Ashley's Tale - Demon's World 02

Chapter 5

The city was surrounded by a stone wall, a large gate stood open. Another example of a past time, and I was confused until it struck me as perfectly obvious. Why tech was forbidden, and why there was a stone wall around a city. Why Demons fought with fists, or perhaps a knife. Why education was limited.

It was to keep the powerful ones, the ones with fire and cursing abilities, in charge.

If they allowed their people to flourish, and use weapons equal to their technology... well, a nicely placed shot from a sniper rifle at a thousand yards would still be an equalizer here. Really, anyone with a gun and the element of surprise could end their ruler. Of course they wouldn't allow that.

The more I considered it, the more it made sense in a backwards sort of way. Even on Earth discoveries were buried and labeled as heresy. It was only once the power started to move away from Kings and into the people's hands that the industrial revolution took hold. I thought it was barbaric of course, but at least I understood it now.

Everything, absolutely everything, from social to tech to infrastructure was all designed to keep the most powerful in power. The ultimate example of survival of the fittest.

I snorted when I thought of opening up schools while I was here, I wasn't here for that, but it was tempting.

We reached the gate where I made another obvious declaration. I felt completely silly doing it.

"I am the ruler of the Russia Demesne in the Human dimension, I am here to challenge Dane for the rule of this demesne."

I almost laughed when his mouth dropped open, then mine almost dropped open when he simply waved me through the gate. What happened to fighting our way through? I looked to Simone and she blushed scarlet.

"Sorry, I should have told you. The rulers do not require you to fight a whole city, we will be challenged at the palace gate. It's a bit different for the large demesnes."

She looked at me hopefully, but I could feel her emotions, she was almost sure I would kill her for not telling me sooner. I waved it off airily as if it didn't matter and we marched down the main street straight for the palace.

I could feel the shock coming from Simone as she walked behind me. I hoped she wouldn't assume me weak because of it. I was growing to like her and really didn't want to kill her.

The city was extremely large, we walked another two miles passing by markets for food and other necessities of life. I kept myself open, there was fear of course, but there was also curiosity as we passed, and some were even happy with their life, or so it seemed.

The Palace gates were twice the size of the city gates, they were also made of metal, not wood. The building itself seemed to be made of marble and there were large columns. It looked suspiciously like something out of Greek or Roman literature. Except it was perfectly maintained.

I went through the same speech I had used at the front gate. He looked disbelieving at me, sometimes I loved being so petite. To my surprise he didn't attack either, but called over a guard who led me into the palace. I schooled my face to look impassive as I resisted the urge to strangle Simone; I hated not knowing what was going on.

The Palace was well adorned inside with artwork. A few Demons stopped to watch us pass by. I caught sight of a servant just before they darted away. He/She/It looked like a human sized cat, walking on its rear legs. I also caught sight of what I would swear was some type of mythological being. She was woman shaped but extremely small, maybe two feet in height.

I suppressed a sigh, I couldn't save everyone, I wasn't here to save slaves. I had to focus on everything around me and stop internalizing. Still, there must have been more dimensional travel in the past for me to recognize beings here from old earth legends, and I was curious.

We walked through what must have been the whole palace and found ourselves outside behind it in a courtyard. The walls were high and guarded. A group of five Demons approached as the escorting guard scurried off nervously.

"I am Teak," the one in the center declared in a booming voice. He was dripping arrogance and based on the power I felt it was understandable even if foolish, "To prove yourself worthy of fighting Dane you must vanquish me and my companions. My job is to weed out the weak, and you little girl are way over your head. Perhaps if you drop on your knees and do a good enough job I'll let you recant and leave with your life, yes?"

I smiled and tilted my head teasingly, but my words were a mockery of disappointment, "Maybe if you were bigger, you know, down there. I'm afraid that leaves us only one choice."

I heard Simone and Bonnie trying not to laugh, my best fan Devon just grunted in disapproval. Teak finally caught up and growled. He surrounded himself in fire and his four buddies drew daggers. I drew enough power to block fire and slow things down, then dashed forward. Even them moving at just a third of my speed it was easy. In a blink I disarmed the first guard's dagger and buried it in his heart.

