Harbingers of Change

Chapter 24

Following the kobold and dwarves was a simple task for her. As an elf, her magical presence was weak enough to not stand out, but for a spy like her, caution was a necessity. To even the hungriest monsters, her presence was that of a leaf blown in the wind. Hidden in the shadows, she was assured her targets would not notice or even suspect a lone spy following them.

Jumping from shadow to shadow, she easily kept up with her targets. During the nights when her targets camped, she took a short meditative rest within the shadows. Sleep was an unnecessary luxury during an assignment. After all, her training let her forsake it for long periods of time. Day after day, with little change, she kept a close eye on Kaijin and the kobold who sold the chunk of mysterious ore.

A weak monster like a kobold likely knew the safest routes within the immense forest, as he and the two bodyguards would be no match for the strongest monsters roaming around, giving her the relative assurance that she would not be ambushed by something she couldn't handle.

She overheard the kobold telling the dwarves that they would reach Tempest in a few hours. Now she had to be extra careful to slip by the notice of this majin. A single mistake could end in disaster.

A feeling of unease slowly arose within her. Something was off. She felt an unnerving presence. Someone, no, something else was in the shadows with her. Not even a few minutes later, the carts were stopped by hobgoblins riding very powerful versions of dire wolves. It was an alarming discovery, as it clearly meant that Tempest was growing fast. Too fast, in fact. She would have to report this disturbing development to King Gazel.

While she followed the carts, avoiding the notice of the wolf rider, the presence inside the shadows grew. Something was trying to penetrate her mind. Her thoughts got muddled. A veteran field agent like her was used to mind tricks and would not fall for them easily. To get her mind clear, she performed a quick breathing exercise.

The presence only grew in her mind, slowly filling her heart with dread. Some kind of monster was targeting her.

'My will is my own. I rule over my body and my mind. My will is my own.' She repeated the mantra again and again, to no avail.

'I WILL NOT BREAK.' The elven spy screamed in her own mind as the presence broke down the last resistance and took her over.

Her body refused to listen to her anymore. Whoever controlled her used her shadow step to quickly move towards an unknown destination.

She screamed and raged in her mind, trying to break free. If there was one fate worse than all others for her, it was being imprisoned in her own body, to be made a passive observer while unable to end it all if need be.

{ Do not resist. You will only harm yourself. } A ghastly presence whispered.

'Let go of me!' she screamed again. There was no point in trying to make a deal. They usually tortured a caught spy for information and then killed them once all the information was acquired. That was the fate awaiting her. All she could hope for now was that she would not break and spill the secrets of the King she served.

She still could see through her eyes, still hear everything, but she could not control her own body. The presence controlling her slowly penetrated her memories, extracting everything. There was no stopping it.

Finally the movement stopped in front of a huge hobgoblin.

"Who…" he asked in surprise.

"I am one of Lord Demiurge's servants holding this spy. I ask for permission to use one of the prison cells to hold this one while my Lord arrives." The creature holding her spoke with her voice.

"Of course. Do you need anything else?" the goblin asked, quickly recovering from the initial surprise.

"No, Lord Rigurd, this creature needs nothing else but to be contained."

Quickly moving through the shadows, she was now in a small stone room with a hole for a window. The creature forced her body to sit down on the cold stone floor, making her realize she still had all her body sensations and could be tortured and not even be able to react to it outwardly.

Again and again, she fought against the restraints with all her willpower failing each and every time.

{ Resistance is futile. My master will arrive soon. Submit! }

'NO!' she raged and thrashed in her mind. She was not going down without a fight. Suddenly there was a creature in front of her, dressed in a strange striped suit, momentarily taking her attention away from trying to break free.

"Good job, Umbratri. So what do we have here?"

"A Dwargon spy, my Lord. Her task is to find out where the ore came from and give this to a dwarf named Kaijin." The creature spoke with her voice as her hand rose and handed the apology letter to the monster in front of her. All his mannerisms screamed 'demon', so she just assumed that the master of her jailer was a high-ranking demon. Maybe he was the mysterious majin who created Tempest?

The demon took the letter, broke the seal, and read it.

"Interesting, but Kaijin will not need this. My lord has other plans for him. Tell me everything you know." The demon said as the letter burned in his hand, leaving only a small cloud of ash behind.

She honestly tried to stop her body from speaking as her own voice told the being everything about her King, about her mission, and even spoke out a name long forgotten, Elma. The name even her King didn't know. A name she dropped to forget her past, when she was weak and used. The memories of the same helplessness came back as her hope started to fade. She tried to forget her past and now it all came back as strong as ever.

Her despair was what broke the creature's control as she screamed,

"Not like this! Anything, but not like this."

