User blog:D0m0a/Nothgard: Origins Chapter 3

Demian opened slowly his eyes, and groaning looked around himself, trying to find where he was. The stance was a simple dormitory with the essential for pass the night there, and with the symbols he spotted around the room, knew that he was in a city of the Order.

He soon stood up from his bed, finding himself with lesser robes and bandages covering his chest, soon remembering what happened in Lescatie, remembering how the Lava Golem stroke him in the chest with her lava projectile. Surely after that his men took him to the nearest city of the Order, for later be sent to a bigger city with a better healing equipment for damages as the one he received.

Looking around, Demian soon found a mirror and stood himself there, watching the reflex of himself there, staring it for a time, and with a loud sigh, he began to rip off the bandages of his chest. When they were out, he couldn't believe what was seeing now.

The projectile that the Lava Golem threw to his chest, somehow melted the gold of the medallion, burning is chest where was, and now, at the middle of the burned scars resembling the medallion's figure, was now his purple gem, completely fused with his body.

Looking at it, clenched his hands with anger, and in a outburst of fury, punches the mirror shattering it, some of it's pieces falling to the ground.

“Mirrors are expensive you know?” told a voice of somebody who came in, being a healer of the Order. “You are lucky to be alive! With such a wound one could easily die. Not to mention having a gem in the chest isn’t really healthy.”

He tried to ignore his comment, but he was right about that. "How long I was unconscious?"

"Around a month, sir." The healer said.

"A month?" He asked confused.

"Yes, for a moment we thought that you wouldn't awake. Ever we had to use magicians and healers for maintain you alive during that time."

He didn't replied at the healer's answer.

"Anyway, we prepared something for wear, and when you're ready, go to the meeting room. The Cardinal is waiting you."

Demian turned around to the healer. "The Cardinal?"

"Yes, sir. He wants to talk with you about the situation with Lescatie, sir."

He turned his view to the broken mirror and sighed loudly.

"Ah! Also we're to prepare something for you. You need to eat something, sir." Said the healer, without answer from the captain.

Minutes later Magnus was at the meeting room, eating what the cooks prepared for him, still under the view of the Cardinal who was present there. He was simply waiting until he had recovered enough for began to ask him, but he didn't had the time for wait for so long so he made his question.

"What happened exactly?" The Cardinal asked to him.

Evidently Demian knew that what wanted the Cardinal to know from him and for that came in person, but if that happened a month ago, that was evidently a stupid question. He stopped of eat for a moment and looked at him.

"You already know what happened, his Holiness."

"Yes, but I want to know what happened from your mouth."

He wanted to know what happened from all the points of view, and surely Demian's point was what he needed now. He sighed loudly and answered.

"We were attacked at night. The Monster Girls took care of the guards and assaulted the city, with Druella at the head. Ever they transformed all the heroes we had there, except myself. Ever the royal family got abducted by them. I had the luck of use a secret corridor for escape."

"..."

The Cardinal was wordless at his story, but somehow Magnus knew that was what he was fearing to hear, or surely heard a lot of times from the informs of.

"Any more escaped with you?"

Demian was silent for a moment. "That I don't know. Before of escape, I was stroke down by a Lava Golem and lost conscious. You should know it, I was unconscious during a month."

He nodded and didn't asked any longer, leaving him to eat again, but at times he had to do answer another questions of the Cardinal about Lescatie. On that time, something began to bug Demian. He must know something already, because he only asked two questions, and nothing of them was related to the medallion and the gem that is now on his chest.

Or maybe he doesn't know it, but he preferred to not enter into that topic. After all, recovering that medallion was a promise to the king of Lescatie, and he knew that the relations between he and the Cardinal weren't the best ones.

After of finishing the meal, he looked at the Cardinal, and made a question that was on his mind for a while.

"Lescatie." He began to talk. "Which is the situation?."

The Cardinal was silent for a time, closing his eyes. When he opened his eyes, answered.

"Lescatie has fell. Now is a Demon Realm."

Demian got frozen after of hear that new. Lescatie, the symbol of the glory of the Order, turned into a Demon Realm?"

"We already sent a detachment of around 10.000 soldiers for recapture the city. Ever we asked for the aid of a monster slayer from Zipangu for this task. In a pair of days the army will reach there and attack the city."

Magnus kept looking aimless to the front, trying to comprehend what he has heard now. After a while he closed his eyes and stood up and began to walk to the door.

"Where are you going, captain Magnus?" Asked the Cardinal seeing his reaction.

Demian stopped on the door. "I'm going to Lescatie. I know every inch of the city, every brick, every tree, every area of this city. They need to know what I know. And I don't care if I don't have your permission. After all, this is in part your fault."

"My fault?" He asked at him.

"Not only yours, but of all the Order!" He spatted and turned around looking at him. "I don't remember how many times I asked for reinforcements for the city when we began to detect the presence of monster girls there! I sent a lot of replies for that, but they never came, and the city was took by Druella!"

"That's isn't our fault. We have our hands busy with the whole war against the Demon Army. We can't sent help to all the places that spots monster girls."

"But Lescatie was the main core of the war! And now we lost it! And sorry if this offends you, but I'm losing my faith with the Chief Goddess and her crusade against the Demon Lord."

"Captain Magnus, don't go on that way or prepare yourself for the consequences!" The Cardinal threatened him.

"All depend of the result in Lescatie. And if you don't mind, I have a place to go." Magnus leaved the room, ignoring the warnings of the Cardinal.

Demian got an armor, a sword and a horse, and leaved the city, road to Lescatie.

Days later, when he reached a hill near Lescatie, he saw that the battle there finished. All the 10.000 soldiers were seized by the monster girls, and surely the reclute hero of Zipangu was turned into a monster girl too.

"If the Order is like a ship..." Demian began to talk to himself, narrowing his eyes while watching the view. "I will not sink with it."

Demian turned his horse around and left the territory, giving up to the Order and the Chief Goddess for good.