Aura

  ***

  Every time I look at her, I can’t help but ask myself, “Is she really a noble?” Aside from that tree climbing incident a few days ago, just today she was jumping between tables and asking to be thrown over the fires like the infants. Despite however many times I tell the men not to, she always gets her way. As much as I want to give up I can’t. She is a noble child of The Empire, and if word got out that any of us brought harm to her, we can say goodbye to our lives. The Empire is not something I want to mess with. That being said, if we can keep her safe or even deliver her to The Empire, we can get filthy rich. Not to the point where we can take a month off, but where we can just call it quits and simply retire. Obviously we need to finish our current contract, but as long as nothing happens, our future is looking bright.

  Leaning back in my chair, I saw Evelyn being led away by Reani, who appointed herself as her main caretaker. Not only has she been treating her, but she has been helping her sleep and keeping an eye on her to make sure that she doesn't do anything too dangerous. Aside from a few incidents, she has been doing a great job. I should give her a raise.

  Shifting my attention to the forest, I can’t help but feel lucky. I’m not sure why, but this area seems to be almost devoid of demons. Aside from the horned rabbits, there’s not many demons around. It’s good because we aren’t constantly under attack, yet bad because at the end of our contract, the kingdom was set to buy what demon materials we managed to gather. Aside from the meat, the horned rabbits aren’t even worth our time. The horns can be used in weapons, but it’s not exactly top of the shelf sort of goods. The fact that Evelyn, in her stay out here, didn’t use them to make spears or any sort of weapon tells of their quality.

  Still, the fact that Evelyn was out here by herself for some twenty weeks without even so much as mentioning any sort of demons aside from “mr.rabbits” gives a good indication of this part of the forest. This pce was odd. Too odd. Forgetting the whole bodies floating down the river with elvish arrows sticking out of them aside, the ck of demons was odd. It almost was like something was keeping them away…

  Well, that was none of my concern. All we needed to do was get started on the base camp and leave after the knights arrived. Despite the conditions, this was an easy job when considering where they were. Still, it’s best to keep an eye out in this pce. People have been killed being far more careful than they currently were. Thinking that, I decided that it would be a good idea to increase the frequency in our patrols.

  Nissia

  ***

  My hands moved frantically as I, once more, cursed myself.

  “Two dozen more cupcakes!” My Dad shouted.

  For the past few hours we hadn’t even bothered to give them any frosting, yet that only seemed to make them more popur. Taking a warm tray from the cooling racks, I turned them over to my brother who rushed them out to the front.

  “I was supposed to live a slow life… A bakery is supposed to be rexing…” Mom echoed my thoughts.

  “I’m sorry.” I couldn’t even cry.

  Day three of the town’s cupcake rush, was the day I stopped crying. Currently day seven, we should be happy. Despite how things look, this is the slowest we’ve been since we started.

  “Don’t be sorry.” Mom gave me a fake smile. “We’re making so much money.”

  “…” I didn’t dare look her in her eyes and simply continued my work.

  The faster we get done here, the sooner we can go to sleep. I wanted to take a vacation soon, but by w, all bakeries had to remain open as long as they were operational. Given that bread is a staple food of everyone here, it makes sense, but aside for ourselves, we haven't made a normal loaf of bread in a while. Daring to gnce at the front of the shop, I saw some people in suspiciously inconspicuous clothing. Ah, they must be nobles visiting us in disguise. Recently there have been more of them. I can’t tell if this is good or bad for us. The good is that no thugs, not that there were any before, will bother us, the bad is that a noble can shut us down if we don’t act carefully. We were all pretty nervous when we first realized, but eventually we were too busy to care. Luckily the nobles didn't seem to care about our manners given the constant crowd we had.

  Seeing Dad poke his head back, I sighed in advance.

  “Make it four!” He said.

  ““Yes.”” Me and Mom replied.

  Keeping our compints to ourselves, we continued our work for as long as we had to.

