Chaos God, page 24
Arlindra and Varian’s footsteps slowed just a touch so that we all walked close together in a small group. Their eyes all turned to me, and they waited patiently for me to continue.
“There are surely many areas of the castle you did not have time to explore,” Ayen said.
“There are,” I confirmed. “I really only saw a small fraction of the castle. Astrid said something about a dungeon, and I would think that more demon guards are probably stationed there to watch over the imprisoned sacrifices.”
“It is wise to get a better idea of the castle’s layout,” Elora agreed.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Okay, so Nestryn agreed that getting the Demon Lord’s heart beating faster would be important to the night lace working. Here’s what I was thinking: I’ll deliver the poison to Ingrid and Astrid, and I’ll fill them in on the whole plan. While I’m there, I can get a better look around the place. I can see how many more guards are lurking about in the dungeons, and maybe I can even find some things around the fortress that will help in this fight against the Demon Lord.”
“What do you mean?” Arlindra asked.
“There’s this huge wrought-iron chandelier in the dining hall,” I explained. “It’s got to weigh at least a few hundred pounds, and it’s hanging by just one rope. If I could get that asshole underneath it and cut the rope, our problems could be that much easier to solve. It might not be enough to kill him, but it would definitely do some serious damage.”
“Do you think there may be other such useful elements to the environment?” Varian asked.
“Probably.” I smirked as I thought back to one of my favorite childhood movies. Home Alone was a cinematic masterpiece, and I was gonna go Kevin McCallister all over that Demon Lord’s ass in his own castle. “From what I’ve seen of castles, they always have some pretty ridiculous features. Things like iron gates in the dungeons, cell doors, and massive and precariously hung chandeliers. I’ll get a good look around and see what I can find.”
“Have you spent much time in castles on Midgard?” Nestryn asked, and his eyes lit up with curiosity.
“Um, sort of…” My mind drifted to my YouTube rabbit holes when I’d spent three days adventuring through random old castles all across Europe through my computer screen. I couldn’t help it, I just wanted a damn castle. “It’s hard to explain. Anyway, after I deliver the poison and have a thorough look around, we’ll wait until the Demon Lord signals for the full moon sacrifice to begin. Two of our best warriors and myself will go in with the intentions of--”
“But you could be devoured!” Arlindra gasped. “We can’t be left without our best warriors!”
“That’s actually not likely,” I admitted. “From what I saw, he prefers his… meals, uh… cooked, so we can assume he won’t immediately devour whoever we send in.”
The group looked alarmed at all of this news, and I quickly continued to avoid dwelling on the cooked human legs I’d witnessed.
“So the other sacrifices and I are going to go in and meet the Demon Lord,” I explained.
“I am confused,” Nestryn said, and his brown eyebrows furrowed together. “What will happen once you are presented to the Demon Lord?”
“Astrid and Ingrid said that the Demon Lord assesses the sacrifices to see where they’d be most useful to him,” I said. “They also mentioned that the bastard has a bit of a temper. I was thinking that if I play it just right, we’ll get thrown into the dungeon. That way the other two warriors will be safe. Then I can shift my form, escape, and go deal with the Demon Lord. While we’re out of the dining hall, he’ll have the opportunity to guzzle down all the night lace poison.”
“I will be going with you,” Elora said, and her eyes steeled in a way that left little room for argument.
But the idea of having Elora accompany me as a sacrifice made my stomach immediately turn into stone. My brain threw a variety of horrific images at me. I saw Elora in chains, cooked in an oven, ripped apart and eaten alive, and many much more horrifying and unspeakable atrocities.
“No.” I shook my head.
“What do you mean?” Elora demanded. “In case you have forgotten, I am a Valkyrie. I am quite capable of handling myself in battle, and I will not sit idly by while others risk their lives on my behalf.”
I could tell I wouldn’t be able to force Elora into staying behind, but maybe there was a way to include her in the plan without putting her directly in front of the Demon Lord. I considered all the facts again, and then I knew exactly what job to give her.
