Chapter Seven Demon
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Lily was watching the early morning sunrise. The night watch had been fairly uneventful, and her sister was currently by the campfire cooking breakfast. The smell of sizzling meat filled the air. The had snared a common brown Horned Rabbit that strayed too close to the camp, and she was now browning the meat in an iron skillet they had brought along. She didn’t know what her sister was cooking with the rabbit, but she didn’t ask as she knew it would be delicious.

  Her sister loved cooking and had gotten pretty good at it. The only person she knew who was a better cook than her sister was her mother. While Arlie was almost as good. As for herself, she was terrible at cooking. Every time she tried to cook something she burned it. She was fine with making a meal as long as it didn’t involve heating it. She had yet to get that part right. Not that she really practiced cooking. She found it boring, which may be part of why she always burned the food.

Her thoughts were broken when she saw someone walking in the woods. At first she couldn’t get a good look at them thanks to the trees, but after several glimpses she noticed they were getting closer. Looking around she only saw the one person, so she didn’t alert her sister. She did pull her bow off her back, and an arrow. She didn’t actually knock the arrow however merely kept it ready in case she needed it.

After several sightings she finally got a clear view of the person in the woods. It was a small girl about Arlie’s height. She was entirely naked, and her flesh was cut in a number of places. Blood pouring from her wounds. Lily put her bow away, and her arrow back in its quiver and rushed out to the girl. She didn’t think the girl a threat, but she was clearly injured. Her quick experience feet as a huntress allowed her to close the distance in an instant. The uneven ground and gnarled roots weren’t a problem for her, and did nothing to slow her down.

Up close she found the girl looked to be in better shape than she did from afar. She had been cut several times, mostly on her arms and legs. The girl slumped as soon as got to her, and she looked her over. She didn’t have any cuts on her front, but did have a few on her back, and even an arrow was sticking out of her. She picked the girl up and rushed her back to the camp. She pulled the medicines out of the cart and immediately set about cleaning her wounds.

The girl was already unconscious so she applied some potion directly to the wounds instead of making her drink it. Arlie was very good with potions so their effects were pretty immediate. The arrow was the trickiest, but she knew that pulling one out was stupid. Instead she pushed it through, and then broke the head off before pushing a heated iron rod through. The rod was part of their first aid kit, and was enchanted to produce heat when held. Just one of the many luxuries that Arlie had thanks to her family. Once the wound was cauterized and disinfected she poured a liberal amount of potion into the wound. Allowing it to heal at a rapid pace. When she was finished she looked up to see Rose, watching her with Alrie sitting next to her. The food was no longer cooking and was set to the side on a log. Still in the pan she was using earlier.

“I woke Arlie up, when I saw you bring the injured girl into the camp,” said Rose answering the unasked question.

“I did what I could with your medicines. Sorry I used a potion without asking,” said Lily. Arlie just smiled and looked the girl over. The visible wounds were gone, but she was still unconscious. Lily also took her first good look at the girl. She was short, maybe a hundred and twenty centimeters at the most. Her skin was a creamy tan, indicative of spending her days in the sun. She had long light green hair that was currently loose. A pair of small silver horns decorated her cute round face. Her body was completely hairless, and she had a small pair of budding breasts.

“Looks like you found a young demon. You don’t normally find demons outside the Infernal Plane. I’ll find her something to wear,” said Arlie.

“Why don’t you seem concerned about that?” asked Rose worried about the demon in their midst.

“She’s harmless, mostly. Demons have a code of honor, and they follow it more faithfully than the most devout priests,” said Arlie.

“Are you saying that the code will keep us safe?” said Rose. Lily, on the other hand, didn’t feel so worried. She looked like a young girl, not the scary things described in the stories.

“Demons are people too. They just think very differently from us. They aren’t the murder happy creatures described in stories,” said Arlie while rummaging through the cart.

“They aren’t? And why do you know so much about demons?” asked Rose.

“I don’t know much really. The lessons my mom left me included a short lesson demons. Just the need to know things. They really aren’t the murder happy beings you here about. Rather they are short-tempered and lustful,” said Arlie as she pulled out one of her spare robes. This one was a short thin one, that didn’t look to be made for the wilderness. It was the sort of thing you would wear around town.

“I guess the short temper is where the rep comes from, but why did you emphasize lustful?” asked Lily curious now.

“That has to do with the part my mom wanted me to know. Demons need a lot of mana, and can’t produce it on their own. At least not here on the mortal plane, as they can’t stomach the raw mana here. Instead, they will lure young men and women to them sexually, and drain them of their mana. Before you ask this isn’t normally fatal, but it can be. They can drain mana it other ways, but they just love sex too much to do it any other way,” said Arlie as she cut her finger and stuck into the demon girl’s mouth.

“What are you doing!?” asked Lily surprised and Rose quickly expressed the same concern.

“Feeding her. Why do you think Vampires suck blood? It contains more than just the nutrients they need, but the mana they crave. Demons can be fed in the same way,” said Arlie. As the girl unconsciously began to suckle on the finger.

“So blood contains mana?” asked Rose.

“Most body fluids do. The ones that contain the most are blood, sexual fluids, and interestingly enough breast milk. Don’t ask me how much they have in relation to each other. I didn’t pay much attention to that particular lesson,” said Arlie.

“So your mom left you a lesson on Demons? What exactly did it cover?” asked Lily wanting to know more, and to change the subject away from body fluids.

