Vorisen’s voice came from behind me. “Is she alive?”

I very much wanted to know that myself, so I checked her breathing. It was so weak it seemed like she might pass any moment but she was still breathing. “I think so. For now, at least.”

Looking up into his stern countenance, I saw nothing but contempt. “I’ll have someone take a look at her.”

He shouted for one of his soldiers and they hurried over. The woman, her face streaked with blood, gave Elmidath a quick inspection and grimaced. “She might live but I’ll need to get to work immediately.”

When I didn’t move, she assured me that Elmidath would be taken care of. I reluctantly let them do their job and lay down in the sand. Now I was free of my burden, I felt awfully tired. Thinking I could do with a short rest, I closed my eyes.

The next thing I knew, it was daylight. A few hours past noon at that, based on the position of the suns. I’d fallen asleep facing the Primis camp but now it was gone. All that was left was the fallen Tertiums, their bodies already partially buried by the sand. That, and the fresh bandages binding my wounds.

I let out an inarticulate cry of dismay at having been abandoned in the desert and tried to sit up. But I didn’t quite make it. Without the benefit of adrenaline my wounds hurt far worse than they had before. Every movement was agonising.

“It’s okay.” Elmidath’s voice, warm and soothing, drifted over from a little way behind me.

“What happened?” My throat was dry and my question came out as something of a croak. “Where did the soldiers go?”

“Once they confirmed that the warlord was dead, they wanted to head back. But they couldn’t risk moving us yet, so I let them go on ahead.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of my nose. “You encouraged them to leave us in the desert?”

“We’ll be fine. A little more rest and we’ll be able to walk back on our own two legs.”

How Elmidath always been so positive? In my weakened state it was a little sickening. But no, she was probably just trying to put on a brave face given the circumstances. “What are we supposed to do until then? Lie around in the sand?”

“Pretty much.” She grinned. “I don’t think it’s so bad. I don’t know about you, but I’m happy to take a bit of time off.”

I sighed. “What if the Tertiums come back?”

“They won’t. Besides, the ogres are still here.” She waved her hand vaguely off to the right where I saw the ogres prodding one of the dead bestial demons.

“Oh, great. Where were they last night, anyway?”

Elmidath laughed, a clear melodic sound like a bell. “Would you believe they slept through the whole thing? They were really disappointed that they missed out.”

Of course they were, the stupid brutes. Given the option, I would happily have let them take my place. But no, I had to be the one out there getting mauled by these horrible things. “You’re not planning on recruiting any Tertiums in the future, are you?”

“I wasn’t planning on it, they’re too hard to control. Why?”

“I think I’ve developed a bit of a dislike for them at this point.”

Elmidath slapped me on the shoulder and I winced. Not from the blow, but how the movement made the pain of injuries flare.

Elmidath paid no attention to my pain as she replied. “Me too. With a bit of luck, we shouldn’t have to deal with them or their kind again for at least a while.”

“How many more of these things live out here in the wilderness?” I was already envisioning great hordes of them pouring forth to lay waste to civilisation. Or what passed for civilisation in this world.

“It’s hard to say. I doubt anyone’s bothered to count them, but probably a lot.”

I scratched my head. “What even are they? I remember Korzan saying they were the third stage, or something a while ago.”

“Good question. I’m not sure anyone really knows for sure. Things get a bit complicated when it comes our nature in this new world. Our forms changed a lot when the two worlds merged, to the point where no one can even recall what we used to look like. I’m not sure we even existed in the same sense we do now.”

“Uh-huh… That’s not very helpful. What’s all this about stages then?”

Elmidath raised her finger and wagged at me as if she were delivering a lecture. I wondered if she even realised she was doing it. “That part is relatively straightforward. The more of the new world’s energy we take in, the more we change. And that level of change is measured in stages.”

“How many stages are there?”

“Six.”

It got even worse than the Tertiums? “I’m guessing the fourth stage is pretty horrific then.”

“Yeah, probably. The few descriptions I’ve heard of it sounded pretty bad.”

I swallowed nervously. “That’s, uh, not going to happen to me, right?”

“Nah, you’ve barely been here for any time at all. It’ll be weeks at least before you need to bother with any that, if not months.”

She sounded awfully nonchalant about it all, was she really sure I wasn’t in danger of turning? My current life wasn’t great but it was a hell of a lot better than being one of those things. “How do you know that?”

“Because, there just hasn’t been enough time for the energy to build up in your body.”

Crossing my arms, I frowned. “You’re certain?” Turning into one of those hairy creatures would make for quite the unpleasant surprise.

“Yep. That’s how it works for everyone else. There’s no reason it would be any different for you.”

“Huh…” I wasn’t too happy to learn about yet another thing I needed to worry about but at least it wasn’t something I had to bother with for a while. “How do you avoid progressing through the stages then?” There had to be a way, otherwise they’d all have changed before I got here.

