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Chapter 55
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The Demon Chapter 56
“Alexander! Glad to see you, my boy!”Holy crap... Mikael himself!Wonderful!Did the king of Tevarr have enough gall and belief in my stupidity to lead the army himself?But no. His next words explained his coming.“I hoped that my son would head the army, but alas, Kristof broke his leg!”I nodded, sympathetic. That’s right, his eldest son was a bit older than me, twenty or twenty-two. The youngest wasn’t even fifteen yet, a snotnose.Would Mikael really entrust a duke with his army? What would keep that duke from using it later, at home, thinking that the crown became him...No way.The army was something that a smart king couldn’t lose hold of. A prince, on the other hand, could very well sit on the throne while the father was at war. It wasn’t that complicated, and he would have to gain experience and independence.I chuckled, thinking that I even felt some pity
The Demon Chapter 57
By the next night, I was in the camp once again. Tom had covered for me as well as he could, but Mikael had started to worry anyway.Thankfully, there was water in the tent. I poured some on myself, changed clothes, and came out.Where was I?Yep, I went to check the carts that had lagged behind, find out if they had lost anything or bartered for drinks. Was it ununworthy of a prince? Maybe, but at least I would be sure of everything. During wartime, supplies are everything.Troop deployment? I defer it to you.How about we put heavy infantry in the center, cavalry on the left, the ground there is nice, and the contingency force on the right?There’s a forest there, they could hide there.Offense? No way.If the enemy wants to come to us, let them. We’ll wait. Fine, we can advance on them, but later. I’ll rest a bit and then let’s go.When? Well, next morning, or better yet, evening. I barely brou
The Demon Chapter 58
“Alex!”Tom saved my life, pushing me away from a blow. Those creatures weren’t as dumb as they seemed. The devourers knew who had summoned them, and had no desire to leave.To remain in our world, green and full of people, the food for their fangs and claws, full of power—wasn’t that a demon’s dream? While I was busy with the second pit, the tentacles from the third one got to us.Tom pushed me aside...and took the brunt of the blow. He tumbled along the ground and stopped motionless, lying like a broken doll.“No!”I didn’t even realize at first that it was me who had cried out.Was he dead?No, his soul wasn’t flying away! And even if it was, I would get it back.I was a necromancer, dammit.Rage and desperation flashed inside me, and my other half got the upper hand. Instead of banishing the devourers with my necromantic power, I immolated them with a stream of scorching flames. It didn’t really matter anymore, though.The second pit closed up with a moist slurp, and I burned the
The Demon Chapter 59
After those events, the Riolonians wanted to continue the war about as much as we did. And so, we sat down to talk: me, Darius...Nobody else had survived. Not even a crown remained from Mikael. No surprises there.I had released enough of my power to burn even his bones to ash and then incinerate the ash as well, even if that was a pretty tricky thing in general.There were two Tevarrian generals left. The talks took place in the view of the entire army.Why?Nobody had wanted to set up camp here, bunk down... As a matter of fact, devourers tend to exude certain emanations, and they are particularly persistent, like cat pee in your boots.The stink would linger long after everything had dried out, and no washing, err, cleaning, would eradicate those emanations from the area. You could try and force yourself to remain in such a place, of course, but it would only end up in your nightmares, heart pains, or worse. And I would definitely discourage you from sleeping without a ward circle
The Demon Chapter 60
The templar flushed with anger, but restrained himself. He realized that strength wasn’t on their side and swallowed the insult. He would get back at me later, if I gave him the chance.“We are going to question the soldiers; in the evening, we’ll speak with you.”It sounded like a clear threat, but I responded with a serene smile.You haven’t seen Argadon yet, you dog.“I’ll be eagerly waiting.”“Then wait,” the templar said curtly to have the last word in the argument and turned his horse back.The colonels stared at me with...fear? Finally, one of them spoke up.“Your Highness, is that really such a good idea, angering the Church? They are powerful...”I shrugged.“Powerful? How many warriors do they have?”The way I put that question seemed new to the colonel. It clearly made him think.“Your Highness...”“My people, colonel, are more important to me than any potential problems with the temple,” I snipped.“We’ll move as intended. We need to reach the river by the evening, or we’l
The Demon Chapter 61
Until evening, those bastards were wandering around the camp, interrogating everyone, and getting on everyone’s nerves, while I was asking myself only one question: should I kill them or not? On the one hand, it would make the world a bit better.On the other...wouldn’t it be too suspicious?Ah, whatever!The war will write it off. But how will I get to them?I spent some time thinking, but couldn’t come up with anything useful. Eventually, I threw in the towel. Whatever will be, will be. Let fate decide whether they live or die. I could kill them right now, but how would I avoid revealing myself?The Church had a huge influence over the people, and I would have to rule them. The next morning, I roused the troops and ordered them to march out. The templars started to object, saying that they hadn’t questioned everybody they wanted yet, but I dismissed them.“Do you want to come with us? Go, then. I’ll even give you our best horses.”They wavered, hesitated, and finally, refused. We ha
The Demon Chapter 62
“Let’s go.”“Where?”“Don’t you sense it yourself? To eight forsworn.”Ak-kvir got a whiff of the air. The skull shined in the light of the moon.“Forsworn? A good hunt. Will you manage them?”“Don’t even hope to get nine bodies,” I retorted, and the beast took off.He was much faster than the swiftest of horses. He raced like the wind, as if piercing the distance, and I wasn’t surprised when we stopped before a forester’s hut.Eight horses were tied to a hitching post, and it seemed deadly quiet inside. Judging by the look of it, the house was inhabited.Yet... Ak-kvir sucked in the air, passing it through his fangs with a whooshing sound.“Blood...”We found the master of the house behind the shack, crucified on a tree. His hands and feet were nailed to the trunk, and his chest was bound with a rope that supported part of his weight.They hadn’t wanted him to die quickly. They had wanted to make him suffer. The templars believed that agony helps executed sinners reach the Bright abo
The Demon Chapter 63
My return to the capital was rushed. Rudolph might have arranged a red carpet welcome, but that would be complicated, considering that the prince’s wife was in prison, the allies had turned out to be traitors, and something unholy had happened on the battlefield.So how would my uncle react to all this? Abigail didn’t know, which is why he didn’t actually react, but summoned me straight away.“Alex, what happened there?”Obediently, I reported everything.“And so, the Tevarrians cooked up a cunning plot. They killed our dear Andre,” I sobbed and wiped a tear from my cheek, “and had me marry their girl to make her a princess, all the while trying to pit us against Riolon. The Riolonians found out somehow and invited me to secret negotiations, which left me shocked, as they showed me the proof. Prince Andre’s assassin! The real one."I omitted the part where it was I who had shown the assassin, and not him, but rather his confession, while he was still lying low.He did want to live, af
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