Every step towards victory.

  -Ironheart family motto

  The halls leading to Selim’s office were just a beautiful and empty as the other halls of the mansion. The well-dressed servant led them through to a plain door, indistinguishable from the others of the house and knocked once before pulling it open. The office inside was as plain as the rest of the mansion, no decorations except for the large window looking out over the front yard. There was a man wearing a long white robe, his sleeves embroidered with designs stitched in gold thread and marked with both old and glistening fresh ink spots. A gold cord was wrapped around his head, keeping a cloth headdress in place. His back was turned to them as he watched the setting sun through the window. The servant closed the door behind the trio stepped inside.

  “I apologize for the inconvenience my delay has caused you. Things have been unbelievably busy here for the last few days. I’m Selim Lahazred.” The man said as he turned around, revealing delicate features marked with a few wrinkles and offset by a gray streaked beard. It wasn’t a particularly large beard but was puffed up by stray hairs. “It’s unusual for common investigators to get such powerful character references. You must be quite the team to have earned it.” He almost sounded sincere.

  Struth gave a formal, entirely sincere, bow in response. “Good evening, sir. I am Struth, of clan Ironheart. This is my ward, Kave Ironheart, and the investigator in charge, Komena Siri.” Kave followed Struth’s example and bowed as he was mentioned. Komena didn’t bother.

  “Excellent. The Dean of Summoning didn’t see that information as worth mentioning. She just mentioned the three of you would be arriving and that you were aware of my work with the Evocation department.” Selim said.

  “Yes, that is what we’re here about. I assume their Dean’s disappearance is what’s causing all your extra work?” Komena asked. Selim nodded.

  “Yes. Her project required that a fair bit of our printers be reserved. With her gone, we need to re-fill the schedule and re-balance the budgets. Weeks of work have been done since yesterday.”

  “This project is why she was murdered. Any notes she had about it were stolen; we need to know what the project was and your involvement with it.” Komena said. Selim kept any shock or disappointment off his face.

  “I see, that would make sense. She was very enthusiastic about the potential of the project, early to every meeting. When she missed the one we had scheduled for yesterday without a word, I knew something was wrong. However, my role was just to put my printers to work mass producing spell scrolls. I couldn’t recreate the spell, if that’s what you’re after.” Selim said.

  “You were going to print and distribute a spell without knowing its purpose? The other deans believe this to be a weapon! You were going to let that out into the city for your own profit?” Struth said. He was asking questions that no Sabbelah native would see the need to.

  “Struth.” Komena said. She leaned over to him and muttered. “Selim isn’t an academic or a talented mage. If he could understand what he was printing, he would be working at the university. And all his wealth wouldn’t be enough to turn down a Dean anyways.” Struth turned to look at her as Selim cleared his throat.

  “The other Dean’s believe that the spell is a weapon?” Selim asked.

  “That’s been their assumption. It seems like a narrow idea of what the women could do.” Komena said. Selim groaned and stood up from his desk. He was taller than she had expected. Must have been a trick in his posture.

  “Well then, it looks like I can be of some assistance. Contrary to your expectations, miss, I make a point to understand the principals behind what we print. I can’t recreate all of the fine details that make it work, but I do have a layman’s grasp on what’s being achieved. It’s my way of staying connected to the business.” Selim had come around to stand in front of his window. The gold in his clothing looked like it had been ignited in the orange light of the setting sun. “Now that I think about, with her passing I’m likely the most knowledgeable person in the world about the principals she was laying out here. No, the Dean wasn’t creating a weapon. She was making something exceptional, an intricate work of practical art. Something that could benefit the city as much almost as the first gift of the Simurgh. That’s why she came to me specifically. She knew I would appreciate what she was attempting to create.”

  “You were involved so that you would be impressed?” Komena asked. Selim turned to look at her.

  “You are a bitter woman. No, I was involved because I would offer a discount on our services. Our arrangement is profitable, but it could be much more so. Instead, I prioritized the city.” He said.

  With those words the sun set completely. Night fell, and in the darkness Komena felt the ripple in the mansion’s wards. It was like a single brick being pushed out of a wall. That brick wouldn’t have hit the ground before the creature crawled in through the hole it opened, appeared in the room, and tore its claws through Selim’s neck.

