'An odd combination,' thought Pawn, noticing a sign which displayed the image of both a hammer and a shoe. It was hanging above the burning building's door, indicating the presence of both a blacksmith and a cobbler.
Pawn repeated her previous detection spell, this time focusing only on the small building in front of her rather than the entire village.
The magic quickly pulsed throughout the building, overwhelming whatever had been previously blocking her spell.
This time, her map clearly displayed 3 bright red dots, though no further information was visible, even at this distance. They were located slightly below ground, in the building's basement.
Pawn hesitated a moment before proceeding into the burning building, retracting her wings as to not burn them. She also withdrew an item from her inventory which would allow her to quickly escape if necessary, a small bronze feather.
She knew that she couldn't take three demons in a fair fight, however, she wasn't worried about that, only the fire. Even without the feather, she could still summon any number of pay-to-win style items via her storage magic, thus, any fight against her was far from being a fair one.
'Was it really a demon that had such beautiful detection-blocking magic, I wonder' thought Pawn. It was the only thing she could think of as she made her way through the building.
Pawn quickly found a hidden staircase leading to the basement, already having known where to look for it due to her detection magic.
The celestial proceeded down them, into a large room that hadn't yet been reached by the fire. Though it wouldn't be long until it did so.
Sitting at the opposite end of the room were three figures. The first, a woman with purple eyes, black hair, and grey skin, she held a strange black knife, carved from obsidian. The other two individuals were a pair of twin girls who hid behind the woman, one on either side. The twins appeared to be around the age of six or seven while the woman appeared to be around thirty.
Their true age, however, was a mystery, as the physical age of spiritual beings was linked more closely to power, and mental maturity, then it was to the time they had actually spent living.
All three wore matching bracers, and all three had burn marks covering much of their bodies, likely caused by celestial magic, or celestial silver, as fire, and even molten rock, did little to most demons.
"That stupid useless muscle head," mumbled Pawn, in regards to her arrogant superior's previous words.
The woman gave her a confused look, probably meaning that she understood the words Pawn had just spoken.
"I-" began Pawn, about to ask about the magic which had previously hidden them, but soon noticed what was sitting on the table behind the woman, and fell silent.
On the table was a 'feather of fleeing,' an emergency item possessed by all celestial who invaded the demon realm, the same item currently held withing Pawn's hand.
The feather of fleeing would allow safe passage for whoever held it, to any destination within a certain range, so long as it met certain conditions.
'So they managed to kill a celestial and get their feather, eh?' Pawn thought with admiration.
Combat orientated celestials, in general, were many dozens of times stronger than combat orientated demons, all other factors being equal. What, other than respect, could she feel for a warrior who survived such fearful odds.
"I'll be debriefed using magic after this mission is over," she began, "I'll have to report your existence to the others... but I can wait for one of you to use the feather if you like."
"My task is just to find your location, not keep you here," she added.
Even at this point in time, Pawn wasn't as fanatical about demons as the others were. She truly didn't really care if any of the three escaped, though it would be a shame if it were the one who knew the magic.
Her comment, and her uncaring attitude, earned a weird look from the apparent mother of the two.
The demon gave a long stare before she began to speak.
"...I only have the one feather... I can't choose one over the other," she said in a solemn tone. She glanced back at the two children as she mentioned them. Both hugged her tightly as they glared at Pawn.
"You could leave them behind and save yourself," suggested Pawn, just to see how the demon would react. She had rarely gotten to speak with demons in the past, and she felt she could use this chance to understand them, just a little.
"How very celestial-like of you," replied the demon, forming a scowl on her face.
Pawn smiled genuinely at that, and then she felt something, something she had tried to repress for centuries. It was her nature as a supporter, encouraging her to help.
She began laughing hysterically upon feeling the urge. She laughed until tears formed in her eyes.
It was a laugh of joy, at finally finding someone who would undoubtedly accept her help, as well as a laugh of self-depreciation at that person being a demon.
She could go against her aspect and be a traitor to her race, or aid the demons and be a traitor to her race.
After calming herself down, and wiping her eyes, she extended her hand and offered the demon her own feather of fleeing.
"I... barely managed to notice you as I was searching the area," Pawn said softly, "you magic is... quite beautiful."
"I'll... give you this, if you tell me how your magic works," she added, "but I only have the one feather."
The demon in question looked utterly shocked at the suggestion.
"I can give them healing, as well," added Pawn, indicating towards the burn marks on the children's bodies.
Cautiously, the demon extended her hand and retrieved the feather from Pawn's open palm. She then offered one feather to each of her children, hugging them both before having them to teleport away.
Pawn felt truly satisfied with herself for the first time in centuries.
Pawn awoke to find herself hugging her crunchy pillow tightly. She threw it to the side before finding a more comfortable position in her bed.
She observed the demonic-looking bracer on her wrist, a gift she had received from the mother of the two children, and then she smiled, not regretting a thing.