Chapter 170

Chapter 170: Chapter 170

Long, slow hours dragged on as the night grew late. The servants had long been dismissed and no dinner was had.

Kath’tan had been slowly losing his patience and his sanity, no longer caring about Dulce’s request. But he exercised impressive restraint regardless, a crumpled piece of silverware on the table next to him.

Asael was the first to break, warping right from the table. Dulce wasn’t the kind to go against his promise to return for so long unless something had gone wrong.

Without a word, two other figures flashed after him. All three had been to the witch’s shop before so they appeared right inside, taking in the carnage at roughly the same time.

"Dulce!" Kath’tan was immediately on the move, searching through the ruins of the shop.

Asael did the same but much quieter, dissipating into black mist.

Ruoxi didn’t move from the main shop, waiting for the unsurprising news. Dulce couldn’t die, if they had been attacked then the Vampire had been taken by whoever orchestrated the attack.

He slowly walked deeper into the shop, broken glass crunching under his feet. There was little to be seen in the store except a little basket of rotting fruit hidden behind a counter that had somehow survived the battle. He studied it quietly, sweeping his gaze around the shop once more.

"Dulce isn’t here," Kath’tan was the first to return, the Fiend was a roiling ball of energy, it almost seemed like he would start hopping in place to expend some of it.

Asael materialized from nothing, "Neither is the witch."

"Dulce wasn’t attacked," Ruoxi said calmly, "Something likely happened to the witch and he found a way to go after her."

His gaze was lowered to the fruit basket so it naturally drew the attention of the others. They made their way over, also coming to the same conclusion after seeing the basket of fruit.

"That still doesn’t give us an idea of where Dulce is," Kath’tan gritted his teeth.

"Searching for your little summoner, are ya?" A familiar figure said from the door.

The old man who had chased them off the last time they were in Fairwyn stood bent over at the door. His eyes seemed to have lost their ferocity and he could barely keep himself from trembling.

He had lived long enough to see a Demon or two, but those were unaffiliated, uncontracted Demons paying a brief visit to Earth, yet they hadn’t been as dangerous as the trio of Demons in front of him.

Despite being bound by a contract, there were barely any restraints on them, three deadly stares pinning him down to where he stood. How the Demon-addled witch kept getting herself into these scrapes was beyond him.

Silence greeted his question, although the Demons had made a show of deferring to their summoner the last time their paths crossed, he instinctively knew that if he displeased them, he would lose his life.

He fought the urge to take a step back, "I saw him go into the shop hours ago but he didn’t leave." He gathered the courage to say. "Moira got herself into trouble again, this time with a troublesome Vampire coven."

The information about the witch was barely processed, their only concern about her was that she held some importance to Dulce.

"How do you know he didn’t leave?" Asael asked.

"Well... well..." The old wizard blustered, self-conscious about admitting that he had been watching. "I didn’t see him leave is all. Moira is smart despite her strange interests, she put down a teleportation spell tied to her. So your summoner is likely with her at this very moment."

"Tell me more about the Vampire coven." Asael handled the conversation.

Kath’tan was ill-suited to do so and despite Ruoxi’s elegant mannerisms, the Incubus was insane.

The old wizard regained some of his composure when it seemed like they would listen to what he had to say. "An unscrupulous coven with ties to Marlen, I hear they’re led by Aguilar the mage."

A trace of impatience showed on Asael’s face, despite the human’s generously given information, they were still not much closer to finding Dulce. "Where can they be found?"

The old wizard scratched his bushy beard, "I have no idea. Vampires are a monstrous sort, it would be foolhardy to approach them."

Asael wasn’t surprised by this answer, expecting it. He turned away from the old man, addressing the other two. "Let’s pay the Vampire Queen a visit."

The old wizard didn’t hear what was said before the trio of Demons vanished from his sight. A furrow appeared on his brow after they left, immensely worried about Moira. She was brilliant but certainly no match for such powerful creatures.

-+-

Aylin was seated in her study, elegant red nails tracing the stamp over a delicately designed letter. She was without her crown and her veil for the first time, her white-blonde hair down around her shoulders, it softened her features, making her look much younger than she actually was.

Her red eyes narrowed when the door to her study opened without warning, going on high alert when she took in her unlikely visitors.

"To what do I owe this unwelcome visit?" She asked coldly, her back straight despite easily being outnumbered. In truth, even if only a single Demon had made an appearance, she would still be outnumbered.

"Where is Aguilar’s coven?" Asael asked without pleasantries.

Aylin’s red eyes held suspicion, "I’m the Queen of Alderth, not Vampires. How do you suppose I’m expected to know?" She sneered, her dislike for the Demons immeasurable.

"Dulce was taken by them," Ruoxi said without hesitation, not beneath using the Vampire Queen’s feelings for his own gain.

Aylin shot to her feet, her pupils shrinking in rage. "They did what?"

"Where are they?" Asael coldly cut into her explosion, wrung completely dry of patience. Earth was unfamiliar ground for him, he disliked having to rely on others, especially for something so important.

"Hmph," Aylin snorted, lifting her nose in disdain. "And why would I tell you? Out of my way, I can rescue Dulce by myself just fine."