10 The First Encounter (1/2)
For nearly a minute, the five survivors waited for another member of the Demonic Army. But in the end, besides resting a bit and beginning to heal, nothing really happened. Leilade sighted, feeling an incoming headache toward their situation. She was nearly powerless, their strongest warrior lost an arm and the other three were not really better. She knew all of them and that was the only saving grace. No one was weak and all had at least five hundred years behind them. The youngest will probably be Meridiana, even if right now she was nearly broken.
While she had the appearance of a regular woman, she was riddled with injuries and her bones were visible on her limbs. Like the small necromancer, Meridiana lost all her hair and a good part of her skin. However, no matter where Leilade gazed, the little girl couldn't find either the horns or the tail characterizing the nature of the succubus. Hell, even the innate beauty and charm that should exude from her body and fill the air were absent. Just by looking at her, no one could guess that she was one of the three most gorgeous creatures inside the Demonic Empire. And it was a real rank, acknowledge everywhere.
As for Davion, the blue human, he was an Orodil. They were created with magic and science by the Ancient. As for why, the same question would be the same for the countless other races created by the smartest race of the Universe. The principal perk of the Orodils was their immense connexion with the mana surrounding them. However, they were designed to never be able to use it efficiently. At best, they could only use it by activating an external device, but never by their own means.
When the gaze of Leilade landed on Kardel, she could only be a little perplexed. She knew that he and his fellow Duvodiad were feral, to say the least. But seeing him on all fours, sniffing the air was a little comical. He totally discarded his injuries and kept doing that for a few more seconds. After that, she saw him trying to smile, even if half of his left cheek was gone. Instead, it only showed her the piercing canines that filled his maw. Like his compatriot, he could use the beast souls of his tribe to improve drastically his aptitude, whether it was his sight or his strength. As for the beast present on his home planet, they were brought from all around the Demonic Empire, to provide them the most dangerous, cunning and ferocious monsters.
”Empress, there is a battle a few kilometers away from our position. I smell human blood, horses, sniff sniff, and a few unknown scents.”
After hearing this, everyone stood up and Ymir began to lick his burned lips. Nothing could make them heal better than a fresh feast. However, none of them made a move before Leilade said anything.
”Kardel, go ahead and scout the battle. Go and see what we are facing. Technology, magic, equipment, everything. The worst possible outcome would be us on a planet controlled by the Lanfos. If you see any of those green slugs, retreat.”
Hearing those words, the hungry animal began to morph into a huge black panther that instantly began to sprint toward the battlefield. Leilade looked around her one last time, only to see nothing. She felt that her nose was itching and began to touch it with her hand. Only after sensing the liquid at the tip of her fingers did she remembered that her nose was gone. Seeing the black blood on her hand, she wiped it off and began to instruct the rest of the group.
”Davion, in front. Meridiana, stand side by side with me and Ymir stand back a little. You are too big to be discreet. And don't worry, everyone will eat if they are weak, you will not starve. As for your weapons and armors, wait here.”
She entered inside her bag once again and left with the few items that could be used. As for their clothes, they will have to stay naked for the moment, all their armors already destroyed when they left the portal. Ymir winced after seeing all that broken stuff, and even the imperturbable Davion raised an eyebrow. Both of them were afraid to say it loud, only for the hornless succubus to spill it out.
”Empress, I think it will be better to use our own body for now. This is, just not useful at all.”
Even Leilade had to agree after seeing everything on the ground. She was certain that it was salvageable, but for the moment, it would probably be more of a hindrance than everything else. She quickly filled her bag, and then, ordered the group to march, following the traces left by Kardel. Even injured, they were still capable of quickly cover a lot of ground. Less than a minute after that, they arrived in front of a drooling panther. They could already see blood inside his maw, proof that he ate something before they arrived. Noticing the group, Kardel quickly turned into a human, and with an evil grin spoke to Leilade.