Our Greatest Weakness Lies In Giving Up
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“What’s the plan, boss?” asked a voice in my ear. I’d been so focused on keeping our group together that it took me a minute to realize where I was and who was with me. “We’ve got about two days until we hit the border of this new country.” The conversation had started because we were still waiting for another one of us to come back from scouting the terrain ahead.
The last three members of the team were all out scouting the land, which meant they should be coming back any time now. Our team hadn’t made much progress since we’d arrived here—a few miles at most—but it was more than I had dared hope after we’d lost so many men to the demons.
It had been almost a week since we’d fled the city, and the demons had not pursued us relentlessly as we escaped into the woods. They kept their distance but continued to stalk us like hungry wolves, leaving behind only dead bodies to warn other humans. If we didn’t lose more people soon we would be too weak to defend ourselves from them when they finally caught up.
“It shouldn’t be long,” I said. Then I paused, thinking. “I’m going to go talk to someone I met while fleeing the city.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” he asked. “He may have friends or something. We need more firepower if we’re going to make it through this alive.” He spoke quickly and confidently, and the rest of the group fell in line right away, but I shook my head firmly.
I knew him well enough by then to know that he wouldn’t take no for an answer without some effort. He had been the best fighter and leader during our escape; it seemed impossible for his opinion to be wrong. So I let him argue.
And he won.
“All right, fine,” I said finally. “You can come.” And before I could change my mind I added: “But you are not allowed to shoot anyone else in the process.”
This silenced him immediately. I had a feeling I might regret saying such an absurd thing as soon as it came out of my mouth, but there wasn’t much I could do now. But it was important to remind me of what we needed. This man—the one I chose—was a friend, a strong fighter, and a good listener. A leader.
That last part was probably why he was the best choice.
We headed off at dusk. It had become clear to me that the demons were using magic-sensing eyes to track us, and the darkness would help us evade that. We had also learned how to avoid their attention when they approached the woods surrounding us.
I thought about telling the others that I planned to meet with the person we sought out but decided against it. There wasn’t much point. All five of us knew exactly who we were looking for. And although there might be some risk involved, I had already given in to his demand. No use adding insult to injury.
When we left, the sun was just starting to set, casting the trees and sky into shadow. We moved quickly over the ground, moving between the hills rather than crossing the open fields we had used in the past. The demons would have a harder time tracking us in this way.
There is no better way to learn the lay of your enemy’s land than to travel through it. For several hours we marched quietly and steadily along the path, taking note of landmarks and making mental notes as we went.
At first, I had hoped this journey would pass swiftly. However, it didn’t seem like that would be possible at all. As we traveled further north, the temperature grew colder, and I began to shiver despite my heavy cloak. Our pace slowed even more, but it was worth it for the advantage we gained. When we finally arrived at our destination, I found myself wishing we hadn’t stopped so soon.
“How far?” I whispered, breaking my silence after we’d taken a break for water and food. “Is he close yet?”
“Not quite,” answered our scout. “Give me another hour. Then I’ll find some kindling and build a fire. We’re freezing to death up here.”
His words were true; the wind blew fiercely across the mountainside, whipping snow into our faces, and we huddled together around the flames he built, trying to keep warm.
After a few minutes of quiet, my eyes wandered to the side. It wasn’t that I had forgotten about the man I wanted to speak with, but I had grown increasingly nervous as we approached him and the time had passed slowly. What would we say? How much detail did we want to share?
A hand gripped mine suddenly, startling me. I looked into the face of the person sitting beside me. My friend’s lips formed a smile. It was hard to read his expression behind the scar that curved from cheek to chin. “Hey, are you scared?” he asked me.
The question surprised me. “What?” I said, turning back to look at him again. His face was lit by the dancing orange flame, but I felt sure he would see the concern on my own.
“You’re staring off into space,” he explained patiently. “I noticed. Are you worried about him?”
“Who’s ‘him?'”
“You know exactly who I mean.”
I nodded my head vigorously, and his eyes widened with surprise. “You are. You’re worried about meeting him,” he clarified.
“Yes!”
He chuckled. “Then I guess there isn’t much to worry about then, is there? Because you’ll get your answers soon.” He squeezed my fingers gently. “So don’t waste too much time worrying about it. Go back to enjoying your trip.”
He made sense. I had let the idea of this man bother me for too long and it was distracting me from the mission. So I took a deep breath, shook my head, and returned to the conversation.
