Chapter 9 – Darkness of Night

"What the hell! We just left her there?" Fanny whirled on the Demon Slayer the moment they materialized in the dungeon's main lobby. "The whole point was to protect her wasn't it?!"

"There's no time for arguments. We're not safe yet." The enemy could arrive in the lobby just as easily as they had. The siren and her followers outnumbered the knights but it was clear that they were outmatched in both power and endurance. The dark knights would overtake them quickly if they did not continue their flight.

Fanny seemed to sense his reasoning, and though she would not say he was right, she had ceased arguing. Wooden bow swung behind her back, she said, "I'll go scout ahead." Her body glistened in the filtered light coming from the dungeons entrance. Whatever she was doing, Demon Slayer didn't like it. It only took a second or two, but she'd managed to hide her presence. The skill was similar to the Maple World adventurers whom had trained under the Dark Lord of thieves. Only this was a more perfect way to hide.

"It's eerie how elves can hide like that. Don'tcha think?" Josh was seated on the floor next to the Demon Slayer. His face was scratched and bruised, and some dried blood was smeared across his brow. Fanny hadn't been in much better condition. This journey won't be an easy one, Demon Slayer thought to himself. To Josh, he gave no response, only helped to pull the boy to his feet.

They waited for Fanny at the bottom of the stairs, hidden just in the shadows. "I didn't see any dark knights out there, but we'd better move quickly." The boys nodded and followed her lead. They moved swiftly and as quietly as they could. When they reached the gates of Emain Macha, they agreed to walk at a casual, but fast stride. It wasn't unheard of for Milletians to enter town looking battered from an excursion into the Rundal dungeon, so as long as Demon Slayer kept his wings tucked in tightly, they wouldn't likely be remembered.

The city was crowded. It was midafternoon and a festival for the annual cooking contest was underway. The main road was packed tightly with spectators and professional and novice chefs alike. Josh lead the way as he would clear more of a path for the other two to follow in than Fanny's petite figure would. Demon Slayer walked in the middle trying to avoid notice.

"You have to tuck your wings in more, every time you bump someone they turn and stare," Fanny hissed at the Demon Slayer, after a young couple started whispering among themselves when he'd passed by. He made no response, and barely adjusted only one of his wings. Despite the desperate situation they were in, receiving the "cold-shoulder" was enough to distract and annoy Fantasia. She repeated her warning.

When he ignored her a second time, the girl took matters into her own hands, and shoved the tip of his wing closer to his body.

Demon Slayer flinched and let out a distressed grunt. Startled, released his wing. "Oh goddess! Are you okay! I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were hurt." His hands shook, clenched tightly, and his face held a pained expression. A demon's wings were fragile. Demon Slayer berated himself for not being more careful. The group stood in the middle of the street, as both milletians looked at him with worry-filled eyes.

"Enough, I'm fine. How do we get to Renes?"

"There's a boat south of Bangor, that can take us to Quilla base camp in Iria," Fanny told him, her brow creased in worry.

Demon Slayer nodded, "Let's go," he said, but Josh stuck his hand out.

"You're injured. We should go to a healer."

"I am fine," the Demon Slayer insisted. He was stubborn, but so was Josh, who reached around and grabbed on to the wing in question, gaining a stifled groan in return. "This is stupid," Josh scolded. "I barely touched it. If it hurts that bad stop arguing and let's hurry over to Agnes." The Demon Slayer smacked his hand away.

"And how long would it take to heal me?" he yelled. "The enemy is on its way here right now, or did you forget about the young girl whom stayed behind as our only defense?" Fanny looked away but Josh held the Demon Slayer's gaze. Neither of them was willing to back down, and time continued to tick away. Finally, Josh ended the staring contest with a heavy sigh.

"Fine but we're going to at least talk to Comgan in Bangor alright? If you get caught in a battle with your wing injured, you'll end up being even more useless than me." The insult to himself was enough to slightly lighten the mood, and the Demon Slayer was forced to agree. "Good. Then let's head to the bridge. Fastest way to Bangor is through Sen Mag. If we hurry we can find a ruined house to camp in for the night. I've got some supplies, we can get as far as we can, then at sunset hunker down to rest."

The boy's attitude was a little too calm, given the current situation. "You mean to stop and sleep with an enemy at our heels? We don't have time to rest!"

"And we don't have the luxury to be tired. I don't know how you can keep going with a wound that makes you flinch at the lightest touch, but I'm exhausted from the repeated battles and revivals today." While his posture showed this to be true, his eyes made it clear that he was only saying so in order to convince the Demon Slayer to rest. There was no other choice. Demon Slayer begrudgingly agreed.

