Chapter 581: Through Tormod’s Breach
"Uh, Xiviyah? Why are you petting a demon?" Luke stared at the demon on my lap, then up at me, then back at the demon. "And why is it letting you pet it?"
"I...um..." My face grew warm as I clutched Borealis tighter to me, stroking him harder. "He just showed up, and now, well...it’s like this."
R’lissea giggled as my flush darkened, petting the ice bird’s head. "Look at it! Isn’t it adorable? We named him Borealis."
"You named it?" He shook his head, tail twitching. "It’s not a cat, you know. Even with the Lord of Ash’s mark, it could lash out at any second. Demons are dangerous."
"I don’t think it would," I said, playing with a crimson curl. "I just, .um..feel it."
"A feeling?" His eyes narrowed. "Interesting."
I shrank back as he scrutinized me, only letting out a pent-up breath when R’lissea changed the subject.
"So why are you here?" she asked, watching him intently. "It’s been almost a day since we entered Tormod’s Breach, but you haven’t even come to say hi."
"Ah, about that," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he walked beside us. "The truth is, I’ve been having a hard time managing the scouts. We moved as quickly as we could, but the Empire had enough time to prepare several little welcome parties for us. I’ve had to take a few demons ahead and clear out some ambushes our scouts stumbled across. Nothing major, but still enough to slow us down."
"We haven’t heard any fighting yet," I said, tilting my head slightly. If Luke had gotten involved, I should have been able to sense the magical shockwaves and residue of the battle miles away.
He shook his head, groaning. "They’re good. It’s a small, powerful party that knows its limits and retreats the moment we appear with reinforcements."