Chapter 3: Pride and Fallacy

Sneaking out of a demon stronghold was no small feat. Elanor was also pretty sure it had never been done before either, so she was going about it all completely blind.

Since failure meant death though there really was no limit to the lengths that she’d go through to make sure the Strirus kingdom knew she was alive.

After the General of Pride left and Elanor had finished her minor freak out, she tried to gather her wits and come up with a concrete escape plan.

It had to be near flawless too if she was going to be the first human to escape a demon stronghold. A single misstep and she’d trip right back into the General’s grip, only, it’d be a lot tighter, and she’d have no second chance.

If Elanor was predicting the movements of the human troops right, then while the convoy she was with was annihilated there should be another one at least…12 leagues south of the battlegrounds.

All guess work though, they could’ve moved and as soon as they heard about the previous group's destruction, they no doubt would, pulling back and regrouping, consolidating manpower for a better strike.

That meant Elanor had a little less than 48 hours before her information became useless and her allies would be to the wind, then she would be truly trapped.

God help her, she wasn’t even accounting for where she’d been taken. She could be up the mountain for all she knew.

Elanor glanced at the door the General had walked out of. Dark red wood, shiny black doorknobs, no visible locks beyond the standard.

Oh, she was definitely being guarded. The question was though, how much attention was for her—and how much of that attention was specifically for her magic?

Demons didn’t like holy magic on principal since it was stupidly good at killing them, they liked the Holy Maiden even less since her job was to be stupidly good at killing them.

Holy magic was a bit different from regular magic just because of how only the Holy Maiden could use it at a consistently high level and do so effectively. It also registered to people differently than normal magic.

Demons would be particularly sensitive to it if only because they instinctually knew how dangerous said magic was to them.

Without her magic though, would they be able to track her? Would she even register as a threat?

A demon’s instincts and senses were far more refined than a human’s, but even they weren’t infallible.

Elanor took a breath before sliding out of the bed, her bare feet touching the cold floor.

Well, she knew they had at least patted her down for weapons and what not. Really, she should just be thankful they didn’t seem to have stripped her.

Still, Elanor took a moment to pat herself down, checking what was gone. She obviously didn’t have her shoes, let alone any of her traveling packs or gear. No rations either—she was a bit upset they took her trail mix.

Those dried fruits had not been cheap.

All that was left was the clothes on her back that were still dirty and smelling of smoke, remnants from the battle. She didn’t even have lint in her pockets.

The next obvious step was to start truly inspecting the room she was in but even that didn’t give much away. It was attached to a bathroom; all the drawers and doors were empty or locked with nothing around to force them open—there wasn’t even anything fun like a hidden door or safe.

Sounded a bit boring honestly, and she’d been so certain demons detested being bored.

They were hardly dumb though, so Elanor wasn’t really surprised there was nothing for her to work with.

She meandered over to the windows, not bothering to withhold her scowl.

She was NOT on the second or third floor, she was on the fourth. Four stories of sheer wall, little to no outcroppings, and the remnants of a large tree—If the fresh stump way down below on the ground was anything to go by.

Alright, Elanor would give it to the General, he certainly didn’t do things by halves. Guess there was a reason his sin was pride.

However, he was making her escape plan that much harder. The windows could open but that wasn’t very helpful when there wasn’t a very good way down.

She’d keep defenestrating herself as a last resort though. She didn’t like her odds with it at the moment and she was unsure if anyone was watching her window or not.

The room was a bust, the doors guarded and guarded well with the shadows that passed by like clockwork, and there wasn’t a single thing beyond herself that would be useful in her escape.

That meant it was time for the worst part of this little experiment of hers. The tests.

Back to her first question now. Were they watching for her, or were they watching for her magic?

Elanor made her way towards the vanity, sitting down and staring into the mirror.

The bruise on her neck was quite ugly, wrapping around her throat completely and so dark you could barely see where the General’s fingers had rested.

He could’ve snapped her neck, it would’ve been child’s play for him with how easily he took out the last Holy Maiden.

But he didn’t—and Elanor really didn’t want to find out why when she had bigger things to worry about than the inner workings or a demon’s mind.

Carefully, Elanor laid her hands over the mark before casting a weak holy spell, healing the damage.

Immediately the doors were flung open, not missing a beat. One. Two. Three guards.

Oh, color her surprised, Elanor had almost been sure the General would’ve thought her weak, but the amount of guards watching her spoke otherwise.

He was treating her seriously, as a threat, even though she was weaker. It was almost flattering.

Right now, though, it was just plain irritating.

“Is there a problem?” Elanor asked, raising her brow and crossing her arms, green and yellow bruises around her neck, halfway healed.

“Know your place, human!” Snapped the first guard, looking like he was moments away from storming up to her and shaking her into submission before the second guard caught him by the arm.

“Don’t use your magic again, or else there will be consequences,” they warned, and it was a surprisingly chilling threat with how much hatred was in their tone.

Elanor watched them go, the doors slamming shut, missing the elegance and ultimatum of the General’s own departure.

They hadn’t liked that at all, as expected. Their reaction was rather tame though. She was expecting at least one hit, maybe a few swears, or curses thrown her way.

