"Friend" is Such a Strong Word

I saw him standing across the dying fields outside of Luwas, the specter haunting my nightmares. The scenario played out many times over the last fifteen years. This was our fight, the one that caused all of this horror to befall our lands. He had appeared in my dreams much more often since the battle at Freehold, staring me down like he always did.

He and I met outside the city gates for single combat. No magic, only our weapons, sword for sword, the way it had always been, the way the gods intended. My challenge to him was the only thing standing between the city and a dragon lurking just beyond the horizon. The Demon Lord Ayya stood there in cold, uncaring silence, the very concept of evil condensed down into a singular being. His face, despite the intense heat of the summer, had been completely encased inside that stag helmet of his, only revealing his ruby-red eyes. My heart withered a fair bit in his presence, but I could not allow my resolve to waver lest I become his latest victim.

The Demon Lord pointed his shriveled finger right at me and held that pose for a solid minute. I was not sure what it meant until he moved his arm down, pointing the finger to the ground. Whether he believed in our afterlife or not, I knew not, but the message was clear.

For reasons I couldn't understand, the nightmares always looked over the actual fight and instead replayed the ending. We were now atop the city walls. Weaponless, nothing in my power could have stopped the Demon Lord from doing whatever he wanted with me. He grabbed a hold of my neck and dangled me over the edge of the city walls. It was over for me, I knew it…

He tossed me over the city walls.

•

I woke up with a horrible pain coursing all through my body. Whatever happened during that last battle had rendered me bedridden for - Good grief… I had lost count of how many days I had been like this. All I could remember was that I had woken up with this pain one day. I hated this. The whole thing reminded me of when I first woke up in Hilami’s tavern.

“Oh, good. You're awake.”

Speak of the blasted demon, there she was, offering yet another elixir for me to drink. She sat in a chair next to my bed. My original room had been destroyed in the previous battle, so they had me moved to a room much closer to the west wall.

“Woman, how many times do I have to tell you,” I sighed. “The elixirs aren't working anymore.”

“Foolish boy,” she scolded me as usual. “Drink. Healing magic is only as strong as the will of the recipient.”

“What in the Seven Heavens are you talking about?” I asked her. “Have you ever considered there might be some injuries your magic can't heal?”

“Foolish boy,” she replied. “Do you have any idea what has to go into these elixirs for them to work? All magic beckons a cost, child. It's how you choose to pay it that matters. Now drink.”

It was only after she left that I did as I had been told. Still hated the taste of those elixirs of hers. Bitterroot juice and mashed carrots. Her words, few that she spoke, rattled around in my mind for some time. It's how you choose to pay it that matters. She never did reveal very much about her old life. We had known each other for fifteen years, but it felt like I hadn't really known her at all. As each day passed, my curiosity only grew. One day, I was going to get that woman to spill all of her secrets. I just wasn't sure how I was going to make that happen.

•

I had no idea how long I had been lost in my thoughts. It must have been several hours at least. The view out the window allowed me to play out scenes in my imagination. Someone was behind me chanting the prayer that the religious among my people would say every morning:

“May the Watcher look upon us with kindness.

May Ianno make our magic effective.

May Aab guide us with her boundless wisdom.

May Tartreya grant us good weather.

May Ute protect our children, even the unborn.

May Ostar keep our lands safe from harm.

May Dendros grant us strength in our hour of need.

May Marbis find us worthy of a bountiful harvest.

And may Nardos lead us away from wickedness.”

Not one to interrupt someone while praying, even though I was not one to pray very often myself, I allowed them to finish their prayer before finding out who was there. I flipped myself over to see Tomosse, the Demon Prince standing in my room.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him as I got out of bed. To my surprise, the pain I had been dealing with for many days had disappeared. Gone, like nothing had even happened.

“What a beautiful prayer that is,” Tomosse said, ignoring my question entirely. “Your culture is so fascinating. We aren't so different, after all. Well, except for the number of gods. Why do you have so many gods, anyways?” I hadn't expected anyone to say that nine gods was a lot. The trolls and ogres worshipped countless nature gods, the Kobodi had a pantheon of thirteen, both the Aiurosi and the Lagosi worshipped a smattering of deities from across the realms.

