I chuckled. The others laughed — Sera first, then Lira, then Mirra, the laughter nervous and relieved, the laughter of women who were glad that someone else was the target.
The laughter was cut short by a sound from outside. Shouting. Running. The sound of many feet on cobblestones, the clatter of armor, the excited voices of men who were not afraid but thrilled.
I stood. Sera slid off my lap. We all turned toward the door.
Adventurers ran past — men with swords, women with wands, the armed and the eager, all moving in the same direction, all talking at once.
"Demon army! Demons in the forest!"
"Really? A demon army? Here?"
"Only a few of them — scouts, maybe — they say a coliseum—"
"Let's go! Before someone else kills them all!"
The excitement was genuine — the thrill of hunters who had just spotted prey. The demon army was here, and the adventurers were not afraid. They were hungry.
