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2024-10-29 19:42:56"She was lucky." Elysia commented dryly.
“No need to scoff, miss. We went to the Circle of Stones and found all kinds of traces in the disturbed earth, including the tracks of humans, beasts and cloven-hoofed demons, and a disembowelled calf on the altar.”
“Cleft-hoofed demons?” Frey asked, and Elysia didn't like the look of interest in her eyes.
The pedlar nodded.
"I would not venture to the Circle of Stones tonight." he replied "not for all the gold of the Kingdom."
"It would be a suitable quest for a hero." declared Frey while giving Elysia a meaningful look, who felt shocked and flustered.
"Surely you don't mean that..."
“What better mission for a hero than to face those demons on his holy night? It would be a magnificent death."
"It would be a stupid death." Elysia muttered.
"What have you said?"
"Nothing."
"You'll come with me, won't you?" Frey said in a threatening tone as he absentmindedly placed his hand on the hilt of the sword.
"A promise is a promise". he replied, at the same time that he nodded.
Frey slapped her back so hard that Elysia thought she had cracked her ribs.
"Sometimes, cat girl, I think you have hero blood running through your veins, perhaps one of your ancestors was a brave warrior." He plodded back to her beer.
"Of course". Elysia answered as she gave him a tired look.
Elysia rummaged through her luggage to pull out the mail shirt she had bought before leaving the city of Rivereim, and she noticed the innkeeper, his wife, and the peddlers all staring at her in amazement. Frey sat near the fire; as he drank beer, he mumbled something in a language he didn't know; he looked like he was talking to someone.
"You're not really going to accompany him, are you?" the fat pedlar whispered, and Elysia nodded.
"Why?"
“Because he saved my life. I owe him a debt.” Elysia believed that it was better not to mention the circumstances in which Frey had saved her.
“I Saved the catgirl from some ratfolks who intended to invade Riverheim and then prevented her from being taken away by agents sent by a noble house of the Empire.” Frey yelled, and Elysia nodded bitterly.
"Frey has the hearing of a wild beast, and also the brain." she thought to herself as she continued to pull out the mail shirt.
"Yes. The cat girl believed that after the chains of slavery she could be free in this place. She didn't know that they would surely hunt her down to get her back even when she is in a different country."
The pedlars were beginning to back away.
"A runaway slave." Elysia heard her say one of them quietly, and she felt herself blush. "Why does she call you cat girl?"
Elysia removed her hood covering her head and removed her cloak to put on her mail shirt, revealing her adorable cat ears, her exotic feline eyes, and revealing her curious tail. .
“She is not human. I heard that there is a reward for the eradication of any beastmen.” commented the peddler. "And I'm sure there's a hefty reward for returning a slave to her rightful owner."
"Yes, you are right on both counts, I have a bounty for not being human and another for my capture." Elysia commented as she fixed her gaze on the peddler. “The personal agents of a senator from the Empire were no match for my companion's sword. What carnage! There were heads, legs and arms everywhere. he ended up on a pile of corpses. When it was all over, the city guards didn't say anything and simply stepped aside. The adventurer's guild didn't even sanction it.”
The fat pedlar looked at his companions, then at Frey, then at Elysia, and back at the former.
"A sensible man stays away from anything he has to do with nobles." he told the man that he had spoken of the reward, and he immediately fixed his eyes on Elysia. "Of course, I don't mean to offend you."
"I am not offended," Elysia replied. “You are absolutely right in the world. I am a runaway slave and a half beastman hybrid.”
"Runaway slave or not." said the old woman. "May the gods bless you if you bring back my little Gunter."
“He is not small, Lisi”. the innkeeper intervened. “He is a robust young man. Still, I hope to see my son back. I am old, and I need it to chop wood, shoe horses, lift barrels and…”
“I am touched by such fatherly concerns.” Elysia interrupted him while adjusting some long leather gloves which reached her elbow.
Frey stood up and looked at her. Then I place and fasten his helmet on his head, then hit his chest with an armored hand.
"Light armor is for the effeminate, and elves." declared Frey "If you want real protection, you need plate armor."
“Perhaps it is better for me to wear this kind of armor, Frey. I don't think I have enough strength to move easily in such heavy armor."
