NOVEL NEXT Book 10 Chapter 1
Joan sat up, her eyes wide. She was covered in an icy cold sweat, leaving her blankets damp. Her heart couldn't stop pounding and she was panting despite her efforts.
The nightmare had been horrible. She thought she was done with those, but she swore she could still feel it. Fire enveloping her on all sides, her body melting away as she screamed. The Inferno God crushing her in its unstoppable grip. Everything hurting. Everything miserable. Everyone she knew screaming, dying, unable to stop it. Joan gave a soft whimper and pulled her knees up to her chest, struggling to will herself to calm down.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd had one of those nightmares. She hoped this wasn't a sign she was getting sick. Penthe had only just arrived and she doubted the Guide would let her help at all if she was brought low by a bit of illness.
Joan groaned and slowly crawled out of the bed, walking to the window. She shoved it open and let the night breeze wash over her. She could practically taste the sea in the air. It was dark, but the courtyard had a few torches still lit. She could barely make out an outline of one of the guards, slouched against the wall. Falling asleep on duty? Oh, they'd get in so much trouble in the morning.
It'd probably be a while before the sun rose and for now she just listened to the sounds of the nearby sea, enjoying the darkness. No screams. No begging for mercy. No cruel laughter of a vicious, vengeful god. No suffering.
The world was safe and she didn't need to worry about it anymore. She took another slow, deep breath. The breeze was cool, but not so cold as it make her miserable. In fact, she felt pretty happy at the moment. Relieved.
She glanced back towards her bed but shook her head. After that, there was no way she'd be able to go back to sleep. Not like this, at least. It was times like this a part of her wished she had brought her dolls with her. She'd never tell anyone, but it was oddly comforting to just hold her dolls tight whenever she'd had a nightmare. Like somebody else was close. She could probably talk with Bauteut about it, or even Qakog… but she buried that thought down almost immediately. Telling them she had a nightmare and needed a hug just felt silly. It wasn't like any of them ever had moments like that…
Well… maybe. But even if they did, it didn't make it feel any less dumb. She slowly walked back towards her bed and laid on top of the covers, closing her eyes. At least--
She heard a light thump from outside. So quiet she likely wouldn't have heard it at all, if not for the fact the window was open. She strained her hearing, trying to hear it again.
Joan almost believed it was her imagination before she heard it a second time. A light thump from outside. Slowly, she got to her feet and made her way to her window. She peered outside, but didn't see anything. Was it just her imagination? Late night--
Another light bump. Softer than the others. Below. She narrowed her eyes and cast the spell she'd learned from Bauteut so long ago. The world became more clear, if less colorful.
There it was. She could, just barely, make out a bump on the side of the building. Climbing up it. Were they making their way to this window, or to another? She couldn't tell.
What she could tell was they were good. They moved cautiously. Slowly. Almost blending in with the side of the building. When they were still they were practically invisible.
Joan didn't think she was seen, but there was no telling how long the figure had been there. She glanced back towards the guard by the entrance. Had they fallen asleep, or had they been knocked out? Possibly even killed?
Joan slowly moved back deeper into her room. She held out her right hand before pausing. Did she want the armor as well? Summoning her sword was easy, but ever since her little adventure under the sea it now came with thick, black armor. She wasn't sure she could move quietly with it. The element of surprise might be what she needed most.
But if this person was after her, then the second or two it took to summon her sword could be all they needed to finish her. She quickly weighed the pros and cons before silently making her way to her bed and adjusting the covers, making it bunch of before she slid back against the wall. She activated her enchanted ring, the shadows wrapping around her and hiding her from sight.
Then she waited.
It felt like hours passed. Every so often she could hear a light bump from whoever that person was. A light rustle. Barely any louder the sound of the sea, even as distant as it was.
But then a hand reached up and gripped the edge of the window sill. Joan suppressed the urge to gasp. There were claws on that hand. Then the figure climbed in through the window and it was only due to Bauteut's spell she could make out enough of them to realize what they were.
Demon.
Her heart felt like it was pounding as the figure crawled into her room. They then paused at the foot of the bed before glancing around, then, slow as could be, walked towards the door.
So they weren't after her. That was better. What wasn't good, however, was that they stopped by the door and reached out, stroking a finger along the joints. Then they began to, silently, pull the door open. Not a creak from it.
Joan had seen this before, assassins. Who knew how to get in and out, to try and kill her when her guard was down. The door was slowly opened…
And Joan summoned her sword to her hand. Black armor coated her body moments before she slammed into the demon with such force the door slammed shut, then cracked and finally splintered, sending them both down to the ground.
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Well, if nothing else this armor packed a lot of force. She hadn't even known it could do that, she just figured slamming into somebody with armor was better than doing it in her sleepwear. Both she and the demon were stunned for a moment, but she recovered first. She pushed off, narrowly avoiding the demon's claws. They turned red eyes on her before pulling out a small, glowing red crystal in their right hand and stabbing it at her.
