It might not be Corym on fire. Lavinia can’t be sure from the view off her vantage alone but it might not be Corym. She nears the bottom of the hill but the forest and observes that the billowing pillars of smoke rising out of it meander farther than her eyes let on. The centre, where Corym ought to stand, isn’t all consumed in the fire, it couldn’t be with how much water and mud the swamp before it had to quench whatever fires rage.

Still, there’s no denying the rising flames and so Lavinia makes it her new destination. Even if things between the Kimpe and Trirax progressed for the worse surely the Caldri wouldn’t let their quarrels burn down their home right? It is their home as well, though as Lavinia’s had little experience with the Caldri she can’t begin to think what they’d choose to do about the Kimpe and Simak wishing the Trirax out of Corym.

It doesn’t matter. Ulx will be there, Seraph and Jonn too. Lavinia muses as she shuffles down the sloping bottom of the wide hillside, its craggy surface scratching against her barefoot. At the true bottom of the hill Lavinia stops to look back up at it, marvelling at how the monument of earth rises to the split sky— a facet she can no longer see from the bottom— and its many stalks of tall grass. Lavinia searches and to her far right is the beginning of the beach, on an incline of sand leading down to the [Ruishia Sea] and its shore. To her left is more desolation. Further into its desolation are some leafless trees and displaced rocks but little else colours or even marks the landscape to her left.

The ground kept its secrets with crevasses and deep burrows but Lavinia’s destination strays far and is clearly on fire so she pays it and whatever crawls beneath no mind. She continues her march, venturing to close the distance between the hillside and the smoky forest situated further into Reais' desolation than it would have been if she came out at it from the beach.

She doesn’t mind the distance. It's been too long she got lost and now Corym lies ahead. All she needs to do is keep on walking, and she does.

Her eyes key on the desert horizon spotted by poking treetops and the billowing gust of smoke as she trudges along. With nothing to do or hunt, Lavinia’s mind drifts to her pressing concerns, among which the loss of her hand is one of significance.

She hadn’t managed to rip open the bellies of every last Kaze-Kuime, one escaped her reach and so she remains with only her left-side complete. Given how little Crystal Essence she has to begin with, regenerating the hand will take time she doesn’t have. She’s certain that even at her purposefully sluggish pace, she’ll arrive at within the forest and before the smoke stops rising. That alone should amount to a day of restless travel judging by the distance and Reais’ loose definition of a day. Red phases from dark to light shades and nothing more.

She grunts, reminded that without rest her regeneration is all that slower. An exciting thought to charge into the forest and begin hunting down prey anew steals Lavinia’s intrigue for a moment and her pace hastens. There’s no reason to avoid a fight when it’s the one thing that will heal her better than ever.

Actually…

With the half full state of her Soul Crystal, her Perks and regeneration fetch Essence directly from her Crystal Essence, shortening the life span of her soul and reducing its natural defensiveness to possibly less than what she had as a Pink tier demon. [Reais Smite] might be her cheapest Perk to throw around in a battle but it doesn’t solve all her problems, sometimes a more expensive Perk like [Crimson Blink] or even [Wave Shot] is needed to coordinate attacks smoothly.

The more she thinks about it the more it sounds like a bad idea. In the end, Lavinia doesn’t decide whether to use her Perks in battle or not. Before she can convince herself of either side the knock and roll of a rock against the dusty ground alerts her to a presence ahead.

In the hardly discernible light of Reais and its dusty winds, Lavinia squints at the four figures swaying forward. She takes a deep breath, having the wind bring the scent of the creatures and discovers that two are demons, living demons to be specific as the deadness of demon corpses lingers on the wind as well. Another two are monsters of the some species Lavinia doubts she’s run into. The demons ride upon them, creatures of long reptilian bodies and hump wide and strong enough to move while weighed with corpses as well as their masters. Their snouts are star shaped and are home to a slithering, sniffing tongue that whips the ground as they move along, throttled by treats and by the kick of their master.

Masters that saddled themselves atop their beasts without a hint of discomfort or even wariness at Lavinia’s approach. They have numbers on their side, no need to be cautious. Lavinia has enough to worry about should if they trouble her but there’s something about them, the way they carry themselves. On any other day, meeting a demon out in the wild would be free game but tonight…

Lavinia sees them clearer now. The fat one on the left bounces along to the rhythm of his burdened reptilian ride. His body is consumed by many holes and orifices steaming with heat it forms a mirage of haze at his jaw. Any one of the holes could be mistaken for eyes or a nose or even a mouth given their varying sizes, but his true face is a slippery mess of sweltering skin. Whatever burns within the demon burns out as well, forcing his eyes to sink into watery pools and his nose to melt, blending in with the rest of the holes adorning his pear shaped body. Despite looking like he exists in a state of constant suffering, the demons mouth lies close to its rotund stomach, curving up and down in a wide, splitting arc of a smile that belayed a maw of heat and grinding teeth.

