Volume 3 Chapter 44 – Sneaking Around (Patreon)

As Morrigan, Galandir and Deziara stepped through the portal, they found themselves in the Demon Castle Dungeons. The entrance of it, to be precise, not the trap-riddled corridors.

"So this is the dungeons? I've never actually been here before," Deziara said, looking around the sinister place. "I see I haven't been missing out on much."

"No, you really haven't." Galandir shuddered. "I had hoped to never come back to this place."

"Don't worry. We're just passing through. Let's head up to the castle," Morrigan said, leading the way. Despite the gloom of the dungeon, she felt invigorated to be home. It felt like she was where she was supposed to be. 

Deziara and Galandir followed nervously after her, sticking close. She understood why they would feel uncomfortable, but Morrigan had already grown used to the dark corridors. Azrael often brought her to dungeons so they could practice magic without any audience. 

"Hello, Chad," Morrigan greeted the stoic demon guard who sat at the dungeon and prison entrance.

"Welcome back, Your Highness," he greeted her as if he had already expected her arrival.

"Thank you for keeping the portal open for me."

"Of course," he inclined his head solemnly.

"Who is that?" Deziara whispered, nervously glancing at Chad.

"He's the guard of the dungeon entrance. Nice guy," Morrigan said as she hurried up the dungeon staircase to the Demon Castle. Her companions followed closely behind and before long, they were out into the corridors.

"Your Highnesses!" The guards patrolling the corridor stared at Morrigan and Deziara in shock. "How are you here? Y-You shouldn't be here."

"Is everyone in the Demon Castle safe?" Morrigan asked.

"Yes, the enemy hasn't gotten anywhere near the castle but at the rate things are going…" His shoulders slumped.

"Don't worry. I'll change the tide of this battle," Morrigan said.

"Your Highness, you cannot go to the battlefield! I understand that you have much confidence in your magical power, however a child, an heir to the throne no less, must not be endangered like that," the guard objected and several others nodded alongside him.

"I have no intention to fight. I merely wish to destroy the orb that's been draining everyone's magic," she informed them, and the guards shifted uncomfortably.

"No one has been able to destroy it. Not even His Majesty," he replied nervously.

"Destroying these orbs is all I've been doing during my Princess Tour. I merely need to know where it is," Morrigan objected. As if on cue, Melanos appeared before her, bowing his head before her.

"Your Highness, I have found out the location of the orb. It is in the cathedral of the Old City. But you must hurry—I don't think we'll be able to hold out much longer without the aid of magic," the spymaster informed her.

"Then let's go," Morrigan said resolutely, heading towards the exit.

"No, Princess Morrigan, you cannot! The Demon Castle might be safe for now, but the same cannot be said for Linberor. Enemies are sneaking in the shadows, trying to thwart us from within. The Old City is especially dangerous since not many guards were stationed there when the attack started. It is basically in the enemy's control." The guards blocked her way.

"Do you wish to give up the capital to the enemy?" Morrigan glared at them, and they took a step back.

"O-Of course not, Your Highness, but—"

"Then you will let me pass. I am the ONLY one who can destroy that orb and that is exactly what I'm going to do," Morrigan growled. The guards glanced at each other nervously then bowed their heads and stepped aside. 

"We shall accompany you then," they said.

"No. You won't be able to keep up with me in my shadow form," Morrigan shook her head and was about to take her painting supplies from Deziara when Galandir firmly grasped her hand. The guards poised their hands on their weapons right away, but Morrigan raised her hand to pacify them.

"They clearly just said that the Old Town is the most dangerous part of Linberor and you intend to go alone?" the elf growled.

"I am strong," she retorted.

"Strong enough to paint and defend yourself at the same time?" Galandir glared at her, and this time the guards nodded alongside him. "You said it yourself that you'll need every bit of your magic to repaint the orb. That means you need someone to protect you."

"He is right, Your Highness. Allow us to uphold our duty!" The guards added bowing before Morrigan on one knee.

"I shall guard you as well as it is what His Majesty has ordered," Melanos said firmly.

"And there is no way I am leaving your side, Morri! As I am your older sister, it is also MY duty to protect you," Deziara chimed.

Morrigan looked at all of them in turn, then sighed.

I wanted to keep them safe from possible danger, but I suppose they wish to do the same for me. 

"Alright, let's go then. One of the guards should remain here and inform the others of what happened. Otherwise, they might get worried that a bunch of guards suddenly disappeared," Morrigan instructed, and the guards nodded. After they had selected one demon to remain behind, they headed outside, Melanos instantly disappearing into shadows. 

Galandir spread his wings, ready to take flight when Deziara stopped him, "Aren't you a bit too conspicuous with those shimmering wings? The whole city will see you the moment you take flight."

"Yeah, true. We need to be sneaky. If I wanted them to know of my arrival, I would have taken a large number of guards with me," Morrigan said and was about to ask for him to remain in the castle, but he cut her off before should speak.

"I'll go through another route then. But do not think for a second that I'm staying behind," he growled. The look in his ruby eyes left no room for argument. But leaving him alone and exposed like a flying beacon didn't sit well with her either.

"I'll just grab you along in my shadow form. One person shouldn't be any trouble," Morrigan said. The guards furrowed their brows and glared at the elven boy.

"Oh, right! You've done it before. That's settled then. Let's get going then," Deziara said before anyone could object, and suddenly tore off the bottom of her dress. Morrigan was shocked at first, but as it turns out her older sister had a pair of pants underneath. "I'm always ready to run."

