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Chapter 81 - Demons Run When a Good Woman Goes to War

  28th of Cobre, 8:28pm, 1659

  The forest had darkened once again.

  The demons managed to kill a couple of moths during their hunt, but it was as if the rest had gone into hiding. And with their guardian nowhere in sight, there was no one to torture the information out of. Forests typically had fairies and other forest fey, but it appeared as if only the moths and woodland creatures lived in Norwich Forest. There were no innocents to question, making their task more difficult.

  At night time, the leader of the band - a slightly bigger abrikandilu than the rest - called for a break. Demons needed no sleep, but they could still be fatigued if they pushed themselves long enough. So when the leader of the small squad called for a break, none hesitated to plop on the ground right then and there.

  Two in particular grabbed their decks of playing cards. They sat on the ground and split the cards between them, preparing themselves for a game of War. Before they could begin, they placed their wager: They pricked the palms of their hands with their claws, and from each hand emerged an orb of light. When each rat-like demon grasped it, a scream from the orb could be heard.

  Human souls.

  "What do you have there," the first demon asked curiously.

  "An orc chieftain. He summoned me and said to kill the most important member of his enemy tribe, so I killed his rival chieftain's mother who was fated to die that day from natural causes." The second demon chuckled proudly. "You?"

  "No one important. Some loser detective was sure his wife was cheating on him, so he summoned me to off her and make it look like an accident. Turns out his wife was secretive because she was preparing an anniversary party, and he didn't even remember. So, naturally, he hanged himself when he found out his pretty little wife died from a piano falling on top of her. Made sure to leave the anniversary cake at his doorstep before he did the deed."

  Atrocious crimes, but for the demons, it was just another day. They were determined to win the souls they had placed as bets, and the game of War was ready to commence. But little did they know that, one by one, the rest of their brethren had breathed their last as they were either stabbed to death or beheaded by something hiding in the shadows. They were too focused on their game to notice.

  After a while, the first demon howled in celebration. "Ha. I win! Hand it over!"

  The first abrikandilu snatched the orb from the corpse of the second, completely unaware of the danger that had claimed his life just moments before. He was too happy too care, and performed a celebratory dance after absorbing his winnings into his body.

  The last thing he saw was an iron-clad samurai - wearing ebony armor and a red tiger mask with gold patterns and white teeth - charging with a pair of iron claws. The assailant quickly pierced the demon's neck with their weapon of choice, splattering demonic ooze over the decks of cards.

  ***

  Hours before

  "Luno! How long would it take you to make this room operational again?"

  Caught by surprise, Luno addressed the scientist's question with a mixture of hope and confusion. "Uh, probably about 10 minutes. The moths come and go throughout the day, so I can convince one of them to make a cocoon. Why?"

  "I may have found a solution to your demon problem, and only one of us has to fall asleep for it!" Lenoria stopped just a yard away from Luno and Caesar, who had long since gotten up and were ready to say goodbye to each other.

  "You mean it? How?"

  "Time out." Alistair formed a T with both hands. "You could have at least discussed this idea of yours with us before saying anything."

  Lenoria's excitement dwindled down a little. She could sense disappointment coming from Alistair. "S-sorry. I was so excited about this discovery that I wasn't thinking straight. Are you mad?"

  "No," Alistair said with a gentle smile, "I'm not. I'm more than happy to help you, just go over these things with us next time. We're a team, after all; no need to plan things on your own."

  Alistair's words were enough to make her swoon, but this was no time to fool around.

  "I was hoping we didn't have to do this," Caesar admitted. "But I'm curious about what blondie has to say. Besides, we already planned on helping Luno; this plan just sounds like we'll get things done quicker. Floor's yours, Lenoria."

  "Right. For starters, let's retrace our steps a little bit. Luno, Cecilia said you brought something out of her dream and made it real. Something out of that pool over there." Lenoria pointed at the small pool of water Luno had used to navigate through dreams. "Is that what you were going to do? Just siphon the pirates' dreams and make an army of water monsters?"

