The air was cold, as night was falling, and the town, growing darker. A lone figure was skulking through the night, its features obscured by the darkness. The figure stumbled, and with visible difficulty rose again, looked around, limping, hurried to its destination with renewed vigor.
It saw no one, nor did anyone see it. Or the trail of blood that followed it.
A dog suddenly started barking nearby, sensing evil-the figure turned, and leaped.
The dog wailed once, and grew silent.
The night was slow, and the opening door draw attention from the idling Leah at once.
Shesmiled and was about to offer a greeting, hoping for new, interesting guests to the Inn. That hopewas dashed, however, as Leah got a good look at the person who entered, her smile turning into a frown.
"What are you doing here?"
When no reply came, Leah walked towards the comer, until she stood in their face, and unavoidable had their attention. "I am talking to you!"
"I am returning to my room-or are you going to kick me out? Reneging on deals and lying is the first step to embracing your heritage as a monster." Liaza mocked with a challenging smile.
Leah wanted to wipe that infuriating smile off her face. With a swipe of her claws.
"You wouldn't want to leave outside in the cold darkness; you are not some demon, after all, are you?"
"If I could only tear your wings off, to remind you that you could have, and should have flown away…"Leah snarled.
"But that would expose me, and in turn, expose you. Even if you stop me from telling on you, they might see me, and even if they won't, people remember me staying here, and will wonder where I disappeared to, and you are new in town yourself. Suspicion towards strangers can easily incite a mob, and the mayor's house exploded so recently-people are still on edge."
With those words, the half-succubus walked past Leah and to her room, not waiting for response as she slammed the door.
Had Leah followed her, she would have seen Liaza stumbling, leaning on the bed, as her illusion dropped, showing her clothes to be torn, covered with blood, grime and dirt, recent wounds on her arms and torso, proof that some of the blood was her own.
'How dare she! I will make her pain legendary! Flay the skin of her with a whip made from her own impudent tongue! I am-Leah! I am Leah! I am better than that! I won't be like the monsters who happened to give birth to me-I am no demon lord.'
But was she? Her father was a mortal possessed by the Lord of Terror himself, or was it the Lord of Terror, possessing some mortal-she now knew this the she that awoke in that field was a demon, not mortal. Worse yet, Leah felt parts of the other demon lords stuck in her soul-even if she was sure these were small parts.
"Ugh! If only I had your wisdom to guide me, Uncle, then maybe I could make sense of it."
The girl closed her eyes, remembering the kind, grandfatherly face of Deckard Cain, the only person to consistently love her during her years, before his death-and hers.
'You would have probably said something about how it is not what I am, but who I am, that matters most! And I am Leah!'
She then held her head, grimacing, as she felt the echoes of the seven Evils, each proclaiming their own name, and while none of the voices was strong or loud by itself, together, they fused into a painful cacophony.
It would have been easy to bring each and every one individually to submission and subsume them, but it was different to fight them together. The reincarnated demon that was Leah lost sense of anything else, focusing only on winning the mental battle. Just as she won, a hand touched her shoulder, breaking her concentration.
"What's wrong, lass?" a handsome guardsman asked, concerned.
Leah kept her eyes close, wresting control over the desire to incinerate the man holding her and devour his soul. After a few moments that stretched too long, she felt her internal hell quieting and settling deep in her core, and hope none of it showed as she opened her eyes and looked into his.
"Nothing, just a headache."
"You should take better care for yourself, girl you shouldn't forget to eat-sometimes people who skip to many meals get headaches over it. You should go eat something right now… And if you happen to have some leftovers I will be happy to share the meal-for pay, of course, I have coin with me."
Leah nodded and went to the kitchen to prepare a meal for the two of them. After all, better to eat with him, then to eat him. She hoped some food will calm her demons too.
Far from them, in the nearby kingdom of Khanduras, once under the rule of King Leoric, deep inside the royal dungeons, previously slumbering ghosts awoke, they were called for action! Summoned from their rest once again-their monarch prompted them to rise and fulfill their duty.
Away from mortal eyes, the spirits did their ghostly work. As arcane magics illuminated the place, words of power were chanted, unheard by mortal ears.
At a noise, she woke up, hand outstretched, dainty nails ready to change into claws or draw upon what infernal magics she could, ready for an ambush.
Suddenly the noise repeated itself-nearly giving her a heart attack.
'Oh… it's just someone knocking.' The girl blinked the sleep away from her eyes, and tiredly looked around the room-and another, stronger and more insistent knock on the door had her turning towards it so fast she felt her neck protesting. 'Don't tell me she actually tattled on me! She's a half-demon too! Did she really think she could get away from consequences?'
Panic fuelled adrenaline led to a swift awakening, as the young woman went for swiftly packing her belongings, and started plotting potential escape routes.
And then the door opened, startling her.
There was no angry mob bursting in, but her counterpart-the other 'Inverted' in the Inn.
'Did she come to finish me personally, or to taunt me before an angry mob rushes in?'
"I brought you breakfast." Leahs said, and Liaza noticed the tray in her hand. "You slept through breakfast, but I saved some for you." The Innkeepingdemoness continued.
Liaza took the tray cautiously, keeping her eyes on the other girl. "Were you expecting a thank you?"
Leah was about to say something, but stopped, shaking her head instead. "Is being an utter bitch part of demonic etiquette?" she quietly asked.
Liaza forced herself to smile mockingly. "What other kind of etiquette did you expect from creatures of evil? Polite manners fit for ladies of the court? Sorry to disappoint you, princess, but among demons the strong rule the weak, who scrap and die at the whim of their lords-which is more often than you would appreciate, seeing as how half-breeds tend to be on the weak side." Receiving a frown and a silence, Liaza continued after a short pause.
"I also heard that some demons take joy at tormenting what they consider half-mortal upstarts. Showing them their place. You better not get banished to hell-the welcoming committee will enjoy appreciate such 'return to roots', but you won't."
At the grimace and flinch those words elicited, Liaza widened her smile. "Do you wish for more 'etiquette lessons'? Our 'shared relatives' from that plane love to gossipabout our future visits there. Why, I could even send you for early scouting."
Mentally, the half-succubus was urging the other half-demon to leave.
Leah glared at her. "I don't know why I even try, sometimes!" and with a huff left.
She did not see the look of relief that briefly flashed on Liaza's face at her departure.
It was afternoon, when it started getting darker, that new guests entered her inn. A group of merchants and their a caravan arrived at the cordoned, now empty part of the town, and went unnoticed.
The tired group was happy to learn Leah had room and food for them. Leah, however was rather unhappy to learn the news they had brought.
Author Notes: Once again, apologies for the delay! I had trouble writing this chapter, and still, even now, it feels not as good as it should have been. I hope it will get better with this fic by the next one. Also, i would like to ask for volunteers to beta read this story, and help me plan and come up with ideas.i need some filler chapters before the next part i planned for the fic to happen. ideas would be very welcome!
I want to thank all who Favorited, followed and reviewed this fic. Thank you all! as long as you enjoy this story, i will try my best to make sure it wont die off, even if I may delay with updates!