Chapter 5 – Shift Change

By the time night fell, the hunting party had returned and the wood crew was done for the day. The dipping sunset cast the orange hellscape into a murky shadow, but brought along a much-needed coolness. Fresh air blew over his scales, leaving Kairon in a cheery mood.

He reviewed today’s new notifications.

Three timber. That number stuck out. It was slow. Very slow. Based on the building costs from before, it would take far too long at that pace before any construction could begin. He would come back to that after dinner.

The hunting party had a much more satisfactory performance. Eight food from five catches? Whether it was their natural desire to eat, or just the prey in the area being docile, Kairon didn’t know.

Maybe I should consider joining them tomorrow? I may be able to identify process improvements for… Yeah.

Kairon knew his strengths and weaknesses. He was not a fighter. Even if he wasn’t in his old body, he wasn’t about to go gallivanting off in the forest.

So on second thought, let’s hold off on anything so… adventurous for now.

Using some underbrush, twigs, and a few small logs he collected, Kairon built a fire. “I suspect this will come to be everyone’s favorite time of the day. From where I come, we call it supper.”

“FOOD?”

“Supper. However, we are going to be civilized. Meals will be eaten with care, and you will not waste. Is that understood? Good. Give me one rabbit corpse. The rest is for all of you. I saw some puddles and a stream not far away for a drink if you need it.”

What followed was decidedly not very civilized. Deer guts, fur, bone, and blood were strewn across the clearing as the worker imps tore into their nightly meal.

Now that he was a demon, he found his body naturally salivated at the thought of eating a full carcass. So, unskinned and bones and all, he tore into the tasty rabbit. The number of HR violations this crosses is obscene.

As the city lord chewed, the campfire crackled in front of him. Kairon stared blankly into it, just watching the lick of the flames. His claws twitched. A short, jittery motion that nearly sent one straight into the fire before he caught himself.

What was that? He hadn’t willed that to happen. His arm had just moved.

Kairon sat with his back to the fire after that. That is going under a whole new personal violation list.

Behind him, the tower’s base too seemed to react oddly with the firelight. Kairon turned, seeing the nearest black stones radiating.

And at the fire’s edge, he could swear he saw hellscape sand creeping over the pit’s rocks and trying to reach into the flames, inch by inch.

Probably nothing… Yep, yep, yep. Just the light.

“Sleepy!”

“FOOD?”

“TIRED?”

Chitters and squeaks sounded from behind. Looking back, Kairon saw the little creatures digging around in the dirt and sand.

“Okay everyone. Let’s call it a night. We sleep by the fire. Tomorrow, we work.”

Before long, eight sets of harsh snores filled the night.

The last two imps hissed and snapped at one another over the same spot. They both wanted the spot closest to the tower wall, where the stone radiated.

After a scuffle, the smaller one got shoved out. It chittered, furious at the loss, before slinking to the far edge and digging a new pit there instead.

This is 50% fervor. Wonderful. Can’t wait to see 30.

A quick check with Sovereign Eye revealed why. Sustenance had dropped.

Seven units of food translated to a flat sixty-three percent. One unit a day per imp, plus one for him. That made sense. So each day, they would need eleven units of food. Unfortunately, increased food production would have to wait. Other matters would take priority tomorrow.

He found that he too drifted soundlessly to sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, the hellscape boundary had moved again. Maybe a few meters outward. The grass at the new edge was already black, flaking into ash. The city lord’s demonic eyes picked out a giant beetle scuttling away from the line, its legs working frantically.

Corruption. Five a day is a few meters. It seems our settlement is literally eating the forest.

Kairon stretched, back muscles and shoulders popping as he climbed to his feet. Another problem for later. Below him, the imps were already up and scattered about. Some were drinking from dirty puddles, others were chasing bugs or shadows. Kairon didn’t know.

He ambled over, finding a puddle himself and looking at the murky water. The imps had been drinking it since yesterday and none had gotten sick.

Shrugging, he bent down and drank.

It tasted sandy and bitter, but his body accepted it without complaint.

“Demons have tough stomachs it seems.”

Day Two. We are going to make some changes today. After the human encounter from yesterday, we don’t have a choice.

A thought hit his mind before he could bury it.

I was a human three days ago. And those soldiers ran screaming from me. Would I have run? If I’d been on patrol and stumbled across a demonic settlement housing a black tower, burning eye, and orange creatures screaming for food?

Kairon wasn’t sure.

Bureau statistics put first contact failure rates at somewhere near ninety-four percent. So statistically, we are par for the course.

He shoved that thought in the same drawer with the rest from last night. That drawer, Kairon reflected, is already getting quite full.

The city lord had all the imps gather for the morning.

“I don’t want to alarm anybody, but I feel it prudent that we all understand our current straits. Some of you may remember,” Kairon glanced pointedly at the six wood gathering imps, “that we met our neighbors. And unfortunately, it did not go… well.” A pause. “I fear that after our, meeting shall we call it, from yesterday, the humans are going to return to their home and spread news that a demonic city is rising in their backyard.”

None of the imps seemed to have much of a reaction to it. Kairon coughed lightly. “To clarify, we will probably be having another meeting quite soon. And this time, I don’t think they will be coming to talk.”

“Bring food?” asked one imp.

“FOOD!”

Kairon shook his head. “I don’t believe so. I expect this time they will come and try to destroy us. No more food, no more village, no more anything for us. And I don’t know about you all, but I like living. I have plans, and I don’t mean for them to be ruined, whether it be by human, demon, or something else entirely. So today, as we get back to work, please bear in mind that minutes count. Work hard, and I promise you I shall do all in my power to keep you all alive and fed. Is that a deal?”

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“Raggggh!!!!”

“Good,” the demon said, exasperated. “Now, as I was saying, I want everyone to remember your roles from yesterday. Those are staying the same. Hunters, you’re up first.”

Four imps turned to attention and clambered forth, each appearing just a touch straighter than before.

“The humans came from the mountains.” Kairon stuck his claw out, pointing towards the stony-tipped peaks to the south. “We want to avoid them for now. You will hunt only to the North, the opposite side over there. No one is to go past the treeline on the south side of the clearing. Not until we learn more.”

The demon thought of the massive shape he saw from yesterday and spoke up. “Oh one more thing. Did you see anything big and… scary looking during your hunt?”

“NO. Just FOOD. Small.”

“Sticks! Big sticks.”

“Alright,” he sighed. “From now on, I want you to be extra cautious. If anything seems out of place, return right away.”

With that, the hunting party set out for the day.

Kairon turned his attention back to the remaining six imps. “For timber, yesterday’s performance was… I’ll be honest. If we weren’t worried about a horde of angry sword-bearing humans coming back to raze our quaint little settlement, I’d call it a brilliant first day.” The imps gleamed with pride. Shiny, however, shuffled uneasily.