The Prince of Demons

Ikol excitedly discussed the different foods we ate at the castle for easily an hour; Miril, of course, refused to let me move from where I was as long as Ikol was talking. Hoggdin remained straight faced the entire time, asking a few questions to keep Ikol going as the situation amused him. Stupid, old dragon was actively enjoying this. Ikol had finished his grand saga of his trip to Tenebrae, looking ecstatic through his recounting; he kept referencing the armor suits which he had apparently ranked depending on how lickable they were when referring to locations in the castle. He ranked them? Ikol created a ranking system and could remember it? Something about that fact greatly irked me as attempting to explain many times that licking the armor was not something he should be doing went in one ear and out the other. Miril finally let me off the ground after Ikol's epic tale concluded. Ikol finished his tale as he admired the casks of syrup he had been given by Nil.

"Can we please discuss the <Journey>?" I requested. Miril glared at me yet again.

"I think Lux has suffered enough, Miril." Hoggdin told her. Miril's eyes narrowed at him.

"No, she has not." Miril retorted with no hesitation. I still do not get why she dislikes me so much. Miril never let me forget her dislike of me.

"Ikol seems to have enjoyed his trip." Hoggdin pointed out.

"Always so diplomatic." Miril sighed as she shook her head.

"Because the Sovereign must be. Not every battle is worth fighting." Hoggdin explained. Miril sighed again but dropped the point.

"You have a point." Miril conceded in a polite tone.

"Boss is so wise!" Ikol chimed from atop his casks.

"Hoggdin does have good insights and experience to share. I will remember them when I become the Sovereign." Miril informed her son. Hold on, what did she just say?

"Can you just say that in front of Hoggdin?" I checked, wondering why Miril was saying that.

"Why not? I am to be the next Sovereign; Hoggdin is simply holding the title out my respect for him." Miril shot back. What? Since when?

"She could hold the title right now, actually. The next Sovereign, if they choose, can allow for a gradual shift between the two. Some of the more hot-headed ones in the past have forcefully and quickly held power but then learned the difficulty of being the ruler. Traditionally a gradual transition is preferred by most involved." Hoggdin elaborated for me. When did Miril acquire that?

"Mama, you beat Boss in a duel?" Ikol probed with a look of amazement.

"I also defeated the other Kings. Remember that, Lux." Miril confirmed with a smile towards her son and a death stare towards me. Great. Just great.

"I see." I quipped. Miril was to be the next Sovereign. The turbo bezka that was Miril would be ruling Phestia in the future; Phestia was soon to be a no-Lux-zone knowing her.

"Mama is next Boss!" Ikol chimed as he seemed elated at the revelation.

"Yes dear." Miril told her son.

"This season of <Journeys> is likely going to be one of if not my last, so I would like it to go smoothly." Hoggdin added on.

"Understandable. I will go retrieve the fox Beastkin and Ipnerslei." Miril replied as she vanished in a small pop. A few seconds later she reappeared with Orga and Ipnerslei.

"Nice to see you all again." Ipnerslei chimed with a bow. You could have come back to save me.

"So, what does a <Journey> entail? I am curious as to what the process is. Would it be possible to research the event?" Orga inquired in thinly veiled excitement.

"It is a sacred rite on Phestia, so you will not be joining them for research purposes to be clear. They will be visiting the different Kings and doing a task assigned by them. It is a time of growth and learning." Hoggdin informed Orga who deflated a bit.

"So, what did we need to discuss?" I probed, not wondering what Orga wanted to discuss as to my knowledge everything had been covered so far.

"There is a <Spell> I made for you to be able to map and see where you've been. It will allow you to map Phestia as well as keep you from getting lost. It has the overwhelmingly original name of <Cartographic Projection>." Orga explained.

"Now that you have pointed that out, I am not sure that anyone has ever bothered to map out Phestia properly. Rough territories and layouts are well known, but precise geography is not." Hoggdin cooed, seeming intrigued by the idea.

"So, you want us to map Phestia?" I checked as Nil's jokes about needing to collect data as we went on our <Journey> popping into my head. No, he cannot be right.

"I would just be interested in your path. No need to map the entire thing." Orga pointed out.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"I think it would be worthwhile even if it is not complete. Depending on how well it works we can teach <Spirit Beasts> before their <Journeys> and slowly complete a total map of <Phestia. What is the <Spell>?" Miril agreed. How many Kings are there? Please not eight. Please, please Lords above not let it be eight.

"How many Kings are there?" I probed, praying to the seven Lords that the answer was not eight.

"There are eight Kings, so there are seven other than Miril." Hoggdin answered. I nearly fell to the ground in despair when Hoggdin said that. Nil, I hate you.

"I see." I quipped, trying hard not to sigh.

