The Tale of Daemonica

The Leader of Red Roy

Daemonica reached the gate just in time. The sun was already setting, and that meant they were about to close it, and she knew from this morning that it would stay that way until dawn. This was also related to the traffic in the gate itself. No one entered the city as she was approaching it, while craftsmen and merchants were leaving in numbers only with little pauses.

The gate itself was guarded by two men armed with various pieces of armor. Each of them had a long spear propped against the stockade, a sabre at his waist and a crossbow on his back. As far as Daemonica could tell, all the weapons were of very good quality. One guard leaning his back against the gate was watching her closely, the other picking his nose in boredom. Daemonica took a deep breath and approached the first one.

'Cadmair is sending me,' she said firmly. The guard did not answer, but kept his eyes on her.

'Yeah, she's not kidding, there was that little rascal of his here just a while ago,' said the other. The first guard relaxed and nodded toward the city. None of them paid any more attention to her.

The guards could afford to be lax and not give much weight to the people entering the city, as she understood when she passed the gate and turned to look back toward it. On the palisade there was a gallery filled with armed men with crossbows in their hands. Though the stockade had numerous holes cut outward in it, all the weapons were aimed inside the city. Daemonica realized that any problematic incomers who stepped in would be taken care of by the city itself, which would simply devour them like some hungry living flesh. But all the pirates' wealth was carefully guarded inside behind the stockade, which had only one purpose, and that was to prevent the gold from getting out of the city.

Roy itself was built of wood. Although she was surprised that most of the houses she'd seen looked quite new. Then she remembered that it was because the various uprisings, battles, and fires were so frequent here that it probably made no sense to build proper houses of stone that would have to be repaired indefinitely, when there was really no shortage of wood on the jungle-covered island, same as of the hands that would have mined it. The only stone building she could see stood on a rocky ridge near the south wall of the palisade, the one she had been looking at from the outside that morning. The building was constructed of reddish stone, the color of which was emphasized by the sun setting behind her. She didn't need to be too bright to realize that this was likely to be the residence of Red Roy's leader, and certainly of his predecessors too.

Daemonica walked down the sloping terrain toward the dock. At first she tried not to draw any attention to herself, but it soon dawned on her that no one cared. She noticed, however, that the cripples, beggars and ordinary people were disappearing from the streets as the light faded. She picked up her pace.

After about two hours of travel, weaving her way through the tangled streets toward the dock, though it seemed as an easy way down from the gate earlier, she finally reached the harbor. The sun was already over the horizon, and the shadows had lengthened. Shady figures began to appear in them, coming out from their holes only at night.

Fortunately, the inn could not be overlooked. It was only the second stone building she'd seen in the whole town. What's more, a large part of Roy's houses had only one or two floors, but the pub had even three of them. The door inside was open, and the little light coming out of it was a welcome sight indeed. Daemonica entered without further hesitation. The main room was spacious, although by about two-thirds there were variously large cubicles by the walls, which provided the guests with sufficient privacy whenever needed. As Daemonica walked slowly toward the bar, she saw that all the cubicles were already occupied. Almost at the end of the hall there was a bar itself. In front of it were placed several tables with benches, probably for regulars. There were still a few unlit tables with chairs on the sides of the hall positioned by the walls. The tavern windows were covered with heavy, luxurious drapes, and the walls were hung with images of varying ages and worth that had nothing in common except their obscene motifs. At least ten half-dressed girls and women took care of the welfare of the guests.

Daemonica was by no means thrilled to have to walk all the way through the hall to reach the gilded bar. A few glances were already fixed on her, and she felt them watching her. She tried to ignore them, but when she finally reached the bar, she let out a low breath.

Daemonica placed some of the money she had received from Cadmair on the counter in front of the innkeeper.

'What do I get for it?' She asked. She was nervous. She'd never had to worry about whether she had money to pay the bill or not until now. The innkeeper said nothing. So she dumped everything she had on the counter. The innkeeper still did not answer, but he skillfully scooped up all the coins in his apron, and before she knew there was a silver tankard of beer standing in front of her. Daemonica took it and headed for the solitary table in the left-hand corner behind the bar she'd picked up as she approached. She sat down with her right side, to which her sword was attached, in the direction of the room, and absently sipped a beer that was not bad at all. However its taste soured her tongue as she thought of spending the night outside, full of dangers she could only guess. She'll have to trust the blacksmith.

Daemonica still had less than half a beer left when the faint light from the bar was obscured by two figures. The first of them remained standing in the shadows, leaning against one of the cubicles. The second man, shorter in stature and slick in appearance, came up to her table.

'What do we have here? A newcomer?' His breath smelled of liquor. The drunk looked boldly over the edge of her tankard and said with a lewd grin: 'Would you do it for a dinner?'

Daemonica looked at him calmly, her hands still resting casually on the table. However, a dark shadow shrouded her face.

'Ask me again.' The slime couldn’t be warned by her chilly tone.

'Are you deaf or something? I'm asking if...'

'That's enough, it's her,' he was interrupted by a second man, who appeared silently behind him.

'Get lost.' The stranger added emphatically. Only for a moment the slimeball looked irritated.

'You're skinny and ugly anyway,' he grinned at last and disappeared inside of the inn. Daemonica removed her hand from the hilt of her sword and emptied the tankard.

'Another one?' The other man asked casually.

'No,' Daemonica replied. 'Get me a hot wine.'