It was nice to know though that they were watching for her holy magic. One more test, and she might as well do it while they’re upset, press a few buttons, see what they might do.

She pulled open the drawer on the vanity. There was nothing useful in it but there were some tissues, mundane things scattered around the room for living.

Elanor picked it up and made her way back to the windows.

While light magic was her specialty and holy magic her shtick, all magic users though were capable of using multiple elements.

Didn’t mean they were good at it. Elanor didn’t have to be good at it though, she just needed to be able to cast.

The tissue was sent out the window with a weak wind spell, her magic floating it away.

There was no reaction. Why would such a thing register here, where demons were almost always powerful magic users themselves. Oh, why would anyone make a fuss over such a weak spell that couldn’t hurt them? It wasn’t like it was holy magic.

“Pride indeed,” Elanor muttered, unable to stop her grin. She had a plan now. All she had to do was wait.

******

Waiting was easy, Elanor was a patient woman. She had to be, had to learn how to bite her tongue and cool her anger when dealing with nobles, royalty, orders.

Food was brought to her for dinner, and she slipped the bread into her pocket, eating the soup like a good little prisoner and not kicking up a fuss.

Like a misbehaving child though she tore up one of the sheets on the bed, making bandages that she wrapped around her bare feet and hands.

Spilling some blood was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

When night came, Elanor was very careful about making sure no one was watching the windows and that she was quiet as she climbed out before preparing herself to climb down.

Elanor hadn’t been allowed to practice anything but her light magic and holy magic during her training. The instructors called it a waste otherwise, the church and the soldiers sneered at how weak she was, so she gritted her teeth and bore with the harsh training.

Because of that though, her skills with the other elements were pitifully weak that it’d look more like a child casting than even an apprentice magician.

That was fine though. Elanor had known that the only thing the kingdom cared about was how good her holy magic was. Her other magics didn’t need to be strong, not even now.

They just needed to work.

A weak earth spell, shifting the stones of the wall barely an inch out of place, but it did so. A weak wind spell, pressing her against the wall as she climbed down, neither magic would be nearly powerful enough to save her if she fell.

It was enough though as she slowly scaled down the side of the building.

Elanor was a bundle of nerves when her feet finally touched the ground, limbs aching and trembling as she leaned up against the wall and took a shuddering breath.

That…had taken more out of her than she realized—and she wasn’t even halfway to freedom!

Still, the easy part was done. The castle manor that the General of Pride and his troops were in was surrounded by a tall stone gate with very few entrances and exits.

She supposed since demons could fly, they’d hardly have the trouble she was having at the moment.

However, due to this the entrances were all very simplistic and easily defendable because the demons knew those the only place enemies would be able to enter.

That also meant though that’d it’d be far easier to exit.

Carefully, Elanor picked her way across the courtyard. She would’ve liked a different color than her white robes, but it was what she was stuck with.

She had one shot at this, her target picked out as she approached the exit that gave her the best chances.

It was near the main gates of the castle, meaning it would be connected to the main path out of here and would hopefully lead her down the mountain so she could start making her way south.

There was only one guard—the demons probably hadn’t felt like they’d need more when the only enemy they had to worry about was her.

She couldn’t hesitate, couldn’t falter—and with that Elanor sprinted towards the guard, meeting him head on. He was expecting a spell. That’s not what he received.

Elanor rushed up, punching him in the throat, making the demon drop to his knees before she spun, using all that momentum to slam her elbow into the back of his neck.

As he dropped down like a sack of bricks, Elanor had to cover her mouth, quickly stifling her cries of pain.

That hurt, holy hell that hurt. She’d forgotten how tough demons were since she was always fighting midrange or long distance. She was not built for this, ow.

While she rubbed her elbow, she made sure the guard was completely knocked out.

Other humans would’ve left a trail of carnage escaping, too full of hatred to let even one demon go.

Elanor wasn’t stupid. Weak, yes, but not stupid. The scent of blood would attract the other guards instantly and she didn’t hate the demon race nearly enough to risk her life for a bit of paltry revenge when she didn’t have a reason for it in the first place.

No, Elanor just wanted to live, even if that meant she had to fight a war, even if it meant her ‘enemies’ would remain alive.

How did it go, live again to fight another day? What a pitiful thing to live for. She had far more to live for than a mere fight.

Carefully, Elanor dragged the guard’s body against the wall, positioning him with a bottle to make it look like he was drunk before taking the knife strapped to his thigh and leaving the tall, towering gates.

She barely allowed herself to breathe as she carefully climbed down the rocky mountainside, trying not to stick completely to the paths but having no choice but to remain close.

Now Elanor was glad she tore up those sheets otherwise her feet would’ve been torn to shreds. Despite the wrappings though they were already starting to hurt, and she still had a long way to go.

However, after hours of climbing she was down. Thankfully the General’s manor was built more into the cliffside than the actual mountain meaning it wasn’t at the peak.

“Better pick up the pace,” Elanor muttered, giving a dry smile to the path ahead of her. They’d figure out her deception and send people after her soon. There was no way she was faster than a flying demon either.

12 leagues, probably more…well, she’d have to be very fast.

After all, it’s only a real escape if you don’t get caught or dragged back.

And Elanor couldn’t afford to lose.