It didn’t think that I was a human.

  I’d learned a lot of words since I got my Mantle. Sugaru, Elgaru, Nephilim, Gibborim, and Godling were the main ones, but those were just what the Mantle made someone. They were still human, because the other option was that they were demihuman. There were the fox-people that were Kitsune, the monkey-people that belonged to the Raijin, the bone-skinned-people called Grim, the canine-people that were Anubis, the rat-people who were Rhastan, and the bovine-people that were Minotaur. If you weren’t one of those, then you were a human.

  “How are we not human?” I spread my arms. “I look pretty human to me.”

  “You think that humans have skin that is as white as milk..?” He nodded at Rix. “Or pointy ears..?” He nodded at Ether. “Or shark teeth..?” He finished with Justia. “Or even green skin?”

  “We’re all human.” I shrugged. “That’s like saying that because we have different-sized noses or different colored blood, we aren't human.”

  “Exactly!” The demon shook its head. “Almost two thousand years ago, the Elves put a bunch of different races on this planet to see what would happen. The demi-humans couldn’t mix, so they stayed fairly pure, but the rest of the races?” It laughed. “You couldn’t call any of you a part of one of those. By this time, you’ve mixed so much that you’re your own race, but it isn’t human.”

  “You…” I closed my eyes. It was trying to rile me up for some reason. I needed to focus on figuring out what that was instead of letting it egg me on. ”You don’t want a treaty…” I started backing up. “But you wanted me in here. Why would you..?” I realized what he was after. Outside the Bequeathal Chamber, they couldn’t get to us because of the protective tree that Harror had in place. But inside the Bequeathal Chamber, we were very out in the open. And right now we didn’t have half of our protective detail. But it wasn’t me that they wanted. It was the person who could open the Bequeathal Chamber. He was after Justia.

  “We need to get out of here, NOW!” I turned around and saw that there three other Demons that were starting to crawl out of the wall from behind Mive.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  I felt a buzz behind me and glanced over my shoulder. The pieces of Simel were doing the slow shadowy burn thing that the demons did when they died. Rix stood over the mess with her chainsword in hand and a smile on her face.

  Kara took out the first one on my left before it could make it through the wall. Rix backstabbed the one on my right as soon as it got free, leaving the farthest one from us as the only one left. Both women attacked it, Kara from the front and Rix from the back, within seconds it had been cut down just like the others.

  “We need to get out of here.” I grabbed Justia’s hand and ran with her over to where Mive was restrained.

  “Foolish little mutts…” I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, but it sounded like it was from everywhere all at once.

  “Where is it?” Ether had her shield out and was turning in a half circle as she walked backwards behind us as we ran.

  “I don’t know!” I looked around the Chamber, but it didn’t seem like anyone else was in here with us. I came to a full stop just a few feet from the throne.

  Justia looked back at me and she pulled against my arm and Ether backed into me.

  “What’s wrong?” The green priestess was breathing fast.

  “I’m just trying to think…” I looked from Ether to Rix. “Why would the Demons want to lure us in without Harror or Klix, then stop after making such a pitiful attempt at grabbing us?” I looked at Justia. “I thought they were going to try to take out Justia, but now… I don’t know.”

  “What if it wasn’t about getting to us, but getting us out of the way?” Rix still had her weapon out as she walked over to us. “What if they were really going after something else, but they didn’t want you or Justia there because…” Her voice drifted off as she came up empty.

  “That’s my problem.” I looked at the green woman. “No offense, but neither of us is that significant compared to the Goddesses or their guards. Really, the only thing either of us is really useful at the moment is to open and close Mive’s Mantle.”

  Rix looked around. “I feel like we’re being watched. Can you get us out of here and we can talk about it on the other side?”

  Kara sliced my arm without being prompted. I was getting way too used to her cutting me and seeing Justia rub her hand in the blood before she brought us through the Mantle. I knew that once we got on the other side, she’d heal me, then it’d be like it never happened.

  Except this time when we got on the other side, we weren’t in the private dining area of the restaurant. We were in the middle of a street in the downtown area.

  Rating, Review, Follow, Favorite, or Comment does wonders to boost my morale. If you want to help support my writing or check out advanced chapters, head over to my .

  Immersive Ink

  RR Writer's Guild