Everything was on fire. I was on fire, the floor was on fire, the walls were on fire, the ceiling, the desk, the Fire Mage stomping their way towards me like a walking inferno. My horror had ratcheted up to a full blown panic. Burning to death would do that to a man.
Suffice to say, negotiations were not going well.
“WHO SUMMONED YOU?!” Was the burning roar that reached my not-yet-melted ears. The question felt utterly ridiculous to me. What am I supposed to say?! That guy down the street called Jeremiah? The baker? Like how is who they are even relevant?!
Still, there was really only one answer to give.
“No one! I wasn’t summoned!” Even burning to death, I wasn’t gonna sell out Selve.
“LIAR!” Came a shout, followed by an absolute wave of even more fire. I stared at it, mouth hanging open and realized one truly important thing at the very moment. Fire is really scary.
Crack. Thump.
The sky was beautiful this time of day. I was lying in a ditch, staring at it after all. I raised my head, only to see a giant me shaped hole where I had been launched out of the manor’s second floor. The fire was really spreading now, but the worst part was that I wasn’t any less on fire. It was so fucking hot that it was crazy. I felt like I was under a small sun. The fact that it didn’t actually hurt, I was chalking up to demons having some level of fire resistance. Small mercies.
As what looked like a living fire elemental jumped out the side of the building, I was pretty confident it wouldn’t be enough.
“TELL ME! NOW!” The Fire Mage, the Hero, roared. God, the pure vitriol in their voice… I don’t think they were sane anymore. Saying “I wasn’t summoned” didn’t seem like it was going to cut it but my options for who to blame were thin. I considered, strongly, blaming The Baron but Celena had told them the truth. I didn’t think that lie would hold up.
I realized with a start that I was calm, way calmer than I should be. It wasn’t because the panic or cold dread had disappeared, god no, it was just that it was like being rejected by the guy you liked. You figured it was going to happen anyway, but it had been the waiting and the not knowing that had been the worst part. Now, all of that was over. I was going to probably be burned into ashes and scattered to the winds. I frowned. The fact that that was relieving was seriously fucked up. I thought I was fine but maybe I needed a therapist. These weren’t healthy thoughts, that’s for sure.
The Mage stalked towards me, their anger and flames only seeming to grow larger and larger with each step. I felt fear, but as I watched a human torch, become a human bonfire, and then a human firestorm, I couldn’t help but feel awe. This was magic. It was amazing.
The pressure of their power hadn’t increased but now I had a proper example of just what that power meant. Even as they cut loose, I had a feeling this wasn’t the limit. No wonder it felt like they could kill me with ease. What on earth could I do against a never ending firestorm? Was I suppose to punch myself to victory versus a blazing inferno? Really, it wasn’t fair. Not even a little bit.
I blinked, remembering having those same thoughts before. Except there was no Divine Wrath to follow. Was it fair I was going to die like? No, not even a little bit. But, it was kinda mostly just me. I was the equivalent to a random nazi in enemy territory during WW2, ie, no one would blame you for killing me. It wasn’t fair that I hadn’t chosen to wear the uniform and it was glued to me or the fact that I had been forced into the territory but, well, that’s just bad luck. I couldn’t exactly rage against pure bad luck. Sometimes people just trip and die in the bathroom, sometimes you get eviscerated by a human mage. That’s life I guess.
Not that I was resigned to death.
“Please! I don’t want to hurt anyone! I just want to live! I’ll leave and-”
The only response I got was steady footsteps and the actual cooling of the fire. Suddenly, no longer was I staring and talking to a twelve foot walking pile of plasma, now, it was simply a very angry woman, looking at me like I was a cockroach. She held her hand over my face, and gave me an ultimatum.
“Name. Now.” I saw a small flicker of blue fire appear on their hand, the one right in front of me, and I could already feel my nose starting to… drip. Time seemed to slow down. I could feel the rapid beating of my heart, hear the crackling of the grass, see the demonic look in the mage’s eyes. It wasn’t the eyes that told you how someone felt however, it was their entire face. It could paint a picture. I saw a towering rage, disgust, resolve, and impatience. She was going to kill me no matter what.
