“And that brings us to now,” Joan said once she’d finally finished the story of who she was, who he was and what was at stake, before finally staring up at Andreas. “I know it must seem kind of weird, but trust me. You’ll get used to it.”

The man just stared at her, sitting on a small chest with the lantern resting between the two of them. He’d always been taller than her, but now she couldn’t help but feel he seemed almost like a giant in comparison. Granted, she supposed she had never been a little girl when they met. “That’s certainly quite the story,” he finally said. “So you really think I’m the chosen?”

“I know you are,” Joan said firmly. She longed to stand up, grab his hand and start dragging him to the castle, but that was impossible. Primarily because she was tied up. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you. We need to get back to the castle and--”

“Oh, now, hold up there,” Andreas said, shaking his head. “It seems you’ve really got a lot of things confused. Listen, kid, you might be some ‘hero’ or whatever, but--”

“Used to be,” Joan said.

“Right, used to be. But right now? You’re a captive. More than that, there’s a whole army of demons between us and the castle. Tell all the stories you want, but that’s not going to change,” Andreas said.

Joan stared at him, struggling to process what he just said. Slowly her head cocked to the side before her mouth fell open. “Wait. We’re behind the demon’s lines?”

“By quite a bit,” Andreas said. “We’re right in the middle of their territory. I wouldn’t worry about that too much, you have a lot of other things to worry about first. You shouldn’t be acting so friendly with me, either. We’re as far from friends as we can go.”

Joan’s mouth fell open and she stared at him. Was he threatening her? ANDREAS? That wasn’t possible. He’d never hurt her. “Wait. Other things? What do you mean other things? What could be worse than being behind their lines?”

Andreas gave a soft sigh. “Kid, let me make it pretty clear to you. That story you told? It’s not going to do you any good. First of all, nobody here is going to care that you were some ‘hero’ once. At least not in the way you’re hoping. Second, you must have hit your head pretty hard if you don’t really know where you are. Oh, sorry, if this ‘Nameless One’ sent you here,” he said, his tone showing just how ridiculous he thought it was. “I’d really try to come up with a better story than that. A lot of people here won’t take too kindly to being told you’re trying to stop their lord.”

“It’s not a story, I, wait. Their lord?” Joan asked. She stared at him for a long moment while she struggled to understand what he meant. She looked around the tent, but it was filled with, as far as she could tell, just storage. “I don’t understand. I’m not trying to stop anyone but the Demon… Lord…”

“There we go,” Andreas said.

“You’re not, no. That’s impossible,” Joan said, shaking her head before giving a light giggle. Andreas, serving the Demon Lord? The very notion was so silly and preposterous she refused to believe it for a second. “No, but seriously. You need to come with me. The rest of the chosen are waiting for us.”

“Did you not just hear what I said?” Andreas asked.

“That you’re working for the Demon Lord? Not a chance,” Joan said, rolling her eyes.

“Kid, you really don’t understand what’s going on, do you?” Andreas asked, giving her an oddly exasperated look. She couldn’t help but notice that he seemed far more emotive than she ever remembered him being. Less empty.

“Not in the slightest. In fact, I’ve kind of been making mistake after mistake and learning just how little I do know. BUT!” Joan said before narrowing her eyes on him. “I know you. There’s absolutely no way you would betray me. There’s certainly no reason you’d ever work for the Demon Lord. It’s the same as Korgron.”

“Right, the Chosen of the Crown?” Andreas asked.

“Exactly. Even if I saw her with the Demon Lord doesn’t mean she is with him now. Obviously it just means something is going on that I don’t understand,” Joan said. “Same with you.”

“I don’t even know you,” Andreas said before shaking his head. “You’re just some kid we found in the woods with some fancy swords. Speaking of, where did you get those? You some kind of mercenary?”

“I mean, kind of,” Joan said. “I was. But fine, I take it by what you’re saying that we’re in the middle of a demon camp, right? That’ll make things tricky. But if you untie me and--”

“There’s no ‘we’, kid,” Andreas said. “And there’s also no way I’m untying you. Until the rest of the offerings get here, you’ll be staying tied up and out of trouble.”

“What? Offerings?” Joan asked. “But how are we going to get out of here if I’m tied up? I need to--”

“You’re not getting out of here!” Andreas yelled, making her jump. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him get frustrated enough to yell. “Damn, you are an aggravating child. Just make peace with the gods, because in about a week you’ll likely be meeting them.”

Those words chilled her to the bone. “You can’t mean… when you say offering, you don’t mean…”

Andreas gave a small nod. “Sorry, kid.”

Joan felt her panic rising and she tried desperately to calm herself. “You’re going to sacrifice me? But I--”

“You’re a mercenary, aren’t you? You’re young, but I’ve seen younger fighting out here. Honestly, I’d rather not have to deliver a child to her death, but it’s not my choice. Any opposition we find has to be delivered, that’s the rule to survive,” Andreas said.

Joan stared at him, unable to take her eyes off the man. He was going to betray her. He really was. After a thousand lifetimes was his first betrayal going to be here? Now? When it mattered most? She finally shook her head. “No.”