I was no longer on Earth, and I didn't need to hold back, so why was I? Was it because I wanted to keep some of my abilities a secret, just in case I needed the surprise in the future? Or was I afraid of the ease in which I could kill them, afraid I would enjoy it?

By all measure, these were evil men. Perhaps not by their society's standards, but certainly by mine and the way I was raised. Or perhaps I didn't want Bonnie to see me slaughter the five of them with a wave of my hand.

I moved to the second and was disarming him as Teak's fire finally found me, I easily blocked with my shields. I didn't bother to attack with fire, doing two things at once was quite enough and I didn't want to get cocky about it and do something stupid. Although I was trained to fight hand to hand while wielding and blocking fire, I was still young.

Hiding the extent of my power was one thing, risking death to stupidity was quite another.

I took his blade and impaled him in the throat, ripping it open. He tried to block me, but he was too slow.

Teak started charging me, but by the time he was halfway to where I was, I was already burying the third dagger into the third guard's eye. The fourth guard anticipated me judging my speed well and was in the middle of a strike at my chest. I spun and dodged to his outside, the blade cutting my arm, grabbing his wrist I drove my other hand into his elbow. He released the dagger as his joint shattered; I caught it continuing my spin and buried it in his back, severing his spine.

All in all, perhaps five seconds had passed.

I turned and fought Teak with my fire. He was good, good enough to keep up with me for almost ten seconds even at his slower perceptual speed. In the end though, he burned.

He burned...

I closed my eyes and embraced my power completely, time slowed to a standstill. And I wept. How could I ever think I would come to enjoy this. I felt sick. I closed my eyes and felt all the life around me. Blessed life. I was a Witch, what the fuck was I doing here taking lives? Did I really need to meet them on their terms, couldn't I create my own?

Earth was full of banished Demons, what was the story behind that? I released my power and time picked up its pace. The guards by the palace door and on the walls were looking at me in awe, and it turned my stomach. I took a deep breath, needing to maintain control.

I turned to Simone and called her over as I shape shifted my arm back to full health.

"Tell me, is there a way to challenge without death? My world is full of banished Demons, though I don't know how they got there. Is there a way?" I couldn't stop the hint of desperation that entered my voice.

She said eyes wide, "It fell out of favor hundreds of years ago, but if you can force your opponent to yield, they will be banished. It was considered a sign of weakness."

I nodded. I didn't really want to send crazy powerful Demons to my world. I would not have innocents pay in blood because I didn't want to kill. So I asked...

"Is there a dimension I can send him to that only has other Demons in it?"

She pursed her lips, "Perhaps, like I said, in the beginning before they purged the scientists and emerging technology, some Demons escaped to other dimensions, I don't know how you can find out though, much less send him there. We could ask Caro when we get back to camp."

We were interrupted by a troop of twenty guards marching out to the courtyard. They looked like some kind of honor guard, their uniforms were elaborate. To my shock a smaller Demon walked out from among them and it was my turn to be surprised by the size of my opponent.

Dane was only a few inches taller than me at five foot five. He didn't have bulging muscles either, but his powerful presence made all that immaterial. He was the most powerful Demon I had met to date, including my Aunt Jezebel.

He smiled charmingly and said, "Well, it looks like I'll be having my first fight in over twenty years. I will miss the big idiot; he did a good job before now. Please, enjoy my Palace and be my guest, I wouldn't dream of having the challenge now when you aren't at your strongest."

His smile didn't reach his eyes, and I had a feeling enjoying his palace meant dodge his assassins for the next twenty four hours. No thanks.

I smiled back graciously and said, "That sounds wonderful Dane," I enjoyed his look of annoyance at the casual use of his name, "Unfortunately I have my people to look after, as a fellow ruler I am sure you understand?"

He clenched his teeth; I was actually having fun with this, and he said, "Of course my dear, I will expect to see you back this time tomorrow."

Translation, it's a bother but I'll just have to send my assassins out. It was almost as if he was afraid of fighting me.