Her rebellion was short-lived and the creature regained control moments later. The demon's face twisted into a sadistic smirk as he grabbed the sides of her face with one hand and inspected her as one would a new interesting item in one's possession. The demon's nail painfully dug into her fair-skinned cheeks.

"Maybe changing profession was a mistake? Once a toy is always just a toy." He asked with the same disgusting sadistic smirk. This demon knew how much she hated helplessness. He sensed her fears, both past and present.

'Go to hell!' She wanted to scream at him, but the demon was already gone.

The creature forcefully sat her body down once again. She remained like this for a full day, unable to move, unable to rest. Her legs went numb from both the cold stone and lack of movement. Only when the sun was high up again and shined in through the small home in the dark cell, did the creature move her body again, bringing the jolt of cramps through her legs.

Through the shadows, she arrived in what looked like a throne room. A majestic-looking skeletal undead sat on a throne, with a demon on each side of him. One of them was the one she met the day before, and the other was a demoness of unmatched beauty.

"The shadow demon will release hold on you now. If you try to run, he will take over your body permanently." the demon said.

She could move her body once again. Her first instinct was to flee through the shadows, but it would only end up with her controlled again, without even the ability to kill herself, a lifetime of torment imprisoned in her own body.

Elma could only do what was likely expected of her and kneel before the undead, who observed her with an unrelenting, burning gaze. An unnatural fear flowed through her as if she was in the presence of something greater than she could comprehend.

Her dread rose even more with the horrible realization that on the throne sat something greater than a mere majin. A soon-to-be Demon Lord perhaps?

"If your king would find out where the ore came from, what would he do?" the undead asked.

"I am just a spy and can't speak for my master, but King Gazel is a just ruler and would likely offer a trade deal."

Momonga looked down at the kneeling woman, who was shivering from fear. Because of Demiurge's overly detailed report, he already knew that this young elven woman feared the loss of control more than anything else. In this moment, she would say and do everything in order to not be held captive by the shadow demon again.

Both of his demonic advisors were wary of this Gazel, the king of Dwargon, who, according to the limited information they had, was a hero. Knowing that a hero could potentially have skills that could cause substantial damage to Tempest and even Nazarick, antagonizing him before his power was fully known was ill-advised, and diplomacy was a much more preferred way of dealing with his nation.

Although the woman before him was a spy, and an argument could be made that how Demiurge and shadow demon treated her was justified, there were no guarantees that her master would see it that way.

With each moment spent in silence, Elma got more afraid that this Lord Momonga was contemplating either enslaving her again or simply getting rid of her.

"Y-your highness, I can bring a message from you back to my king. I can explain that everything was just a misunderstanding…"

"Be silent, worm! You will speak only when spoken to." the demoness growled at her.

"Be at ease Albedo, her offer is reasonable," Momonga said. Albedo's outburst had put even more fear into the shivering elven woman. "But one like you would understand that I cannot just let a foreign spy go. I could just send an official envoy to Dwargon after all, without taking the risk of you running off once you are out of our sight."

Elma looked up at the demoness called Albedo, waiting for permission to speak. When she saw a small nod, she said,

"Your highness, I will accept any safeguard you deem necessary."

"Good. Demiurge, hand her the introductory letter." Momonga said and watched as Demiurge took out a sealed letter from his pocket and handed it to the kneeling elf. "You will keep a shadow demon with you. If you decide to cross me, he will take you over once again. Should you find a way to get rid of him, we will find you, and you already know what your fate will be."

"I-I will not fail you, your majesty."

"We will see. One of my servants waits for you outside of the castle. Enjoy our hospitality for a day and then be on your way."

Elma said, "Thank you, your Majesty" and left the throne room via her shadow step skill, appearing at the castle entrance. The entire interaction with the ruler of Tempest felt planned, but she was not about to question it.

A tall, good-looking hobgoblin already waited for her.

"Miss Elma, this way," he said with a polite bow.

She silently followed the goblin, feeling the familiar presence once again. Was it just some sick trick to make her think she would be safe and then let the shadow demon take her over again? The presence was not intrusive… yet. Was there even a point to attempt to resist it?

{ Be at ease. My master ordered me to look after you, and as long as you follow the order to return the letter, I will not read your mind or take you over. }

'Good to know,'

So the shadow demon was her handler. How would her king react to her returning with a monster? For now, she had no answers to these questions, and all she could do was to accept the offered hospitality with grace, although she didn't need it and could return to the capital of Dwargon within a day, even in her exhausted state.

The provided meal was delicious, and the rather simple bed was soft enough for her tastes. For once, she didn't need to worry about being ambushed while she slept. If they wanted to harm her, they could do it, no matter if she resisted or not.

Edited by Edgy.