Well, that certainly made my response easier.
“There is no summoner.” My words left me and it didn’t feel like I was the one that spoke them. Selve was a friend, I wouldn’t sell them out. Beyond the moral issues, it was just… stupid. They weren’t going to go easier on me. Though I had really underestimated just how serious they took summoned demons. I shouldn’t have, it was a fucking kin crime. Worse than literally every other crime. Where had I gone wrong? It’s when I said I came here by accident. I should’ve said, well, anything else.
Too late to cry about it though. My tears would probably evaporate anyway.
I saw the final look of hatred flicker in her eyes and-
“STOP!”
No. No no no no.
“I SUMMONED HIM!”
SELVE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
Standing by what was left of the burning manor, Selve had a resolute look on his face, sword in hand. He was ready to fight even The Heroes for me. He stood no chance and now-!
The woman looked at him, and I saw a rage that made the one felt for me look petty. Her body turned and my heart slowed to a crawl.
Ba-thump.
She raised her arm at Selve.
Ba-thump.
The flames flickered and danced on her palm.
Ba-thump.
A blue inferno was born.
*****
Tyler was cursing in his mind. He had been too slow to react after Konahora had figured out what the demon had meant. Riary had already attacked. The Manor was already being burned to the ground and Riary was on the war path. She’d massacre the demon.
He felt… mixed on that. If the elf was telling the truth, well, if it was actually the truth, the demon had saved the village. But demons were notoriously evil. It wasn’t impossible it was just using her or had controlled her mind somehow. It had happened before. There was only one response to demons, destroying them before they could do any more harm.
But… this was the first time he had actually met a demon. It had talked, it had been terrified, it had introduced itself. He had still been more than ready to put it down but the more he talked to it the harder that seemed. Demons were evil, but, no one said an exception hadn’t been possible.
And then Konahora had said it was summoned.
Riary… Riary had lost her whole town, her whole family, to a summoned demon. She had told her one night after she had gotten too drunk. Her hatred for them… it was intense. He still felt, wrong. This didn’t feel right. But he couldn’t stop her if he tried. He’d just become extra crispy.
He and Konahora had elected to just watch, see if the demon would give up the summoner. The summoner was probably already dead of course but it was useful to be thorough. Right when he had resigned himself for how this would end, despite the roiling in his gut, and konahora gritting her teeth unusually next to him, he heard the shout.
“STOP!”
He looked over, eyes wide, at a normal seeming villager. He looked a little, ragged. A bit dirty maybe. But he had a sword in his hand and was glaring at Riary.
“I SUMMONED HIM!”
Tyler’s heart and mind exploded. He moved, running, pulling his shield off his back in one movement. Riary was too far gone, she would kill him! Summoner or not, he couldn’t let him be killed like this! He was fast but it happened so quickly that he nearly missed it. His gaze had been on the idiot villager that had called out. A blue fire sprayed out… and lashed to the sides of the man.
He looked back at Riary and he nearly dropped his shields. His eyes shook in shock and he nearly stumbled.
The demon had blocked the blast. With his entire body.
He had seen the… results of Riary before but they were usually little more than bones afterwards. Riary was thorough. Now, he saw a burning corpse, still standing, arms crossed across its face. It was completely carbonized. There wasn’t an ounce of skin he could see that wasn’t burnt black, clothes were little more than scraps, face unrecognizable, and hair entirely gone. Steaming blood poured out of cracks in its body and its eyes seemed to have evaporated. Tyler felt bile rise into his throat, staring at it.
It was, gruesome didn’t begin to describe it. He caught the look on Riary’s face and it looked as shocked as his own.
“D-d-derek?” The villager from before was stunned silent, staring with his mouth gaping open. The voice had come from the elf they had talked to earlier, who had explained the situation in the village. She looked white as a sheet.
