The Virtues' Magecraft

Page 73: Devilish Lie

Osdohrne stared with dull eyes at the two humans.

"You know, their heads would've sufficed." That was the first thing he uttered to the two children as his gaze centered itself on Alexander and Kieran. That changed instantly, however, as soon as he squinted at the bright light from the sun entering the grand stone hall of his castle.

The two demons, the one human, and the one 'Human-Born' had just entered Osdohrne's hall. Kieran let out a soft gasp as soon as he walked in, not for its beauty but plain and simple grandeur.

Everything was built of inlaid stone bricks, all dull grey and very, very old. Their backs faced the door, a dozen meters behind them. Even so, there were probably a hundred other meters left in front of them before the white steps that led up to Osdohrne's throne.

That throne was black, almost incongruous, built of what seemed to be black stone bricks held together by some type of dark mud. It barely held the shape of a normal throne, distorting with bricks protruding outward at each level.

Perhaps the most beautiful thing to be seen was Osdohrne's crown, one built of silver and plated with rubies and lapis lazuli. It wasn't anything special on the scale of crowns, not of its shape or size or brilliance, but it served its purpose. It stuck out like a sore thumb, and anyone wandering in or forced in would know what that crown meant.

Its bearer was the strongest around; the ruler.

Osdohrne was a massive being. A monstrous demon, one larger than Alexander had seen before. He was beyond the size of an elephant, beyond the capacity Alexander expected. Though he was strong, his large muscles were coated in fat all throughout his body. His skin was white, as pale as cotton, though his nails and fingertips were pitch-black. He wore robes from his waist down, flowing red and blue cloths that draped down to his ankles. Everything below, and everything above was bare, his pale, fat gut brimming past the ornate dress he wore.

And while he sat with the body of a demonic entity, one of power, he didn't bear a single horn on his head.

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows at that unfamiliar sight.

The next one to speak was Berane. "Governor, these... these are important people. Please refrain from speaking in such a manner. The one beside me is-"

He was interrupted by the governor's cackle, a laugh that exploded out into the stone halls and echoed into the walls. "Berane," he said amidst his bursting giggles. "-you should know better than to talk back. I told you something simple."

Giggles and chortles were the next things to be hard. The hall wasn't empty, after all. Maybe two dozen demons stood around, near and under the lamps and torches, alongside the doors, and beside Osdohrne.

Each of them wore different colors, as if they were assigned different purposes. Only two demons were dressed the same, the ones with axes in their hands. They were the guards. In the same way, the purpose of entities that stood and sat around Osdohrne's throne was recognizable instantly. They were trusted and beloved by him, serving him with their ideas and words whenever needed.

The demon repeated, "Their heads would have sufficed."

Alexander raised his foot off the ground only to bring it back down. As soon as his foot connected with the floor, the earth shook. The impact was strong enough to shatter the stone beneath his feet and brought the walls to shake, drowning out the echoes of the laughs and creating further dull vibrations that reached and trembled the ceiling.

Dust and crushed stone rained and drizzled down from the stone sky, cascading over Osdohrne's head and slipping his crown off his bumpy head of wrinkled white skin.