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Shindzha’s eyes grew wide as she woke and saw me before her. Of course, she was disappointed to discover it was only a projection, which I had to spend time explaining, but I think it gave her reassurance that I was there in any form.
“At any rate, I won’t be able to physically approach you until we sort out this demon core issue. It isn’t naturally part of you. Someone implanted it in you, and your old lord is the most logical suspect. It may be the path through which he attacked me.”
She wore a perplexed frown as she looked down at her chest.
“I don’t understand, Mistress. Is there truly a demon core inside me?”
“Can you not sense it?”
“No, Mistress.”
I concentrated on it, and found I had to work hard to see it. I realized that my [Fairy Sight] was penetrating a stealth spell.
“Oh, I see,” I nodded. “It’s concealed with magic which must be powerful enough to block your own vision, so you can’t sense it. We won’t meddle with it for now. Removing the stealth would probably give you a stronger demonic signature, and leave you even less able to hide yourself.”
After contemplating the problem for a few moments, I added, “That’s why you were in a dark cave even though you were hiding from a Dark affinity monster. You found you weren’t strong enough to hide from him out of the shadows. Your stealth is a Darkness spell, right?”
“My [Demon Cloak] doesn’t work anymore, Mistress. I’m only able to use Darkness spells for stealth now.”
“Mm. What are your affinities?”
“Darkness, Aether and Earth, Mistress. But I only know a few spells.”
“What are your attack spells?”
“[Shock], [Aether Bullet] and [Earth Bullet], Mistress.”
I had never heard of [Shock], but I was willing to guess it was the spell she’d been about to hit me with when I first appeared.
“All level one spells,” I guessed, since the ‘Bullet’ spells were.
She looked embarrassed. “Yes, Mistress. I learned no higher magic outside of Demonic spells.”
“Still, it’s a good selection,” I mused. “You should be able to do well with just that much.”
Kiki tired of amusing herself with my permeability, and now flew over to sit on the hellspawn’s shoulder. She looked at me and declared, “Kiki protect!”
I frowned, not sure if I should rely on her.
(“Trust her,”) the goddess advised. (“She’s serious about it. And pixies have a thing about promises.”)
“Alright,” I nodded to my ‘little sister’, then returned to Shindzha. “Let’s talk about what you will do now. We’re going to change up your strategy.”
She wilted slightly again. “You don’t want me scouting for Miss Hiléa anymore?”
I shook my head. “Don’t misunderstand, Shindzha. You’ve done very well. But you are in danger here. You ran into someone who could see through your stealth and now that pooka has your scent. He is clearly eager to find you and score points with his mistress. So I want you out of here.”
<I don’t like this alternative though,> I groused inside while pursing my lips.
(“She’s ideal for the job, and she’s eager to be of help, as you saw just now.”)
I looked away from Shindzha, studying the surface of the standing stone while acting as if I was considering my words.
<I could do this myself!> I thought furiously at Rhea.
(“Absolutely not,”) the goddess replied bluntly. (“We aren’t going to risk having you use this technique anywhere near a superior demon. They are blood magic masters, and blood magic gives him a potential avenue of attack on you.”)
That was the first I had heard of it. I frowned.
<Then isn’t Lhan in trouble when she gets up there?>
(“Fan Li and I had a long discussion about that. What Lhan is using is an alien technique adapted to this world’s order. It’s based upon blood magic, but it is of considerably higher rank than any blood magic this world knows, and it combines it with alien concepts of spiritual energy and Will that are foreign here. What you are using is a stock blood magic spell that your enemy should be well familiar with. They are entirely different things.”)
I sighed, disliking it but understanding I didn’t have sufficient knowledge to argue with the goddess or with the venerable Fan Li.
I lowered my vision to gaze at the hellspawn girl, then told her, “West of this spot by twenty miles, and South by nine miles, is the location the expedition is trying to reach. It’s a mountain peak in that rough location. I will check on you regularly as you travel there ahead of everyone. Your job is to get out of this territory and proceed there without being spotted by your old lord, who is likely waiting for ambush for us. I want you to see what he has in store there for us and report back.”
She wilted slightly as she heard that last line.
“Kiki, I’m asking you to hide her until the daylight is fully faded, then help her leave this place in that direction. Get her out of this valley before the moon rises. Can you do that?”
It was the waning crescent. They had most of the night to get out of this place without moonlight. Being a magic forest, there was still quite a bit of mana-active plant light, but between the twilight fading and the moon rising would be the darkest period tonight.
“Easy easy, Big Sis!”
I returned my smile to Shindzha. “I’ll check on you regularly. Get there and stay out of sight. Remember that the enemy is waiting in ambush, so they won’t be easy to spot.”
“Yes, Mistress,” she replied firmly. She appeared to have revived quite a lot. Having a clear purpose gave her energy, I guess.
I nodded to her, then ended my projection. It was time to go find ‘Miss Hiléa’, the prior incarnation named Lhan.
