by Virlyce
Dustin approached Tina and asked, “What do we do? Take them prisoner? Where’s Zollstock when you need him?”
“Zollstock’s dead,” Tina said, voice flat. “Chad killed him.”
Dustin froze. “What!?” he asked, his voice cracking. “You can’t be serious.”
Tina sighed. “Chad lost a fight against that dragon boy. You know his ego.” She rolled her eyes. “Zollstock questioned his strength, so he decided to show him how strong he actually was.”
Dustin’s eye twitched. “The royal family’s going to execute him,” he said, glancing towards the airship in the sky. Purple crossed horns were painted on both sides.
Tina followed Dustin’s gaze. “I think it’s going to be the other way around,” she said and shook her head. Her eyes narrowed. “They were experimenting with live parasites from Fuselage.”
“The things that killed Josephine?”
Tina nodded. Dustin’s face hardened. The airship floated in the sky, unmoving. Then, as the two watched, the bow of the ship dipped downwards.
“Took him long enough,” Tina muttered as the ship plummeted. “He could’ve finished faster and helped us fight that dragon.”
“Chad boarded the ship?”
Tina grunted in affirmation. A low rumbling roar brought their attentions back onto Lindyss. The golden aura was now circling around her foot, forced down by the purple aura. A miniature dragon head formed and dispersed repeatedly as a purple bat head chased after it, nibbling it and slowly eroding the golden aura. Lindyss’ breathing was shallow, her aura visibly diminished compared to the one she showed during her fight against the infected ones.
Metal clanked as an armed demon ran over to Dustin. The demon saluted and said, “We found a severed arm. My partner is keeping an eye on it. We did not engage as per orders.”
Dustin nodded. “Lead the way.”
Tina raised an eyebrow, but her face darkened when she realized Lindyss was still missing an arm. She glanced at Delphina who nodded back. The two followed Dustin and the armed demon.
“It’s right ahead,” the armed demon said. A scream rose into the air, and the three following demons dashed forward, surpassing the armed demon. They arrived in time to see another guard clawing at his own face. Multiple smaller worms were burrowing into the ground. A sword, stained with green blood, lay on the floor beside the guard.
“Dammit,” Tina said while growling. She raised her staff into the air and chanted.
Delphina grabbed Dustin and dragged him back. “She’s casting absolute zero,” she said and bit her lower lip. “Let’s hope she finishes before any parasites escape. It’ll be a disaster to the whole continent if one of them does.” Her eyes drifted to the multiple holes in the ground.
Dustin nodded and placed his hands to the ground. Lines of fire snaked from his fingers and dove into the holes left behind. Delphina clasped her hands together and a barrier formed around herself and Dustin.
Twenty seconds passed before Tina stopped chanting. She slammed the bottom of her staff against the ground, causing a blue sphere of light to flash through the area. Everything the light touched stopped moving, and a layer of ice formed on every surface. The armed demon who led the way arrived just in time for the blue light to wash over him, creating a beautiful ice sculpture.
“Shatter!” Tina shouted and slammed her staff against the floor again. Cracks formed along the ice before it disintegrated. The two frozen guards disappeared into a myriad of ice crystals, leaving no trace behind. Buildings and trees disintegrated, turning into tiny puddles of water. The ground beneath her caved in, leaving behind a crater with no trace of the worms or any of their holes. Delphina’s barrier faded away, revealing her and Dustin—both unharmed.
“I think she got them all,” Delphina said, surveying the area.
***
Tears streamed down Rella’s and Bella’s cheeks as they sat underneath a dome of mist beneath a tree. “We should’ve stopped her,” Rella said in between sniffles. Bella nodded and sobbed harder.
Stella sighed as she rubbed her children’s backs. Her body tensed and she frowned at the ground. She around and slammed her fist against the grass. The earth split open, and a worm, leaking green blood, flew up into the air, trapped by a purple bubble of mana. Stella waved her hand, and the bubble drifted onto her palm. She murmured. “What have we here?”
