The Demon Priest

Chapter 12: Renewal

 The boy slowly removed the blanket covering his body, then carefully skipped on his boots and pouch. Making his way out of his room, he sneaked around the kitchen and made his way outside, into the cool breeze of the night. Lance moved swiftly across the grass, his tail moving of it's own accord behind him. He'd been wanting to truly explore Radiant ever since he'd arrived, and look around a certain building he had seen on his first day in the elven city.

 After a few moments, Lance arrived at his destination; a large chapel, or church, much like the one his father had spent all those years building back in Axon. It was similar in shape and size, being made out of the same materials as the other houses, and had a symbol showing a blazing sun inside of a lions maw over the door- the sign of Gilgamesh, the god of all gods. Creaking open the door, Lance was faced with a large empty room, which had rows of seats to each of his sides. At the front of the room was a podium standing in front of a statue of an elf holding a sword. Sitting down on one of the seats, Lance sighed and put his head in his palms as a sad smile formed on his face.

 "Father, if you can hear me, I ask for your forgiveness. If I had only stayed with you back in Axon you would have still been alive, with me, in a church like this. Perhaps together we could have fended off the knights and kept Iris from being kidnapped. Maybe then we could have simply rebuilt our life in Axon, and I wouldn't be on this crazy adventure filled with demons and monsters." As Lance spoke, he failed to notice the tears that began to run down his cheeks. "I miss you, father. I miss Iris, and how we used to play together in the fields as children. I miss how simple my life once was. I am happy that I've met mother and all, but I would have preferred a quiet life back in Axon." Lance sighed, wiping the tears from his eyes. Here he was, crying like a child when Iris was out there, kidnapped by the Black Knights. He couldn't afford to feel sorry for himself. Not now.

 So wrapped up in his emotions was the boy that he almost failed to notice a sound emanating from the wall to his left. Lance lifted his head up and leaned his ear over to the wall, again hearing that same noise. It sounded almost like growling, yet nothing like an animal that he had ever heard before. Inching closer, he put his ear up to it and knocked, and was surprised to hear an echo on the other side. It was hallow! There must be a room somewhere on the other side, hidden from everyone else.

 'This is suspicious.' The boy thought to himself. Yet, he was curious. 'There must be a way to open it. Perhaps if I look around I will find something.'

 And so, Lance searched the chapel for something that could open the wall up. At first he thought that maybe it was something magical, but after a little bit of searching he discovered that it was much more mundane. Behind the statue in the front of the room was a lever, ad after pulling it he head the sound of gears turning, and spun around to see the wall slowly sink into the ground. For some reason, he found the though of something mechanical in the elven village odd, but shrugged as he realized that apparently everywhere outside of Axon used it.

 'You aren't going to go in there, are you?' Azazel suddenly asked in his mind as the boy approached what looked like stairs leading into a dark basement, surprising Lance as he hadn't realized the demon could talk to him if he didn't have Betrayal with him. Was this always the case, or something which was born from their bond deepening. 'You don't even have a weapon on you. What if something bad happens?'

 'You have no reason to worry.' The half- elf assured. 'I can fight without a weapon, and that is without factoring in my magic. You know first- hand that I can take care of myself."

 Azazel stayed silent, and Lance took that as reluctant agreement. Taking a deep breath, he plunged into the darkness, waiting to see what he would discover.

****

 The boy cursed to himself, wishing that he would have brought a torch or other source of light with him. He hadn't expected it to be pitch black, he hoped there would be a ray of sunlight shining through a crack somewhere, but of course the world had to prove him wrong. He stopped in frustration, trying to think of a way to continue forwards.