Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 61 – Burdened Hearts and a Wash (Patreon)

Elania’s ears flickered back as soon as Yolani’s calm, regular breathing hitched. The other girl had slid to her side while asleep, resting her head on Elania’s flank. A clumsy set of fingers sank into fur as she propped back up to sitting.

“Elania?” Yolani whispered.

Elania responded with a loud purr and nuzzled her.

“We need to continue searching for the Lightbringer,” she said softly after a moment of silence. Soft strokes against fur came, and Elania pressed into them eagerly.

A frown appeared on Yolani’s face after a few minutes. “Are you able to transform back into a human?”

That was a good question. Probably? She had before. But did she want to? The sewers were nasty, and she would be totally naked except for her bra. That wasn’t acceptable.

She let out a low growl.

Yolani frowned. “We need a way to answer questions…”

Elania recalled Joren’s method and tilted her head to the left. Then to the right. Then repeated.

Green eyes lit up with understanding. “Oh! Right is yes, left is no?”

Emerald Eyes was smart. Elania tilted her head to the right and gave her a lick.

Yolani’s hands pushed her away. “Stoop. Your tongue is scratchy. Can you transform back?”

Elania tilted her head to the right.

“Okay. Can you do it now?” Yolani asked.

Tilt to the left.

A frown appeared in response. “Why?”

Elania glanced at the sewer water in the channel nearby. That wasn’t a yes or no question, but she let out a whine, then splashed the nasty liquid with the tips of her claws. Then she pawed at a loose part of Yolani’s shirt.

“It’s nasty, and you’d be naked?” Yolani asked.

She knew the other girl was smart. Head tilt to the right.

“I brought you a spare pair of clothes,” Yolani stated. “I wasn’t sure if we’d need them.”

That was worth a lot of nuzzles, and she had Emerald Eyes giggling before she was stopped by her pleading. This was fun.

A frown appeared on Yolani’s face, and she hugged her knees. “I’m sorry. I messed up. When I attacked Hester, I was so mad…I didn’t imagine that he’d bring in the Guard and have Relain’s backing for a warrant like that…and he did it in a day.”

Tears started to form on her face. “I’m sorry.”

Elania titled her head to the left, then nuzzled Yolani’s hand. It was the best she could do to be supportive without any words.

Yolani managed a weak smile as she stroked Elania’s fur on top of her head. “I’m okay,” she murmured softly, although they both knew it wasn’t true.

Not yet.

Elania felt her resolve harden. Somehow, they would make things okay!

She wasn’t sure how, but the only thing she could think of was what Yolani had mentioned. Go after the Paladin and question him and find out if they could locate the Black Candle mana shards.

That would solve the shortage in the short-term at least, and from what she had seen it would be worth a lot of coin… and she had been gaining enough levels in [Bribery] to feel that it wasn’t an uncommon practice in Neftasu.

“It helps that we know his mansion is in the Mercenary District. We just need to question people until we can track it down. There will at least be rumors. It’s likely a new compound, and guarded. That’ll bring notice,” Yolani theorized.

It sounded good to Elania, so she tilted her head to the right.

Before they could plan further, the distant ring of metal clinking reached her ears. Elania got up, dumping Yolani off of her.

“Hey! Careful,” Emerald Eyes protested.

Elania growled and poked her head around their chamber’s exit to stare down the tunnel. The sound was getting closer, from the direction of the shanty town settlement.

“What’s going on?” Yolani asked. She quickly began to pack their things and came to stand beside Elania.

A distant shriek was cut short and Elania’s ears flicked like little radar dishes. Suddenly there was a distant boom, and then the sound of screeching metal. More screams and shouts—the scent of blood rapidly propagated and reached Elania’s nose, even through the nasty murk all around them.

She let out a growl, nipped Yolani’s trousers and tugged them gently before moving on.

“We stayed here too long. They must have found the trapdoor,” Yolani whispered.

Behind them, Elania listened to the sewer dwellers die, but by the time the sounds faded into the background hum they were far, far away.

They passed by a half dozen more intersections before Yolani pulled them to a stop and pointed. “There, that’s an access way.”

Elania started to turn move toward it, but a hand on her collar forestalled her. She nipped at Yolani’s hand.

“Hey! Careful… You can’t go out like that, though. Transform back?” Yolani asked.

Elania let out an annoyed puff before tilting her head to the left.