28
Lindyss groaned as her eyes flickered open. She winced as she sat up and placed her right hand against her forehead. She reached with her left to rub at her eyes, but it wasn’t there. Her body stiffened. Her eyes widened as she looked around, taking in the surroundings. She was sitting on a bed in a white room with no windows. A chain led from her left leg to the wall, and mana dampening runes decorated every inch of the room. Vur was lying unconscious on a bed adjacent to hers, his body bound tightly with metal. Chad was sitting on the floor to the right of her with his back leaning against a metal door. His spear was propped up beside his body.
Chad tilted his head to the side. “Finally awake? Sorry about the arm. Tina destroyed it on accident.”
Lindyss glanced at her residual limb and nodded. “It’s easy enough to fix. No worries. How long was I out?”
“About a week.” Chad tapped his spear against the door without sitting up. “Tell Dustin she’s awake,” he said. Footsteps echoed from outside the room. “How’s the basilisk doing?”
Lindyss smiled. “Pretty good. He’s a nice guard. The only person I’ve been bothered by the whole time since I’ve had him was Vur. He might be getting fat though,” she said and frowned. “The civilians of Konigreich pamper him and feed him too much.”
Chad chuckled as he stood up and stretched. “You’re not going to ask about your situation?”
“I have the general idea. How bad’s the damage?”
The door swung open and Dustin, along with Tina and Tafel’s grandmother, stepped into the room. “About 25 percent of the city is completely destroyed while another 40 percent is damaged in some shape or form. A lot of people have died, but we don’t have an exact number. There’s not enough volunteers to help out,” Tafel’s grandmother said as she narrowed her eyes at Lindyss. “Everyone’s afraid the dead aren’t actually dead.”
Lindyss scratched her nose and nodded.
“Not only that,” Tafel’s grandmother said, “but every member of the royal family on Zollstock’s side has gone missing. The only ones left are my grandchildren and the ones related to Mina by blood.”
Lindyss raised an eyebrow. “That wasn’t me,” she said. Tina’s eyes flickered towards Chad.
“Don’t look at me,” Chad said and shrugged. “I only killed eight of them.”
Tafel’s grandmother’s eye twitched as she glanced at Chad. “You really shouldn’t say things like that out loud,” she said and sighed. “Luckily for you, my hearing seems to get worse the older I get.” She turned back towards Lindyss. “I’ll be straightforward. Why did you attack us?”
Lindyss frowned. “I came here to retrieve Vur. Unfortunately, I ran into the fairy queen and lost a fight against her. She put the berserk curse on me, and I accidentally destroyed your capital. Of course, reparations will be paid in full.”
“The fairy queen? Why would she be in Niffle?” Tina asked.
Lindyss tilted her head. “She’s been locked away in your mana source. You didn’t know?”
The demons glanced at each other before shaking their heads.
Lindyss shrugged. “Then it was most likely kept as a secret by the throne,” she said and paused. “She’s probably the one responsible for the disappearance of the royal family.”
“If she was locked away, then how’d she get out?” Chad asked.
Lindyss blinked and pointed at Vur.
“I think we should dispose of him,” Chad muttered as he picked up his spear and walked towards Vur. Dustin placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You trust me, right?” Dustin asked, causing Chad to snort. �
�Then believe me when I say you shouldn’t hurt him.”
“Whatever,” Chad said as he lowered his spear and leaned against a wall. He scowled at Lindyss. “Why’d the queen curse you?”
Lindyss smirked. “We had a little tiff way back when and she never forgave me. That woman can really hold a grudge; it’s been over four centuries.”
“Four centuries?” Tina asked with a raised eyebrow. “What did you do? Kick her dog?”
Lindyss’ face beamed as she smiled. “Killed it, actually, but close enough. I also, may or may not have betrayed her and sold her off to the demons.”
***
Stella sat cross-legged on a green slime as she giggled at the thirty demons hanging from the ceiling by their feet. She was in a cave with Rella and Bella standing behind her, their eyes downcast and faces pale. The cave was located in a valley teeming with hundreds of fairies, most of which were sunbathing or playing with slimes.
