A Demon's Core

Since he was summoned, Igneous has spent most of his time sitting in the corner in his rock disguise. He spends nearly three quarters of each day curled up as a rock. I do not think he is sleeping the whole time as he will usually respond if I talk to him. Maybe he just likes sitting quietly and contemplating things? It is hard to tell what he is thinking. Even when the imps actually treat him like a rock and climb up to sit on top, he does not react as long as they are careful not to dig their claws in.

When he is not pretending to be part of the decor, he will usually go outside, often with an imp or two following along in hopes of getting to fly again, though he does not always agree to do so.

After returning from one such outing, I did inquire whether he could transmit just images to me without everything else and he nodded. I asked him to show me the things he had seen outside. He had not gone too far out yet, mostly just exploring the immediate surroundings. What I saw was within my expectations. An abandoned city falling into disrepair.

The majority of the buildings appear mostly intact, with little more damage than some broken windows. Though when he focused on the building we currently reside in, there was a rather large hole in the roof. It is hard to gauge exactly how big the hole is from this perspective, but I am sure it is big enough that he could crawl through it with no difficulty if he folded his wings.

I assume that hole is from when my core fell from the sky. I have long suspected that is how I got here based on the hole in the ceiling and the divot in the floor where my core originally rested. Though I am unsure of the circumstances that would have lead to such a situation. Perhaps my core came down from space as a meteor?

There are cars in the streets in various states of deterioration. Some are parked neatly on the on the sides of the road, others had crashed into things; buildings, other cars, trees, street lamps. Despite this, many of the roads were mostly clear. Trees that once lined the streets in a decorative manner had been allowed to grow uncontrolled, breaking the surrounding concrete. Grass and weeds growing up through the cracks and anywhere else they could find purchase.

Animals could be seen wandering the streets, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups. Occasionally he would swoop down and snatch up a smaller animal before flying up to perch on top of a building to consume his prey. There were other animals flying in the air as well, but he did not see any that were big enough to consider a threat.

I thank him for showing me everything and request that he continues to show me the things he sees in his future explorations to which he nods. It is nice to finally be able to see the city for myself, even if it is through someone else’s eyes.

Maybe when I am finished claiming this floor I should go up next instead of down like I was thinking of before. I could see from the images Igneous showed me that the stairwell does have rooftop access. Perhaps he would like living up there instead so it would be easier for him to take flight instead of having to deal with stairs first. Even if he still wanted to live inside rather than out in the open, the room with the hole in the ceiling would still give him an easy way to get outside. That will be something to ask him about later.

When I asked him if he would like me to summon any others of his kind so he would not be alone, a female in particular, his first response was an incomprehensible jumble again, followed by a much simpler thought, indifference. That is not what I anticipated. Perhaps my expectations were influenced by the fact that all the creatures I have summoned so far have been pack animals. His response would make sense if gargoyles are instead solitary creatures. I tell him to let me know if he changes his mind.

When I summon a new imp, after going through the normal greeting procedure, Violet drags her over to meet Igneous. She looks at what appears to be a rock in confusion. When the rock opens up before her, she jumps back with a startled screech. He does not open up all the way, just enough to poke his head out and greet the new imp before retreating into his disguise again. Violet chuckles at the display then drags her off to meet the hellhounds next. Poor thing, it is one fright after another.

As Igneous explores further out I can see that there are parts of the city that are not in as good condition as the area we are in. There are partially collapsed buildings, the roads and sidewalks are much more noticeably cracked and broken with even some visible craters in the streets and the twisted remains of some vehicles that looked like they had exploded. If I had to guess, I would say these areas were once a war zone, now long abandoned, like everything else on this side of the river.

I think it is time start scouting the human’s location. I ask Igneous if he is willing to do it next time he goes out. He agrees so I tell him to ask Violet for directions. Not that I would expect it to be too hard to find. A walled off, well maintained and populated section of the city on the other side of the river should probably be easy to spot from the air.

As soon as he leaves, I am already eager for his return. As much as I do not like humans, I am still curious to see how they live. Igneous is gone for a few hours but shares all he saw with me as soon as he gets back.

The condition of the city on the other side of the river is much the same as this side. Mostly just abandoned and falling apart but with evidence of conflict in some places. But the sectioned off area where the humans still lived was entirely different.

The wall, which was impressive, looked to be primarily made of concrete and completely encircled a vast area. Seeing it from above, I would estimate it to be about a quarter of the total size of the entire city. Although about half of that area appears to be dedicated to farm land. With even more farms outside the wall on the side opposite the city. Even those farms have a wall around them, though it is less impressive than the main wall.

Igneous had circled the entire perimeter before flying over the interior. It is much as Violet described. The streets are reasonably clean and well maintained. The same can be said for most of the buildings. There are cars driving on the roads and pedestrians walking the sidewalks, though some areas are getting far more traffic than others.