“What do you mean, no?” Andreas asked.

“I refuse to believe it,” Joan said.

“Believe whatever you like,” Andreas said. “It doesn’t change facts.”

“You’re not working for the Demon Lord,” Joan said firmly.

“And yet, I am,” Andreas said. “You can’t change reality just by saying ‘no’ really hard.”

“NO!” Joan yelled. “I REFUSE! You are NOT working for him! And neither is Korgron! You CANNOT be! I refuse I REFUSE I REFUSE!” she screamed before finally she just screamed.

A moment later Andreas was kneeling by her and glaring, his hand firmly over her mouth. “Kid, knock that off. If you wanna be upset, go ahead. But--”

“Andreas, what is going on? Did the kid finally wake up?” a voice asked.

Both of them turned to the entrance of the tent, now held open and allowing Joan to see outside. The sun was slowly beginning to rise, chasing away the night and allowing her to make out a bit more of the figure in the doorway. However, the main thing she noticed about them was the twisted, demonic horns on their forehead and the way their eyes glowed an eerie blue.

“Yeah,” Andreas said. “She woke up and started throwing a tantrum. But she’s definitely a merce-- OWWW!”

It had taken a bit of maneuvering, but Joan had finally managed to get her mouth free enough to bite his hand. He responded by slamming her head down into the ground, making her let go and lay there in a confused daze. Luckily it didn’t hurt, but she certainly felt as if it should have when she laid there.

“You okay?” the demon asked, though he sounded more amused than concerned.

“I’m fine. She bit me,” Andreas said before shaking his hand. “Kid, if you don’t keep your mouth shut from now on, I’ll gag you. Are we clear?”

“If I’m not allowed to talk then wouldn’t that be basically the same thing as gagging me?” Joan asked, glaring up at him.

The demon was full on laughing now. “Oh, she’s a feisty one.”

“Gagging it is,” Andreas said. “Keep an eye on her, will you? I’ll go scrounge something up.”

“What? Why do I have to watch her?” the demon asked.

“Because you decided to check on the screaming,” Andreas said before getting to his feet. “I’ll be right back. Just don’t kill her, Dixon will have our heads.”

The demon sighed before shaking his head and walking forward, sitting on the same chest Andreas had been seated on before. “Fine. Hurry it up,” he said before the chosen disappeared through the tent flap. The demon then glanced down at her. “Seems like a bit much for such a tiny thing.”

“If I wasn’t tied up I could kill you even without a sword,” Joan said, her eyes narrowed on him.

“Ohhhh, very fiesty,” he said with a light laugh. “So then, what’s your name, human?”

Joan hmphed and tried to roll away so her back was to him. Tied up as she was, it took her three tries, but she managed it. She was quite proud of herself until she felt a foot on her side and was promptly rolled back over onto her back. She glared up at the ceiling, refusing to look at him.

“Wow, aren’t you a little brat?” he asked before getting up and walking over her so he was looking down at her. “You know, you should try and be a little more hospitable. A lot of those stories you hear about demons are true, kid. We can be quite nasty if you’re rude.”

Joan glared up at him. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“You should be,” the demon said before kneeling down and looking at her face closely. He frowned and then reached out, gently brushing his thumb against her forehead before sighing. When he pulled it back she could see blood. “Though maybe he just hit your head too hard. That’s gotta hurt.”

“Doesn’t hurt at all,” Joan said defiantly. Though, to her surprise, it actually didn’t hurt. She wondered for a moment if that was a bad sign. “I’ll tell you my name if you don’t touch me again.”

“See, was that so hard?” he asked before standing up and returning to the chest. “Did you make Andreas ‘earn’ your name too? Or is that just for us demons?”

“My name is Joan,” she said softly.

“Viglan. So what were you screaming about?”

“I woke up in a strange tent and was told I was going to be sacrificed to demons,” Joan said coldly. “Why wouldn’t I scream?”

“Hmmm,” Viglan said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes on her. After a few moments he gave a big grin. “Could be worse.”

“How could it possibly be worse?” Joan asked.

“We could be taking you to the Demon Lord directly. I hear all kinds of stories about what he does to his victims. Supposedly most beg for death. You? You’re one of the lucky ones. You’ll likely just be dragged in, quick stab and twist, then fed to demons. Over and done in a few minutes, you’ll barely have time to realize how much it hurts.”

“That does very little to make it better,” Joan said. “I won’t go down quietly.”

“You know, most people we capture beg and plead to be saved or shown mercy.”

“I’m not most people,” Joan said. “I’ve fought and killed more demons than you can imagine.” Died more times than she wanted to count as well.

Viglan gave a soft chuckle before smiling down at her. “You know, I get it. I saw that sword you were carrying. Whoever it belonged to must have been really important.”

“It was mine,” Joan said quickly, her cheeks burning at the hinted accusation.

“Sure it was. I get it,” Viglan said in a condescending tone. Joan wondered if she could kick him from here, she doubted it. Not while tied up. “You’re, what, ten? Eleven?”

Joan just glared at him.

“Five?”

