The first sun was beginning to rise by the time Palan returned to the camp. The four angels were sitting around a small fire underneath their shelter with bleary eyes, boiling a pot of soup in a metal cauldron. Owen had gone back to bury the dead throughout the previous week and salvaged some supplies. Emergency Victuals raised its head, ears swiveling towards the approaching footsteps. Raea rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and followed the dire wolf’s line of sight. “Palan!” she said as the demon’s figure came into view. She frowned and crawled out of the shelter before standing. “You were injured?” “No,” Palan said as he yawned and took Raea’s spot in the shelter. “Let me sleep until noon.” Raea frowned as she nudged Emergency Victuals away and sat next to Palan, her hands glowing white. Palan’s body shuddered as she placed her hands on his chest—the region with

Raea and company walked down the streets under the gaze of all the sitting lizardmen. Most of them were thin and scrawny compared to the lizardmen in the army that had arrived under the banner of the greater demon. Raea frowned as she saw goblins and branded lizardmen kneeling in the mud beyond the general crowd. Their faces were dirty and flies buzzed around them. “Are those slaves?” she asked the chieftain. The bulky green lizardman’s tongue flickered as he turned his head to the side.“Yes,” the chieftain said and nodded. “They come from the tribes we’ve defeated. The weak submit to the strong and we grow together.”“There are children among them,” Raea said, blinking at a blue lizardman who was even tinier than Cleo. Its face was smudged and mud caked its legs, coming up to its thighs. Its eyes were glassy as it stared at the armored angels passing through, its mouth slightly parted. A grown lizardman smacked the back of its head, causing it to kneel and stare at the ground.The c

The first sun was just beginning to set when Raea halted her boar in front of the third outpost’s gate. The lizardman chieftain’s corpse was bound in bandages, looking like a mummy strapped to the single boar that Owen led. The group had decided to spend one more night in the forest to polish their armor and bury Anidun’s corpse before heading back.“Lieutenant Raea has returned from her expedition against the lizardmen and commands you to open the gate,” Raea said towards the soldiers in the watchtower. Her face was hard as she stared at the soldier’s, recalling her subordinate’s words when he returned after being driven away by spears.“She actually did it?” one of the soldiers asked as he scratched his head. He squinted his eyes to stare at Raea’s group of six. “Go report this back to Lieutenant Malak. I will open the gate.” Raea watched the two soldiers vacate the watchtower. Moments later, the gate creaked open and her group traveled through. Cleo’s eyes were wide as she sat on E

Owen took a deep breath as he knocked on the wooden door in front of him. He wore a new set of plate armor without the helmet, and no weapons could be seen on his body. A voice replied from behind the door. “Come in.”Owen exhaled as he gripped the doorknob and pushed the door open. He entered a windowless room that was lit up by crystals emitting a white light. Lieutenant Malak sat behind a desk, his body facing the door. In his hands was a book with no illustrations on either cover. Two guards stood in the corners behind him with their lances drawn. Malak raised an eyebrow and shut the book, placing it on the desk. He clasped his hands together and smiled at Owen, his gray armor faintly glowing. “I was not expecting you. I suppose Lieutenant Raea sent you?”“No,” Owen said as he stared at Malak. “I am here of my own accord. Lady Raea does not have anything to do with this.”“Oh?” Malak asked. “And you expect me to believe that? Regardless, state your business.”Owen glanced at the g

Cleo yawned and opened her eyes as she stretched her arms upwards. The room was red from the sunrise when she crawled out from underneath the desk, stepping on Emergency Victuals’ tail. She hissed and smacked the dire wolf’s snout when it whined and nipped at her arm. She saw the tied-up female assassin sleeping in the middle of the room and tilted her head. Cleo blinked and yawned again while turning towards the bed. She walked to the edge and saw Palan staring at her, following her movements with her eyes. He was sitting with his back pressed against the wall, his legs lay horizontally across the sleeping Raea’s stomach. Cleo grinned and reached out to tickle the bottom of Palan’s feet with her pointed claws. Before she reached his soles, Palan stirred and retracted his feet. He yawned and stood up on the bed, causing Raea to groan. He asked, “What do you want?” “Nothing,” Cleo said and smile