Ethan Aurellia's perspective
Snow fell in thin sheets, drifting like ash across the blood-slick ground. The air was still—too still. The kind of silence that only follows slaughter.
My boots crunched over frost as I stood near the edge of camp, watching the Duke give orders. His voice was steady, measured, but I could hear the weight behind each word.
"Gather the wounded. Prepare the carriages. The fallen will ride back with us."
The soldiers moved sluggishly, still in shock. Some limped, others leaned on comrades, their armor darkened with blood—some theirs, most not.
"We depart before sunrise," the Duke continued. "Two high demons. One who conjured strings and another that controls minds. Unprecedented."
Murmurs stirred behind me like wind slipping through broken tents. A veteran coughed and stepped forward.
"Sir," he said. "If we abandon the northern post… what's stopping the beasts from breaching the duchy?"
The Duke turned his head—just slightly.
"The Northern Post will remain under Alliyana's command for one week. We return once the wounded have recovered."
The words dropped like a stone into a frozen pond. The murmurs grew louder, rippling outward.
"She's a child," someone muttered. "A gifted one, sure—but still."
Another voice—closer, sharper. "It was Ethan's team that turned the battle. Without them, we'd all be dead."
I felt a cold pulse in my gut.
They weren't lying.
But they weren't right either.
Alliyana wasn't here to defend herself. And somehow… that made them bold.
"She wasn't even here when it mattered," the veteran continued. "Even Halric's been questioning it."
I glanced toward Halric. He sat on a stone, blood caking his tunic, leg hastily bound by Ban and Alexa. His eyes were low, his mouth set.
He didn't speak.
And somehow, that was worse than if he had.
The Duke remained motionless.
The whispers grew teeth.
Nepotism. Favoritism. Recklessness.
I was about to speak—about to shut them down—when the forest answered for me.
Footsteps. Slow. Crunching over frostbitten leaves.
We turned.
She stepped out of the trees, pale and calm.
And in her hand—
Three heads.
Demonic. Twisted. Lifeless.
They hung like ornaments, trailing blood.
"I apologize for the delay," she said, voice even. "Had to retrieve the first one's head. Left it too far back."
Silence broke like glass.
"Three?"
Someone whispered it—barely audible—but it passed like wildfire through the camp.
The Duke nodded. "Report."
She stepped forward, boots darkening in old blood.
"Three high demons. Attempting to form a legion of beasts. Goal was to overrun Aurellia's defenses. Eliminate our soldiers. Breach the duchy."
She paused.
"None remain."
A beat of silence.
"Keep this a secret," she added. "No reports. No rumors."
The Duke's jaw tightened. "Explain further."
She shook her head. "Not here. In private."
He paused.
Then bowed his head—bowed—just enough to show agreement.
Mouths opened silently around me.
No one said it. But they felt it.
A noble man bowed to a child holding the heads of three high demons.
And somehow, that made perfect sense.
A few minutes passed, and I found myself glancing toward the tent again, as if staring long enough would let me hear through the canvas.
What could they be talking about in there?
The flap didn't move.
The air was still sharp with cold. Smoke from spent fires clung low to the earth, heavy with the scent of ash, sweat, and the faint iron tang of drying blood. Somewhere in the distance, a horse snorted. A boot scraped over gravel.
"Ethan," a gravelly voice called.
I turned. Halric, propped up against a wooden beam, waved me over with a tired hand. The cloth wrapped around his thigh was soaked deep crimson, but his grip was steady.
I crouched beside him. "Feeling better?"
"I'm not dead." His voice had that same bark-smirk cadence it always did. "And I'll get the leg back once we're home. No point in sulking."
He gave me a look—part gratitude, part pride, all wrapped in exhaustion. "You got here just in time. Thank you."
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out at first.
I'd felt useless. Slow. Always behind.
And yet…
A soldier passed behind me, nodding as he went. "Thanks, sir."
Then another. A hand on my shoulder. "Good work out there."
Another. A light slap to the back. "Would've been a massacre without you."
I blinked, staring down at the frozen dirt. Their thanks didn't feel hollow. I hadn't even realized how badly I needed to hear it.
A grin tugged at the corner of my mouth, more from relief than pride. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.
"I've been so busy feeling like a failure," I muttered, mostly to myself. "I forgot I saved lives."
"Some hero I am."
Halric chuckled, then gave me a playful punch on the arm—not gentle. "Stop brooding."
I rubbed my bicep and smirked.
Halric leaned his head back against the beam, eyes squinting up at the sky. "It's all different now. Since she came. You feel it too, right?"
I didn't answer immediately.
"She's got the Duke treating her like an adviser. That bow? Earlier? First time I've seen him lower his head. Ever."
His tone dipped into something darker. "There's something about her. The way she talks. The way the Duke listens. Like she's got him wrapped around her finger."
He exhaled. "And three high demons. Gone. Just like that."
There was silence between us for a while, broken only by the wind pushing through the camp like a slow breath.
