by Logan Jacobs
I escorted Ashe down the road while the demon woman smirked at every woman who couldn’t meet her gaze. I was equally amused by how confused the human males were by her, and I smelled their obvious fear, but there was also a hint of intrigue as they averted their gaze.
The sun was out today, and as much as I had enjoyed the rain, it certainly was nice to see a delicate glow of sunlight cascade onto the cobblestoned streets and the vaulted roofs that towered over us.
We headed along the edge of the port city, but I needed to make sure we didn’t cross through the forests, so I relied on my nose to get us to the water. I hadn’t realized until my first day here that the surface world oceans smelled extremely salty, unlike the water in the wells. This brinier scent made my nostrils tingle in a much more enjoyable way, and I followed the scent as we crossed down a side street and then behind a few buildings.
Then the ocean appeared in the distance, and as we continued, the blue of the sea came more into view.
We had reached a cliff edge with a road curving all the way down toward the harbor. We weren't amongst the trees here, but the forest flanked one side of the winding road, and I took a deep breath of ocean air as I looked down at the wharves below.
“I hear armor,” Ashe whispered.
I paid closer attention to the noises around us, and I picked up the soft clang of metal that Ashe mentioned.
“Let’s go this way,” I said and pointed to the right.
We could climb down the rocks on the roadside and hide out there to watch the armored guards pass below. I jumped down first and then held out my hand for Ashe to take. Once we both reached the first ledge of stone, we laid flat on our stomachs and peered over the side.
The clanging of metal became more noticeable the longer we waited, and then I finally caught sight of a line of guards as they walked out of the blind spot they had been traveling from. All of them had swords sheathed on their waists, but they didn’t have helms on like the knights I killed when I first arrived in the area.
I turned my gaze to a vessel in the distance, and it was headed straight for the wharves. A few others were preparing to head out, and I figured if I could clock their movements for a couple days, I’d be able to learn what schedule we were working with.
“Atticus, look,” Ashe said with her finger pointed away from the vessel and toward the route of the armored guards.
Two men were headed toward the knights as if they were going to talk to them. The men were of average height, and one had a large stomach that rolled out from his body, whereas the other was much slimmer and lankier. They wore far grander clothes than the others I had seen humans wearing, and the dark fabric had a shine to it, almost like it had been made from silk, or perhaps velvet.
The main thing that stood out to me were the decorations that hung down the men’s chests.
Around their necks, they wore the same symbol I had seen on the front of the church. It was the same jewelry the screaming lady had clutched when she looked into my eyes yesterday.
These men either worked for the Church or had connections with the establishment.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “That bastard Church is everywhere here.”
“We’ll need to see if they are constantly near the wharves,” Ashe responded. “There are a few more men further along with the same symbols on their necklaces.”
She was right.
Every man I saw down there was either armored or wearing symbols of the Church. If both the king’s guard and men of the Church roamed over the port on a daily basis, then it would put a roadblock in our idea of escaping this city by sailing vessel.
We had to find a means of leaving the Port of Rengfri, but it was starting to look like both walking and sailing out wasn’t the route to take. We’d have to be undetected to escape this way, and the Church could have their beady eyes all over the place.
“Well, we need to find some way out,” I sighed as we watched the guards converse with the men. “Our Lord Captains will have demons patrolling the forests around this city, especially if they find out we’re trying to leave the area.”
“Yeah, you should have seen my LC when I was sent on this mission,” Ashe snorted. “He was beyond pissed, and yours was with him looking the same.”
“Good,” I chuckled. “I hope he fucking combusts in the Dark King’s grip over all this.”
“The Dark King will find out soon enough,” Ashe allowed, “but we both know the Lord Captains will do what they can to hide the issue from him. They will get more desperate as the hours tick by.”
I was about to agree, but then an idea came to mind as Ashe stated the obvious truth.
The Lord Captains had to know the Church reigned over the Port of Rengfri, and even though they sent me on a suicide mission, the same approach may not apply when it came to other demons. They’d already lost two of us to this city, and any more than that would get them in loads of shit with other higher ups.
“Perhaps we need to stay in the city, after all,” I mumbled through a scheming grin.
“What?” Ashe frowned. “You mean right under the noses of those holy fuckers?”
“Think about it,” I replied. “The more demons the LCs lose in this city, the more likely it is that they’ll draw the Dark King’s attention. They’ve also seen I’ll free any of their minions if given the chance. We’ve also got the Church lurking nearby, so demons and Hellhounds are even less likely to be sent out too often near the center of this city. The way I see it, if we stay closer to the Church, and farther from the forest, it’ll keep us safe for the time being.”
“Oh, well, in that case, I’ll consider myself saved,” Ashe said with a coy smirk. “But this isn’t a long-term fix.”
“Who would you rather face right now, though?” I asked. “A swarm of demons in the forest, or a few of the Blessed, who we’ve dodged already.”
“That’s like asking which breast I’d rather lose, my left or right,” she snorted.
“But do you see the point I’m making?” I chuckled.
“Yes, that we’re fucked on the surface either way,” Ashe sighed.
