Chapter 3 – Grim Tidings
The sun was still hours above the horizon when the two women finished taking their pick of the bandits' treasure stash. Naga had taken first pick, as the two of them had agreed, and Lucia, as usual, remained patient and optimistic until it was her turn. She hadn't noticed what Naga picked out, but realized that her pouch of treasure was considerably smaller than Lucia's, which carried only a few prize gems, a few handfuls of gold, and a decorative dagger.
"Aren't you going to take more? We did agree that you get more than me." Lucia said, pointing at the pile of gold and stolen valuables.
"Quality, not quantity, Lucia." Naga replied in her usual knowing tone. "We can leave the rest here for the villagers to send for. Most of this probably belonged to them anyway." The sorceress said, tying her pouch under her cloak. Lucia gave a nod as she stowed her haul as well, the two women leaving the encampment and finding their way back to the road.
"That was easier than I thought it would be. I wonder why their guards couldn't have taken care of that." Lucia commented as they walked.
"They probably didn't want to spare the manpower for a search. That would've left the town unprotected." Naga said after a moment. "Besides, it's likely that the villagers didn't know how small the encampment really was."
"I guess that's possible." Lucia conceded. "You were pretty good back there, by the way. I wouldn't have thought of blowing the buildings themselves up." she said, admiring the fact that the sorceress was capable of displaying tactics when necessary. Most of the sorcerers and other magic-users she knew were either tactically inept or preferred to sit back and let the fighters do all the hard work.
"You weren't too bad yourself, Lucia." Naga admitted, having gained a newfound respect for her most recent traveling companion's abilities. "With a little more refinement, you could almost compete with me." She'd only paired up with Lina before, and found that being accompanied by someone more skilled in physical combat provided a pretty decent balance, not to mention the fact that a good sword and the muscle behind it wouldn't falter once a month.
"You think so?" Lucia asked genuinely. She wasn't about to deny that Naga was considerably more powerful than she was in the ways of magic. Of course, for her, magic was a tool used to enhance and supplement one's combat abilities, not replace them entirely. "Well, I know some elemental shamanist spells like Fireball, Flare and Freeze Arrow, and some utility spells like Levitation and Lighting, but I prefer relying on my sword and my reflexes in a fight."
Naga laughed. "I'm actually relieved that you can't cast the Dragon Slave!" the tall sorceress said, breaking into her usual laughter. After traveling with Lina, Naga had begun to view every town they entered as a potential destruction zone, and while she was hardly bothered by a little collateral damage, she had to admit that Lina's heavy-handedness cramped even her style a little bit.
"Dragon Slave. Hmph." Lucia responded, then giggled a little. "Using the Dragon Slave on anything smaller than a dragon is like chopping down an entire tree just to get an apple." She said. "Big spells may be all awe-inspiring and flashy, but they completely lack finesse and grace." The swordswoman explained.
"I have to agree with you there." Naga replied as the two women finally got back on the main road and began heading west back towards town. It would have been a somewhat short trip except for the loud cry of fear they heard from the woods less than an hour after finding the road. A moment later, a thin man wearing tattered clothes came running out of the woods towards them. Lucia pegged him for a messenger judging by his manner of dress and the scroll case he carried around his shoulder. As he spotted them, he began waving his arms frantically.
"Demons! Monsters! You have to get out of here! They're right behind me!" he cried desperately as he ran past them. No sooner did he move by them did the trees he'd come through shudder forcefully before two large lesser demons smashed through the brush and into the clearing by the road. The beasts were about nine feet tall, their bodies covered with thick fur, blood red eyes gazing out of faces that were a mixture of canine and bovine in structure, complete with pairs of large, bull-like horns. As they spotted the two women in the road, they stopped chasing the messenger and turned towards them.
"Wow, he wasn't kidding!" Naga exclaimed as she started backing away from the monsters. "Freeze Arrow!" Naga yelled as she pointed her finger at the left demon, moving her left arm as if nocking an arrow before firing the icy projectile at the beast. The monster roared and started to advance before the arrow caught it square in the chest, encasing the entire beast in ice. Lucia drew her sword and rushed past the block of ice towards the second demon. It drew back to take a swing at her, but as it completed the attack, Lucia nimbly ducked under the monster's razor claws and cut in an upwards stroke with her sword, cleaving clean through the creature. Its physical form torn asunder, the creature's body evaporated into a shadowy miasma as its essence evaporated.
"What on earth are these things?" Lucia turned to ask Naga as the sorceress walked over and gave the frozen demon a little push, causing it to crash to the ground and shatter, its physical form fading into ether.
