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What I see inside makes me drop my hand, and I loosen my grip around the hilt of the knife. I let out a heavy breath, straighten my posture, and walk into the apartment, pushing the door open.
“What are you doing here, sir? And this late, too?”
Because the person who has invaded my apartment is General Gel’ged Senel. He is the demon who led me into battle. Who consoled me when my friends died.
I wouldn’t have survived without him.
And if he’s here? Something bad is happening.
ELIA
PRESENT DAY
Mornings at the bakery are always busy, and today is no different. By five in the morning, I place the third batch of bread in to bake in the ovens.
“You need to hurry up!” Tonnolun, the owner of the bakery, and my boss, snaps at me from where he is rolling the dough for three batches of Goddess Hearts.
Tonnolun introduced goddess hearts last year, and they have been our most popular item to date. They are knots of dough, shaped into a heart. After they are baked, they are dipped into a sauce made of nimond beans and then fried and sprinkled with sugar.
Tonnolun first introduced these little pastries on demonic religious holidays, but the demand became so great that we are now selling thousands each day. He even had to hire two more bakers to help keep up with the demand.
“The next batch is in. I need to sweep the front of the store, then I’ll come put the hearts into the oven.”
Tonnolun grunts where he stands as he kneads a new batch of dough. Tonnolun might be a creep and an asshole, but he is a good baker, I’ll give him that.
Sometimes I cannot believe how quiet my life has become since coming to Sarziroch. Sometimes I think that coming here is the best decision I have ever made for myself.
After five years, I don’t wake up in a cold sweat any longer, terrified that the xaphan military have tracked me down.
After five years, I can walk down streets and go down to the docks without looking over my shoulder the entire time.
Life is certainly more peaceful than it was in New Solas. I don’t know if it is better, though.
Because right now, there are still xaphan alive and well on this planet, and all of them, in my opinion, should be dead.
I have learned in my time here, though, that demons aren’t any better than the xaphan.
In fact, some of them might be even worse than the xaphan I have killed in the past. But trying to murder a demon is not something I have the capacity for right now. The risk is simply too high, and I haven’t yet witnessed a demon do something terrible enough for me to go out of my way to kill them.
There’s always time, my girl. You’d be surprised what these non-human races are capable of.
My thoughts are grim as I sweep up the front of the store where the customers sit or queue, but I feel slightly lighter after I have seen a demon mother walking with a little demon girl down the street a little after eight a.m.
I would never become friends with a demon, but the little girl looked happy and so did her mother.
It was cute. It cheered me up. Now to put the hearts in the oven.
There are several reasons why coming to Sarziroch was a good thing. One of those reasons is the ceasefire that was signed several months ago.
King Vag’thimon signed the ceasefire with the xaphan general who lives in a diplomatic base right here in the city, and it stopped the war.
For the moment.
The ceasefire might have introduced peace to Ikoth and the rest of Aerasak, but we all know that things are tense enough that war could break out again at any moment.
The xaphan moved into the city after the ceasefire agreement was signed, and their existence here is quite tentative.
Truthfully, I cannot wait for the minute war breaks out again. I certainly don’t want to stumble down the streets of Sarziroch one day and see one of them.