"Princess, please do not scare us like that anymore," one of the guards exhaled a sigh of relief.

"You've seen my trick once so it won't surprise you for the second time," she chuckled and winked mischievously.

"You two sure are quite a pair of princesses—both in pants," Galandir chuckled as well.

"Just don't tell Mom. On that thought, let's hurry before she figures out that we're back. She'll kill me if she sees me wearing pants," Deziara shuddered.

"Agreed. I'm pretty sure she'd give me a scolding as well," Morrigan nodded and took Galandir's hand. The boy took a nervous breath and she pulled them both into darkness. His presence seemed somewhat unnatural and heavy, however, compared to the last time when she was able to barely move along with him, this was nothing.

As Morrigan sped through the Demon Castle yard, Deziara hurried straight after her, keeping with her shadow form without much issue. The eight demon guards followed right after them at varying speeds. Some of them were able to do short bursts of speed, rushing from one shadow to the next. Some were able to use some speed magic similar to Deziara, while others relied on their incredibly agile physique.

Even without any magic, the demon guards were still able to keep up, staying only a short distance behind others. Whatever training they had gone through, it had clearly worked. Once they were out of the castle yard and went into the city streets, the guards proved themselves just as agile as they were fast, using buildings and rooftops to propel themselves forward and keep up with Morrigan.

I could probably outrun them easily if I weren't carrying Galandir, but it's still amazing that they are able to keep up.

Are you calling me fat and heavy?

Morrigan was a bit surprised that he had actually heard her thoughts. She hadn't sent him any telepathic message.

I think while we're merged into a single shadow, we can hear each other's thoughts without trying.

But we weren't able to do that before.

Perhaps, it's because you have that telepathic ability. It's confusing that we're sort of merged together?

That's certainly a weird bug.

Bug?

Yeah, it's like an error. Humans call errors that occur within computers bugs.

Do they look like bugs?

Not really.

Then why are they called bugs?

I honestly have no idea. But enough about that, let's focus on the task at hand.

Morrigan hurried through the dark streets, carefully looking at everything, trying to see anything out of place. But it was quiet, eerily so. Some of the street lamps were smashed, creating thicker patches of darkness which allowed Morrigan to speed forward even faster. However, all of the houses were dark. Nobody had any lights on, at least not in a place it would be visible from the streets.

"Why is it so quiet?" Deziara whispered as she ran beside Morrigan. The guards had scattered throughout the nearby streets, keeping a distance so they wouldn't run in one large cluster and instead move as steadily as possible. Melanos was… somewhere nearby, but Morrigan couldn't tell. When the spymaster wanted to disappear then nobody was able to find him.

It is eerily quiet, isn't it?

I think I hear something further away.

Morrigan tried to listen as well, however the only thing she heard was the steady footsteps of her companions as they ran. But after a while, she noticed it too—distant shouting, clash of metal and low reverberations of large area spells hitting something.

We need to hurry. Father must be struggling to hold them back without magic.

She sped up, ignoring the heaviness of Galandir's presence, rushing through the narrow streets, past the Linberor Marketplace, and heading straight into the Old City. The situation quickly shifted for the worst as she noticed clear signs of battle on the streets—most lamp posts were destroyed and replaced with occasional crude torches, splintered remains of boxes or other broken objects spewed all over the street, and dark splotches without a doubt was blood.

I hope that's the blood of our enemies and not of our citizens.

Demons are strong, don't think that they would lose to the first intruder that crosses their path.

Yes… you're right. But we must hurry.

Morrigan had almost made it to the cathedral when suddenly Melanos appeared out of the shadows. She instantly stopped as did Deziara and their demon guards.

"There's a large number of enemies guarding the cathedral. We'll dispose of them while you wait here, Your Highness," Melanos said.

Morrigan was about to shift out of her shadow form, but Galandir stopped her.

Leave it to them. You need to conserve your strength. They have their pride as warriors as well. 

But what if they—

Morrigan, they have trained for this their whole lives. You must trust them.

I… Alright.

She remained in her shadow form and said to Deziara through Telepathy, "We should entrust this to them."

Deziara seemed a bit surprised at first, but then she nodded and turned towards Melanos, "Morrigan trusts you to deal with them accordingly."

"Leave it to us, Your Highnesses. When you see a chance, then slip inside the cathedral. We'll keep them distracted and busy," Melanos instructed. Deziara nodded, and then the guards and spymaster took. 

Morrigan sneaked quietly behind them, as did Deziara, keeping to the darkest shadows where nobody would see or sense them. As they approached the cathedral they saw that at least forty guards stood around it, watching every side carefully. The plaza was filled with dark splotches, clearly some heavy battles had happened here.

But Melanos and the demon guards did not attack them head-on. In fact, Morrigan, Galandir, and Deziara remained hidden for a long time, looking and waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. It was just silent. However, then Morrigan noticed somewhere on the far side of the plaza that one of the enemies, a drow, suddenly disappeared into the shadows. Then another one, and another. 

It took a while for the enemy to even realize that they were being attacked, but once they did, a good chunk of them had already been taken out. 

"We're under attack!" one of the duergars bellowed and pulled out his mace, looking around frantically for his attackers. However, the demons were stealthy, attacking from the shadows where other races could not see them properly. It quickly evolved into absolute chaos as the panicked enemy tried to identify the demons.

"This is our chance to get in!" Deziara whispered, pointing at the unguarded entrance.

"We're going in!" Morrigan announced to Deziara and Galandir in their minds and rushed forward in her shadow form—an unseen force the enemy would soon wish they had never crossed.

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