Larasta City, eight days after the Dungeon raid

  Vale stood behind his captain and did his best to keep in control. It had been over a week now since Sin had been thrown into the portal, but the rage still had not subsided. He was unaccustomed to being out of control. He had many decades of training and experience, a decorated officer in on of the nine royal squads... but right now he was as pissed as he had ever been. The small dragon newt on his shoulder made a sad noise and Vale's lips pressed together in a thin line. The monster had been inconsolable the whole time, lethargic and not eating well.

  Rift sighed, his chin resting on his folded fingers, elbows resting on the polished oval table. Captain Rift Rice of the Red Ravens was only one of the esteemed members present at this meeting today. Normally some one such as Vale would not have been invited here but he was the only member of the Squad who had firsthand knowledge of what had happened in the dungeon and so Captain Rift had asked that he be aloud to be there. Vale knew that his captain was angry, but like himself, Rift was good at hiding his emotions.

  "Should that creature really be aloud in here." Sighed Geld. He was the captain of the Green Serpents, and one of Vale's least favorite Squad leaders. He was a human in his late fifties with a belly so big he was wider than he was tall. He had brown hair and a tiny mustache; his eyes were too close together and his nose was small. To Vale, he looked like an overweight rat. He sat a few seats down from Captain Rift and glared at the dragon newt with distaste.

  "Really though." Agreed Rain, a stern look in her yellow eyes. She sat next to the rotund Serpent captain and couldn't have been a bigger contrast. She was nearly six feet tall, muscled, and straight backed. She was the leader and founder of the Black Tigers and a fiercely proud and loyal woman. A tiger beastmen herself, she preferred to accept those of the beastmen race as he subordinates. Vale had a lot of respect for the woman. "I know it is only a newt, but monsters should not be present around the queen."

  The queen didn't seem to mind, however. She sat at the head of this long table, her long blonde hair braided with gemstones today, pale blue eyes locked on the dragon newt with concern. If Vale remembered correctly, her mother had once worn a dragon newt back when such a thing was in fashion. He had not met the queen often. She was young at only twenty-six, but she seemed to be a fair ruler. It was a difficult time to be a monarch now. It was those who reigned during the rising of the Demon King who often stood out most in history. No doubt Queen Seraphina the fourth would like wise be remembered.

  "Drogin is my guest." Rumbled Rift. His tone the only indication that he was not very happy right then. "Besides, he is a tamers companion, not some wild monster. His master is the reason for this meeting as a matter of fact, so how about we get back to the discussion at hand?"

  Vale watched as several of the gathered captains glared. The Red Raven's had a reputation as being a band of eccentric, and often low brow, trouble makers with barely any over site. Mostly the rumors were true. But Rift was a stellar captain and Vale did not appreciate the looks he was receiving. Still, he stayed quiet. It was not his place to speak now.

  "Why are we here exactly?" Asked another captain, this one seated to the left of the queen. Orphryn could be prickly and snobbish, but that was how most of the high elves were so Vale never held it against the man. He looked to be in his early thirties, but Vale knew he was more like in his eighties. How did he know? Because he and the brown eyed, pointed ear elf were about the same age. They had entered the Squads at the same time. Now Orphryn was the captain of the Silver Phoenix, the second strongest Squad in service to the kingdom.

  "Something about a demon I believe." Drawled Geld, scratching his stomach as if he felt a little peckish.

  "We are here," said the Queen, instantly silencing the room. "Because during the dungeon raid that included Lady Kassidy and Sir Markus, a member of the party was lost."

  All eyes turned to the two heroes standing behind the Queen's chair. Kassidy was pale and red eyed. She had been upset most of the weeklong ride back to the capital. He and Rift had accompanied the two heroes and the now one-armed Roran back to Larasta and called for the meeting immediately upon arrival. Markus stood next to the much smaller girl. Not only was the man a mountain of muscle but his dark skin also made him stand out. Only heroes, or those descended from heroes, ever had that skin color. The most a native Hearthian could hope for was a nice tan.

