Barn Rest Part 1

Their journey was on foot, and they slept in a borrowed barn.

That night, the Succubus knelt before the Witch in the hay. “My Lady, are your feet sore? Should I prepare a bath for you?”

The Witch shook her head. “Please sit. I can use a cleaning spell on myself. I can’t let the fifth-ranked demon warrior under your Lord wash me. That would be discourteous and a waste of your talents.”

To become a ranked warrior under a demon lord was not an easy thing. The Witch knew that the Succubus had trained and fought hard, bested hundreds of others. It would be strange for someone like that to wash and service a mere witch like herself.

The Succubus sat down next to the Witch, looking a bit disappointed.

“I have something for you, My Lady,” the Succubus said. From her side, a dark voidspace appeared. It was an ability exclusive to demons. Other races could not summon voidspaces no matter how much they tried. It might be due to their demonic power, or their affinity to the element of Darkness. Even the Witch could not open a void.

From within the void, the Succubus brought out a ring with a red ruby. “This will protect you from Holy Powers, My Lady,” the Succubus said.

The Witch picked up the ring and brought it close to her eyes. Inside the ring, concentric circles of demonic runes warded against elements of the Light and anything Holy. The writings were too small for the naked eye to see. Concentrating magic in her eyes, the Witch magnified the runes.

“There’s a line that says it wards against anything that’s the harmful to Darkness or demonic powers,” the Witch said. She read that line out. The harsh and sharp Demonic language rolled off her tongue as if she were a native.

“Yes, it’s a general countermeasure against unknown things that might harm us. I don’t believe the ring will harm you if you wear it. If you have any anti-demon energy within you, I would have felt it already.”

“Or it’s so weak that it’s being suppressed by your Lord’s demonic energy within my body,” the Witch replied, and she put on the ring before the Succubus could even protest.

The red jewel twinkled on her left middle finger like a red eye. Flipping her palm up, the Witch let out each of the Elements in session. Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Light, and Darkness appeared one after another with ease.

The Witch smiled, pleased. “Looks like there’s nothing to worry about. Let’s hope we don’t see anyone else with Holy Powers again. The ones on your ears are also protection against Holy Powers, yes?” The Witch asked, looking at the piercings that lined the rim of the demon’s ears. “Why are they different colors?”

The Succubus touched her ear and took off one of the earrings with a royal blue jewel and handed it over to the Witch. “These aren’t as strong as the one I just gave you. Since your nails almost fell off, the demonic energy in your body was much less stable than it should be, so I gave you one with a stronger ward.”

The Witch picked up the earring and concentrated on it. “Yes, I can feel its power is less. Will this be enough for you?” she asked, and gave the earring back to the demon.

“I’m not the strongest one under my liege for nothing, My Lady,” the Succubus said, returning the warding jewelry to her ear. “All of us in the top ten have some resistance to Holy Power, either because our demonic energy is strong enough, or we’ve developed resistance towards it.”

The Witch nodded, impressed.

Something the demon said made the Witch ponder. “Your Lord used to send the strongest one to guide me, but after the first few times, he always sent the fifth-ranked demon. Did something happen?”

In Pandemonium, although the Witch was accepted by most, there were still some who didn’t like her existence. One such demon was the Lord’s mother. Perhaps she had something to do with the selection of her guides.

“Ah, well, this is a little embarrassing,” the Succubus said. She looked like an embarrassed child as she dropped her head to hide her blushing. “Being able to come to the human realm is always wonderful, of course. With the war over, we demons don’t have much opportunity to do so. But more importantly…” The Succubus glanced up at the Witch. “Are you aware of how we demons view you, My Lady?”

The Witch thought about it, remembering how the Succubus and other demons always seemed to be respectful around her by calling her, “My Lady,” and how they were sometimes overprotective of her in the past trips.

“I’m not sure exactly how you demons view me, and I never asked. I’m just glad you all don’t seem to be wary of me and are accepting of me instead. There are times when I feel like demons care more about me than my fellow human beings,” the Witch said, feeling a bit strange talking about this topic. “Although I never revealed the complete truth to humans, they think I’m abnormal, a cambion born of human and demon parents, and they despise me for it.”

The Succubus let out a sarcastic laugh. “Humans,” she muttered under her breath.

“You, a succubus, hating humans?” the Witch asked, surprised.

“I take their energy for food, but that doesn’t mean I have to like them,” the Succubus said. “I would not hate them so much if I had not lived among them. The more I stay with humans, the more despicable humans look to me.”

The Witch looked at the Succubus with sad eyes. It must be torture to have to have a body that craved humans for sustenance when the Succubus hated them so much.

“I understand that it’s hard for demons to have compassion, but please see that a lot of the time, they can’t help it,” the Witch said. “Whatever bad things they did to you, I’m sure at some point, they would regret it or feel bad about it.” 

The Witch hoped that her words would lessen the hatred the Succubus felt for humans.