  Reani

  ***

  As the sun set, I checked under Evelyn’s pillow for any contraband. Lately Aura has really been on my back for letting her keep knives. Finding a wooden shiv, I gnced at Evelyn as she looked away sheepishly. Taking it, I throw it in a drawer with the others. How does she keep getting these? Thinking that, I pick her up and pce her on her bed. She can do this herself, but she seemed to be happy whenever I did so. Maybe back at her home, she was tucked into bed by her parents, or maybe even a servant. Also, it gives me a chance to do this.

  I pull the dagger out from under her clothes and put it in with the others. This should be the st one she had on her.

  “Ready for bed?” I asked.

  “Can I stay up for a little?” She sounded suspicious.

  “Not if you’re going to find another knife.” I said.

  “I want to look at the moon.” She said. “The big pale one.”

  Ah, yes. The pale moon that she mentions. Obviously there is no pale moon. I’ve asked the others in the camp if there was any consteltion called a pale moon, but no. I’m not sure where she got the idea for this pale moon, so it may be a saying in The Empire that I don’t know of.

  “You’re a growing girl. You need the sleep.” I reasoned with her.

  “…” She looked at me bnkly.

  Despite her physically getting better, she sometimes still goes quiet for a few minutes and stares off into space. Physical injuries I can heal, but this was something else. It’s likely to do with her recent isotion or her parent’s death. Regardless of its origin, I gently shake her arm to knock her out of it.

  “But I’m already grown!” She argued as if nothing happened.

  “Not grown enough.” I said.

  She pouted but didn’t resist as I id her down and covered her with the bnket. Once she was nice and tucked in, I readied my spell.

  “Ready to close your eyes?” I asked.

  She still has trouble going to sleep, so I offered her my usual help.

  “Yeah.” She nodded.

  “Alright.” I said. “Go ahead and count to ten.”

  Slowly closing her eyes, she tensed up and left them half open.

  “One…” She started. “Two…”

  Once more, before she could finish, I put her to sleep. Her eyes closed and her breathing was steady. Seeing that she was sound asleep, I checked her over one more time and found another knife. How did she manage to get a hold of these?

  Sighing, I stepped out of the tent for a drink. Taking care of a kid was not easy. Admittedly it was a lot easier than taking care of an actual baby, but still not easy. Luckily for me, a few of the parents here offered to help. I was almost tempted to accept it, but I was reminded that these are the same people who sometimes carried babies into battle. So, I decided to do it myself. I think I’m doing a good job? I hope so at least. I don’t want The Empire calling for my head if she’s a bit off. Wanting to avoid that, I try thinking of a way to get her to sleep without the use of magic. For both of our sakes.

  As I was thinking this, I heard a wolf howl in the distance. I tensed up. Not only me, but the others in the camp also did so. Hearing a wolf in the forest should be normal. However this is the demon infested Dark Woods. Not only that but this was the first time any of us heard any sort of animal outside of birds here. Another howl sounded out. And then another and another. Howls rang from the forest, each one not quite sounding the way a wolf should. The forest came alive. Waking us from our trance, Aura’s voices sounded out.

  “Everyone get in position!” Aura commanded.

  Snapping out of it, the camp sprang to life. Despite being a non combatant, I ran towards one of our armory tents. Sturdy steel tipped spears were being passed out to everyone who wasn’t armed. On the wooden walls of our camp, I saw torches going up, some thrown over the walls to give us better vision. Grabbing my spear, I headed to our rally point. As one of the doctors, as well as a magic user, Aura was to command me herself.

  “West gate!” A voice shouted out in the distance.

  I heard the cries of demons as crossbows shot out into the night. There's never a good time for a demon attack, but at least Evelyn was safely inside the camp, so she wasn’t in danger. For as long as the camp’s walls held. If they fell, well… Let’s not think about that. Arriving at the tent, I saw Aura and Bke suiting up in their standard armor along with other magic users such as myself gathering. Let’s hope that we aren’t needed…

  Evelyn.

