While Erwand did not show it, Lilynn was sure that he was indeed happy with travelling by a demoness. She was sitting next to him in the front of the carriage, enjoying the view of endless crop lands everywhere she looked. It was almost harvesting season, and the plants were already tainted in a golden color.
Meanwhile, she kept asking him about alchemy and potions.
"So you make potions? How do you do that exactly?"
"I follow an ancient book that was once my father's. He taught me a lot about while he was alive, but… not everything."
Lilynn nodded. She knew what it was like to be without parents – she was abandoned at a very young age, which is why she ended up as a servant for most of her life.
"I bet that's what you have all those items for in your carriage," she said.
"Yes. And I sell them, too. This is my life basically."
Erwand smiled while saying it. Despite all the hardships, his smiles seemed to be genuine.
Lilynn suddenly became aware of distant noises getting closer. It was the noise of horses galloping.
"You hear that too?"
"No."
Of course not, she realized. This must be one of the traits she gained when the Demoness put her back into life.
"Riders are coming," she told Erwand. He nodded, and pulled out a telescope from his belt, looking behind them.
"I guess they followed us."
By "they" Lilynn had already guessed who. The people of the village where her body originated from were coming for her. Erwand stopped the horses and jumped down to the ground. Lilynn followed him.
"I need you to get something from the inside the cart for me," he said as he went to the carriage's back end and opened the door. "You are smaller than me and will find it easily."
Lilynn nodded. She assumed he had weapons for hostile interactions ready in a secret corner. But as she got in, the door behind her closed and locked.
"Hey!" she shouted.
"I do not want you to be harmed. They are here because of me. Wait here."
"That's not even true! I am from their village!" she argued, but Erwand was by then further away, awaiting the riders.
Lilynn could hear them approach and then stop in front of the cart. By peeking through the small window of the door, she could see the events perfectly. In the middle of the rider group, an old man with white beard trotted forward. He was probably the eldest of the group, and he did not seem happy. He started to talk to Erwand furiously:
"You scammer! Do you have no respect for the dead? Give us back our Tori, or we will take her away from you, along with your head!"
"Why do you want it so much? She's already dead. Cannot do anything to undo that, not even with alchemy. Sorry" Erwand shrugged.
"You fool! Do you not know what she has to be buried ritually to get her eternal rest?"
"That's not a thing."
"Hand her body over, or we will end you!"
"I feel like you will end me both ways."
"You are greatly outnumbered. If you fight us you are dead."
As much as he was weird, Lilynn had to acknowledge that Erwand was a devil with words. Even in this situation, he managed to put a smug smile on his stubbly face.
'I am the one who has to help him and not the other way around,' Lilynn realized. 'Cannot let such a unique weirdo die to a group of angry grandpas.' She was no longer a weak girl, but a powerful demoness! Her demonic self was eager to come out and hurt the riders. It was a terrifying feeling, but Lilynn had to try to control it. She reached for her power deep inside, and let it flow through her body for just a second. Black markings that looked like scars appeared on her arms.
With a fraction of her power, she broke the closed little door out of its lock. She stepped out and faced the riders.
"I heard that you are looking for me."
At first, the riders looked confused, but then gradually realized what they were seeing. She felt their gazes at her red eyes and markings.
"Tori…" their leader gasped. "What did he do to you?"
"Nothing. I am not Tori. She is gone. I am Lilynn, who does not want to harm you. Now, leave us."
The riders did not seem to understand the last part. They instead pulled out their swords and spears.
"Give me my daughter back, you demon!" the old leader shouted and aimed his sword at Lilynn. She stood still. She knew that she was supposed to be terrified, but deep inside something was telling her to stay and fight. Erwand backed up towards his carriage but also took a worried glance at Lilynn.
"Is this going to be okay?" he asked.
"I hope so."
The old man charged her with his horse galloping. He was quite close when Lilynn closed her eyes and opened them again. At her hands was a dark blade growing out of her fingers, radiating with dark, smoky energy.
The old man struck with his sword, and so did Lilynn with her hand blade. The two went past each other. However, the old man's right hand with the sword in it fell to the ground.
Only then did he realize what she did to him. He started to stroke his wrist which no longer had his right hand on it. The others stared at him in shock, and then at Lilynn.
"Mo-monster!"
"Demon!"
"We need to get out of here!"
They backed up and started to gallop to where they came from with great speed.
Lilynn let out a deep sigh. That was pretty easy.
"Lilynn, watch out!"
She heard Erwand's words way too late.
The old man was running towards her on foot with a dagger in his left hand. He almost reached her when Erwand managed to throw something on the ground. It was a little ball that immediately let out a large cloud of smoke as it landed.
"Die, demon!" he shouted.
The old man could not see Lilynn clearly but still sliced her arm with the dagger, who hissed in pain. Out of nowhere Erwand's arm grabbed hers and pulled her out of the smoke. The old man was still looking for her in it.
"Are you alright?" Erwand asked, looking at her bleeding arm.
"I'm fine. What do we do with him?" she asked.
"He will never forgive us" Erwand explained. "He will never accept that his daughter is gone while her body is still here, claimed by a demon. He will want you dead. These people would do anything to kill vicious demons, believe me."
Erwand snatched another little ball off of his belt and threw it at the old man. He barely got out of the smoke when it landed next to him, letting out some kind of fumes that made him sleepy. He soon started to sleep on the ground.
"By the time he wakes up, we will be far enough," Erwand said.
"That was alchemy, right? A nice way to get rid of bad guys without blood" Lilynn pointed out. It seemed that Erwand had more tricks up his sleeve than she expected.
"I'll get you some medicine from the carriage," he said, looking at Lylinn's wound on her arm.
However, it seemed that there was no need for that. As Lilynn was holding her scar, the bleeding stopped gradually, until there was none. The scar itself started to heal immediately. A few seconds later the wound completely disappeared from her arm.
"Huh. That's a good skill." Erwand declared with a relieved expression.
They made sure the sleeping man's arm was fully pressed with a rope, so he could not bleed out. They hopped on the front seats of the carriage and left him behind.