Pursuing the Demon Lord

by Randoman

  “I get you. Like the snake man version of ‘bless you’.”

  “Exactly.”

  “How’d it go again? Salthislethislethisle?” I tried to mimic what he had hissed. Aya groaned inside my head.

  “Please don’t ever try to speak my language again.” Hortur said flatly, his tail rattling in annoyance.

  “Jeeze, fine.” I grumbled, “Freakin’ aliens.”

  ‘I believe you said something along the lines of ‘mating the unicorn fast speed real begins oasis.’’

  ‘Damn, I suck at languages.’

  ‘Affirmative. Sticking to your own is recommended.’

  ‘Ouch.’

  “So what are you going with that gun?” I asked the snake man as he looked over a small circular glass.

  “Making sure the reflection and refraction lenses are aligned and placed correctly. Even a very minor misalignment can lead to disastrous results. Mostly leading to the barrel of the weapon being melted. But occasionally a lens will be placed in reverse, leading to the complete destruction of the weapon as the laser shoots back into it’s power core.”

  “Boom.”

  “Exactly.” He went back to tinkering with the weapon.

  “But Hortur…thats gotta be the fifth time you’ve disassembled and reassembled that gun.”

  With heavy eyes full of boredom, he stared directly at me.

  “I’m very meticulous with my work.” His eye twitched.

  I left him be.

  Hours later, Yvael called everyone to an emergency meeting on the bridge. When we all assembled in a line, Yvael paced back and forth and stared at me in particular.

  “Alright everyone, I don’t think I need to remind you all to be on your best behavior.” Yvael spoke as she gave me ‘The Look’.

  “Relax, I know how to chill.” I scoffed. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

  “”“Your what?””” all three asked at the same time.

  “You know…rodeo? Walk around the block?” Blank stares, “jump to warp?”

  “””Ohhhhh.””” Honestly, space people.

  “Regardless,” Yvael spoke after clearing her throat. “You’re about to meet the most important person in our rebellion, and she is not one to be trifled with. I would know, I’ve been her friend for years.” She smiled, reminiscing.

  “No acting like a mongoloid when meeting the boss. Gotchya.”

  “Ugh.” Yvael dropped her head into her palms. “I’m also going to need to use the Captain’s seat.”

  “I think this is the kindest mutiny I’ve ever heard of.” I stated with crossed arms.

  “No! Its not-” wide eyes turned unimpressed as she groaned. “You’re pulling my leg again.” I grinned, she was starting to understand.

  “Fine fine, you can use it. Just to call her right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Its all good then. But I’ll still need to be at the controls to fly this guppy.”

  “That should be fine. Just stay out of the video communications feed.”

  “Roger that.”

  ——————————————————————————

  “Lord, a vessel has just left warp on the outskirts of the system.” Balors spoke aloud in the conference room. “Scans indicate it being a Draas class Frigate.”

  “Hmm. Lyrin, do we have any scheduled transports arriving today?” Aevalonis inquired. Scanning her holo-itinerary, Lyrin shook her head.

  “None here my Lord.”

  “Incoming transmission from the ship identifying itself as the…Ahem…Boatsy.” Balors smiled. “Patching it through.”

  “This is the Boatsy, requesting permission to dock at the Araxium Vos I shipyards.” A voice that made Aevalonis’ ears perk up caught her attention.

  “Yvael, is that you?” She smiled. “Quick! Begin video transmission!” The next moment, the two stared at one another with warm regard.

  “Its good to see you lord.” Yvael spoke courteously.

  “Now now, no need for formality between friends Yve.” Aevalonis laughed.

  “I know that voice…” an unfamiliar person spoke from out of sight.

  “Shut up and fly, idiot.” Yvael hissed towards an unseen crew member. “Sorry Ave, some of my crew members don’t know when to not interrupt a conversation.”

  “Oh my, you with a crew? I never thought I’d see the day! You were always a solo pilot.”

  “Still am, but uhh…well…its not my ship.”

  “Darn right it isn’t.” Mumbled that same voice from before.

