How many days had it been? It was hard to keep count. The light that occasionally filtered in from bars behind made it hard to gauge. It had been some time since Maeori had last visited. The first time she said it was a few days. The second time marked roughly two weeks. I held the pendant of Lady Corlyn that Maeori had gotten me. It still seemed rather absurd how much she paid. It was nice that she’d packed it away for me with the food. Nox brought it out sometime after she left.

  It was rather strange, and quite concerning, that she left a devil with me. Familiar or not, it felt like an ill omen. The Severance Gods disapprove of devils. They’re evil creatures known to steal people’s souls for their wicked creators. Yet, for some reason, here one was. Not only that, but he dutifully brought me bread and water from the small hole Maeori left in the wall.

  If anything, the most startling sight was his glowing red eyes, which watched me with an expression that grew more bored as time passed. The devil wasn’t particularly greedy either. Very rarely, he’d come up and rub against me. It took a bit at first, but that’s how I learned it meant he wanted some mana to eat. Or at least that was the normal routine.

  I didn’t trust him, though. I was hardly an expert on Lord Stultvultan, but I knew he ascended to divinity after tricking the devils into turning on one another. It was so they couldn’t invade the mortal realms. It felt too coincidental that Maeori would summon one, though why she didn’t seem to care was quite strange. Wouldn’t it want revenge? Lord Stultvultan also freed the demons from the devils’ control. Supposedly, the demons still ravage and raid devilish territories in the hells to this day. So it seemed doubtful that any devil would want anything good for his followers, let alone his chosen.

  I looked at the hole and saw Nox’s red eyes looking back. When I last prayed with Maeori, I received a spell for ‘Lesser Shape Earth’. If I wanted to, I could widen the hole and flee through it. Though I think me getting that spell was a test rather than a sign. Maeori had asked me to wait here, after all. Though she did express frustration at something that Glenn was doing when we last talked.

  Eventually, Nox left the hole. Unlike all the other times when he’d either rub against me or bring me food, Nox paced around me in a circle. He’d only done that once before when Maeori first left. I remained kneeling in prayer while I could hear him sniffing me from a short distance. I’d grown less scared of him since that first time. When he was done, he sat in front of me. The glowing red eyes glaring into mine. They felt like they were judging me, seeing through me.

  Nox meowed, and I shuddered. Being less afraid didn’t mean being not afraid at all. My one hand went down near the dagger that was on my thigh. Maeori wouldn’t have left this devil with me if it was dangerous, right? Maybe she would, but that seemed unlikely. Nox meowed again and then rubbed against me before sitting back down. Did he want food? But why was he asking for it differently now? I gathered some mana in my palm and laid it open in front of him. He ate it and meowed again. He wanted more? I gathered more mana, which he gladly ate.

  After two more rounds of feeding, Nox looked satisfied. Though still sitting in front of me, judging me. The sudden sounds of encroaching footsteps and light flashing through the bars of the door caused him to dash into Maeori’s tunnel. A simple bowl of porridge slipped through the small gap at the bottom of the door.

  For a brief moment, the roar of fire filled my mind. Then silence followed by words. “You, human girl, can you hear me?” A strangely deep, but soothing, almost melodic voice rang in my head. It wasn’t a god’s voice. It hadn’t felt grand enough. “Your eyes went wide, and your heart rate quickened. You can hear me, can’t you?”

  I looked around the room, my eyes resting on the hole and the red glow within. “Nox?” I tried to reply mentally.

  “That is the name the Mistress seemed to have bestowed this form with. I have been unable to establish the telepathic link she provided me with to her, so I have chosen you. It’s been dreadfully dull here. Besides, I am rather curious about you.” The cat emerged from the shadows, sitting upright with his tail slowly flicking, while he looked up at me.

  “M-me?” I whispered down to the cat, forgetting to talk back telepathically.

  “Well, of course. Not only does your soul have a… unique composition that I’ve rarely seen in your kind, but I am curious why the Mistress has chosen you and why some of her essence lingers to you.”

  “I-err, you want to use that against Maeori, don’t you? Why would a devil of all things devote itself to her?” I squinted at the devil cat, one of my hands ready to grab the dagger.

  “Really now?” Nox said, slightly annoyed but mostly amused. “Here I thought someone whom my Mistress had asked me to watch over wouldn’t cling to eras old biases and grievances. I’ve been sent to aid her. Yet your soul is still young. I only wish to converse. Let me ask you something else then, what does the Mistress see in you?”

  I hesitated at the question, wanting an answer myself. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “I’m a worthless cleric that the gods will only bestow spells to if she’s with me.”