The demon on the beast to the right reveals little of itself to Lavinia. A shroud of darkness or perhaps simply a veil or some kind of hood hangs over its head. Sharp red eyes pierce at her from underneath the its silk like flow around the demon’s body. She can tell there’s a body in there because of all the demon reveals, its black and jewelled hands are the most exposed as they grip onto reins. While its companion is fat and full of itself, this demon is tall, long even as the shroud or veil upon it extends with the glowering eyes it has transfixed on Lavinia.

She slows to a stroll as they come to cross. Lavinia recognizes the corpses hung at the sides of their lizard-kin mounts as Trirax and Caldri. She narrows her eyes and raises her chin to meet the intense glare of the shrouded one. It's eyes widen a fraction, seemingly surprised as it halts the mount.

Lavinia stands before both, not daring to flare Essence or even cast [Inspect] on either of the demons. Compared to Henry, their oppressive presence pales in comparison, like a jar of DazzleFlies to a raging inferno. Had she been without a literal handicap, Lavinia would relish challenging the strange demon leering down at her, instead, for the moment she knows she must deceive it. She recognized the strength within its eyes and understood that it wouldn’t kill her unless she brought it to do so and unless she’s hostile it would merely pass her by. It’s both to her advantage and disadvantage that her strength in Essence is as abysmal as it is.

While the shrouded one continues to stare the fat one vocalizes something in a deep, grating tone. Lavinia doesn’t dare move even as it waves and yells at her and its shrouded companion. Had the fat one been alone Lavinia’s worries will only be about Essence expenditure. It is an unknown demon with unknown capabilities but strength speaks to strength and Lavinia knows she can eat it. Perhaps that is what’s happening between the shrouded one and herself, its gaze remains even through its companion’s hails and noise.

“Do you serve?” Finally, it speaks. Except as it does, the voice carrying the words doesn’t come from the dark sheet covering the demon, instead it comes from within Lavinia’s own head.

Lavinia resists her screaming instinct to take a step back. Standing still and waiting for trouble to pass is as docile as she’ll let herself be, “No.” she answers firm and assured. There isn’t anyone worth serving.

“Who is your Noble General?” the voice asks. It rings that title like a whisper on an empty wind in her head.

She’s heard it before somewhere, Noble General, but can’t be sure where. From what she can tell it must mean the same thing as the demon’s first question and so Lavinia answers, “No. I serve myself.”

The demon moves at last, tilting its head to the side as it chides in her head, “That will not do. A demon as lithe as yourself will only find a troublesome and purposeless death in this realm. You must come.”

What?

The fat demon grunts something that finally takes away the shrouded demon’s attention as Lavinia begins formulating a plan of attack. I should have expected this. Everyone wants Lavinia for themselves. Her eyes dance at the monster reptiles licking their faces with long tongues, deciding she will have to kill one and hijack the other somehow if she is to retreat.

“Fear not.” The demon speaks in her head again. Can it hear me think? See my fear? “We will cross paths again; I am sure of it.”

Without any kind of consequence befalling Lavinia, the two demons whip their mounts to move again. The fat demon’s wide smile falls to a melting scowl as it passes by Lavinia. She doesn’t mind or question its ire as she’s sure it’s the reason they're leaving and that’s exactly the miracle outcome she needed. It’s shrouded companion glances back at Lavinia as the lizard-kin sway through the dust and crag, a promise to cross paths again ripe in its gleaming eyes.

Lavinia waits until they’re as far as they were when she first saw them before she gets moving again. A fresh panic washes over her as she struggles to decide what to do; Corym lies ahead, but she’s crippled in more ways than one. Crevasses and burrows fit for a week long slumber litter the rusted earth but the forest calls as does her curiosity and fear— those demons carried Trirax and Caldri corpses, but not Kimpe. Has the Kimpe won? What has happened to Corym?

Whatever the answer is, Lavinia will need strength. She felt as though she’d spent all her luck avoiding a fight with that shrouded demon and it must be so because the need to return to Ulx, and retrieve her GroveStaff becomes all the more urgent.

“He had better not be dead when I get there.”