  Markus usually had a bright white smile, but he was grim faced today. He had also been furious with the High Priest back in the dungeon, but they had all agreed that this was a matter to be discussed amongst the assembled Captains council and so here they were.

  "I have only received the bare minimum of detail from our heroes and the high priest. I would like to hear the full accounting now if you would please." Continued the queen, directing her inquiry to Markus. Normally Vale suspected that Kassidy would have been the better choice for a debriefing, but he was sure the queen could see the state the girl was in as well. Vale had only known the two heroes for about two weeks, one of those weeks spent in the saddle in mainly silence, but he knew Kassidy to be stern, kind, and witty. Markus was boisterous and friendly, an easy-going sort of man, who was dependable in a fight.

  Markus took a breath and began to tell of the quest. "The day after our arrival to Bellana Roran took Kassidy and I to the base of the Red Ravens. We needed more party members for the raid on the Forest of Elswell and the Ravens were the nearest Squad." Here Markus nodded to captain Rift. "They were quite accommodating and friendly. But they do not have many members, and most of them were out on other missions or just returning from them. As such, Captain Rift sent Vale with us as well as a young woman by the name of Sin."

  "Sin?" Asked the queen, forehead wrinkled. Vale almost smiled as an image of the dark-haired demon flashed before his eyes, a scowl on her face. "And she is the demon I was told about then? The one rumored to be able to enter the church in Bellana?"

  "Yes, your majesty." Replied Markus. Vales saw his eyes dart to the man to the right of Kassidy. Roran was here as well, pale faced with a great many bandages around his stump of a shoulder. Sin had not gone quietly. Kassidy had mostly healed the wound, but she could not reattach limbs. "She was an interesting woman and a hopeful for the Red Ravens from what I understand."

  "Wanted a demon for yourself did you Rift?" Chuckled August. He was the oldest, in appearance at least, of the captain collective. But his age was not apparent in his bearing as he was always tall and straight backed. A man of power and pride. He had led the Golden dragons for nearly thirty years now. Some say that he is getting ready to retire and hand the reigns to his vice captain. But it was not the vice captain that stood with the captain today.

  The older man pointed a finger at the other man that stood behind his chair. This man was undeniably a demon. Had Sin looked this way she never would have been able to hide her identity. This demon was about six and a half feet tall, red skinned, red eyed, and had large, curved horns above each of his red pointed ears. His hair was long and black, tied in a thick braid over one shoulder. He looked like strength incarnate. So, this was the famous demon August had taken into his Squad during the last Summer Selection.

  "The fact that Sin is a demon had nothing to do with it per say." Sighed Rift, shaking his head as if to clear it. "She has strength and an indominable spirit. Not to mention a natural talent for taming and hand to hand combat. Her personality fits well with my Squad, and I was looking forward to her showing at the Summer Selection this year." As Captain Rift spoke vale watched as the demon in the room looked more and more confused. Strange.

  "Please continue Markus." Asked the queen, listening intently.

  "We found the Dungeon without too much effort and forged ahead with our objective, the Summer Sleeper staff. We came across many a monster but thanks, mostly, to Vale's leadership and experience we made great progress. Working together we took down several B-ranked monsters with out suffering much if any injuries. It was on the second day that Sin showed her true worth." Said Markus. Roran made a disbelieving noise but other than a glare from Markus, no one paid him any mind.

  "How so? You said she was a tamer correct?" Asked the queen, her blonde hair catching the sun light from the windows. "I assume the little newt is hers." She said indicating the red Drogin currently pouting on Vale's shoulder.

  "Correct." Said The warrior hero with a nod. "When we left the Red Raven's base she only had the newt and her own claws as weapons-"

  "And tail." Added Kassidy, sadly. She shot Roran a death glare that actually got a smirk out of Vale. She had been Roran's biggest fan for some time. The High Priest had been her mentor after all. But she was furious with him now.

