The Former Demon Queen Wants To Become A Hero

The wooden wheel clattered along the cobblestone as the traveling wagons continued their journey through the night. The road was a lonely one, deserted from any other company in sight, near or far.

"Mommy, I'm scared."

Inside one of the wagons, a little girl clutched her mother's hands tightly, shaking with fear. Numerous kinds of terrors were known to stalk these parts of the woods: goblins, bandits, fiends, and sometimes even demons.

"Oh, you don't have to be, my dear," the older woman said, placing a hand on her daughter's hair and stroking it gently. "No monster is going to show up, okay? And even if they do, there are a few adventurers and garrison members traveling alongside us. I'm sure they'll fight those big scary creatures away."

Both mother and daughter were of elven descent, as evident from their pointed ears and blue eyes. They were on their way home from the capital, where they had visited a few of their relatives in the city.

They should have left hours ago to avoid night meeting them on the road. It was a full day's journey to Blendingbrook, but because they had left late, the darkness had caught up with them. Now there was nothing but the creaking wheels and the distant howls of the forest to keep them company.

Also, the woman may have just told a tiny white lie to her daughter. There were indeed some adventurers and a detachment of guards traveling with them, but whether they would be strong enough to fight off any threat that might show up was another matter. Lower threats, like goblins and bandits, might be manageable. But higher threats like vampires, or even demons, would be certain death without the holy knights. And the holy knights were nowhere to be seen, as they were busy fighting on the front lines against the Demon Queen.

"Umm, excuse me, miss."

The woman looked up at the only other passenger riding in the wagon with them. Across from them sat a young human girl with a mop of brown, messy hair and a friendly, approachable smile on her face.

"Hi, hello," the human girl said. "I couldn't help but overhear that your daughter might be scared."

The little girl held her mother tightly and hid her face in her embrace. The woman continued stroking her daughter's hair, trying to soothe her.

"Yes," the mother spoke up, her voice soft and steady. "My little one is a bit worried about the monsters hiding in the dark."

"Hey, what's your name?" the girl said, leaning forward slightly to get closer to the child.

"Monica," the little girl whispered.

"Monica? That's a beautiful name," the human girl replied. "My name is Olivia Herald Herondale. But my friends call me Leafy. You can also call me Leafy."

The little girl slowly lifted her head from her mother's body.

"Leafy?" she asked softly.

"Yes, Leafy," the human girl replied. "And do you know what? You shouldn't worry. Even if monsters do come out of the woods, you have your mommy right here. She looks fierce and protective. She wouldn't let anything happen to you. Not even a single scratch."

The little girl briefly turned back to her mother, as if seeking reassurance. The mother nodded in response, a gentle smile on her face. Then Monica turned back to Leafy.

"Thank you," Monica said quietly. "But who would protect you? Are you some kind of adventurer yourself?"

"No, not really," Leafy admitted, leaning back and sitting straight. "I work at the Adventurers Guild as a receptionist. But I do train from time to time to become stronger. But you needn't worry about me. I will not only take care of myself, but I will also help your mother protect you. Okay?"

The little girl smiled, the look of fear on her face fading.. However, in that exact moment, as if the horrors wanted to prove Leafy wrong, a deep growl, guttural and ominous, rumbled from somewhere outside.

Then another.

And another.

The wagons suddenly stopped.

Through the window, massive shadows moved in the darkness. Bright orange eyes, larger than any they had ever seen before, glared back at them from beyond the tree line.

Dozens of them.

Monica gasped, hugging her mother even tighter and once again hiding her face in her arms. The mother's breath caught in her throat. She pulled her child closer, wrapping the little girl in a trembling embrace.

The mother noticed Leafy's expression falter for just a moment, as if she too had been hoping the beasts would stay away.

"It's a monster!" one of the guards shouted, forming a defensive perimeter around the caravan. "Multiple abominations! Category five beasts!"

The mother looked out toward the rest of the wagons. Almost everybody on board were low-ranking adventurers, not really equipped to handle such creatures.

"Stay back, you fiends!" the commander of the guard ordered, pushing forward. "Turn around and go back from where you came, or face certain death!"

But none of the creatures heeded his warning.

They growled in frightening unison, shaking the entire forest with the sound alone. Then they jumped out of hiding in a coordinated wave, landing in front of the caravan.

They were Jagans: wolf-like humanoid hybrids with orange eyes and razor-sharp teeth. They stood on their hind legs like humans, but possessed upper torsos as large as an ogre's.

