Chapter 738: POV Demon Lord

Anger.

Hatred.

Disgust.

Desire…

There were so many tastes on the wind. In the changed form that she had taken in honor of the love she bore for Jadis, Alex’s senses felt muted. She had no tentacles, only the four arms and two legs that mirrored Jadis’ design. She liked those limbs, as they reminded her of Jadis, and they felt different and unique, but they could not taste the air as her tentacles could. Alex was reliant on the holes in her head for taste, which felt limiting. How Jadis and the others managed to exist with so much of their senses centered on a single point was a puzzle.

Alex did not need her tentacles to taste the wind here. The flavors of her kin were everywhere. Rage. Wrath. Fear. There was so much. Not just from the Demons who chose to live as fools, following a lesser God’s will. The taste of humans was thick on the wind. Blood. Death. Terror. So much of their flavor flowed like water around her, mixing with the tastes of her kin, forming an awful sea of putrescence that held no sweetness within it at all.

She could still taste her through it all.

Desire…

“Back again,” Tiernan said in his way of friendly greeting. “Sorry, I’m running through my reserves like spiced mead on a winter’s festival. Do you have any more to give me?”

Alex paused her ruminations. She had maintained the form of her prayer, but it had not been necessary for herself for the past eighteen minutes. She was at her maximum. Instead, it was Jadis’ magic that she prayed for, helping her loved one to regenerate her own magic at a faster rate. She could give Tiernan much. The gnome absorbed her magic as greedily as Hope did when she was hungry. She could spend all she had on Tiernan and he would still have room for more.

Alex would not give him all.

Alex had reached level three in her Demon Lord Class. The death around her had elevated her. She didn’t like that. But she would not shy away from taking advantage of any benefit that could be used to protect those she loved. There had been two choices. One had been for Vitality. The other had been for Focus. Alex had taken the Focus, granting her fifty points in that single attribute.

Aila would have many words to say when Alex told her about Demon Lord’s Lesser Reservoir. She looked forward to hearing them. She looked forward to sharing all of her growths with Jadis and Aila and all of her loved ones, just as she looked forward to hearing all of their growths. But to hear them, Alex would need to be harsh with Tiernan, who had only ever been kind to her. It was a choice. She hated the choice.

“Five hundred…” Alex answered the gnome.

“Is that all?” Tiernan frowned at her, then his expression changed to an emotion that Alex had a harder time interpreting. “I’m sorry, that was rude. You are doing all that you can, and it is more than appreciated. Please, if you will, Alex.”

Ah.

Contrition.

Tiernan was kind. He did not mean to be rude to her. He was stressed. He was upset that he could not do more. Alex understood how he felt.

Alex reached out with one hand and placed it upon the gnome’s shoulder. She willed a part of her reservoir into Tiernan, expending fifty magic to grant him five hundred. Alex wanted to give him more. He was using the magic well. His spells were paving the way into Kastoria. But she did not give more. She needed the magic for herself.

She needed the magic for Desire.

“Thank you,” Tiernan smiled at her.

Then, reaching into one of his pouches, he pulled out a small bottle of a pale green liquid that glowed faintly in the light of the sun. Removing the stopper, he paused as he held the liquid up to his face.

“Ammy says I’ll get sick if I drink too many of these in a day,” he said in a tone that Alex recognized as anxious. Then, in an expression that she knew meant false confidence, he winked at her. “Here’s hoping that number seven isn’t pushing things too far.”

Tiernan coughed violently after drinking the potion. Alex could taste the power of the liquid in the air. She could also taste the hurt that it had caused Tiernan to drink it. She needed to save her magic. She could not spare more. But she could not let her friend be hurt, either.

Reaching out once more, Alex placed her hand on the coughing gnome and cast her Mend the Broken spell. It would regenerate one hundred points of health. More importantly, it would soothe any pain that he felt. Even if he was hurt, he would not feel it as much. Eir or Jocelyn could cure him properly later.

“Thank you again,” Tiernan said, the expression on his face not gratitude.

Suspicion?

No.

Understanding.

“Be… Safe…” she told her friend.

“You as well,” he replied, putting his hand on top of hers and squeezing.

Then Tiernan ran to the head of the assault, where Alex could taste the most blood coming from.

Others ran around Alex. There were many. Hundreds. Thousands. Lines of men and women, soldiers, marching forward on either side of the island of security that had been made for her and the mages who needed her magic. The wall of Kastoria had been breached. The way was made open, though there were countless of her kin waiting on the far side, so the way wasn’t truly clear. The smaller third line, the one that ran closest to Alex’s right, was proof of how terrible the fighting was. Wounded. Dying. Dead. All carried back down the long stone road to where the soldiers had made their camp.

Shadows passed overhead. Alex looked up, both hoping and not hoping to see Jadis. A strange and terrible thought, to want and not want to see her love. If Jadis was near, then she was safe. But if she was not near, then Alex would not have to argue. She did not want to argue. She wanted to keep Jadis safe. She wanted to keep everyone safe.

She would do what she had to do.

The shadow did not belong to Jadis. Severina flew above the line, her false wing made flesh shining in the sunlight. Others flew with her, other Seraphim, and they were going to the west. The airship? Yes. They were going to the airship, though Alex could only guess why. Perhaps to pass a message to Maeve, so that she would transmit the message with the magic Sabina had forged, so that others in many places would hear her words.