  "And tail." Agreed Markus. "But on the second day of our adventure we got our selves cornered by a pack of about fifteen Storm Wolves." At that several of the captains began paying better attention. Storm wolves were strong when they were alone, standing as B-ranked monsters, but a massive pack of them? Even a captain would be warry of going against that lot, alone. "We thought we were goners to be honest. I sent out a prayer that the other three would be enough to keep the kingdom together..."

  At this there were whispers of concern. No one blamed Markus for his fear of course, anyone of them would have feared, and they had been fighting monsters for decades not just a few short months. What got them whispering was the collective fear of being two heroes short.

  "What happened then?" Asked August. His demon was listening raptly as well. Vale supposed that he didn't get to hear too much about his own kind given how rare free demons were in Hearth.

  "Apparently the demon can speak monster." Growled Roran, earning a glare and a shush from Kassidy. He clicked his tongue and kept quiet though.

  "Yes, Sin was able to converse with the wolves. I am unsure if this is a trait common to tamers or maybe demons, or if it is just a skill that she picked up over time. Either way she managed to convince the Alpha of the pack to fight her, one on one." Said Markus. But what caught Vale's eye was the look of disbelief on the face of the demon. He wasn't very good at masking his emotions. "It was a dicey fight to be sure and she nearly got herself fried by lightning a time or two. In the end she won by ducking under the beast and stabbing it in the eye with her tail."

  Someone at the table whistled their appreciation but Vale didn't notice who. He had been fairly impressed at the time too, but hadn't told the woman that, she would have brought it up for the rest of his life he had no doubt.

  "As a prize for the win, Sin got us the location of the item we were looking for. She also managed to get herself a Storm wolf to boot. Seemed to be a win to me, but after she tamed the monster, Roran got very upset and they got into an argument."

  "About what? "Asked the husky voice of Collette, the elvish witch captain of the Amethyst Spiders. She was tall and dark haired with a perpetual frown. Vale had never had a bad encounter with the elf, but she did practice necromancy which garnered her a bit of a bad reputation among some groups.

  "She named it!" Spat Roran, making Kassidy jump and shoot him a dirty look. "A demon with a divine power?! Absurd. Sacrilegious even!"

  "Enough, High Priest Roran." Admonished queen Seraphina, also shooting the one armed man a quelling gaze. When the group had gotten to the capital the priest had gone on a mad spiel and the queen feared he had gone mad. They managed to calm him but made him promise to not have an out burst in the meeting or he would be removed. Seraphina turned back to Markus. "She named it. As in an actual, true, name?"

  "So she, and the priest, both said. She was weakened by the fight and from the taming and naming. I think that, had she of been of sounder mind, she would not have reveled that fact. But she made no attempt to deny it once she had. I am afraid I do not grasp the full implications given everyone's reactions, but I gathered that it was not something a normal person could do. Roran made it sound like it was something only a great deal of time or the Gods themselves could accomplish."

  There was a lot of silence after this. Everyone processing. Vale did not blame them. He was still processing it after all. The number of revelations that night had been intense. Twenty thousand MP? The god like ability to name monsters... it was clear that Sin had been no ordinary woman. Usually this kind of intense magic only happened with the heroes, not some cast out demon looking to just live her life.

  "it is an amazing thing. Something that I would have denied had it not been one of esteemed heroes who had told me of it..." Admitted August, fingers steepled before him. "The mana cost alone is normally staggering. Hypothetically speaking of course, given we have nothing to compare it to. I take it that this newt has a name as well then?" He asked, now eyeing the dragon newt with curiosity.

  Vale reached up and removed the newt from his shoulder, much to his distaste, as the little beast clawed and whined. "This is Drogin. From what I have been told, he was an E Ranked monster but is now B ranked. Mostly he is a lazy cry baby from what I have seen." Vale said, glaring at the squirming lizard. It had attached itself to him almost from the moment Sin had been sent away. "He refuses to leave my side for some reason. Depressed I think."

