Chapter 145: Demons in Lothian March (Part Two)
"We’ve sent more hunters and trackers into the area," Owain said, tearing into roasted lamb chop as though he wasn’t concerned about matters and gesturing with the bone to punctuate his statements. Despite the heavy gazes, he tried to downplay how serious things were. The last thing he wanted was to set off a wave of panic among the young nobles and wealthy merchants who had come to his feast.
"They found tracks of horned demons mixed in with several other demon tracks in the area," Owain said, as though it was an ordinary occurrence. "We think that woman, Lynnda, led Broll and his men into a nest of spider demons, and then a fight broke out between the demons to devour everyone," Owain explained. "Spider demons are well known for taking their kills back to their nests to devour. That’s why we haven’t found any other remains. For this hunt, we’re going to seek out the nest of spiders and burn it to the ground."
"Wait," Sir Rian said, his attention finally pulled away from the painted women posing in the hall when he heard a mention of spider demons. "You only mentioned tracks of horned demons. No one said anything about fighting spider demons!"
"As my charming sister-in-law said, it’s not much different when you get right down to it," Owain said, giving the golden-haired young woman a dazzling smile. "All of them burn. I intend to bring enough blessed oil to make the forest resemble the setting sun at night."
Across the table from him, Loman wore a slightly pained expression. He and Owain weren’t children anymore, but he couldn’t help but wish their father was present. When Owain had been sent to the Southern Steppe to gain experience fighting demons, it clearly helped to build his confidence but he was still underestimating the demons far too much.
Bors had never been shy about giving his sons a good verbal tongue-lashing when they stepped truly out of line, nor was he above physically impressing on them the importance of his words. Now that he seemed to be stepping back to allow Owain to build his own strength as a leader, Loman was increasingly afraid that no one could make his brother see reason.
"Why don’t you bring an Inquisitor instead?" Diarmuid said, leaning forward, his dark eyes flashing with a predatory gleam. He still had many questions that needed answers, but if he could both embed himself with Owain’s hunting party to gather information and burn down a nest of demons in the process then it was as good as reaping two harvests at once.
"I know your family has quite the stockpile of blessed oil, but a conflagration of that size can be difficult for your own men to escape," Diarmuid explained. "I’ll bring a pair of Templars with me to secure our flanks. This way, Brother Loman won’t have to worry about his brother’s safety facing demons."
Owain’s hand tightened on his goblet as he forced himself to adopt a pleasant demeanor. While it was true that bringing an Inquisitor and a pair of Templars into the forest would make the expedition safer, it would also complicate his plans tremendously.