Yolani swallowed. “Okay, fine. I brought something in that case.”

She pulled out a length of fabric. It has little shapes worked into it, each having its own dull gold sheen. Opening it up, she draped it over Elania’s back.

It wasn’t comfy. Elania let out an unhappy grumble.

“Just wait. It’s a camouflage. It’ll help you stay unnoticed,” Yolani said.

Invisibility cloak? That was super neat! She’d read so many stories with invisibility cloaks, and now she was getting one! For a moment she almost decided to turn back, but the thought died when she realized that her previous reasons still held. Unless she was forced to by a very good reason, she wasn’t going back to normal without a wash ready.

Plus… Yolani touched her. A lot. It felt good, caused pleasant tingles, and head scratches were wonderful.

Maybe that wasn’t the best reason, but it was very relevant when she was doing so while attaching the magic invisibility cloak to the harness!

“There. Okay, it’s working,” Yolani said.

Elania glanced back at herself and felt disappointment. There was no invisibility. She whined.

Yolani raised an eyebrow. “What? It doesn’t make you invisible, it just helps make people not pay attention to you. You’ll still need to use your stealth and do your best to not bring attention to yourself.”

Ugh! It was one of those types of ‘invisibility’ cloaks! She should have known it was too good to be true…plus it didn’t cover her completely. Her head and tail would stick out.

The steps leading up were sealed by a heavy metal door. It required Yolani to grunt and work at turning a round lever to unseal the metal bolts holding it shut. A loud roar filled the air as soon as it groaned open.

They emerged into an empty alley beside a large depression, a large dark pool of water slowly flowing off an edge as a waterfall. They were right at the district’s edge, where the channel separated them. Elania sniffed and loped toward the edge to peer over the side. They were fairly high up, but she spotted a series of ramps that lead down to the water’s edge.

Looking back at Yolani, she let out a whine.

“What?” Yolani asked with a frown.

Pawing the air, she whined some more, then pointed toward the ramp.

It took a few moments before Yolani figured it out. “You want to go to the water?”

Head tilt to the right, and her tail shot up.

Yolani looked around. It was late in the evening, and there weren’t many people around. “Alright. I guess washing off isn’t a bad idea. Plus… you can change back.”

Elania gruffed noncommittally.

They hurried down the ramp, their steps blending in easily with the waterfall’s noise as it cascaded down into the shadowy depths below. Elania allowed Yolani to lead the way so she could keep a careful watch around. The walk was long and not entirely safe.

Several times, Yolani’s hand reached out and sank into her fur as they navigated crumbling steps that hadn’t been maintained in a long time.

When they finally reached the bottom, there was a small line of trash that had washed ashore where the ramp dipped gently into the water. Despite being near the waterfall’s edge, the water moved calmly in the abatement pool, with stonework stretching across the water to form as a sort of fence to prevent things from washing over the edge.

Predictably, it had turned into a wall of trash and debris. The water was still mostly clean, though. That was the important part.

Elania bounded the rest of the distance in a hurry and dipped in a paw. The water was surprisingly cool to the touch. Looking around, she didn’t spot anyone nearby. This was a city. Wasn’t that a bit strange?

Yolani didn’t seem to think it was, so Elania took her cue from her. Still, she monitored their surroundings carefully with all her senses.

Emerald Eyes stared at her for a moment before gesturing out to the water. “Go on then.”

Elania needed no more encouragement and stepped into the water carefully. It was cool, almost cold, but her thick fur helped insulate her even though it was wet. Darkwalkers weren’t evolved for swimming, but that didn’t make it impossible, or even hard even.

She spread her toes and paws and paddled with effort before dipping under the water. That felt strange and bad. She held her breath, which wasn’t natural, but a current of [Power] removed her need to actually breathe. The water burned at her eyes, though, and she pivoted around and returned to the ramp.

Yolani had already finished stripping her clothes and then dipped a toe into the water. Dripping like a soaked rag, Elania began to shake, sending water spraying all over—especially onto Yolani.

“Ahh! You did that on purpose!” Yolani squealed before covering her mouth.

Elania glanced around. That was right, they probably should remain quiet. She stepped up to a dry area and sniffed her paw, then licked it. No sewer. At least, not much. She stared and watched as Yolani went into the water to her hips with a rag and some bar of what Elania assumed was soap.

