Demoness 2 - Chapter 45 - Return

Elania folded her arms. It just so happened that her wings did the opposite, lifting off her shoulders and standing vertically, like a starry peacock’s tail. It was an involuntary form of body language, like when her ears twitched in Darkwalker form.

It also scared most of the people in the room and even had the Magisters drawing back.

“Sorry, they have a mind of their own,” Elania said.

Magister Keswick cleared her throat. “As I was saying, we need to go to the Magistry immediately and begin the process of transferring your new [Divinity] stores into the engine.”

“How much will it take to actively repulse another seraph?” Magister Bannon asked.

Keswick frowned. “As much as possible.” The woman looked back to Elania. “How old a corpse can you absorb?”

The room went silent, and Elania felt herself tense up. “Why?”

Bannon cleared his throat. “Lieutenant Gaston reported what you found about the monks, that they provide [Divinity] instead of human essence and skills.”

“I am not sure of the exact cause, but I believe it’s due to the Conclave’s use of the seraph as a source of power,” Keswick said. “They likely have been using it as part of an initiation rite of some sort. It’s likely all of them aren’t actually human anymore.”

Elania’s eyes narrowed. “You want me to absorb the old corpses for the engine?”

“We have plenty of them. If it isn’t enough, we have prisoners as well, in various conditions. If things are bad enough, we can work on capturing more,” Keswick said. “Do the Lightbringers have the same effect?”

“You want her to absorb the prisoners? Eat them?” Yolani blurted out. “That’s... that’s...”

“Make no mistake, we are at war,” Bannon said without emotion. “We’ve lost the noble district, and the Lightbringers have been fortifying the entry points. We have the advantage in artillery and firepower, but they are bringing down thousands of men every hour to reinforce.”

Elania bit her lip. She did not like the idea of industrial [Divinity] production, but she had to admit that she had no qualms about absorbing the monks during the battle.

The prisoners, though... she didn’t know if she could do that.

“We need to go to Aetherhart’s Artifice and get some things before going to the Magistry, regardless,” Elania stated. “I checked, and the attack didn’t reach Artifice Row and the items will be needed, especially if we are going to be gone for a while.”

Magister Keswick’s expression turned sour, and it looked like she was going to argue when the woman deflated. “Fine. I need to return to the Magistry immediately, though. Magister Roland is dead, and Magister Astolf is acting as a reserve for the defenders encircling the noble district.”

“We can’t leave the engine unprotected,” Magister Bannon said with a nod. “I’ll remain here and continue to organize the Guard. We still have men and units slowly trickling in from the other districts. That the way stones have been disrupted is a major problem.”

Everyone, including Elania, turned toward Yolani.

The artificer suddenly tensed up. “Uhh. I’m not sure what’s gone wrong. I’ve never worked on the way stones before. I know how the light stones work and react to the signals to turn on and off.”

Keswick grunted. “Astolf would likely know more, but with him locked in place halting the light bringers, you’re our only Artificer at hand.”

“Why... me, though?” Yolani asked.

“Your class says, ‘Master Artificer’ and we have... experience working with you, young lady,” Keswick said. “Or do you believe you know someone who can do better? If you could fetch them from Artifice Row, that would be acceptable.”

There was a second of trepidation and Elania reached out to touch Yolani’s arm supportively. The other girl finally nodded. “I can see what I can find out. I need to get my tools, though.”

“I will be sending several Magistry guards and an artifice carriage with you,” Keswick said. “Bring whatever you need, but don’t take too long and don’t expect that you’ll be able to return, at least until things calm down. We don’t know how long the Artisan District will remain safe.”

Bannon shook his head. “Nowhere is safe. While there hasn’t been any direct fighting there, the Conclave has been a part of the city for a long time, and we haven’t been able to lock down movement between the districts at all.”

Elania wanted to say she could fly them there far faster than a carriage, but she realized they wouldn’t be able to carry all the things easily. Yolani’s weight reduction bags were nice, but where was the dimensional storage video games had always promised?

“What about the Ironfist mercenaries?” Elania asked. “Can’t we hire them to help?”

Bannon frowned. “I already approached them. I didn’t get a reply. They’re likely trying to gauge who will win before committing to either side.”

Elania grunted. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear... simply because of her relationship with Harlock and the others. But it made sense in a way. They were mercenaries, and Harlock had never tried to hide that.

“Let’s go,” Yolani said. “I don’t want to wait and risk something happening to the shop.”

Elania nodded slowly. She still wasn’t sure about the idea of using prisoners for [Divinity] but leaving that unsaid for now was probably for the best. Actually, she hated the idea, and the prospect of arguing about it at the moment really didn’t appeal to her.

There were a few more details to iron out, but it didn’t take long before she and Yolani were on their way to the shop with a small group of guards and a carriage.

The streets were more deserted than they had been after the riots, and the only people they saw were guards and the occasional group of workers that were doing their best to clear the streets.

Everyone was battened down, huddling in their stone homes, and probably praying that the seraph didn’t strike them next.

A pang of guilt hit her and caused her [Power] to flicker. She’d done what she had to do, though. Elania glanced at Yolani sitting beside her, then to the other girl’s hand and took it with a gentle squeeze.

Yolani looked at her with concern, then smiled and squeezed back. “We’ll be okay.”

We will be okay. Elania tasted the words in her own head. Not ‘things will be okay’ or ‘the city will be okay.’ We will be okay.

They didn’t talk for the rest of the trip, but the feeling of Yolani’s hand in hers was enough to keep things calm as they sped through the empty streets.

The checkpoint to Artifice Row was abandoned, with no Ironfist guards in sight. Whatever the Artificers had been paying them probably didn’t cover hazard pay or civil war. There weren’t any customers or wagons passing by, either.

The carriage took the slight hill up to the end of the street with aplomb, and when they reached the shop, Elania felt a surge of relief.

She’d mostly been sure that it was still standing, but even with her enhanced site and ability to check the district from high up, that hadn’t been one-hundred percent.

“Half of you stay and guard the carriage. The rest of you come help us pack things,” Yolani ordered. Four of them followed inside while the others took up positions near and around the carriage, but not necessarily in plain sight.

Elania nodded. That was smart of them. No need for everyone to get caught in a single spell blast or ambush.

“We should get your crystal racks first,” Elania mumbled. “Even if it’s a pain, it’ll be some [Power] storage.”

Yolani nodded and pointed toward a shelf in the back. “Weight reduction bags and backpacks. We’ll take all of them.”

The guards began to pull those out and set them out on flat surfaces while Elania and Yolani went into the back room and began to pull out crystal racks.

There were a lot of the small mana crystals, each one holding a small fraction of what a mana shard could hold.

Now they represented the reusable ammunition the Guard used to power their muskets and cannons.

Elania pointed to the rows of artifice muskets that hadn’t been serviced yet. “Might as well take those as well.”

One of the guards grunted and grabbed an armful of the things to take out to the carriage. It was going to be a crowded trip back. Maybe they’d be riding on the outside like the guards.

As Yolani began digging out things and tossing them in quickly, she adjusted her approximation. They’d definitely be riding on the outside.

“Slow down. We can carry more if we pack it neatly,” Elania muttered. She moved to catch the things Yolani was finding and fit them neatly into the packs.

Plus
 the longer it took them, the more time she had before having to consider what Keswick was going to ask of her at the Magistry.