Soul of a Demon

Baharsh stared up at the night sky, knowing he needed to go in and explain to his company what he had done and why. He knew they all had questions, and he knew he still didn't have the answers. He had replayed what happened over and over again, but could not come up with an explanation regarding his draw to the woman. He knew many powerful demon women, but the key word there was demon. He had no use for humans beyond tactical secrets, and he was a trusted leader in the High Commanders army. Why had he risked Reihnash's anger? Exasperated, he leaned against the cave opening and closed his eyes as his second in command approached him.

Standing there in silence, the 2 demons took up most of the cave opening. Meikosh regarded his leader out of the corner of his eye. He had known Baharsh since they were children and knew him to be logical and level-headed. His appearance with the human was unexpected; his tenderness toward the human was just plain weird. It was time he explained what was happening. Placing a hand on Baharsh's shoulder to let him know it was time, he turned and walked back into the cave.

Once they were all assembled around the fire. Meikosh wasted no time.

"So what the hell were you thinking and what is your plan?" It wasn't said with anger. Meikosh was as level-headed as any and was more curious than upset.

Baharsh recounted the nights events, from the moment he had landed at the compound up to the moment The Gerneral ordered him to kill the woman. It was at this point he was interrupted by one of the company.

"Who does he think he is to order us to do his bidding", Syrilock demanded. "I yearn for the day I can crush that puny human under my heel."

His exclamation was met with cheers from all those gathered. No one liked The General, or the fact that he was considered an ally, but Baharsh's company hated him the most. They were the ones acting as the go between; they knew the man by more than reputation. They all wanted to kill him.

"Why is he so afraid of this woman anyway? How did he come to possess her and what was his plan?" Meikosh inquired.

Unsure how he was going to explain the details of their escape he turned to look at the woman. She was gone, as was the watcher. Glancing over the company he noticed they were all as surprised as he to find the woman missing. Baharsh could feel his blood begin to boil as he thought of every possible explanation.

"Perhaps she awoke and went exploring."

Baharsh didn't know who said it but the look he gave them showed his disbelief. There was no way she had recovered from the energy expenditure that quickly. Regardless, she hadn't come this way or they would have seen her. Ordering his company to stay there, he crept slowly past the numerous bedding and into the back of the cave.

This cave had been chosen as their area to camp for 2 reasons; primarily because the mouth of the cave was extremely easy to hide, but also because there were natural pools in its bowels. The watcher turned as he heard Baharsh approaching, removing a cloth from his face and twitching his nose. Baharsh was curious about this, but before he could ask the watcher filled him in.

"She awoke shortly after you exited the cave to pull your thoughts together. I figured she would be afraid of me, but she took in the entire seen and then slowly sat up. She said she was thirsty so I gave her a glass of heilock.." Baharsh stared at the demon, wondering how he could have been so reckless. "and watched her down it in one swig, no cough, no sputter, nothing. It was quite impressive. Then she asked if there was a stream nearby where she could wash, so I brought her her."

Baharsh followed the watchers eye and found the woman, completely unharmed, washing in the warmer of the 2 natural pools. The fact that she was awake confused and relieved him. She had soap stone in her hand, working the lather onto her body with such fervor it was clear to Baharsh this bath was about more than physical cleanliness. Breathing a sigh of relief he turned back to the watcher, who was again twitching his nose. Meeting Baharsh's eye, he gave a wry chuckle.

"I thought the little human would need soap stone since she arrived here with, well nothing. I grabbed some from my pack and brought it to her. I was distracted by her battle scaring and forgot your warning. My hand brushed hers when I handed it to her and I caught a furious round house kick with my face. I backed away quickly to show I had no designs to touch her again and she calmed relatively quickly. Her size is deceptive, she has great power."

At the watchers last statement, Baharsh could only smile. He felt it better not to correct him on the cause of her scars either. The demon standing next to him had no idea how much power her tiny frame held. But Baharsh also sensed in the watcher the same inexplicable reaction he had had to the woman, and felt it best to not risk telling him the truth.

Content that the woman was still safe, Baharsh returned to the fire to find one of his scouts had come in for dinner.

"..tell you, I don't know what happened but they are in an uproar. A portion of the building just collapsed and there are searchlights all over the sky and the ground. Part of the building is burned to ash and they are still pulling bodies out of the rubble. I don't know who The General is searching for, but clearly it is not an enemy to be taken lightly. I could here him barking orders and screaming in rage!"

The company looked at Baharsh, eyes wide at what the scout had just told them and he knew he needed to finish the tale of what he, or rather the woman, had done. At least his appearance would add credibility to Baharsh's story he thought as the scout continued.

"When I left it looked like they were gathering dogs and breaking into search parties. It appeared more were heading East but by morning we will likely hear them coming this way and...."