Tyler could do nothing but watch as the ragged looking man took haltingly slow steps towards the corpse.
He said nothing, till he was right next to it.
*******
“H-Hey. Stop messing around. Come on, you were going to convince them to let you live.”
Selve looked at Derek. A demon, a savior, his friend. He hadn’t known him long, but he had done… everything for him. Everything.
When they’d first met, he had been terrified. Not for himself, but that the demon he summoned would not only kill him, but massacre the village as well. And then he had been terrified for a different reason, when the person he had summoned had a seizure in front of him. After he had awoken, he was clearly… broken. But after explaining the horrors his village was facing, he had instantly gone to fix it. He hadn’t asked for anything, he hadn’t made a deal, he hadn’t waited, he had the strength and had solved their nightmare that same day.
Selve had never asked why.
He had never asked. After the battle, Derek seemed exhausted utterly, but far more alive. As if he had gone from a rock golem to an actual living breathing creature. And all he had wanted to do was sleep. But the few moments they had shared…
They were friends. They had fought and bled together, laughed together, and had talked a little bit. One of the few actual conversations they had before Selve left to inform the village, he still vividly remembered in his mind.
“I honestly can’t believe you did it.” Derek had said while staring at a squirrel outside for some reason.
“Did what?” Selve had been eating Celena’s delicious cooking at the time, so the sudden conversation had caught him by surprise.
“Saved your village.” Selve had nearly spit out his food at that.
“You’re the one who did that!”
Derek shook his head and looked him right in the eye. “I’m just the tool Selve. You suffered, you survived, you went into the ruin and found an artifact, and you’re the one who brought me here. I’m just a chain sword, you’re the protagonist here. You’re a better, stronger man than me. You should probably become a paladin or something, if they have that here.”
That had struck him. Not in a positive way. After all Derek had done for them, for everyone… he just thought of himself as a tool and weapon? He had saved them all, had ended the horrible nightmare he was in, freed his village from rape and slavery. He had done so much and without any form of reward, and he just thought of himself… like that?
“You idiot. I’m just, a farmer. I grow crops. I’m no one important.” Selve felt his eyes start to burn. “You’re not, you can’t. You can’t. You’re suppose to go to the elf kingdom. You’re suppose to relax and rest. We- We were planning on throwing you a feast. We wanted, to keep it a surprise. We were going to throw a party. I brought out old Harry’s liquor. You, you would have loved him. He died, to the Baron. You met his wife. She was the woman with the grey in her hair. But you can’t tell her I said that.” Selve was babbling now, he knew it, but his eyes were burning so much and he was having trouble seeing. His knees were weak.
He swallowed as he saw the lightly scorched back of his friend.
“The villagers, can’t believe it was a demon you know? A lot of people thought we all went crazy or were lying. Some of the women you saved, even laughed. I haven’t, I hadn’t heard laughter in a long time.” His heart felt like it was breaking. Who was he? No one. He was just a man. He couldn’t save his village and… he couldn’t even save his friend.
“Please Derek. Please. You, you can’t die. You can’t help us so much and just die. I’ll do anything just please…” Selve could no longer stand, as fell on the grass, tears streaming down his face. “Please, don’t die.”
He looked at the still form of his friend, his savior, his Hero. He could barely keep his eyes open as his heart once more felt like it was ripping itself out of his chest. He had thought, he’d never feel this way again. And yet he had failed. If he had been stronger, or faster, or- Just like before. It was too late to regret.
A rustling passed through as the wind blew. The fire crackled.
No one moved or said anything. But the rustling grew stronger.
“...”
Selve blinked. His eyes shot open and he stared. Pupils shaking, heart hammering.
“....r….”
Derek…
“....r….u….”
Derek was moving!
The rustling was lighter than a whisper, but he heard it all the same.
“...r….u….n…”
Derek’s eyeless burnt visage turned to him, a hundred wounds opening on his body.
“Run.”