  “Only with Mistress? How peculiar. That shouldn’t factor into anything. You know the gods are but one path to power. Mayhaps not the right one for you. You have potential. Not the kind you would wish for, but I can feel it in you. The fire. Do you wish to serve the Mistress? I can help you transform and rekindle it for her sake.”

  “F-fire? What fire?”

  “The unique composition of your soul. There are quite a number of scars along the bridges where your soul and body meet. A telltale sign of curses, and many of them. They aren’t actively festering, not anymore. Yet peculiarly, quite a number of the scars those curses left behind have been filled with brimstone. And the bridges are coated in a layer of mana.” The devil tilted his head, looking at me. Its mouth folded into what looked like a smile. “You’ve consumed your own mana, haven’t you? And a lot of it. Much to your detriment. The brimstone I can’t explain. That, however, is an aside. The fire I see is what caused you to be here. What drove you to action whilst plagued by curses? I’m curious, young one, what was that fire?” His tail continued to flick side to side. He was interested and eager.

  “I-I don’t know,” I whispered, fidgeting slightly, though still keeping a hand on my dagger. “I shouldn’t be.”

  “Are you telling me you don’t recall your past or are unwilling to speak it? You were cursed; the curses were removed. How did that come about? It is very simple. Where did that fire to fight those curses come from?”

  “It was nothing so grand,” I said. My whisper got quieter, and I began looking to the ground.

  “It would appear rather grand, given the scale. What was it? I shall decide the grandeur for myself.”

  I shifted uneasily; they weren’t pleasant memories. They were ones I’d rather forget, but I still wanted to share them. Was it because I hadn't had the opportunity with Father Kavlin? “I-err when I was younger, my mother would read me scriptures. I, well, I always liked the stories of Lady Corlyn. How she was selfless and risked her life to save people from oppression. Wh…” I stopped for a second, the words catching in my throat, and a scarce tear began to gather in my eye. “When…” I looked down, and my hands were shaking. Why was this so hard? “My father, he sent me off…” Nox walked up to me and laid in my lap. His purr was soothing as I began to pet him. Why I was telling a devil this, I didn’t know. But I felt like I needed to.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “To a monastery,” I continued, my voice still shaking. “They taught us that only Lord Stolph, Emyzer, and Lady Helinia mattered. And that Lady Corlyn… that she was simply an inferior version of Lord Emyzer. I… I tried- I tried to ask. About the people she saved and about the feats she accomplished. They beat me… for talking back to them.” I clutched a little too hard to Nox, who let out a low meow to let me know, but it wasn’t too aggressive.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered to the cat. “When it came time for me to join the church when I was fourteen… My chaperone, from the monastery, was distracted when Glenn tried to talk to me. I slipped away into the crowd. I wanted to know. It never felt right. About what they told me of Lady Corlyn and what I remembered. So I went to her altar. Fionn could tell I was cursed and cured it. Well, some of it. It took quite a while for her to remove them all. But what she did cure was enough for me to join them. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Lady Corlyn. I owe her everything.”

  “Poetic, though misguided. Corlyn’s story was an anchor, but it was you. Your fire, your will that brought you out of it. Tell me, did you not think those people would leave you unmarred had they found you talking to this Fionn? Had you not joined Lady Corlyn’s Sect after running away from them?”

  “Why do you care? D-do you plan to use this against me?”

  “In your state, I almost think what I say won’t matter, but the reason is simple. My Mistress has taken something of a liking, and I’ve committed the telepathic bond she bestowed me with to you. Thus, her success and yours are somewhat bound. I must assess if, at present, you're an asset or a vulnerability.”

  My head sank a bit. I knew I was a vulnerability. I could’ve told him that. “Does Maeori have this fire?”

  “The Mistress’s is different: a sun whose radiance is strong and blinding. Yet, thankfully, too far away to cause harm. But we’re talking about you at present. Your fire has diminished to an ember that must be shielded from the elements, but is so very near the fuel it needs to ignite into an inferno. The brimstone and mana etched into the scars. I’ve seen how you’ve reached for your dagger. Not merely with me, but every time there are footsteps in the hall. You’re looking for a reason, aren’t you? Blood and vengeance. With your flame, I can help you burn the rose bush whose branches keep you bound and whose thorns tear away at you. It will ignite your embers into a hellfire you can manifest.”

  “That’s… that’s how you're planning on stealing my soul, isn’t it? Th-that’s what you’ve been after.”

  “No, not at all. Do not twist my aims. This is for your own growth, which will benefit the Mistress. The mana you consumed clogs the connection between the body and soul. It leaves you weakened. I only wish for you to wield your full potential to the benefit of the Mistress.”