I nodded my head politely. His guards escorted us all the way to the city gates. I was fighting an inappropriate attack of the giggles the whole way. I was probably losing my mind, but the whole conversation struck me as funny. He had acted like a snobby aristocrat, not a blunt Demon as I had come to expect. Adding that to my emotional roller coaster, instant giggles.

I told myself firmly that I was a ruler of a demesne, I had a reputation to maintain. Of course, that made it worse. When we entered the camp I went straight to the command tent only allowing Bonnie, Devon and Simone in. I erected a sound barrier then let it all out. I laughed hard for about ten minutes before I could stop.

Bonnie laughed with me, understanding. Of course, the disgust from Devon only made me laugh harder. The confusion from Simone didn't help at all either in regaining my composure. Still, I finally got control of myself and we sat down to eat. Extra paranoid of betrayal or infiltration I used my powers to check for poison, and there was none, so we dug in. I dropped the sound filter just in case we were attacked when I felt more centered.

After dinner we called in Caro, but he didn't know. There was something like fifty dimensions that were locked out of the device that should be livable for them. He thought that they were probably races that were too strong to conquer, as well as the Demons who escaped and followed a more technological path. He also thought the dimension we wanted was probably protected; they wouldn't want any Demons from here either.

I had decided I wouldn't kill anymore, but I couldn't send Dane to Earth. I would have to come up with another answer. I put it out of my mind and decided to sleep on it. Bonnie and I got ready for bed and chased out Simone, Devon and Caro. I had detected nothing from Devon all night except that annoyance, I was starting to wonder if he was covering up something.

I had the thought of taking one of his hairs to make sure of him, but decided not to. Not yet. I would respect his privacy, and just hope he was worthy of it. Bonnie and I snuggled up together and I fell asleep quickly after the day's events... and I dreamed...

Chapter 6

I woke with a smile on my face. My dream had revealed a way for me, but it would require showing a power Witches had that up until now had been secret. I shrugged; it felt like the right thing to do, for the first time in days I felt like myself. I was simply not a killer. I could be a bully perhaps, which was needed, but no more killing.

Perhaps I had the right to kill, to protect my world. But the truth was, I could protect it without killing, which is what caused me to be so conflicted.

I watched Bonnie sleep for a moment, then decided it was time for payback. Very slowly as to not wake her yet I slipped under the sheets and made my way down...

I snickered into my coffee cup which drew another glare from Bonnie. I hadn't put up a sound shield when waking her up; just in case we were attacked I couldn't risk being taken by surprise. Bonnie had been a little... loud and enthusiastic at my attentions this morning. The speculative looks from the Demons in camp kept turning her face red. Hopefully she wasn't too mad at me, just a little embarrassed.

I sighed at the annoyance coming from Devon; did the man never take a break? Or was asshole his perpetual state? I was also a little worried how he would take my new no kill policy. Granted, it only applied to me, not the Demons around me, but still. Would he decide to betray me believing a more ruthless hand was required? Or just wait with contempt until I failed so he could take over?

I studied Simone for a moment, and she seemed relaxed for the first time in my memory. I wondered if she would betray me as well, or see me as an alternate way for her to live. Back home, Demons weren't so different from Humans. Would she just see weakness from growing up in such a brutal society, or would she see more?

I shook my head, I wasn't here to change how things ran in this dimension, however I found myself wishing for a better life for my second in command. Perhaps that was arrogant of me, to pass moral judgment on the whole of Demon society on this world. I knew that Earth might have followed a similar path if Humans had the same magic.

Who was I kidding? Outside of a precious few, most countries on Earth were run by one man in power and many just as brutally. I shook my head and took a sip of my coffee. I had no right to change things, no more than I would at home. Thinking of home made me miss Tom, but I knew I couldn't leave, not until after I was in charge here, if even then.

I was lost in thought, staring at the rising sun. It was closer to red and the sky was an amazing violet. That's when I felt the surge of emotion from behind me. Fear, concern, and from Devon which was startling to say the least. I embraced my power and turned. I saw Devon tackling a Demon who was both uncomfortably close to me, and holding a knife.