***
At nightfall we found ourselves near the bottom of a rocky mountain, standing upon a plateau overlooking a small valley below. The wind died down considerably at this point. Even with the moon and stars shining above us, only patches of sky were visible where the clouds blocked out the view completely.
There were many boulders scattered across the landscape; I imagined it would make an excellent place for a demon to live if they could climb them. We had been careful to stay away from the cliffs.
We found plenty of dead branches and twigs in the forest nearby. I used my bow to shoot down several large trees that had fallen during a storm and brought them back toward our camp, using my magic to lighten their load so it wouldn’t be a struggle for us to carry them. In total, we managed to collect enough wood to keep the fire going well into tomorrow morning when we planned on leaving.
As we prepared dinner, the scouts continued their report. “It’s getting closer now,” he told us, looking nervously toward the woods. “He’s just a few hundred yards ahead, waiting for me.”
I turned to him, curious about what he meant.
“You see that tree over there? Over on the edge of the cliff? I’m standing next to it. That demon is standing behind me. I’m telling you because you need to be ready when I give you the signal.”
My stomach sank. This was exactly the kind of information I hadn’t wanted to hear. Now we knew for sure. “What signal?” I demanded, unable to keep myself from sounding impatient and angry.
Our leader glanced quickly at me before returning his attention to the area around the tree. “If it doesn’t come to him, then he will call us. I’ve seen demons do it many times. When he sees or hears something interesting, he’ll make a noise.
If that gets our attention, then we have to run. But don’t wait for the signal; run anyway. Demons can smell fear from miles away. So we have to keep moving until we reach him and then we can take care of business.”
“Why don’t you go first, instead?” I said desperately, wanting him to tell us something different. “Let me try to talk to him first.”
He shook his head. “There’s no time for that. He might not even respond unless he sees you running toward him. And if he does, you’ll already be too close to use magic, so you’d better hope he doesn’t notice me either. If one of us fails, all of us die.”
His logic seemed sound, but I couldn’t believe our chances were that low. “Does he look dangerous?” I asked, hoping against hope for a reason not to fight him.
“Oh yes! Absolutely terrible! I’ve never met a demon like this. He’s big and strong, and he knows how to handle himself. I saw him kill a bear single-handedly.”
That did little to reassure me. Bears could be very aggressive and vicious. “How fast can he move?”
He smiled as though he liked being asked questions he already knew the answers to. “Faster than any human. Faster than an arrow can fly.”
The scout looked up, startled. He had been staring off into the darkness for several seconds and didn’t seem to realize we were there until I spoke.
“Are you listening to me?” I snapped, frustrated with this entire process.
“Sorry, just thinking. You know, I’ve seen demons a lot, but I’ve never seen a creature like this before.” He stared intently at the dark woods for several more seconds, searching his memory of the past. “No, I remember now. He has horns growing from his forehead.”
Horns? It wasn’t unusual for demons to possess horns, but most possessed them on top of their heads, so this demon sounded unique indeed.
A horned demon was certainly not the monster I would have chosen for a fight. But it was the enemy, and we needed to eliminate him. My mind raced through the possibilities, trying to find some way I could defeat such a powerful foe.
With that much power, it was unlikely he would hesitate to fight, which left us with very few options. I thought about what kind of weapon would do the trick, but all weapons were useless against demons. I decided to use the magic that gave me strength, the same spell that had saved me in the dungeon.
I focused on my magic and began to prepare it for battle. Then, after a quick prayer to the gods, I released my energy into the air around us.
After several tense moments, the scout suddenly pointed at me and made a loud clicking sound with his tongue. At once we all stopped what we were doing. The scouts immediately ran forward while I stood motionless, waiting for their attack. They came to a stop ten feet from me, each holding his bow.
“Run!” they shouted in unison, releasing arrows that flew out over my head. We took off, racing through the trees as soon as the last arrow fell from its string.
***
We reached the edge of the woods just in time to see our scouts disappear into the forest. After a moment I heard them yell and then we followed them. A moment later I realized we were moving uphill.
When the scouts caught sight of us, they called again.
“Follow us! We’re almost there,” yelled the scout who had talked to the demon.
I tried to run as fast as possible, but our group still lagged far behind. As I moved ahead, my eyes searched for anything that looked familiar. There, in the distance between two thickets … there must be a cave entrance.
