Greyskin

Chapter 9. Encounter with slavers.

It took several weeks for the trio to cross the desert and get through the pillars. Regios has been up to the pillars a couple of times previously, but he never went beyond, the demon territories are generally too dangerous for a solo adventurer. Regios didn't like being in a party, when people found out he was a halfling, a part elf at that, their responses were often very polarized, from open hatred to open lustful affection. So, he preferred doing things alone or with few people he could trust. Now, he was with his sister and a demon who seemed sane enough to understand him.

Because Regios knew a bit about pillars, he also knew their placement and how to go right in between two of them, where their power was weaker. This helped Sel keep as much fel energy as he could and to avoid the elven patrols. The pursuit never caught up to the trio, in desert it was somewhat hard to follow the group, sandstorms were enough to cover their tracks.

While they trekked through the ocean of sand, they had to ration their supplies. Sel offered to share the elf he had saved previously, but the other two had some strange aversion to it for some reason. When elf was finished, Sel then hunted scorpions, bugs and whatever else he could find. Needed be, he could consume the scourge to keep him going,

Selmiria swore. A lot. She couldn't keep her mouth shut most of the time, just going on and on throwing around curses and racial slurs towards no one in particular. The number of times she said fuck made Sel believe that it was what she wanted. He was close to actually doing it too, but desert was not the place for indulging in such activities; in the day you would be sweating and melting from heat, during the night you would be begging for the heat to return. Well, the two others would. Sel was fine being practically naked, his nude torso shown for the world to see.

The reason the two went to the demon territory with Sel was revealed during the journey. Turns out, demons dislike most other races, especially the blessed ones. If humans can pull off walking around free and making a profit, the elves would be immediately attacked to be turned into a slave. So, having Sel, who was somewhat intelligent and rational walk around with them posing as Selmiria's master would allow the two to travel around.

Sel thought that it was a stupid idea, what if he wanted to go somewhere alone or simply take her as a slave like any other demon? She is going to practically be his slave, seeing as slave collars all have magic engraved in them to make slaves obedient. It is a powerful blood magic, bonding the slave to the master's blood. It seemed that the two were desperate to get out of the elves' territory, but otherwise their plan hinged on Sel's goodness. And he didn't really feel like being good.

The time would really tell what would happen with them. The whole journey was very dull. There were no attacks or ambushes by beasts or anybody else. The trio just walked in the desert for a long time, until they finally reached the grasslands.

Regios has a map of the territories close to the pillars, so he pointed towards a close town, where they could replenish supplies and rest. But first, Selmiria had to become a slave. She outright refused to be Regios' slave, but it wouldn't have worked anyway, as he didn't have a drop of demon blood in him. Sel was curious how Regios came across a slave collar but didn't ask, not wishing to hear an hour long rant about some adventure.

Putting a drop of Sel's blood activated the collar and made it glow with red light. The lettering of the engravings even seemed to change around, but nobody could read it. When Selmiria put on the collar, it snapped shut and didn't get loose at all. The magics in it were powerful.

What Sel discovered a little later, this collar had some convenient, not so common features, like thought control. When Sel thought how he would like for the girl to shut up, she just shut her mouth, making her look uneasy and worried, but leaving her no choice. It was a good change, but Sel had to release the hold on her as Regios then began to beg to hear the sweet voice of his sister.