Heart to Heart

Chapter 4

A few days had passed and I had made a full recovery. It was all thanks to that other tiefling who helped me out. I hadn't gotten their name, as they said it wasn't important. But now that I know they are here in the palace, I might try to visit when I can and repay them for what they have done. With those few days of rest, I was able to perform tasks better and with more precision and accuracy. Such as moving boxes and placing things around the palace, even attending war meetings were not as boring as they were. As I was sitting in a war meeting with Zariel, I was tasked with doing some mundane things, such as clean the bookshelf and make sure they were alphabetized, when the door slammed open.

"What?!" Zariel yelled.

"We lost Minauros," a devil breathed out.

I almost dropped the book I was holding.

"What?" Zariel asked, disbelief rising in her voice. "What of the Champion?"

"The Champion is badly wounded and is in the infirmary. She is being treated as we speak."

"What of the battlefield?"

"We were overcome with demons and other enemies that the Champion herself became overwhelmed and was easily overpowered."

"I see. You may leave."

The devil left and Zariel turned to the commanders.

"Head to Minauros and gather the troops. We must take Minauros at all cost."

"Yes, Zariel," they left and it was just the two of us.

I tried not to move in hopes she would forget I was there, but she turned to me. I placed the book back on the shelf and turned to face her, awaiting her order.

"Go to the forge and inform the devil there that it is time."

I just nodded my head and walked out of the war room. As soon as I walked out, a loud yell was followed by the sound of the desk being thrown over. I let out a sigh, knowing I would be the one cleaning that up later. Heading down to the forge, I informed the main devil what Zariel told me. He nodded his head and disappeared for a minute before returning with a small box. As soon as I picked it up, I was not expecting it to be as heavy for how small it was. Heading back to the war room, Zariel led me to a different room I was never allowed near or in.

There was a large wooden table in the center of it. There were cuffs to hold whoever would be on there down and in place. There were chains hanging from the ceiling and there was a table towards the back that had various tools on it. Zariel was making sure each of them were in their place before grabbing the ones she was going to need.

"Come here, Y/N."

I walked towards her and placed the box down. She opened it up and grabbed what was inside of it. My eyes widened as an infernal engine was set down.

"You are going to help me with what we are about to do."

"Y-Yes, master."

Finishing her preparations, I was tasked with making sure the engine worked. As I was getting it started, the door opened up and the Champion walked into the room, the door closed behind her.

"You summoned me?" the Champion asked.

"Yes, I did," Zariel walked over to her. "You are the best thing that has ever happened, you know that, right?"

"Yes," she said, her voice void of all emotion.

"Then you must know I am doing this because I want you to be great. I want you to win this war for us."

The Champion nodded her head, "Understood."

"Now, sit here," Zariel patted the wooden table.

The Champion sat on the table and waited for more directions.

"Lay down."

She laid down and Zariel grabbed her wrists and locked them in the cuffs. She did the same with her ankles and as I turned to face Zariel, I caught a glimpse of the Champion's face. It looked pale, as pale as her red skin would allow it to be. Fear crawled into her eyes as she tried to move, but was unable to.

"I am doing what is best for you, my Champion."

Taking the infernal engine from my hands, she placed it beside her as she was standing next to the Champion.

"Don't take this personally," Zariel said as she raised a sharp blade.

"W-What, w-what are you?"

The Champion's body lurched forward as her eyes squeezed shut. Her mouth opened wide and a deep scream came from her throat as Zariel plunged the blade deep into her chest. Blood started to pour out from the incision and it started to flow down her chest. More screams bellowed from her as Zariel was hard at work with implanting this infernal engine inside of her. I couldn't move. I was shaking as I watched the Champion writhe with pain, trying to get out of her restraints.

"This won't take long," Zariel said as she opened up her chest, placing the engine inside.

It hummed to life and Zariel started to stitch up the wound. Turning to me, she placed her tools down and ordered me to clean up the mess. I just nodded and waited for her to leave. As soon as the door shut, I removed the restraints and the Champion slowly sat up and growled, her jaw clenched as she turned towards me. If her eyes looked like fire already, the engine was not helping with how it actually looked like they were on fire. Noticing her chest, it flashed red and orange, signaling the engine was in fact working. Snarling, she reached over and grabbed my shirt. Some sparks emitted from her and she released her hold on me.

"Shit," she hissed, trying to touch the table, but it just sent sparks flying.

Getting up, she stumbled slightly before turning to face me.

"What the hell?!" she growled.

"I-I had no idea what she was doing," I said. "N-Not until I got in here with the engine."

"She had this planned all along, didn't she? It's only the start of the Blood War and this is how she thinks we're going to win? She is such an evil bitch!"

Fire started to engulf her, which she just snarled even more.

"And what did you do? Nothing!"

"I-I-I'm sorry," I whispered, tears forming in my eyes.

"You will be," she sneered, grabbing the handle of the door and leaving, slamming it behind her.