Movement directed at her pulled Alex’s attention back to the ground.

“Alex, magic, please,” Lydia, one of the mages who had helped build the stone path, rushed up to her side. “Magic, please!”

“No…” Alex shook her head, sorry that she could not help the woman. “Cannot…”

She did not lie. Alex did not like lies. But she did not tell the whole truth, either, since she did not want to argue.

“Cazzo,” the mage sword under her breath, but not at Alex.

Then Lydia ran further back, pushing through the guards to get on board the large wagon that Alex sat at the head of. Other mages were already there, having spent all of their reserves already. They were praying. Or meditating. Which version of the skill did not matter. They needed to regenerate their magic quickly, and the potions that had been handed out could only do so much.

Alex wanted to help them.

She wanted to keep Jadis safe more.

The scent had grown stronger.

Desire…

Alex did not rush. She waited. She knew that the chance was coming soon. She only needed a direction. A way forward. A source.

Wounded were rushed by her, a stream running opposite the two great rivers pouring into Kastoria. They were the worst. Those who drew near the edge of Samleos’ domain. Their souls would be safe, Alex was certain. But their flesh would soon rot if healing was not provided.

Rot.

There.

Alex tasted the rot of death on one man. Not a man. A corpse. A corpse carried between two other men. A corpse that moved when it should have rested.

Alex leapt down from the wagon and pushed through the guards. They tried to stop her, but they were too weak to be a barrier. Alex did not hurt them. They had done nothing wrong to her, even if they were not kind to her as Tiernan was kind to her. She only pushed them aside, not letting them hold her back.

The two men carrying the corpse let out cries when she reached out to them. Alarm. Confusion. Fear. Their emotions were easy to understand. She ignored them. Alex took hold of the stretcher that was carried between them and forced it to the ground. Others in the stream shouted words. Protests. Alex ignored them, too.

A large, bloody wound had laid open the corpse’s left side. It had its hands over the wound, holding in the foul-tasting organs that filled the interior of humans. Pale eyes looked up at her, seeing without knowing. Lips parted. A word. A plea? Alex did not understand the language. That was fine. The corpse did not understand the language either.

Alex pulled the corpse’s hands away from the wound and reached inside. One of the guards tried to stop her, his spear held at her throat. Alex took hold of the spear and broke it, tossing the sharp point aside. Then she ignored him, as he did not matter.

From inside the corpse, Alex felt the invader. Tentacles wrapped around her hand, her wrist, her arm. Magic was pulsed into her. Hurting magic. Killing magic. Alex ignored that magic, too. She pulled, hard. The corpse tore open, and the humans around her shouted. Shock. Anger. Terror.

Understanding.

Alex held the Demon before her, the small form fitting inside the palm of her hand. A dark blue eye looked back at her, the color muted compared to Alex’s own shining blue. She was young. Newly hatched. Five or six levels at most. She was too weak to have more. And yet she still struggled against Alex. She used all the magic that she had.

Kill.

Kill.

Kill.

Alex could not communicate with the tiny Demon well, not in her current form. She would need to change. She considered taking off the clothes that Jadis had given her. Alex did not want to damage the gift she had been given. The clothes could be fixed.

The soldiers shouted again, their fear returning. Alex continued to ignore them. Her form was her own. Their fear did not matter.

Where is Desire?

The Demon understood her. She struggled to leave her grip. She had exhausted all of her magic.

Where is Desire?

Anger.

Panic.

Fear.

Fear.

Where is Desire?

Recognition. The Demon curled in on herself. She tasted Alex. She truly tasted Alex. She understood. She feared. She was terrified. She was confused. She did not know what to do.

The Urge cannot stop me. The Urge cannot help you. The Urge is nothing.

Death.

No.

Alex denied the plea. She would not grant oblivion. She demanded her answer. She imposed her Will upon the lesser Demon. Where was Desire? Answer. Answer.

Answer.

The Demon could choose not to answer. The Demon could lie. The Demon could choose to follow the Urge’s will. The Demon could cast their life away. The Demon could choose.

She could choose.

Choice.

Alex felt the change. The recognition. The understanding. The terror of knowledge. The choice.

Desire.

The Demon did not know what the word meant. But she knew.

Alex spread her wings and lifted into the air. Human voices called out to her. They were asking questions. They were demanding their own answers. Alex meant to ignore them, but the thought of those she loved gave her pause. They would chase after her, once they knew that she had gone. Jadis would chase her. Recklessly. The others might be more cautious if they had warning. Alex did not want any harm to come to them. She wanted to protect them all. She wanted to protect Jadis.

“I am… Going to… Kill… Demon Prince Desire…”

Alex’s declaration made, she gave no further thought to the soldiers. Up she flew, rising high above the rivers of men and women that flowed into the sea of Demons. Beyond the taste of death and destruction, where the wind was clear, and the only fear she could sense was that of the small, helpless Demon she held in her hand.

Where is Desire?

Alex showed the Demon the world below. In answer, the small Demon pointed, one tentacle reaching out to the palace that rested near the middle of the city. It was where Jadis said the captured humans were held. It was where the most Demons swarmed. It was where Desire hid, waiting for Jadis to come, so that she could take by force what was not hers to have.

“Desire…”

Alex would protect Jadis.

Even if she had to disobey Jadis.

She would protect those she loved.

That was her desire.