[Sarah]

That being said, nothing ever truly got done when everyone was in it for themselves. Sure, things got done – but the greater good was rarely empowered by selfishness. At least the queen and her power meant that the only being that could truly be selfish was the queen. When everyone worked for her they didn’t have time to spend working for themselves. Her ideal world was not the same as everyone else, but Demons were flourishing as a species and very few found themselves without their basic needs met.

[Sarah]

It was a bad day when Sahir admitted the queen wasn’t so terrible. It was a bad day when he allowed himself to become distracted from the matter at hand. He was not going to be as bad as the child that was dragging him along.

“Alright. You stay here,” Sahir said, “I’ll go get the Seraph.” He begrudgingly made his way into the camp. There were only two Chaos that they could see from the ridge, and as he moved into the camp he neither saw nor sensed other Chaos.

[Sarah]

The path to the Seraph was clear, and when he reached the creature he was surprised that they were not at all guarded. The place the Seraph was being held was nothing special. There were a few basic spells, but nothing that could keep a Seraph in. He wondered if perhaps the Seraph wanted to be with the Chaos.

Sahir glanced up the ridge to where Oreon was waiting. The Demon wanted him to get the Seraph and Sahir couldn’t go back and tell the royal son that he hadn’t even tried to rescue the creature.

[Sarah]

He clenched his jaw and turned back to the task at hand. He moved low and quiet to the front of the little makeshift house. “What are you doing here?” he heard the Seraph hiss. He looked up at her and didn’t recognize her. The two Chaos seemed unaffected, so Sahir felt safe enough to engage.

“I’m here to rescue you,” he whispered, his voice making it clear he was uncertain about what exactly he was doing.

[Sarah]

“Why?” The Seraph seemed just as incredulous.

“Queen’s orders,” Sahir replied, and began working on the spells surrounding the prison-hut. The Seraph scoffed in reply but did nothing to stop or help him. He got the sense that she had wanted to ask why again. Sahir wondered at the possible relationship between Annabelle and this Seraph. The hut was dispelled in a matter of moments, and he opened the door for the Seraph.

“Thanks,” the Seraph said, but she did not sound appreciative.

[Sarah]

“Do you work for the queen?” Sahir asked as he led them away from the Chaos camp. The Chaos hadn’t bothered to really move from where they had been to begin with. It was all too easy to go back the way he had come.

“Do you?” the Seraph questioned. She sounded disdainful and distrusting.

“Used to,” he said. The odd jobs that he did for her, or for her children didn’t count. Those jobs were on his terms.

[Sarah]

“Used to,” The Seraph echoed.

“What happened?” Sahir asked. They were up the ridge now. Oreon had joined them wordlessly and now Sahir was leading them away from the camp. If the Queen wanted those Chaos gone then she would need to send in a bigger and more capable team.

“Went into deep cover and no one came to pull me back,” the Seraph said. That sounded about right. Sahir had been in a similar situation before, and he’d given everything to pull himself back into Hell.

[Sarah]

“We came,” Oreon said. He knew very little of his mother’s missions. Their agents came and went and Oreon rarely took the time to glance up and see who had come and who had gone.

“You did,” the Seraph agreed, although it was clear she knew they had not come specifically for her. To their knowledge they had come only for the Chaos. If the queen had wanted them to rescue the Seraph she did not tell them.

[Sarah]

Instead they had been warned of the mist. The strange substance did not seem to have any negative consequences as far as Oreon had observed. It was strange for the Chaos to set up camp in the open on Evelon, but their camp did not have to come about just because of the mist. That being said the Chaos plane reflected Evelon’s so perhaps the mist was causing problems on their side. Too bad if that was the case, Evelon was not often safe for Chaos.

[Sarah]

“Back to Hell?” Sahir asked. Their mission was more or less over. Little could be done until someone reported to the queen. Oreon nodded in agreement. The Chaos camp could not be taken by the two of them, plus they had an agent they needed to return. The mist would have to take care of itself. Unless Demons began reporting anything stating otherwise the mist was free to do whatever it was doing. Not that the mist wasn’t strange.

[Sarah]

Oreon thought Evelon would begin behaving far differently if the mist never went away. That kind of drastic change in environment would inevitably lead to different behaviors. Oreon would have been endlessly annoyed if something like that happened in Hell. He was so well practiced in reading and walking because of his ability to gauge the surface he was walking over as well as having most of the castle committed to memory. If something came over and covered the ground, he would lose some of that ability because he would feel like he always had to watch where he was going.

[Sarah]

They were back in Hell in no time. Not only did Sahir know exactly what he was doing, but Demons on the other side had been expecting their return. The Seraph took her leave and Oreon let her go. Hell was too dangerous even when one was loyal to the queen. Beings in Hell that were not loyal did not survive. Oreon allowed himself to be led back to the castle. He would rely on Sahir to report back to his mother.

[Sarah]

There were many books calling his name. The mist had piqued his interest, if only just, and he wanted to know more about the agents moving in and out of Hell. He didn’t even know what places on Evelon Annabelle was interested in. Learning the players and their movements would be interesting. It had been a long time since he’d studied state-craft and strategies. Perhaps after a brush up he could make some movements of his own.

[Sarah]

It was strange being the youngest sibling. There was no way he would inherit the throne, and he didn’t even want the throne. At the same time, he saw the work his siblings did, and he couldn’t help but be a little jealous. They were responsible for territory and Demons and civilians… That kind of life had never been for Oreon. He preferred the worlds in the books he read, and he despised responsibility. Sometimes he viewed his brother’s work from rose-colored glasses.

[Sarah]

Dangerous. If he began to show an interest in doing something more his parents would certainly begin piling work onto him. They would be thrilled to have him take on some of the weight of the crown. Instead he would bury his nose in his books and pretend that the world around him was nothing more than a fantasy. That wasn’t to say he’d lost interest in knowing the current players or trying to find out more about the mist that covered Evelon.

[Event posts end here]