“You won’t be sitting idly by,” I assured her. “You’re just as important to my plan as anyone else, but I have a more important job for you. While the sacrifices and I are being taken to the Demon Lord and then hopefully sent down to the dungeons, I’ll need you to lead a second group of fighters to the front gates and take out the five demon guards I saw there.”
“Hmm,” Elora hummed, and she narrowed her eyes at me as she considered this. “That is a wise plan. Very well, I shall lead the second group.”
“Excellent,” I said.
“Ahem,” Ayen cleared his throat. “And what, pray tell, will be my important job? I refuse to miss out on all the exciting battles.”
“You’ll be with Elora,” I said. “You two work really well together, and I know you’ll watch each other’s backs.”
“Quite right.” Ayen grinned, and he puffed out his chest with pride. “So who will go in as sacrifices beside you, then, Levi?”
“I figured I would wait until we got back to camp,” I said. “And then people could volunteer like they have in the past. I don’t want to put anybody in a position they’re not comfortable with.”
“I will go with you,” Varian declared without hesitation.
“Are you sure?” I asked the brown-haired man. “It’s likely we’ll be sent to the dungeons pretty quick.”
“I am sure.” Varian nodded. “I will do my part to ensure the success of this plan.”
“Alright,” I agreed. “I’m going to trust Ingrid to decide what the best option is for delivering the poison to the Demon Lord. I’ll also make sure to ask her about how the sacrifices usually go. I want to know if he eats before they arrive, or during, or if he takes care of business and then feasts as a reward to himself.”
“That makes sense,” Arlindra murmured thoughtfully.
“So,” I breathed, and I lined up the order of events in my head. “Boil down the poison, deliver it to Ingrid and Astrid and get them on our side, check out the castle a whole lot more, figure out which dish the Demon Lord will consume the most of first, and go in with the ‘sacrifices.’ Elora’s team takes out the demon guards at the front, and anybody else that gets in my way. Meanwhile, my team and I will make sure we’re sent to the dungeons, I’ll shift and escape while Varian and the third sacrifice stay behind to look after anybody that’s still alive. Then I’ll go back up to the dining hall and get the Demon Lord’s heart pumping, the poison flowing, and kill that motherfucker.”
“It sounds so simple when you say it this way.” Varian smirked.
“Yeah, maybe.” I shrugged. “But it won’t be easy, and we’ll need to make sure everything goes in the right order. If the poison gets processed through the Demon Lord’s body too quickly, or too slowly, everything will go to shit.”
“Very good,” Elora said. “I believe we have a plan.”
“A good plan,” Ayen corrected with a chuckle.
“I think so, too,” I agreed.
We continued across the shifting sands toward the camp in silence for a while, and I thought about the mission ahead. I examined the different pieces of our plan from every angle, and I searched for holes and weak points. I couldn’t deny that there was a possibility that the night lace wouldn’t have enough of an effect on the Demon Lord, but I was confident that we could get it into a dish he would throw down his gullet with greed. Perhaps his blood wine would be a good choice. From what I understood, liquid was absorbed by the body faster than solids, and he had poured almost the entire goblet into his mouth all at once.
I didn’t feel as confident about everything as I knew I would once I got all the information I needed. I was itching with the urge to return to the castle and check out as much of it as I could, but I knew that going now would be foolish. I was pretty tired, and I felt the drain of too much adrenaline in my muscles and my mind. I needed to rest and recuperate for at least a few hours before I would be able to shift again. Besides, Nestryn still needed to boil down the night lace into a concentrated poison before I could deliver it to Ingrid and Astrid. There was no sense in trying to return to the Demon Lord’s castle until that was completed, or I’d just have to make two more trips.
By the time we reached the outer edges of the camp, we were wiping sweat from our brows, and we were glad to put our loads down.
