"
The giant demon grabbed and crushed Zelak on the side.
"
Suddenly, several cups slammed on the counter behind. Donovan jumped, finding a tall blue-skinned demoness with curled white hair. Her hips were as sleek as the succubus they'd met before, with a bosom to match.
"
The demon finally released Zelak, letting him fall to the ground.
"Ow…"
Brynolf stepped away, allowing Zelak to recover. Meanwhile, the other demons at their tables laughed and chuckled at Zelak's expense.
Zelak forced himself up and rejoined Kalika and Donovan.
"So what did you do?" Donovan quietly asked.
"Nothing, Brynolf is just overprotective about his mate."
"
"
"
"
Myno slowly turned to Brynolf. "
Brynolf huffed at Zelak and departed up some stairs to the second floor.
"
"
As Zelak and Myno continued to converse, Kalika wandered across the counter, looking at the assortment of bottles and barrels laid at the ready. Noticing her departure, he whipped his head around and chased after her.
"Hey Kalika, what are you-."
"Leave me alone," she glared straight at Donovan.
With her intentions cleared, Donovan slowly backed away. Leaving her be.
Now alone, she sat at the counter. She laid her head on her arms as her mind drifted off into space. Suddenly, the clatter of a wooden plate broke the silence.
Kalika gazed up and saw a plate of large chunks of golden-brown meat.
"
Kalika turned a glare at the demoness, Myno.
"
"
"
Kalika sighed. "
"
"
Myno uncorked her Mylo Mead, stealing the attention of all the chatty demons. A silence grew as the bottle poured into the stone mug.
"
Ignoring the demons, Kalika ate into the food given. The solid, golden-brown meat was firm and, to her surprise, also boneless.
Soon, the demons became chatty and lively once more.
Donovan, sitting with Zelak, watched Kalika begin to devour her food. He turned back to his food, not too different from Kalika's, and took a bite from it.
"Mmm… What is this?"
"It's a chunk of valtrop meat. Myno, the owner of this inn, calls it 'Glazed valtrop'. She usually cooks a few of these ahead of time."
Donovan froze as mugs of ale were passed to him and Zelak.
"
"
Donovan looked at the mug. "Ale…. I don't think I've had some of this in a while." Without hesitation, he took a sip and took a second glance at his ale, surprised.
"What is it?"
"O-oh. Nothing. It's got a bigger kick than I expected… The ale I had back when I was in the army was more sweet than this. But it's not bad."
Donovan took another sip.
"Heh. Humans are weird."
"Weird? Donovan set his mug back on the bar counter next to his food. "The only thing that's weird here is you and that name."
"And what's weird about that?"
Donovan ignored Zelak and turned back to eat his food,
"Hey, I'm waiting."
Donovan swallowed his food and finally spoke. "I just find it strange that a demon carries the name of one of the celestials. And the celestial of light no less. The great father of God Cassell."
Zelak laughed out loud. He patted Donovan on the back hard. "
"
"
Kalika watched as the lady approached Zelak and saw Donovan freeze, like a scared child. She looked back at her filled mug that carried the golden beverage.
Cautiously, she sniffed the beverage. "It smells like bread and… Honey?"
Finally relenting, Kalika took a quick sip of the mead.
Her eyes widened. Shocked. Kalika coughed and felt her throat.
She cringed, tasting a bitterness. But slowly, a sweeter and tangy flavor blossomed from the bitterness, accompanied by a sharp, acidic taste that drew Kalika in.
She sipped at the drink again, curiously, and gazed back at the drink in her hand. "This is mead?"
A comforting warmth filled her. She blurted a chuckle and went for another drink. She gulped and chugged at her drink, slowly dwindling the mead down to a puddle in her mug.
Kalika quickly ripped the mug from her lips and exhaled.
Myno chuckled as she returned to Kalika. "
Kalika swayed in her chair. "
Kalika fell to the ground with a loud thud. The Inn's bar turned silent with everyone now fixed on Kalika.
Even Donovan whipped his head around, alarmed. As he saw Kalika lying on the floor, he quickly ran to her side. "Kalika!" Checking on her. He noticed that her face was now flushed red, which concerned him.
Zelak laughed. ""
"
The other men around laughed, hearing Kalika.
"
Kalika grumbles. "
Donovan quickly whispered in Kalika's ear. "Kalika, I think you've had enough for today."
"Huh!?" She looked at the empty mug. "
Myno tried hard to hold back her laughter as the other demons continued to enjoy the spectacle.
"
Zelak uncaringly swirled the drink in his mug. "
Kalika slammed her hands on the counter. "
Myno, cuckold again. "
"
The demons howled with laughter. "
"Ow! Shtupid dream! All of you damn demons can go to hell!!"
All the demons laughed even harder than before.
"
Donovan froze. "C-crap! Kalika!!" He looked back down at Kalika in her drunken stupor with her increasingly drooped eyes. "Did she really only have one drink!?"
Slowly, Kalika climbed her way back up and held to the counter tightly. A familiar sense of danger arose from her. A veil of darkness began to envelope the tips of her fingers, moving to her hands as she glared at the demons laughing.
"I hate all you damn demons." She raised her hands, manifesting energy.
"Crap! If she uses that power here, we can kiss our chances at getting Bjorn back goodbye!" Donovan lunged at Kalika, but suddenly her hands dropped. He froze and was at a loss for words as he saw Kalika just fall asleep.
The demons erupted into even louder laughter, with some sprawled on the table, unable to stop. All the while, Kalika could only mumble incoherent nonsense as she slept.
"
Zelak remained silent for a moment. He then smiled and spoke up."