But why wasn’t the scout using magic to light our trail? That was what I had done when we entered the woods.
My answer came when a demon appeared from out of the gloom of an opening. His body glowed with a faint red glow, like a fire deep underground, but even the dim red light did little to hide his enormous size.
He was tall and broad, standing nearly thirty feet high at the shoulders, with a huge mouth and a long snout filled with razor-sharp teeth. He held one arm straight up at his side and let it drop to the ground, stretching his fingers as wide apart as possible.
I didn’t need to ask him what he was saying; I recognized his voice well enough.
“Get away from here, child of man, or you will regret it forever!”
It was the devil’s warning that had brought the scouts and myself to these woods, and I knew what it meant.
“Come back!” I screamed at my comrades and waved my sword at the approaching demon.
“You won’t get me without a fight,” said the demon, stepping out of hiding and advancing slowly onto the path leading upward. “Don’t think I can’t hear your heart pounding.”
There wasn’t much chance of that. I couldn’t even take one breath without hearing my blood pumping, nor could I control my trembling legs.
The demon raised one foot and then the other, preparing for an attack. “You have no idea what you’re getting into. I’m going to tear you apart limb by bloody limb.”
His words sent a cold shiver down my spine, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. This was the demon that had attacked us when we first arrived in this realm, and that was exactly how he’d sounded. Only this time he had an army with him.
“That is true, little girl,” said the demon, his tone softening slightly. “This may come as a surprise to you, but you don’t scare me.”
He laughed, but it was hollow and empty laughter, like the echo of thunder after a sudden storm. And he was right, I hadn’t been scared in front of that first demon, even though she had been near twice my size. But now the fear was real, and I was sure it would make all the difference if I survived this encounter.
I didn’t understand what made me so certain. Maybe it was the knowledge of the demon’s power, but something deeper must also have played a role because I felt more confident than ever before. The demons had never really frightened me, and I wasn’t afraid of them anymore.
At least not at this moment anyway.
“What do you want?” asked the demon, taking another step toward me. “Why are you coming into my territory? Do you expect me to welcome you and treat you kindly?”
“I am just looking for someone,” I answered him, trying to keep my voice steady. I couldn’t afford to look weak in the face of the devil’s power, especially when he was already threatening to tear me apart.
The demon’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Are you serious?”
“Yes,” I replied simply, hoping my courage wouldn’t be enough to protect me from whatever he planned to do to me.
The demon shook his head, and his smile grew broader. It was easy for him to mock me, I thought. If he could kill me without lifting a finger, it hardly mattered what his attitude was.
“Who? Who do you need help finding?” asked the demon.
I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether or not I should answer him. I knew the demon could read my mind, although he couldn’t force me to give up any information about who I was searching for, and he had never shown that kind of interest before.
But maybe this was my only chance to learn anything else important. I took a deep breath and turned to face him.
“I’m looking for Lord Simeon.”
As soon as the words left my lips, the demon’s face changed. His lips thinned, and his brows knitted together, forming lines around his eyes. His body seemed to grow tense, his muscles tightening against one another.
“Lord Simeon? Do you mean the young nobleman whose family has fallen on hard times? What do you know about him?”
“Nothing, sir,” I answered quickly. “Not a thing.”
For the next few seconds, the demon stared at me in silence, staring at me with the same intensity as before. Then suddenly, his face relaxed again, and he smiled, showing me a perfect row of white teeth. “Oh, then it makes sense why you’ve come all this way. You must be very close to being able to cross over into his realm.”
It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, and disappointment washed through my veins once more.
My father had told me that Lord Simeon’s family had suffered a terrible loss, and there were rumors that they had been driven out of their home city by debt and poverty. They couldn’t afford to pay taxes or hire a proper army to defend themselves, so they chose to hide away in this realm until matters settled down.
And since it wasn’t uncommon for wealthy nobles and merchants to live outside the law when things got bad, the government had allowed them to do so and to continue paying their dues, provided they remained in hiding.
I remembered hearing that Lord Simeon’s family had lost most of its fortune, and it made me wonder what had happened to his father. Perhaps he was alive after all, but perhaps he was dead. Either way, I needed to find him if I wanted to save Lord Simeon’s mother.
I’d spent many sleepless nights thinking about her and the baby that she carried. How long could she go on living without food and water? Had anyone come across her yet? Or would it take several days to notice if she was missing?
The End