Cheer filled the shanty Inn of Bona. Demons of all creeds drank to their hearts' contents as they bantered and talked about their tedious day. All the while, Kalika stared at her food at the bar table. She then looked at her drink. "Water?"
"" Kalika asked.
The tall innkeeper, Myno, turned to Kalika as she continued to stir the cauldron of stew. "
"Huh!?" Kalika glared indignantly at the women. With a tinge of annoyance, she turned her head and growled softly.
"Whatever. But where are those idiots anyway?"
********
Bjorn, who still bore the crescent symbol with a line through it on his chest, chugged down a barrel of ale, then exhaled. He leaned over, pressing his back against the outside of the Inn's walls. "So that's what happened."
"More or less," Zelak affirmed as he leaned right beside Bjorn. "And as much as I hate to admit it, things didn't turn out the way I expected." he pulled his mug of ale and drank it.
"Coming from you, I'm not surprised."
Donovan pulled his mug away from his lips, stood back off the wall, and peeked at Zelak. "I'm still surprised you did that, to be honest. I didn't expect a demon like you to sacrifice yourself like that."
"Don't thank me. I'm just acting as a Zorbian vassal of change to help the champion follow his path."
Donovan exhaled. "Yeah... right." he leaned back on the wall and shuddered as he felt a familiar pair of eyes continuing to watch him.
Not long after, a traffic of demons poured from the Inn's entrance and dispersed throughout the residents, as people returned home for the late afternoon. And as quickly as they came, they completely left.
Zelak took another drink, savoring its taste. All the while, Donovan continued to stiffen up in his demon disguise as he glanced from Bjorn to the entrance where Charla was watching him. "Sh-she's still watching me..."
"Relax, human. Since you're her master, she can't go against your will... for the most part."
"Th-that's easy for you to say. And it's not very reassuring either- WAH!!>"
"
Donovan shook and stood in silence.
"She's asking if you want food," Zelak noted.
"Y...Yeah... I think I can tell..." Donovan quickly turned Charla away, disappointing her.
Charla returned to the Inn, only to return seconds later to peep on Donovan from just under the door cover.
"You can't be serious." Donovan thought.
An excitement coursed through Charla, knowing that she was noticed. Her tail wrapped around her leg even tighter than before, and she tightened her grip on the door. And from the patron's view, inside the Inn, she was practically shaking from excitement. Kalika noticed this too, and rolled her eyes and returned to her food.
Back outside the Inn, Bjorn took another sip before placing the barrel down. "It's hard for me to tell if you were incredibly lucky or unfortunate. With that whole contract situation. Heh, I dare say this is your second time a succubus took interest in you."
"Incredibly unlucky! A-and don't remind me! She was rubbing on me and everything when those other giant demons were fighting Kalika and Zelak. I thought I was going to lose my mind."
"If you ask me, you should just give her what she wants. The sooner you do, the sooner she'll leave you alone." Zelak said.
"S-screw that!" Donovan broke from the wall and turned to glare at Zelak. "Why the hell would I sleep with a demon of all things!?"
"Hey, you're a man, aren't you? there's no shame in sleeping with a woman" Zelak teased. "Besides, it shouldn't make a lick of difference to you one way or another, you remember what Zigfred said, and I tend to agree with him."
"I wouldn't bet on it! I'm not gonna die any time soon. Besides, I have my standards."
"Oh yeah?" Zelak stepped up, and threw his body around with a sly smile. "And what standards would that be? Looking for a green-eyed blonde-haired beauty?" He mocked.
Donovan poised his hands ready to punch, but like before, he couldn't move his fist. "Grrr!! Damn it all!!"
Suddenly, a plate of the offered meat was thrown onto Zelak, surprising him. Speechless, he looked at his body that was now covered in its juices, then at the apparent perpetrator who stood in stunned silence. He cringed. "
Charla hid behind the entrance again. All the while, Donovan could only looked at her in confusion as Bjorn erupted into laughter.
Zelak wiped himself of the meat juice. "My point still stands. You don't know what you want. I bet you don't have a clue what you'll do when you leave the pit, do you?"
"I . Well I was thinking of helping Kalika..."
Zelak smirked. "That's it? I might die helping the champion myself. But at least I'll know that my heirs will live on and that I lived my life well. In a way, I pity you. You're a male with no mate to inherit your will. The least you can do is lose your virginity."
Donovan scoffed.
"He's not going to do it," Bjorn said. "He's too much of a coward."
"And now you're ganging up on me!?"
Zelak laughed out loud at Bjorn's sudden remarks.
"I'm pointing out the obvious. You've been shaking and stuttering every time we passed women on these streets."
"Are you sure he isn't just buzzing with excitement?" Zelak joked.
Bjorn simply turned and glared at Zelak before taking another sip from his share of ale.
"I-is it that obvious?" Donovan asked. He looked straight into his mug of ale, sighing.
"So what? You're afraid of women or something. You seem to get along well with the champion."
"Well, Kalika, she kind of helped me out of a rough spot a couple of times, so I sort of got used to her, I guess. I try not to let it get to me, but… I… just can't seem to shake it off."
Zelak blurted out a laugh and swigged the last of his drink down. "That's pathetic. How do you expect to be a man without a woman?" He then threw his empty mug to the side of the road.
Donovan glared at Zelak. "That's not important right now. Look I don't plan on dropping dead anytime soon. what's important is that we get to Oar's and fix Bjorn. After we can put all our effort into getting out of here."
"That was the deal. "Bjorn agreed. "By the way, how is your heart holding up so far?" Bjorn asked.