  Komena felt a disconnected, inane pride as she recognized the demon from one of the sketches Struth had shown her. It was the leopard, the Flauros. But the sketch had been ridiculous, almost comical in its failure to capture details that you could only see in motion. The sketch didn’t have the tail flicking back and forth along the ground, constantly checking its balance, or the sparks and embers on its breath. The sketch didn’t capture how the fur was stretched taut by the corded muscle underneath and flickered like fire. The eye-like spots that covered it rolled and blinked like they were taking in the room. Seven feet of feline grace and power, blood already spraying from the swing of its burning paw.

  Komena had less than a moment to take all this in. Before Selim hit the ground, the cat was already lunging for her. Adrenaline coursed through Komena’s brain, desperately trying to pick out any detail that could help. She could see the claws stretching out from between its fingers and the sparks dripping from its fangs. Her body was already moving on reflex, jumping back, and reaching for one of her knives, but she could tell it was too little, too late. The red-hot claws were close enough that she could hear the air slicing off them.

  Struth rammed himself into demon before it could carve through Komena’s throat. He threw his whole body into it, locking his arm under its shoulder and around its neck. Ignoring the burns, he wrenched the demon away from her. It’s claws still grazed close enough to trace faint burns across her neck.

  Struth tried to drag the creature back further, chanting to finish a spell protecting him from the fire. But, the Flauros regained its footing, broke the hold and tried to drive its claws into Struth’s side. The strike was on course to pierced the diplomate and snap his spine, until it was twisted away by a bolt of force crashing into the demon’s shoulder. Kave had joined the fight. Komena took the opportunity to throw one of her knives, not risking getting any closer to the creature. The toss was perfect, sinking point first into the demon’s left eye.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Those two strikes distracted the demon just long enough to give Struth the opportunity he’d had been waiting for. Protective spell complete and roaring, he grabbed the creature’s waist and rotated, tripping and slamming it into the floor. Struth followed the Flauros to the ground, mounting its chest and ripping Komena’s knife out of its eye. He drove it down towards the other eye; but the demon caught the blade though it’s palm before it was even halfway down. The ruined socket where the knife had been pulled out flickered like a candle in breeze momentarily, then was replaced with another perfectly functional eye. There wasn’t even a trace of a rapidly fading scar. It was like had never been wounded at all.

  “Go!” Struth yelled as he tried to drive the knife into the ground. He had the Flauros other hand trapped between the floor and one of his knees. Maybe he hoped to pin the impaled hand down for an escape. How long could that hold a creature of fire and hate like this though? His shields were already flickering out, the amateur spell work unable to keep up with the demonic heat.

  “I’m not leaving you here to die!” Kave said stepping towards the two wrestling on the ground. He was interrupted by a sheath of pages hitting him in the face. Komena had already rushed over to Selim’s desk, bound up all the loose pages she could together and had thrown them at Kave.

  “Go search the bookcase. Grab whatever records he has.” She said as she tried to open the desk drawers. Kave opened his mouth, but she cut him off. “We are getting whatever we can, and we are all getting out of here, Kave! Struth will be fine if you don’t waste his time!”

  Kave hesitated, yelled in frustration, and rushed over to the bookcase. The drawers Komena were trying to open were sealed shut with magic that not even the most talented mage could unlock in the half minute she had. She desperately scanned the room, trying to find anything else that could be a clue the damnably clean room. There wasn’t a scrap of paper out of place, even the waste can was empty and sparkling clean. The only exception was Selim’s corpse, white robes staining red with his blood. Komena rushed over and patted down the body, trying to find any pockets or pouches, even a locket. There was nothing.

  She looked see Struth get knocked clear from the demon. The creature must have ripped the blade through its hand to strike, before kicking him away. It rolled to its feet an instant before Struth recovered his balance.

  Instead of following up on the reeling Struth or the nearby Komena, the demon pounced towards Kave and the bookcase. He turned around, books spilling from his arms. In a panic, he threw out a wall of force; inches of solid magic, shimmering like a heat haze. The demon crashed through it like it was cracking an egg, fanged mouth opened to rip into the boy.

  That moment of impact bought Struth enough time to lunge after the demon. Even covered in burns, he had the energy to grab its tail as it flicked through the air and use it to pull the creature away. He latched into its back, locking his legs around to stay on. He screamed and drove the knife between its ribs, using it as a grip to hold onto his flailing opponent.

