Book 3: Chapter 25 (1/2)

A woman dressed in black armor was sitting by the side of a campfire. A haunch of meat was spit roasting over it. Across from her, a wary traveler was rotating the meat over the flames. He bit his lower lip, eyeing the black sword by the woman’s side. “So…, ma’am…, what brings you this far out to the south?”

The woman hesitated before answering, “South?”

***

“A devil, I see,” Tafel said nodding her head. She was standing beside Daniel, overlooking the summoning portal in the backyard. The two were standing on a pile of rubble that used to be the house but was knocked down by Alora’s clumsiness. “Is it really going to work? Summoning a being from another dimension sounds like something from a fantasy story.”

“We don’t know if it’s actually going to work,” Daniel said, rubbing his helmeted head. “But it’s worth a shot. The spell ritual and formula wouldn’t have been recorded and passed down if it hadn’t worked. More importantly, are you a devil?”

Tafel blinked and pointed at herself. “Me?”

“Yes,” Daniel said, gesturing towards his temple. “You know, the horns. When I first saw you, I thought they were ornaments, but now that I look more closely, I can see that they’re attached to your head.”

“Oh, these,” Tafel said, touching the base of one of her horns. “I’m not a devil. I’m a demon. We’re something like a mix between humans and fairies.”

“What’s a fairy?”

“It’s like a female genie.”

“…You mean the tiny people who grant wishes? They have wings on their backs, and they’re generally very rude or clingy or both?”

Tafel nodded. “Yeah, those.”

“And your race is a mix between those little people and humans…? How does that…, isn’t the size difference…, err, you know?”

Tafel groaned and held her forehead with her hand. “Not like that, okay? Just…, no. I’m not a devil, and that’s that.”

Daniel turned his head away before clearing his throat. “Right, of course.”

The two stared at the ritualists in silence. Behind the ritualists, Vur and Alora were competing in balancing trees vertically on their snouts without using their paws. Alice and Mr. Skelly were sitting in a corner with Alice leaning on Mr. Skelly’s plated chest, her eyes closed and a line of drool leaking from her mouth.

“Anyways…,” Tafel said, breaking the silence. “Why are you trying to summon a devil? It has something to do with this empress that you people call a demon lord, right?”

“Yes. The demon lord is an unbelievably strong existence,” Daniel said. “Only a devil can hope to defeat her.” He glanced at Vur and Alora. Alora’s tree fell off her snout towards the ritualists, but Vur smacked it away with his tail before it could crush them. “Or two dragons, but dragons don’t interfere with humans. Usually.”

Tafel sighed as Vur puffed his chest out, looking down on Alora. “You want to ask about them, don’t you?” Tafel asked. “Well, don’t. I don’t feel like answering.”

Daniel nodded. “Alright.” He paused. “They won’t interfere with the summoning process, right?”

“Not on purpose,” Tafel said with a dark expression on her face. Alora’s tail nearly squished one of the ritualists out of anger. Tafel rose to her feet and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hey! You two! Stop fighting so close to the ritual site!”

“Ah,” Alora said as she shuffled her tail away. “My bad.” She looked around before pointing at a relatively empty clearing. “Let’s go compete over there instead.”

“But I already won,” Vur said.

“I can beat you in something else!” Alora said. “I don’t believe you can do anything I can do but better.”

Vur clicked his tongue as he followed after Alora. “Children should respect their elders. I’m doing you a favor by teaching you Grimmy’s code of honor. You shouldn’t resist so much.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Alora said, rolling her eyes. “This time we’re competing in digging holes. Whoever digs the deepest hole wins. We stop when I say so, okay?”

Vur nodded. “And if I win, you have to memorize one more of Grimmy’s teachings.”