“There’s a few ways; eating uncorrupted demon flesh is one, but it’s pretty disgusting. I can barely keep the stuff down.” Seeing the look of disgust on my face, she hurriedly continued. “But normally I just swallow a few of these.” She took out a small pouch and shook a few of what looked like little stones into her hand.

“What are they?” They really didn’t look edible.

“Yomence crystals.”

“Seeds? And swallow them? They don’t grow inside of you or anything, do they?”

Elmidath shook her head. “No, no. Nothing like that. The crystals will absorb some of the energy as they, uh, pass through your body.”

That part didn’t sound too great but I suppose it was still a lot better than eating people. They did look pretty small; it shouldn’t be that hard. If this was an everyday part of life here then so be it, I could cope with this much. “Anything else I should know as a new demon?”

“Not really.”

I narrowed my eyes and stared at her. Was there really nothing else? But she remained silent and I couldn’t think of any other aspects to ask about. After our conversation lapsed, the ogres wandered over. Their expressions were triumphant yet they kept looking over their shoulders toward the horizon. Raising his club above his head with both hands, Aog slammed it against the ground.

The sand, shifting under the blow, produced only a muffled thump much to the ogre’s dismay. “This a foul, unnatural land, no place for the righteous.” He shook his head. “But no matter. I must congratulate you two on this victory; not just for ourselves but for all the goodly folk of the world.”

Gurk’s lips peeled back to reveal his yellowed teeth. “And how wonderful that you both survived the ordeal. This surely speaks well of your natures. It is only fitting that the virtuous would possess the strength to withstand great evil.”

They certainly didn’t seem very apologetic for people who’d missed the battle; the whole reason we’d brought them with us in the first place. “Aren’t you two ashamed that you slept through the whole thing?”

Aog lowered his head and pressed his forehead against the handle of his club. “Of course. But our shame is nothing before the glory we have won here today!”

“We? Are you seriously taking credit when you didn’t even do anything?”

The ogres fell silent at that. Shifting uncomfortably, they shared a glance. Gurk thumped his chest. “We may not have gotten the chance to assist in the battle itself but we were all still companions in this quest, were we not? We all shared the same perils; it’s only fair that we get a share of the glory.”

I sighed. They were unbelievable. But it’s not like it really mattered. If they wanted to take some of the credit that badly then they could. “Fine. How did you both manage to sleep through the battle, anyway?” It surely must have been quite loud.

Aog let out a mournful wail. “We were victims of the most terrible happenstance. In celebration of our coming victory, we enjoyed a great feast last night. But who could have known that it would have rendered us insensate when the time for action came?”

Despite their theatrics, they really didn’t seem too bothered by their failure. It struck me as puzzling at first but then I realized what Aog meant; they accepted none of the blame for missing the battle. I closed my eyes and laid back, I’d been a fool to bother trying to understand their reasoning.

Elmidath, who hadn’t said a thing to them and seemed to be paying little attention to the conversation, had chosen a far wiser path.

Which left to me to handle them. “What’s going on, anyway?” Had they just come to congratulate us on our victory? “Do you need something?” Hopefully they hadn’t come to demand more food. I had little patience for the ogres’ gluttony right now.

Gurk looked back over his shoulder again, though following his gaze I couldn’t see anything unusual. “Ah, yes. I was so swept up in this grand wave of exhilaration born from our- “

Not wanting to listen to yet another grandiose speech from the ogres, I told him to get to the point. Gurk looked a little perturbed but, speaking in a monotone, he did as he was told. “A terrible storm approaches, we should be leaving soon.”

A storm? There was scarcely a cloud in the sky. “You mean like a figurative storm, or?”

The ogre grunted. “No, I am not referring to a figurative storm, you buffoon. I am referring to a meteorological phenomenon which I strongly suspect to be unnatural. As such, it is the opinion of my esteemed companion and I that we all seek shelter.”

If they were talking about a literal storm then I was completely lost. There was nothing nearby, what was there to worry about? I turned to Elmidath. “Are you following any of this?”

“Nope. I don’t see any storm; how do you know it’s coming?’

Aog stamped his feet. “A portion of our inner ear reacts to changes in the weather. In particular, it aches in the vicinity of stormfronts in proportion to the distance separating us and the severity of the storm. As our inner ears are causing the both of us considerable pain despite the storm not being within sight, as Lady Sarinknell has so astutely pointed out, therefore it must be one of exceptional ferocity. We plan on leaving here in short order and entreat that you come with us for your own safety.”

I really didn’t feel up to walking and I doubted Elmidath was feeling any better. “Can’t this wait?”

“It absolutely cannot, unless you harbor some desire to die in this sandy hellscape.”

“Neither of us can really walk right now and I doubt we’d do too well being carried.” Thinking for a few moments, I came up with a plan. “How about this; you two take Elmidath’s tent and use it as a litter so she can travel in relative comfort. Then before the storm overtakes me, I’ll teleport over to Elmidath.”

Neither of the ogres looked too happy about having to carry Elmidath but they didn’t argue. That alone signalled just how concerned they were. I watched them go, then looked to the horizon as I awaited the storm.