  "It went from an E rank to B rank?" Asked Geld, eyeing the newt wit something like greed.

  At a nod from his captain, Vale continued. "Yes. So said Sin at least. It gained the ability to use some weak fire spells but not much else. He seems mostly to be her pet."

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Sin does have a spell to make him the size of an actual dragon though." Said Kassidy, no doubt remembering the day before the dungeon adventure. Vale had been shocked to see that as well.

  "Really?" Asked August. "I am sure that that too would take an immense amount of mana. Unless it was just an illusion to make the newt look bigger?"

  "No sir. She was riding on its back. It was definitely solid." Said Markus. "During the fight after she named her wolf, Sin did admit that she had twenty thousand MP." There were several choked gasps at that. So many that, had vale of not been watching him, he wouldn't have heard the one uttered by August's demon. If a red man could go pale, this one was. "And that is twenty thousand here on Hearth. She said quite clearly that had she of been in the Demon realm, that number would easily be in excess of one hundred thousand."

  "One hundred thousand!" Bellowed Heig, the Captain of the White Stags. He was a dwarf of great skill. It was rare to be a dwarf born with magical talent, much less enough talent to become one of the Squad Captains. But Heig's Earth magic was on another level. Vale had been in battle with him a few times. "Why not infinite at that point? How can that be possible?"

  "I do not know sir." Said Markus. "She wouldn't say, and Roran was being rather insulting at the time." The priest looked as if he wanted to interrupt again but refrained himself. "She passed out after that and we decided to let her rest before following her new wolf companion, now named Vendaval, to the location of the staff. The trip there was mostly uneventful. But what we saw upon arrival was rather unnerving, an immense dome of vines, seeming to stretch on into eternity..."

  "Never heard of such a thing in the Elswell." Said Geld, still looking like he was mulling this news over.

  "It was in a very obscure and far away location in the dungeon. One where even the monster had come to avoid. We were apprehensive to enter as it reeked of death and danger, and we were hardly a balanced Squad, even with the wolf to add more teeth to the mix. But the dungeon would close soon, and Kassidy needed that staff, so we decided to risk it."

  "There was a spider in there." Intoned Kassidy and Markus nodded. "A huge one. As big as a house or even bigger. Should have known..."

  "You should have?" Asked Orphryn, clearly confused.

  "Any time there is a big dark cave its always spiders..."

  At everyone's confused look, Markus laughed. "It's a thing from our world."

  "Sin thought so too." Said Kassidy. "When we heard the clicking and the sound of the spider moving around. Remember?"

  Markus nodded. "Maybe demons have spider caves." He laughed.

  The comment made Vale look to the only demon in the room again, and again the man looked pale and confused. Like he had an idea, and what ever it was made no sense and scared the crap out of him. No doubt, August probably brought him because this meeting was about a demon, and he hoped this one would have some insight. If Vale had to guess, that's exactly what the demon had, and he was not happy bout it.

  "It was an extremely difficult fight." Markus continued. "We were not well prepared, and the monster had the stamina and life force to be an s rank for sure. We were mostly lucky that Sin decided to put the enlarging spell on her newt so he could hold the spider still. Since it wasn't bucking us off, Vale and I were able to hack away at it till we finally killed it."

  "Roran and I tried to keep up with the healing, but we were mostly useless." Said Kassidy with a sigh. "I need to investigate ways that I can be of more use in a fight. Anyway, between Markus and Vale attacking and Sin and her tames distracting and immobilizing, we got the job done. But it was close."

  "It was." Agreed the other hero.

  "Sin got thrown pretty hard while the spider was in its death throws and ended up in a bad way... Even when she was in the dirt, broken and bloodied, she was concerned for the others and the fight. I managed to get her mobile once the beast was dead."