The demons were naked, their bones leaving an outline on their skin. Their cheeks were sunken in and dark bags circled their eyes. Black scabs covered the regions where their nails used to be.
“Isn’t this too much?” Bella whispered to Rella.
“No.” Stella’s voice was soft, but the two fairies behind her trembled and flinched. “Four hundred years. Four hundred years without seeing the sun, living in total darkness. Four hundred years without food or water. I couldn’t even die because of the mana they poured into me through that chain.” Stella gnashed her teeth together and narrowed her eyes at the chains suspending the demons.
Stella smiled at them. “Let’s play a game. I found one of these worms and I really want to see what they can do. The thirty of you are going to vote on who gets the worm. Of course the winner will be kept alive as long as possible as I experiment with them.”
Rella and Bella shivered.
Thirty minutes later, a male demon was strapped onto a table underneath all the other demons. The worm floated above him, trapped in a bubble. “I can tell you everything we know about the worm,” he said. “Just please, don’t put it inside me.”
Stella grinned. “Speak then,” she said as the worm thrashed against the wall of the bubble, lunging towards the demon.
The demon gulped. “They’re parasites, but they can reproduce and survive without a host. When they infect a host body, the host body becomes extremely resistant to magic. Their ultimate goal is to consume as much mana as possible before reproducing. All the worms are the same level as the parent worm. The smallest piece we’ve seen grow into a new worm was a tenth of the size of the parent. Thankfully, they’re not very strong without a host. We started killing them before they reached level 100. There was one worm that was able to use the host body’s spells at level 100 and the next host it infected retained the ability.”
Stella nodded and hummed as she drummed her fingers against her knee. “How resistant is extremely resistant?”
“We don’t know the exact numbers, but—”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to find out,” Stella said with a grin.
The bubble holding the worm burst.
***
“Teach me how to fight,” Tafel said.
Chad blinked at the kneeling demon princess at his feet. “No,” he said and walked around her. The two were in a hallway of the royal castle near the room holding Lindyss.
Tafel grabbed his leg. “Please, please, please, please, please, pleaseeeeee.”
“You’re annoying. Let go,” Chad said as he stopped and pried her fingers off. “Go ask your mother; I’m not a mage.”
“I don’t want to use magic,” Tafel said as she scrambled to her feet. “I want to learn how to fight. With a weapon.”
“Are you stupid?” Chad asked as he narrowed his eyes. “You already have six horns and you’re not even ten. Your potential for magic is huge.”
Tafel bit her lower lip. “I’m not giving up on magic. I just want to learn how to fight too.”
“Go ask Doofus then,” Chad said as he walked towards a door. “He’s teaching at the academy.”
“But you’re the strongest warrior,” Tafel said. “No one’s as good as you.”
“That’s right. I’m the strongest,” Chad said as he nodded and opened the door.
“The way you use the spear is amazing,” Tafel said as she chased after him. “It’s hard for me to see it move. And you beat eight members of the royal family by yourself.”
“Of course,” Chad said as he smiled. “I’ve been doing it for years.”
Lindyss and Tina were sitting in the room, talking to each other when Chad and Tafel walked inside. Vur was still unconscious in the bed adjacent to them.
“You’re also the most handsome person I’ve seen,” Tafel said as her eyes sparkled. “You look so cool in your armor.”
Chad chuckled. “Don’t I?” he asked as he stuck his chest out and strutted to a chair.
“Creep,” Tina said as she rolled her eyes at him.
Chad snorted. “You’re just jealous,” he said as he sat down. “You know children always tell the truth.”
“Especially when they want something from you, right?” Tina asked and winked at Tafel.
Tafel’s face turned red as she looked away. “He would’ve agreed after one or two more lines of praise,” she mumbled.
“What?” Chad asked as his face snapped towards Tafel. “You were trying to flatter me into teaching you.”
