The Prince of Demons

Ikol was giving me his large pouting eyes because he did not understand why I swat him so suddenly. I sighed, as I knew the idiot likely forgot to stop calling me Chef; I gently pat his head which made him perk up. His being simple minded has its benefits. The dragon looked like he was debating protesting the fact we were both standing on him, but the smarter portion of his brain stopped him. I wasn't sure how likely he was to try something stupid; for now it would be smart to keep an eye on him. Thinking of the new moron I had, what was his name? Or do I let Ikol determine a new nickname for him? It was tempting to see what Ikol came up with for calling our new ride. Maybe not excessively antagonize my new transportation until I was more justified in doing so?

"Yes Chef?" the dragon checked, clearly uncertain given my reaction.

"Good enough as far as you're concerned." I conceded. Ikol was now looking at me with massive begging eyes.

Then why did you swat me? Ikol whined mentally to me.

I was annoyed you called me Chef again but realized you had a point after. I am sorry; I was out of line. I apologized to Ikol. Ikol tilted his head sideways, making his ears flop over.

But Chef is Chef. Ikol pointed out. Why did his brain store that piece of information? I guess the Lords had a sense of humor on what he could remember.

"So, other <Sentinel Lord>, what's your name?" the dragon probed cautiously.

"First off, what is your name?" I inquired. The dragon looked bitterly at me.

"Zagzin." Zagzin answered, clearly fighting the urge to sigh.

"What should I say, Chef?" Ikol checked. Good muscle head; he was learning.

"Ikol." I replied. Ikol did a happy little trot.

"The idiot reject of King Miril?" Zagzin asked like the question had slipped out.

Huh. I felt this dark sensation bubble up inside me upon hearing that. Reject? Ikol deflated a bit, which made the feeling worse; I glared at Zagzin who looked terrified at the moment. Ikol may not have been the brightest, but to call him an idiot reject? I began attacking Zagzin, mercilessly slapping his head back and forth a bit. Zagzin looked perplexed as to why I was swatting the shiza out of him as he tried curling up into a small ball which only motivated me to attack him harder. This weakling was looking down on my prime muscle head? His uses may be narrow, but Ikol is vastly more useful than you. I manifested <Mana> on my claws so they would be a bit sharper as I continued my assault of Zagzin as I increased the strength of my swings. After a solid two minutes of attacking, I finally paused to glare at Zagzin a bit more.

"Do not insult Ikol. Ikol is more useful than you are, ride. Repeat that statement ever again and I will rip out your tongue." I snarled at Zagzin.

"Yes Chef." Zagzin whimpered, looking like a bloody mess.

Thanks Lux. Ikol told me mentally.

No problem. I assured Ikol with a nice pat on his head.

I motioned for us to get off Zagzin so he could stand up and heal. How was Ikol a reject? I mean, he was not the deepest thinker, but he was talented at <Reinforcement> and other <Techniques>. I almost felt like attacking Zagzin some more as I thought about it; he sensed my irritation and began healing even faster. Ikol was sitting at attention, doing his tail salute as he waited for the next order. Zagzin took an unacceptable amount of time healing as I was glaring at him. He better not heal this slowly a second time. I motioned for us to take off, and I used <Waypoint Compass> to verify that Zagzin was taking the proper path towards Elijiah as he began flying. Ikol was closer to his head, admiring the scenery as we were now moving faster across the plains. This definitely is saving us some time. I still had my doubts on whether we would find shelter before night fell.

For a moment I switched to <Cartographic Projection> to attempt to gauge how large the plains were again. I am awful at reading this. Maybe it would have been smart to ask Orga or Ipnerslei how to properly gauge distance with this <Spell> as all it gave me was our relative position and distance. There is probably some method to it. The wind rushing around us as we flew felt nice was about my only consolation currently. Ikol seemed to be enjoying himself as his ears flopped in the wind. The last thing I need is Miril beating the crap out of me for him not having a good time. I glared at Zagzin again; insulting Ikol was counterproductive to what I wanted. Luckily, Ikol seemed to have already forgotten the entire incident. Zagzin sensed my annoyance and began flying a bit faster.

We maintained that flying pace until the sun began getting a bit golden. We need to find dinner and shelter. Zagzin looked tired as well. We shouldn't fly our ride to the ground. I tapped Zagzin, which he correctly interpreted as the land command. Good winged lizard. There was a small cluster of trees here at least. Cluster was generous; it was three trees that grew next to each other, but there was a shade and cover beneath them. Or some cover at least. Zagzin sprawled out, panting heavily from flying for hours straight. Absolute weakling acting like he was better than Ikol. Ikol already bounded away to hunt us dinner like the good muscle head he was. That is how you be useful, Zagzin. Ikol didn't even need me to remind him anymore to go hunt me dinner.

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"See, Ikol is quite useful." I snapped at Zagzin.

"I'm sorry I insulted him, Chef." Zagzin apologized. I leered at him a bit more.

"You better apology to him if you want to eat." I snarled. Zagzin looked annoyed, but didn't voice whatever entered his head.

"Yes Chef." Zagzin sighed. We'll work on that attitude; it should be closer to Ikol's blind enthusiasm.