"You're kind of right, cat girl." Frey turned and looked directly at the innkeeper. “How will we find the Circle of Stones?”
Elysia felt her mouth go dry, and she fought to keep her hands from shaking.
“There is a trail that leads off the road. I will take you to the point where it begins.”
"Good". Frei replied. “This is too good an opportunity to pass up. It's not every night you get a chance to fight demons."
"Come on, cat girl, let's go." Frey decided, and started toward the door.
Elysia picked up her backpack, and when she reached the entrance, the old woman stopped her and put something in her hand.
"Please, miss" she told him. "Take this. It is a father's amulet. My little Gunter wears one just like this one.”
“And a lot of good it has done him.” Elysia almost answered, but the expression on her woman's face made her hold back. In her face, there was fear, worry and, perhaps, hope, which moved her.
"I will do everything possible." It was the only thing Elysia said before she left the place.
Outside, the sky was brilliantly lit by the silvery light of the moon. Elysia opened her hand and saw that it was a small iron triangle hanging from a chain of fine links, it was the symbol of the cult of the Triumvirate. She shrugged and hung it around her neck; Since Frey and the old man were already advancing down the road, she had to run a short distance to catch up with them.
♦ ♦ ♦
"What do you think these marks on the ground are, catgirl?" Frey asked at the same time as he bowed to the ground. Before them, the path continued into the forest.
Elysia stood at the edge of the path, and she hoped the innkeeper had returned home safely.
"Footprints". she said she. “heading west.”
“Very well, Cat Girl. They are carriage tracks and they enter by the path that goes to the Circle of Stones.”
"The black carriage?" Elysia asked.
"I hope so. What a glorious night! It is the answer to the prayers of anyone who calls himself a true warrior: a chance to possibly fight a worthy opponent and get revenge on that pig that nearly crushed me.”
Frey let out a merry high-pitched laugh worthy of a maniac who enjoyed battles, but Elysia could tell that while Frey was excited, he wasn't calm. He seemed tense, as if he suspected that her death hour was approaching and that he would not deal with her well. He was curiously talkative.
“A carriage? Is the Sect made up of nobles? Frey, do you think the Kingdom is in such a decadent state?”
Frey shook his head.
"I do not know. I could have a noble as a leader. Members are likely to be local people. They say that corruption is deeply rooted in these remote places.”
Elysia shook her head, looking dismayed.
“But make no mistake, cat girl. The madness of this country makes me want to throw up. That this nation is so corrupt that its own rulers can sell themselves to the Powers of the dark gods or dark lords, it is a terrible thing.”
Frey gave a low, furious growl and spat on the ground, and Elysia tightened her grip on the hilt of the sword as she wondered how much killing intent she was capable of unleashing without needing to be in a real combat situation.
"You're right". Elysia answered with a soft and cold voice. “Like this country, the empire also has laws against corruption and dark god sects. But unlike the Kingdom, the empire has the Inquisition; With its agents, the inquisitors, the Inquisition sees to it that the laws of the Empire are enforced.”
“Elysia. You don't get it,” Frey affirmed, shaking his head. “The humans of these nations are soft and decadent people, who live far from war. They do not understand the terrible things that gnaw at the roots of the world and seek to undermine us all. Inquisitors? Ha!” Frey spat on the ground. “Laws! There is only one way to deal with the threat of the dark gods.” He concluded as he rested his great sword, Lævateinn, on his shoulders and began to walk towards the depths of the forest.