The guards charged, screaming with both bravery and terror as they rushed the creatures with their swords and spears. But the monstrosities simply swatted them aside, as if they were nothing more than pests... flies.

One guard flew into a tree. Another crumpled to the ground, lifeless. From inside the wagons, some of the passenger adventurers and mages tried to lay down support fire, launching spells and arrows from the relative safety of their seats. But the horrors barely seemed to notice.

The arrows broke apart when they tried piercing their skins, arms, and chests, and the magic—a mix of fire and ice spells—seemed to be having no effect.

The monsters continued to advance toward the wagons, unperturbed.

The mother pulled Monica closer, hugging the girl tighter and covering her daughter's eyes. Her heart sank. This was exactly what she had feared.

Oh, how she wished they had left the city much earlier. They would have never found themselves in this mess. It was all her fault.

She shut her eyes tight, bracing for the worst.

But it never came.

She reopened her eyes and saw just as a mysterious cloaked figure shoot past their wagon, slamming into the nearest creature with incredible force, sending it flying.

The monster went crashing into a bunch of trees, its body twisting and bending in unnatural positions as it shattered branches.

Soon after, another Jagan went soaring through the air, spinning over and over before slamming face first into a boulder.

And another, this one coming to a stop with its chest impaled by a tree branch.

And yet another, this one flung straight upward before coming to slam back down to the ground with such force the elven mother could swear she could hear every bone in its body crack.

What's happening? she thought as the creatures were continuously thrown in all directions, their bodies crashing into trees, broken and bleeding.

She tried to focus on the figure she suspected was responsible, but her eyes couldn't keep up. They were moving too fast, zipping around the battlefield.

It was only when all of the monstrous Jagans had been completely defeated, their bodies scattered all over the place, that the mother was finally able to lay eyes on their savior.

The individual had stopped moving impossibly fast, and now stood still, silhouetted against the darkness at the center of the road.

It appeared to be a young woman.

She possessed jet-black hair flowing down her shoulders and glowing crimson eyes that shone in the darkness.

On her head, massive horns curved upward, protruding from her skull, and on her back, two enormous wings sat in a resting but ready position.

The elven mother gasped.

"That's a..."

"That's a—"

Before she could finish the thought, the remaining guards who were not injured stepped out, weapons raised, forming a defensive line this time against the strange woman.

"Stand back!" the commander shouted, his voice trembling. "She's a demon! Another one of them!"

The strange woman raised her hands slowly as if in surrender, palms open.

"Please," she said, her voice sounding surprisingly calm and sincere. "I just want to help."

The guards didn't lower their weapons. Instead, they gripped them tighter, their whole bodies trembling with fright. The mother could see the fear in their eyes from here, could hear it in the commander's shaking voice.

They didn't know how to treat a monster who appeared to have just saved their lives.

All of their lives.

In the midst of the silence and confusion, the horned woman took a single step forward.

"S-s-stay back, demon!" The regiment commander shouted, his sword hand shaking. "We don't need your help! You're just like them: a killer!"

The strange woman halted her advance and simply stood there, crimson eyes fixed on the guards, her expression unreadable. She looked at the bodies on the ground: the dead Jagans, the injured guards. Then she turned her attention back to the garrison.

"I am not your enemy," she said quietly. "At least let me take the injured for treatment. I shall not harm anyone. I promise you."

But the group of men didn't believe her. They refused to lower their swords. The commander stepped forward, still shaking.

"Leave this place now," he said, his voice trembling but firm, "or we'll be forced to cut you down."

She studied them for a moment, her red eyes softening into something almost sorrowful. The elven mother noticed it, even from a distance.

Then, without any further arguments, the strange woman nodded.

"As you wish."

She turned, spread her black wings, and launched herself into the night sky. The guards watched her fly into the darkness, leaving the corpses of the fallen abominations behind.

Everyone stared up at the empty sky, trying to process what had just happened. No one spoke. No one understood what they had all just witnessed.

The mother gently nudged her daughter.

"Monica," she said softly. "You can look now. It's all gone."

The little girl slowly lifted her head, her eyes wet from crying. She looked up at the sky, then back at her mother.

"Mommy... was that a demon? Was that a demon just now that saved us?"

The mother paused, unsure how to answer.

She glanced over at Leafy. The human girl sat quietly, her expression frozen in bewilderment, her eyes fixed on the spot in the sky where the horned woman had disappeared.

"A demon killing abominations to save us," the girl whispered, no doubt still in disbelief. "In what world is that even real?"