Chapter 2

“He is lucky, my king. Something healed him, near entirety. He only stays unconscious due to his magic slowly returning after it was drained completely.” I heard the headmaster of the mage tower, Marvin, say as I began to wake up.

“Is she the one who caused those injuries though?” Marvin’s voice was accompanied by Raymond’s, the King, voice.

“I do not think so, though she disappeared after delivering him to the magic tower.” Marvin answered.

“Is she a demoness?” Raymond asked. A mixture of excitement and concern laced his tone. “Did he succeed?” I tried to sit up to give them an answer, but a horrid pain shot through my body.

“Ugh.” I complained as I fell back into my bed.

“Albert!” Raymond and Marvin ran over to me.

“You are awake, my boy!” Marvin said in relief.

“We were afraid you would never wake.” Raymond sniffled.

“How…did I get here?” I asked as Marvin used his magic to help sit me up.

“A young woman brought you to the tower of magic. She said you were greatly injured in the Cursed Forest, so I brought you to the King’s castle to be treated by the best healers in the Empire.” Marvin explained.

“Was she the one who hurt you?” Raymond asked with a serious expression.

“No…well, sort of, but truthfully, she was the one who saved me…” I explained. I was a bit surprised by the outcome “I guess she did keep her word and healed me. Whatever she did hurt worse than the draining of my magic though” I complained.

“That woman, she healed you?” Marvin asked. “You are saying the process in which she healed you hurt?”

“Yes. She bit me.” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. Marvin looked at where my hand was rubbing and gasped.

“You have a set of puncture wounds on your neck. They look like a healing animal bite.”

“They are from her. Nocturne.” I said her name. “Where is she?”

“We do not know. After getting you to the tower, she disappeared in the chaos.” Marvin explained. I felt overwhelmed with concern at the news.

“We must find her. She has recently entered our realm and does not know anything about our people. If she says or does the wrong thing she could end up in danger.” I exclaimed as I tried to get out of my bed. Raymond and Marvin had to physically stop me.

“Please calm down!” Marvin commanded.

“What do you mean she recently entered our realm? Who is that woman?” Raymond asked.

“She’s not a woman…she’s a demoness.” I explained.

“You!” Raymond beamed with joy as he pointed at me. “Succeeded in summoning a demon!”

“No. I did not summon her. The grimoire was not what we thought it was. She saw me trying to summon a demon in the Cursed Forest. I almost died using the grimoire. She watched the entire occurrence. She offered to sign a contract with me. She said she would help our Empire.” I recalled.

“Demons are not ones to help humans. They think we are weak and insignificant.” Marvin said.

“You are right. She only helped me under a condition.” I confessed.

“What condition?” Raymond asked in horror.

“She asked for me to agree to serve her. She said she liked my loyalty and needed me to help guide her through our realm…” I held my head as I tried to remember what she said in the Cursed Forest. “…she told me she had been in our world in ancient times, but a mage sent her back to the underworld. She only recently escaped the underworld. I asked her why she wanted to live among humans, and she said she found us entertaining and the underworld was boring for a princess.” I recalled. “However…I cannot say I fully believe everything she told me. I feel skeptical about some things.” I added.

“What do you mean?” Marvin asked.

“She was not angry when she spoke of the mage that sent her back to the underworld, and I also remember hearing a strange emotion in her voice when she told me she wanted me to serve her.” I explained.

“But you did not give her your soul?” Raymond asked.

“No. She did not even speak of my soul…that is strange now that I think about it. I thought all demons devoured souls and that contracts were the easiest way to obtain a soul.”

“It is strange. Even if it is a relief that you have not lost your soul, it is still troublesome that you are to be forced into servitude by a demoness.” Marvin commented. “Her name, what was it again?”

“Nocturne.”

“Nocturne…” Marvin stroked his beard thoughtfully. A few books appeared before him. “Let’s see…ancient demoness…Nocturne…hm.” He looked through the books until he found something. “Ah, here we go.” Marvin said. “Nocturne Gloomblossom, daughter of the Demon King who rules over the death blossom fields. She earned the nickname owl demon since she favors the form of an owl…some of her powers are on one of the pages, but it says at the bottom of the page that these are only the known powers, and she has many more not documented here.” Marvin paused. “There is a divine symbol on her page as well…”

“Why would a demoness have a divine symbol associated with her?” I asked.

“Perhaps she is connected to a divinity. That is a good thing though.” He said with a look of relief.

“How is that?” Raymond asked.

“Demons connected to a divinity tend to be more neutral than those who are free agents. It means that she may have a moral compass of some sort and will prove more helpful than harmful in the end.” Marvin explained.

“I suppose all that matters at the moment is that she is a powerful demoness.” Raymond nodded. “No matter what, we need her help to stop this invading force. I have heard news of them conquering all the lands outside the safety of Empires and Kingdoms recently. If they amass a big enough army, we will surely be forced to go to war.” He reminded us.

“Yes, that is a concern. But you must understand, my king, with her connection to divinity, she may very well be one of the most powerful demonesses in existence.” Marvin said as he shut the book he had been reading. “This means that she may be the savior we were searching for.” I noticed Marvin had a calmer expression now.

“Marvin, you seemed relieved at finding the divine symbol that is associated with her, does this mean that we do not need to be overly concerned?” I asked.

“The passage I read seemed to show her in a neutral light even before I noticed the divine symbol. I will try to do more research though. Maybe I can find actual accounts of her deeds and misdoings that will confirm whether we can trust her or not.” Marvin nodded.

“Thank you, Head Mage. Now, I have a pressing question. How do we find her?” Raymond asked.

“Albert should be able to summon her to wherever he is. The contract would have marked him with her symbol, which would be what is binding them together. Do you see a sigil on you anywhere?” Marvin asked me as he came over to me and looked over the back of my neck where the puncture marks were.

“I don’t know.” I answered as I looked over my hands. Marvin waved his hand over me, allowing his magic to flow over me. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, right over my heart. I quickly pulled down my tunic shirt and watched as a black sigil appeared on my chest.

“That is a strange place for a sigil. It is usually on one’s hand or arm. Though I was expecting it to be where she had bit you.” Marvin commented. “Either way, this is her mark. If you focus your mind on that sigil, it will send her a message. That will let her know you are awake, and she should appear.” Marvin told me. I nodded then did as instructed. I focused solely on the sigil on my chest. I felt something surge through me and to the sigil. It was slightly painful. I did not have to wait long for the demoness to appear.