The Godlands were beautiful, safe, made just for humanity, but the wildlands beyond beckoned—the Void beckoned—and humanity was tempted by that which was unattainable.

*****

"Dea'Ammat, I am at your service."

The Demon Lord's thoughts returned to present and their gaze shifted from the still shattered vile underfoot. Flat sulphur eyes observed the kneeling shadow before them and betrayed nothing of the soul beyond. Always contradictory, always burning and frozen. Pale lips parted and a soft rush of air was expelled, "Arise." Quiet and almost raspy, the command was music to the shadow’s ears. The shadow rose to its pinprick feet and kept its head bowed.

"The remains of the enemy forces have retreated to the lowlands, the kin have secured the fortifications and the last of the peasantry have been culled." A pause then the shadow answered the unasked question. "The nobility have long since fled."

A small disappointment, the Demon lord never expected to exterminate the Cinnfhail aristocracy. Dregs of the empire they may be, but still, of the empire. Pity—it would have been satisfying to expunge a few of the parasites.

"Dea'Ammat, we await your orders." The shadow broke the growing quiet.

"We know."

The shadow shivered, far beyond, the hordes of demons shivered. Rarely did Dea'Ammat speak so many words permitting the world to hear and listen. They basked in their lord's acknowledgement and revelled in the correcting whispers carried on an errant breeze. The demon lord smiled; the joy of the kin was their own after all. As was their sorrow, pain, fears, and hatred—so much hatred—where the kin's began and the Demon lord's ended was uncertain. It didn't matter.

Humankind must end regardless.

*****

Maya sat back and watched her heroic helper deal with the last of the customers. He'd done a well enough job, she'd even managed a short nap in the backroom—as unnerving as Veuce was, she would report the outcome of the quest in truth, and stiffing Maya should run counter to the terms of the quest given. She watched him enter a conversation with the last patron and withheld a groan as he pointed her out to the customer and gestured for her to come over. Maya ignored it.

"Excuse me, shopkeeper? Would you mind helping me out a bit?" asked the customer with a slight pleading expression in his sparkling blue eyes.

Yes, Maya did mind, but he was a customer and Maya was, indeed, a shopkeeper.

"How may I help you?"

"I'm collecting stories for the village archive and Aiden suggested to me I ask you to help me with my last entry."

Maya shot a look at Aiden.

He squirmed a bit before explaining, "See, Arthur here is worried he'll go insane if he listens to another old person go off on their life story, and most everyone else is working, but since I'm working for you right now, you could help him out." Maya wanted to glare at him. Her life's story was none of his business, and this whole quest was nothing more than something the Elder devised to appease Veuce, but the Elder and his ancestors had been kind to her family and she would repay him in turn.

"Then I'll give you the short version and you can be on your way."

Arthur visibly brightened. "Yes, that sounds amazing!"

Ah, Bertha had probably talked him into a coma earlier if that was his reaction, she did have a clever way of taking advantage of these quests and sticking it to Veuce.

"Right I was born in this village, as was my father; my mother wound up here during the war and decided to stay some thirty-odd years ago. My father's family were some of the original settlers of Cairn several generations back after escaping slavery in Laprise. The Cinnfhail mountains are one of the few places where the talons of Laprise do not reach. At least that was the case before the ceasefire." Maya didn't mention that her ancestors were trying to return to the wildlands but couldn't get past the everpresent battle-line. "Anyway, Cinnfhail is still mostly uncivilized; life here isn't easy, though we have it better than some since this shop is the main trade post for the region and even highwaymen dislike living so close to demons. It's dangerous here.

"My mother was murdered, I took over the shop and I now live with my brothers and father. That should be everything. Now run along." Maya shewed the hero Arthur and turned to Aiden. "And he was the last of the morning rush, your quest is over pick out your potions and leave." And to Maya's pleasure, Aiden set about doing exactly as she asked. When his hands touched his reward Maya did her best to ignore Veuce's confirmation.

The shop door burst open and a red-faced Erin stormed in. She was soaked from head to toe and her normally bouncing hair was plastered to her face and neck. “What is wrong with your brother? One moment I was having a nice conversation with a Hero; next, he is dumping a bucket of water on me!”

“Did he give you any explanation?” Maya asked, quickly grabbing a blanket to conceal Erin and draping it over the girl.

“Something about a stain on my dress. I don’t buy it.”

“That idiot, he’s like a little boy with a crush,” Maya swore and turned to the hero who was staring at them dumbly. "I told you you're done here—shops closed, get out!" That was sharper than intended but Maya wasn't going to bother with pleasantries. She watched Aiden carefully as he exited the shop. He’d looked curious, who wouldn’t be when a fiery-haired girl came storming into a shop soaked from head to toe? There was danger in that curiosity. Erin's curls normally hid her horns, but not when her hair was plastered to her scalp with water. Maya hoped she was quick enough with the blanket.

“Did anyone else see you?” Maya asked.

“The whole town saw me! That’s the problem,” Erin replied exasperated.

“Yeah, but did any outsiders see you? Heroes?”

“Maybe, I don’t think so.”

“Erin. This is why you need to wear a shawl or at least a hat. I love you, but one wrong person seeing those horns could mean death.”

“Maybe you should tell your brother that!” Erin snapped.

“I’ll be having words with him later. Void, he’s even worse than a child. As are you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you! Either you're denser than the mountains or you need to stop pretending not to notice Noa.”

“I notice him.”

“But you ignore him. I was going to stay out of this, but seeing as that’s worked out so well, I’ll just say it. Noa likes you, and has liked you since we were all kids.”

“He does not!” Erin laughed but tailed off upon noticing Maya's pointed look. “You're serious?” Recognition was dawning on Erin’s face as her dear friend simply nodded at her naivety. “I… I have to go.”

"Wait." Maya dried Erin’s hair as well as she could with the blanket then wrapped it in a bright red shawl and gave her a large smile. "Good. Now, what are you waiting for?"

Erin gave Maya a playful hit in the arm before running out the door. After the flurry of excitement moments before, soft chuckling became the only sound in the otherwise quiet shop. Maya put her unease out of mind and began cleaning the puddle that had formed under Erin, then continued to clean and lock up the rest of the shop. Today would be a good day to close early, she thought, most of the day's business was done anyway. She hummed as she cleaned, and the lingering thoughts of pointed horns and the ruthless hunters that followed were forgotten as she daydreamed.

The two of them had always been joined at the hip, more sisters than friends. Maybe sometime in the near future, that feeling would become reality. Father would certainly be happy to see one of his boys start a family of their own, and Noa would be happiest of all. Life was hard in Cairn—death and hardship never too far away—but at this moment Maya smiled in pure joy. She let herself imagine a happy future where all was well and all the people she loved were safe and happy with her.