It sounds like a mess downstairs. Pepper and Olexandrya hurried off, leaving me to wander the floor by myself.
It’s all shouting down there. I’m in no hurry to join them. I toss aside my torn skirt and pull the trousers back on.
The whole house is a mess, really. The floorboards are cracked and are littered with holes. I’m surprised I didn’t put my foot through one of them last night.
There are also drawers everywhere. End of the hallway: drawer. In front of a random door: drawer. In front of the latrine: drawer with wipes. At one of the is convenient.
I don’t give much thought to how the latrine would function in a moving house. I’m tired of asking questions.
I look out every window I find, taking in the sights of the capital and the endless crops that frame it in the distance.
The capital is sort of ugly. The towers loom like unatural trees and the smaller building clutter like grass around them. I can just make out the faint shapes of people moving if I squint hard enough.
I’m digging through Olexandrya’s dresser when the house rumbles. I drop a heavy skirt, sure that the house is going to move. Instead, I hear yelling.
I move to the window and pull back the curtains; just in time to watch Rakel punch Olexandrya in the ribs.
Olexandrya stumbles and falls onto the sand.
“Quit it!” Pepper yells. She’s flanked by Suella and Lloyd. Lloyd is shirtless and scrawny. His colorful wings are bound to his back with a thick leather strap. Suella is drinking from a pitcher. “Rakel, you’ve made your point!”
Olexandrya gets up, wiping her mouth.
“You’re too weak!” Rakel barks. “Admit it!”
Great. They’re fighting.
“I’m…” Olexandrya heaves. “I can fight.”
“Fight?” Rakel lunges.
Olexandrya blocks the first punch off her arm but takes the second to the chin. Just like that, she’s knocked on her back.
I tap the glass of the window, curious if I should break it to get their attention. I decide that the house is battered enough and head downstairs.
When I emerge onto the front steps, Olexandrya is still on the ground. Pepper is between her and Drya, though.
“What will we do?” Rakel is yelling.
“You want her to kill Aerida?”
“Of course, not! But we can’t act like she’s as strong as she used to be!”
So that’s what this is about.
“Oh,” Lloyd turns to me. “It’s you.” His face has lightened up and his chest is covered with scars. And he’s grinning at me. This boy was seconds away from having his head lopped off and he’s grinning at me. His grin falters though when his eyes travel over my body.
I realize that I’m effectively topless beyond the bandages on my chest.
“Hello,” I mumble. ‘It’s you?’ What’s that about?
“You’re a demon, too?” He asks, offering me a hand. “Ms. Rakel says you’d be able to teach me how to be a demon.”
I fight the urge to glare. Rakel said what.
“You wouldn’t mind, would you?” Suella asks, lowering her pitcher.
I look past them at Rakel and Pepper. Olexandrya is getting up.
“Hey!” I call choosing to avoid Suella and Lloyd. “Quit fighting!”
Rakel and Pepper look to me as I approach.
“We’re not fighting,” Rakel says. “Drya’s being stupid.”
I eye Olexandrya as she stands.
“It’s fine, Aerida,” Olexandrya says. “It—”
“What’s going on,” I snap.
No one answers.
Further up the beach, I spot the envoy. He’s just standing and watching.
“The envoy brought an advance message from the Queen,” Pepper says. “It’s going to be exactly like last time, when we formed the coalition.”
I furrow my brow, waiting for her to explain. I don’t know what happened last time. You know I don’t know. Stop beating around the bush.
“We’ll likely have to compete for our spots,” Pepper says.
“In a fight?” I straighten as I ask. “With who?”
“Whoever wants to be the hero that slays the Demon Lord,” Olexandrya says.
“Last time,” Rakel says, grabbing Olexandrya by the collar of her tunic. “We all got by because Drya was the strongest. No one could touch her. But…”
Not anymore. Because I have some of her soul. Is she not saying it because of Suella, Lloyd, and the envoy? Or because she thinks I’m too stupid to catch the implication.
“All of you,” Olexandrya says, staring into Rakel’s eyes. “You don’t have to participate. The winner gets to choose their crew, remember?”
“That’s assuming you win!” Rakel shakes her by the collar. “You can’t even stop me from beating the shit out of you!”
“I’m letting you!”
“Don’t give me that!” Rakel yanks, throwing Olexandrya to the sand.
Pepper massages the bridge of her nose and meets my eyes.
“Is it that serious?” I ask, scratching the side of my head. “Is this stuff to the death?”
She nods.
