As the air stirred around Cresil, he felt a familiar aura. "Great. Now I have to deal with you. My luck just keeps getting better."

  Dásos slowly took shape in the shadows, his laughter filling the room. "It just had to be you. I should just tell them you were dead when I got here."

  'I wonder how you'd convince them, we both know you can't lie.' not in any position to badger the man, Cresil bit his tongue. "I really don't care if you do. Just, please, get my men out of here." He pleaded.

  "When did you get so noble? It doesn't seem that long ago you left your own brother in the mud just to get ahead."

  "That's not what-" taking a deep breath, Cresil started over. "I'm not the kind of person you think I am. I don't care if you leave me here. I can't save my men on my own."

  "I could abandon you here," Dásos cocked his head, "but I don't think kesh would appreciate it."

  "I'd rather you leave me for dead, then, if it means there's a chance she'd hate you for it." Cresil practically snarled.

  "Spiteful, aren't you?" Dásos walked over to Cresil and peered into his eyes. "You can still read people. I wonder, are you skilled enough to read me yet?" He turned away, smiling wickedly.

  "I don't know what Tobias has planned, but I can't imagine he needs more than one demon to get the task done. I'm sure he's going to kill them. Leave me here. Tell Kesh whatever you want. But please, just save my men."

  "Any idea where they're being kept?" Dásos asked without turning around. "You were easy enough to find with the guard posted at your door, but not even the trees know where your comrades are."

  'My lucky stars are working hard tonight.' Cresil thought with relief. "Tobias said they're in a cramped location that can barely hold them all."

  "how many of them are there?"

  "Four. We were a six-man crew, but one was killed by Tobias after giving up our location."

  "When I find them, I'm gonna need some time to get them out. I can only teleport one at a time to take them a safe enough distance away."

  "If you let me know when you've found them, I can create a distraction." He rattled his chains, "These aren't exactly built to hold me."

  'If I'm lucky, you'll get yourself killed in the process. Telling Kesh to stay away from me was not a wise decision.' Dásos studied the demon before him. "I'll send a signal once I find them. After that, I'll need about ten minutes."

  "Oh, is that all?" Cresil smirked, "You haven't gotten slow in your old age?"

  "Faster than ever, Sloth." Dásos sneered back.

  "One more thing before you go. I'm sure you know this, but Kesh wants these guys on our side; killing any of them might ruin that."

  "No death, got it. I try to avoid getting my hands dirty these days anyway." He grinned before teleporting out of the cabin.

  'That's one vicious smile you've got.' Cresil thought, unsure if it was just his opinion of the creature making him think it.

  ***

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The repercussion shook the hut. Cresil took that as his sign to move. He pulled his chains, breaking them from the wall. There would be no removing the shackles, but at least he could move freely about. He picked up the chains and tested the weight. 'Not my go-to, but it'll work in a pinch.' He kicked the door open into a passing guard, knocking her unconscious. As a second guard leapt to attack, Cresil swung one of his chains, wrapping it around the soldier. After knocking him out, Cresil searched for anything he could use. "What's this?" He took a small black pouch from the man's pocket. The white bat embroidered on the pouch told him it was his. "Stealing a guy's lock picks? That's low." He shook his head. Removing the restraints gave him a wave of relief. 'You're not out of the woods yet.' He reminded himself. Another explosion reverberated through the camp. Without hesitating, he made his way through the settlement, searching for the main cabin Grendel had pointed out to him.

  The rebel soldiers ran around, shouting to each other about the explosions. He did his best to avoid them, but had to knock a few unconscious, dragging them out of sight as necessary. 'Killing these guys would be so much easier,' He thought as he leaned a woman up against the side of a hut. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at her. 'That's mine too. Man, you humans are a bunch of thieves.' He took his gloves off the woman's hands. 'These don't even fit you.' He frowned as he put them back on. A ripple disturbed the air next to him.

  He turned to face Dásos, who looked out of breath. "The entrance to their prison is in there." He pointed to a nearby hut. "There's two left. I might need more time."

  "I've got you covered. If anything happens, tell Keshiema I refused to go. She'll understand. I can't leave my comrades here. Tobias may still have a use for me, but my men are just dead weight to him."

  "You know, I may have been wrong about you." Dásos smiled before teleporting out of sight.

  Cresil kept moving towards Tobias's cabin. As he reached it, he looked around. The camp had become quiet. 'They've probably all regrouped by now.' He clutched the chain to his chest. 'I'm sorry Kesh, I can't come home yet, I've got a job to do.' He rounded the corner and stormed into the middle of the camp, shouting at the top of his lungs. "I'm here, Tobias! Come and get me!" he waited for the soldiers to surround him.

  Tobias stood in his cabin and looked at his second in command in shock. "where are all of my men? How is it that thing made it this far into my camp!"

  "Sir, that's what I was trying to tell you. Almost everyone's been taken out."

  "how many has he killed?"

  "None. Everyone is expected to make a full recovery."

  "you're telling me this demon set off two explosions, and worked his way to my cabin, facing off against at least a dozen soldiers, and there was not a single casualty?"

  "yes, sir. The explosions were also both as far away from the infirmary and food cache as possible. In fact, only our weapons storage has retained any damage."

  "Damn it, Tobias, get out here and face me!"

  Tobias cautiously stepped out of the main cabin with his second in command following close behind. "it seems you've come a long way to speak with me. You didn't even kill anyone. I'm impressed. They must teach you well in that academy of yours." Tobias stood with his hand on his holstered pistol.

  "Think I'm impressive? Wait until you meet Keshiema. She's the most gifted soldier I've seen."

  "Believe me, I plan on meeting her very soon."

  Quicker than Cresil could react, Tobias pulled his gun and fired. After a quick once-over, he smiled. "You missed, and from this distance?"

  "He didn't miss." Cresil whipped around to see Dásos holding his chest. "Damn that hurts. Cresil, I can't take you like this."

  "man, kesh will kill us both if neither of us survive. Get out of here. I'll find my own way out."

  "I'll send for you," Dásos whispered before disappearing in a puff of green aura.

  "so you had help, I see. What are you going to do now that your rescue team is out of commission? What should I do as punishment for your escape attempt?" Cresil grimaced at the thought of punishment. Humans had a knack for torture.

  "I think we'll start by killing your team. Erickson, fetch the prisoners. The sedatives should have them complacent enough at this point for you to handle them on your own."

  Tobias took aim at Cresil as Erickson left, grinning. A few minutes later, he came running back. "They're...gone..." he panted.

  "What?" Tobias hissed, not taking his eyes away from Cresil.

  "Do you really think I'd have come all this way with my men's lives at stake? I'm a demon, not a monster." Cresil smirked.

  "Erickson, the venom. Looks like we're down to one hostage. But I have a feeling our message is finally being taken seriously."

  From that short distance, Cresil could have easily disarmed them both. He closed his eyes as Erickson drew his gun. The shot rang in his ears as the venom paralyzed him."