Everything was on fire. I was on fire, the floor was on fire, the walls were on fire, the ceiling, the desk, the Fire Mage stomping their way towards me like a walking inferno. My horror had ratcheted up to a full blown panic. Burning to death would do that to a man.
Suffice to say, negotiations were not going well.
“WHO SUMMONED YOU?!” Was the burning roar that reached my not-yet-melted ears. The question felt utterly ridiculous to me. What am I supposed to say?! That guy down the street called Jeremiah? The baker? Like how is who they are even relevant?!
Still, there was really only one answer to give.
“No one! I wasn’t summoned!” Even burning to death, I wasn’t gonna sell out Selve.
“LIAR!” Came a shout, followed by an absolute wave of even more fire. I stared at it, mouth hanging open and realized one truly important thing at the very moment. Fire is really scary.
Crack. Thump.
The sky was beautiful this time of day. I was lying in a ditch, staring at it after all. I raised my head, only to see a giant me shaped hole where I had been launched out of the manor’s second floor. The fire was really spreading now, but the worst part was that I wasn’t any less on fire. It was so fucking hot that it was crazy. I felt like I was under a small sun. The fact that it didn’t actually hurt, I was chalking up to demons having some level of fire resistance. Small mercies.
As what looked like a living fire elemental jumped out the side of the building, I was pretty confident it wouldn’t be enough.
“TELL ME! NOW!” The Fire Mage, the Hero, roared. God, the pure vitriol in their voice… I don’t think they were sane anymore. Saying “I wasn’t summoned” didn’t seem like it was going to cut it but my options for who to blame were thin. I considered, strongly, blaming The Baron but Celena had told them the truth. I didn’t think that lie would hold up.
I realized with a start that I was calm, way calmer than I should be. It wasn’t because the panic or cold dread had disappeared, god no, it was just that it was like being rejected by the guy you liked. You figured it was going to happen anyway, but it had been the waiting and the not knowing that had been the worst part. Now, all of that was over. I was going to probably be burned into ashes and scattered to the winds. I frowned. The fact that that was relieving was seriously fucked up. I thought I was fine but maybe I needed a therapist. These weren’t healthy thoughts, that’s for sure.
The Mage stalked towards me, their anger and flames only seeming to grow larger and larger with each step. I felt fear, but as I watched a human torch, become a human bonfire, and then a human firestorm, I couldn’t help but feel awe. This was magic. It was amazing.
The pressure of their power hadn’t increased but now I had a proper example of just what that power meant. Even as they cut loose, I had a feeling this wasn’t the limit. No wonder it felt like they could kill me with ease. What on earth could I do against a never ending firestorm? Was I suppose to punch myself to victory versus a blazing inferno? Really, it wasn’t fair. Not even a little bit.
I blinked, remembering having those same thoughts before. Except there was no Divine Wrath to follow. Was it fair I was going to die like? No, not even a little bit. But, it was kinda mostly just me. I was the equivalent to a random nazi in enemy territory during WW2, ie, no one would blame you for killing me. It wasn’t fair that I hadn’t chosen to wear the uniform and it was glued to me or the fact that I had been forced into the territory but, well, that’s just bad luck. I couldn’t exactly rage against pure bad luck. Sometimes people just trip and die in the bathroom, sometimes you get eviscerated by a human mage. That’s life I guess.
Not that I was resigned to death.
“Please! I don’t want to hurt anyone! I just want to live! I’ll leave and-”
The only response I got was steady footsteps and the actual cooling of the fire. Suddenly, no longer was I staring and talking to a twelve foot walking pile of plasma, now, it was simply a very angry woman, looking at me like I was a cockroach. She held her hand over my face, and gave me an ultimatum.
“Name. Now.” I saw a small flicker of blue fire appear on their hand, the one right in front of me, and I could already feel my nose starting to… drip. Time seemed to slow down. I could feel the rapid beating of my heart, hear the crackling of the grass, see the demonic look in the mage’s eyes. It wasn’t the eyes that told you how someone felt however, it was their entire face. It could paint a picture. I saw a towering rage, disgust, resolve, and impatience. She was going to kill me no matter what.
