I felt sick during the entire time it took us to get to the exit. I even had to land on the roof of a carriage a few times.
only when we finally went out did I feel a little better.
At that time, the moon was already high in the sky and countless stars lit up the night.
The horses that pulled the carriages had foam on their lips as they blew out some small clouds.
Flying above the carriages, I could hear the worried voice of a man. "Sir, the horses will die due to exhaustion if we go on for much longer."
There was a small moment of silence. Then someone else responded. "your right. We need to stop for now. tough its risky. It is a risk we have to take. We will be in much grater trouble if the horses die than when we slow down for a bit."
no camp was set up because most people were already asleep inside the carriages.
I landed about fifty meters next to the carriages.
I leaned against a leafless tree and just watched the caravans for a while.
At some point I overheard two of the guards speaking. They were discussing if it was or was not safe to keep me around.
It didn't surprise me. After all I was pretty easy to spot, even for human eyes. My dark red skin was a strong contrast to the snowy fields and so were my glowing eyes to the darkness of night. It wasn't weird that they doubted the safety of my presence after what they had just witnessed.
It did not take long before the morning came. People prepared to leave again as soon as the sun was visible.
I did not make an attempt to help, nor did I come close. They could handle things on their own, I would only scare them.
However. Something I did not expect happened. Someone I did not know walked up to me. it was a tall man, almost as tall as I was. His hair was long and dark, and his muscles were extremely well defined.
"Hello there demon. I would like to compliment you on your performance back in the stone city."
I raised one eyebrow.
"I personally find it rather weird for you to compliment a demon. Especially after your failed mission.so you must have something in mind. Tell me what you want and then leave me alone."
This man obviously was the one who made it back from the failed missions. He clearly was athletic enough and he did not show any fear when confronting me. Even when he was unarmed.
"Same goes for me demon. You see, I know how demon summoning works and I know the techniques people can use to make demons do their bidding. Those techniques either come with a terrible price or it is in favour of the demon. And if the last one is the case, then it's mostly just the demon using the people that it should be serving. But now comes the part that I find rather odd. You see, those demon are almost never as calm as you and it doesn't seem like the dwarf is incredibly miserable." He glanced at the dwarf who was taking care of one of the horses. "So why don't you go on a rampage now that we are at our weakest?"
I smirked. "The way you put it makes it sound like you have worked together with demons as well. But don't worry. I have my reasons not to kill anyone here."
The man spat on the ground and walked back to the carriages. But I could tell that this wasn't over. He came to me without weapons on purpose. It was to show me that he wasn't afraid and that I should keep my guard up for him. So, I decided to take his warning and make sure that I would always have my eyes on him.
Still, I was irritated with the behaviour of this man. Yes, he probably felt bad and saw that as his chance to redeem himself. But that didn't make him les annoying.
The dwarf had seen my conversation with the man and came to me.
"What's wrong?"
"Just someone being annoying!" I snarled,
"Don't worry. I know him. He is a good guy."
"And I am a bad guy. Guess what good guys do to bad guys."
I punched the tree next to me in irritation. A deep hole filled with splinters was left in the tree due to the impact.
"Come on Gustave. You're not that bad. Yo-"
"You really think that I'm not that bad?! Yes, I am not hostile to the people here, but not that bad? I killed people, I ate people, I have set things on fire and that all without any regret. I could never be someone worth rooting for. So, I use and leach of people that I was too terrified to call friends not too long ago."