While the other girl scrubbed, Elania gave herself her own bath while keeping watch.

Yolani was quick, efficient, even. But Elania could see the strain in her movements as she tended to her blistered side. Her hands were trembling slightly when she finished washing up.

As Yolani stepped out of the water, Elania brushed up against her leg comfortingly. Emerald Eyes responded with a gentle stroke along her mane. “Thanks, Elania,” she murmured softly, a small but genuine smile gracing her lips.

With the worst of the filth washed off them, they moved to the nearby wall and into a shadowy area while Yolani pulled her clothes back on. The black-haired girl grabbed Elania’s attention once she was done and held her eyes. “I think it would be best if you turned back now. I have clothes for you.”

Elania considered a moment before agreeing. Yolani was probably right, and there was no way to tell how well she’d be able to stay unnoticed and being forced to transform back at a time not of her choosing would leave her naked somewhere probably unpleasant.

Nothing happened for a moment. A thin thread of fear ran through her as she didn’t transform back. It had been easy to turn into a [Darkwalker] when she’d needed to, but changing back wasn’t as easy.

That was wrong.

Her thoughts were fuzzy and muddled with [Darkwalker] thoughts mingled with her own, but she wasn’t a [Darkwalker].

She was human.

It was like an audible pop in her head, a small jolt of [Power] filled her and a smokey cloud of gas evaporated off of her as she transformed.

Regaining her human body felt like stepping out of a second skin. The world seemed different, less vividly colored, but sharper in detail; her sensitive hearing was completely drowned out by the loudness of the waterfall, and her thoughts rapidly became clearer, more complex.

Yolani was staring at her, holding a bundle of clothes.

“Hello,” Elania mumbled.

“Hello, yourself,” Yolani replied with a smile. She looked Elania over from head to toe. “You’re human again.”

Elania’s cheeks heated instantly, but it was far too late to try to hide her modesty. Instead, her thoughts drifted to hoping that Yolani liked what she saw. Which really was the wrong thought to be having considering their current situation!

By the time the bundle was handed over, Elania’s face had nearly turned a lobster red. Thankfully, the dim light helped conceal that somewhat. She didn’t think Yolani had [Darkvision] so that was probably a good thing for hiding her embarrassment. Turning around, Elania quickly opened her own pack that was still attached to the harness and pulled on her elastic underwear first.

Once fully dressed, she let herself breathe. Leather belt with daggers went around her hips, mimicking Yolani’s combat wands. They both didn’t have any of their armor, and the Guard had probably ransacked the shop and there was no telling if she’d get the stuff she’d left there back.

No use thinking about that, though.

Yolani approached from behind and grabbed her arm, causing her heart to skip a beat. Elania quickly smothered the repeated thought of ‘incidental contact’ running on repeat in her brain while the other girl pointed up the ramp.

“We should ask around the outer non-hub taverns before the night’s over. I bet we can find the information we need there… especially with some coin,” Yolani said.

“You got some coin?” Elania asked.

Yolani frowned. “Not all of it, but some large golds and a bunch of large silvers. I didn’t have time to unpack the safe.”

Elania nodded understandingly, taking note of Yolani’s efficient planning once again. Despite everything they’d been through, the other girl managed to think ahead.

Yolani draped the ‘invisibility cloak’ around Elania’s shoulders suddenly. “Keep this on, too. That way people will be less inclined to notice what you are or [Identify] you.”

Elania pulled the fabric around her shoulders and tied the string to her top’s collarbone loops. “Thank you.”

Yolani replied with a nod and smile.

They began their ascent in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Elania couldn’t shake off the worry that almost immediately settled in her stomach after transforming back into a human. There were some serious upsides to her [Darkwalker] transformation, and one of them was not worrying about things.

Elania glanced at Yolani as they reached the top of the ramp. What worried her most wasn’t exactly the unfamiliar streets and danger of the Mercenary District.

What worried her most was Yolani.

Dark circles had formed under the other girl’s eyes and her face seemed to have a sickly pale tinge. She was strong. Elania had no doubt about it, but she was also visibly worn out.

But she didn’t think they were going to have time to rest. The few hours of napping in the Sewer was all they were going to get. Her demon nature seemed to allow her to function with much less sleep than normal, but the same wasn’t true for her companion.

Elania shook off the melancholy thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for worry; they needed to focus on finding the Black Candle’s mana shard trove and getting out of this mess.