Well, that certainly made my response easier.
“There is no summoner.” My words left me and it didn’t feel like I was the one that spoke them. Selve was a friend, I wouldn’t sell them out. Beyond the moral issues, it was just… stupid. They weren’t going to go easier on me. Though I had really underestimated just how serious they took summoned demons. I shouldn’t have, it was a fucking kin crime. Worse than literally every other crime. Where had I gone wrong? It’s when I said I came here by accident. I should’ve said, well, anything else.
Too late to cry about it though. My tears would probably evaporate anyway.
I saw the final look of hatred flicker in her eyes and-
“STOP!”
No. No no no no.
“I SUMMONED HIM!”
SELVE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
Standing by what was left of the burning manor, Selve had a resolute look on his face, sword in hand. He was ready to fight even The Heroes for me. He stood no chance and now-!
The woman looked at him, and I saw a rage that made the one felt for me look petty. Her body turned and my heart slowed to a crawl.
Ba-thump.
She raised her arm at Selve.
Ba-thump.
The flames flickered and danced on her palm.
Ba-thump.
A blue inferno was born.
*****
Tyler was cursing in his mind. He had been too slow to react after Konahora had figured out what the demon had meant. Riary had already attacked. The Manor was already being burned to the ground and Riary was on the war path. She’d massacre the demon.
He felt… mixed on that. If the elf was telling the truth, well, if it was actually the truth, the demon had saved the village. But demons were notoriously evil. It wasn’t impossible it was just using her or had controlled her mind somehow. It had happened before. There was only one response to demons, destroying them before they could do any more harm.
But… this was the first time he had actually met a demon. It had talked, it had been terrified, it had introduced itself. He had still been more than ready to put it down but the more he talked to it the harder that seemed. Demons were evil, but, no one said an exception hadn’t been possible.
And then Konahora had said it was summoned.
Riary… Riary had lost her whole town, her whole family, to a summoned demon. She had told her one night after she had gotten too drunk. Her hatred for them… it was intense. He still felt, wrong. This didn’t feel right. But he couldn’t stop her if he tried. He’d just become extra crispy.
He and Konahora had elected to just watch, see if the demon would give up the summoner. The summoner was probably already dead of course but it was useful to be thorough. Right when he had resigned himself for how this would end, despite the roiling in his gut, and konahora gritting her teeth unusually next to him, he heard the shout.
“STOP!”
He looked over, eyes wide, at a normal seeming villager. He looked a little, ragged. A bit dirty maybe. But he had a sword in his hand and was glaring at Riary.
“I SUMMONED HIM!”
Tyler’s heart and mind exploded. He moved, running, pulling his shield off his back in one movement. Riary was too far gone, she would kill him! Summoner or not, he couldn’t let him be killed like this! He was fast but it happened so quickly that he nearly missed it. His gaze had been on the idiot villager that had called out. A blue fire sprayed out… and lashed to the sides of the man.
He looked back at Riary and he nearly dropped his shields. His eyes shook in shock and he nearly stumbled.
The demon had blocked the blast. With his entire body.
He had seen the… results of Riary before but they were usually little more than bones afterwards. Riary was thorough. Now, he saw a burning corpse, still standing, arms crossed across its face. It was completely carbonized. There wasn’t an ounce of skin he could see that wasn’t burnt black, clothes were little more than scraps, face unrecognizable, and hair entirely gone. Steaming blood poured out of cracks in its body and its eyes seemed to have evaporated. Tyler felt bile rise into his throat, staring at it.
It was, gruesome didn’t begin to describe it. He caught the look on Riary’s face and it looked as shocked as his own.
“D-d-derek?” The villager from before was stunned silent, staring with his mouth gaping open. The voice had come from the elf they had talked to earlier, who had explained the situation in the village. She looked white as a sheet.
