The Tale of Daemonica

Indie

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   A gentle breeze blew on the top of the rock, and its warm, gentle breath swept through her hair as if it were the fingers of a lover. The first star appeared above them, and everything was silent. She felt like she'd been through this all before. She looked to her right, and Sorcerer stood there, watching her as if they were thousands of lives apart. She wasn't sure how long she'd been standing like this, soundless, without any movement or word. The sword in her hand spoke to her in an ancient language, but this time she could almost make out the words. Something was coming.

She looked at Sorcerer and took the sword in both hands. He just nodded. The fight began. But instead of lightning, fire fell from the sky. It was almost impossible to hold the sword in her hands, for small sparks fell on her skin, burning it. Soon all she could think about was finding a place to hide. It was so hot all around that it looked as if the air itself was boiling. The firestorm that had just arrived was lifting the red sand, which looked like flames in its maw. She could barely see what was happening just a few feet ahead of her. She dropped her sword, for its hilt was now so hot she could no longer hold it. She had to use everything in her to move forward against the ever-increasingly hot wind. She thought she was about to burst into flames herself. At last she saw the shape of a figure not far from her. She struggled toward it.

After a while the storm seemed to subside, and the wind died down. Slowly the swirling sand settled to the ground. The moment she could see better, she saw the Beast. And exactly at that moment, the Beast turned directly toward her. Too late she remembered her sword, the Beast was inhumanly fast. It immediately set off for her and, with just a few jumps, covered the distance that separated them. Daemonica recovered and at the last second at least tried to avoid being hit. She was lucky, but her attempt was not entirely successful. As she dodged sideways, the terrifying axe only brushed her shoulder, but still inflicted Daemonica an open wound. She screamed as the hot air hit the wound, burning her flesh alive.

The pain paralyzed her. Without thinking, she fell to the ground. With her eyes closed, she just lay there, oblivious to anything. When she opened them again, she was still lying on the sand, watching the stars appear in the dark sky above her. She shivered. The air was chilly. After a while she rose slowly and looked around. Sorcerer stood at the edge of the rock, watching her. She nodded. The sword still lay where she had dropped it, right in the middle between her and Sorcerer. As she moved toward the sword, Sorcerer raised his hands to the dark sky, which was already covered with stars. Their light was freezing. She began to tremble, but completed another step forward.

She almost wasn't fast enough to avoid the Beast in a full sprint toward Sorcerer. Time seemed to slow down, and each step became harder and harder. Now she had to concentrate entirely on the way forward. A layer of frost covered the sand and her skin, steam rising from her mouth. It all seemed unreal, but too real at the same time. The air was calm, but she still felt like she was moving against a strong wind. Even her hair flowed behind her as if she were running. But she didn't seem to get even close to the sword. Her lips turned blue. She made every effort to cover the distance between her and the blade.

All of a sudden she simply emerged into the void as she left the invisible time bubble in a full sprint. She half-jumped, half-fell to the ground, but reached for her sword in that flight. She got quickly to her feet and turned toward Sorcerer. She had done so just in time to see that the Beast had succeeded in overcoming his spells, and now it was quickly raising its axe. She took one last look in his eyes, whose watched her from a place she could never reach. Daemonica closed her eyes. She didn't want to see what would happen next. The axe fell, but she knew there would be nothing to find when she opened her eyes again. Just Daemonica and her Beast. She gripped the sword more firmly and opened her eyes. The Beast was already on its way to her. With the tip of her sword pointing upward, she took up position. Calmly, she buried it deep in the Beast's chest and then fell with it over the edge of the rock.

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Daemonica opened her eyes and touched her right shoulder unconsciously. It hurt. She lay in what might once have been a bed, covered with old rags. The room smelled awful. She looked to her right. A black-haired woman sat beside the bed, staring into the light of a single lantern.

' Where am I?' Daemonica just half whispered. The woman jumped up in surprise. But she calmed down quickly and stepped closer. Daemonica recognized her even in the dim light. The woman began to speak the language of Daemonica, apparently taking considerable effort. But Daemonica understood her, which was the most important thing she cared about right now.

'My name is Indie. You know me.' Her voice was calm and pleasant to listen to, just as Daemonica had imagined it. She nodded to show that she understood and remembered. And so Indie went on.

'You were badly injured. You sleep long. But I... I healed. We're near Texō in my fathers... prison.'

As soon as she heard the word prison, Daemonica tried to rise, but Indie slowly put her hand on Daemonica's chest and gently pushed her down.

'I want to help.' Indie said quietly. Since there was no reason to doubt her words, Daemonica obeyed her, waiting for what Indie had to tell her.

'There's not much time...' Indie looked around nervously.

'You will live, but I cannot free you.' She was almost whispering now.

'Take this.' Her robe rustled as she searched its folds. She soon was holding something in her hands. And it was a dagger! India quickly made sure the weapon disappeared under the rags that still covered Daemonica's body. Then she hurried on.

'Listen to the big black man!' Daemonica nodded. Then Indie lowered her voice, bent over Daemonica, until her face was so close to Daemonica's that they almost touched. Even so, it was sometimes difficult to understand Indie's strong accent.

'There is a mark on you. Old, powerful.... Only some can see it and those could be very dangerous...keep it hidden!' A shadow of fear crossed her face, but soon she spoke again, and now there was a desperate urgency in the tone of her voice.

