Those thoughts of her friends resurfaced, the suffering had refreshed itself, and now when she thought of those lost by Jade’s means, the images of the dead sins had melded with those of her team.