The mouthwatering smell of food greeted Seris before she even burst through the temple doors.
Orion and Amelia weren't far behind as Seris led the charge towards the dining area. It looked the same as it always had with the addition of modern furniture and appliances.
Seris stopped dead in her tracks, there was a giant table loaded with a large variety of food. All of it modern, all of it delicious.
"This is the greatest moment of my life," Seris said with a tear in her eye as she advanced towards the food.
She had just picked up a plate, preparing to load up, when a group of people wearing business suits entered the other side of the dining room.
"This must be Seris Ardentis!"
Seris half-glanced in the direction of the voice, seeing Talos with at least five other people that looked roughly the same age as him. Being in your forties must be a requirement for the position, Seris thought to herself before dismissing them.
"What to choose first?"
She carefully examined the options before her.
Smoked ham, smoked turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casseroles, chicken tenders, stuffing, and an assortment of pies pulled at her attention.
The food was both familiar in some ways but also very different. Back in her day, food was not nearly as extravagant as this unless you were incredibly rich or royalty.
She decided to get a bit of everything while the group approached her, taken aback by being ignored.
"Ahem, I realize you must be famished after your fight with the demons, but could we have a few minutes of your time?"
Marcus, who had decided to join the elders, carefully spoke up with a polite tone. He was pretty good at being persuasive, experience had taught him that honey was better at catching flies than vinegar.
Seris spared him a glance, mainly because of his polite demeanor.
"I suppose but make it fast."
Marcus bowed with a smile while the others followed suit. What in the world was this? Seris was confused by the bowing and slightly uncomfortable.
"We were hoping to hear your side of the battle, what happened, and if you know anything about Darius?"
She figured they would ask her about the battle, she wasn't naive enough to think the food was just a gift as tempting as it was. Orion looked away while Amelia nodded in her direction encouragingly.
"I can tell you about what happened on my side of the field but I have no idea about Darius and frankly, I don't care what happened to him."
Talos was stone faced while Marcus looked like someone had slapped him. The other elders gave each other nervous looks.
"Surely you're joking though. Darius, like yourself, is a member of the order and this temple. You should care-"
Seris, who had already set her plate down, quickly turned and clapped her hands eagerly before pointing at Orion and saying, "quick Orion name three things you like about Darius and go!"
Orion, who looked startled at being put on the spot quickly recovered while racking his brain for answers.
"Well he is a fellow member of our order and-"
"Time's up! Amelia, go!"
Amelia also looked startled before quickly looking at her feet. She too struggled to find something positive to say about Darius.
"He did save us by buying us a chance to escape and uh…well…hmm…" Amelia trailed off desperately trying to find anything else to add. She felt bad just thinking negative things about people.
Seris beamed at the elders before continuing, "see? No one cares."
She turned back to her plate, oblivious to Orion putting his palm over his face in frustration. Amelia looked horrified at Seris's attitude towards the elders although on some level she wasn't totally surprised by it. Seris had mentioned more than once that she blamed the current leadership for the order's lack of strength.
"Perhaps we should let her eat and then we can revisit the topic of what happened out there?" Talos suggested, his sharp eyes noting the stunned reactions of the elders, to include Marcus. Talos wore a friendly mask despite inwardly laughing at them. He had warned them after all.
"That's perhaps a good idea."
The elders bowed again before quickly departing, ushered out by Talos who once more gave Seris the impression that beneath the friendly, wise exterior was a calculating man who didn't miss much.
Seris grabbed her food and sat at a nearby table. Orion and Amelia joined her which pleased Seris even more. Sharing good food with friends was much better than eating all alone.
***
A couple of hours later, while Seris was leaning back in her chair patting at her now full stomach, the elders returned.
"I see you have enjoyed the food!"
"This pleases us greatly!"
Seris gave a small nod of appreciation towards them.
"This was the only way we could think of to truly honor you for your contribution. Unless you wanted money? We could offer that too."
"No, I'm good."
Seris was being completely honest, money had never been something important to her. By no means was she ever rich but at a young age, she had learned a valuable lesson. Money, like all material things, is ultimately meaningless in the end. Nothing lasts forever, everything is impermanent.
Orion gathered some chairs for the elders who thanked him before taking their seats. Talos kept a blank face, void of any emotion. He simply observed Seris and the elders in silence.
"We heard conflicting reports that a powerful demon appeared in the city. Initial reports suggested it was only a massive army of imps but this new being, whatever he was, leveled the entire city."
"Is it true?"
Seris nodded which filled their faces with dismay. She went on to add, "I don't think he was a demon though. He didn't fight like one and his magic felt too familiar."
Talos stiffened although Seris wasn't sure why while Marcus quickly glanced in his direction. Seris felt like something was being unsaid but she wasn't able to focus on it for too long before the elders quickly peppered her with dozens of questions.
"What did this person look like?"
"Are you sure he wasn't a demon?"
"What else could he have been?"
"Perhaps a lich from the Undead King?"
Orion and Amelia both were waiting patiently for Seris to continue, neither of them knew anything about this strange entity either despite having seen him only briefly during the start of their fight.
"He fought like a well trained sorcerer, significantly stronger than your current members too. He wore a mask, something like a theatre tragedy mask, so I have no idea what he actually looks like."
This was not the news that they had been hoping for.
"Is there anything you can tell us that could help us track this person down?"
Seris thought for a few seconds before recalling the way the man had vanished after the explosion.
"He's pretty high up in the demonic realm, I'm positive of it. A very powerful demon appeared near the end of the fight and teleported him away. The man called himself 'Linnox the Unworthy' if that means anything to you."
The ambient temperature in the room plunged several degrees. Dread filled the faces of the elders and even Orion looked nervous at the mention of that name. Talos's eyes flashed with a hint of knowing but he remained silent. Seris found that unusual.
"You're absolutely sure that was his name?"
"Well no, that's just how he introduced himself. Why's everyone so scared of this guy?"
Marcus quickly cleaned his spectacles before replacing them with shaking hands. Sweat beaded his forehead while he searched for an explanation, "Linnox the Unworthy is the right hand man of Lord Azarion, the Demon General who serves under the Demon King."
Oh, that made sense then given what she had seen.
"I take it he's been bad news for the order then."
"He has only appeared a few times over the last few years but on every occasion he slaughtered every sorcerer and civilian he could find. He was responsible for an entire island city being eradicated with over ten thousand civilian casualties."
"Alone, I might add, no army behind him."
Seris understood their fear now. If someone that powerful decided to step onto the field, they were helpless. It was like a group of ducks trying to fight off a hungry bear.
"This is disturbing news. If he decides to intervene again, Harborton will not be the only city wiped from the face of the earth."
Seris recalled how she felt during their fight. It would be a lie to say she wasn't looking forward to the rematch.