CH138 Ice Demons march (interlude)
Almost a century ago, an imp named Varkoz, was summoned by the demon queen to the mortal realm. His purpose? To cause the humans to suffer. He was a small part of a great host of demons that captured cities and drove the human armies ever further from the coast. But he blundered, and became lost in the vastness of the theatre of war, adrift in a battlefield too large for a creature so small.
He wandered aimlessly until he spotted a harpy, its shrieks echoing on the wind. Following its northward flight, a pattern he'd observed every few days, he hoped to avoid circling endlessly in the wilderness. High on an ice-shrouded mountain, he discovered a temple ry stronghold of humanity. His contract, however, remained clear: torment humans or face a return to hell.
Varkoz became their unseen menace. He started with stealing from the clergy that came out and patrolled the area. He rattled doors and wrote unpleasant propaganda about their goddess that was rumored to have recently abandoned them from where they could see it from the walls. Yet, never once did he kill, he couldn’t afford to erase his prey, for they were few.
The years passed, and with every snowfall, the imp harnessed the ice, channeling its cold essence. His body thickened, his infernal flame dimmed, replaced by an enduring frost. Nearly a century passed and Varkoz was no longer an imp but a tier 3 demon, a cultivator of ice whose core was filled with frost and had a voice like a biting gale.
Others came, imps cast away or looking to get out from the boot of more powerful and cruel masters, like the fire clan. They gathered under Varkoz, forming a sect hidden nearby the human temple. Their antics became legend among the temple’s humans, a persistent nuisance that never faded.
Until one day, the mountain rumbled.
A magical missile, loosed from an unknown siege engine, struck a neighboring peak. The avalanche that it wrought buried their dojo, swallowing hundreds of tier 1 demons beneath the suffocating frost, sending them back to their home plane.
Among the wreckage, survivors huddled, their usual mischief replaced by the heavy burden of loss. The humans, no longer mere victims, had to fight back. Yet, without them, their very contract would be nullified, leading to their banishment.
After the tier 2, the upper disciples fished what imps they could out of the snow drift the sect got together to debate their fate. There was a fierce disagreement about whether continuing to harass the humans so they could stay in their spot and cultivate ice was worth provoking another attack.
A few days into the conscientious debate, the sect had an unexpected visit from the winter court of the fey.
The ambassador, a yuki onna, spoke of another human settlement to the south. One that had only just taken root from the ruins of an old one. The fey cared little for the conflict between the humans and the demons and the humans, only for the sanctity of the forest. They offered a deal: the fey would guide them through the wilds and the ice sect would drive the humans out.
Varkoz considered. His sect had been wounded but they remained bound by their contract. The temple was no longer easy prey as far as he could tell. But this new settlement? It was vulnerable. He and his demons could drive them out, or better yet, capture them and use them as prisoners to keep their contract fulfilled.
As winter drew near, the ice sect made ready to descend from the perma-frosted mountains and journey south, poised to continue their age-old cycle of haunting a new group of humans.
The sect moved through thinning trees after days of travel across the frozen and lifeless landscape. When they continued amongst the thinning trees, led by the eerily quiet yuki-onna the presence of so many ice cultivators left a creeping chill that seeped into the earth.
But discipline among imps was a fragile thing. Whey they stumbled upon a towering, gnarled tree, pulsing with latent energy, the lower demons could not rest. They clawed at the bark, gnawed at the limbs, thinking they had found a new cultivation source, until the trees stirred.
What they mistook for treasures were sleeping nymphs, tree spirits bound to the land.
The yuki-onna, unamused by their recklessness, froze the offending imps solid, then with a wave of her hand shattered them into a fine dust of cursed ice, a cruel return ticket to hell.
Varkoz’s frozen skin prickled at the sight of yet more of his forces were lost. He knew that imps were greedy, opportunistic creatures. He used to be one. They were more likely to rush towards power than consider the consequence because of their short lifespan. He turned to his tier 2 disciples.
The tier 3 demon’s voice was like a caving glacier. “Rein them in. The next fool dies by my hand.”
“Yes, honored Varkoz.” The tier 2 demons bowed in respect, sounding afraid.
Day after day they traveled, the remaining demons under tight control. The forest changed from sparse and cold at first then to thicker, taller fir trees covered with snow and frost.
Then, at last, they found them.
A nomadic tribe had set up camp, tents clustered around a struggling fire. These were humans who had evaded demon captivity. The contract could be fulfilled here.
The Yuki-onna turned to Varkoz. “These are the unwelcome guests. The summer court is too soft. Sheltering them will only attract your kind. And they are even worse than the destructive humans.”