“It’s a waste of time,” Rakel growls. “We should be going straight to Verteiga. We’ve won the war. It’s just him and his generals! Why not let us finish it!”
I look down at Olexandrya.
“I’ll be the one,” she says. “I’ll win. I have to.”
Rakel turns and stomps back to the house.
Lloyd gives me a wave before following her.
Suella shakes her head and takes another sip from her pitcher.
“Well,” I say.
“Drya.” Pepper sits down next to Olexandrya and takes her arm. “What if there’s another way?”
“It’s the Queen, Pepper. There’s no way around her.” Olexandrya looks up at me.
“I need clothes,” I say.
Olexandrya scoffs and gets up.
“This is what becoming a hero has earned you,” Suella says. All of uys turn to her. “I told you five years ago. Letting that Queen use you would leave you with nothing. She doesn’t care about it. Any of it. She just wants to have soldiers.”
“I told you,” Olexandrya says, pulling away from Pepper. “I don’t care what she wants. As long as I get done what I’m here to get done.” She walks past us, heading to the house.
I share a look with Pepper before looking past her at the envoy. He has this frustrating smirk on his face. What a pain.
“Come on,” Pepper says, taking me by the arm.
Olexandrya gives up a light velvet blouse that would probably fit snugly on her. The sleeves are gigantic and it has a hood that she insists I wear when we reach the capital.
I sit on her bed while she gets dressed.
“This happened before,” I say, fiddling with one of my sleeves. “When you formed that coalition.”
“Yes. After Wettes, Aluerme appealed the Queen directly. The Queen’s response was for the strongest available to comepete for a spot.”
I consider that.
“Why?”
“That’s the sort of person she is. Spectacle over sense.”
It’s nearly noon by the time we’re gathering out front. All three horses are ready.
“I don’t want to back to Wettes!” Lloyd complains.
“You aren’t going back to Wettes,” Rakel says, mounting her horse. “Right, Sue?”
Sue leans against the doorway and shrugs.
“Sure,” she says. “The house can stay here for a few days. But I do have things to do, you know.”
“Can I go into the capital?” Lloyd asks, his face lighting up.
“No.”
I join Olexandrya on Crusch, facing away from her as usual. I watch the beach and the house disappear behind us as we ride towards the distant fields.
I pull the hood over my head, careful not to let my horns poke through it. I’m sure it looks silly.
There are small homes sprinkled throughout the crops. I glimpse people walking within them. Some swing scythes and others are just watching.
Entering the capital is like traveling through a portal. The dirt road becomes glistening brick and the buildings loom like towering walls.
The street is lined with people. Banners span the buildings. Yelling, so much yelling. I lean against Olexandrya, watching their faces blur by.
I can’t understand what any of them are saying, it’s all noise.
Behind us, Rakel’s head hangs low. Pepper stares ahead, not meeting my eyes.
We follow the street as the crowd thins and the buildings get bigger. Up close, the reddish towers glisten like the bricks of the road. They’re much thicker up close and they surround a massive plaza.
A river runs through the plaza, cut up by three thick steel bridges.
I look from tower to tower, watching the bricks glisten. I recognize it as the same magic that covers the envoy’s body. Is the entire city under the Queen’s magic?
I get the strange animal feeling that she’s watching. That we’re riding across her very tongue.
We cross the middle bridge.
Ahead is the biggest of the towers. It seems like three towers pressed together and is surrounded by people.
Olexandrya dismounts and I hop off after her.
“Crusch, return.” The horse vanishes and she catches the figurine.
I stare into the crowd ahead as Rakel and Pepper join us.
“It’s time,” the envoy says, appearing next to Olexandrya. “You’ve kept the Queen waiting enough.”
Olexandrya ignores him, marching ahead.
I don’t spare the envoy a glance.
The crowd is parted around a set of massive stairs that lead into the tower. They cheer as we reach the stairs and start climbing.
I watch my feet, refusing to look either way.
Ahead, the open doors of the tower reveal a wide room. At the very back is a star.
She steals my eyes instantly.
Her hair is braided silver, threaded through the gold circlet on her head. Her face is layered with streaks of color that shimmer against her brown skin. She wears a black gown that settles around the throne and covers her entire body. Its plain, strangely so. Her eyes are pure white; that’s what holds my attention.
I stumble on the last step and Pepper catches my arm.
Before me, the room blooms into view. We’re surrounded. Instead of walls, seats climb upwards like stairs. They’re filled with hundreds of people. All of them watching.
Two rows of people line the room, some armored and some wearing robes. One of them I recognize as Aluerme.
