Chapter 44 (44) Never Thought I’d See You Again, Linie: 05

The demon camp was calm. Too calm for a place filled with creatures that most humans believed existed only to kill and destroy. Tents stretched across the frozen ground in neat rows, their canvas walls dark against the white snow. Fires burned at regular intervals, casting orange light on the faces of the demons who sat around them. Some sharpened weapons. Others sat in silence. A few simply stared into the flames, their expressions blank, their thoughts hidden behind eyes that did not blink as often as human eyes should.

If a traveler stumbled upon this camp and did not look closely, they might assume it was a human troop camp. The demons looked exactly the same as humans, after all. Same faces. Same builds. Same way of moving and talking and existing in the world. The only difference was the horns. Curved horns. Straight horns. Short horns. Long horns. Some were dark, some were pale, some were marked with ridges and lines that told stories no human would ever understand.

Without the horns, they could walk through any city in the continent and no one would know the difference. That thought was perhaps the most frightening thing about them.

The demons were preparing for the invasion. Supplies were being sorted. Weapons were being checked. Small groups gathered around their leaders, receiving orders in low voices. Some of their faces were blank, showing nothing, revealing nothing. Others were confident, almost cheerful, as if the coming battle was something to look forward to rather than something to fear. None of them looked worried. None of them looked hesitant. They moved with the ease of creatures who had done this many times before.

A female demon with black hair and a single long horn walked through the camp. Her steps were light, almost silent, though the snow beneath her boots should have crunched with each footfall. She moved between the tents with purpose, her eyes scanning the area, noting the positions of soldiers, the placement of supplies, the readiness of the troops. She was not tall, but she carried herself like someone who expected others to move out of her way. And they did.

She approached a tree at the edge of the camp. The tree was old, its branches bare, its bark cracked and gray. Snow had gathered on its lower branches, weighing them down, but the tree did not seem to mind. It had stood here for decades, maybe centuries, and it would probably stand here for decades more.

Beneath the tree sat a demon.

He was extremely tall. Even among other demons, who were often taller than humans, he stood out. His height was the kind that made people stop and stare, not out of fear, but out of simple disbelief. How could anyone be that tall and still look comfortable sitting on the ground?

He had long, light colored hair that fell past his shoulders, pale like straw in winter. Two horns curved out of his head, medium in length, pointing straight up like twin spears. His teeth were slightly pointed, visible when he smiled, which was not often. His nails were dark and sharp, more like claws than fingernails.

He wore a long, dark colored tunic tied at the waist with a leather belt. Over the tunic, he wore a short, high collar black coat. The coat was adorned with epaulettes on the shoulders, gold and ornate, and a large circular buckle at the neck that caught the firelight and threw it back in small flashes. Beneath the tunic, he wore light colored pants and dark boots that looked sturdy enough to kick through a wall.

A scar ran across his right eye. It was old, faded, barely visible unless you were close enough to see the way the skin had healed unevenly. Whatever had given him that scar had come very close to taking his eye.

The female demon stopped a few feet away and bowed her head slightly. "Rivale sama," she said.

The tall demon looked up. His eyes were calm, measuring, the eyes of someone who had seen a lot and forgotten very little. "Selena," he said. His voice was low, smooth, the kind of voice that did not need to be loud to be heard. "What news do you bring?"

Selena straightened. "The Orden troops have hired two mages."

Rivale's expression did not change. He picked up a small stone from the ground and turned it over in his fingers, examining it like it held the secrets of the universe. "Is that so?" he said. "Well, I trust you to deal with them."

Selena paused. She looked at the ground for a moment, then back at Rivale. "Actually," she said, "I have something interesting about one of the mages."

Rivale stopped turning the stone. His fingers went still. "Hmm," he said. "I am listening."

Selena stepped closer, lowering her voice even though there was no one nearby to overhear. "One of them fought the Commander in a spar."

Rivale's eyebrows rose slightly. "An elite warrior fought a mage?" He let out a laugh, short and sharp, more amused than mocking. "Did that mage lose spectacularly?" He tossed the stone aside and leaned back against the tree. "Mages and their arrogance. They always think their spells make them untouchable. Then a warrior gets close, and they remember that they are just flesh and bone like everyone else."

Selena shook her head. "Quite the opposite," she said. "She outclassed him."

Rivale's smile faded. He sat forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his attention fully on Selena now. "Ho," he said. "Now that is interesting."

Selena nodded. "What is even more interesting is how she fought."

Rivale tilted his head. "Oh?"

"She summoned an axe made of mana and fought with him. Hand to hand. Weapon to weapon. No spells. No tricks. Just skill."

Rivale paused. His fingers drummed against his knee, once, twice, three times. "Huh," he said. "I did not expect that." He looked up at the bare branches of the tree, thinking. "Though, it is nothing special. Summoning weapons is rare, but not unheard of. Any mage with enough control could learn to do it."

Selena waited. She knew what she was about to say next would change his mood completely.

"And she is a demon pretending to be a human."

The camp seemed to grow quieter. Even the wind, which had been blowing steadily all day, seemed to hold its breath.

Rivale's eyes narrowed. His fingers stopped drumming. He looked at Selena, then through her, at something far away that only he could see.

"How old was she?" he asked.

Selena shrugged. "Around one hundred, I think. Maybe less." Her voice was indifferent, as if the age of a demon who had disguised herself as a human and walked into an enemy camp was not particularly important. "She hides her horns under a cloth. A turban. It is not a bad disguise, but anyone who knows what to look for would notice."

Rivale leaned back against the tree again. A smile spread across his face, slow and wide, showing his pointed teeth. His eyes gleamed in the firelight.

"Ho," he said. "Ho, ho." He laughed again, but this laugh was different. This laugh was warm, almost joyful, the laugh of someone who had just been given a gift they did not expect. "Now this is something I am looking forward to."

Selena bowed her head. "I thought you might say that."

Rivale stood up. He was even taller standing than he had been sitting, his shadow stretching across the snow like a dark blanket. He looked out over the camp, at the demons preparing for battle, at the fires burning in the darkness, at the hills beyond where the human army waited.

"A demon fighting for humans," he said. "Pretending to be human. Hiding her horns." He shook his head, still smiling. "I have seen many things in my life. Many strange things. But this is new."

Selena watched him carefully. "What do you want to do?"

Rivale looked down at her. His scarred eye caught the firelight and seemed to glow for a moment. "I want to meet her," he said. "I want to see her fight. I want to know why she is doing this." He cracked his knuckles, one by one, the sound sharp in the cold air. "And if she is interesting enough, I might even let her live."

Selena raised an eyebrow. "That is generous of you."

Rivale shrugged. "I am in a good mood." He looked out at the hills again, toward the human city, toward the camp where a demon in disguise waited for a battle she probably did not fully understand. "Selena."

"Yes?"

"Keep watching her. Do not interfere. Just watch. I want to know everything she does before we attack."

Selena bowed. "As you wish, Rivale sama."

She turned and walked away, disappearing between the tents, leaving Rivale alone beneath the tree.

He sat back down, picked up another stone, and began turning it over in his fingers. His smile did not fade. If anything, it grew wider.

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"Linie," he said to himself. "What a strange little thing. Never thought I'd meet you again."