The horizon brightened as night drew to a close.Despite lingering stares and suggestive offers from attractive and often inebriated villagers, they remained in one another’s company throughout the night.Eventually, the night-dwelling townsfolk moved towards retirement, and the demons found themselves amongst the last to shuffle towards the Twins’s humble abode just as the morning market stirred.
As the first beam of rejuvenating sunlight touched their faces, Saer turned his nose upward and breathed a deep inhale.The night had been long, but the heat of the day star strengthened him, as always.Though it did prod his memory, and he asked a question he hadn’t thought of earlier.“When did you last see Runeak?”
“Mistress Pain and Misery doesn’t tend to share our philosophies,” Alus said, kicking a stone down the dirt road.“It’s been a minute.”
Saer grunted in acknowledgment.He couldn’t see Wrath tolerating the Twins’ fun-loving nature for too long before she withdrew under threat of tearing their lips off their faces.“Did you see her blood drinkers?”Saer asked.
“Youhavebeen out of the game for a long time.”Alus’s response came quick, but somehow not inflammatory, despite the words.
Saer scoffed.“You could just say yes.”
“Yes.”Arek responded in monotone, though the corner of his lip curled up.
Saer somehow managed to keep his glare in check.“Would either of you like to tell me what else I’ve missed then?”
Arek answered with a non-committal shrug.“You’ve seen the Grandfather’s answer to them.”
“What in the Hells does that mean?”
“You could just say no,” Alus quipped.
Saer punched Gluttony hard enough in the shoulder to numb his knuckles, and Alus’s resulting cackle was instantaneous.“Down, Tiger!”
Arek rolled his eyes but went on as though nothing had happened.“They’re opposite but complementary, much like theDraconicare to us.We keep tabs on them—one of the reasons why we’ve stuck to this village for as long as we have.”
“Keep tabs on what?”Saer growled.
“Elves.They’re called elves.”
Saer stared at Arek, hoping to convey—in his expression—that the words came across as gibberish.
Alus chuckled to the side.“You’re doing it again, Bro.”
“I amnotacting superior.”
“Mm-hmm.”Gluttony looped his elbow through Saer’s and twirled the two of them around.He pointed down the road in the direction they’d traversed from.“You remember that fellow?”Alus singled out the young band member who played the drums periodically through the night, now putting his equipment away.
Saer’s jaw slackened as he recalled.“The pointed ears.”
Alus nodded.“Easiest way to identify them.”
“They work for the Grandfather?”
Arek shrugged, having stopped to watch with the brothers.“Some seem more dedicated than others.We’ve met a handful of fanatical ones.Others don’t appear to have too strong a sense of duty.Though most have an innate dislike of Father’s blood drinkers.Meddlesome more than anything and certainly not a threat physically.”
Saer shot Alus a quizzical look.“You flirted with one last night.”
Gluttony grinned, eyes twinkling.“And she liked it.”
Saer and Arek both rolled their eyes.“What else can they do?”Saer asked.
“You boys carry on,” Alus said, thumbing down an alleyway.“The bakery is opening.”Without further explanation, Gluttony jogged away, headed towards a gentleman well past his prime who’d just begun organizing his baked goods to sell.Before he reached the man, Alus spun on a heel and yelled back, “Behave yourselves!”
Arek waved Alus away, continuing without acknowledging his mirror’s jab.“Elves are faster and stronger than humans.They age slower.Some’ll work to thwart our harvests, though they’re smart enough to realize we could eliminate them with ease.”
“They have souls,” Saer said.He’d seen it the night prior.
Arek nodded.“They do.Though I’ve not met an elf ballsy enough to dedicate themself to one of us.”He quirked a brow at Saer.“Mages come from their lineage, too.”