“Not at all,” I calmly countered. “I’ll find us a way out of here, but for now, given the spot we’re in, it’s best that we get set up in the belly of the beast.”
“How set up?” Ashe asked with narrowed, pink eyes.
“Like a tumor,” I snickered. “We’ll bury ourselves deep in the darkest corners of this port, and if anyone tries to root us out, we’ll fucking devour them and keep on gaining in power.”
Ashe’s mouth curled into a wicked smile while she tipped her chin up for a kiss, and I bit at her plump lips while she growled for more. Then she jumped up and brushed off the chalk from her dress and legs, and I pulled myself upright.
I helped Ashe climb from the ledge onto the cliffside road before I did the same, and my demon woman chuckled like a fiend as she turned to lead the way back into the Port of Rengfri.
Chapter 7
The first thing we did after we’d traveled back from the cliff edge was return to my stash of troll loot. We needed more pieces to buy our clothes later on, and my stomach was starting to try and eat itself for sustenance. Plus, I still had to pay the man at the tavern for the stew he gave me yesterday.
“This is the place,” I said to Ashe as we approached the shack with the twisted latch.
“What is all this?” she asked and gestured to the rickety wood.
“My stash.” I grinned.
I made sure the coast was clear and then reached for the bent and deformed latch. I straightened out the latch without an issue, and when I opened the door, everything was as I’d left it.
“This is where I got the pieces from,” I explained.
Ashe stepped into the shack with a look of intrigue on her face, but her eyes widened when she saw what the interior was made of.
“Fuck, it’s coated in silver,” she gasped.
“It was owned by a group of tr
olls,” I explained. “They obviously had a few enemies who were after this stuff, so they set a trap for them.”
I searched the ground for any more of those cottons sacks I had used last time, and when I came across a small pile of them in the corner of the shack, I passed one to Ashe. I opened one of the cases, and then the two of us worked together to pour handfuls of pieces inside.
I hadn’t managed to count each coin as they were placed onto the sacks, but I guessed there had to be at least two-hundred pieces altogether, based on the handfuls I’d scooped up. It would definitely keep us going until we felt the need to return, or at least until we could store the cases somewhere else.
I warped the latch once again when we closed the door behind us, and then we walked away like we hadn’t just been looting the stash of my slaughtered prey.
It was still too early to pick up our new clothing, so we headed down the road to begin scoping out the layout of the city.
The forest was a write-off since it was where the demons would most likely be lurking, but the Shadow Quarters were ripe with the stench of all kinds of evil, and this would be the best means of blending in for us.
Especially with the Blessed lurking around.
Our evil stench would blend in well among some of these more violent mortals.
“I’d really rather not sleep anywhere that smells like half-orcs anymore,” Ashe sighed.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get a better place for ourselves,” I assured her. “A more permanent residence within the Shadow Quarters is what we need until we can work out how to escape Rengfri.”
“With a really, really soft bed?” the demon purred as she pressed up against my arm, and even through my jacket, her touch electrified my skin.
“Absolutely,” I growled, and Ashe shivered at my demonic tone. “We’ll have everything you could ever want soon enough.”
“I want you,” the beautiful fiend instantly replied.
Then her bright pink eyes met mine, and a wicked smirk curled on her lips. In an instant, she looked greedy and flushed, and I stooped to let her have a kiss to hold her over. The way the demon bit at my lips ignited the same insatiable hunger in me as I’d had last night, but since I wasn’t the fiend here, I focused on being the proper master instead.
Ravaging Ashe in the middle of the sunlit street would be the opposite of blending in.
The huntress moaned impatiently when I left her lips, but one stern look from me made her silver eyelashes flutter obediently.
“You’ll have more of me soon enough,” I whispered as I traced my thumb down her creamy throat. “Right now, we have work to do. We should get a feel for the lay of the land outside the Shadow Quarters as well as in. We need to know where threats are most likely to come in from.”
“When I came looking for you, I had to travel quite a ways from the forest,” Ashe replied as she calmed down a little. “Shouldn’t anywhere in the Shadow Quarters be relatively safe?”
“Not with the Blessed and the king’s guard around,” I muttered. “Come on, we’ll start on the outskirts of that area and then work our way in.”
The Shadow Quarters were nestled deep in a thick of gnarled groves and dilapidated buildings, but they were surrounded on three sides by other quarters. The forest encroached on the furthest side of the quarters near the gorgons’ palace, but from where we were, just outside this darker quarter, I could see more clearly beyond the tops of the gnarled trees.
I had a better view of the grim, forested mountains that towered around the Port of Rengfri, and I could also spot the spires and turrets of other buildings that showed this part of the city was just as developed as the others.
The residents were more varied, though.
We followed the shadows behind the backs of the buildings so we wouldn’t draw too much attention, and I kept an eye on the beings we glimpsed along the way.
As well as the humans who strolled around these less busy streets, I noticed some other creatures who seemed to live in peace with the simpler mortals. High elves, sylphs, and even the occasional banshee were all seen living among the humans, and there didn’t appear to be any animosity between these beings. They all acted as though it was completely normal, but then I caught sight of one sylph with the symbol of the church around her neck.