At the Queen’s side are a dozen soldiers wearing silver armor and wielding spears. A cloaked figure kneels before her.
I watch the cloaked figure as we approach. Who is that? Something about them doesn’t sit well with me.
“You waste my time.” Olexandrya doesn’t yell but her voice reverberates in the massive room. “Queen Remrey. What is the meaning of this?”
“Drya!” Aluerme snaps, her voice echoing as well. “The Queen has not permitted you to speak.”
Olexandrya scowls at her as she passes.
“My liege.” The envoy appears in front of Olexandrya, sticking out a hand to stop her approach. He drops into a deep bow. “I apologize for the delay in our arrival. You see it’s—”
He’s gone.
At first I think he’s just popped out as he’s done several times before. But bits of burnt flesh and cloth settle on the floor where he’d been standing.
I stare, struggling to process exactly what I’ve witnessed.
Olexandrya stiffens.
Pepper’s fingers dig into my arm.
“That’s a life on your head,” Remrey says, standing slowly. Her voice comes from all directions, as if the world itself were speaking. “Olexandrya.”
Anger twists in my chest. I know it isn’t mine. I could care less about the envoy. I doubt Olexandrya is mad specifically that he’s dead. It’s likely the death in itself.
“Why have you come?” Remrey steps down from her throne, she walks on her toes despite her feet being bare. “Tell me plainly, Olexandrya.”
Olexandrya raises her chin.
“I’ve come to get your permission,” she says. “So I may hunt down the Demon Lord. That should be clear.”
Remrey pauses over the cloaked figure and holds out a hand. The figure stands.
“Your intentions are clear,” Remrey says. “But your abilities are not.”
The hood comes off and a massive gray furry head is revealed. Jeremias turns, setting his black eyes on us.
I flinch under his gaze.
“That’s one of the Demon Lord’s generals!” Rakel yells, pushing past me. “Queen, what is the meaning of this?”
One of the soldiers appears in front of Rakel, spear directed at her chest.
Rakel stares the spear down, unmoving.
“I know exactly who this abomination is,” Remrey says. “We’ve bee speaking all morning. I’m surprised he knows how.”
Jeremias stares at me. His snout and ears twitching.
My chest aches and my legs grow heavy. I feel if Pepper were to release my arm, I may collapse.
“He tells me that you’ve weakened yourself, Olexandrya.” Remrey walks walks past Jeremias. “He tells me that you aren’t strong enough to defeat the Demon Lord.”
Has he told her about the soul? About me?
“That’s a lie,” Olexandrya hisses.
“Who am I to believe?”
“That man is a monster!”
Remrey shrugs.
“Apparently, he disagrees with the Demon Lords choices,” Remrey says. “And he’s made an offer. He plans to venture into Verteiga and slay the Demon lord himself. Upon this, we will form a pact of peace.”
What?
Jeremias’s eyes gleam.
“Who am I to believe?” Remrey says again, raising a hand to her chin. “Do I trust you? Who has failed for five years to slay the Demon Lord? Or this… thing who promises me results.”
Olexandrya is trembling.
“That’s why I’ve come to a decision. Prove to me that you are capable of defeating the Demon Lord. Right now.”
“I can,” Olexandrya says. “I will.”
“Go,” Remrey says, raising a hand. “Show me.”
Jeremias moves. In an instant, he’s crossed the room. The cloak flutters in the air and he lands feet first against Olexandrya’s chest. His furry chest is bare and he wears loose black trousers.
Pain explodes in my ribs.
Olexandrya staggers and catches Jeremias’s feet. He twists, planting a hand on the floor and snapping a foot into her chin.
Olexandrya slams into Pepper and me. We land in a heap. I barely register the feeling of being pressed between Pepper and the floor when Olexandrya pushes off of us and blocks another blow.
Rakel moves to intervene but the soldier threatens her with the spear.
“You aren’t strong enough,” Remrey says.
Olexandrya grabs Jeremias by his snout and he knees her in the gut.
I wince, clutching my stomach.
Olexandrya yanks, swinging Jeremias to the floor. His foot juts out, knocking her away.
“Even if you did defeat the Demon Lord. What use is a weak hero? That’s why I’ve decided to repeat history. To find a new hero. The hero strong enough to replace you.”
Olexandrya lands on her hands and feet. Jeremias stands over Pepper and me.
I don’t look up at him. I can’t. Is this the Demon Lord’s plan? Or is Jeremias acting on his own.
“That’s why.” Remrey has crossed the room. She lands as if she’d jumped, slowly coming down on the floor next to Olexandrya. “I won’t allow you to compete.”