Before I addressed that matter, I used <Waypoint Compass> to look for water. It pointed straight down as I suspected it would. I sighed, as I remembered Nil's explanation on wells. I am never telling him his nerdiness came in handy, or that I accidentally paid attention once or twice. I cast <Searing Beam> to drill a hole straight down, which caused quite a bit of dirt and clay to fly up. Was there a neater way to do this? I wasn't sure. Zagzin looked at me curiously, clearly not understanding what I was doing. After letting the <Spell> work for a few minutes, I checked my hole, measuring the depth with a <Reflecting Laser>. Nil, I hate how useful your random knowledge is. Stupid Reincarnator cheater knowledge. I needed to be about fifty feet deeper, so I resumed digging with <Seering Beam>. I let it work for another five or so minutes to make sure I was deep enough this time. Now that I had the depth right, I used my <Magic> to cast a basic <Thrust> to create a bit of motion. The water followed my <Spell>, launching a small vertical column I could drink from. Zagzin was staring at me in awe.

"How did you do that? How did that find water?" Zagzin asked, sounding like he was questioning what his eyes were seeing.

"Basically there is always going to be water a certain depth beneath the surface. All I had to do was make a hole deep enough to reach the drinkable portion and use <Thrust> to shove a column up." I explained. Was it perfectly clean? Not overly, but it was drinkable as far as we were concerned. Nil would filter it more, but he's scared of some nonsense called germs. Zagzin didn't need to know that part.

"Where did you learn that?" Zagzin inquired in a tone like I blew his mind.

"That's for me to know." I deflected. Zagzin had no need to know I was from Tenebrae.

"Where on Phestia did you learn that?" Zagzin pressed. I stared at him debating if he needed a few corrective swats.

"Nowhere." I answered truthfully. Zagzin looked bitterly at me, but did not press the matter further.

"I understand." Zagzin sighed. No you don't, but that makes this fun. Part of me wanted to attack him for the sigh, but that was a little too much like Miril for my tastes.

"Do you know how to cast <Thrust>?" I checked as I didn't need him to dehydrate or starve as we traveled.

"Yes Chef." Zagzin confirmed. He cast <Thrust> to shoot a column of water up and drank some.

"I'm back!" Ikol announced, carrying numerous voles in a <Light Net> behind him.

"I'm sorry I insulted you." Zagzin apologized immediately. Hmmm, was that enough of an apology?

"Okay!" Ikol chimed right back. I didn't think that was sufficient, even if Ikol was okay with it.

"Apologize better." I ordered Zagzin. He looked between Ikol and I, not grasping if Ikol was alright with it why I wasn't.

"I am deeply sorry that I called you an idiot. I was wrong and should have never said it." Zagzin tried, hoping it was a sufficient apology.

"Better." I directed him again. That last one was fine, but I'm annoyed.

"I committed a grave sin in stating you were not adequate and desperately implore you to forgive me." Zagzin groveled. Ikol looked confused.

What's a…aduh…adequate mean? Ikol sounded out to me mentally.

He's apologizing for saying reject earlier. I informed Ikol. Ikol cocked his head to the otherside.

Didn't he already do that? Ikol checked, clearly not following.

I made sure he did a better job. I explained with a nod. Ikol looked pleased to learn that.

Chef is the best! Ikol cheered mentally.

"I accept your apology." Ikol confirmed while Zagzin was looking at me.

"Thank you." Zagzin replied. You are still nowhere near done suffering, Zagzin. Not that I was going to inform him of that. He should figure it out soon enough.

We then proceeded to eat dinner. I rationed them out, but did make sure Zagzin had enough so he'd be good to fly us for even longer tomorrow. Ikol caught quite a few in a short window; he is an adept hunter. The voles were surprisingly delicious, which was not something I was expecting. I still prefer fish, but being in the plains may not be that bad as long as the weather holds. I was a bit uncertain how Ikol would handle sleeping under the trees, but hopefully they were enough for him. Ikol launched himself a massive column of water, opting to just stick his head under it and open his mouth rather than try to delicately take some off. Zagzin looked at him and then me. I leered right back at Zagzin while Ikol shook his head to shake off the water. Night was beginning to set in as the sun was long over the horizon now, with the temperature noticeably dropping.

"Come on, we need to sleep. We have more ground to cover tomorrow. Don't try anything dumb Zagzin, as you will regret it." I ordered after a few more moments.

"Yes Chef." The two of them said in unison.

Zagzin walked over a bit before curling up and laying down. I laid by one of the trees, not overly minding sleeping on the grass. Ikol came over and wedged himself between me and the tree before laying down. Hmmmm. Do I let this slide? Ikol was looking at me a bit uncertain, keeping his ears drooping while silently begging with his eyes. I suspected he may have issues with sleeping out in the open, so this was not entirely unexpected. I moved over a little bit so he had more space; Ikol's face lit up as his ears perked up as he readjusted. He laid with his paws tucked beneath him as he was situated between the tree and me, secured on at least two sides.

Thanks Lux. Ikol told me mentally. Now he could remember my name; I wasn't going to press it as Ikol was very hit or miss with that.

No problem. I replied as I laid my head on my paws and began drifting off to sleep.