Frida came running right over to me, and she nearly knocked me over with her excitement at my return.
“Hey there, cutie,” I chuckled, and I knelt down to give her a firm hug. “I missed you, too.”
Frida trotted over and greeted Elora and Ayen next, and they both gave her friendly pats on the head. My wolf-shark pup circled happily around Arlindra, Varian, and Nestryn as well, and then she raced back into the middle of camp and curled up beside Wyn.
“It appears you had a very successful day,” Wyn commented as he looked over our haul.
“We did,” Elora confirmed as she set her bags down. “Two wild rabbits.”
“A cockerel,” Ayen continued, and he held up the feathered beast.
“Loads of good vegetables,” Nestryn added and plopped rather ungracefully onto a stone seat near the fire pit.
“And the beginnings of a solid plan to kill the Demon Lord,” I declared loud enough for everyone to hear.
“That is very fine progress for a single day of work,” Wyn remarked with barely contained mirth.
“Let us not waste time,” Ylva announced, and she picked up one of the bags of wild carrots. “We shall have a fine meal this night.”
“May I help you with that, Levi?” Goren asked, and he reached for the sack of curly docks on my shoulder.
“Yeah, thanks.” I handed him the bag.
“Will you tell us about your plan, please?” Azariah asked as she helped her sister sort through the bag of lion flowers.
“Have a seat by me, Levi,” Wyn said, and he patted the stone beside him. “Tell us what you have learned, and what you intend to do.”
“Alright.” I sat down beside the old elf, and I hesitated for just a second. “I can help at the same time…”
“You have done quite enough,” Varian stopped me.
“Yes, Levi,” Elion agreed. Then he gazed at the rest of the hunting party. “Let us take over the work for a while.”
There was a note of almost servile obedience in his tone that caught my attention, and as I looked around at the others all bustling to do the work, it suddenly sank in that I really was being treated as the leader of these people. It seemed to come so naturally to them to heed my words and address all of our needs for me.
And it felt good to realize this.
It felt somehow… right.
I smirked a little to myself as I watched Goren, Quintus, Rathal, and Elion take charge of the vegetables and animals. They began to clean the plants and field strip the meats. Sassa and Ylva began to prepare the cauldron with boiling water to make a fine rabbit stew for dinner. Meanwhile, Nestryn held tight to his sack of night lace, and he softly asked if he could borrow Varian’s gloves to prepare the poison. The brown-haired man handed the leather gloves to the botanist and then settled back in his seat.
“Levi,” Wyn said in invitation. “Will you share with us now?”
“Right.” I nodded.
I quickly explained to the group what I had seen in the Demon Lord’s castle. When I got to the part about Astrid and Ingrid in the kitchens, Azariah stared with shock at me, and Goren’s eyes started to shine with tears.
“Mother?” Goren whispered, and he looked desperately at his father. “Do you think it is really her?”
“She was always a phenomenal cook, my son,” Quintus replied cautiously. “If the Demon Lord wanted anyone to prepare his food, it would have been your mother.”
“And Astrid?” Azariah asked, and I could see she was keeping her internal defenses high against the possible hope of her youngest sister surviving. “Was it really her?”
“I’m sure it was,” I said gently, and I looked between the two sisters. “She has the same shade of blonde hair as you both, and she has the same nose as well. Also, the woman whom I’m sure was Ingrid called her by name. So unless there was another young blonde woman named Astrid nearby, I’m certain it was your sister.”
“It sounds like a miracle,” Azariah murmured wistfully.
“And there were others in the castle as well?” Ylva asked, and there was a strange note of hope in her usually sour voice. “Other humans, and elves?”
“Yes,” I confirmed, and then it struck me. The older gray-haired woman I’d seen who looked familiar had the same sour look as Ylva. “Did you perhaps have a sister?”
“My sister was offered up to the Demon Lord many moons ago.” Ylva’s wrinkled face stretched in a deep frown.
