Volume 3 Chapter 48 – King's Message (Patreon)

Morrigan was laying in her bed, trying to process everything that had happened that day. Returning to the Demon Castle, sneaking into the cathedral, destroying the black orb, creating a magic spewing artefact and finally Galandir being son of the King of the Light Kingdom. 

Apparently, he was an illegitimate son—nobody in the Light Kingdom even knew about his existence except for the King himself. However, his father had visited him and his mother on occasion under disguise, making sure that they had everything they needed and that they were safe. But one fateful day somebody from the elf village had discovered the true identity of Galandir's father and soon after the fallen attacked.

Morrigan tossed and turned in her bed, as she heard the distant noise of battle on the outskirts of the city. She knew her father was fighting hard to protect her and the rest of the Demon Kingdom. If her magic had already recovered, she would have rushed over there right now to help him. But Gunna was sitting by her bedside, making sure that she didn't run off anywhere.

"Unable to sleep, Lady Morrigan?" Gunna asked and began to gently stroke Morrigan's head. Her warm hand seemed to brush away Morrigan's worries, forcing her body to gradually relax.

"I'm worried about Father," she admitted, looking nanny in the eyes. "Even if I destroy the orb, the demons will recover their magic gradually. They must be exhausted by this point. If only I could go—"

"No. You will not. It is far too dangerous for a child," the nanny said firmly.

"Yes, everyone has told me that only a hundred times," she pouted. "I'm not as helpless as you all seem to think."

"Sweet child, of course, we know that you are not helpless, but think about your father for a moment. Do you think he'd be able to fight earnestly if you or any of his children were there? Don't you think that he'd then prioritize your safety above everything else?" Gunna explained. 

Morrigan thought about it for a moment. The nanny spoke the truth—Alphegor would surely protect her no matter the cost. But maybe if she just sneaked onto the battlefield in her shadow form and then threw a massive fireball at the enemy…

"I see your mind is coming up with something mischievous again. No, child. Now your only task is to sleep," Gunna said sternly and then began to sing. She occasionally used to sing to Morrigan when she was little and had a hard time sleeping. Each time she did, Morrigan would fall asleep shortly after as if by magic. 

As her eyelids grew heavier and her body relaxed, she realized that it truly was magic. Gunna had been putting her to sleep with magic and she only noticed it now. It appeared that Morrigan still had some growing up to do before she could keep up with her.

***

When Morrigan woke up, she felt completely rested and her magic fully restored. But despite her body feeling fresh, her mind instantly went into panic, as she wondered for how long she was asleep. Gunna was nowhere to be seen, so Morrigan jumped out of bed and rushed to get dressed, grabbing some clothes from her wardrobe using her levitation spell and pulling on the black pants and grey shirt, along with the coat.

Morrigan was already convinced that she'd join her Father on the battlefield. Of course, she understood that by going there she was exposing herself as his weakness. But on the other hand, with her magic fully restored thanks to Azrael's potion, she could really sway the tide of battle.

As she rushed out of her bedroom, Morrigan came across Galandir sleeping on the couch. After their talk yesterday, Gunna had shooed him away to eat in the kitchens, but appeared that at some point he had sneaked his way back into her room. She looked at the sleeping boy, considering whether to wake him up. But as she gazed at his face, she noticed how young he still was.

Yesterday Galandir had shown incredible strength, protecting her and healing Deziara as well as providing the magic she needed to complete her painting. But at the end of the day, he was still a child. Morrigan was too, but she had all of her human years on top of her demon years.

You've already done enough. Rest well.

She was about to turn and leave when she felt him grab her hand. 

"You're not going anywhere without me," he mumbled, still half-asleep.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm just going to get breakfast," she whispered, hoping that the boy would fall back asleep. But his eyes opened wider and he sat up.

"You might fool somebody else with that, but not me. I basically feel that you're itching to rush to your father's side."

"You should remain here. This is not your battle to fight," Morrigan said, hoping to protect her young friend from any further danger. But he clutched onto her hand tighter, not hard enough to hurt but firmly enough that she wouldn't be able to shake herself free.

"If it is your battle, then it is my battle as well."

"No, seriously. You're not even a demon. You should wait here in the safety of the castle." She narrowed her eyes at him.

But Galandir stubbornly shook his head. "If you're going, then I'm going and there's nothing you can do to change my mind."

"Alright, fine! But we're taking Haku along too," she said, pulling him up to his feet. The elf smiled and nodded, satisfied with her answer.

"Are you now?" Azrael suddenly appeared out of the shadow, glaring over them.

"Were you here the whole time?" Morrigan glared back at the mage.

"Of course. It was so obvious that you would try and rush off to act the hero again. But I am here to make sure that you don't. My oath began bugging me the moment I opened my eyes," Azrael said, clutching at his chest.

"You should get rid of it. It seems to have been bothering you for far too long," Morrigan said. 