The sect leader felt the need to strike her down for the thinly veiled disrespect. But she was right, demons are terrible, they had to be to survive. And the only other humans that he knew of were in the kingdom adjacent to the forest. A tier 4 demon, one of the demon queen’s generals stood at the top of that pyramid scheme. So, he had to swallow his pride.
“We’ll make them suffer.” Varkoz deadpanned.
“Do what you want.” The Yuki-onna spoke non-caring. “Though, there is one exception. One of our cousins from the summer court incurred a debt against the goddess Luna by not offering hospitality when she should have. A magical girl frequents these lands. She can stay as compensation for the affront, any act of aggression against her will be considered a violation of our good will.”
“What does she look like?” Varkoz raised an eyebrow.
“Like any other magical girl.” The yuki-onna gave little away. “She can be identified by her flamingo familiar.”
“What is her race?” Varkoz tried to get some useful information from the cold woman. “Or anything else that might be useful to identify her.”
“I have told you enough.” The yuki-onna didn’t offer any more information that might be valuable to sell.
The lust demons really liked corrupting magical girls. And if the magical girl was from one of the races that didn’t have level caps then that could be some very valuable information. After all, a human magical girl was a time bomb ticking away. The eclipse a while ago was a good reminder that they can become demi-gods in their own right if given enough time to advance.
“My kin have campaigned through these lands before and we can do it again.” Varkoz didn’t like that she was making him sound weak.
The yuki-onna stated coldly. “What will you do with these trespassers?”
“If they are combat classers we will kill them.” Varkoz knew the answer. “Non combat classed humans we can take captive, unlike up north they shouldn’t freeze to death.”
The Yuki-onna let out a hum of contemplation. “In that case, perhaps they can play a game with their freedom on the line.”
Valkoz was intrigued. “If it causes them suffering I am not opposed to it.”
“Refrain from killing them and I’ll take over from there.” The Yuki-onna simply stated.
The demons attacked the camp. They thought that they would descend upon unaware humans but that didn’t turn out to be true.
Spears impaled imps and sent them back to their home plane. Shields kept claws, teeth and ice magic at bay for a time.
But the demons were thousands.
For every imp that fell, there were seemingly limitless number to take their place.
A dogpile of small forms disarmed and subdued the humans.
From the fight, it was easy to tell who were the combat classers. Weapon skills were a dead giveaway. Some of the humans used weapons, but they defeated a vastly smaller number of imps than the primarily combat-classed group.
With the humans being bound in shackles of ice the yuki-onna gave an ultimatum. “You are no longer welcome in these lands. The seasons have changed and hospitality has ended, thus saith the winter court.”
She continued. “However, we are not without mercy. And those of you that the demons do not want to capture have a choice. Forfeit your lives to them, or take a chance to escape the forest in a different form. However, should you be caught, you’ll spend the rest of your lives as servants of the winter court.”
Given the large hoard of demons that apparently wanted them dead, the tribal humans that were injured and marked for death agreed.
“A deal has been struck.” The Yuki-onna grinned and started chanting and waving her hands. A frost covered scroll appeared in the air and she held a quill made from ice to it.
“Your names.” She ordered.
And the humans gave her their names.
“A day's head start will be allowed.” The Yuki-onna stated. “But you will have to make the trek in a form fitting for the inhabitants of the winter court.”
The humans clutched their sides and began to shiver, like there was a sudden drop in temperature. Their skin turned blue, like they were suffering from hyperthermia. They gasped in surprise when their bodies transformed from the fey magic.
Insect-like wings sprouted from their backs, and they shrunk down to a diminutive form, not much larger than a human hand. They were transformed into ice fairies.
“Now, can you find your way out of the woods, then you will turn back.” She made a wave of her hand. “The clock starts now.”
One fairy objected, in a squeaky voice that they didn’t sound comfortable with. “But my tribeskin, we can’t just abandon them.” The fairy gestures to the untransformed humans there were still bound.
“You want to stay with them?” The Yuki-onna raised an eyebrow. “I’d consider that giving up. In which case, I’ll take the opportunity to consider you caught right now.”
“I’m sorry friends,” The fairy lamented. “There is no way to save you. We were just unlucky to run across such a large group of demons out of nowhere.”
The non-combat classers nodded, understanding that they didn’t have a choice. And would suffer the fate of so many humans that ended up captives of the demons.
The fairies left in different directions, deciding that staying in a group would only make them easier to catch. They left on foot, but made some terrible progress with their tiny legs. However, it didn’t take them long to figure out how to buzz their wings and take to the air. They flitted off to the north, east and west. The only thing that they were sure of was that going south would lead them back the way they came, deeper into the fey occupied woods.