KEEL THE DEMONSLAYER

17 - A Terrible Secret

After all, I wasn't alone in that accursed mission...

After the great fire that razed that city, I headed north, very upset. I slipped between places filled with demons until reaching a barren, rocky gorge. A few days of walking in that place left me without food, water and almost hopeless. It seemed impossible after so many battles, that I would die of hunger and thirst. I was very weak and fell.

That's when Balcatemi shook. I tried to get a hold of it, but it was difficult to control. She escaped me glowing and flying upwards. Then it penetrated against the rock wall. I watched two other bright spots appearing below, forming a large equidistant triangle. And there on the other edges the Scarlet-Bright Staff and the Lava Axe materialized. The rock wall transformed into a watery, revolting mirror of magical energies. Figures crossed the portal.

For a moment, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. I saw the staff of Shasticara and it brought back painful memories of her death. I was exhausted and about to faint and my vision was failing.

"Drink this, Keel" said a friendly voice. Then they also gave me food. My strength slowly came back. The night came and we sat around a campfire. I was anxious for answers.

"Midrakus sent us" said the big, stout elf that now carried the Shasticara's Staff.

"We have come to assist you in fighting Vormostat" said one of them with a horrible voice. I knew it was not an elf, and neither a human. He removed his hood revealing his identity. It was a demon and I reacted by jumping to my feet.

"Mardihk?" I stared at the demon.

"Yes elf, my master is aware of Vormostat's threat. So I'm here to help..." he drew a sarcastic smile and then laughed "Hee, hee-hee, hee".

"I will not fight beside this filthy demon!"

"Filthy, you say?" Replied Mardihk "I could say very bad things about someone who slaughtered an entire town, burning its inhabitants. Being infected or not! Now elf, leave your hypocrisy aside and let's get into it, shall we. Vormostat's spread is growing and discussing virtues will not solve the problem".

"Unfortunately, he's right" the big elf nodded.

The other elves agreed, each carried Hostenoist weapons—the Lava Axe, the Scarlet Staff and Dwerdro's hammer. However, they were not a team that looked belligerent. They were very thin.

"Are you all wizards?" I asked.

"Yes" said another hooded elf "we are the Crimson Five. I'm Three".

The big elf said, demonstrating pride "I'm One".

Two was quite young and said "we renounced our names, past and identity to serve the great Midrakus".

"Let's go Keel" called Five, who was the bearer of the Scarlet-Bright Staff "we will open a portal, because there are cities to purify".

"We need to weaken Vormostat before attacking it in its nest" One revealed

"Do you know his location?"

"Yes, the old human eastern city known as the City of the Sun, by the river Sasha".

"I've been there many years ago".

"But for now, we face smaller challenges" One suggested.

We summoned the portal, Five, Four and I using Hostenoist's triplet weapons.

After months, we succeed in the elimination of peripheral foci of Vormostat's infestation. It was time to confront him in the City of the Sun. It had more than one million inhabitants and it was a major focus of the human resistance against the demonic hordes. We estimated that more than half of the inhabitants were infected. It was a huge city and impossible to burn. Its stone buildings and network of aquifers would certainly block the spread of flames. We had to think twice about what to do.

We Infiltrated and saw the new cult of the masked Gods, who served as generals in the war, demonstrating superhuman powers. Under the command of these new Gods, the human armies were strengthened, driving Duke Vetzla's hordes off the region.

We found out that we were not the only ones who knew about the infection. Former City of the Sun generals and priests linked to the Temple of Fire, were banned in the new government had discovered the existence of the new demon, about which little was known. However, they knew that people who were possessed slowly and gradually became pyrophobic. We made an alliance with the City of the Sun's resistance and fought against Vormostat's advance. Unfortunately, we could only diminish his advance.

Years passed and the fighting against Vormostat seemed useless. Our focus was to prevent contaminated ships from leaving the place. We couldn't let the infection spread. So we burned countless ships, over and over. Legends grew about elven pirates that appeared on the deck of ships, plundering and destroying. Awards had been put on our heads, but we came unexpectedly, and could flee easily, thanks to summoning portals.

On one occasion, we captured woman with extensive infection. We took the creature to a parched and barren region. We tied the woman to a stump and put a circle of flames around her. She cried out in despair, at first. Then worms emerged from her mouth. Her voice now changed so something supernatural, mocking us. She was possessed by the consciousness of Vormostat.

"Ha ha ha, your asses! There is no way to stop us!"

"Monster!" I said "don't underestimate us! We will destroy you".

"Ha ha ha. It's just so fun; you're so naive. We'll assimilate you, sooner or later. This world is ours, ha ha ha. Our, ours, ours!"

"We'll see" I torched the infected woman. The poor creature writhed and begged for her life as soon as Vormostat gave her mind back.

"I wonder if we really stand a chance."  Young Two muttered in dismay.

"Vormostat is extremely self-confident" Mardihk said.  "and this is his main weakness in addition to the vulnerability to fire".

"According to reports from Groto, Midrakus' librarian, there were a few cases in which a world managed to escape Vormostat's assimilation".

"Damn!" My nerves were on edge. I was angry, tired and frustrated. "Come on, we need to find a way!"