This happened a few more times with high elves as well, and I concluded that there was some sort of elite cast of magical beings who were permitted within the Church here.
They didn’t reside so close to the Church, and they never seemed to cross into the borders of the Shadow Quarters, either. These beings dressed in fine gowns and garments like the humans, and they exchanged words in passing with them, too, and Ashe curled her lip when a rich-looking high elf scoffed in disgust at my blood-stained shirt.
“Well, I’ve seen enough out here,” Ashe growled.
“Yeah, we should keep our heads down around this area,” I said as I gestured for her to turn back toward the Shadow Quarters. “I’m not sure how the divide works, but I have a feeling any of these elves or sylphs would turn us over to the Church.”
The two of us both sighed with relief as the sinister smells of the Shadow Quarters grew stronger, and when we arrived back beneath the rusted iron sign, the dilapidated streets were a welcome sight.
We strolled right beneath the rusted iron gate, and no one sneered or shrieked at the sight of us.
“So, where should we begin with these lovely miscreants?” Ashe murmured and sent me a smirk.
“Let’s ask around and see how this area operates,” I replied. “Every place I’ve ever been on the surface world has its secrets.”
“Mmm… I love to sniff them out,” the huntress sighed.
“I’m sure you do,” I chuckled.
The two of us continued along the street, past the half-elf’s weapon shop, and past the first inn I’d stayed at. There was a group of half-orcs who were arguing outside today, and a troll had slumped his large body down in the shade of a tree not far away. He held a piece of dark purple meat in his hand, and he snorted and devoured his feast with the tusks that curled over his lips.
Then a shrieking noise came from an alleyway as we passed by. It sounded like a manic laugh, and I knew of only one being who had a laugh as high-pitched as that.
Ashe caught the sound as well, and we gave each other a look before we turned for the alley.
From the shadows flew a dainty female no taller than the length of my forearm, and she was decadently dressed in a pink dress with tufts of satin falling over her tiny shoulders. Her light-blue eyes looked too large for her tiny face, and her deep brown hair draped over her shoulder with the fringe tucked behind her pointed ears. As she came further into the light, I could see her incredible white wings that sprung from her back.
She was a tinsel fairy.
The white wings, like her eyes, were in disproportion to her tiny body. They were covered in intricate, gossamer details, and the thin lines were intertwined like a spider’s web. The fairy had an angelic look on her face, and she didn’t have an evil scent to her, but I knew better than to underestimate a tinsel fairy.
They enjoyed causing mischief more than most winged beings, and I’d always found them amusing during my trips to the surface world.
Even if their delirious smiles made me cringe.
“Well! It’s not often we see ones like you around here,” the tinsel fairy said in a delicate, high-pitched tone. “Shouldn’t you have gone back… down below by now?”
The fairy lowered her voice to a whisper at the end, and I clenched my jaw.
Apparently, some surface beings did know a demon when they saw one.
“That’s none of your business,” Ashe snarled.
“So angry!” The fairy blinked her large eyes a few times, but the same angelic smile was still on her lips. “I never said you should leave. Just wondering what you are doing here.”
“Did you not hear me when I said--” Ashe seethed, but I decided to take over be
fore Ashe could end up tearing this fairy wing from wing.
“We’re visiting for a short while,” I explained. “We need to find out where the best place for us to be is, and the quarters near the Church are definitely off that list.”
The cherubic look on the fairy’s face was swapped with one of disgust, and she seemed to shiver at the words.
“Fuck the Church,” she spat in a high-pitched voice.
“You’re not a fan, either?” I asked.
“It’s exhausting putting up with their nasty shit,” she snarled, but it sounded more like a squeak. “They frequently tear this place apart and haul some of us away with them, but I don’t know what for.”
“They did it the other day with a bunch of dark elves,” I replied.
“I know, I saw them,” the fairy’s lips pursed in anger.
“Is that sort of thing common around here?” I asked.
“Of course,” the tiny woman squeaked.
“Then how are all of you still here?” Ashe asked. “Is it because there are just so many of you?”
“Maybe, but we also have far stronger beings around here, too,” the fairy giggled her high-pitched laugh. “A few guards and even the Blessed couldn’t take us all down.”
“Strong beings like who?” I asked. We had come across a few of the residents, like the half-orcs, half-elves, and the gorgons, but I knew there was more than that. I’d smelled vampires in the area the second I arrived.
“The entire place is basically owned by incubi, somewhat like yourselves,” she informed us. “They rarely show their filthy faces, so they use others to do all of their dirty work. Most of us get along alright without needing to work for any of them, but they’re the main reason the Shadow Quarters aren’t constantly being raided.”
It sounded like the Shadow Quarters had a similar hierarchy of sorts to the Hellscape, where the incubi called the shots, but others completed the tasks.
“Have you seen the Blessed fight with the incubi before?” I asked out of curiosity.
“No, whenever the Blessed come around, it’s usually to take care of vampires and the like.” The fairy shrugged her tiny shoulders. “Or demons like you, but it’s been ages since I saw your kind here! This is exciting! You stick out quite a lot, you know. Those pretty eyes…”