  "Yes. Then we followed some lights to our target. The staff was there. It was being guarded by a fairy who asked if we could restore her home. Kassidy was able to do it splendidly. We thought we were in the clear then. Just another day, maybe two, due to fatigue and injury, and we would be out of the dungeon and on our way back..."

  "What happened? I take it that is when the priest took matters into his own hands?" Asked Orphryn, glaring suspiciously at the man in question.

  Markus nodded his large head. "We had just set up camp. He had been acting strange, but I did not think much of it. We had all just been through a lot and Roran was a priest, not a fighter. At some point, he and Sin disappeared. We had just been discussing how odd it was for them both to be out of sight when Vendaval and Drogin began getting anxious and we heard shouting a couple hundred meters away." At this Markus looked to Vale, all other eyes followed suit.

  "I heard the shouting and figured the pair were arguing once again. I told the others to wait, and I would go break them up once again. Roran had been getting increasingly more aggressive through out the tip, and Sin had been getting less and less tolerant of his bigotry. I had figured that they would be at blows when I got there but I hadn't expected what was going on." Vale shook his head, anger still fresh and potent. "As I hurried nearer, I could hear Roran screaming about how Sin was destined to be the end of us. Telling her that she was blasphemous and that there was no way the Gods would have gifted her with such talents. She was screaming at him as well, refuting all he said and probably being a little insulting as well. I heard him insist that Sin had intentionally made herself seen by the Ravens, that she was an infiltrator of the Demon King. Bellowing that she was the Demon Queen and the doom of the kingdom... When I got there it was to see Roran tossing Sin into a gateway, likely to the demon realm given that I was unable to reach through it and grab her. As she was falling, she used her tail to remove the moron's arm."

  At the end of the tale the room broke out in chatter, excitable and anxious. Rift turned in his chair and addressed Vale. "You are sure he called her a 'demon queen'?" He asked, looking concerned. Vale nodded and Rift cursed. When he got to his feet the room grew silent once more.

  "What is it captain Rift?" Asked the queen.

  Instead of addressing the monarch, Rift looked to the priest. "I take it you and I have a similar ancestor, priest."

  Roran's sneer seemed to be answer enough, but the man spoke all the same. "Yes. And you knew the whole time. With your Decerning Eye, you knew from the very moment you set eyes on her that that woman was the enemy!"

  "What is he blabbering about?" Snapped Heig, tugging on his beard in agitation.

  "As many, if not all of you, know, my blood line has afforded me the skill of the Decerning Eye. I can see the stats of anyone I use it on, given I spend the large amount of mana needed to use it. It appears the Priest has the same skill" said Rift, taking his seat once more and glaring at Roran.

  "And how would you have known that this, Sin, was an enemy?" This time from Rain of the Black Tigers.

  "One of her titles!" Snarled the priest, nearly ripping his own bandages off in his agitation. "One of her titles was 'Demon Queen'! I am sure you all can guess what that means? She was destined to become the bride of our greatest enemy. Probably planning to get in good with the squads and take him a force of named monsters while she was at it. I saved us! I stopped her from- "

  "You may have doomed us all..." Said a deep, rolling rumble of a voice. Silently, the room turned to look at the demon member of the Golden Dragons.

  "What ever are you talking about Gelzrieg?" Asked August, only noticing now the state of distress his man had been in.

  The demon ran a red hand down his chiselled face, looking almost pink he was so pale. "You are sure she was a Demon Queen?" He asked Rift, not Roran. When Rift nodded the man let out a slew of what Vale assumed were curse words but in no language he knew. "Then I repeat: you have doomed us all!" He snarled at Roran, who recoiled from the demon.

  "Calm your self, son." Snapped August. "Speak plainly."

  "If what was said here today is true than this fool just angered one of the worst possible people you could pick a fight with."

  "Are you confirming that this Sin truly is part of the Demon Kings army?" Growled Heig.

  "Tch!" Said Gelzrieg, sounding so much like Sin that Vale actually took a double take. "As I have tried to explain to my captain before, demons recognize no demon king!"