"It wouldn't be an oath if I could just get rid of it. In either case, you are staying in the castle along with your little boyfriend," Azrael scowled. Morrigan chose to ignore his boyfriend's comment—a clear attempt to rile her up—and instead glared at him even harder.

"Good morning," Gunna chirped, coming into the living room with a cart filled with food. "I've brought breakfast. Lord Azrael and young Galandir are welcome to join as well."

Morrigan and Azrael continued their stare-off for a while longer until they finally broke away and turned to eat. As much as Morrigan hated just idling around, her body was starving—demanding food with painful intensity.

The breakfast passed in somewhat awkward silence with only occasional remarks from Gunna. Morrigan and Galandir were sitting next to each other, pointedly ignoring Azrael who was watching their every movement as if they would rush off at any moment. In all honesty, Morrigan had considered it, but when it came to various magical tricks, Azrael definitely had more experience.

They were almost done with their meal when suddenly the loud, clear voice of Alphegor boomed across the Underworld. He was nowhere near the castle, but the echo was still so incredibly powerful and loud, that Morrigan could feel it in her bones.

"All demon soldiers are to stand down immediately."

Everyone in the room looked at each other in a daze from the intensity of the King's voice. 

"Did we win?" Morrigan asked, despite the unpleasant gnawing growing in the pit of her stomach.

"No…" Azrael said, his expression grim. Morrigan's heart dropped and she was about to turn into her shadow form when both Galandir and Azrael grabbed her hand.

"Rushing might make things worse. We need to understand what is going on," Galandir said. Seeing this Azrael released his hold on Morrigan, releasing a sigh of relief.

"He's right. Stay here. I'm going to go and find out what's going on," the mage said and before Morrigan could object, he was already out of the door, rushing away in his shadow form.

"We're going after him," she informed the elf, instantly getting up to her feet.

"I expected as much."

They headed straight for the door but as Morrigan reached out for the handle, her hand collided with an invisible wall. She touched it a few times, hit it, and then growled. "Azrael trapped us in here."

Galandir reached out his hand too and gingerly touched the invisible barrier. But no matter how hard he pushed, it would not budge. 

"Looks like a barrier spell. He probably blocked off this whole room," the elf noted with a frown.

"Let's check the windows," Morrigan said, running up to the window in the living room. There was a barrier there too. Systematically they checked windows in both bedrooms and bathrooms, but those were also thoroughly blocked.

"Goddammit, Azrael! You're supposed to be on my side!" Morrigan groaned.

"Protecting you is one thing, but this is a bit much. You think that oath of his is pushing him to such extremes," Galandir pondered.

"I suppose it's possible. He does say that it bothers him whenever I am endangered. Maybe by doing this, it leaves him alone. Note to self, I must remove Azrael's oath in the future, so he doesn't do stuff like this anymore," Morrigan said, then began feeling around the barrier, trying to understand exactly how the magic within it worked. 

There was undoubtedly a way to break it, however, when it came to more subtle magic like this, Morrigan was rather inexperienced. After all, Azrael had always focused her lessons on either increasing her power or tempering it to her needs.

"Let me try something," Galandir said, then touched the barrier, closing his eyes. He remained like that for a second, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "This is quite complex. I think I could break it, but with the kind of magic I have, it would take quite a while to make the magic in the barrier synchronize with mine and make it work how I want."

"How long would it take?" 

"Long time. Not to mention that it'd take a lot of my magic—this is a very strong barrier. But…" he removed his hand from the barrier and lowered his eyes to the ground, looking rather guilty.

"But what?" 

"I'm not sure if I should suggest this. I'm pretty sure Azrael is ready to have my head on a pike."

"You know that you can trust me not to tell him. If it is something that can help you break the barrier then tell."

"It's just a theory of mine, based on what happened yesterday when I gave you my magic. Azrael said that even with your paint magic you would never be able to create an artifact that produces magic. It was only possible because I gave you my magic right?" 

"Right."

"So I believe the reverse is also true. If you gave me your magic, then it is likely I could break this barrier much faster because your and Azrael's magic is much more similar. Since you're both demons."

"It's certainly worth a shot," Morrigan said, reaching her hand toward the elf. He looked at her with a frown, not taking her hand.

"Are you sure? Mixing our magic—"

"Oh, we've already done so much, what does it matter now," Morrigan said nonchalantly. "Besides, I need to go to my father's side. If something bad has happened, I have to help him."

They stared at each other for a moment and then the elf firmly grasped her hand. She nodded and began channeling her magic into him. Galandir put his other hand back on the barrier and closed his eyes again. They remained that way for a few minutes. Then a few more minutes. The time dragged out as Morrigan's heart pounded from nervousness. She yearned to see Alphegor and make sure that he was alright.

Please stay safe, Father! I'm going to help you soon. We'll defeat our enemy together.

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