Kalika looked on, peering out the cart as they slowly rolled up a steep hill with the sound of rushing water and children's laughter becoming louder.
"Is this it?" Kalika asked.
"Yup." Bjorn whipped the reins, driving the garu's to pull harder. "This is Fall's village. The current home of the contract smith."
Soon, the village came into view. Around there were a plethora of houses made of both stone and the black wood with black thatched roofs cobbled together with the barks of the pit trees. Around some of the homes, strange fruits and vegetables grew from the ground in the colors of red, orange, and purple.
Donovan peered out of the cart with his newly fixed demon disguise for a good view of the village. "So is this one not fortified?"
"For this settlement, there's no need. Most of the residents here use the fortress nearby if there's danger."
"I see…"
Looking far, right, Kalika and Donovan took notice of a river flowing opposite of them, down the hill. At its banks, Demon children of red, blue, and even fair, white skin played, throwing mud and whacking each other with sticks.
Alarmed, Donovan rose up and glued his gaze to some of the fair-skinned, hornless children, playing. "Hey, isn't that a-"
"It's a succubus," Kalika answered.
The girl turned and revealed her pink eyes, happily bracing from the stick whacking as she did.
"O-oh…" Donovan watched as the girl retaliated against the other demon children, whacking and overwhelming them with the smacks of her small sticks. "Strange…" Donovan said. "Don't you demons normally have horns?"
"If you were paying attention to Zelak's children you would've noticed that they aren't born with their horns, or their tails," Bjorn said. "They don't grow their horns and tail until some years after."
"Yeah," Kalika solemnly agreed. "When I first met my maid, Rhonda, she didn't have any horns herself. By the time she was ten years of age, they started to grow out…"
Donovan nodded, then returned to keenly watch as they neared the entrance of the village. The children who played at the river quickly took notice of them. And with vigor, they laid chase and smacked their long sticks on the side of the cart.
"
The children ignored him, with one even throwing mud at the cart. "
The other children followed, throwing mud at the cart, forcing Kalika and Donovan to brace. "What the hell!" Kalika blurted.
"
Kalika, with clenched teeth, glared up. She leaned to the edge of the cart with a building annoyance. "Bjorn! Stop the-"
WHAM!
A Karnal demon suddenly crashed into the cart, with wings still outstretched. "Ow!" She said,
The short red demon woman, with long white hair, a flat chest, and haughty villager clothes, wobbled up, holding the side of her head where her horns curled in a loop. "
The children cheered, " " Kalika was swiftly and accidentally smacked with the stick.
Res jumped, realizing the mistake she had made. "O-oh!... Sorry." She whispered.
Kalika stared at the woman unamused as Donovan stared on in disbelief at the event unfolding before them.
Right then, Bjorn stopped the cart, and the woman lost her balance, falling down.
In that instant, the children cheered victoriously, shouting out about Res's valiant sacrifice and the death of the imaginary Valtrop. All the while, Kalika could only sit down with a newly soured mood. "Can we leave now?"
"No," Bjorn said. He watched on as the demon villager arrived to collect their young. His eyes quickly squared on the little succubus girl returning to her white-haired mother with delight as the other returned to their father. " The white-haired succubus glanced at Bjorn.
"Where's Beltru's Shop?" Bjorn peeked his face from under the mask.
The woman's eyes widened in shock from the sudden reveal. She quickly grew serious and glanced from her daughter, to Bjorn, then gestured with her hand. " ********
Res, disoriented, swung back and forth. " "I'm glad this so-called contract smith has a shed like this…" Kalika spoke.
Res felt a tickling on her back and glanced back to find Kalika upside down. " " "Huh?" Res looked up, finally realizing her predicament. " " Tears instantly welled in Res's eyes. Desperate, she swung around in a panic. " From the side of the shed, Donovan whispered. "Alright, Kalika, you made your point to her, now let her go!"
"Kalika side-eyed his remark and grumbled. "Just a little longer. I want to enjoy myself too."
Donovan could only watch on as Kalika brushed the woman with her stick, frightening her. Unable to watch any longer, Donovan sighed and turned to a large stone home, built into the pit wall itself. Next to it, were the anvils, furnaces and other tools used for a blacksmith's workshop with the addition of a seemingly endless pool of lava pouring off from a nearby cliff.
He approached the strange stone home, and to his surprise, several succubus children and an incubus boy darted out from the big entrance. Some sported horns, tails, and different colored skins, as others either lacked them or began growing their demon-like features.
"Weird." He thought. "Children in this village are nothing like the ones back in Oars…"
Donovan quickly pushed the thought aside and entered the home where Bjorn drank mead with five succubus women chatting all around a blue Karnal demon with dulled grey eyes, and a black ponytailed hair that stuck up.
"So that must be Beltru…" Donovan thought.
The women surrounding the karnal demon attempt to suckled up to him with whispers of praise and other private offers. With a subtle gesture of his hand, he quietly rejected their advances, giving a stern, " Despite their disappointment, they accepted his words and turned their sights to Bjorn with a couple others taking notice of Donovan's presence.
" Bjorn pulled up a white cloth and unfurled it, revealing Kalika's knife.
Beltru reached for the cloth and pulled it towards him. He examined it keenly, pulling and shifting the cloth for new angles to examine.
" " " " " Bjorn took it and scrutinized it. " " " "Hmph!" Beltru glanced at the blade again, scrutinizing it further. " " Beltru smirked. " " "" Beltru blurted a chuckle. " " " " "Hmm?" Beltru raised a brow. " " Donovan cautiously approached Bjorn and leaned up to whisper. "So how long will we be here?"
"" Beltru suddenly said. " Donovan tensed, surprised by how quickly the demon discovered him.
Bjorn remained silent, looking straight at Beltru, unfazed.
" " "Wait… Was I here before?" Donovan narrowed his eyes in deep thought, "I-if that's the case doesn't that mean-"
" " ********
" With a sniffle, Res turned to Kalika, eyed the bag of jerky on the ground. Seconds later, Res's stomach rumbled. Embarrassed, she flushed and looked at Kalika with pleading eyes. " " Kalika poked the woman, terrifying the woman back into her wriggling state as she continued to plead. " Kalika huffed. " " "Hmm?" Kalika glanced back and watched as a little succubus girl was pulled back into hiding behind the wall of the open shed. With her, several other girls and a boy watch quietly, clearly interested in the drama.
" Kalika glared. " " " Kalika turned to the house and saw a karnal demon stepped out with Donovan and Bjorn, who was barely managing to squeeze through the door.
" " " " Kalika rolled her eyes. " In an instant, the children quickly surrounded the Res, all worried. They happily hugged and jumped with joy, united with the awkward demon woman.
Seeing this, Kalika side eyed the whole scene. " " Kalika sighed and turned from Res and the children. " " Unexpectedly, Res stormed in front of Kalika, with puffed cheeks and clenched fists. " Kalika gazed at the woman, even more confused. " " Kalika chuckled. " " " From behind, Donovan quickly approached. "Hey, Kalika," he whispered. "Why don't you go on and explore the village. It could help pass the time."
Unsure, Kalika glanced at Donovan with a raised brow.
"By the time you return, I'll have a nice pot of meat porridge just waiting for us. How does that sound?"
"Meat porridge, huh." Her mood quickly shifted, and Kalika fell into deep thought. "I suppose it would be boring waiting around…"
" Res straightened with an audible eep. " " " " Kalika turned to the short demon, curious.
"