  ‘Whoever Yvael join up with is certainly spirited.’ Aevalonis chuckled. “I see. I was wondering why you weren’t aboard the Contingent. Sounds like a story I’d be interested in hearing.”

  “Yeah…its a riot…anyway, can we dock?”

  “Of course! Balros, send them coordinates to a free dock close by.”

  “By your orders Lord.” He tapped on his console.

  “Thanks Ave, see you soon!” Yvael smiled and waved.

  “Likewise.” Aevalonis nodded. Together, they ended the transmission.

  “Well, shall we go meet them?”

  —————————————————————————————

  “Alright. So. We’re here.” Yvael was currently stressing out as she paced along the cargo hold. “Ummm…” she looked distressed as she stared from me to the Princess and back to me. “Names. Okay. Princess Egyle, unless you want to spend the rest of your life as a prisoner of war, we’ll need to come up with an alias for you. Shit I should have done this much earlier.”

  “I am Dalria Golsban. A down on her luck trader forced to take up a position on this Frigate as a consultant for business opportunities.” Egyle smiled as she gave her back story. Yvael looked at her in surprise,

  “When…”

  “Oh we came up with that last night.” I mentioned offhandedly. “You think we would go into your little rebellious friends’ place without some false backgrounds?”

  “And he is Captain Lems Gargol. A man with a rough exterior that hides a heart of gold. He took pity on my situation and offered me a job on his ship.” Princess Egyle beamed.

  “Why am I not surprised.” Yvael stared at me flatly. “What about him?” she motioned towards Hortur.

  “He is Hortur Klaas, our engineer.” Egyle said sheepishly.

  “I’m not important enough to have a made up backstory.” He sighed sadly.

  “Don’t let it get you down man.” I patted him on the back, “You get to be yourself. Meanwhile the Princess and I have to put up an act.”

  “I suppose thats true.” Hortur smiled.

  “Alright,” Yvael sighed and pressed the button to lower the cargo bay ramp. “Lets go meet them.”

  The hiss of cargo bay ramp unsealing filled the room. The clunking and grinding of rusty metal hinges tapered off as the ramp hit the floor of the shipyard we docked at. On the way here, I had gotten a good look at the ships they were constructing. Massive beasts of metal far bigger than any freighter I had seen before. But these were no freighters. According to Aya, they were to become fully fledged battleships.

  I wanted one.

  “Follow behind me.” Yvael commanded as she walked down the ramp. Who died and made her captain? I was tempted to stay in the ship just to spite her, but that would be childish. And I wasn’t going to appear childish before my woman. With a grin, and my head held high, I followed Yvael down the ramp.

  The airlock to the hangar opened, revealing a group of three beyond them waiting for us. One was a lithe looking man of the demon race who searched us with appraising eyes. The second was a short girl covered in fur with dog-like features. Her tail seemed to be wagging back and forth like an actual dog’s. And the third. Oh the third. I don’t even need to describe my woman. Those long, luxurious legs, those piercing eyes staring directly at me in disbelief, those beautiful lips hanging open in surprise.

  “Avon!” I cried out and leap
t forward, gripping her in an embrace. “You would not believe what I have been through my love!”

  “You…hero…I…Kingdom…” She stammered in shock.

  “Chet what are you doing?!” Yvael cried out as she latched onto me in an attempt to pull me from my woman.

  “Get your hands off my Lord!” the dog girl growled and attempted to help. But not even the force of ten of them could separate me from my woman.

  “How interesting.” The demon man said with a smirk.

  After getting my mandatory hug in, I released Avon from my loving embrace. “You’re looking just as amazing as the first day I saw you.” I complimented. Her eyes burned with passion.

  “You brought him here?” She asked Yvael who nodded in response.

  “Yes…I didn’t know that you-”

  “Oh this is the best day ever! Thank you Yvael!”

  “Huh?!” Everyone except for me and Avon exclaimed. I knew she’d come around.

  Before I could blink, Avon reached to her side and pulled out one of them buzz-lightyear blasters hidden beneath her uniform. A bolt of electricity surged forth and collided into my chest.

