Chapter XXIII
Edward is working on the cover!
***
This wasn’t going to end well, Silas knew. Still, he stood up and took a long step to the side. It kept just a couple of crates between himself and the daemons, but that was about all the cover he could hope for at the moment. More importantly, it meant that Carrot was within grabbing range.
If things went wrong, he could throw up a shield between her and the larger daemon in a blink. Then he could grab her and run.
The rest of the situation was... bad.
The smaller daemons in the room didn’t look all that impressive. They were about what the common wizard thought of when they thought of a daemon. Animals that were just a little larger and smarter than usual, empowered by just a small amount of magical energy. No more dangerous than a rabid animal with some sort of rabies, really.
The big one was a whole other story. It was sitting up on its throne, looking particularly comfortable and unbothered by Carrot as she stepped up and waved at him.
Silas could feel the magical energy wafting off of the animal, and its larger size was telling as well. More than that, however, was the quality of the magic. It wasn’t just exuding raw energy. It felt significantly tighter, more controlled, more dense.
This was a daemon two steps above the small fry working in the room.
Ah, that bore some concern as well, didn’t it? Daemons hunted and haunted people. They were magical predators and killers. What they were not was factory workers.
“That’s a cool setup you have there,” Carrot said. She swung forwards then back on the balls of her feet. “What is the Master making you do?”
The daemon on the cushioned throne shifted, turning around and slinking to the edge of his seat. “Oh? So, you know the Master, do you?”
“Not in person so much, no?” Carrot started. “More by reputation. They seem like they’re really trying to work hard with the local daemons. You must know him better, right? With your cool ‘three’ tattoo.”
“Ah, so you even know what this means?” the Daemon asked. It reached up and lightly touched the mark on its chest. “And yet you still decided to press into my humble operation. How brave, little wizardling.”
“I am known for my bravery,” Carrot said with a nod.
Silas suspected she was better known for significantly different things, but he didn’t mention it. One didn’t last long by mocking friends in front of enemies.
“I see. Well, as much as your knowledge has gotten you here, I don’t think it will get you much further,” the daemon said. “This operation is one of the keys to my Master’s plan. A few more shipments and we’ll have all we need.”
“Ohhh, and what are you shipping?” Carrot asked. “Those beer bottles seem very... magical-y, Mister Three. Can I call you Mister Three? Do you have a given name? Maybe Mister Fisher? I think that’s what you are?”
“Mister Three?” The daemon licked its lips. “Yes, I suppose I like that. Mister Fisher is far too close to the animal I once was. I have grown past that. Past mere daemonhood as well. Put up a good fight and you may well see just how far I have gotten.”
“No thanks,” Carrot said with a dismissive little wave. “How about, instead of fighting, I just take all of your bad magic away? I know I’m really not supposed to, but it hurts me inside to see poor animals turned into little monsters like that. It can’t be good for them.”
“It’s unfortunate, but the dead can’t complain, can they?” the daemon asked. “Capture them.”
The order came so suddenly that it took Silas a moment to register it. It wasn’t the same for the daemons. They jumped forwards, rushing across the room and dropping whatever they held. Trash and bottles crashed to the ground, and scurrying feet skittered across the bare concrete floor.
“Oh oh,” Carrot said. She raised a hand. “By the hush of the grave-garden and blossoms steeped in night, Black Petal Thorns, bloom and pierce!” A trio of black darts appeared before Carrot, then shot out and curved through the air.
He didn’t think he was imagining it. They were faster than he remembered, and sharper. He didn’t waste time staring at what they did however. He focused on his own magic and brought it to bear.
For once, this was a situation he had trained for. He had a hundred or so hours spent at the magical rang in the ordo, casting simple spells onto moving targets. He didn’t think that he would ever be in a situation where... six daemons were charging him all at once, but daemons of this size? Yes, that was something he was trained for.
“By spark and the will of the wolf, loose the flame, Exterminator Art: Flame Bolt!” he enchanted
A ball of flame burst into being before him and shot out across the room, splashing light on everything until it rammed one of the smaller racoon daemons in the face.
The daemon screamed, the fire lighting up its fur for a moment until it started to roll on the ground.
Carrot’s spells proved just as, if not more, effective, though he ran though the incantation again and again, tossing out more Flame Bolts. A couple missed, but those that hit hurt and that’s all that mattered.
Then he saw something move from the corner of his eye and he tossed his arm out. “Sheild!” he barked.
The shield he summoned was short-lived and, frankly, weak. It wouldn't get a passing grade. But the sneaky little fisher daemon that jumped down from one of the stacks of crates still bashed its face into it with an almost comical thump.
“Enough,” the lead daemon said. His voice carried across the room and the smaller daemons immediately backed away from them, giving him and Carrot a little more room, though the glares and cruel, hungry looks promised more pain to come. “I suppose I’ll have to take care of this myself.”
