The Demon's Deal

Chapter One

Chapter one

*

"Seamus darling, not too high! You'll fall and hurt yourself!" his mother yelled from down below.

Seamus was not afraid though. He never was. He pressed on, climbing further up the tree. He gritted his teeth as his small hands gripped the branches tightly to pull himself up, heaving his small frame up the next branch using all his strength. Small scrapes from the rough bark crisscrossed across the pale, grey-green skin of his arms, but he kept going, eager to get to the top. He gripped and pulled. Gripped and pulled.

After a while, Seamus glanced down at the clearing in front of their little house. His mother was down below at the foot of the tree, staring up at him with her hands on her hips. He knew that look on her face. It told him he was definitely in trouble. Yet he climbed on, further up the tree, higher and higher. He started to breathe heavily from the effort. A wide grin crept across his face, but then came a loud snap. The branches that a moment ago had been firmly under his feet were now empty air, up became down, and the ground rushed to meet him.

His mother was there to catch him though. She always was.

As she held his small form in her arms, she frowned at him. Seamus glanced up at his mother with a guilty expression. Her frown turned into a motherly smile as she hugged her son close.

"I told you so, honey," she said, unable to entirely hide the worry from her voice.

Seamus nodded sheepishly at her. "I'm sorry, mama. I didn't mean—"

She cut him off with a kiss on the cheek. "I will always be there to catch you if you fall, son. Always."

* * *

Seamus opened his eyes. He could still hear the soft voice ringing through his head.

Always.

His mother's voice. It had been over a decade since he had last heard it. It felt odd to remember something from his childhood so vividly after he had all but forgotten about it. He sat up in his bed and leaned forwards, elbows resting on his knees, before he took a moment to reflect upon the dream.

Almost twenty years ago, he thought, and it still seemed so vivid.

He sighed, lost in the past, and then stood up. The bed creaked precariously as Seamus pushed himself to his feet. He would have to remind Armin, their steward, about that sturdier bed once again. Not that he was ungrateful for the home the king had graciously given them. He just doubted that the masons and woodworkers had a half-orc in mind when building it. As he approached his desk to grab a mug of water, he noticed the commotion just outside his room.

Seamus walked towards his door and opened it. Peeking out, he saw Ivy pacing up and down the hallway, with Rux leaning against the wall next to a nearby door. "What's going on?" he asked them, his voice still slightly raw from just waking up.

Ivy stopped pacing and immediately rushed towards him. Her long red hair flowed behind her, loose and unbraided, with her pointed elven ears just visible underneath. She frantically gestured towards where Rux stood. "Someone's been in my room!" Her voice was shrill with panic. "The window was open, and my bag was not where I left it!"

The haze of sleep that had slowed his thoughts vanished abruptly. With his mind now clear and alert, Seamus gently stepped past Ivy and towards her room. Once inside, his old tracker instincts took over.

He sniffed the air and then walked towards the window to inspect it. No sign of forced entry. He absent-mindedly poked at one of the small tusks protruding upwards from his lower lip, a nervous habit he had picked up over the years. Then he knelt to check the floor timbers for any sign of footprints or scuff marks. Ivy and Rux had entered the room as well, their boots softly tapping on the wooden floor as they approached Seamus.