Tyler could do nothing but watch as the ragged looking man took haltingly slow steps towards the corpse.
He said nothing, till he was right next to it.
*******
“H-Hey. Stop messing around. Come on, you were going to convince them to let you live.”
Selve looked at Derek. A demon, a savior, his friend. He hadn’t known him long, but he had done… everything for him. Everything.
When they’d first met, he had been terrified. Not for himself, but that the demon he summoned would not only kill him, but massacre the village as well. And then he had been terrified for a different reason, when the person he had summoned had a seizure in front of him. After he had awoken, he was clearly… broken. But after explaining the horrors his village was facing, he had instantly gone to fix it. He hadn’t asked for anything, he hadn’t made a deal, he hadn’t waited, he had the strength and had solved their nightmare that same day.
Selve had never asked why.
He had never asked. After the battle, Derek seemed exhausted utterly, but far more alive. As if he had gone from a rock golem to an actual living breathing creature. And all he had wanted to do was sleep. But the few moments they had shared…
They were friends. They had fought and bled together, laughed together, and had talked a little bit. One of the few actual conversations they had before Selve left to inform the village, he still vividly remembered in his mind.
“I honestly can’t believe you did it.” Derek had said while staring at a squirrel outside for some reason.
“Did what?” Selve had been eating Celena’s delicious cooking at the time, so the sudden conversation had caught him by surprise.
“Saved your village.” Selve had nearly spit out his food at that.
“You’re the one who did that!”
Derek shook his head and looked him right in the eye. “I’m just the tool Selve. You suffered, you survived, you went into the ruin and found an artifact, and you’re the one who brought me here. I’m just a chain sword, you’re the protagonist here. You’re a better, stronger man than me. You should probably become a paladin or something, if they have that here.”
That had struck him. Not in a positive way. After all Derek had done for them, for everyone… he just thought of himself as a tool and weapon? He had saved them all, had ended the horrible nightmare he was in, freed his village from rape and slavery. He had done so much and without any form of reward, and he just thought of himself… like that?
“You idiot. I’m just, a farmer. I grow crops. I’m no one important.” Selve felt his eyes start to burn. “You’re not, you can’t. You can’t. You’re suppose to go to the elf kingdom. You’re suppose to relax and rest. We- We were planning on throwing you a feast. We wanted, to keep it a surprise. We were going to throw a party. I brought out old Harry’s liquor. You, you would have loved him. He died, to the Baron. You met his wife. She was the woman with the grey in her hair. But you can’t tell her I said that.” Selve was babbling now, he knew it, but his eyes were burning so much and he was having trouble seeing. His knees were weak.
He swallowed as he saw the lightly scorched back of his friend.
“The villagers, can’t believe it was a demon you know? A lot of people thought we all went crazy or were lying. Some of the women you saved, even laughed. I haven’t, I hadn’t heard laughter in a long time.” His heart felt like it was breaking. Who was he? No one. He was just a man. He couldn’t save his village and… he couldn’t even save his friend.
“Please Derek. Please. You, you can’t die. You can’t help us so much and just die. I’ll do anything just please…” Selve could no longer stand, as fell on the grass, tears streaming down his face. “Please, don’t die.”
He looked at the still form of his friend, his savior, his Hero. He could barely keep his eyes open as his heart once more felt like it was ripping itself out of his chest. He had thought, he’d never feel this way again. And yet he had failed. If he had been stronger, or faster, or- Just like before. It was too late to regret.
A rustling passed through as the wind blew. The fire crackled.
No one moved or said anything. But the rustling grew stronger.
“...”
Selve blinked. His eyes shot open and he stared. Pupils shaking, heart hammering.
“....r….”
Derek…
“....r….u….”
Derek was moving!
The rustling was lighter than a whisper, but he heard it all the same.
“...r….u….n…”
Derek’s eyeless burnt visage turned to him, a hundred wounds opening on his body.
“Run.”