Silas lowered his hands a little, then took a half-step behind Carrot even as he started to summon up a little more magic. He hadn’t tapped out his reserves. At best the cantrips and weaker spells had taken out maybe a fifth of his energy, but the fight felt far from over and already he was sweating in his coat and could hear his heart beating.
Still, he prepared something a little stronger. He only had a few second-level spells, Thadeus’ Frosty Fang was one her had learned recently, but Zoufii’s Corrective Bolt had a bit more punch to it.
Carrot glanced at his fading shield, then half-turned to flash him a smile. She’d cast her little ranged spell three or four times already and didn’t seem winded in the least from it. “Can’t we talk this out, Mister Three? You have to know that things won’t work out so will. Your Master is doing some pretty sketchy and probably illegal stuff. People are going to try to bring him to justice eventually.”
“You really know nothing, human child,” the daemon said. It leapt off its throne, then stood up on its hindlegs. With its daemon-borne height, the creature stood tall enough to meet Carrot eye-to-eye. “I vow,” the monster started.
“Run!” Silas shouted.
“Huh?” Carrot said.
Silas ran through the motions for a Flame Bolt faster than he ever had before and flicked the little fireball right at the daemon, but Mister Three simply batted it aside and started over.
“I vow that the work will never stop. Not for hunger. Not for rest. Not for mercy. Vow of the Endless Shift.”
Silas reached out, grabbed Carrot by the wrist, and pulled her. She stumbled for a step or two, but then started running just as the air in the room trembled, then started to suck back. It filled with a putrid scent, far worse than before, and even if he knew it was just magic, it was still so potent that it felt real.
“What is that?” Carrot asked. “The bad magic is focusing on him?”
“It’s an avowed daemon,” he said.
All the warnings about the top three daemons in the Master’s employ being stronger came back to him, but he didn’t expect it to mean that they were this strong. Nevermind being two steps above the common monster daemon, this was a leap ahead.
“I don’t know what that means!” Carrot said.
He pulled then both around a corner, towards the exit.
Then the crates nearby exploded forwards, ramming into the exit and blocking it right off. “Oh? You think to run from me?” Mister Three asked.
Silas caught sight of the daemon and couldn’t help the full-body wince that passed over him. The monster had gained another foot in height. Its fur had grown a little longer, a little more luxurious and sleek. If anything, the daemon had become more beautiful, in a way. Healthier, more whole, more... everything.
Magic swirled around it, and when the fisher daemon grinned, its teeth flashed. “Don’t run away, meal. Or do? I won’t tire of this chase.”
Silas fumbled for something in his pockets and picked out a small item. He tossed it forwards, then pushed some magic into it from afar.
The tiny block of wood caught fire in mid-air, then ejected more and more greyish smoke, enough to start filling the room and the space between them with obscuring smoke. “Shield!” he hissed.
It was just a reflex, really, but it paid off when a piece of rotting wood from a crate smashed into his shield.
“We need to run,” he said before turning and pulling Carrot after him.
He circled back around, then cursed as they discovered that some of the weaker daemons were circling around.
Carrot was quick on her feet, though, and cast a fast Black Petal Thorn that scattered the daemons enough for them to run past.
“What did it do?” she asked. “That spell?”
“It wasn’t a spell,” he explained. “It’s a vow.”
“And what’s that?” Carrot asked. She was looking over her shoulder as he lead them to the far end of the room. The old factory was at least large enough to provide some cover.
“It’s... anyone that can use magic of any sort can make a vow. It’s... a pact, between a person and magic. It makes you strong. Much, much stronger.”
“Anyone?” Carrot asked.
“Anyone, yes, but it’s dangerous. You don’t just make a contract with magic, and the world itself, and just renege on it. It’s the kind of thing that only a few wizards do. Wizard Knights and Captains and powerful old wizards. And very dangerous daemons. What were the words of his vow?”
“Can we even repeat them?” Carrot asked. “I don’t wanna make one of those by accident.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “Saying a vow isn’t the same as taking on. Taking one needs a lot of magic, otherwise magic will ignore it.”
“Oh. I think he said something about never stopping? Not for hunger or mercy?”
His mind churned through the possibilities, but there were a whole lot of them, and not a whole lot of time. “We need to get out of here,” he said again.
Then the crates nearby exploded, and when the dust cleared, the grinning daemon was there. “Found you,” he said in a sing-song voice.
“B-black Petal Thorns!” Carrot shouted quickly. Three slower, weaker thorns flew out and quickly stabbed in towards the daemon. They sank into its fur, and the daemon grunted... but that was all.
“Weak,” he said. “Here, let me show you what real work looks like!”
***