Joan shrieked and rolled back, narrowly avoiding it touching her. Oh, she'd seen one of those before and she DEFINITELY didn't want to get hit by it. She didn't know what spell was stored in that crystal, but it couldn't be good. "ATTACK!" Joan yelled. "DEMON! IN THE FORT!" she yelled.
The demon hissed and lunged at her, but she caught their chest with both feet and managed to launch them up and over her, slamming them into the back wall. They dropped to the ground a moment later, scrambling to get right-side up. Joan tried to get to her feet as well--
She wasn't fast enough. Even through the arm she felt the demon's hand wrap around her ankle and the crystal shatter. A moment later she was enveloped in flames. She didn't dare move, even breathe. She could feel the heat through the small vents in the armor, almost enough to seer her. Then, as quickly as it started, the fire turned blue and the demon let out a startled, angry howl.
The ground beneath Joan gave way and she shrieked, falling to the floor below, ash floating around her. The flames gathered up around her sword. Before she could think of much else, she felt searing pain in her thigh. She let out a pained scream and tried to kick the demon away, their claws having pierced through the armor. Why did it always have to be the GOOD assassins? Why couldn't she get one that couldn't cut through metal so easily? Worse, she could see the demon was covered in burns, but it was like they didn't even care. They just--
Then their head was gone.
"O-oh," Joan said, blinking a few times as the body crumbled to the side. The head wasn't cut off. It was just gone. She wasn't even entirely sure what happened.
Penthe stood over both of them, wearing her silver and green armor. She held a glowing red poleaxe in hand. While Joan couldn't see her face, she could imagine she was quite angry looking. She kicked the body aside, tearing the claw out of Joan's leg and making her cry out in pain.
"Joan, remove your armor," Penthe said, kneeling by her. "NOW!"
"W-what?" Joan asked.
"Joan?!" Bauteut yelled and she could hear heavy steps above. "Where is she?"
"Down here!" Penthe yelled. "Joan, remove your armor, now. Before it spreads."
"S-spreads?" Joan asked before blinking a few times. She looked down, but the armor had already closed up. It was fine. Everything was fine. It just hurt a lot.
Then searing pain shot through her other leg and she shrieked, seeing a knife in Penthe's hand that had been used against her. "YOU STABBED ME!" Joan yelled.
"GET RID OF YOUR ARMOR!" Penthe yelled
Joan whimpered, but did as she was told. The armor crumbled and--
Penthe grabbed the leg the demon had stabbed. "Bauteut, get down here, now!"
"I'm coming!" Bauteut yelled.
Penthe then tore open the wound further, yanking out small, red spheres. She then clasped them tightly in both hands before crushing them. Dark red smoke flowed from between her fingers and she shook her head. "Quickly, extract the venom!"
"I-I'm protected f-from poisons," Joan said weakly. A moment later Bauteut was by her side, skidding to the ground next to her.
"You are?" Penthe asked.
"Hold still," Bauteut said before reaching out and placing her hands over the leg. "This is going to hurt for a while, but it's going to be okay. Joan? Are you okay?"
"I hurt," Joan said softly, a few tears welling up in her eyes. "B-but I'm conscious and nothing is broken, I think."
"Good, good," Bauteut said. "Just stay with me, okay? Don't fall asleep. Just focus on me. What was that?"
"Eruption pearls," Penthe said. "They were going to turn Joan into a little volcano."
"Did you have to be so rough when you took them out?" Bauteut asked.
"Would you rather lose her?" Penthe asked.
"I was just asking," Bauteut said. "Who was that? One of yours?"
"No," Penthe said. "Possibly one of the Demon Lord's, but not one I'm familiar with."
Joan let out a shriek as more sharp pain shot through her leg. Then, a moment later, it was like her leg had been dipped in ice and she could barely feel it. She collapsed back against the ground and moaned. "O-ow… I… I don't want to do this anymore…" she whined. "I-I'm tired of almost dying…"
"You're not going to," Bauteut said. "Just hold still, Qakog?"
"Yes?" Qakog asked, making Joan jump. She hadn't even noticed him arrive.
"Help me get her up," Bauteut said. "We're taking her to the infirmary. She should be fine, but I don't want her sleeping here."
"W-where's Chase?" Joan asked softly. "I-I think they were here for him."
"Of course," Penthe said bitterly. "They come all the way for a Chosen who isn't even here now. Keep her safe, I'll make sure there aren't any more of them."
"Good," Bauteut said before reaching over to grab her arm. "Qakog, you get the other arm and hold her other leg. Careful of the wound."
"Yes ma'am," Qakog said before, gently, moving opposite her and bending down to scoop her up.
Joan stared up at Bauteut. "I… feel like I am having the weirdest day," she whispered.
Being carried by the demon who had so long ago tried to kill her whenever they met… and saved by Penthe, the woman who had, until recently tried to kill her whenever they met.
"It's barely even started," Bauteut mumbled. "Can you please try to save any near death experiences until after we've had a full night's sleep?"
"No promises, but I'll do my best," Joan said sheepishly.