The scout suddenly stopped talking, appearing to be frozen as he stared straight past Baharsh to the back of the cave. The rest of the company was also looking past him, the only sound the crackle of the logs and the sizzle of the meat cooking over the fire. Baharsh followed their gaze, not surprised to find it was locked on the woman. He realized her skin was not as browned as he had originally thought, though at the moment it had a deep red tone; she must have scrubbed it nearly raw. As they looked on, the watcher approached her cautiously, laying a square of fabric that would serve as a towel a few feet from her and backing away, refusing to break eye contact or turn his back until he was well out of range of her foot. As he noticed the rest of the company looking at him confused, he merely smiled and twitched his nose.

Wrapped in the material, the woman regarded every member of the company carefully. Baharsh was amused to see a few of them squirm under her gaze. As it came to rest on the scout, Baharsh was sure the poor demon was going to faint. She cocked her head to the side, studying him intently and Baharsh was surprised to find he loved it when she did that. He wanted to tell the poor scout to close his mouth, but found he didn't want to be the one to break the silence.

"You are Darminian, correct?" Her silvery voice echoed in the cave.

Startled, the scout snapped his jaw shut, shuffled his feet nervously and gave a barely perceptible nod.

"I find myself in a position that only you can assist me with", she continued. At this the scout furrowed his brow, confused and slightly scared.

Darminian's are considered lesser demons due to their size. Tall by human standards, their musculature greatly pales next to a full warrior demon. This caused them to be abused by the warriors for generations and unaccustomed to politeness or respect. Baharsh was the first commander to consider their worth as scouts and asked the High Commander to allow him to train one. He was almost laughed out of the court, but the High Commander trusted his judgment and allowed him his experiment; now every company had at least one. This particular scout was small for a darminian, making him the perfect infiltrator.

"Would you happen to have a spare set of clothing I could trouble you for?"

Almost hypnotized, the scout moved toward his pack, his eyes only leaving the human to move his hands through his supplies. Darminians were not accustomed to being respected at all, but especially not by humans. Shortly he produced a clean under shirt and trousers, then looked at with Baharsh with such embarrassment and nervousness the commander thought the darminian's head would explode.

Switching to the native demon tongue, the scout squeaked, "I am unsure of human custom; do I need to supply her with... undergarments?"

Baharsh realized it was a fair point, even as others of the company chuckled at the thought. He was unsure as well, and even more unsure how to ask. Thankfully for him, his second in command had no such problems. With a booming laugh he turned and faced the woman.

"He wishes to know if you require his under bottoms!" the demon informed her, much louder than was necessary, Baharsh felt.

The right corner of her mouth twitched into the almost half grin he had seen in the compound, and Baharsh silently thanked his second in command double.

"No, just the shirt and trousers will suffice. Thank you." Though she responded directly to the scout, he would not have known as in his embarrassment he refused to look at her. In an effort to ease the awkward silence, and likely due to some kind of protective instinct, the watcher removed the folded clothing from the scout and, setting them on the same spot he had set the towel, backed away. For the first time it occurred to them all it was not proper etiquette to look upon a naked woman, and all eyes suddenly were very intent on whether or not the meat was ready to eat and who would do the honor of serving it.

As she approached the circle, finding a stone to sit on a little away from the others, Meikosh regarded her intently. Once she had seated herself, he moved over to the supplies, selected a fairly thin rope, measured and cut it just past arms length, and maintaining what he deemed a safe distance, held it out to her. She merely stared at him. Unsure what to do she looked at Baharsh inquisitively, but Meikosh spoke before him.

"While Kanol is closer in size to you than any of us, his clothes still hang on you. This is to help hold them on", he explained.

With a nod as understanding set in, the woman reached out, taking the opposite end of the rope. As the watcher had, Meikosk backed away a good distance before circling back to his seat at the fire. As she threaded the rope through the material and synced it tight Baharsh was reminded he had no idea when she had last eaten. He was suddenly very thankful for the chunk of meat currently being sliced and served. The watcher brought a flask and drinking horn, filled the horn and set both in reach of the woman, taking a seat near her but not necessarily close to her. Before any of the demons could chastise him she took a decent pull off the horn, savoring the bitter taste and shooting a grateful glance at the watcher.

The demons sat stunned; they had never seen a human drink heilock so easily. Distilled from roots herbs, it was similar to a spiced wine but with an extremely bitter taste most humans did not find palatable. It had many uses, depending on how diluted it was. A fresh, undiluted batch could send a demon into a three day hallucination. As a travel beverage, it was merely a thirst quencher with a little bit of natural pain killing property. It would help the humans body, but he was unsure what effect it would have on her brain.