The desire came out of nowhere. As a demon, I didn’t need to eat, and I’d even forgotten about food for a while recently. I’d either been busy working or just spending some quiet time with Mia.
It was actually thinking about her that brought on the craving for some good food. My mind had drifted off to the moment we first shared a meal, and then to the time we explored a new town by munching our way through as many restaurants as we could…
If I was being honest with myself, though, this wave of nostalgia was mostly a shield against the constant sense of dread lingering in the back of my mind. Ever since devouring those yeti souls, I hadn’t been able to shake off the feeling that something was about to go wrong.
I’d even overcharged my silly shell phone to contact Glaustro, but our conversation didn’t make me feel any better. All the other teams had also reported the yeti were having visions. Worse still, the visions were the same from tribe to tribe.
Now, I was fine with the first and last visions. Both were obvious portents of doom, brought on by our own presence on-world. The dream of the depths, however, and of the nascent creature lurking within? That one gave me the creeps.
In fact, it had taken to dominating my subconscious every time I slumbered. I was waking up half a dozen times a night to rather unpleasant shudders wracking my body. I wasn’t a fan.
When I did have my own dreams, they weren’t much better. Though not induced by whatever had contacted the yeti, they left me with a heavy sense of foreboding. I’d also noticed dregs of Abyssal mana swirling around me in those dreams. It felt like the Abyss itself was trying to tell me something. But for some reason, the message just wasn’t getting across.
“Commander, we’ve found something.”
The voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Turning, I saw one of my scouts had come hurrying to my side. I cast about for a name, then realized I had never bothered to learn it.
Frankly, I was part of a demonic army. I was not expected to befriend my soldiers. If anything, the opposite was the preferred approach. You never knew when you might need to order them all to do a suicide charge or something. If you actually cared about their feelings… the reunion within the Abyss later would probably be a bit awkward.
I nodded curtly at the nameless scout. “Report.”
“We are approaching the fourth stash of Divinity, and we’ve already discovered signs of yeti presence in the area. However… there are also signs of demons here. I think enemy troops are trying to pinpoint the location of the yeti tribe.”
That sure got my full attention. It meant I might have another chance to take down Wilhelmina.
“Good work.” I gave the scout another sharp nod. “I want you to ascertain whether or not Major Wilhelmina has already discovered the tribe’s location and made a move. If not, I want to know where her current camp is. Try not to get caught spying on them, if you can?”
My voice was droll, but it must have contained just the hint of menace I was going for. The scout winced and hurried to assure me that he would not be seen.
Excitement thrummed through my veins as I watched him scurry off. With all the losses her troops had taken, and the damage she herself sustained while trying to kill Glaustro, I had a solid chance of killing Wilhelmina all on my own.
Unfortunately, I knew Glaustro would bite my head off if I tried. Mia, too, would likely not be amused, if for no other reason than wanting a shot at Wilhelmina herself.
I sighed as I pulled out my shell communication device.
I had some uncomfortable calls to make.
Theoretically, my shell phoneTM was capable of connecting to several different individuals at once. Once I started reaching out to Glaustro and my three fellow sergeants, though, I realized why such an attempt was folly outside of the Abyss. The damn device sucked down almost all my mana before the connection finally stabilized, and even then, I had a feeling it wouldn’t last very long.
I scowled and pulled out a few mana crystals. Maybe it would have been easier if I’d excluded Imthala, but I didn’t want to insult her.
I would just have to keep it brief.
“My scouts have found traces of Wilhelmina,” I stated. “I’m going to try not to engage until you show up, but I can’t promise I won’t do something if it looks like she’s about to bolt.”
The connection instantly twisted my soul, straining to carry my message to the four intended recipients. I gritted my teeth and pulled out several more mana crystals. Somehow, I managed to keep the bucking magical connection from breaking until it delivered my message.
I felt a light pulse from all four recipients as they tried to contact me back, but that was a little too much for the device. The shell grew hotter in my hand as the connection strained one final time. I was aware of two distinct sources of mana trying to stabilize it from the other end, but then it snapped.
The backlash was so intense that I hissed and dropped the shell. A piece of the device cracked off as it lay there, steaming and melting the snow. I snatched it up with a curse.
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It was burning hot, but that wasn’t why I’d dropped it. No, that honor went to the stinging pain in my hand that spread all the way up to my elbow. I’d strained something trying to pull off that nonsense off, which meant I was heading into a potential confrontation with a mild injury.
Fetching more mana crystals, I sucked down everything they could offer in an attempt to refill my reserves quickly.
Those worrywarts better appreciate what I was willing to endure just to honor their request to avoid recklessness.
—
Wilhelmina was not doing well. Not only was my entire troop able to sneak up within viewing distance of her camp without her noticing, but the camp itself… Well, if I had any doubts that her injuries were costing her bitterly, they were gone now.
The camp was a pitiful sight.
Sure, the location was good. The enemy had set up in a small, secluded valley between two icy mountains, blocked off on three sides. My poor scouts had been forced to clamber all over the hills like mountain goats to perform their task. They’d also employed all the invisibility and muffling spells Methialia had convinced Mia to teach to the whole army. My soldiers were nowhere near Mia’s level, of course, but they could avoid casual observation by guards and enemy scouts.
Except there were no guards or scouts to contend with. Looking down from one of the icy mountain walls, I noticed the entire camp had a desperate air about it, as if the inhabitants had all but given up. Most of the demons I saw were still sporting injuries. Best of all was the rage radiating off Wilhelmina’s tent in great plumes. Even her soul aura was wobbling all over the place, proving she was on the verge of losing her status as an archdemon.