On one side is a walled off area, these humans really do like walls, inside is what appears to be a military barracks. A lot of rectangular building laid out in a well organized pattern. I see a few boxy looking vehicles with large turrets mounted on top parked near a large garage and there is even a tank.

The humans become a lot more active when some of them spot Igneous in the air above them, especially those in and around the barracks. That was the point at which he decided to leave. He started by flying straight up, granting an impressive view of the city as a whole, though even at that height he could not see all of it.

I wonder how many humans used to live here. Hundreds of thousands at least, I am sure, maybe even more than a million. But where did they all go? Obviously there is clear evidence of war, but that cannot be the only explanation. If the city had been reduced to rubble I could believe it, but most of it remains intact. It is just deserted.

The next day I sense some humans entering my domain. They head straight to the meeting room on the fourth floor and wait. I have not finished claiming the whole room yet, though I am only taking the main room as I have no need for the bedrooms, but there is enough space for them to wait comfortably without being cramped.

I head down to meet them and see William and Cassandra along with three others that I do not know. I am glad the other four did not come back. William looks quite tense.

Welcome back William. To what do I owe the...pleasure of your visit? William flinches at the sudden contact. It probably still gives him a headache but I do not think I really care. He looks around the room, probably hoping to see me in person this time, but soon gives up.

“Right, yes. Did you happen to send a creature flying over our city yesterday?” He asks tentatively.

I did. He sighs and his whole body relaxes.

“Well thank god for that.” He walks over to the couch and collapses onto it. The others finding their own places to sit within the available space.

You are relieved?

“It caused quite a stir when people saw it. Some people thought it might be an attack. The military wanted to shoot it down. They’ve got some weapons that could probably do the job unless that thing has some really thick skin.”

So you are relieved that it was just me and not something more serious?

“Well, that’s part of it. I had a feeling it was probably something you did, so I managed to convince the Colonel that it was actually a potential ally and it wasn’t worth wasting precious ammunition on something that probably wasn’t a threat. If I’d been wrong though, I would likely be in a lot of trouble.”

Thank you for doing that. I would have been quite upset to lose him.

“That’s what I figured. I didn’t want to risk relations between us getting any worse over a misunderstanding like that.”

I would not have blamed you for that. I failed to consider the possibility of aerial defenses. A serious oversight on my part. One that I will need to apologize to Igneous for later. I sent him into a dangerous situation without even thinking about such an obvious threat to his safety.

“Would it be possible for us to meet the creature? So I can make a proper report and assure everyone that it's not a threat.” I do not want to share more information with him than I absolutely have to, but I suppose it would be fair considering the risk he took to protect Igneous. I ask him to come down to meet the human and to not be alarmed.

He will be here shortly.

When Igneous enters the room the humans all stand up from their various places, the sudden movement causing him to flinch. As William slowly approaches he raises himself up, standing straighter to be on eye level with him, though I am sure he could still go higher if he wanted. William takes a step back in surprise.

“Huh, fascinating. Do you mind if we see your wings?” He asks Igneous directly. He nods and extends them both out, the humans looking on in wide eyed amazement as they reach their full length.

“Incredible.” Cassandra says as she approaches one of the wings. There is a sudden white flash of light and Igneous jumps back, while covering his eyes. A beat of his wings helping him gain some distance but also knocking Cassandra over in the process. He did not say they were going to take pictures. William turns in a fury towards one of the other men who is holding a camera.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to get us killed?” He roars at the man.

“I, uh...I don’t...” The man stammers.

“NEVER use a flash without warning when dealing with an unknown creature! Even if it’s intelligent, you have no idea how it will react.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Clearly.” William says rubbing a hand over his forehead while sighing. He then turns back to Igneous. “Sorry about that, turns out this guy’s kind of a moron. That was just a camera flash. It’s not harmful, just used for taking pictures.” He turns the camera around so Igneous can see the picture that was just taken.

“Would it be alright if we took a few more? You can close your eyes if the flash bothers you.” Igneous nods and William hands the camera to one of the other men who starts taking pictures from different angles. “While we’re at it, could we take pictures of some of the other creatures you have here?” He is presumably speaking to me this time.

No. He is taken aback by my terse reply.

“May I ask why not?”

Because I do not trust you. What you did to protect one of my creatures has earned you some goodwill, but not enough to gain my trust.

“Can I ask what it would take to earn you trust?”

Finding the one who is sending people to attack us would be a good start. How is that investigation going? William deflates.

“We found out who was leaking information about this place, their punishment is still being decided but that’s not something I’m involved in. We’re having trouble tracking down the one they sold the information to though, so that’s going to take more time.”

Let me know when you find them. Do you have any other business here today?

“No, I think that’s all for now. We’ll be taking our leave. Just please don’t send anymore creatures flying over for the time being. It freaks people out.”

Very well. I will ensure my creatures keep their distance. I can keep them on this side of the river for now if that would help.

“I think that would be best. Thank you.” With their business done, the humans quickly leave. Igneous makes his way back up the stairs and curls up in his corner once again.