Demon's Journey

Raea pushed open a wooden door and stepped inside a two-story building with Palan and her guards behind her. The first floor was filled with round tables and a couple of angels and a demon sat in the far corner. A green humanoid creature lifted its head off of a counter to the left of the door and cleared its throat.

“Hello,” the green creature said as it pointed at Raea’s group while counting silently. “Table for eight?”

“Yes,” Raea said and nodded. Palan frowned and stepped in front of the green creature before sniffing it. His nose wrinkled.

“What is this thing?” Palan asked, ignoring the scowl on the creature’s face.

“I’m a goblin,” the green creature said and pulled out menus from underneath the counter. “Never seen one before?”

“Nope,” Palan said as Raea reached past him and grabbed the menus out of the goblin’s thin hands.

“Sit wherever you want,” the goblin said and yawned. “We don’t get much business anyway.”

Raea led the group towards the center of the room and sat down at a round table. She shot a glance at the trio in the corner of the restaurant before turning her attention to the menus. She passed them out and started to read the one in her hands.

“What is this?” Palan asked. He held the menu in front of his face and frowned.

“A menu,” Raea said and turned to face Palan. “You are unable to read?”

“I don’t even know what the word ‘read’ means,” Palan said. Raea sighed as a snicker came from the corner of the room. Palan narrowed his eyes and shifted his gaze to the demon in the corner with fluffy rabbit ears sticking out of her head. “What are you laughing at?”

“You,” the demon said and giggled. “You don’t know how to read? How’d a bumpkin like you end up in Div’Nya? I bet you can’t even use your sins properly.”

Palan chuckled while staring at the demon as the menu crinkled in his hands. Raea shuddered and her face blanched. Her hands trembled and she turned towards Palan. “Palan—”

Palan clamped his hand over Raea’s mouth as he glared at the rabbit-like demon. “I’ll kill you if you interfere,” Palan said before he released Raea and stood up. He glanced at Emergency Victuals. “Keep her here.” The dire wolf barked and leapt onto Raea’s lap. Owen rose to his feet, but Palan struck him on the side of his jaw, knocking him out instantly. The other guards’ mouths dropped open as they stared at their unconscious captain. A lightning bolt crashed through the ceiling of the restaurant and struck Palan, but he didn’t even flinch as he licked his lips.

He sauntered over to the group of angels and demon in the corner with smoke rising from his hair. He slammed his fist down on their table and stared into the demon’s eyes. “What did you call me?”

“A bumpkin,” the rabbit-demon said and smiled. Palan unsheathed his dagger and the rabbit-demon squealed as she hugged the arm of the male angel next to her. She traced a finger along his chest and whispered into his ear, “He’s scary. Do something, Jeffry.”

The angel sighed. “Hey,” he said and ignored Palan as he focused his gaze on Raea. “Control your demon. Or do the angels out here not care about etiquette?”

The other angel snorted. “I told you we should have picked a different task,” he said, completely ignoring Palan who stood behind him. “If we just asked him, Sir Remiel would have assigned us somewhere more civil. We should—, eh?” He looked down and saw a bloodstain on his chest. It expanded as his arm trembled and reached for his heart, touching a cold metal edge. He coughed out a mouthful of blood and turned his head upward towards Palan. He opened his mouth to speak, but a blood-curdling scream came out instead as the blade in his heart rotated.

Palan’s face was expressionless as he placed his left hand against the back of the angel’s head and slammed it against the table. He gripped his dagger’s handle and jerked it out of the angel’s back, causing a fountain of blood to spray his face. The rabbit-like demon screamed and knocked over her chair as she scrambled to her feet. Jeffry’s face blanched as he trembled and pointed at Palan. “You—”

The dagger in Palan’s hand blurred. Jeffry gurgled and reached for his throat. He touched it with his right hand, staining his fingers red. Palan stepped around the gasping angel and threw his dagger at the demon who was running towards the exit. It embedded itself into the back of her thigh and she fell to the ground with a shriek.

“Palan!” Raea shouted as she recovered from her stupor and shoved Emergency Victuals off of her lap. She sprinted towards Palan who lunged towards the fallen demon. “St—”

Palan sank his teeth into the rabbit-like demon’s neck, ending her screams. He tore a chunk of flesh and bone out of her neck as he jerked his head back. He smiled at Raea while he swallowed the meat in his mouth. “Did you say something? I couldn’t hear you over the dying rabbit.”

Raea’s shoulder slumped forward. Her brow furrowed as she gazed at Palan’s smiling face. “Why? Why did you kill them?”

Palan shrugged as he pulled his dagger out of the demon’s leg and walked towards the two dead angels. “They deserved it.”

“What did they do to deserve death!?” Raea shouted and clenched her teeth as she watched Palan grab their bodies and throw them on top of the demon. “There was no reason for you to kill them!”

“Sure there was,” Palan said as he wiped the blood off of his face with the back of his hand. “They pissed me off.”

Raea clenched her hands and lowered her head. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She whispered, “Get out.”

Palan grunted as he lifted the three corpses over his shoulder. “What’d you say? I seriously didn’t hear you this time.”

“I said, ‘GET OUT,’” Raea yelled as she raised her head. “NOW.”

Palan flinched and cleared out the inside of his ear with his finger. “No need to yell,” he said and rolled his eyes as he walked out the door. Emergency Victuals glanced at the trembling Raea before bounding out the restaurant to Palan.

Raea’s clutched her shoulders and bit her lip as her tears sprinkled the floor. Moments later, she fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands before she started to sob. One of Raea’s guard bit his lip and rose to his feet. “Lady Raea…”

Palan sat outside of the restaurant door with the three corpses next to him. He held the rabbit-demon’s arm—which was missing sizable chunks of flesh—in his hands, ignoring the horrified gasps of nearby angels. He peeked inside the restaurant and saw a guard rubbing Raea’s back. Palan sighed and tossed the arm to Emergency Victuals. “You want it? I lost my appetite for some reason.”

Emergency Victuals barked and wagged his tail before sinking his fangs into the furry severed arm.