Chapter 42 – Crisis Management

They heard the shouting before they reached the gates.

Kairon had just wrapped up a fruitful conversation, solidifying a financial deal that would serve him in the near future, when Shiny and a handful of brood imps came scurrying out of the walls.

Atop them, several warriors had turned, attention stuck inwards on the tower.

“What’s all that excitement about? Is everything okay?” asked Hector. Together, he, Kairon, and their combined guards had paused just outside the city perimeter.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s just a little excitement about all the new faces!” he said reassuringly. Internally, however, his thoughts had a very different opinion.

Ahead, the brood supervisor halted just in front of them. Shiny, bless his little devious heart, didn’t scream out or exclaim anything that would alarm the humans. He took in the scene, his master, the approaching lord Kairon had told him about, and the others.

Then, Shiny bowed. “Welcome! Very glad meet. Master. We speak. Privately. There was…” Shiny turned, spotting Nod behind him. One claw stuck out, pointing at him. “Nod need help. Demonic Resource business. Imp fight.”

Shiny. You are due for quite the raise, my little friend.

Nod looked relatively confused, glancing back and forth.

Before the DR supervisor could say anything contradictory, Kairon snagged the opening. “Hector, if you’ll excuse me, perhaps you could wait here for a moment. Let me just take a tiny peek to make sure the city is ready to receive guests.”

“Hmm. Check on my men, would you? Elson especially. I find myself missing the lieutenant. The Five know it’s hard to find good leadership.”

The clerk smiled. “Oh, I know that all too well myself. I’ll verify his condition while I’m there. Just wait one minute!” With that, he led Shiny, Nod, and the rest of the brood contingent out of earshot. They strode through the city gates, dozens of pairs of eyes boring into their backs as they walked.

“Just walk. Do not look back,” he muttered quietly. “Where’s the issue?”

“Tower,” said Shiny simply.

Calmly, as if nothing was wrong, they marched towards the black citadel. “What is going on?!” whispered Kairon.

Ahead, shouts and exclamations echoed in the city proper. The moment they passed the shabby camps in the brood district, the scene revealed itself.

Three wrath imps were holding down a squirming human, with several more imps barreling away from the tower’s entryway. From it, violet and golden lights blazed. Evidence that something was certainly happening.

“Don’t know. Boney brought humans. Guard tower. I kept brood away. Then… Flash light. Loud screams.”

“Screams?” asked Kairon worriedly. “From who?”

“Human.”

“Well. That’s good. But—”

He cut off, a notification filled with golden lettering entering his field of view.

Source +10 Threshold reached. City Warden Integrated.

Kairon hardly even had time to process that when new golden letters began filling his mind.

Source +10 Source +12 Source +10 Source +10

As the notifications piled on, he felt a wisp of golden light connecting to his mind.

My sigil!

Every blip of the new source energy granted made him have an instinctive feel over the sigil in his brain. Not new comprehension, but the ability to wield it. As if his claws were slipping off it before, and now were getting a slight hold.

Source +6 Source +3 Source +1

He waited, like a kitten being fed. Waiting for its next meal. Only, no more was coming.

The influx of source notifications and energy stopped, winking suddenly out of existence.

Kairon had worked with systems for his entire life. Something told him the slight increase in his ability to hold his sigil was not the intended effect, but a byproduct. The true effects of this would be more foundational.

Source… If something was foundational, that certainly alludes to it. A more basic energy? Source energy? That might explain some things…

Finally, one last message entered his interface.

Population -1 — Human Population +1 —

Human? That means Veron?! Unless the city considered our guests part of the population…

A quick check revealed the city most definitely did not.

Did something happen to Veron? But then, why a blank population increase..?

Hobbling forward, walking stick slamming up and down against the stone, Kairon rushed to the citadel.

***

When he got to the tower, he paused.

Hallen’s servant looked up, eyes full of unmasked terror. “He was screaming… so loud…” he mumbled. “I tried to help. I tried. But they wouldn’t let me… And then the blood…” Red flecks were covering the poor man’s cheeks.

“Who? Veron?”

The man said something back, but it was blubbering nonsense. Clearly he was beside himself. “Shiny. Watch our guest please. See to it he gets something to drink. Purified water only,” he stressed.

“Yes master.”

Several brood imps led the servant further away, finding a quiet corner for him to curl up in.

Next, the demon turned to the wrath imps. They were huddled in front of the tower, muscled forms uncertain. “Boney. What was he talking about?”

The warrior straightened his shoulders and pointed up the stairs leading inside. “Sythara tried save patient.”

“Which patient?”

“New Human.”

“Oh good. Not Veron. Well, what of the new human? Is he okay?”

Boney winced. “Don’t think so.”

To Kairon’s astonishment, the battle-hardened little devil was trembling. Not much, but enough that when his calculating eyes roved over his body, he caught it. Little twitches.

He placed a reassuring claw on the imp’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m not mad at you. You did your best, I’m sure.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author’s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Boney shook his head. “That not why…” He trailed off, before just motioning again towards the entrance. “Talk Sythara.”

Nodding, Kairon dragged his frozen foot up the steps and entered the tower. “Sythara, there’s been quite a lot of commotion, and while I’m sure you’ve kept good Elson in the best conditions possible, I just want to ensure that both he and Veron are—” he stopped, mouth gaping. “Sythara?!”

In front of him, the elegant demoness was standing in the center of the chamber. Around her, golden light filled the channels leading to the grates around the room.

What had caught his attention most, however, was the dripping blood. It was everywhere. A grotesque scene that sent his mind reeling.

For half a minute, Sythara, himself, and the dripping were all that was. All he could see. All that existed.

“Hello, child. There were some complications during the treatment.”

Her words echoed off his mind, rippling like a puddle.

“Complications…” He just stared, still trying to process what he was looking at.

How had he gone from finishing business deals to… this.

Finally, his brain snapped back into place. He’d trained for cycles to manage problems, atrocities, and critical situations. Like a bucket of ice water had been thrown on his head, his focus went to what mattered most. Crisis management.

What had Sythara done? Clearly he’d been too lax. Far too lax. This was the second time he was learning that lesson. Kairon swore to himself that once these humans were dealt with, there wouldn’t be a third.

For now, he needed information. Hector Hallen would be looking for his man. That was critical.

“Sythara,” he snapped. “I need a report on exactly what occurred here. Where is Elson?”

“Elson?”