  Luno nodded. "I thought that with enough time, I would learn how to make them without dissolving quickly. Right now, any single attack is enough to disperse the water, thus destroying whatever I create. If only I had gotten the pirates' consent..."

  "Now that you mention it, only Cecilia's dream could be siphoned. How? It's not like she would have consented if she knew."

  "Well..." Luno bashfully stared at the ground. "I may have used underhanded tactics to get it out of her."

  "Such as?"

  Seeing it was hard for Luno to say it, Caesar knew he had to step in. "Go on, Luno. This may be your only chance."

  Luno took a deep breath. "I-if you say so. The truth is...I took advantage of her emotions during her dream. She was dreaming about a wedding, you see, so as for the groom's wedding vows, I had him ask her if she would give him anything he desired from her. I-including her dreams."

  "That's all it took?" Lenoria chuckled. "Imagine being that much of a sucker. I guess the guy she married must have been a total hunk for her to cave in so quickly."

  Luno's eyes awkwardly glanced towards Alistair. The boy wondered why she stared at him for so long, then bashfully stared at the ground again. Then, it hit both of them. "No..."

  "Are you telling me...she was dreaming about my man?"

  Sensing hostility, Luno raised her hands submissively. "I had everyone dream about their deepest d-desires! I had no control about what they would dream about!"

  Lenoria took an angry step forward. There was fire in her eyes and she bared her teeth with violent intent.

  "I don't think that helped in the slightest," Aquamarine said sardonically.

  Lenoria made twisting motions with both hands. "I WILL WRING HER NECK UNTIL HER HEAD POPS OUT OF IT LIKE A PLASTIC DOLL!"

  "I guess it's not a good time to criticize the breeding that happened after..." Despite Luno whispering to herself, Lenoria's senses were too good to miss the moth woman's remarks.

  "WHAT?"

  "Eeek!"

  All poor Alistair could do was hide his face.

  Caesar was the only one who found the situation nothing short of amusing. "Gee, Al. I didn't take you for a player. Cecilia's my chief mate, so if she left, the rest of the crew would have more work to do on the ship. But since we're pals, I guess you can have my blessing. I think polygamy is legal in-"

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  "Can we get back to the subject, please?" It was a paladin's duty to steer his party away from chaos, no matter how red his face was. A single glare from Alistair was enough for Caesar and Luno to take a step back. As for Lenoria, he sighed and stepped out of his comfort zone if that was what it took to calm her emotions.

  Physical contact.

  "Now," Alistair said as he wrapped his arm around Lenoria's waist, "y-you were saying something about water monsters."

  "Ah..." Lenoria's anger melted away instantly. However unpleasant Cecilia's dream was, she had to get back to the subject at hand. "R-right. So, your water monsters are weak right now, Luno. One hit and they splash all over the place. What you need is a strong foundation that will keep them all together. Luckily, the answer has always been right in front of you."

  Sand. The answer was sand. Lenoria grabbed a handful of sand from one of the mounds and let it seep through her hand.

  "Sand by itself doesn't do much. But if you combine it with other ingredients, it becomes something else. It's always used in construction work, roads, and even making glass. And if you add water, you can mold sand into anything you want."

  "I..." Luno switched her sights between the pool and the sand, refusing to look at a single one longer than three seconds at a time. She could barely formulate a coherent thought, and her speech was reduced to babbling.

  This woman Caesar had summoned solved her problem within mere minutes of her arrival.

  "I'll get this room back in working order! B-but I won't be able to do much without the consent of at least one of you," Luno said sadly.

  "Meaning one of us has to be shoved into a cocoon," Caesar said. "That is, if we're abandoning the paladin idea."

  Aquamarine seemed frightened by the idea. "Should we, though? I mean, there's a lot of demons out there. Never mind that card mage, how are we going to beat them all if we help out?"