  I reflexively pet Nox a few times. I couldn’t help but let my mind dwell on it. “So, um, what would the price be? For the hellfire that is?” I whispered.

  “The price? Quite low. You must swear yourself to the Mistress.”

  “Maeori? I-I’ve done that. I think. I promised to stay by her side.”

  “Yes, but you would swear to me and the authority I’ve been permitted to wield. It’s a lot more… guaranteed with greater consequences if you break it. Though there is another, I shan’t call it a price, but a consequence. You’ll be marked with devilish features.”

  “I… I don’t know then. Why are you so devoted to Maeori? Why don’t you hate her?”

  “Because the Mistress is Lord Stultvultan’s weapon and Queen Akono, the Fell Wyrm, has sent me as part of a favor she owes him.”

  “The Fell Wyrm? Wouldn’t devils hate Lord Stultvultan, after what he did?”

  “There it is again.” Nox purred in my mind. “The eras old biases. Do you believe that drivel about how he turned the hells against each other?”

  “I-err, did he not?”

  “Well, Lord Stultvultan did, but the truth is more… complicated. He was an asset in Queen Akono’s coup d'etat. He didn’t turn them against each other, merely infiltrated and assassinated Vekirast, the old King of the Hells.”

  “That can’t be true, can it?”

  “I gain not from speaking lies to you. Ruminate on my offer. I’m running low on mana to speak with you. So you’re aware, as long as I have enough mana and we’re within a mile of one another, we can converse. Tell Mistress for me that I should like a stronger body. This one greatly limits what I can do for her. Lastly, don’t eat the porridge and keep that dagger handy.” Nox wiggled free from my lap, slinking through the hole in the wall, bringing out half a loaf of bread and water.

  “Wait,” I said, clutching the pendant Maeori gave me, “they say devils are good at bartering, could you teach me?” I was worthless without Maeori, and she wanted to use me. So at least I could give her one more thing to use me for.

  “So be it, but not today. Recharge your mana, young one.” He said as he disappeared into the hole.

  It was several hours later when I heard something quietly moving about, like a mouse. It entered the penance chambers through the hole at the bottom of the door and scurried around. I turned as it dashed out, leaving only the sight of its tail and a paw print in the porridge. Nox stalked after it. A frightened squeak was the last thing I heard.

  ***

  Strangely, Nox had become good company while I stayed in the penance cell. Little happened over the next few weeks until there was a soft knock on the door. The locks on the door were shifted before it opened and closed, but no one seemed to enter or look in. My hand shifted down to my dagger. Nox growled slightly before. Suddenly, a hooded figure appeared. I drew the dagger, rising to my feet, until Fionn removed her hood, mildly bewildered. Her face shifted and panged with guilt. She turned away for a moment, her eyes stopping when they caught Nox’s, before looking back.

  “I wanted to come say goodbye,” she whispered, “and to apologize.”

  “W-what, what are you talking about? Is that really you, or is this some trick?” I couldn’t, I wouldn’t have a repeat of what happened to Father Kavlin.

  “It’s me,” she said, reaching out a hand before stopping when she saw the dagger still raised. So instead she knelt. “I haven’t been a good mentor to you. I’ve failed you time and time again. I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to go through anything you have.”

  “Why? I mean, you’ve still done a lot for me. I wouldn’t be here if not for you.”

  “And in that lies the problem. You shouldn’t be down here in penance.”

  “Th-that’s not what I-”

  “I know, but it’s what I mean. You have so much potential. You are loved by the gods, and it’s my fault that your training hasn’t borne fruit. I won’t make excuses for myself, nor should I expect your forgiveness. I only wish I could’ve done better by you.” Fionn’s words were heavy; each one seemed to take effort to speak.

  I didn’t know what to say, how could I? I’d never blamed her. She was still the one who saved my mind. I was the worthless one who shouldn’t have been saved. I was like a stray cat that was run over, that she found on the side of the road, and tried to nurse back to health. She shouldn’t blame herself when that broken creature never made a full recovery.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. Perhaps I should have sheathed the dagger, but I couldn’t, as it shook along with my hands. “I’ve always been the problem. I’ve been unworthy. I still am, I’ll always be. You did your best, but… why is this goodbye?”

  “I’ve… arranged your last almsgiving mission. I don’t expect you to return, or at least not anytime soon, and the gods only know if I’ll still be here should you return,” she choked on the words; the implication was clear.

  “I-I’ll be back, you’ll be here still. You will, right?”

  “Save your prayers for yourself. What happens to me now will be the result of my own decisions. So many choices in your life have been taken from you. Your Father’s agreed to shorten your penance and expedite the almsgiving mission, but he expects you and Sir Glenn to meet with him beforehand.”

  “O-oh…”