The Funerary Lord

After she was done with Drenthor, Sav'era stood back up and floated above the camp. She examined the men who surrounded the fire. Some of them were knights while others were their aids, their followers and their helpers. She could sense the blood they had spilled coiling around them. For a moment, she closed her eyes and remembered the distant years when she had fought against men like this. As a succubus, her role had been less frontline than others but she still had fought when she needed to. She was good with a blade, and like many demons she had enhanced strength and speed even when her natural abilities were not appropriate to the situation.

"You are all so very lucky that times have changed," She spoke to the unknowing humans. "Had I come across you then as I have now, it would not end well for any of you."

Sav'era.

There came a voice in her mind, cold and distant. She froze.

"Lord Pashel?"

Attend me.

She sought the source of the voice and flew towards it. Away she sped from the fire, moving deeper into the forest until she found a small clearing. There, surrounded by trees and animals, Lord Pashel awaited her.

He was not a demon. He was an undead creature. A long and yellowed skeleton with ancient bones that bore many cracks and fissures. He looked mouldy and ancient, as if he had just crawled from some long lost tomb, and his body was shrouded in a robe of dark silk. His eyes burned with a cold blue light, and a scythe was slung across one shoulder.

Sav'era never knew if Pashel was intentionally in the image of the Grim Reaper or if the Grim Reaper was actually based on ancient accounts of him. No one knew how old he actually was. She settled to the ground in front of him, and his eyes fixed on her even though her flesh was far from here.

You should not be in this place, he told her. It is forbidden. This world is not for you.

"But you are here," Sav'era said. "Did you come just to track me down?"

No. I have work here. I am not a demon, Sav'era. You know this.

"You work for the King of Demons."

But I am not bound by his laws as you are. Those laws you have broken. You must know the penalty for this.

"I did not come intentionally," Sav'era said. "I was wounded fighting in the void. My soul was torn and I came to this world naked and dying. I found a human and used her to recharge my energy, so that I can return home!"

Then you are fulfilling your duty to this human by being here?

"Yes, she was to be married to that night and wished otherwise."

I see. Still, your being here is a crime. I will not report you to the King of Demons but if you do not return soon, you will be missed.

"I know," Sav'era said, her heart was in her mouth. "I understand. I will leave as soon as I am able. As soon as I am strong."

The ancient skeleton fixed her with his piercing gaze. From all things living and dead, Sav'era could sense desire. But not Pashel. He was like a stone to her, an undead thing which desired nothing and yet continued to exist and function. No one knew where he had come from, but he had been the one to slay the last king of demons and allow the current one to take the throne. He was the royal enforcer and many would-be rebels had fallen at his hands.

See to it that you do. Your family has always been good and loyal, but if it becomes known that you have broken this most stringent law, it is likely that I will be sent after you myself.

Sav'era swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

"I understand."

Good. The skeleton turned, and started to trek through the woods. Before he left the clearing, he turned back to look at her. But I am pleased that you have fulfilled your duties to the human. One should always keep their word.