Bleeding Demons: The Dark Bloods - Book III ✓

Chapter 4 - The Blades of Betrayal

Dedicated to TresaSargent for being such a lovely Lina fan. x3

4.

The Blades of Betrayal

Gahn stifled a yawn. Suld—or was it Tonad?—had been yammering for the last ten minutes, meaning Gahn had to stand even longer on his aching feet.

Shut up already, will you? I actually wanted to get some training done today.

Auronmar’s marble grey eyes glared at him, telling him to straighten his hunch Gahn hadn’t realized he had slouched into.

Someone else was talking now as another guy was speaking over him. It was all the same. It was always the same. We should attack the humans. We shouldn’t attack the humans. How could they talk about the same thing for years without reaching a conclusion? No, they had reached a conclusion. It was just not the one most of the council wanted. King Auronmar had proclaimed multiple times war was not their option and the topic would be dropped for a few weeks.

Until the fresh corpses were found by another new portal.

 He glanced over at Auronmar. He was sitting on his chair still as stone, poised and regal, yet Gahn could see how tired he was. A little over two decades of being by his side, Gahn was starting to read his Master’s ticks and see through his façades. It wasn’t till a few months ago that he had started calling Auronmar Master, but he knew he was the wrong one.

It was Mundus who was supposed to be Gahn’s Master. It was he Gahn was supposed to guard, but there had been an early promotion for Gahn. He was a Guard several decades too early. 

Levin.

His breath caught in his throat and sadness weighed down his entire being. Gahn remembered when what remained of him had been brought into the meeting. It was a few months ago. Levin had left Gahn behind as he usually did when he went on a portal closing mission. It was routine since Gahn didn’t have the power to close them and there was hardly anything that could pose a threat to a Guard.

Gahn had been stuck in a meeting much like this once except the discussion was about the recent attack of rogue demons—those not devoted to the Sangrar monarchy. Though the majority of rogues were Lower demons, the fact they infiltrated close enough for Superior demons to have spotted them was worrisome. The fact that there was talk about powerless monarchs unable to stop the lowest of threats was even more so.

The doors to the meeting had banged open and Queen Blethinette walked in, accompanied by her Guard Emery. Her white uniform was stained red with the chunks of meat she carried. The voices in the room silenced enough that the queen’s soft footsteps could be heard from her bare feet.

“I told you, dear,” she said, eyes set on her husband, and tapped the table’s edge.

Emery came to her side and dropped the hunks of meat on the wooden surface. They splattered with a wet and squishy sound, flicking blood upon the faces of those closest to the chunks. Small pieces of bones dislodged from the muscles when Emery dropped the portions of flesh and they rained on the table like hail stones.

Gahn recalled the look of horror that crossed the faces of some of the council members, but it was nothing compared to the haunting look on Emery’s face. It had alarmed him; Guards didn’t show fear.

“Now Levin is dead, killed by the very mortals you claim pose no threat, yet it seems you underestimated their power. Emery found Levin’s remains scattered by the portal you sent him to close. He was massacred, Auronmar. A Guard, one of the most powerful demons amongst us, was butchered by these mortals you refused to bring to justice.” Blethinette’s voice was as icy as her stare.