by Logan Jacobs
I crossed the floor in four tense strides, and when I opened the door, in walked the half-elf with a woman standing beside him. The woman’s skin was just as pale as his, and her blonde hair had been pulled back to reveal the pointed ears that hid underneath. She wore a navy blue tunic with a black belt tied around the middle, and a white shawl covered her shoulders. She was a dainty half-elf in build, but she stood a good head and shoulders taller than Ashe.
Both half-elves had a few candles in their arms, and when I realized the room was darkening rapidly, I quickly retrieved them and brought them to the table to light.
“This is my wife, Elora,” the half-elf announced, and he held a hand toward the woman.
I could just make out the smile that Elora gave me, even though her head was bowed, and her gaze was averted.
“I must apologize, I never got your name,” I said to the man as I lit a few candles.
“Garrik,” he answered.
I didn’t know why I hadn’t asked his name before, especially when he had been so generous to me and Ashe, but it felt good to finally put a name to the face.
“We came to assist you with the weapons that you bought,” Garrik continued. “Elora is the expert at magical weapons, so she can probably tell you much more than I can.”
“Thank you,” I replied. “Ashe isn’t here right now, but I can inform her of everything when she gets back.”
“I hope everything is alright with her,” Garrik said, and I realized he really meant this as his brow furrowed with worry. “The raids are still continuing, you know, and it will be dark soon.”
“Yeah, she’s alright,” I told him. “She’s doing something near Pixie Lane.”
I rifled my choppy hair as my tension rose at full force, and Garrik seemed to have noticed. He smirked a little and nodded in understanding, but then he motioned for his wife to move further into the room before he closed the door so we would all have some privacy in here.
I carried the new weapons over to the table near the window, but Elora hastily advised me not to keep them in such a visible spot. So, I moved them over to where Garrik and Elora were headed near the bed. The half-elf woman still had her head bowed when I reached them, but I didn’t get the feeling that she didn’t want to be here. I also assumed Garrik wouldn’t have dragged his wife in here if she didn’t want to come, and I was curious to see what the slender woman knew of magical weapons.
I brought each weapon from their assigned boxes and laid them out in a line between us. I couldn’t stop looking at the sickle and thinking of how fucking awesome it was going to be to wield it soon. I could just imagine disconnecting a dark elf’s head from his shoulders with one quick swipe, but driving the curved blade through the top of a skull would be nice, too.
“The sapphire sword is your best bet against dark elves,” Elora said quietly, and she held the weapon in both hands and twisted it over to get a better look.
I waited while Elora brought it closer to her face, took in the intricate details, and then lowered it back to the bed. She had a look of desire on her face, and I knew then what Garrik had meant about his wife knowing more than him. He may have sold the weapons, but she clearly had a deep interest and love for the blades. Perhaps she was interested in the history behind them, or maybe she just loved to hold them in her hands and use them for what they were made for.
Slaughtering victims didn’t strike me as an interest I’d guess the slim half-elf had, but it was possible. She had no scent of malice, but she did give off a slight hint of jealousy as she let her fingers graze the black sword for a moment.
“You said dark elves have a weakness to sapphire?” I confirmed.
“That’s correct, but only yellow sapphires,” Elora replied. “When the blood of a dark elf touches the blade, the sword will glow as bright as the sun. It then starts a process of poisoning the elf who has been harmed. Their blood will begin to boil and thicken in their veins, and it’ll be both excruciating and lethal, even if that is the only wound the elf receives in combat.”
“Is sapphire not a weakness to you?” I asked.
“No, we all have different weaknesses,” Garrik replied. “Half-elves are susceptible to rubies, but dark elves actually almost become stronger through the use of those gems.”
“Interesting.” I nodded and decided to keep this piece of information firmly in my mind.
Elora finally let go of the black sword, and then she picked up the sickle. The two gems that had been placed on the blade and the handle were a blue in color, but flickers of green were seen whenever a light hit them.
“The sickle may not be as effective as the sapphire sword in regards to the weaknesses of dark elves, but it is an incredible weapon,” Elora explained. “Is it… what I mean is… you are…”
I waited for the half-elf to continue, but my confusion remained as silence fell in the flat.
“I am what?” I asked.
Garrik answered for her. “A-A demon.”
I glanced between the pair, but then I shrugged and nodded in the affirmative.
“Yes,” I replied. “I am a demon. Is that a problem?”
“No!” Elora quickly answered. “Y-You have powers, though? What power do you have?”
“Why?” I demanded.
“The sickle,” she replied. “It can channel certain powers depending on the nature of it, but I… I don’t know about the powers of demons.”
“Oh, uh…” I cleared my throat. “Mine is known as Infernal Tempest. Any contact with a victim, the ground, or any of my surroundings, really, will send out a shockwave of painfully strong energy.”
“Interesting,” Garrik said with a stoic nod. “That sounds useful.”
“Depends on what I’m doing,” I explained. “The energy could be subtle enough to numb your arm, or strong enough to break the ground open. I combust skulls sometimes with it, that’s always effective when I need it to be.”