“It's a simple thing, really,” I explained to Tomosse. “The ancient writings tell us there are seven heavens, and then our world, and then the world of Arakkia. Each one has its own god that rules over it, with the Watcher, the leader of the gods, ruling over all from atop the Seventh Heaven.”

“I see,” replied Tomosse. “What a lovely way of looking at the world. Quite poetic, actually.”

“So I'll ask again, what are you doing here? And how did my -”

“Do you like it?” Tomosse asked me. “Healed you myself, since that old witch's elixirs just weren't doing the trick.”

“How did you…?”

“Demons have an affinity to magic that some might consider unnatural,” Tomosse answered. “But that's not important. It's been a while, Hallie. Can I call you Hallie? I figured since we're friends -”

“No,” I replied. “And we are not friends.”

“No? Perhaps not,” answered Tomosse. “But we are going to have to be if we want to win this war. Did you see yourself at that battle? You looked awesome! Some might even say you were epic!”

“Hold on,” I interrupted the Demon Prince, walking closer to him. “You saw that battle?”

“Yup. The way you used the power of the pegasus,” he answered as he mimicked the flight of a pegasus, “absolutely inspiring! Someone ought to make a statue of that.”

“You watched the demons attack this city?”

“Yes… B- But it was so cool, especially when you launched that Feather Shot attack! You should have seen it from my angle!”

“And not once did it cross your mind that Oh hey, things are looking pretty bad over there. Maybe I should help them out? Not once did you think to call off the attack or distract them or something?”

“Well, since you put it like that, I suppose -”

I should have killed that demon scum when I had the first chance. He was standing right in front of me acting like all the death and destruction that just happened was all fun and games. None of this was being taken seriously by him. Well, better late than never.

I wrapped my hands around the infernal creature's tiny little neck. All I could think about was how little he took all the horrors of war seriously. It hurt even worse than any wound a demon soldier could have given me during the fighting itself. The betrayal…

But instead of choking to death, the way any other creature would as it was being strangled, Tomosse laughed at me. He still refused to take any of this seriously. Could he not see that I was trying to kill him?

“Careful now,” he told me with an obnoxious giggle. “My people call this flirting. If you plan on bedding me, you may have to ask my father for permission first.”

I backed away from him in disgust. How could he joke like that in a time like this? Thousands of people, including thousands of demons, had just died. This was no time to be making jokes about flirting. This was war, by all the gods!

“And besides,” he continued, “I wouldn't have been able to call off the attack, even if I wanted to. The Children of Fire answer to my father alone. To them, his word is law, and they know no other master.”

“Now I know for a fact that isn't true,” I countered. “I've seen them in action. They seem to have no problems with listening to their commanders.”

“While that is true,” Tomosse admitted, “those commanders also get their orders directly from my father. They cannot give orders of their own, especially if they counter his. To my people, he is God, he alone and no other.”

“So that's why you want me to defeat your father,” I told him, figuring out his plan quickly. “You killing him, were you able to do so, would look unseemly to your people. But if someone else did it, you could take the blame off yourself and exploit the status your people would give you as the new Demon Lord.”

“A smart one, you are,” the prince replied. “Our time together is running short. I need to tell you one more thing.”

“Shoot.”

“The demons will be attacking the village of Kanett in a week's time,” Tomosse explained the demons’ plan. “I'm not sure why, but that is their next target. Travel there at your own risk, Hallie.”

“Please don't call me -”

“I did a scouting mission for my father and when I saw what was going on over there, I said to myself, My new friend Hallie isn't going to like that -”

“We are not friends,” I repeated.

“Can we settle for allies then?” Tomosse asked. “Now, I need to hurry before your lady friend, the old witch, comes back.”

“She's not -”

“She's your friend who happens to be a lady,” the prince continued, “though lady is a bit debatable. She's a lady friend, and an old witch.”

With that, Tomosse disappeared into the air once again, leaving me with more questions than answers.