"Lesser demons." Naga said, her tone more serious than usual. Lucia's eyes widened at that revelation.
"Lesser demons? But…lesser demons don't just come to the material plane on their own, do they? I thought they had to be summoned!" she exclaimed as she sheathed her sword. Her father had told her tales about the Mazoku and their various underlings, and her mother had all manner of stories, some of which even came from her own personal experience with the creatures.
"They do have to be summoned." Naga replied, turning and looking towards the messenger as he slowly approached, seemingly stunned that two women had dispatched the beasts with such apparent ease. "The question is: Who summoned them?"
"That was incredible! You saved my life! How can I repay you?" the messenger stammered as he stopped before the two.
"I don't know. How can you repay us?" Naga replied, grinning widely. The man looked between the two women for a moment, then stood up a bit more straight.
"My name is Thomas, and I'm a messenger for Lord Thadius Bennet, a sorcerer. I was delivering a message to one of my master's rivals when those creatures suddenly attacked me. If you hadn't been here…" he says, trailing off as both women simply stared at him expectantly. After a moment of silence, he remembered the tall one's question. "My master is quite wealthy!" he said quickly. "I'm sure if you were to escort me back to his palace, he would reward you." The man said. At the word 'reward', both women's' eyes lit up.
"Well then why are we standing around here?" Naga asked excitedly. "Lead the way, Thomas. I, Naga the Serpent, and my sidekick Lucia, will ensure that no harm comes to you!" Lucia blinked at the word 'sidekick', then giggled cheerfully and gave the man a little bow, causing Naga to laugh in return. She really wasn't used to traveling companions that possessed so much modesty. The man looked at the two for a moment, then shrugged, leading them onward down the road. After twenty minutes of walking, the three travelers turned off of the main road that would lead them towards Duskhollow and continued southward.
"Hey, Naga. What about our reward in Duskhollow?" Lucia asked as they marched down the road.
"I'm sure the mayor can wait one more day. Besides, nobody else is going to show up to claim the reward now that we demolished the bandits." The sorceress replied. "Hey, Thomas. Your master has food, doesn't he?" Naga asked after a moment, realizing she was getting hungry again.
"I can't promise you a banquet, but given all you've done for me, I'm sure he'll have something for you, miss." Thomas replied nervously, glancing about. It was clear from his actions that he was still on edge from the first attack. Apparently, he was still anticipating more demon attacks. He was calmed though, somewhat, as he noticed that both women were occasionally scanning the tree line near the road in case of any trouble. He took the time to appraise his two protectors.
The tall one was, as his father had once put it, built for bedrooms, and he had a hard time keeping his eyes from straying below her shoulder line. However, there was a confident, almost arrogant look on the woman's face that could serve as a warning in and of itself not to cross her. She carried a sword, but from what he'd seen of her earlier, and her lack of armor, he highly suspected that her skill with magic was more than enough to compensate. At least twice during the trip, she had caught him looking her over, causing him to immediately look away sheepishly, but from the grin on her face, he could tell that she was used to such attentions from men, and probably even enjoyed it given her outlandishly sparse outfit.
To his eyes, the shorter one was almost the complete polar opposite of her traveling companion. She was short and had shining blonde hair and an innocent-looking face that seemed painted with a permanent expression of enjoyment. She seemed bubbly, and even when she wasn't talking she always seemed very cheerful and content, a personality that completely contrasted her dark clothing, which covered everything from the neck down. Despite this, the concealing outfit she wore was form fitting enough that Thomas could tell the girl kept a fairly nice figure hidden under all that leather and chain mail.
The rest of the trip was completed in relative silence, with only an occasional comment or question leveled from either the women or the messenger, and by early dusk the group had arrived at Lord Bennet's manor. The manor was a large structure surrounded by a stone wall. As they entered the gate, they were greeted by a large courtyard, at the end of which were two curved staircases that lead up to a second tier where the manor itself rested. The building was at least four stories tall judging by the rows of windows, and was crafted of pure white marble. Several marble statues decorated the courtyard, as well as a large, elaborate fountain. If the two had had any doubts about this Lord Bennet's ability to pay them for their troubles, those doubts were now long behind them. Their appraisal of the manor was only strengthened as they entered the main hall. The walls were rich with tapestries and valuable paintings, and there were numerous marble busts throughout, and two semi-circular staircases leading up to a second-floor balcony. As the three entered, a middle-aged bearded man wearing expensive garments dyed a rich golden color walked out onto the balcony. The slight graying in his black hair betrayed more age than his otherwise vigorous appearance.