“In that case, this sickle can inherit your power,” Elora continued after swallowing hard enough for me to hear. “These two gems are tanzanite, and they have the ability to infuse your power into the weapon. Whenever the blade connects with a victim, it should let out a powerful blast of this I-Infernal energy, similar to what you can do.”
“And it would be the same with Ashe?” I asked. “She’s a demon, as well.”
“What is her power?” Elora queried.
“Infernal Venom,” I replied, but when they just blinked at the floorboards, I elaborated. “She has claws that retract, and when they’re out, they can either spew venom or embed it in anything she claws at. It’s highly acidic, so the results are usually boiling or blistering of the bodily tissue.”
“Hmm.” Garrik nodded again, and I smirked as he reached his fingers up to dab the small beads of nervous sweat running down his chin and neck.
“Th-Then yes,” Elora continued. “This sickle should have the same response to the… venom woman’s powers.”
“Ashe,” her husband supplied.
“Ashe.” Elora nodded. “Y-yes. Of course. I’m sorry I didn’t remember, dark one.”
“It’s fine,” I replied, and I stared down at the weapons with excitement. “I am not offended, and these weapons delight me.”
I had known they were magical, but I never guessed the strength they held to the full extent. The half-elf’s simple explanations showed the blades in a completely different light, and I could no longer wait for the attack to take place. I needed to see Ashe swing the magical sickle, or drive the sword through a dark elf’s chest.
I needed to see it all, and then I needed to join her in the slaughter until I was fully satisfied, and the blood of our victims was sprayed across the walls.
Thinking about Ashe with the new weapons brought me back to the present, though. I wasn’t sure how long it had been since she left, but it felt far too long already, and I could only hope she was safe. I couldn’t shake the sense that it was my duty to protect her, and I felt restless all of
a sudden as I considered the quiet and calm room around me.
“Is everything okay?” Garrik questioned.
“Do you know what the time is?” I asked, and the half-elf pulled a small pocket watch from his jacket pocket.
“We’re nearing the seventh hour,” he replied simply.
“Shit,” I sighed.
Ashe had been out of the flat for almost two hours, but I supposed she could be in the middle of her mission still. I couldn’t guess how long it would take for her to finish up at Pixie Lane, but the darker part of my brain made me picture something else. She could have been halfway through a fight with a demon, or even more of the Blessed, or maybe the king’s guards managed to somehow get the jump on the Infernal Huntress.
“Sir?” Elora murmured with some concern.
“I’m fine,” I said, and I shook my head in order to clear it. “I’m just distracted. Please, continue.”
Elora moved on to the throwing knives. The five small knives were neatly packed in their holster, and the half-elf retrieved each one swiftly and laid them out in a row on the bed. Each knife, from blade to handle, looked to be about eight inches in length. The handles were pitch-black, and the same shade ran down the center of the blade. The edges of the blades were both sharpened and bright silver, and the tips formed into a perilous point like a dagger.
“Although these knives aren’t necessarily magical like the others, they come with some incredible advantages,” she explained. “But I believe you can enhance the speed and strength of the knife by using your own Infernal energy. If you have someone with their back to you, you can kill them instantly with one throw provided your aim is direct. Knives like this always work well for surprise attacks, but also for slow and painful deaths.”
It was quite amusing to hear someone who seemed as shy and timid as Elora talking about a slow and painful death. I thought I even saw a smile curl over her lips at the thought of using one of those knives on someone. She didn’t smell evil in the slightest, and neither did her husband, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t excited at the thought of handling a weapon. In my opinion, it was natural for everyone to love the feel of the weight in their hands.
“So… you’re saying I could possibly use the surge of my Infernal Tempest to propel these knives faster than a mortal could?” I asked, and the half-elf nodded almost eagerly.
“Yes, I would imagine so,” she replied.
“Great,” I chuckled. “I never thought of trying that before, but I appreciate you telling me everything. And for selling me the weapons to begin with. This is very helpful, and I’ll be sure to pass the information along to Ashe when she returns.”
Both of the half-elves nodded their heads and gave me soft smiles, and it looked as though Garrik was about to say something, but a sudden scrambling sound outside was followed quickly by a sturdy knock on the door.
The two half-elves shot to their feet as potent fear billowed from them.
“Hide,” I whispered.
Garrik and Elora scrambled from the bed as I threw the weapons back into the boxes and grabbed my onyx blade from the table. I caught the evil scent that wafted through the door, and the fact that I had no idea who this smell belonged to had caused my suspicions to rise. I double-checked that the elves had hidden, which they had, but I wasn’t sure where, and then I cautiously opened the door.
Night had fallen in the Shadow Quarters, and at first, I only saw the outline of a single black wing on the landing. Then a fairy came into view, and it was one of the twin black fairies from Madame Nyra’s, but she wasn’t alone.
Propped between both twins, with a sack over his head, was a round-bellied being. His clothes were a bit tattered, but made of nice material, just like the human I was after, and his arms were tied behind his back. He hung off the fairies like a dead weight, but they didn’t seem bothered by it.
“I hope this isn’t a bad time.” One fairy twin grinned wickedly as they dragged the man into the flat.