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“Take the sword!” Elysia yelled at him.But the stunned Frey was in no condition to heed the advice, and besides, he wanted to spill blood. He took an unsteady step toward Oleg, who was standing where he had left him, howling as he clutched his nose. Then, hearing Frey's staggering footsteps, she looked up and let out a tremendous bellow of anger and pain. He rushed toward his foe, crouching low and arms outstretched, intending to once again ensnare the dark hero in a deadly embrace. Frey remained where he was as the monster charged into a thunderous race towards him, as unstoppable as a runaway horse-drawn chariot.Elysia didn't want to look… The mutant was big enough to crush Frey, but she couldn't look away in horror.Oleg reached where Frey was. His massive arms began to close, but at the last second Frey ducked and dove between the monster's legs, then spun around and lashed out with the chain, which wrapped around the mutant's ankle. Fre
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The desire to kill reverberated through Jasmine's brain, and the darkness rooted in her soul threatened to overtake her completely. Madness bubbled through her veins, and bloodlust flooded her as if she were a drug; her carnage gave him ecstatic pleasure. She wanted to find the black-armored warrior and kill him, for of all the enemies she had faced, he was the most powerful: a worthy offering indeed to the god of Wrath. At the last second, when she was about to brush aside his sword and kill him, her fate, in the form of her own idiotic followers of hers, had intervened to separate them. She wanted to find him again and finish the fight.And then she saw the girl. As if against her will, she gazed at the frightened little face that peeked out from where she was hiding. He knew what he had to do, because it was time to end this once and for all, to take the first step on the path that would end in eternal life, to take advantage of the opportunity offered to him of a glorious
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Demonic Knight, part 14
Jasmine watched as the great cannon blasted the third breach in the city wall, then decided enough was enough. They had to save powder for the next fortification they came to, and the gaps were big enough for their soldiers to squeeze through. The defenders were tired and bewildered, so the time had come. She signaled to the bugler, and he sounded the advance blast. Marching to the beat of the human-skinned drums, the beastmen sprang into motion.Jasmine felt the thirst for blood rise within her, and with it, her desire to offer souls to the god of Wrath. She that night she would make him a great offering.♦ ♦ ♦Elysia watched as the tide of beastmen surged across the grounds, and archers began firing from the ramparts. They chose their targets calmly, methodically, and efficiently, and fired. Arrows pierced the darkness, piercing chests, throats, and bestial eyes. As the infernal drums beat, the relentless bloodthirsty beastmen continued to adva
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Elysia watched the clouds overhead, racing across the sky like a mass that twisted and undulated in a strong wind. The color of the forest had changed from a light green to a darker, more ominous hue; she seemed as if the trees, like everything else, were waiting.She was standing on the parapet at the top of the wooden wall, and she was looking across the fields, straining to catch any sign of movement in the undergrowth. By her calculations, it was the end of the afternoon. Next to her was Frey, who was looking at his sword with disinterest. Every ten paces along the wall there was an archer, one of the woodcutters, men who could hit an ox's eye from two hundred paces, and measuring the distance between them and the line of trees, Elysia realized. realized that this was a slaughterhouse. Any attackers would get bogged down in the plowed fields and be easy targets for archers.She tried to let that thought reassure her, but she couldn't. Night in the woods was not lik
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Elysia looked up at the ornate golden hammer that gleamed in the early morning light streaming through the open door of the temple. The runes etched into the Hammer's head reminded him of the ones adorning the blade of her own sword, but that didn't surprise him too much. Her sword had been the most prized possession of an Order of paladins and it seemed only fitting that the sword be engraved with holy signs.There were few people present; only some old women who were sitting cross-legged on the floor and praying. The babies with their mothers were outside, getting the cool while they could, and Elysia guessed the air might be unbreathable in there with the doors closed.The temple was a simple sanctuary with a simple altar, except for the presence of the Hammer, which was used to bless marriages and contracts. The Father, The Mother and The Son were not very popular deities there, since most of the woodcutters looked to Belial, Lord of the Forests and God of the Eart
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Kat hurried toward the base of the watchtower because she felt the need to be alone. She had grown tired of sitting by the large central bonfire, and not even Frey's presence reassured her. She felt very alone in the midst of all those busy adults; in reality, there was no one with whom she could talk, and for the first time she realized that she no longer knew anyone in this world and that she had no place in it. Her flames reminded him too much of the Kleinsdorf fires. The ladder barely creaked under her bare feet as she climbed toward the trapdoor with the agility of a monkey.Elysia was sitting alone, and she was looking into the darkness. She had long since set the sun like a bloodstain on the horizon; the moon had risen through the sky, its silvery light bathing the surroundings. A gentle breeze cooled Kat's cheeks and made the forest whisper and murmur ominously. Elysia watched him mesmerized, lost in her own thoughts, and she hurried across the tower and sat down besi