"Thomas, why have you returned so soon? And who have you brought into my home uninvited?" the man asked in a deep baritone voice. Thomas immediately bowed, speaking clearly to his master.
"I was attacked by demons, my lord, while relaying your message to Baron Korto. The message was lost in the attack, but these two women saved me. This is Lucia the Swordswoman and Naga the Sorceress." The messenger explained, motioning to each woman respectively as he introduced them. The man examined the two women for a moment from a distance before making his way down the stairs.
"I see." The man said after he was halfway down the stairs. "Thank you for saving my servant, ladies, though this news brings more worry than relief, I'm afraid." The man said at length as he moved before the two women.
"What do you mean?" Lucia asked bluntly.
"I believe he's referring to the demons, Lucia." Naga interjected. "As you supposed earlier, lesser demons must be summoned, they cannot simply come to our plane unassisted. That means that someone was targeting your servant directly, and that means that someone with enough power to summon demons was targeting you directly. Am I right?" the tall sorceress said with a confident grin on her face.
"Yes, you are correct." Bennet replied, leaning over as Thomas whispered something to him before moving away. "Thomas informs me that you haven't eaten in some time. Come, I believe a hot meal is the least I can provide in exchange for what you've done for me already." The man said, motioning towards a side archway before proceeding.
The two women followed Bennet into the adjoining room, which appeared to be a large banquet hall, the room crafted from the same polished white marble as the rest of his considerable manor. Bennet continued leading them onward and into a side room, clearly meant for smaller groups to eat and apparently where the lord himself ate when not entertaining large numbers of guests. Two servants dressed as maids led Lucia and Naga to their seats, then moved off to assist in the preparation of their meal.
"I will leave you to eat. Feel free to take as much as you like, but let one of my servants know when you are finished. I have a business proposition for the two of you." The man said, heading back towards the main hall and leaving the two women in the room alone save for a single male servant by the door. The two looked around the room briefly, admiring the richness of the room itself.
"Wow, I never expected something like this!" Lucia said excitedly. "Do you think he'll give us a reward?"
"Probably not. Not yet, anyway." Naga calmly replied. "For saving his servant, he probably assumes that a free meal, especially one in a place like this, is thanks enough. But he did mention that he has an offer for us." The sorceress said.
"Yeah, that's right." Lucia replied. "I wonder what it is. Something violent I'd guess since he seems to think we're so good for it." Lucia said. Her sharp eye hadn't missed Bennet's quick response at learning that they were a sorceress and swordswoman. She couldn't quite make out the emotion his expression had portrayed, but she knew the look of a person hearing opportunity's knock when she saw it.
"Most likely something involving more lesser demons." Naga said, glancing back as the door to the kitchen creaked open. "Or worse." She finished as the smell of food came flooding into the room. Several servants came out shortly after, each carrying a large platter with some kind of food on it. Roasted turkey, beef pot roast, a pot of stew, another of soup, a large bowl of salad greens, several baked sweet potatoes, and several smaller jars containing various sauces and condiments. Both women eyed the food wantonly, eyes shining and mouths watering.
"Oh, Lord Bennet, you're far too kind!" Naga exclaimed eagerly as she began selecting a little from each of the various foods available, soon filling her plate with a small portion of every type of food on the table. Lucia, on the other hand, cut off a few slices of beef and some sweet potato, preferring to stick to what she liked best.
"I didn't expect the food to be ready so soon." Lucia commented after the two of them had had time to get well into their meal. They'd only been sitting at the table for five minutes or so, hardly enough time to prepare a roast, much less a large bird. Naga waved Lucia's suspicions away with one hand while drinking ale from a tankard with the other.
"He's royalty, Lucia." The sorceress replied. "Anyone in a position of nobility likely has food prepared or at least nearly prepared all throughout the day. You never know when someone important, like me, is going to show up and need to be pampered." Naga explained before spearing a piece of roast with her fork and popping it in her mouth.
"Seems like a bit of a waste to me." The swordswoman replied as she finished off the last of her food, pushing the plate aside. Naga eyed her curiously for a moment.
"Well, when you're rich, you can afford to waste a little here and there. Is that all you're going to have?" the sorceress asked while refilling her plate. Lucia glanced down at her plate, then over at Naga's, and shrugged.
"How do you know so much about royalty, anyway?" Lucia asked after a moment, tilting her head and gazing curiously at the woman. Naga blinked for a moment. It was quick, but the question had caught her off guard, if only for a split second.