  "Weather you recognize them or not hardly-"began Rain but the demon interrupted.

  "You do not understand. I am not saying the enemy we face does not exist. I am simply stating that he is no demon king. Just because I call a rabbit a dog, does not make it a dog. No matter how many people call it a dog, nor how long those people call it a dog, that does not mean it is a dog. What I am telling you is that the demon people do not recognize any kings. We are a matriarchal society. Demons are ruled by Queens."

  "Then who is the Demon King?" Asked Seraphina while at the same time Roran shouted "You lying demon scum!"

  "Speak up again, Priest, and I will have you forcibly removed myself!" Snapped August.

  "The Demon King, as far as I know, is a force of nature, not an actual person. He is definitely not a demon."

  "He could be though could he not? A demon who has come to this world and wants to rule?" Asked Rain.

  "No." Sighed Gelzrieg. "First of all, the last things demons want is anything to do with this world. You all think we want to take over for souls or some such I assume."

  "That has been speculated about the demon king, yes." Confirmed Syntry, the dark elf captain of the Bule Wolves. She normally did not say much but Vale knew her to be quite wise, even if she was young for a dark elf in a position of power.

  "Souls hold power for demons, yes. But we can not take them. A soul can only be given, and this is accomplished through the demon summoning contracts. In all actuality, most demons don't even want to see Hearth, much less take it over. Why would we want to have a world that renders most demons greatest power, magic, pretty much useless. As you know, a demon on hearth loses 80% of its magical power."

  "Then why are you here?" Asked Rift. There was no accusation, just a genuine desire to know.

  "How to explain..." Grumbled the demon. "We are like ants, or bees perhaps. Each clan lives in its own lands and grows together. And each clan has a queen. The queen passes her gifts on to her children, her magics and her physical traits. My clan, it has far less magical talent than most demon clans. But we are physically strong. However, in the demon realm, magic is might as it were. So, I came here, hoping what magic I did have combined with the power of my body, would get me farther. And it has. But the vast majority of demons will laugh in your face if you suggest they come here."

  "Truly?" Seraphina Asked, looking relived. "Then why did you say we are doomed?"

  "I should probably explain the basics of the demon structure, then you may be able to better understand just how badly this priest messed up." Roran looked as if he wanted to interrupt but squeezed his mouth shut. "Demon clans are started, protected, guided, and governed by a Queen. There is not one of these people. Over the whole realm there are maybe three hundred total. A Queen is the absolute center of a demon's world. We serve our queens, care for them, listen to every command. Queens can be absentminded when it come to their own health and safety, so it is the job of the males to be sure they eat- and they must eat a lot, especially if they have used a lot of mana- or things go bad."

  "We had to keep reminding Sin to eat." Said Kassidy in surprise. "We pretty much had to hold an intervention! She was all bones, but she insisted that she was getting three square meals a day. Vale literally had to stand over her and watch as she ate four bowls of stew..."

  The demon bowed to Vale, seemingly relived. "It is an honor, amongst demons, to care for a Queen. And it is a great thing you did. As I said, they can be very hard-headed and willful. But a starved Queen is a truly terrifying thing. They get cranky at first, then tired, then a mix of both, eventually their eyes begin to glow red... then they go feral. They will attack anything and everything. Such a thing has not happened in thousands of years of course, as the males work hard to prevent such a thing."

  "Are you saying that we are doomed because a demon woman got hangry?" Asked Markus, incredulous.

  "No, sorry, I got off topic. Though had a starved Queen found itself in this city, then a goodly part of the population would be dead long before we could quell her." Gelzrieg sighed, still very agitated and pale. "But the Queens are the center of each clan. The clan only has one."

  "There are more women than that." Snorted Geld. "I have seen summoned Demon females as well as a couple free ones. I wouldn't say any of them were special. Not even as strong as the average male."

  "You are right captain. Though females are severely less common than males, they do exist. But they are not queens. Without the queens our spices would die."

