Peter was standing in the middle of a scene of a small amphitheater. Tianne and the other two demons of this council were each standing on their small desk disposed in a half circle around him. There was no other demon except Donero.

  Tianne had simply said to him before she entered the amphitheater with only the other two demons to answer each question simply and as honestly as possible. That council was supposed to be a formality.

  Ten minutes later, Donero had brought him to the middle of the room before going to his small clerk desk on the side.

  On the left, there was Edgar. He looked like a typical representation of a demon. He was a humanoid goat with huge horns, quite bulky under his black tunic.

  On the right, there was Sophie. She was more human looking than Tianne and Edgar with only scales on her body. She also wore a purple dress which contrasted with the tunic of anyone else.

  “This council is reunited here to welcome a newborn in our community of Tol’Osa in the Fire Plain of Hell.” Tianne started ceremoniously.

  “As this reunion is to include you in our town, newborn, we hope you will be honest with us. We may be in Hell but what we want is to live and prosper.” Sophie continued with the same tone and a very soft voice.

  “If you dare oppose us, you will discover you are not the first one to menace our community and you will be punished accordingly.” Edgar finished.

  “Do you understand this ? ” The three of them asked together.

  Peter was quite impressed. They were really menacing and their gazes were judging him. For what he knew of his situation, Tol’Osa was not a bad place and Tianne was clearly doing her best for his well being. He did not know the other two council members but they were just doing their job and from what Tianne and Edgar said, they had a lot of reasons to be on edge.

  Peter took a large breath before answering.

  “I understand.”

  “Good. From what Tianne told us just before this reunion, you already have chosen your name. So what will you be called ? ” Edgar asked.

  “My name is Peter.” Peter said.

  “Peter. When did you die ? Can you remember the precise date ?” Sophie asked.

  “I don’t remember the exact day. It was the first Tuesday of April of 2024 but I usually didn’t mind the exact date in my routine.” Peter said.

  “Was there any important modification on the calendar during your life that you can remember ? Or any great event impacting the whole world in the last five years ?” Sophie continued.

  “Why ? Does calendar modification happen that often ? ” Peter asked.

  “We have no contact with the surface except with new demons, so we can’t know. A major crisis could change anything up there, until we receive dead ones, we wouldn’t know. So please answer the question and do not try to understand why we are asking each one.” Sophie said.

  “Well, nothing on the calendar. The last main event was a global pandemic but I can’t think of anything else.” Peter said.

  He was not feeling good. What Sophie said unsettled him. Understanding stuff was what he preferred during his life and dying was not going to change that.

  “Donero, what can you infer from this declaration please ? ” Sophie asked, turning her head to the clerk.

  “Hmm, his exact death date is not complex to compute and it’s coherent with his Fall and our estimation of the current date. The pandemic is already documented in our exchanges with other settlements .” Donero said, looking in multiple parchments.

  “Good. Now that the whole world's subject has been addressed. Let’s talk about you.” Edgar said. “Tianne told us you haven't manifested your power yet. She had to intervene to prevent you from getting eaten by a hellhound. Can you confirm this ?”

  Peter was a little surprised as this was not true at all but he saw Tianne discreetly shaking her head. He took a deep breath before answering.

  “Well, it’s true that without Tianne, I wouldn’t have survived much longer. As for my power, since I’m new, I don’t really know what to expect of it.” Peter said. Subverting the truth was his favorite game during roleplay sessions with his friends.

  “That’s not what we asked.” Sophie said, annoyed. “We asked you if you knew what your power is ? ”

  “Sophie. Don’t push him. He just arrived and he has no clear features, unless you think small horns can determine his power.” Tianne intervened.

  “Wait, horns ? ” Peter asked, touching his head. He felt two small bumps on the edge of his forehead.

  “See ? I told you not to expect a lot from him, he is a fast faller after all.” Tianne said

  “So why did you send a recovery team with just you and Lucas in it ? What are you trying to hide ? ” Sophie asked.

  “Why do you always think people are hiding stuff from you ? ” Tianne answered, seeming exasperated.

  “Ow, I don’t know. Try because we are in Hell, witch ! ” Sophie retorted.

  “You are so going down for that one, you filthy snake ! ”Tianne said scornfully.

  “Ladies, enough ! ” Edgar shouted, pounding his desk. “Can you stop fighting ? It’s been two hundred years.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Tianne and Sophie calmed themselves.

  “Sorry Edgar.” They said together.

  “One remark from Sophie is still of importance. Tianne, you had orders to move and to recover him, right ? “ Edgar said with the tone of someone asking a question they already knew the answer to.

  “Yes. A Devil asked me.” Tianne admitted.

  “So he is a Devil tool and maybe even a spawn and you did not tell us. Are you mad ? “ Sophie asked angrily.

  “You will withdraw what you said…” Tianne started.

  Edgar bellowed loudly and Peter had to put his hands on his ears. Turning his head, he saw Donero still writing not bothered at all while Tianne and Sophie seemed to be suffering as much as him.

  “I swear, those councils are becoming more burdensome each time.” Edgar said. “Peter, I will now ask the questions since both those demons can not keep some composure. How did you die ? ”

  “It was a road accident. Why ? ” Peter asked.

  “I need more details. Were you the one responsible ? By what was it caused ? ” Edgar kept asking.

  “It was raining and I lost control of my car. I might have been over the limit…” Peter said.

  “Peter, it’s Hell, no one is going to judge you for that. Do you remember any weird encounter in your life that you now think of as having a link with a paranormal entity from Hell ? ”

  Peter thought the question was very weird. But as far as he could think of, he did not think of any moment that could correspond to what Edgar was asking.