XXX

"They're getting out of control. What in the name of the goddess of time is Arcarem planning? It's getting to the point where a theif can't do anything fun anymore." Surrounded by the ancient ruins of an Orbis pixie dwelling, a group of Maple World's finest heroes sat discussing the recent changes in the activities of the enemy.

Mercedes stood facing the group bringing order to the many complaints. "Our first objective should be to figure out what they're doing, with a secondary emphasis on stopping the continued spread of the Black Wing's influence."

"Uh… Mercy, in case you haven't noticed," Phantom griped, "We're down by quite a few in our numbers, trying to do exactly that." It was true. Evan was absent. Only Mihile had come from the Cygnus knights, and not one of the Resistance representatives had showed up. Even the strongest adventurers of each class had their hands full keeping order at this point.

Aran shook her head. "Stop your bellyaching, Phantom. It won't do us any good." Phantom rolled his eyes and flipped some of his magic cards between his fingers making them vanish from his left hand and reappear in his right. Aran sighed at his apparent lack of interest and returned her gaze to the elven queen. "How do you plan to figure out what they're up to?"

"Unfortunately, I've a long list of questions and am short on ideas. I was hoping that a resistance member would be here to update us on the Black Wing's movements."

Luminos, whom had, until now, quietly listened to the discussion, asked, "What about the Demon Slayer?" He stepped off of the toppled column he'd been leaning on when Mercedes grimaced. Both the good and evil in his heart found it irksome that Mercedes would never consult the former Commander. "He is, after all, more aware of how the Commanders think than any of us, is he not?"

Mercedes knew he was right, but when she would not admit it, Aran spoke out, "Phantom, can you contact him for us?" Phantom looked startled at the sudden address. "What me? I don't know where he is." All the other heroes groaned in their own way. They'd told him to keep in contact with the resistance… Why could he never keep up with the simplest tasks? "Oh don't give me that look," he grumbled, when they all stared at him. "I've kept up with the resistance, but even they don't know where he is."

"He was last seen leaving Leafre with a Horntail raiding party." They'd all nearly forgotten about Shade. He'd been even quieter than Luminous. Aran shook off the surprise first. "How long ago?"

Shade shrugged, "I'm not sure, but apparently, not long after they left, a number of Black Wings, and an old man fitting Arcarem's description, were seen on the outskirts of the town." A cold chill hovered over the heroes. Arcarem didn't move unless it was something big. They'd foiled his plots a couple of times now, but each defeat made him more calculative and dangerous. Shade continued in the same monotone voice, "the raiding party was seen in town some time later, but Demon Slayer, and one other adventurer were missing from the group."

The weight of this news crushed down on all of them. Demon Slayer was not only the most motivated of all of them from the ancient battles, he was also the most powerful, or had been at the time. They all expected him to angrily demand to lead the final charge on the Black Mage himself, should that monster ever be released from his seal.

"You don't think… he was captured. Do you?" Mercedes could hear the shaking in her own voice, though if she really thought about it, it'd be more likely he'd be killed than captured.

Shade shook his head, "At the very least, I think it best if we assume that his disappearance and the Black Wing's recent movements are linked," he said. Silence fell on the group.

Eventually, Aran stood from her seat and looked at Phantom, "Do you think you can track down those party members?" she asked him. "We need to know what happened in the horntail's cavern. Shade and Luminous, alert the adventurer class captains to what's going on." Phantom nodded and immediately began gathering his magic into the playing card in his hand, to vanish into a whirlwind. Shade and Luminous also teleported away with their own dramatic flair.

To Mercedes she said, "Since you're the fastest, I think you should chase after Evan and update him. That boy would rebuild the moon if he could but fly there. He needs to know to stick around somewhere that we can find him, and get to him if the case may be."

"What about you?"

"I'll go and tell the resistance about the Demon Slayer. Someone has to let Claudine know that they may have lost their ace in the hole." Aran shook her head, sighing, "I find it hard to believe that the Demon could have been captured."

"Knowing him, that bastard would fight to his last breath."

Mercedes was right, he would die before allowing himself to be captured, and Arcarem wasn't eager to let him live either. "That's what worries me."

XXX

"Hold still would you." Fantasia snapped as the Demon Slayer tried for a third time to squirm away from the healing. The group had found an old house to camp out in, far from the main path and hidden behind a row of trees. With no campfire lit, and the darkness of the clouded night, the Dark Knights would be hard pressed to find them.

Initially, the Demon Slayer had sat down willingly for the healing but as it began to drag on longer, it caused his wing to itch as the bone was slowly repaired. The itch was far more distracting than the pain had been and after ten minutes of attempting to sit still, he was fed up with it. "Blast it, I told you that's enough!" When Fanny grabbed his wing to hold it still, he lost his temper and flicked his uninjured wing to blow dust in her face. As she sat, eyes watering and coughing, the Demon Slayer was up and out the door.