It would have been so easy to order my people to carry out a slaughter. What were these beat-down demons and their ailing leader going to do? Beg?
What stopped me was Glaustro’s probable reaction to the news that I’d attacked without permission. He was the supreme commander of our little army, after all. Being his friend didn’t give me the right to infringe on his authority.
Still, it was tempting, mostly because the sight of Wilhelmina’s pathetic troops proved the superiority of Glaustro’s well-organized units.
My people were all in position. Each soldier knew exactly what to do if several different scenarios unfolded. The whole troop was in excellent personal condition to go into battle. Morale was already high thanks to our recent victories and looting, and seeing Wilhelmina’s camp only bolstered their mood through the simple magic of comparison.
Now, if only Wilhelmina could be a dear and sit tight until Glaustro gets to me, I mused.
Of course, that was the exact moment the camp below began to stir.
Wilhelmina emerged from her tent, looking much worse for wear. Her entire body was littered with cracks that wisped some kind of dark, oily smoke. Her face bore a jagged scar that ran from her forehead down to her chin, passing directly through her left eye.
She started shouting and destroying nearby tents, eventually managing to stir her troops into action. I was too far away to hear exactly what she was saying, but I could wager a decent guess. After all, I wasn’t lucky enough for her to be unaware of a yeti tribe situated relatively close to her hidey hole.
Wilhelmina was going for that stash of Divinity.
I turned to my captain, once again thankful that Glaustro had finally taught us how to use the mental connection he’d employed back on Lagyel.
“What are the chances she could be talked into just sitting tight?” I asked Gerlack silently. “Weather this invasion, maybe steal a piece of Breskwor’s land once we’re done conquering it? If her troops suggested that, do you think she would listen?”
Captain Gerlack’s response was immediate and brief. “I wouldn’t bet on it, sir. Everything I know about Wilhelmina suggests she’s highly impulsive,”
I couldn’t stop myself from sighing.
Oh, Glaustro was going to be so very unhappy with me.
But it wasn’t like I didn’t try! Besides, surely his order for me to avoid engagement was trumped by his order to stop the wretched demoness from getting her hands on any Divinity.
I swooped down from my perch with an almost equal mix of reluctance and anticipation. Positioning myself directly on the path Wilhelmina and her troops would have to take out of the secluded valley, I ordered my troops to set up for ambush.
Maybe if I manage to end this quickly enough, Glaustro won’t be as upset?
A grin stretched across my lips. I even chuckled softly as I started to coil my mana deep within my chest, again and again. I then linked the whole bundle even deeper with the Emotion that was always present there.
For a moment, it felt a bit like dipping myself in an icy bath. The combination of mana and Emotion rose up to fill me, threatening to undo the few methods I had learned to conceal my soul from casual observation.
There I stood, stuck somewhere between a meditative calm and riotous inner turmoil, until finally Wilhelmina entered the range of my senses. Then I dropped each and every concealment I’d so meticulously put up.
She jolted to attention and looked around wildly. When her eyes landed on mine, I gave her a languid smirk.
I could see the scowl, the war cry that was already upon her lips, but I never gave her a chance to speak. Instead, I shoved the entirety of my will upon myself and the world around me, demanding that all obey and conform to what defined me so deeply.
“Woe! Woe onto you!”
I screamed the words with unmatched glee, relishing the way in which the Emotion that always burdened me now exploded and latched onto every soul within my range.
I’d warned my troops in advance, obviously. They had even set up wards to mitigate the effects I might have on them. However, none of us really knew what to expect. I had never dared to call upon my Emotion so fully since my initial outburst post-ascension. When the wave of my turmoil washed over my soldiers, I saw more than a few of them stagger and whimper. Tears began to leak from their eyes as their features twisted into masks of despair.
Their fellows reacted quickly enough. A jerk of the shoulder here, a slap there, and my troops were spared the worst of my Emotion.
Wilhelmina and hers weren’t so lucky.
The full weight of Woe slammed down upon them, pulling most of them under instantly. It wasn’t even hard. For soldiers away from home, soldiers who’d already been beaten once, woe would be a natural response when confronted with the source of their suffering. Even Wilhelmina, whatever vaunted heights her soul had reached at some point, collapsed to her knees with trails of pinkish blood streaming down her cheeks.
My many eyes left trails of cyan tears behind me, soaking my clothes. Still, the rictus of a grin wouldn’t leave my face as I stalked ever closer to the commander who had once terrified me so.
Her troops were in disarray. Her own state was beyond pitiful.
She was practically a lamb to the slaughter.
When I was just a few yards away, my sword materialized in my hand. Wisps of green flames were already dancing over its blade.
“I’d say I won’t enjoy this, but… oh, that would be such a lie,” I whispered, with what could have been mistaken for loving tenderness.
That’s when Wilhelmina did the last thing I expected.
“Kill me,” she rasped, looking me in the eye with gloating defiance. “Kill me, and everyone in the entirety of the Abyss is going to know Glaustro ‘lucked’ into discovering a newborn world chock-full of Divinity. My people were sworn not to reveal the secret, but there’s nothing stopping me. Who do you think is going to come after you first? Crewe? Cassillyn? Maybe even the great and mighty general himself?”
Her voice was pure poison and spite, freezing me in place as her laughter echoed off the surrounding hills.
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