To which he received an equally brief reply:
“Death to the mortals.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the other six guards immediately relaxed. All of them except their leader.
“That’s right,” he nodded, but did not move. Hadjar furtively put his hand on the hilt of his sword under his cloak. The moment seemed to stretch out indefinitely before the head of the guards asked another question:
“Where are the other two?” His eyes narrowed in a way that emphasized the raised visor on his forehead that shone in the sunlight. “The provisioning teams consist of four gods, so where-”
“They stayed behind in the forest to guard the food,” Helmer waved his hand dismissively. His clawed hand was hidden by his glove, and the demon himself was trying not to lift his lips too much as he spoke so a