  The demon turned and slammed its back against a bookshelf. Struth crashed against the hardwood and the fire. A few books fell from it, though neither of them reacted to heavy the heavy tomes and scrolls raining down on them. The fire from the demon’s fur leapt in sparks to quickly spread to the remaining books. Page after page ignited and raced down the shelf with until the entire thing was ablaze. The fire went down and lit up the floor, chewing though the lacquered wood. As smoke curled through the air and against the walls, a shrill alarm began to ring. Another spell cast into the walls. The heat was intense enough that it forced the frenzied Struth to let go. Rolling away to put out his burning clothes, his eyes were still focused on the demon as he came back up. His clothes were left in charred scraps and most of his beard had smoldered away. That left his burns clear to see, red flesh, warped with bubbling blisters. His legs were trembling from the strain of standing, but he still stood, ready to fight again.

  Komena and Kave dashed towards the exit. Kave had five books tucked under his arms, which he tossed to Komena as soon as he was close enough to. He then turned back to the burning room, spell energy coursing through him. It was near impossible to tell the demon’s fur apart from the inferno it stood in, where the flames ended and began. But Komena could see the thing turn and twist, marked out by the white of its grinning fangs. It was looking directly at Kave, either as prey or a challenger, she couldn’t be sure. The boy kept going forward, furiously chanting all the while. The demon raced towards him, and Struth lunged to stop it again, but Kave was faster. His hands flew up and a vibrant, blue blast of fire came out. It was the size of a carriage and moved twice as fast. The fireball hit the demon and burst with enough power to send it crashing against the wall. The heat became unbearable as the fire splashed out to cover most of the room.

  The smell of burning hair intensified in the already putrid smoke. Struth’s screams didn’t change in the fire. They didn’t betray any pain, only the fury that he had been channeling the whole fight. He shook his head to free what few of the rings remained in the scraps of his beard. His eyes were still focused on the Demon pulling itself from the wall, as he pounced on it.

  Kave was hunched over and gasping for breath, exhausted either by the spell he had cast or by the smoke and heat. Regardless, he started chanting again. Komena threw the books Kave had given out into the hall. She marched over to him, grabbed the back of his collar, and started to drag him away from the fire.

  “Let me go! Struth needs help!” He said, struggling weakly as he slid along.

  “What part of him buying us time do you not understand? He knows we can’t beat that thing now!” she said, voice hoarse and low from the smoke. “The sooner we leave, the sooner he can find a way out on his own.”

  As the two left the room they could see Struth through the flames. He wasn’t screaming anymore, the smoke would have suffocated him if he was, but he was still moving. The demon was still pinned against the wall by Struth pounding it into place with his fists. He was pushing himself the limit and slowly failing as the Demon started to push itself free.

  “That fire is going to run through the rest of the mansion soon.” Komena said, gathering up the book from the floor. Kave was wheezing on the ground, whatever adrenaline that had been powering his casting gone. She dumped two of the books onto him, making him turn over to shield himself. “So, grab these books, get on your feet and start running.” He stumbled to his feet and the two started going back through the halls.

  They could smell the smoke behind them as they ran from the spreading fire. Komena hadn’t seen enough of the mansion to map out a quick exit, so she was forced to simply retrace her steps. It took minutes of running before they came across any sign they were on the right path: the servant who had greeted them, formality stripped away by panic.

  “What have you arsonists done?” he yelled.

  “Something broke in and started the fire. Didn’t you feel it shake the wards? Selim told us to get these notes out of the fire.” Komena said, pitching her voice up, giving it a panicked warble. Total honest was for somewhere cooler and without alarms. “He and Struth stayed back to get some other documents. But we can’t find the way out!”

  The servant regained a little of his self-control, focusing on the goal in front of him. “I understand. Follow me.” He went a back the way he came, took a sharp turn to the left, and the three ran down a side hall. “

  They ran through the foyer, out the front door and back down the path through the front yard. Komena looked back at the mansion as they went. The fire had reached the floors above Selim’s office and, judging by the smoke pouring from the window, was spread through most of the wing. Komena doubted the building would still be standing in the morning.

  “I need to alert the University to get the fire taken out as soon as possible.” The servant said. “I’ll get in touch to recover those books.”

  “Of course. We’ll be taking them to the Corlin Embassy.” Komena said. He nodded and split off from them, running down the main street towards the center of the district. Komena turned towards entertainment district and kept running. Kave followed her.

  “Aren’t you worried that that thing is going to slaughter whoever he brings for the fire.” He asked.

  “No. It’s been working too hard as an assassin to start killing random people in public. It’ll try and tie up loose ends if it gets the chance. Like us.”