Page 92 of Demon Bound

The other men hesitated. They looked less eager to attack Azreth than they had last time. This time, they had other enemies to deal with, and they seemed exhausted already. If they could barely handle that thing Azreth had just killed, it was doubtful that they wanted to try their luck against a demon.

“Lady Han-gal,” Adamus said, a note of relief in his voice. He glanced up at Azreth as if he was considering greeting him too, but he didn’t.

“You’re with the Paladins again, I see,” Raiya observed.

“They needed my help.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Have you come to help, too?”

“Obviously,” Madira said.

Raiya gave Adamus a sympathetic look. “We’re going to the castle. I’m going to fix this.”

As a few of the Paladins went to tend the dead man’s body, one of them looked suspiciously at Raiya. “You must be joking. You expect us to trust a demon?”

“Whether you trust us is of no importance to me,” she said. “Just don’t get in our way.”

“The castle is where the beasts are coming from, as far as we can tell,” Adamus cut in. “I don’t know how or why. We’ve been too busy fighting the ones already loose in town to investigate it.”

“I thought you were all working with Lord Han-gal. Now you’re working against him?” Raiya asked. To her surprise, the Paladins looked a little sheepish.

“There was a… misunderstanding,” one of them said.

She realized she recognized the man who’d spoken. He’d been there in Ontag-ul when Nirlan had attacked her. “It didn’t seem like a misunderstanding when you all were mashing my face in the dirt.”

The man’s face reddened. “Your husband told us you were a witch. It looked like he might not have been wrong.” He jerked his head at Azreth. “That monster of yours killed half our team.”

“After you attacked us!”

There was another distant screech. Some of the Paladins broke off from the group to hunt the source of the sound, swords and torches raised. The rest of the Paladins began murmuring to each other behind Adamus. They were eyeing Azreth as if they were still formulating a plan of attack.

“Right now, we both want the same thing,” Raiya said. “Can we make a truce? Don’t stab us in the backs, and we’ll return the favor.”

“I didn’t agree to that,” Madira said under his breath. Jai elbowed him.

There was some murmured discussion between the Paladins before one of them turned to Raiya. “We’ll honor your request for the sake of overcoming this greater evil. For now.”

“How generous of you,” she said, unable to hold back the sarcasm. Azreth could have killed all of them. Their cooperation was merely a convenience. “Keep yourselves safe. We’re going to the castle.”

“I’m coming with you,” Adamus said. “We have to stop whatever is bringing them here if we want to finish this. Otherwise, they’ll just keep coming.”

Raiya glanced up at Azreth to see if he would object. He frowned deeply, but said nothing.

“Very well,” Raiya said, starting toward the castle. “We could use the help.”

“What is your plan?” Adamus asked.

“There isn't one, other than to find Nirlan, find out how he’s done this, and see if we can undo it,” Raiya said. “We can’t be sure what we’ll find when we get there.”

“Ah. Good,” Adamus said. “Walking into a den of demons with no plan and only three swords. Again.” She shot him a look, and he gave her a wan smile. “Kidding. Sort of.”

“Not just three swords,” Raiya said. “I have a weapon. And Azreth has…” She waved to all of him demonstratively.

“Raiya knows the layout of the castle,” Azreth said. “She knows the rune magic used for this kind of summoning, and she knows our enemy. She will lead us to victory.”

Raiya blushed, not certain she deserved his confidence. She could imagine Nirlan’s voice very clearly, suddenly.You? You couldn’t be relied on to lead a household, let alone to lead anyone into battle.

Adamus nodded. “I’ll do whatever you think is best.”

She took a few deep breaths as they started up the path out of the town, up the slope to the castle. “I am grateful to have you with us.” She turned to Madira and Jai, too. “All of you.”

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