The Demon Priest

Chapter 5: Cardinal

 Lance glanced again into the shadows of the forest. He thought that he heard something in the woods but yet didn't see anything. Still, he had a knack of finding out where danger was and had a feeling it would catch up with him soon.

 "Azazel, do you feel like something is off?" The boy asked his companion.

 The demon simply shrugged, "I won't lie when I say that I'm uneasy. However I'm choosing to ignore it until something happens."

 "You don't find that dangerous at all?"

 "Oh probably. It's not like we can't handle anything that happens anyway right?"

 "Well I suppose that's true. Nevermind me then."

 The pair walked on in silence, enjoying the scenery. Having never left his village, Lance never saw anything outside of it. The path to Cardinal was a beautiful one, with all of the different flora and animals scurrying around. The boy felt relaxed here, even if he was travelling with a demon. Speaking of which, Azazel seemed to be keeping himself busy by summoning blue flames, making different shapes with them. First, he conjured a small rabbit, which ran across the air into the mouth of a fire dragon. It flew around, circling the demon's head and running up his arm.

 "That's quite a trick." Lance acknowledged.

 Azazel laughed and closed his hand, making the shape disappear, "Yes, I suppose so. When you're stuck in the underworld you try to find anything that will entertain you."

 "Oh I see. There wasn't anything else to occupy yourself with?"

 "Well there is a few shops, but that was really all there was if you don't count training to be part of my father's guard."

 "Were you? Part of his guard I mean?"

 Azazel shook his head, "No, Abraxas would never let me. It's like he never wanted me to learn how to fight. However a lot of the time I sneaked in to train with them. That was fun until you remembered that they were only doing it to serve a tyrant."

 "You've had it rough, my friend." Lance said.

 "Yes, well, it seems that your life is worse than mine now."

 "I'm trying not to dwell on it too much. I'm just focusing on getting Iris back."

 "She must be very special to you."

 Instead of replying, Lance simply nodded. Iris was now the most important person in the world to him, and he wouldn't let her perish. He clenched his fists. If they hurt her in any way possible, then he would-

 "Hey look, there's a clearing up ahead." Azazel exclaimed.

 Lance shook those thoughts out of his head and looked to where the demon was pointing. In the distance he could just make out the tip of a building.

 "Is that Cardinal?" The boy questioned.

 "Yes, yes it is. Try not to be so surprised when you get there. Oh, and remember to put your hood up."

 With that, Azazel went back into Betrayal leaving Lance alone. His legs seemed to move faster and his heart raced. He'd heard rumors about the city but had never seen it for himself. Until now.

 Lance stepped out of the forest and onto the cobblestone streets of Cardinal, one of the biggest cities on Chiyolas (or so he'd heard). Giant buildings lined the streets, some made out of stone and some wood. Steam looked to pour out of the tops of each one. Attached to each building was a large bronze contraption in the shape of a wheel, which took water from the lake behind it into the building. A man in white armor walked in front of Lance and a curved weapon caught the boy's eye. He got a better look at it when the man pulled it out and pointed it at a man who was stealing a woman's bag. He pressed a button on the weapon, and a stream of lightning shot out of it and into the thief's body. They fell to the ground, unconscious and burnt but not dead. The weapon must have had magic already charged into it.