"Well, someone as important as myself has naturally had the fortune of dining with nobility in the past, Lucia. You don't honestly believe that one of my high caliber would have gone unnoticed by the royal population, did you?" Naga said at length, punctuating the end of her sentence with one of her trademark laughs before taking a large gulp from her tankard. Lucia nodded slowly, accepting the sorceress' explanation despite how exaggerated she assumed it had been. The rest of their meal went by in relative silence, with Naga clearing yet two more plates before satisfied. Once that was done, the sorceress bade one of the servants to get Bennet as the table was cleaned, and the two women sat back and waited.
"Well, ladies. I take it the food was to your liking." Lord Bennet said a few minutes later as he entered the room. He was still wearing the garment from their first meeting, but now wore a silver-runed cowl and had adjusted his hair a bit as well, clearly an attempt to make himself more presentable to his guests.
"Oh, it was delicious!" Lucia replied cheerfully. Naga nodded in response to Lucia's compliments as the nobleman took a seat across from the two women.
"Yes, now you said you had a job for us. I hope you understand our services don't come cheap." The sorceress explained, leaning back in her chair and fixing the nobleman with a firm gaze. Bennet nodded slowly and proceeded to explain the details of his offer.
"Thomas was on his way to deliver a message to a rival of mine, a man by the name of Rial Korto. He is another noble, and while he does not own as much land as I do, he has become a considerable threat." Bennet explained, his expression darkening. "You see, he has made a deal with a mazoku in order to gain enough strength to beat me in a power struggle that has broken out in our region." The nobleman said, clasping his hands together in front of himself.
"So, it goes beyond mere lesser demons then." Naga said, looking at Lucia. The swordswoman met the sorceress' gaze and nodded slowly before Naga's gaze returned to Bennet. "Well, then I'm forced to reiterate how expensive our services can be, Lord Bennet. Fighting mazoku is hardly something most people are willing to do."
"Actually, Lady Naga, I do not believe it will be that difficult. You see, my spies have informed me that this particular mazoku does not desire to be in our plane of existence and would like nothing better than to return home. However, there is an item that keeps him locked in our dimension and forced to remain in the service of Duke Korto." Bennet explained.
"A pledge stone." Lucia replied. She had learned about the ancient practice of humans making deals with mazoku, the race of evil monsters that fed on and gained power from negative human emotions such as pain, fear, and suffering. Demons, such as those she and Naga had battled in the road, were only the pawns of the true mazoku. If a human made a pact with a mazoku, they could even gain immortality, becoming completely impervious to physical injury as well as gaining some control over the mazoku's actions in the material plane. In return, the mazoku almost always received a veritable feast of negative emotions, as any human that made such a deal was likely interested in causing untold suffering and pain, thus making the agreement mutually beneficial. Such agreements were usually sealed with an item called a pledge stone, which acted as a contract between mazoku and human. Breaking the pledge stone therefore broke the agreement between the two.
"Precisely. I would be willing to wager that destroying Korto's pledge stone would break his bond with the monster and allow it to return to its home plane." The nobleman replied. Naga and Lucia exchanged another glance before the swordswoman leaned forward a bit on the table.
"It's a pretty safe bet that the pledge stone will be well-hidden, and probably well guarded. In fact, we could very well be forced to fight this mazoku just to reach the stone anyway, so making the stone our target might not make the task any easier." Lucia said with a slight sigh. While the lesser demons they'd fought before were relatively easy to kill, the higher ranking mazoku were quite a bit more resilient to damage. Unlike humans and lesser demons, which have to possess a physical body in order to work on the material plane, a mazoku's physical body was merely a projection of their astral form, and inflicting damage on the physical projection alone caused absolutely no harm to the mazoku themselves. Thus, only spells or weapons capable of damaging astral bodies had a chance of killing a mazoku.
"I agree with Lucia." Naga said after a moment. "We could end up fighting this mazoku either way, and like I said, destroying a mazoku is no small task."
"I'm willing to pay you three hundred gold pieces if you successfully destroy the pledge stone or return it to me." Bennet said finally, causing the eyes of both women to light up.
"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place!?" Naga exclaimed. "Of course we'll help you, Lord Bennet!" the sorceress cried, her mood suddenly completely different. Lucia seemed less enthusiastic about fighting the mazoku, but she was no less excited about the prospect of splitting that large a sum of money. She and Naga exchanged a glance before she nodded quickly.
"Ah, very good. I can provide you with a map that details how to get to Korto's mansion. I wish I could provide you with more, but you two appear to be fairly competent, so I'm sure you won't have too much trouble." Bennet said, drawing a rolled parchment from his robe and setting it on the table. The two women examined the map for a moment, then nodded to each other as Naga turned to Bennet.
"We'll set off first thing in the morning!"