I dodged his first strike, and that was all he had time for. Devon hit him hard; on the way down he snapped the Demons neck. I flinched as I realized detecting emotions wouldn't help me detect an assassin. All the Demons, or most of them, put off fear when near me. The would be assassin had been no different.

"Thanks Devon."

He simply nodded, anger radiating off of him, also... concern? Devon was a mystery I hoped to solve at some point, he did his job well though. I had to wonder though, was his annoyance a cover of some kind?

There were two more incidents during the day but neither as close. I came to realize the best I could expect of the Demons under my command was not to betray me and follow my orders. They would not go out of their way to protect me, or stop an assassin. I had known that earlier, at least intellectually, but the attempts on my life drove that fact home to me.

In their view it was simple, if I couldn't stop an assassin, I didn't deserve to be leader.

I was thinking about blocking portals again, I thought maybe a passive approach would work, but the amount of work was still daunting. My idea would be to set up detectors, when a portal was detected as opening, a very small disruption of the area would break the link. The portal would still open, but it wouldn't last more than a small portion of a second.

Still, I could create a detector that covered maybe ten miles. Still, the Earth was just under one hundred ninety seven million square miles, which meant creating nineteen point seven million detectors and placing them. That was... crazy. Plus two thirds of that or more was water... I pushed the idea to the back of my head and hoped my mother and Cat were having better luck coming up with an idea.

I spent some time with Simone, telling her about my world. What we had in common and what was different. At first she was suspicious, and nervous about why, but soon enough her curiosity kicked in and she asked me some questions. It was a good way to pass the time, and who knows what seeds I planted today.

When it got close to time, we headed toward the city in the same group. Devon, Bonnie, Simone and I were surrounded by twenty of my strongest Demons. We were tense, and ready for trouble, but none interfered and we arrived at the palace.

We were brought through the palace to the same courtyard.

"Please wait here, Ruler will be here shortly," the guard sounded nervous.

I suppressed a snort; the Demons were being polite as if I was invited to tea. Of course, they were just hedging their bets, if I won they didn't want to be the one I remembered as a sneering asshole. Especially after what happened yesterday with Teak.

I watched as the personal guards walked out in their perfect uniforms. Simone had explained that too me earlier...

"The personal guards are extended a certain amount of trust, but aren't trusted fully of course which would be foolish. As a result of that, if one of them betrays their ruler the price is usually a slow torturous death," she smirked, "It is more in light of that harsher penalty than anything else that makes them even slightly trustworthy."

I had wondered at the time what that said about where she stood, but shook my head and dismissed the memory, I had other things to worry about now. Dane walked out and we started at each other. The challenge was already made, and I had my plan. Which of course, immediately failed. Fucking Elves...

Normally when a Witch fought a Demon they could simply choke off their fire magic, disrupting the energy stream before fire could even form. I had decided that is what I would do as the first part of my plan, along with holding him tightly within a gravity well until he yielded and submitted to banishment.

I embraced my magic and created the gravity well, that part went as well as it could, Dane was unable to move. It was the second part that went to shit. As I tried to disrupt his magic I found I could not touch it. The only explanation that occurred to me was the Elven amulet's magic was mixed with his, and I could not affect it.

I did manage to raise a fire shield quickly enough, but I had hoped my overwhelming advantage would cause him to submit, that was not the case anymore. I considered beating him senseless until he submitted, he couldn't move at all to block, but then I thought of an easier way. I pulled my dagger and walked up to him, his eyes widened as he struggled to move.

I smiled at the shock on his face as instead of cutting his throat, I simply cut the amulet from around his neck and watched it fall to the floor. I was leery of even touching it, who knows how it would mix with my strange coupling of Witch and Demon magic? It worked now, I was able to feel his magic, I engulfed it in mine, severing the potential of it and the fire immediately went out.

I couldn't do this for long, I was burning magic fast. Offering him the chance at life however, made all the difference in my mind. If he did not yield... I shook my head, no reason to borrow trouble.