  Alistair released Lenoria. "Miss Aquamarine brings up an interesting point. How can we fight them all?"

  "That's easy. Just shove me inside the cocoon when it's ready," Lenoria said confidently.

  "You're insane." Pearl crossed her arms in a huff. "Somewhere between your death back in Helix and the fireball from earlier, you've lost your wits."

  "Pearl is right. If anyone should go, it's me," Alistair said. "I need you to be someplace safe."

  "Is that so?" Lenoria's body swayed side to side, her head sandwiched between her hands and cheeks, before hearts finally formed on her irises. "My darling knight, risking his life to save a forest in place of the woman he loves. But, egads. He enters a deep slumber, and only true love's kiss can wake him up. I have to stay with him in case that happens. So loving, so vulnerable. I know he'll be counting on me to save him, so I-"

  Aquamarine tapped Lenoria's shoulder before the latter endangered the story's rating with more mature content. "He and Caesar already stepped away to inspect the rest of the chamber."

  Alistair and Caesar had placed themselves a stone's throw away, inspecting the mounds of sand, while Luno fluttered near the ceiling along with a giant moth. The moth constantly spat out a thread, pulling it from its proboscis with its front legs, while Luno flawlessly knitted the thread into a ball.

  Snapped out of her amorous daze, Lenoria observed the moths do their work. A pair of tiny bird feet perched on her head, and she smiled when she heard Poe's croak.

  "You're always hanging out with Pearl, little guy. It's always so nice to see you." Lenoria scratched the bird's head. "What's your story, anyway?"

  Poe croaked, to no one's surprise.

  "Well, you're always helping out in battle, so thanks for always being there. I'm just glad you weren't hurt when that guy threw a fireball at us." The time for payback would come for sure. At least there were no casualties, but there's no telling what the next encounter would have in store. Everyone had to be ready; their defeat from earlier was a painful lesson that shouldn't be repeated.

  Poe found a stray strand of silk on the ground - one Luno had discarded just now - and swooped down towards it. With the silk latched in his beak, the little raven flew around Lenoria, placing the long strand around her neck like a scarf before finally landing on her shoulder.

  "That's very sweet, Poe, but I'm not cold."

  Poe hopped in place as he croaked and croaked. He seemed agitated.

  "I think he's saying you should be the one in the cocoon," Pearl pointed out.

  "Really?"

  Poe nodded, turning immediately to Pearl and flew up to her.

  "I guess I better tell Al. Maybe we can come up with a plan." Strolling her way to her beloved, Lenoria wasted no time to voice her opinion. She had originally came up with the idea with the intent to be the one falling asleep, and without her guidance, she wasn't sure how Alistair would fare once the operation began. "Al-"

  Without turning to face her, Alistair eyed the cocoon Luno and her giant moth were creating. "Caesar tells me it might better for you to go, after all."

  "Why's that?"

  "Because," Caesar began, "we might be able to use our Soulstones while we're asleep. The cat the gang mentioned earlier...she's a friend of mine. She told me we might be able to stay in touch with the spirits if we activate them before going to sleep."

  There's that cat again. Was she a friend or a foe? Given how Caesar spoke fondly of her, it might be the former. But Lenoria needed to be sure.

  "Pearl, can you confirm this?"

  "It's a possibility," Pearl commented, looking at Caesar as well. "Dream Sand comes from the Planetarium, and there are different varieties of sand that are used for crafting purposes. It's possible the Smith used some to create the Soulstones, but I'm not familiar with the process."

  That was enough for Lenoria. "Good enough for me. It's something worth testing."

  The act of speaking with Pearl meant the Soulstone was already active. Ordinarily, the wielder had to hold it up each morning and speak the Soulstone's name. To deactivate it, they would have to bid farewell to the spirit by speaking their name. It was a ritual Lenoria made sure to perform every night; keeping a Soulstone active during bedtime would put the mind through an arduous process that kept the body awake, preventing any rest. The wielder would awaken with a fatigued mind and body with nothing to show for the amount they slept.