"Ugh! What is his problem! I'm trying to help him!"

Josh chuckled from the comfortable spot he'd found along the far wall. "Just let him go. Healing spells are probably different in his world. Not to mention you've probably never had to mend the bones of a wing before."

"As if you could have done better," Fanny said, dropping down onto the ground and grabbing some bread from her bag. She offered a portion to Josh, who took it and thanked her. "I never said I could," he admitted. "Magic was never my strong suit."

The Demon Slayer stood just outside the hovel, and could hear every word. He huffed and flicked his wings. Healing spells weren't the only thing different. The nights were colder, and longer, piling on his nerves. He'd have to go back in and explain what he'd remembered and learned, but their lighthearted attitudes made his blood boil. Could they not see how serious the situation was?

Perhaps it was because they had lived in this energy-filled world all their lives that they didn't notice anymore. Even with the red moon, Eweca, hidden behind the clouds, the Demon Slayer could feel the energy in the air around him. It was weaker than when he'd had direct contact with that stone back in Tir Chonail, but even so… He'd never felt such power in all the Maple World.

"If Arcarem is after this power… If he gets it…" he whispered to himself, "Not even the Heroes will be able to stop the revival of the Black Mage."

"Why are you smiling?" The sudden voice from the shadow of a tree nearly scared the Demon Slayer right out of his skin. His revelry of the power flowing through him had distracted him to the point that he'd not so much as heard the young girl's approach, let alone sensed her.

The petite girl in the brown dress tilted her head. Her big, deep eyes stared straight at him without even the slightest hesitation. By her side a dog, as dark as the night, curled its lip up, showing off fangs in a silent growl. When the Demon Slayer demanded her name, brandishing his mace, Fleta calmly put a hand on Rab's head, lightly stroking his fur. Hearing their friend yell, Josh and Fanny ran outside to join him.

"Fleta?"

"You know her?"

Fantasia nodded. "She often visits the crossroads and sells some enchanted items." Every Millitian knew of the strange girl who lived in the Sen Mag ruins. She ignored any offers of shelter, would talk to nobleman and commoner alike as if she were their equal, and would appear and vanish as if space and time had no effect on her. She was an enigma, but harmless. Many believed her to be a ghost, the only remaining soul left to watch over the ruins of her former home, abandoned after the second battle of Mag Tuireadh and left to vanish in the history books.

Of course that was only rumors. The Demon Slayer, whom had never met her before, did not lower his weapon. "Can we trust her to not tell the enemy where we are?"

"She's not going to tell them. Right, Fleta?"

"Tell who?"

"The dark knights chasing us."

"Do you mean the group that went into Peaca dungeon?"

Not good. Peaca was only an hour's walk at most from their position. But worse… Dark Knights knew the secrets of the fomor, they could go into one dungeon and come out another. "That's not good…"

The Demon Slayer looked between Josh and Fanny. "What's not?"

"We'll go south." Josh said, ducking back into their shelter. "Through the housing district." Some scraping of metal followed, before Josh stepped out fully armored, tucking his sword into his belt.

"What happened to resting?" Demon Slayer asked.

"Maybe that's not such a good idea… The Requiem guild holds that castle." Fanny awkwardly played with the string of her bow. "And they don't really like me and my guild."

"Why?

"Hide then. We don't have time." Josh quickly stowed the rest of the supplies.

"Why don't we have time?"

Fanny sighed. "Fine, but I'll need some mana potions. Even with the moon out we have a lot of ground to cover and that area is usually crowded."

"I've got some, here." He held out a bottle of blue liquid to Fanny but it was snatched from his hand. The Demon Slayer did not like being left out of the loop. "Explain. Now." He pointed his mace at them.

Behind him, Fleta knelt petting Rab. "Dark Knights travel through dungeons. They could be in Bangor already." She had no interest in their problems. Helpful as her answer was.

"Right then." Demon Slayer tossed the bottle to Fanny, who barely caught it. "Let's move then," he said. A hard beat of his wings lifted him into the air. The one that had been injured was sore. No longer broken. Racing head first into a battle. Read for it.

He bounce off a tree branch and vanished to the south. Fanny looked at Josh. Her gesture towards the demon was one of irritation. Josh chuckled and shrugged. The two set off to follow, leaving Fleta to night winds.

Rab whimpered and wagged his tail. The sounds of numerous footsteps approaching, and a clink of cold metal armor. Fleta smirked at the approaching Dark Knights. "You owe me one, Nao," she said, before vanishing into the fog.