Alongside those who are sinful.

Chapter 20

A chill ran through Kasma. Dietrich's back was to Kasma, and he did not stir for anything. He was merely staring at the wall in what Kasma believed was some sort of trance.

The Thrask looked down to his claws and then back up to Dietrich.

"The only way that Krisch'a's ward would disappear is if she was not alive to maintain it. If he was gone, and has only returned after we slept, then she must be dead." Deduced Kasma, internally.

There was something decidedly unsettling about how the man sat in utter silence, having snuck into the cellar without a single word or announcement.

"You will not see the demon unless he comes to your door." Thought Kasma. Dietrich was as silent as a mouse and only made sure you knew he was there if he wanted. But regarding demons, Kasma's schooling as a child was filled with religious teachings and magical monikers alongside the usual arithmetic and natural sciences.

He had always had his doubts about the gods and their actions. Kasma was not certain if any of those stories were true from a young age, having found to have been a fast maturing young male. However, ever since Dietrich and his company had appeared, he found himself second guessing his previous stances.

It had been a long time since he had opened the Book of Chirae to read about the heavens, the hells, and the various gods. But there was always one portion of the book which he had remembered.

There was a passage about a time that would come in which the order of the world would descend into chaos, and that the Thrask would have their mettle tested and their resolve shaken.

The demons of the hells would roam freely and unopposed, and only those who walked in Chirae's light would stand in the end.

Dietrich was apocalyptic, and Kasma knew it.

His technology. His weapons. His own self. Everything about the man described what was in the book. The very book which was written way too far in the past for it to be just a coincidence. Dietrich was exactly what the book warned about.

"But then why would a demon seek to help me?" Asked Kasma. Dietrich harbored much hate inside of him for a myriad of beings. But Kasma knew that he himself was not one. Even after making Dietrich mad, he did not lay a finger on him.

Kasma thought about saying something. He thought about speaking up and letting Dietrich know he was not the only one awake inside the cellar.

He did not speak up, however. There was too ominous a feeling surrounding Dietrich and he did not want to garner any unwanted attention from the man.

And so, Kasma leaned back as quietly as he could and then rolled over, drifting back into the slumber that he had awoken from.

XXX

When Kasma woke up in the morning, he was greeted with the orange candlelight that normally brought him into the realm of the awakened.

Bring his hands up to his eyes, Kasma rubbed them and freed them of the hardened debris that formed in the eyes during sleep. He leaned up, looking over to see that the desk was empty. He looked over to Dietrich's bed, finding that it was empty along with all others besides Sehth'ker.

She was sitting over in the corner of the room, eating a piece of meat. Once they locked eyes, her brow raised and she stood up.