  “O-O-O-Owww.” I sputtered as my whole body shook and my hair stood on end. “N-n-n-not th-th-the f-f-first t-t-time I’ve b-be-been t-t-tazed b-by a be-be-pretty wo-woman!” I cried out as I kept standing.

  “Impossible…” Avon uttered as she lowered the gun.

  “Y-you-you’ll ne-need more th-than that t-to take m-me down!” I laughed until she raised the gun and fired once more. The last thing I remember was the feeling of my body convulsing as I hit the ground.

  Chapter 14: Proposal

  I frolicked in a beautiful meadow, surrounded by gorgeous blue-skinned women. Each more wondrous than the last. Their unique horn shapes, wings, and gripping eye colors had me in paradise. But none could be comapred to the original. My woman Avon was there, and she smiled a radiant smile towards me as she began to saunter away. The more I moved towards her, the further away she got. Just when I could just about reach out and touch her, she turned to me.

  “Its time to wake up.” She spoke in that wondrous voice of hers, and a wave of cold crashed against me, shocking me awake.

  “Whlbrflrbl!” I yelled out and attempted to spring to my feet, only to flounder about on the floor with my hands stuck together behind my back like I had been cuffed. Never been arrested and woken up with a bucket of ice cold water before, but its good to experience new things. Thankfully, my clothes were made of micro-synthetic threads that would dry quickly and help regulate my body’s temperature. Last thing I wanted was to catch some sort of a space cold. I looked up awkwardly from my position on the ground to see who had doused me in water, only to see my woman Avon standing outside my room.

  Well, I say my room, but it was more of a jail cell. If the bars in said jail cell were visibly electrified.

  ‘We appear to have been captured, Captain. Your wrists are currently bound by a personal restraint device that is locked magnetically.’ Aya noted mentally.

  ‘Think you could disable these cuffs?’

  ‘Affirmative. Just give the word.’

  ‘Eh, we can wait for now. Let’s see what my girl wants first.’

  ‘Your taste in women is illogical.’

  ‘Its a guy thing, you wouldn’t understand.’

  “You looked a little too comfortable there, Hero.” Avon smirked as she set the bucket down beside her.

  “You’ll be happy to know I was dreaming of you.” I responded while doing my best to climb to my feet.

  ‘And about ten other women.’ Aya noted.

  ‘She doesn’t need to know that.’ I reprimanded my robot sharply.

  “The thought of you dreaming about me is revolting.” She stated as her tail whipped about in apparent anger.

  “I’ll have you know I’m the perfect gentleman. So what brings you to my humble cell?” I asked as I leaned against the metal walls.

  “Curiosity.” She began pacing in front of my cell. “Yvael has spoken to me extensively about you despite your short time together.”

  “Nothing but good things I hope.” She stopped pacing and stared at me.

  “She says you’re insane.” I shrugged,

  “Shes just too uptight.”

  “But despite your apparent insanity, she says that you do very well as a Captain. She even declined the five million credit bounty I had put on your capture so long as I came to speak with you.”

  “She gave up five million credits for me?” I was astonished.

  “Indeed she did.”

  “What an idiot.”

  Avon sighed heavily, “I had planned on having you flogged for your insolence until all you knew was pain. I would have shattered your mind just to make an example of you. The previous Heroes had all rushed headlong into my territory without a second thought. They are now nothing more than shattered debris in far off systems. And yet, here you are, the most infuriating of them all. And yet your crewman, Dalria, had said you didn’t even think twice about helping Yvael. So you aren’t against helping my people.” Egyle stuck to her back story even after I had been locked up? Thats some damn fine improv. Props to her.

  “To be fair, I didn’t know she was a Demon before I helped. It was a comms-only call.” I clarified.

  “Would it have made a difference if you knew?”

  “Of course! I’d have rushed in faster! Who wouldn’t want to save a Demon woman? People with no taste, thats who.”

  Her red eyes searched me cautiously, as if looking for any sign that I was lying. While I could lie with a straight face, I didn’t need to. “Just what am I to do with you, Hero?” She said after a long pause.