“No! Of course not,” Tafel said as she shook her head. “I meant everything I said, teacher.”
“Who’s your teacher?!” Chad asked as he crossed his arms and looked the other way. He sighed. “Kids these days.”
Tafel pouted at Tina. “You ruined it.”
Tina smiled at her. “Why don’t you join Swirling Wind? Ruji’s one of the best spellblades out there. You should leave the warrior classes to the simple-minded brutes like our friend here.” She gestured towards Chad.
“Fight me.”
“See what I mean?” Tina asked. “We’ll be going to back to Fuselage as soon as Lindyss returns to the south.”
“Can I really? What about my mom?” Tafel asked as her eyes widened.
“She has a country to run,” Tina replied and grinned. “Don’t worry about her. I bet Dustin could convince her. The two seem awfully chummy nowadays.”
Tafel looked up and thought about her mother’s recent behavior: She smiled a lot more, and her face didn’t always look so stern. Tafel nodded. “When are you going back?” she asked, turning towards Lindyss.
“Sera should be here soon. I don’t know how long it’s going to take Vur to wake up; he wasn’t ready to awaken the bloodline. It’s possible it may take a few years,” Lindyss said and sighed. “At least I’m still able to control his dreams.”
Tafel frowned and approached Vur’s bedside. She clasped his hand in between hers and closed her eyes. “I’ll get stronger. So strong that you won’t be able to break your promise to me. I promise. Just you wait.”
***
Stella hovered over the restrained demon. “Isn’t this amazing?” she asked the upside-down demons above her. “It’s been over a month and he’s still not dead. He’s struggling with the same amount of gusto as he was in the beginning. I really want to see how long it’ll take for him to break.” She giggled as she prodded the struggling demon with a stick. “I wonder where he gets all this energy from. If he doesn’t need to eat, drink, or sleep, then it must be coming from somewhere. Maybe the mana in the vicinity?” She frowned at the unresponsive demons above her. She clapped her hands and a bolt of electricity struck the chains holding them.
“How rude. No one said you could sleep,” Stella said as the demons writhed. “Tell me. Am I right?”
The demons wailed as more electricity snaked through their bodies before they fainted again. “Ah, so fragile. Maybe I should remove their eyelids,” Stella muttered and shook her head. “Guess I’ll have to experiment to find out for myself. Rella! Get me
as many bananerry seeds as you can. We’re going to plant them around this demon. If the plants closest to it have less mana than the ones further away, then I’ll know I’m right.”
Rella trembled as she nodded and flew outside.
Stella turned towards Bella and smiled. “Isn’t learning fun?”
Bella gulped and nodded with wide eyes.
“I’m glad you agree,” Stella said. “You want to learn more too, right? Go round up your sisters and get me more bodies. Demons, humans, animals, elves—no wait, that’d just be saying animals twice—it doesn’t matter. As long as they’re alive, I want them all. Of course, don’t let anyone know fairies are catching people to play with. We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise too early.”
Bella shivered and flew outside.
“Oh, I’m so excited!” Stella squealed as she hugged her shoulders. “I can’t wait to see the expression on your face, Lindyss.” Stella licked her lips and caressed the thrashing demon’s cheek. Her horns pulsed with a red light as her eyes turned red. A mixture of sounds escaped from her throat at the same time, creating a strangled sobbing laughter.
Rella froze at the entrance of the cave and trembled as she dropped a seed.
“Oh, good. You’re back,” Stella said as she smiled and turned towards Rella. Her horns dimmed as her eyes returned to their normal color. “Let’s get these seeds planted now, honey.”
29
Sera rested her head on her paws, staring at Vur who was lying on a mountain of crystals mana crystals in a tub. A layer of liquid covered his body but avoided his nose and mouth, allowing him to breathe. Lindyss was standing next to him, drawing a rune on his forehead with her left hand that had been restored earlier by Leila. Her right hand held a blue crystal which emitted rays of light.
“I never expected him to awaken so early,” Sera said as she sighed. “I should have been there.”