"I've heard the rumors," Halric added. "The ones spreading through the ranks. That she's not human. That she's a demon herself."
I didn't answer at first.
I thought of the moment we sat together, watching the horizon burn gold. The way she let her slime jump on her hand like a pet. The way her words, clipped and serious, still managed to carry warmth.
I sighed. "If I hadn't known her, I'd believe it too."
He raised an eyebrow. "So what changed?"
I leaned against the same beam, shoulder to shoulder now. "I hated her at first. Thought she was cold. Arrogant. Untouchable. But now?"
I looked over to the tent.
"She's not pulling the Duke's strings. It's not favoritism."
I paused.
"Earlier, it looked more like two veterans talking. Equals."
Halric frowned, but I saw the crease in his brow loosen. "Still feels strange. Her calling the shots. Replacing me at the post."
"She made a deal," I said. "Called it politics."
Halric snorted. "That so?"
I nodded. "I don't know what she meant."
He was quiet again, thoughtful. "The training routines she introduced—those worked. Everyone's stronger. Leaner. She had the blacksmiths forge those weighted bars—'dumbbells,' she called them."
"She doesn't act like a commander," I said. "She acts more like a teacher."
Halric turned to me, brow raised.
"Nothing's the same," I murmured. "And maybe that's good."
A pause.
Then heavy boots approached. A soldier. "Sir Ethan. The Duke requests you."
I stood, heart suddenly in my throat.
"Go," Halric said. "And don't screw it up."
The flap of the tent loomed ahead like a door to something bigger than myself. I squared my shoulders and stepped inside.
The tent was dim, lit only by the low orange flicker of a lantern swaying slightly on a hook. Smoke curled lazily toward the canvas ceiling. I stepped in and felt the warmth compared to the cold night outside—but the tension in the air was heavier than frost.
Ban and Alexa sat stiffly to my right. Ban's fingers twitched against his knees. Alexa's spear rested against the wall beside her, but her eyes were sharp, focused—like she was still on a battlefield. Across from them, the Duke sat with his back straight, arms folded behind him. And beside him, Alliyana—calm, composed, unreadable as always. Her hands were folded on the table. She didn't look at me.
"Sit," the Duke said.
His voice was low, tired, but carried weight. I nodded and took the seat across from them. The chair creaked slightly beneath me.
Alliyana finally glanced my way. "What do you think of your hunting party?"
Her tone was neutral. Not cold, not warm. Just... measuring.
I cleared my throat, glancing at Alexa, then Ban. "They're exceptional. Alexa—she's fast, disciplined. Trained by her father, who was royal guard. Ban was handpicked by the Sato Duchy. He's precise. Stronger than he looks."
Alliyana nodded once. "I thought so too. When I saw them take down the wargs… I was impressed. A cut above the other new recruits."
Her words weren't praise exactly. More like assessment. But still—something in Alexa's shoulders relaxed.
Then Alliyana turned to Ban. Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"How's Alana doing these days?"
Ban tensed. His jaw clenched. He looked down for a moment, then met her eyes.
"She hasn't been the same… since the incident."
Silence.
Alliyana let out a quiet sigh through her nose, almost inaudible over the shifting canvas. "That's unfortunate. She was bright. A model hero. I had hopes for her."
There was weight behind those words. Not disappointment in the usual sense—something colder. A kind of mourning for a standard unmet.
"But," Alliyana continued, her tone flatter now, "what we fought that day wasn't a high demon. It was the God of Chaos."
Even the lantern's flame seemed to waver at that.
Ban didn't respond. No one did.
Then the Duke spoke, voice rough. "Let's get to it."
He looked… troubled. That was rare. He usually wore his composure like armor.
Alliyana nodded. "Did you feel it earlier?"
My heart skipped.
Alexa spoke first. "Something was off."
Alliyana gave her a look. "Say it."
I exhaled. "It felt… like divinity."
Alliyana leaned back slightly. "It was. The high demons… they've learned to exude it. Instead of corruption."
That landed hard. A silence pressed over us, thick and cloying.
"They're not as rare as we thought," she continued. "They're among us. Infiltrating. Gathering."
She looked at each of us in turn.
"One of them—Amara—told me they've been trying to infiltrate the Church."
Alexa's breath hitched. Ban's fists clenched in his lap. Even the Duke didn't hide his reaction.
I felt it too. That cold coil in the gut.
Infiltrating the Church? Then nowhere was safe.
"This doesn't leave this tent," Alliyana said. "If this spreads, there will be panic."
I swallowed, throat dry. "Then… why are we here?"
The Duke stepped forward, arms crossed. His eyes met mine.
"Because from this day forward," he said, "you three will train with Alliyana."
A pause. Then, steady:
"I intend to form a covert order. Hunters. This war—this thing with the God of Chaos—it's bigger than we thought."
He looked toward the tent wall, as if seeing through it.
"Humanity won't be undone by armies. It'll be devoured from within."