“That lesson covered more than just Demons. Mom wanted me to know about what living creatures were most dangerous to a mage. Demons and Vampires are both dangerous to mages, because of their cravings for mana. It isn’t uncommon for them to make mages into their pets. Demons, however, have powerful unique magics, and some mages will make contracts with them,” said Arlie.

“I thought the most dangerous thing to a mage was a mage eater,” said Rose remembering some stories she had heard about them.

“Mage eater? They can be dangerous yes. They aren’t the most dangerous to a mage though. Their ability to eat spells makes them strong against mages, but they aren’t any stronger than a Human so all I need is a weapon to fight one, or better yet a buddy. If anything the vampire is the most dangerous,” said Arlie.

“Why?” was the simple question the twins voiced. Only to be answered by an unexpected party.

“It would be their innate mind magic. They can literally command a person to submit to them,” said the girl after she spit Arlie’s finger out. Her gaze was resting on the robe resting in Arlie’s lap. Now that she was awake Lily noted her purple eyes. Arlie silently handed the robe over, and then  she introduced herself, “I’m Arlie Contrey, and you are?”

The girl showed a visible reaction to Arlie's name and took a moment to compose herself before she introduced herself.

“I’m Ixil, daughter of Lord Xel’Merix. You aren’t going to make me your slave are you?” she said with a fearful tone. Lily curious as to why she was suddenly afraid of Arlie asked her, “Why are you scared of Arlie?”

“The Contreys have a history of enslaving demons,” said Ixil in a small voice.

“I’m not going to enslave you, but may I ask what a young noble demon is doing alone in Varixyies?” said Arlie changing the subject.

“I’m not exactly sure. Something odd was happening at the Last Lord’s temple so I went to investigate. I remember reaching the temple and walking up the steps and past the statues. After that is a blur, as the next thing I remember is waking up in the woods naked and covered in wounds,” said Ixil as she slipped on the robe. It actually a little big for her, especially in the chest, and then she gave a quick chant. The robe glowed and shrank. Some of the fabric even disappeared as it reshaped itself to better fit her smaller frame.

The reshaped robe barely spared any cloth to cover her chest and exposed her stomach. In fact, after it was finished reshaping it couldn’t be called a robe anymore. It was now a simple wrapping to cover her chest, well, half of it anyway. Her lower half was now covered by a short skirt, that barely hid what was beneath. Her legs, arms, and stomach were all completely exposed. It was an outfit that she wouldn’t wear herself, nor would any self-respecting mother let their child wear. Then on her feet, a pair of white socks, and boots formed. Likely from leftover material.

“A child shouldn’t be wearing such revealing clothes!” shouted Lily appalled at the outfit change.

“I’m one hundred and twelve years old, in demon terms that's equivalent to your midteens. Besides children grow too quickly to waste clothes on,” said Ixil.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you need to wear more,” said Lily, she didn’t say anything about the other statement. Mostly since she knew plenty of people who didn’t buy clothes for their kid’s first couple of years. Clothes were expensive, so people wanted to limit the amount they bought for their kids, and when they did buy them they got them large so they could grow into them. A flash of rage passed on Ixil’s face when she heard Lily’s statement, but it quickly passed.

“I’ll let that pass and assume it is ignorance, but in demon society, the less a person wears the higher their status. I changed the robe to match my status as a mid-ranked noble,” said Ixil.

“I hear the Drow have similar customs,” said Arlie. Lily remembered hearing some stories about that from the few adventurers that passed through the town. In the case of the Drow she had heard it was a statement of power. Lily then realized that she had unintentionally insulted the demon, by telling her to dress as if she was of lower status. She gave a quick apology for the insult, and after the demoness accepted Rose went to wake the boys.

As they were eating breakfast, Arlie asked about the temple the demoness mentioned.

“Yes temples aren’t very common on the Infernal Plane, but the Last Lord created a thousand temples on the plane. Apparently they have counterparts on the celestial plane. No one knows for certain why the temples were built, but they are places of great power. Legend has it that they maintain the barrier between the Abyss and the Infernal Plane. Which is why no one messes with them, and it is why when I heard something odd was happening I went to investigate,” said Ixil.

The rest shared a look of confusion, and Arlie voiced the question, “I’m not all that familiar with the Abyss, and what is this barrier you speak of?”

“No one is all that familiar with the Abyss beyond the stories about it. Legend has it that in an age that is now mostly forgotten, the gods warred with terrible creatures. Unable to defeat these creatures they locked them away in the depths of the Abyss. These creatures became known as the Fallen. The barrier is what keeps the Abyssal creatures in the Abyss, and everyone else out,” said Ixil. Lily noticed that Arlie’s face went dark at the mention of the Fallen. Thron looked clueless as ever, but Horon showed some recognition. She recognized the name as well. The Fallen were described as a vile twisted reflection of whatever creature they happened to resemble that feeds on suffering. Everyone had heard the name as it was part of the story of origin.

“You said something odd was happening at the temple. Was that something affecting the barrier?”

“Yes, some lesser Abysals have already escaped the Abyss. Fortunately nothing as dangerous as a Fallen, but if the barrier keeps weakening it is only a matter of time,” said Ixil.

“I guess we just found one more reason to visit the Red Temple,” commented Lily, remembering that conquering its trial entitled them an answer to a question from the gods.

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