Chapter 25 - Girls Just Want To Have Lunch

Knuckles drove into Kaelen’s left side and what little breath left in his lungs was forced out by the blow.

How long has he been doing this again? Ariadne wondered.

Xorn has tied the prisoner by his wrists to a beam in the ceiling and he hung there like a punching bag. His feet dangled in the air a little over a foot off the floor.

Xorn’s tall stature meant he still was able to look Kaelen in the eyes. At least when the prisoner’s head wasn’t just lolling about. Which it had been for some time.

Xorn had originally been dramatic at first, trying to scare the man. But Ariadne realized Kaelen was much worse than a rebel. He was a true believer. The only words he’d spoken so far were threats to destroy every demon in the world. He might gloat, but he would never willingly betray his comrades.

If only he’d finally talk so I can get out of here. I’m bored.

Xorn struck the man’s right side. What had started as a calculated attempt at an interrogation had mostly just devolved into a workout for the demon who was using Kaelen as a literal punching bag. Still, the demon kept his wits about him enough not to do irreparable damage. And he must have been avoiding the face so the man could talk when he was finally willing.

Oooo! Dried persimmon!

Ariadne leaned against the interrogation room wall popping various dried fruit into her mouth.

Xorn struck two quick jabs with his left.

He has good form.

Kaelen didn’t seem to agree or notice as Ariadne tossed another fruit into her mouth.

Her face puckered as she realized she’d picked a kind of dried plum that was sour and salty instead of sweet. She’d enjoyed making a game of her mixed fruit snacks. She’d liked to surprise herself with her choice each time but the sour taste after the almost too sweet persimmon was an odd contrast.

When she first learned how to use her phasing ability she could barely manage for more than a split second. Still useful to dodge an attack, but not much more.

Now she could hold the skill for hours if she needed. It had taken over a year of training, but her dad had insisted she get better since the ability had amazing potential to keep her safe. And as her last few jobs had proven, it came in handy in all kinds of ways.

She thought more about her ability and realized her best improvement ever was the realization that anything she had on her when she phased would stay phased with her as long as she didn’t drop it. Including food!

It meant she could kick back and relax, have a snack, and wait for something interesting to happen.

Uh, I totally am going to owe dad for suggesting I brings snacks. Such a dad thing to say at the guild…he’d already told me last night to bring food. And he complains I treat him like family in public too much!

She rolled her eyes but was smiling fondly at her memory of the interaction as she popped a couple raisins into her mouth to balance out the salty sourness from the plum.

Nice six hit combo. You know, with his kinda classic ‘demon’ vibe and big muscles this Xorn guy would make a killing crafting home work-out videos. Bet he’d have tons of followers on his socials too.

She noticed every hit was striking somewhere other than the prisoner’s vitals. Even if Xorn was pulling punches Kaelen would have long since died of internal bleeding if Xorn wasn’t moderating and varying his blows. It was kind of impressive in a way that Xorn could be that careful.

Ariadne realized she must have been watching for nearly two hours at this point.

I wonder if dad would say I’ve become desensitized to violence?

She popped another fruit into her mouth as she shrugged at her own question. An almond was in there too. Fortunately, her ability to phase herself worked in a way where she couldn’t be perceived at all, including not just by sight but also sound and smell. Well, and touch too since she could pass through things like a ghost.  Her teeth crunched into the nut.

Xorn seemed to have paused and he grabbed Kaelen by his hair and jerked the limp head up to look him in the eye.

“Ready to tell me why you attacked that envoy? What does your idiotic little band of rebels gain from killing a human accountant?” His tone was unmistakenly dismissive.

“Ha!”

Ariadne turned her head to watch more closely for the first time in a while. It was the first noise other than grunts of pain the prisoner had made in ages.

“You’re the idiot! You don’t even know that envoy was some big wig greater demon sent to fight us! I guess even your precious king thinks you can’t do your job!” He spat the words in demon’s face.

Xorn’s red eyes went wide. “A demon!” He grabbed Kaelen by the jaw and stared into his eyes.

“Yeah, clearly someone more important than you!” The prisoner let out a ragged chuckle.

“Liar! There’s no way your pathetic lot could best a greater demon! You could never have killed them!”

Kaelen laughed harder, the sound wet and hoarse.

“I wish I could take credit! I wish I could say that we did it. That I killed them with my flames!

Xorn thick eyebrows raised in surprise at the suggestion that Warlock’s group wasn’t responsible.

Ariadne just popped another fruit into her mouth.

A dried peach. I love these.

Nothing so far was new to her, so she was only half paying attention again.

“You were seen attacking the carriage!”

Another rough chuckle. “No…we were seen trying to attack the carriage. When we got there it was already burnt. No one else was there. No attacker. No bodies. We were set up! You’re wasting your time with the wrong person!” His half-mad chuckling continued.

Xorn let go and stepped back, clearly confused by the admission. He wanted to deny the claim, but it did fit with everything he’d heard and seen so far. They’d even recovered this man’s pack of supplies and nothing inside could have been used to set the carriage ablaze in the way it had been.

Something was missing.

“Maybe you should ask that bitch who thinks she’s hot stuff!? Who knows how long she was there before she attacked us? What was she even doing there?!”

Kaelen was as curious as Xorn to find out what really happened and his true thoughts slipped out in his exhaustion and in the feeling of his triumph at surprising his interrogator.

Xorn blinked as the idea sunk in.

Why was Taia there? For how long? Who was even in the carriage? Anyone?

Too many questions came to mind. Ariadne noticed the look on the demon’s face.

Oooo, that hit home. I’ll have to tell dad about that angle.

Just then someone else entered the interrogation room.

Speak of the devil…er…demon anyway. Ariadne thought to herself as Taia stepped in.

Xorn turned towards the woman. “I told you that I would handle this. I am the Viscount’s Captain of the Guard!”

Taia smiled as she poked her finger into his chest. Her tone was casual, but the there was an undeniable menace to her words.

“And I told you that I don’t work for you. I don’t report to you. I don’t even report to the Viscount. I am here on behalf of our King. And you will not question me. Understood.”

His reply came out through gritted teeth. “What do you want?”

“I have my own questions for the prisoner.”

She walked towards Kaelen.

Ariadne very much turned her attention back to the scene. The dried peach in her hand could wait.

“I bet you do…” Xorn grumbled. Taia ignored him and looked to Kaelen.

“You are a mage, obviously. You were about to cast a spell when we met.”

“I was going to burn you to cinders before you did…whatever that was.”

“So you can use fire magic. What about summoning?”

Xorn couldn’t hide his surprise at the question which seemed to come out of the blue. Ariadne’s surprise would have equally been obvious to anyone who could see her.

She was so surprised she dropped her next slice of dried peach.

“Why would I know how to summon? I don’t need some fabled otherworlder to kill you demons! I’ll do it myself!”

He spat on the floor.

“Useless.” She turned away and spotted something on the ground.

“What do you feed your prisoner Xorn?” She stepped closer and picked up a piece of dried peach.

Ariadne froze, despite being invisible.

Xorn looked at Taia’s hand. “What is that? We don’t even feed the prisoner in this room. And never more than gruel.”

“Could another guard have dropped this?”

“No one has been in here except me!”

They blinked and stared at each other.

Taia crushed the fruit in her hand. “Then I imagine you should do a thorough sweep. Because it seems like a rat has been sneaking into our castle.”