Donovan continued to look around nervously as the demons, their laughter slowly dying down.
"
Brynolf nodded and approached Kalika
"
"
Moving fast, Zelak quickly got Donovan's ear and whispered to him. "Grab the champion, he'll take us to our rooms."
Donovan's hands shook, and he glanced back at Zelak, then back at Kalika, still unsure. With great hesitation, he took his shaky hand and grabbed Kalika's arm. And wrapped her arms around his shoulder. "S-sorry, Kalika." Donovan then grabbed Kalika's waist to pull her up.
Zelak followed the giant demon, Brynolf, up a nearby staircase, with Donovan following close behind, still nervous.
They climbed up the stairs and followed through into the second-floor hall.
Donovan jolted, feeling Kalika move."Nnmm. Rakon? Where are you taking me now? I don't wanna leave yet." Kalika quickly passed out again, relieving Donovan.
"Rakon? That name sounds familiar. Who is he again?"
"
They entered through the cloth-covered door and into a small, quaint room with a bed, a table, and a chair. allowing Zelak and Donovan to set Kalika down.
"
Zelak laughed. "Must've been her fist time drinking"
"This isn't funny."
"Quit your worrying. She'll wake up tomorrow just fine" He then gestured towards the door. "C'mon we should leave her be."
"Wait!"
Zelak stopped and glanced back. "What is it?"
"It's about That clairvoyance ability you talked about."
"Yeah? What about it?"
Donovan took a moment, trying to find the words.
"Is it true that- no. no… Do you know how the heroes of prophecy died?"
Zelak raised a brow. He then turned away uninterested in the answer. "I said I wouldn't talk about the past."
"But it's just me. I want to know, I-if it's true ."
"If what's true?"
Donovan became silent. "If… If everything Kalika told me was true. About the heroes of prophecy, about her sister."
"So what is it? You don't believe her now?"
"I-i-i-it's not that at all… I-I… I just want to understand. I guess."
"Hmm…" Zelak gazed at Donovan and quickly glanced at Kalika who slept peacefully. "So you want to know how they died?"
With a stern determination, Donovan nodded.
"The Heroes of Prophecy were apparently trying to assassinate the initial Demon King. The only problem was that he was never chosen as Zorbian's champion… Kalika was."
"Kalika was… Chosen? But how."
"It's simple really. She offered hundreds of sacrifices to him using a blade carved from his very bones. And thus, she inherited his will."
"Wait! So you're saying that God of yours chose Kalika because she killed!?"
"What are you so surprised about? You've seen how she's fought. But to be fair I suppose you had to be there to see how far she's actually come."
Donovan stood, speechless.
"Oh yeah. And as for those heroes of prophecy, they ended up trying to save her. They fought hard and bravely but in the end, they died by the hands of the demon queen. I'm not sure about this sister thing she's talking about though. Probably a masochistic fantasy from the queen, wanting to be called her sister for all we know."
Zelak stopped, noticing Donovan's increasingly negative disposition.
"You're the one who wanted to know."
"I know. I know… it's just… It's so hard to believe that the Heroes chosen by God could die."
"You give too much credit to that false god of yours. You kin are naïve to believe in such a god in the first place."
"Tch! For your information God Cassell created us and gave us life like his father before!" Donovan scoffed. "What am I doing arguing with you. A demon like you would never understand."
Zelak stretched. "You're probably right. A hopeless human like you isn't worth arguing with. I got better things to do anyways"
"What was that!?"
Before Donovan could say anything else, Zelak left the room. "Make sure to get some rest.".
Donovan growled. "What does he know?" He huffed and looked back at Kalika.
He stood for a while, his mind blazing like a tornado. As he finally reached his consensus, he clenched his teeth and left the room. "She'll be fine. She… She can defend herself better than I can."
********
The night grew late, and the Inn was quiet. The dead candle grew cold as the whole building slept. Even Donovan slept soundly on his bed.
Just under the darkness of night, A white-haired lady scurried and sneaked about. Peeking through every room as quietly as possible until she finally found him.
She found Kalika's room hugging her bed sheets, twisting and turning in her bed. The lady glanced around the room then moved on to the next across the hall.
The woman's eyes widened as she caught sight of Donovan still sleeping as he wore his mask.
The woman stealthily approached him and pulled a knife. With practiced ease, she jumped atop him, jolting him awakened.
"Wha-"
She reached inside his mask. covering his mouth, and with a sly smile, brought the knife to the side of his neck, cutting it.
Donovan winced as he felt the sharp pain. And just before he could react, a pair of lips met his neck. "Wh…What the hell?"
His spine tingled as his blood was slurped by this unknown woman. Satisfied, she licked his wound, releasing him from the pain. Slowly, Donovan's vision focused and was horrified to find the succubus, Charla.
Setting aside her blade, she took a black piece of parchment and set it on Donovan's chest. She the grabbed her knife and smeared some of the blood onto the black parchment and watched as a faint red glow lit up the room.
She licked her lips with a fresh beet-red face. She leaned forward, pressing her chest against his and traced her fingers from his stomach to his chest.
"
Charla's pink eyes glistened as she flashed a devilish smile. "
Charla reached for the mask. Donovan Panicked. He wanted to move, but his body wouldn't respond. Instead, his hands shook and stuttered, unable to move. "M-m-move arms! Move!"
She peeled the mask away and gasped. She took the mask in hand and examined it, and looked back at the true face of Donovan.
"
Charla's smile deepened. "
With a deepening excitement and lustful eyes, she took her lips, and slowly brought them closer to Donovan's. ""