Olexandrya’s eyes widen. She slowly turns to the woman.
“You’ve done enough,” Remrey says. “I can feel the guilt weighing on your heart. Even watching that awful man die makes you ache. You have given enough. Allow someone else to finish what you have started.”
I push off the floor as Pepper gets up.
“If you insist on going,” Remrey goes on. “If the new hero so chooses, they will allow you to accompany their party. Beyond that, I forbid you to engage further.”
“You…” Olexandrya chokes the word out.
“There is no need to be upset.” Remrey’s slender hand travels up Olexandrya’s face. Olexandrya’s face slackens. Then, she collapses. Rakel drops under the spear and rushes to her side.
“She’s fine,” Remrey says, shaking her hand. “I’m merely making a point.”
“Is the competition truly necessary?” Jeremias asks. “Can I not simply travel to Verteiga and slay the Demon Lord?”
Remrey scowls at him, her face scrunching up.
“I keep forgetting you can speak,” she says with a flat laugh. “Yes. You must prove your worth, demon.”
Jeremias grunts.
“I will compete!” Rakel snaps, standing and lifting Olexandrya. “If you want a new hero, I will be the one!”
“Perfect,” Remrey says, offering Rakel a smile. Then, her face turns to Pepper and me. “What about you demons? Will you stand for Olexandrya?”
Demons. She knows exactly what I am. No point hiding.
I don’t know what the Demon Lord is planning. I don’t know what Jeremias is playing at. I’m not even sure what sort of ‘compete’ really means.
I want to see my master. I have so many things I want to know. Who was I when he found me? What does he expect of me? All of this time, I’ve been functioning on the fact that I would be able to see him again.
I pull the hood off my head and stare into the woman’s empty eyes.
“If you won’t let Olexandrya do it; I guess I don’t have a choice.”
“Perfect,” Remrey says again. She turns and spreads her arms.
A rumble grows throughout the seats above us.
“I’ve missed this,” Remrey says, her eyes starting to glow. “The rush of desire. The passion of violence. This is what gives life meaning.”
The woman is odd.
Jeremias’s eyes land on me, and I stiffen. He gives a small nod.
I can feel his claws in my chest.
What are you doing? What am I doing?
“Three more to compete. I suppose that leaves us with an odd number…” Remrey walks away, heading back to her throne.
I lower my eyes to Olexandrya’s unconscious form in Rakel’s arms.
What a mess.
“Be off,” Remrey says, her hand flicking. “I’ll have Aluerme give you the details.”
Pepper pulls me by my arm toward the door. We’re hardly down the steps when I’m ripped away.
Claws dig into my back.
I shriek as the world spins. By the time it physically stops, my head feels like it’s spinning on my neck. I hardly register the solid ground beneath me.
I’m staring at a blurry sky. A thick paw is pressed against my back.
“Is that what master instructed you to do?” Jeremias’s voice is close to my face. His breath is hot. I’m limp in his grasp.
“What?” I choke. “Huh?”
He releases me, and I collapse, landing on my side.
“You’re competing to win a place in the new coalition,” Jeremias crouches before me. His fur glistens in the daylight. “Is that master’s plan?”
I breathe slowly, still trying to catch up. Did he grab me and jump? Did no one see? Will I ever be out of his reach?
“I don’t know,” I admit. “What are you doing?”
“I am…” Jeremias scratches the side of his snout. “Having doubts about our master’s will. Are you aware that I am the last of his generals?”
I sit up, fighting a wave of nausea.
“What?”
“Yes. I only learned of it because Lopelle sent a message before her death. Master hunted all of them down and consumed them. Why?”
I shake my head slowly.
“I don’t know. I swear.”
“That’s why I want to see him. And I have no means to cross an ocean. That is why I have done this. I need answers.”
I stare into his black eyes.
“I suppose I’m the same.”
“I am loyal to the Demon Lord,” Jeremias says with a growl. “I will prove it by being the one to meet him. If that means killing you, I won’t hesitate. That’s what I want you to know.”
He stands slowly, flexing his claws.
I don’t speak.
“I will find him, and I will lay my devotion at his feet. And I will see how he responds.”
Then Jeremias vanishes.
I draw my knees to my chest, considering that.
I want answers, too. I want completion. Is that worth risking this life that I’ve earned?
Is it selfish if I’d rather stay here? If I’d like to spend my time in that bed with Olexandrya instead of fighting for a chance to learn of a life forgotten?
It doesn’t matter. I don’t have a choice. My role has been cast.