The man smirked and sat against her. One of the girls simply materialized at their table just then. When the stranger ordered and the girl disappeared as quickly as she appeared, their eyes immediately met evaluating each other. The man was young and handsome, but his features were cruel. His blond hair was braided at the back of his head, and his clothes were clean and elegant.

'I'm Valace,' he said matter-of-factly. 'I have a job for you. Tomorrow before morning. If you say yes, I'll pay for today's expenses and also the room for you. Two hours before dawn, you'll report directly to me at the port. I want to be a personal witness to what you can really do. Then we'll see.'

'Yes,' Daemonica replied. Valace nodded, and without a word he rose and left. Moment later a jug of hot wine and a proper dinner landed on the table in front of her. No one disturbed her at the meal after that, though she felt more than one glance examining her.

The bow of a fairly small ship cut through the dark sea waves. The ship was small, but fast. Daemonica was not at all comfortable with her presence on it. She hoped the journey would not take too long. Getting on board was easy, Valace's men already knew about her. Valace himself stood at the bow, looking intently ahead. He clearly had no need to pay any attention to her. That was fine with her, that way she could deal with her own thoughts undisturbed.

She remembered the room in the pub where she had slept for a while that night, which contained only a comfortable bed and a chair by the door against the window. From that narrow window on the first floor, however, she could watch the harbor. She hoped that after today she would have a chance to spend the following nights in it.

An orange flare shone on the horizon in front of them. Daemonica wondered for a moment if there were any wizards among the pirates. She didn't see the classic mages she was used to anywhere so far. She didn't finish the thought, however, because the ship jerked as it headed for the shore of Ennufu, which they seemed to have circumnavigated. Perhaps only the pirates perfectly familiar with the waters around their own island could afford to sail almost in the dark, on an inaudible and unlit ship so close to its rocky shore.

Not long after that Daemonica stepped out of the silent boat with the other men, including Valace, close to the harbor of a settlement whose outlines were becoming increasingly clear in the coming morning. Their ship remained at open sea and, just like them, waited. They didn't wait too long. Soon two small, plump ships emerged from the morning haze on the horizon and headed for the harbor.

'Follow me,' Valace commanded, and their entire group of twenty or so pirates quietly followed. They headed for the settlement from the side. Daemonica could now see the harbor, which was not very large. From there a village stretched up the hill until it reached a not-so-high nor broad palisade, or rather a high fence built of tanned stakes, beyond which was a simple and not-so-sturdy gate, protected on either side by an archer's post. Valace's cutthroats, meanwhile, aroused a bloody uproar in the harbor. Valace nodded to his men, and they set off silently toward the palisade. When Daemonica wanted to follow them, he stopped her.

'Our job is to get to their boss and eliminate him, that's all you need to worry about. Stay close to me.' With that he started forward after his men, and Daemonica followed without hesitation. When they reached the village, they fought their way toward the gate, without much effort. Most of its defenders were fully busy in the harbor. The men from their group quickly took up positions at the shooting towers above the gate and prepared to open it. Daemonica, Valace and a few other men had no problem fending off their enemies, who in the confusion were returning too late to defend the gate, whose doors were now wide open. The defenders poured out of its bowels, but their effort was futile, for Valace’s cutthroats had already broken through the village. They were now met hard by them in the deafening clash of the weapons.

'Now,' Valace cried, throwing himself into the turmoil at the gate with Daemonica at his heels. Daemonica followed the slender figure of Valace wearing a short, blue cloak in a deadly dance sprinkled with geysers of blood. The enemies they left behind, dead or crippled, turned into mere red dots in her mind. At the pace of their heartbeats, every step and every thrust took place as they fought their way forward. No one could stand against them. Soon they reached a large wooden building, with the leader of the settlement waiting for them at its door, with a line of men in his front to defend him. They were all ready to fight.

'Valace, you bastard, we had a deal,' roared the boss.

'Well, it’s over,' Valace replied calmly. 'Keep them away from me!' He ordered immediately after that and rushed to the boss.

Daemonica who was completely overwhelmed by the relentless desire for victory and the ultimate defeat of the enemy, which was provoked by Valace in their unspoken battle to gain the upper hand before, cut into the guard mercilessly along with the other men remaining from their original group. They were fending off the intruding enemies without her being able to watch Valace's duel, but it was soon over anyway.

After the fight was over, as she tried to regain control of herself, she turned toward Valace. He was just wiping his sword on the boss's sleeve.

'Good thing he's dead. He thought himself to challenge me.' His emerald gaze fixed on Daemonica standing nearby.

'Nice dancing. You're in. If you like, you are free to sleep under my roof,' The double meaning of Valace's words Daemonica could not miss.

'The inn will suffice, as the red walls of your dwelling are too extravagant,' replied Daemonica, who wanted nothing more than to go somewhere where she could deal with the weakness that was gradually replacing her murderous rapture. The Red Roy leader laughed briefly.

'Deal,' he said, and started back toward the gate. 'Don't miss the boat,' he cried without turning to her. Daemonica watched him until his blue cloak was out of sight.

Climbing the now deserted palisade, she looked at the horizon and, staring into its slowly gilding outlines, waited motionless while the pirates carefully gathered up everything they could find. Before the last rays of the sun dazzled her, it seemed to her as if she saw a small island on the horizon, with a tall building on it. The only problem was that to the west of the four Pirate Islands, no other islands had ever been drawn on any of the maps she had ever seen.