CHAPTER 57: SHADOWS AND SCHEMATICS

All is quiet in the village of Knob’s Hill.

In the creaky inn at the center of town, a certain team of accidental heroes slumber in blissful exhaustion.

Penelo drools softly into her pillow, ears twitching with contentment. Veena lay sprawled in a half-kick pose on her back, gently snoring with a small frown on her brow. Vuvi lay curled up like a cat, clutching a pillow and muttering blueprints in her sleep. Pip, ever the sentinel, sits cross-legged in the corner of the room, charging silently, his chassis humming like a warm hearth.

Behind the inn, the bushes rustle.

Two figures emerge, filthy and frazzled.

"Finally," Raenly Mystbern gasps, brushing cobwebs off his coat. "Three days. Three days in the woods. I’m half-delirious from fungal exposure and pondwater soup."

Mysa pads up behind him, cheeks puffed with exhaustion and delight.

"Worth it," she says dreamily, peeking over his shoulder. "You saw how that last one looked when she left Pip’s arms? She floated."

Raenly groans. "We’re not here to be fans, Mysa. We’re here for intel."

He pulls out a battered device—a rattling assembly of pipes, lenses, gears, and a small glass dome flickering with weak arcane light.

"This scanner should help me reverse engineer Pip’s construction," he mutters. "One clean sweep across the chassis and I’ll—"

"—make a perfect pleasure model of your own, I know," Mysa says, grinning as she adjusts the tiny telescopic viewer strapped to her face.

Raenly frowns. "It’s not for that. It’s for... science."

"You labeled the prototype Raen-Pip Mk. II: Ultimate Stud Edition."

"I was delirious!"

The two creep up toward the open window behind the inn, crouched in the dark, guided by moonlight and desperation.

But before they reached the sill...

A deep throat-clearing echoed behind them.

They freeze.

Mysa whispers, "That wasn’t you?"

"No."

They slowly turn.

A looming shadow stands just behind them.

Tall. Immaculately dressed. A regal black suit, hemmed with demon silk, glinted faintly in the dark. A silver monocle gleams over one glowing crimson eye. Every line of his posture was poised and powerful. He towered over them like a marble statue brought to life.

Raenly let out a squeaky yelp.

Mysa gasps. "Oh my."

"Good evening," the figure says with the practiced calm of a diplomat and the menace of a reaper.

Before either sibling could scream, he raises one gloved finger and snaps.

Both their mouths seal shut.

The demonkin man exhales through his nose, a small amused smile on his lips.

"I am Bilorial," he says, "general to her Majesty, Vexena of the Crimson Woe. And you, dear children, are a pair of noisy weeds in my garden."

The siblings whimper.

Bilorial strolls around them slowly, inspecting the rusted scanner in Raenly’s hands with mild disgust.

"I’ve been assigned to watch over the Prince of Pleasure and ensure his journey is undisturbed," he said. "I take my work... seriously."

He stops in front of them, eyes glowing faintly.

"And here I find two nosy, muddy, half-starved pests attempting sabotage."

Raenly tries to speak, but his sealed lips wobble uselessly.

With a flick of his wrist, Bilorial releases their mouths and lifts them onto their feet with unseen magic.

"Now then," he purr. "What were you trying to do?"

Raenly opens and closed his mouth like a fish, sweating bullets.

Mysa, never one to cower long, steps forward.

"We were just trying to see him," she admits boldly. "Maybe... touch him."

Bilorial turns to her with a look of mild disgust. "I wasn’t speaking to you."

Mysa pouts. "Rude."

He turns back to Raenly, who’s about to melt into a puddle.

"Well?" Bilorial says, eyes narrowing with interest. "Why are you here?"

Raenly gulps.

"I-I’m an inventor," he stammers. "I-I want to... I was just trying to scan him. Study him. See how he’s built. So I can maybe... build something similar. I swear!"

The demonkin general’s expression shifts.

His grin turns hungry.

"A fellow man of science," he whispers. "I knew there was something beautiful about you."

He steps closer, almost nose to nose with Raenly. He reaches out and cups his cheek with a gloved hand, gently tilting Raenly’s face side to side.

"Delightful," Bilorial murmurs. "It’s rare to find intelligent minds out in these provincial places. I could use a brain like yours..."

Raenly turns to stone.

Bilorial leans in.

"...for analysis, of course," he adds, with a teasing wink.

Just as Raenly prepares to collapse, a red portal splits open in the air behind Bilorial.

A slender hand reaches out and smacks Bilorial’s head with the casual scolding of a long-suffering friend.

Bilorial flinches.

Another demonkin general, dressed in ared-and-black checkered suit, pokes his head through the swirling gateway.

"Bilorial!" he snaps. "Stop flirting with the local idiots and focus. You’re on observation duty!"

"Krysil," Bilorial says smoothly. "I was simply interrogating them."

"I could hear you purring."

Bilorial sighs. "Yes, Darling."

Eris scowls and disappears into the portal with a flash of crimson smoke.

Bilorial straightens his suit and sighs dramatically.

"Always ruining my fun."

He turns back to the stunned siblings.

"Listen," he says. "I’m interested in the Prince as well. Very interested. I’d prefer to examine him myself, but alas... we generals are not permitted to interfere. Not directly."

He raises a hand and snaps.

The janky contraption in Raenly’s arms exploded in a puff of sparkles.

Raenly yelps.

Then Bilorial conjures a new device. Sleek, polished, humming with soft purple light. He places it gently in Raenly’s hands.

"Use this," he says. "It will scan every inch of the construct’s design. Silently. Efficiently."

Raenly blinked at it like it was a holy relic.

"I expect a full report," Bilorial adds. "And remember... observe, do not interfere. I’ll be watching."

With a final nod, he turns on his heel and vanishes in a swirl of velvet smoke.

The siblings sit in stunned silence.

"...Did we just make a deal with a demon general?" Mysa whispers.

Raenly burst into quiet sobs.

Meanwhile, inside the inn...

Pip’s head twitches to the side.

He had been in standby mode, his systems gently cycling, when a faint noise outside catches his attention.

Rustle. Rustle. Snap.

His eyes light up with a low amber glow.

He turns to the window, processors scanning for danger. Slowly, silently, he rises from the armchair and pads to the open frame.

His head pokes out into the night.

Bushes shift.

Nothing there.

But a faint beep emanates from his chest as he scans the treeline.

[No threat detected.]

He closes the window gently.

Behind him, Vuvi stirs, mumbling in her sleep. "...thrust ...vector... ratios..."

Pip smiles internally. He returns to his seat.

From the bushes, Raenly and Mysa hold their breath.

"That," Mysa whispers, "was close."

Raenly stares down at the magical scanner trembling in his hands.

"...I think I need to lie down."

"You’re already lying down."

"Then I need to scream into the dirt."

"Later. Let’s get back to the hideout."

The two crawl away through the dark.

In the night sky above them, Bilorial stands once more on a high rooftop, arms folded behind his back, eyes glowing faintly.

"Soon," he murmurs, watching the glowing outline of Pip through the roof tiles. "Very soon."