Joan tried to kick him, not even managing to get her feet up more than a few inches.

“But you gotta be tough so the big bad demons don’t tear you apart, right?” Viglan asked. “But, problem is, we already got you. I’m not sure how you ended up back here. Desertion, maybe your unit was wiped out. Or who knows? Maybe you’re just some farmer’s kid who stole all that fancy gear of yours off a corpse. Pretending to be a mercenary so people won’t attack you.”

Joan tried to kick him again, but that only made him chuckle harder.

“But that tough kid act won’t work. If you’re hoping you not being scared will make us think twice about what’s coming, it won’t. What I’d suggest is you try playing up the kid part.”

“What?” Joan asked.

“You’re a little kid, try acting like it,” Viglan said. “Maybe it’ll save your life. Some tough kid who talks about killing us isn’t going to make anyone reconsider handing you over. But who knows? Maybe if you act like a good kid, instead of being killed when you’re offered up, you’ll--”

“Be turned into another demon?” Joan asked, narrowing her eyes on him. “I’d sooner die. I will NOT allow myself to be corrupted like that.”

“Awww, you’re no fun. Sometimes it’s fun to see you kids transform. The really stubborn ones sometimes survive. Better than being sacrificed, no?”

Joan glared at him and considered what she could do. He was too far to kick, but maybe she could at least spit on him. She pulled her head back and readied to launch a strike of her own.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Viglan said.

“Or what?” Joan asked.

Viglan was suddenly kneeling by her, his fingers wrapped around her chin and pulling her up off the ground by a few inches. “I’ll pull out all your pretty little teeth, kid. Oh, there it is. See, that’s much better.”

Joan stared up at him and, despite her best attempts to suppress it, she was afraid. The look in his eyes was far from pleasant, even if it was amused. More importantly, she’d seen what happened to some of the victims of demons over her many lifetimes. Tearing out her teeth was something she suspected he was very capable of. A part of her wanted to spit, if she was going to now was the best chance. But she was quickly suspecting that there had to be better ways to show her displeasure that didn’t quite tempt fate.

“Much better,” Viglan said before letting her drop back to the ground and then he stood back up. “Now, kid, there’s nothing personal here. You’re a human, I’m a demon, this is just the natural way of things. Hunter and prey, all of that. You got caught, it sucks for you. I don’t, personally, have any reason to make you miserable. Most here won’t. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to put up with biting and the like. Andreas is nice, but most aren’t. Try and be a good kid and maybe you’ll live a bit longer and get a chance to keep living. Be bad and you’ll learn just how nasty demons can be. Understand?”

“Andreas isn’t a demon,” Joan said softly.

“We don’t all have horns,” Viglan said. “You’d be surprised just how human a demon can look.”

Joan’s eyes widened and she felt her stomach almost sink into her feet. There was no possible way. Andreas couldn’t be a demon, could he? She’d certainly run into demons that looked almost human. But across so many lifetimes it would have had to come up at some point, wouldn’t it? No. Viglan had to be messing with her. That was all. While she had missed quite a bit of important information across her many lives, the species of one of her closest friends was something she knew she couldn’t have. She felt stupid for even considering it for a second.

A sound from the entrance of the tent made her glance over. Andreas stood in the doorway, a long stretch of cloth in his hand. “Found this. Thanks for watching her,” he said before walking towards her and kneeling down.

There wasn’t any way he was going to--

Her eyes widened with horror when he started to wrap the piece of cloth around her face. Despite herself, she closed her eyes and gave a soft whimper. That, at least, made him pause.

“See? Just like that,” Viglan said with a light laugh. “I think she’s learned her lesson, Andreas. Shouldn’t be necessary anymore.”

“You sure? She doesn’t really seem the quiet type. If she keeps waking everyone up at the crack of dawn with her screaming and cursing, Dixon is going to be furious,” Andreas said.

“Eh, we can leave it in here. If she gets obnoxious again, you can gag her. But you’re not going to cause us any more trouble, are you Joan?” Viglan asked.

“No,” Joan said softly.

Andreas’ eyes narrowed, but he pulled the strap away before tossing it onto the chest. “Very well.”

“Oh, don’t look so annoyed,” Viglan said in a teasing tone. “What can I say? I’ve always just had a way with children.” With those passing words the demon walked out from the tent, leaving the two alone.

Joan didn’t speak this time, instead she just stared at Andreas. There was no possible way he was a demon. She’d spent lifetimes with him, he’d fought besides her, aided her, kept her safe, been through hell together.

He couldn’t be a demon.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Andreas asked.

“You’re not a demon,” Joan said softly.

“No, I’m not,” Andreas said. “Why would you think I was?”

“No reason,” Joan said before she sighed and stared back up at the ceiling. Even he said he wasn’t. There were no signs. There was no way he was a demon. She’d have noticed.

But there was no way he would ever betray her, either. Of all the chosen who could, would or might, he was not one. This time was no different. It couldn’t be. Even if he was oddly more emotional now than before, it didn’t mean he wasn’t still Andreas. Her friend.

She would just have to figure a way out of this, somehow. For both of them.

MelodyAvant

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