“Was the family resemblance clear between you?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ylva gasped. “People would often mistake us for twins rather than sisters four years apart.”
“I’m pretty sure I saw her,” I murmured gently. “She had the same chin as you.”
“My dear Merial,” Ylva gasped, and she clenched her hands together at the base of her throat as silent tears spilled down her face. Then she turned to her husband. “Rathal, do you think it is possible?”
“I do not believe Levi would lie to us,” Rathal said reassuringly. “And you and Merial had a strong resemblance. If he saw a woman who looked like you, it was surely your sister.”
“We must defeat the Demon Lord,” Ylva said with conviction. “We must kill that… that…”
“Piece of shit motherfucker?” I offered helpfully.
“I do not quite know what this means,” Ylva said with the smallest touch of a smirk at one corner of her thin lips. “But yes. Precisely.”
“And Levi has begun to develop a fine plan of how to do so,” Ayen announced with a smug smirk. “Tell them, Levi.”
“I never could have thought of it without Nestryn’s knowledge of night lace.” I smirked at the botanist.
The young-looking elf was deep in thought over a small flat stone and a pile of night lace leaves. He had a much smaller cauldron in front of him on the opposite edge of the fire pit from the rabbit stew. Nestryn drew some calculations with his finger on the edge of the stone and pursed his lips together in thought.
“Night lace, hmm,” Wyn murmured thoughtfully.
“Yes.” Elora nodded. “Levi has come up with a very clever plan.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at the beautiful elf. “So Nestryn is going to boil down the night lace into a concentrated poison. I’m going to bring it to Ingrid and Astrid in the kitchens and get them to add it into the Demon Lord’s feast for the full moon sacrifice. While I’m at the castle, I’m going to do some more reconnaissance and get a better idea about the castle’s layout, how many guards there are, and everything else I didn’t have time to learn about during today’s mission.”
“That is a wise decision,” Wyn said.
“I would have loved to get it all checked out today, but there just wasn’t enough time,” I said, but I kept it to myself that I wasn’t sure how long my shift would last. I didn’t need them to worry about that aspect of the plan. I was confident that I could maintain the shift long enough for each part of the mission so long as I didn’t try to do everything all at the same time. “That place is pretty big, and I didn’t want us to have to travel back to camp in the dark.”
“What will happen once you have delivered the poison to Ingrid and my sister?” Azariah asked.
“I will go in as one of the sacrifices,” I continued.
“But the Demon Lord requires three,” Ylva pointed out. “Who else do you intend to have offering themselves up?”
“I have volunteered,” Varian announced simply.
“I shall go as well,” Azariah declared, and I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
“And what will happen to the three of you?” Elion asked. “Will the Demon Lord not simply kill you right then?”
“No, I learned a fair amount about the way the sacrifices go from listening in on Astrid and Ingrid’s conversation,” I said. “According to them, the sacrifices are presented to the Demon Lord so he can assess them and decide how they can best serve him.”
“Despicable,” Quintus muttered through clenched teeth.
“I agree.” I nodded. “But it’s good for us in this case, because it will get us past the demon guards at the front gate and into the castle without having to fight. Once the Demon Lord decides each person’s value, he sends them down to the dungeons until they can be dealt with.”
“How does being in the dungeon help you, exactly?” Goren asked.
“I can shift into something small to escape,” I replied. “Once I’ve gotten out of the dungeon, I can go back and make sure the Demon Lord has consumed the poison, and then I can get him all riled up to get the poison pumping through his body. Once the night lace is at its most effective, I can kill the beast.”
“What about the other demons at the castle?” Rathal asked. “Did you not say there are guards at the front gates? Surely there are more guards inside the fortress.”
“That’s where Elora comes in,” I said, and I smiled proudly at my beautiful warrior. “She will lead a second team to the castle after Varian, Azariah, and I have been brought to the Demon Lord. Elora and her team will kill the guards at the front gates and provide backup to us if the need arises.”