The distance from Shindzha to Lhan was less than three miles, but I didn’t need to ‘fly’ there. The [Blood Presence] spell could change locations instantly, since I wasn’t literally moving anything.
I had to look around once I got there though, in order to actually locate her. And people would see me, once I appeared, so I stayed invisible to search for her. When I couldn’t find her, I gave up and formed my image near Lady Serera.
“Your Highness!” she greeted me with a smile. “This is quite a projection spell. Vampire magic?”
I nodded. “It is. I came to speak to Miss Hiléa.”
“She’s visiting the Lady of the Red Tower at the moment.”
That took me by surprise. “Have you managed an alliance with her?”
“More of a truce, My Lady,” declared the graying man crossing over to join us.
Serera nodded at General Kosto’s words. “She was able to convince her to allow our mages to check her fairy followers for parasites.”
I raised an eyebrow at Serera, because I understood that to be a Faerie secret, but she explained, “I briefed him and the Royal Champion because we have to do something about Domerà’s fairies. Alwain seems to have seen something matching the description of parasite progenitors in them.”
“Alwain can see them?”
I had been told that a fairy knight hosting a progenitor had freely gone before the Fairy King and other powerful entities without detection, until I blasted her with [Purification] and drove it out of her.
Serera shrugged. “She said she saw something Demonic. It can only be one thing.”
“Visitors incoming!” called a sentry. Serera and I both turned to see the approaching group.
This time, the Apsara did not have her firebird mount. She was simply riding a mass of Wind. A fairy followed her with a human mage in her arms. Lhan was using her [Water Step] technique to trot alongside.
All around the camp, people watched them approach while holding their weapons nervously, but she had not arrived with an army, and our people were with her, so nobody took aim.
Serera stepped forward to meet her. I joined her.
“Greetings again, Lady Alwain,” Serera greeted her as she landed.
“We meet again, Lady of the Red Tower,” I stated.
Alwain gazed at me, grew a faintly puzzled look and glanced at Lhan, then back to me.
I smiled and noted, “Our signatures do seem rather similar.”
For just a moment, she looked like she wanted to retort, but then she seemed to think better of it. Instead, she held up a magic stone.
“I have chained one of the parasites your emissary warned us about within this stone. I shall study it myself. It seems that only one of my fairies became infected with it.”
Serera nodded. “The Fairy Queen is working on a means to prevent infection. I shall ask her to send word of it, once she has success. In the meantime, has Hiléa told you why we were seeking an alliance with you?”
Lhan had led the human mage back to our side by this time. I signaled for her to join us.
Alwain raised an eyebrow, looking at the two of us again as Lhan approached. I am told that those who can perceive the auras of souls rather than simply reading mana signatures can tell that Lhan and I are one soul. It’s weird that Alwain can probably accept that claim more easily than I can.
<I assure you, she is. I’ve met her in the Tea Pavilion before.>
<You’ve met her in the what?>
<It’s a place modeled on Fan Li’s world that we use to gather and discuss things.>
And just like that, the strange world of my prior incarnation became that much stranger. They gather for tea?
“My Ladies,” Lhan greeted us with a Dorian bow. “Everything proceeded peacefully.”
Serera nodded in return, then returned her attention to Alwain. “So, are you convinced?”
“Not to the extent of considering you friendly,” she answered. “You remain trespassers of my territory.”
I answered, “We only wish to pass through. And to deal with some rebels who are bothering you. You do know they have been poaching monsters from your territory, don’t you?”
Her eyebrows knit. “It’s true that many from our fringes are missing. I sent my scouts to look for the reason, and one of them came back describing your company.”
Serera smiled. “A pooka, perhaps? I caught a naughty little pooka spying on us, many miles back.”
I chuckled. “He probably won’t be seen for a while. He seems to have earned the ire of some pixies.”
Alwain’s brows knit. “Tuck would not be that stupid. I don’t think he would be, anyway.”
“While looking for one of our scouts, I observed him fleeing from a trio of them,” I explained. “They seemed quite intent on punishing him over something.”
The Lady of the Red Tower looked baffled. Well, that was fine. It’s probably a good thing to have a hidden card when dealing with an ancient and dangerous entity.
I told Lhan, “Speaking of your scout, I’ve sent her ahead, so she won’t be reporting to you for some time. I’ve instructed her to proceed to your destination to check for ambushers.”
Lhan nodded, looking a little surprised. Perhaps because the invalid in the castle was taking the initiative? Hard to say. Well, it wasn’t me, anyway. It was Rhea’s idea.
Alwain was staring hard at me, as if trying to read my mind. I worried about that, mindful that certain entities in this world could do exactly that.
“I’m returning to my side to investigate this creature,” she stated, holding up the magic stone containing the parasite. “Will you come along with me? If that’s the spell I believe it to be, it should not be dangerous for you.”
(“Not necessarily true, but I don’t think Alwain is a blood magic user,”) the goddess mused. (“I think it should be okay.”)