  ***

  “Are you awake?” A familiar voice asked me.

  “W-what?” I opened my eyes and once more saw my familiar hospital room.

  Turning to the voice, I saw the familiar bck haired woman in a suit. Although, unlike st time, she seemed to be worried. Before I could greet her, she spoke.

  “Melody, I’m sorry but we don’t have much time, you are in danger.” She said.

  “What!? How?” I asked.

  “The pce that you’re in, demons are attacking it.” She expined. “I can’t tell if this was just by chance, or if you are truly fated to die.”

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “You already know what to do.” She said.

  “Right.” I nodded.

  After all, I am a magical girl. Reading my thoughts, the woman smiled at me, and I smiled back.

  “But before I go, can you tell me your name?” I asked.

  “I’ll tell you next time we meet.” She said.

  “That’s a death fg!” I pointed out.

  “Wh-” She panicked as she realized what she had said. “I’m-”

  A demon’s roar broke through the dream and threw me off the cot. Landing on the floor, I rolled as the tent around me colpsed. Throwing the heavy canvas off of me, I crawl out into the camp. If I survive this, the next time I meet her, I’m going to ask for her name before we say anything else. Looking up, I saw smoke rising as screams sounded out into the night. Well, this isn't good. Wait, does my magic even work on demons? I use magic from a moon, from another world. Seeing a rge half bear half wolf sort of creature running through camp, I heard thuds and then saw possibly three crossbow bolts appear in its side. The demon roared in pain and then was brought down as a heavy looking axe tore through its neck. Well, if that works, my magic probably will as well.

  Completely throwing the canvas off of me, I crawled along the floor to a neighboring tent. As I did so, my hand touched something warm and wet. Seeing the battle around me, I really hoped that it was just pee or spilled soup and not blood. Looking at my hand, I saw that it was blood. Furthermore, I saw an armored figure lying still with its legs missing. Okay. Let’s pretend that I didn’t see that. I start crawling away in a different direction. Hearing a roar, I looked up and saw what was probably a werewolf tear into a tent. I hope no one was in there.

  Crawling away, I needed to find somepce safe. I haven’t transformed into my magical girl form in front of my foes in a while. Even back on Earth, I usually transform before I get to the fight. Before I could move any further, a demon galloped over me, just barely avoiding my very small and delicate spine. What did hit me however was the body that it carried. Given the fact that they grabbed at me in an attempt to free themselves, they were still alive. Okay, maybe I should transform soon.

  Reani

  ***

  Despite my struggles, the demon dragged me through the camp. Given that the tents were knocked down, I couldn’t exactly tell where I was. That was until I was thrown to the floor. I tried to push myself up, but a cloven foot pinned me to the floor.

  “STruGgle HuMAns.” A deep and broken voice called out into the night. “FoR OUr LoRD SoOn RisES…”

  Barely able to lift my head, I saw Cheif Aura thrown to the floor alongside Bke. Both of them look to have been trampled and deeply cut with cws. Fuck me, we really are going to die, aren’t we? Not only are we surrounded by demons, but this one here can talk. What next, is the Demon Lord going to show up?

  “If you’re going to kill us, then do it!” Bke shouted at the demon.

  “WAstE Not FeAr huMaN…” The demon spoke. “OnLy WHen YoU BeG fOR iT wiLl DeAtH FinD yOU.”

  That much is true. Demons that speak are sadistic and known to torture their victims for days on end. I couldn’t help but think of Evelyn. As much as I wished for her to escape, a small part of me hoped that she was trampled and killed in her sleep. Even if she were to escape, her scent is already here. They would find her even if she sent herself down the river. My thoughts were interrupted by a crunch as a powerful hoof crushed Bke’s hand as he let out a brief cry. A moment ter, a hoof stomped down on my leg, breaking it immediately. I couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

  “Leave them alone!” A familiar voice called out.

  Grayburne