  "How so?" Asked Vale. He was desperately trying to connect the dots here, but it just wasn't happening. Not once had Sin even alluded to the fact that she was any kind of royalty, great power, or even anyone of import.

  "Only the Queens can give birth to women."

  At that, everyone was confused. But vale knew better than to apply typical human breeding standards on another race. Sure, it was nothing like any race on Hearth, but the demons were not from Hearth.

  "Women are only born to the queens. One in every twenty births may be a female. And another queen... well there is only one of those born every few hundred years or so."

  "that's... that's ridiculous! How can your species survive like that?" Exclaimed Collette. "If one man decided to just murder ten of them then you would be set back ten thousand years."

  "Impossible." Said Gelzrieg with a shake over his head. "A male could never kill a Queen. They are far too strong. Maybe if one came here, it would be possible, but other than this Sin person, I have never once heard of a Queen leaving Demonia... Queens, even the youngest and weakest, could handle a named A Ranked monster all on their own. The most powerful and oldest? They could wipe out this kingdom without much effort. Demon queens are always gaining power and they never die of old age. In fact, due to their power and near immortality, they are essentially considered Demi Gods. And your Priest threw one in a hole."

  All eyes turned to Roran. "I sent it back home." He growled, clearly trying to restrain as much as he could not to shout and rail against the world. "Now it is there and not here. And given how few demons make it here, we won't be seeing that woman any time soon."

  "You are terrifyingly wrong Sir." Said the demon, in a low and deadly voice.

  "What?"

  "I told you; demons don't want to come here. I didn't say the couldn't. It is impossible for anything not belonging to the demon world to enter the realm, but it is staggeringly easy for what is in the demon realm to come to Hearth. They just don't want to. About once every two months a portal can be made to hearth without much issue. It costs more mana than most things here do, but there is no shortage of mana or people who can use it, in the demon realm. I have no idea where in the cycle we are right now, but anywhere between now and two months from now, she can back here with ease."

  Vale felt the tension leave his body. She could get back. She just needed to bide her time.

  "The problem is that your man went and royally pissed off and insulted what amounts to a living god. And depending on how old she is, how large her clan is, and what allies she has... well lets just say she may not be coming back alone. For all we know, in less than two months from now, the whole of the demon realm may empty out into Hearth and declare war, right when we are already in the middle of one! You through her back to the demon real in the hopes of stopping a war but all you did was possibly drag us into a worse one."

  At these ominous words the room burst into chatter again. Vale gritted his teeth. This didn't sound right. Not compared with what little he did know about Sin. But Rift had agreed that she did indeed have the tile of Demon Queen.

  "Captain Rift." Spoke the Queen over the top of the others once again. "You know this Sin better than the rest of us. Do you think she will bare this grudge she has for Roran on to the rest of the kingdom?"

  Rift did not answer right away, and Vale clenched his fists, frustrated. The Rift laughed. "That woman has zero tact. I would not put it past her to barge into your own bed chambers your majesty, and scream out her grievances to you in person, probably in several colorful languages. I would expect her to maybe even beat the ever-loving crap out of Roran... but I would not expect her to send an army on our people no." he smiled at the others in the room. "Sin loves this country. She loves Bellana and she loves at least some of the red Ravens. As much as she is capable at least. She seems a little stunted in the emotions department. Like an ally cat that got kicked too much and now expects every foot to deliver a blow. But no, I do not think she will lay an aggressive finger on this kingdom nor its people. Its not her style."

  "She has nothing but monsters on the brain." Said Vale, watching the dragon newt in his arms sleep fitfully. "She will be back, if for no other reason than to be sure this guy and Vendaval are okay. Besides," he said with a smile. "She hasn't even tamed a single real dragon yet."

  Rift busted into loud laughter. "You are right. She hasn't, has she. Plus, the base likes her."

  Vale's lips twitched. Sin would be back. She would absolutely be back. And she would be back pissed and raring for a fight. He almost laughed.