  “None that I can think of. Unless you count meeting with a reaper when I just died, what was that question ? ” Peter said.

  Edgar sighed.

  “Well, Devils rarely act so when one of them asks one of us to do something, it’s always with a plan to play. And it’s rarely good news for us. So, you might be a tool from a Devil even if you don’t know it.”

  “About that, what’s a Devil ? ” Peter asked.

  Edgar turned his head to Tianne.

  “Hey ! The Hell crash course 101 is taking time and he was sleeping most of the time. Don’t expect him to know it all yet.” Tianne said, smiling.

  Edgar sighed again more loudly.

  “Devils are fallen Angels. They rule Hell. Tianne will fill with the rest.”

  “But, if I don’t even know a Devil, how can I be a tool for one of them ? ” Peter asked.

  “Why did you choose Hell ? Usually, a Devil tool doesn’t have that choice.” Edgar said.

  “Basically, to fuck up my family and I never believed in the Absolute. I don’t love them and accepting a hypocritical god was not for me.”

  The whole council laughed.

  “Well, I think it’s clear. Unless anyone has anything to add to this reunion, I think we can conclude.” Edgar declared, looking at Tianne and Sophie.

  Both of them stayed silent.

  “By the will of the council of Tol’Osa, we have a new demon in town. Welcome Peter.” Edgar announced.

  ******

  Peter was now back with Tianne as they were walking home.

  “So what was all of this about ? You told me this council was supposed to be a formality.” Peter asked.

  “Yes, well I did not expect Sophie to be in such a paranoid state, she is usually much nicer.” Tianne said.

  “I’m talking more about that power and Devil situation.” Peter retorted.

  “I can assure you, you are not a Devil tool. The one that contacted me is not one to use such a thing. As for your power, we’ll talk more about it in the house. But it’s probably the reason why I have been contacted to intervene.” Tianne said

  “But…” Peter started

  The sky suddenly went darker as black clouds became larger and larger.

  Tianne quickly took a stone at her belt and brought it to her mouth.

  “Lucas. We may have a blackwing swarm incoming. I need a visual confirmation now. ” She ordered.

  Five seconds later, the stone talked back with Lucas' voice.

  “Swarm confirmed. I estimate ten minutes before impact. I’m gathering the whole street and we are moving to the plaza.”

  Tianne moved her arms in wide movement sending volleys of feathers away. During their fly, those feathers made a lot of noise. She then took Peter's arm and started moving back toward the plaza.

  “Ok Peter. Lucas will give you weapons to defend yourself when he is there. No matter what happens next, you must not use your power. First because you probably can’t but most importantly because no one can know what your power is.”

  “”Why ? And what is happening ? Are we getting attacked ? ” Peter asked. He was breathing slowly trying not to panic. He was not in good shape and fighting was not an option for him with half his members blocked.

  “I’ll explain later. The fauna has grouped to raid our town. You asked me why there are so few demons down there, you’re gonna discover it in the worst way possible.” Tianne said.

  At this moment, a very deep and long noise emerged from the plaza.

  “Edgar sounded the alarm. The whole town is grouping to defend itself.” Tianne said while keeping to drag Peter around.

  The plaza was now filled with demons. At the center, Edgar was blowing in a way too huge horn and Sophie was giving orders around.

  “Tianne, status ? ” Sophie asked.

  “Ten to eight minutes before impact. South will be there soon. Your side ?” Tianne answered

  “North is there. East was close in the fields. They should be here before the swarm falls on us. West, it’s bad. They were harvesting in the long band.” Sophie said.

  Peter saw the tone and the attitude was clearly different from the council. They were now worried for each other and were looking at the other one with respect.

  “We should try to assemble a speed team to provide them support.” Tianne said.

  “Yes, we can’t afford to lose all of them.” Sophie agreed. “Tom and Roland can take off with you now. There is no one else that will be there before you have to go.”

  “They’ll have to suffice. Peter, remember what I told you and follow Lucas when he is there.” Tianne said before leaving Peter.

  He saw her flying away followed by two other demons. Peter turned back to Sophie, who was now talking with Edgar. It was not the time to disturb her with questions. Looking back from where he came, he saw Lucas arriving with a whole group of demons. He slowly walked towards him.

  “Hey, easy there.” Lucas said, rushing towards him. ”First swarm not two days after your arrival. You’re a lucky one.”

  “Can you brief me a little more than we are getting attacked ? ” Peter asked.

  “We are getting attacked by murdering birds which love to eat demon flesh. Strategy is to group and kill them before they kill us.” Lucas answered.

  “Why do we not hide ? ” Peter asked.

  “Houses won’t survive, they are strong. You’ll take my cover with Ben.” Lucas said, indicating a demon with large forks in his hands and two long horns on his forefront. Lucas rubbed his hand together and spread them. A metal blob appeared and was now floating between them. Lucas quickly moved his hands around sculpting it and he formed a large revolver out of the ball. He handed it to Peter, holding it by the barrel.

  “Safety 101, aim only towards the enemy or the ground, keep your finger away until you shoot, double check the target and around the target before shooting. And watch out for recoil, that thing packs a punch but a smaller caliber does not suffice.” Lucas quickly said.

  “And if I’m out of ammo ? ” Peter asked.

  “Rotate quickly the cylinder, magical gun.”

  “That’s handy.”

  A huge screech sounded.

  “Swarm in position ! Get ready !” Edgar shouted.