'Promise... you will come back for me... when you can..' At that moment Daemonica could not refuse her. She was confused and didn't know what was going to happen, and now there was more to think about after what Indie had said.

'I... promise.' She simply answered Indie’s request. Indie nodded, quickly covering her face. She made it just in time. First they heard footsteps in the corridor in front of the jail cell, and soon thereafter a guard figure appeared in the room. Indie rose and left the room without a single glance at Daemonica. Luckily she left the lantern there, and the guard followed her out of the cell. He didn't look like a prison guard, so Daemonica figured he'd come for Indie. It didn't matter now anyway.

As soon as the door closed, she tried to get up. Her body ached, but she felt much better than she'd expected. The room was small, of course. But she guessed she could thank Indie for all the "comfort." Indie said she could not free her, but that she would live. Not a bad start. And the dagger also gave some hope... She had to find a good place to hide it... That's when she found out she was naked. She looked around quickly and, to her relief, found several pieces of clothing — formerly perhaps a white tunic, trousers with a piece of rope instead of a belt, and sandals that she doubted would tolerate any longer walking. Everything looked pretty outdated and smelled even worse. She got dressed.

There was even cold porridge and water beside the lantern. She ate it all, drank all the water, and then began to wonder again where to hide the dagger. But since the trousers were quite wide, she decided to tie it close to her left hip with a rope like a belt. If they search her, they'll find it easily, no matter where she hides it.

Now that her belly was more or less full and the dagger was relatively safely hidden, she sat down in the chair where Indie had been sitting to think. But in the end, she still didn't have much time for it. Soon she heard more heavy footsteps in the hallway, and not long after that, the door to her cell opened wide. She didn't move, but she felt the dagger press against her hip, and that was comforting. Within moments, another familiar face appeared in the doorway. The huge black man seemed even more impressive than before. He looked quickly around the cell, then gestured behind him in a direction she couldn't see because of the door. Two guards entered the cell, soon tying her hands and leaving the cell to take her with them.

The corridor that led to her cell was not very long. It was only a moment before they left the dungeon and appeared before the small fortress. That, at least, was Daemonica's guess, for it was still night outside. After walking for a while, she saw more men waiting for them nearby. Immediately after arriving, the guards led her to other prisoners, who were already lined up in a row. Their hands were attached to one long rope. As soon as Daemonica joined them at the end of the line, they set off. Daemonica, of course, had no idea where she was going. It was only because of Indie that she knew where he was. She heard the whinnying of the horses, there might have been six soldiers on horseback with them, the black man she knew seemed to be in the lead. And she guessed there were about ten more foot soldiers with them. But all the numbers were just her guess.

The small fortress they were leaving was indeed close to the ancient City of Texō itself, which was hidden behind a circle of quite massive rocks. She glanced over her shoulder as they passed it just before the sun rose. She could see several lights, probably at the city gates, and in the distance on the horizon beyond the city, she saw something what must have been an incredibly tall tower, the shape of which was difficult to gauge because of the range and the poor light.

She staggered as the rope crossed her path and nearly fell on the prisoner in front of her. Because she was the last to go, some of the soldiers who watched over all the prisoners before them were always with her. Her stagger caused one of them to nudge her with the handle of a whip, which was quite painful. She understood that she would have to pay much more attention to where she was going if she wanted to avoid another dangerous confrontation with the guards.

They walked on. They were fairly large group, and from what she saw now in a better light, the whole caravan was indeed protected by far more than a few soldiers. This isn't just a caravan with prisoners, she thought. If they wanted to execute them, they would have done so immediately. Now she understood - she and all the other men were slaves to be sold, or had already been sold. The realization brought her a kind of relief.

They continued their journey with a few very short breaks for refreshment until sunset. Then they stopped near another town whose name she did not know. The place where they stopped looked like part of some old fortification. There was one watchtower and three small buildings around it. As soon as they stopped, a familiar black man approached her, and after a few hasty words with two soldiers beside her, the two separated her from the other prisoners and led her into the middle building, which was the smallest one. They put her in a small cell, alone, and stood outside to guard the door.

Daemonica thought it must be the work of Indie again. She couldn't imagine spending the whole night with the other men... But she was safe, at least for now. As soon as the door to her cell closed, she immediately tried to find the dagger that had been bothering her all day, for as they walked, the dagger slid slowly but surely downward, threatening to fall out of her pants at the end of the day. It was hard to get it back in position with her hands cuffed, but after some effort she succeeded. Fortunately, it was done just in time. The cell door opened, and one of the guards brought her more porridge with a piece of old bread and a bottle of water. Before she started eating, she wondered if the other prisoners would get the same dinner as hers. She doubted it, but now the ugly-looking gruel was a blessing for her empty stomach. She still felt weak, and not all of her wounds had healed, or at least stopped hurting. She was tired. Immediately after the meal, she fell into a restless sleep.

She was awakened by another nightmare. The guard who had just entered her cell looked a little surprised to see that she was awake. But then he motioned for her to leave the cell, and soon she was reattached to the end of the line of prisoners again. The next part of their journey passed without any complications along the way. She did not look at the landscape they passed, still remembering her painful experience with the guards yesterday. But after a few more hours of marching, she could smell the salt water in the air. When the sun was almost setting, she saw the first houses of a foreign city and the blue mass of water on the horizon. They had reached the Sea of the Lost Kings, and she was almost certain that the city was a port called Khushan.