The adults either didn't notice or didn't care about my lack of enthusiasm as Orga demonstrated the <Cartographic Projection>, which was surprisingly simple. She gave some long winded, quickly rattled off explanation about how she used some weird <Magic> Krahinn had to retrieve what we saw and create a projection. Most of her explanation was going over my head, so I looked over at Ikol who was looking on in wonder as Orga completely lost me. It was almost admirable the Ikol was capable of looking completely alert and like he was following the explanation as Orga gave the most ridiculously complicated phrasing I think she was capable of. Orga then motioned for us to try it. Yea, how is that going to work? You just spouted a bunch of wait why is Ikol doing it? I felt my jaw go slack as Ikol was able to replicate it flawlessly. Today was awful; I hated it here. How? How did Ikol do it? Miril did a little happy shift, giving Ikol a small lick well done when he proudly displayed the <Spell>. How did this cinder-block for brains manage this? Did I flex some muscle in my brain and poof, it worked? Orga erupted in laughter as I was staring completely dumbfounded at Ikol, trying to grasp what Lord decided they wanted to ruin my day with this miracle. What Lord was so willing to waste their abilities that they decided creating this miracle was worth it? Ipnerslei began chuckling as well as my brain was struggling to grasp Ikol somehow following that explanation.

"What?" I asked. Was I having a nightmare?

"Thank you, fox lady! I could understand that!" Ikol chimed happily. No, it wasn't possible.

"Uh… I… uh… could you repeat that?" I requested. I felt my entire body deflate as my mind was reeling. Ipnerslei and Orga began laughing even harder.

"What is so amusing? Ikol has always been precocious in his own way." Miril growled, not getting their amusement.

"I showed Ikol this <Spell> over two weeks ago just to mess with Lux." Orga confessed. Oh, thank the Lords. I let out a massive sigh of relief which earned me a swat from Miril.

"Do not be relieved over something like that." Miril snarled at me.

"I was questioning reality!" I snapped back to defend myself without thinking.

Miril, being the oh so generous and understanding being she was, decided that the swats of earlier were not sufficient. In a flash, she launched me across the cave. Numerous bones in my body creaked as I struggled to stay on my feet. Just defend. Just had to defend a couple of blindingly fast attacks. Knowing what I had to do and actually doing it were two vastly different things though because Miril was already swinging yet again. Why did she insist on violence? Every time I opened my mouth in a way that mildly inconvenienced her ears it was nothing but attacks from her. I used <Light Blade> to barely defend myself, deflecting her attacks away from me by the tiniest of margins. Miril clearly took offense to my desire to remain unswatted by her, as her speed got even faster as my head was ringing from her latest swipe. Miril pivoted into a back leg kick as I realized the <Runes> on her shoulders were glowing, slamming me into the ground. Did I activate mine? It likely would only annoy her more. It's not like she can get any pettier. Maybe my halos were a better idea, as they stood a slightly better chance of helping me. Shield was a bad idea as Miril would just dribble me like a ball until I couldn't maintain it for long enough. I barely deflected another one her swipes as I was desperately trying to think of what could possibly work against her. I just engaged one, realizing she was suddenly much easier to see.

What? Which halo was this? It occurred to me that I had more than three halos. Since when? Why? Why did the number increase? When did it increase? Miril kept her assault up, but I was able to pivot around her, focusing purely on dodging as I danced around her maelstrom. I knew if I swung back she would make me pay dearly for it. Whichever halo this was, it burned <Mana> at an alarming rate. I felt my body a bit better, going into <Spirit Form> to move a bit easier and conserve my <Mana> as Miril showed little signs of slowing down. I had seven halos at the moment actually. Why were they not in my physical form? What? Why? I moved them around a bit, trying to gauge what each did, but that was an idea for a different time as Miril was having none of that. Miril used one of her tails to throw in a fast spear like stab of light at me, which I barely bent my body around. She finally stopped attacking, looking at me with noticeably less disgust than before. I was panting as my body screamed at me from the exertion, but Miril looked completely unbothered. Just how strong are the adults? This is so unfair.

"Why are you being mean to Lux, Mama?" Ikol whimpered, clearly not grasping why she unleashed such an assault on me.

"Because she just now finally grasped that she's grown and has been limiting her thinking. For once she did well." Miril answered. Was that her version of praise? Hoggdin clearly told her something which earned a glare.

"That joke is still not funny." Miril snapped at him as she walked calmly back over to the group. Oh my body hurt. I quickly began recovering it as I knew if I was too slow recovering Miril would begin attacking again.

"You could also just be honest with her." Hoggdin retorted. Miril bristled up a bit, looking furious.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Hoggdin." Miril snarled at him.

"Is Lux in trouble?" Ikol checked, still sounding upset.

"No, she isn't dear. I was just teaching her a little." Miril told him, give him a light nuzzle. Wait. Were Miril's various beatings her trying to be a teacher?

"Were you beating me up because Orga and Ipnerslei didn't mind Ikol tagging along to my <Magic> lessons?! Those were supposed to be training?!" I cried at her.

"I guess she is not as stupid as I originally thought. I assumed it was obvious originally but who else could teach you how to fight and use the abilities of a <Sentinel Lord>? I am not ungrateful to those that help me or my kin. You've gotten a lot better at the defensive, movement, and a bit of the offensive portion of what a <Sentinel Lord> is capable of; you finally managed to engage the sun halo properly as well. The others should click with a bit of practice against more on level opponents." Miril explained in a condescending manner.

"Why did I have to learn defense and movement?!" I pressed, surprised Miril was not swatting the crap out of me for back talking her.

"Because they are more useful to surviving as getting away is a lot better of a tactic should something go awry. Now that's enough out of you." Miril shot back. That hardly made me feel better. Maybe she doesn't hate me as much as I thought?