  Lenoria surmised this "awakened" state while someone slept with their Soulstone active would keep them conscious in the Realm of Dreams. With the info gathered so far, she believed it was worth a try.

  "Alright, then there's no time like the present. Luno, you shove me into the cocoon. Then what?"

  "I cast a sleeping spell on you. It normally lasts a few minutes, but the cocoon increases the potency exponentially. Your consciousness will take an ethereal form, which will then be placed in the cocoon. You won't be able to wake up until we pull you out, so I want to make sure you are ready for this."

  With one nod to Caesar, Alistair, and Aquamarine, Lenoria had an answer for Luno. "If this works, we all win. I'm ready when you are."

  ***

  Present time

  Somewhere deep in the forest, back at the demon camp, several hunched individuals, along with some blue-caped humans, arrived from the outer perimeter to report to the lanky vulture demon waiting by the fire. The buck-toothed demons' disposition appeared meeker the close they approached their commander, who seemed to be running out of patience.

  "Blue Jays, report!"

  One of the humans, a young black-haired girl who appeared to be in her mid-twenties, gave Grif a strict bow. "Master, the moths are attacking! They hide in the shadows and use their claws to kill us!"

  "Impossible," Grif declared, "no moth is strong enough to kill a human, much less a demon."

  "Something is attacking us from the shadows," one of the abrikandilu hissed, "and we can no longer hunt the moths at our leisure! We must flee!"

  "I refuse!" With a frightening motion, the vulture demon unfurled his wings. With a wingspan easily measuring over 15 feet from wingtip to wingtip, the imposing figure easily beat his subordinates in both height and width. "No one's going anywhere! We have a team looking for their little hideout, so it's only a matter of time before they report back to me! If any of you desert me, there's no forest on this planet that will hide you from me!"

  The demons and the Blue Jays, huddled together in fear, nodded to their master without further protest.

  "Listen up! Our numbers are dwindling and time is running out! It's time we start searching for caves and underground burrows! These moths are crafty, but we are-"

  "Master, look out!" The black-haired woman, wasting no time, kicked one of the abrikandilu in the direction of the danger once Grif turned his back. The sorry demon tripped and rolled past his master's legs and stopped long enough to see the danger heading towards it. A lone samurai in ebony armor, iron claws ready, had jumped from one of the giant trees and used the momentum to charge from above. Thanks to the traitorous Blue Jay, the samurai's claws penetrated the skull of the abrikandilu instead, its brimstone-smelling ooze dripping out of the new head cavity its foe just made.

  The samurai crossed his arms in an X-formation, ready to face the taller demon. But he soon felt something from a distance lodge into his neck, and second later, the object and the samurai exploded where they stood. Millions upon millions of grains of sand rained on the encampment, angering the vulture demon even more.

  "Sand? Our ranks suffered because of a clump of sand?!" Grabbing a wet clump of sand, Grif crushed it with his claw. Not far from the encampment was the new arrival who just saved his life. "About time, Francisco. For your sake, you better have good news."

  Stepping out of the shadows, El Buitre wasted no time to take a bow with a feathery hand close to his shoulder. "Good and bad tidings, Master Grif. There are intruders in the forest who are familiar with the ways we - como se dice - run business. We were busy tormenting a lone halfling when they showed up claiming she was one of their own. Naturally, we fought, but my squad is gone. They are that strong."

  "How can this be? No one should be that strong, much less familiar with the methods of the organization." Grif scratched under his demonic beak. "Unless...it's that group rumored to have slain Spark and our babau scout."

  "They might as well be, but there is a silver lining." El Buitre flashed a grin. "After I disengaged, I hid until they let their guards down. Then I followed them to a cave. I personally witnessed giant moths flying in and out of it. Our guardian might be there, as well."

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