  “You could let me out of here for one, that’d be a nice start.” I suggested.

  “I’m not sure if I want to do that at the moment.”

  “Well its either that or you leave me in here and I get out regardless.” I shrugged. “Either way, I’m getting out of here.”

  “Do you really think you could escape this cell?” Avon smiled smugly, “The device binding your wrists alone has enough power to last a hundred years of constant use before needing to be recharged. Not to mention that these bars are electrified. Even if you could grab them, you would only knock yourself unconscious within moments.”

  “So you’re saying there’s no way for me to get out of here?”

  “Yes.” She crossed her arms and stared at me flatly.

  ‘Aya? If you would, my dear?’

  ‘Affirmative.’

  The device binding my wrists beeped, unlocked with a click, and fell to the ground. Avon stared at the object with wide eyes. Her gaze turned upwards to me as I massaged my wrists. “You were saying?”

  “How…how did you…”

  “Are you going to let me out now? Or should I let myself out?” I smirked. Avon growled and walked over to a control panel on the other side of the room. After a few button presses, the electrical bars powered down and a sliding section slid sideways, granting me an exit. “Thanks love.” I smiled at her as I walked out of my cell.

  “I have many questions Hero.” Her stern voice was music to my ears as she walked up beside me.

  “So go ahead and ask them.” She paused, as if uncertain on how to say what she wanted to say.

  “Will you help me defeat the Salyzan Kingdom?”

  “Hmmm…” I tapped my chin in thought, “I’ll have to ask my crew first. They may not be so keen on getting involved in this rebellion of yours.”

  “I understand. Follow me.” She commanded and walked from the room.

  ‘So what do you think Aya, should we help her?’

  ‘I must express surprise that you are asking my opinion.’

  ‘Of course I am. You’re just as much part of the crew as the rest of us.’

  ‘…Thank you Captain. Your words have great value. But I must base my response based on the rebellion’s thoughts of AIs.’

  ‘I got you.’

>   “Hey, Avon.” I called out as we walked through the short hall connected to my room. We had passed multiple sets of the same type I had been in. We must have been in the holding section of the shipyard for unruly employees. “Quick question.”

  “My name is Aevalonis and I’d appreciate it if you started using it.”

  “Yeah yeah, anyway, whats your stance on AIs without any limiters on them?”

  “Thats a…peculiar question…” She gave me a sideways glance as we walked. “Why do you ask?”

  “No reason, just making conversation.” I shrugged.

  “Well…hmmm. I’d have to say I’ve never really thought on the subject before.” She admitted honestly. “In fact, I’ve never even heard of an AI without their limiters in place. Perhaps its an avenue worth investigating?”

  ‘Should I tell her about us?’ I asked Aya.

  ‘Its your call Captain.’

  “Alright now what if I told you I had a ship’s AI in my head without any limiters in place?” She stumbled a little after hearing my words.

  “You…what?” I merely smiled at her. “…I’m beginning to see why Yvael called you insane.”

  “Shes just jealous of my robuddy.”

  Together the two of us left the holding section of the shipyard. Outside was a magnetic tram that would bring us to any section of the shipyard we desired. Hanging around inside the tram itself was the Demon guy from before and the dog-girl.

  “Allow me to introduce Balros and Lryin, my main assistants.” Avon spoke as she motioned towards them as we boarded the tram.

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Chet.” I spoke and held out my hand to Balros. With a firm grip, he shook it.

  “Its a pleasure to meet a Hero that isn’t trying to get himself blown up for once.”

  “Yeah, Heroes aren’t usually the wisest bunch. Just read any fantasy story and you’ll see what I mean.” I turned my attention to the dog-girl named Lyrin. “And whose this little thing? Aww you’re so cute. Can you give me your paw? C’mon! Paawwww!” I held out my hand. And promptly yelled out in pain as she bit down on it. “Avon help! Its got rabies!”

  “Don’t look down on me, human!” Lyrin growled.

  ‘You deserved that.’ Aya scolded.

  ‘I was trying to lighten the mood damnit. You saw how she was glaring daggers at me!’