They pulled a chair out from under the table and then threw the man down onto it. His body slumped against the wood, and his head lolled backward and forward from the movement.
“Is this who I think it is?” I asked and pointed at the lolling, sacked man.
“It fucking better be,” the second twin sighed. “I don’t think you can understand how hard this bastard was to catch.”
“I know!” the other fairy exclaimed. “We had to drug his drink and then wait for the fucker to pass out.”
I chuckled at the brief retelling of the story. I almost wished I’d been there to witness it all happen.
She then pulled off the sack to reveal the man’s face. A small line of blood trickled down from his right nostril, but apart from that, he seemed in good shape.
“Oh, yeah, he smashed his face against a wall when he fell unconscious,” one twin added to explain the blood. “It was awesome! You should have seen it!”
“I wish I had,” I replied.
“But this is the man, right?” the second twin asked. “Because we don’t have enough drugs to continue searching.”
I pulled up his eyelids to double-check, but I could already tell this was the man we were after. His curly gray hair, the eyes that were two separate colors, and his delectable scent of insubordination matched the man from my memory.
“Well done, ladies, you’ve completed the mission,” I grinned.
Then I heard a strange creaking of wood coming from the back of the flat, and I turned my head to see the two half-elves step out from a wardrobe they’d chosen to hide in.
Garrik walked over with his wife a step behind him, and they both looked extremely uncomfortable, like they felt they probably shouldn’t be here anymore.
“Oh, uh… this is…” I turned to the black fairies since I didn’t know their names, but they just smirked and didn’t offer any introduction. “Right, we’re all just--”
“We’ll let ourselves out,” Garrik muttered.
“Do so,” I replied.
Garrik and Elora stared down at the floor as they walked right past the lolling man, the two black fairies, and out of the flat without saying another word.
One fairy passed me a small silk bag, and then the two sisters jumped onto the bed and made themselves comfortable. I had no reason for them to stay, but I had no idea where they’d found this man, so they could do the honors of returning him back to the shit hole he’d crawled out from.
I opened the small bag and found it full of smelling salts, exactly what I needed to awake this man from his slumber. All it took was for the bag to be brushed under his nose, and the human began to stir.
It took a second for him to fully gain consciousness, but as soon as he knew what had happened, man, was he pissed. But that was sure to change as soon as I had had my say.
“What the fuck?” he demanded with a stern voice. “Who fucking drugged me? If you knew who I worked for, you wouldn’t pull a fucking stunt like that!”
I completely ignored the human and handed back the smelling salts to the twins. They both shot me a wink, and then they returned to looking directly at the human.
“Hey, I was talking to you, asshole!” the man shouted. I just rolled my eyes and fought off the urge to tear his throat out.
He may have been angry to begin with, but I was determined to make him shit his pants.
“Yes, I heard you,” I said with a sarcastic smile.
“I hope you know who you’re dealing with,” he spat. “My boss will happily tear you limb from limb, especially when he hears what you’ve done with me.”
I let out a devilish laugh that filled the entire room. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the half-elves in the house next door had also received the same vibrations.
“Now, you listen here,” I took a step toward the man and made him stare me straight in the eyes. “I know exactly who you work for, and I also know you’re a little pussy who’d ask how high if your boss said to jump.”
“You don’t
scare me,” he snickered.
“I don’t scare you?” I repeated with a grin.
“No.” the man crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. “Once my bosses find out that you fucked with me, you’ll wish you’d never been born. They’ll torture you, and then they’ll fucking kill you.”
The twins began to giggle behind me, because they knew the mistake the man had made. If he hadn’t been important to me, and my plan to defeat the elves, I could have had him dismembered before he even knew what the hell was going on.
“Did you ever hear of horror stories as a kid?” I asked with a wicked grin on my face. “Did your mother ever tell you about the monsters that hid under your bed? I fucking hope she did, because then you’d know who you’re staring at right now.”
The human swallowed loudly, yet he continued to act as though I wasn’t the biggest threat to him. If he was smart enough, he would have started to regret everything he’d said in the last five minutes.
“Do you know why you’re here?” I asked him, and I put on my demon voice to terrify the man even more.
“N-no,” he stammered. “I don’t even know who you are.”
From the look on his face, I knew that evil wasn’t the only thing I was going to smell in the room. My plan had worked, and I even wondered whether I should have the waste bucket ready for when he soiled his pants.
“I’m a fucking demon, my friend.” I raised one black eyebrow in his direction. “I need to ask you a few questions before I can tell you why you’re here, and I’ll warn you now, it wouldn’t be wise to lie to me.”
“I won’t!” he gasped. “I’ll answer anything! I swear it!”
It felt fucking incredible to see the color drain from his face, and for the sweat to build over his forehead. He had messed with the wrong person, but now that it was all clear to him, I could finally have the conversation I’d been waiting for.
“Where do you live?” I began.
“I… I don’t really have a home,” he replied, and his face twitched anxiously. “I slum around and go where I can.”
I peered over to the twins to confirm this, and one of them shrugged.