"Huh? O-oh. W-well.." Donovan became silent for a moment before speaking up. "It still hurts. But I think I can manage it better than before. It seems like the further I am from the sword, the less painful it becomes."
"That's good to hear. And I assume now you understand why I advised against taking that sword from that old battle sight."
"You mean that battlefield graveyard before Berg? Yeah…"Donovan nodded.
"Well, count yourself lucky it wasn't one of those swords or daggers from that old graveyard," Zelak said. "Those ancient weapons typically have stricter conditions for using them and are a little more archaic. Back then, they placed more restrictions on their weapons to make them more powerful but also less flexible in some cases. Unlike today, of course."
"How the hell do you demons even make those swords in the first place?" Donovan questioned.
"We simply infuse our blood in the metal we forge," Bjorn explained. "Then, before it's finished, the blacksmith would usually inscribe the necessary symbols into the handguard and, depending on the commission, sometimes the blade itself."
"So you use your blood to forge your weapons and armor?'
"Just our weapons. And depending on how potent the magic is inside the blood, it could result in a stronger weapon."
"That's another reason why the champion's blood is so valuable." Zelak interrupted. "It's something that could be used to create more powerful weapons. Or so my father says. But it has yet to be tested."
"
Curious, everyone glanced down the road as they saw their cart arriving, being driven by the woodsmith demon from the day before. The woodsmith demon, Trapal, waved at the group as he slowly rolled in with their repaired cart. And in the back, Zigfred sat and waited.
"
The cart was parked just outside the Inn. The big bird beast at the lead glanced around their new setting in curiosity as they squawked.
"" Trapal explained.
Zelak approached the repaired cart and took a keen notice of Zigfred as he moved to get out of the cart.
"
Zigfred jumped off the cart. "
Quickly relenting, Zelak went on to fetch a mug of ale for Zigfred. "
Bjorn glared at the incubus. "
"
Reluctantly, Donovan took the pouch from Zigfred and peeked inside, finding a familiar piece of black parchment.
"
Bjorn tilted his head, getting a glance of the Zorbian contract being hidden. "Leave that in there." He warned.
Donovan listened and glanced back at Bjorn.
"A contract like that is outlawed. Getting caught with that in the king's territory can get you executed on the spot."
"W-why is he giving this to me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Zelak returned and passed a mug of ale to Zigfred. "His sister is your slave, so the contract belongs to you, and since he can't destroy it, he's giving it to you."
"Hmph. He doesn't seem too concerned that his sister is a slave." Bjorn noted.
"So if I destroy this contract, that means she'll be freed?" Donovan looked back at the pouch in his hand. "But that would also mean…" He glanced back at Charla, who continued to watch him.
"You know what, I think I'll hold onto it for now until it's time for us to go," Donovan said.
"How are you so sure she won't follow after that?" Bjorn argued.
"Hmm?" Donovan turned back to Bjorn.
"Just look at her. You really think she'll stay here after you destroy that contract?"
"I have to agree with the giant bastard on this," Zelak said. "The next best thing you can do is transfer ownership." Zelak turned to Zigfred, who was enjoying his share of ale. "
Zigfred chuckled. " he then took another sip from his mug in amusement.
A cold sweat ran down Zelak's face. "
"What were you just talking about?" Donovan asked.
"Zigfred isn't keen on keeping his sister a slave if he gains ownership."
"I suppose the next best thing is that you transfer ownership to Zelak when we get to Oar's," Bjorn said.
"You can't be serious!" Donovan was put into a stunned silence as Bjorn raised the barrel and gulped the last of his drink
"It can't be helped, slaves are compelled to follow their master whether or not they want to. So the next best thing is to give ownership to Zelak when we prepare to part ways."
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Donovan sighed.
Zigfred chuckled, seeing Donovan's newly soured mood.
"
"
"So that's his intention," Zelak and Bjorn thought in unison.
Zigfred continued. "
"
Zigfred glanced at Charla, who glared at him with a pout, seemingly seeing through his scheme.
Zigfred ignored her piercing gaze and continued to guzzle down the last bit of his share of ale. With his need to drink satisfied, he departed from the group, waving. " Donovan sighed. "I should probably check on Kalika now. I'll be right back."
Just as Donovan awkwardly approached the entrance, a demon suddenly flew through the door, shocking both him and Charla. "What the-" Donovan rushed inside, cutting through his fear that hindered him seconds ago.
He entered just in time to see Kalika cloaked in her dark magic, pinning an incubus to the wall. With sleepy eyes, she clenched the demon's neck and pressed her half-filled mug in his face as her cheeks flushed. "You damn demons!" Kalika's glare intensified.
Just just as quickly looked around vigorously and yelled. "Stop messing with my head Zorbian"
Donovan froze. "Crap! This isn't good! What do I-"
Unexpectedly, Kalika fell onto her back and fell into a deep sleep.
"Huh!?" Donovan was put in a stunned silence. He watched as the incubus fell to the ground and quickly scurried away, fleeing for his life as the rest just stared at Kalika in stunned silence.
Myno approached Kalika and picked a mug she drank out of.
Zelak popped his head, checking on the commotion. " Myno sighed. " " " The huge demon from behind the bar counter sighed. " ********
Lillian watched the crackle of the fire as she slowly sipped down the left over mead from the caravan. she then turned her gaze to the demon children that slept soundly under the watchful gaze of the undead women, resurrected by Lucius. She smiled, happy to see the peace.
However, Unknown to her The demon, Kajd traversed the forest. he glared at the blue skinned succubus, Mashti, who smiled at him.
" Mishti's smile deepened, knowing she had his full attention.