Demon's child

She turned on her heels to face Tyrael as he was coming toward them. She mentally castigated herself; she couldn't lose her control, not now, not with the Demons so near.
She noticed immediately the weariness in his eyes and her heart went to him. She swore she would get Shela if she was responsible for Tyrael's state but then she remembered that Valiel hadn't seen him since... well, since she had last seen him herself.
"Tyrael, I trust? I have been wanting to meet you for quite a long time. I am Rshkiel."
But Tyrael had only eyes for Delilah and he looked as if he was going to shout something, anything. Her eyes begged him to remain silent and she put her whole heart in her eyes. He saw it and a new gleam lightened in his blue gaze, only for coming off as next, her eyes told him it was impossible. Unhappily, he turned the head away and seemed to notice Rshkiel's presence for the first time.
"Rshkiel..." he said, looking haggard. "Yes, it could only be right to find you here also..."
Rshkiel had noticed that something had happened between Delilah and Tyrael so he looked at her with an inquisitive air but she faced him with a perfect blank face, hiding her feelings with ease, for she had had so much practice before. Rshkiel half-shrugged.
"What... what are you doing here, Tyrael?" she asked and she was relieved to hear that her voice sounded firm.
He looked hurt, though she couldn't tell exactly why.
"Your hand," he said after a moment. "I was drawn by the magic it leaked and..."
"I didn't feel anything," objected Rshkiel, surprised.
"Neither I," added Delilah.
"You weren't looking for something like that. I was and it shouted 'Demon magic!' right in my face. So I... huh..."
"You followed me here," completed Delilah with quite a sinister tone.
"Well, yes, but I didn't intervene, though you needed to be healed. I... I tried to hold on my promise, I did!"
"I can see that," she said with a sudden warm smile.
Despite the grave moment, she forgot everything in this single fact: he was here, in front of her, and she had thought she would never see him again! True, he wouldn't stay long, but he was here and only that mattered. She blinked as she saw his expression flicker with wonder.
"What made you change your mind?" she asked a bit more harshly that she had intended to.
"I saw the demon army coming for you and I remembered you telling me you would do anything to keep Rshkiel safe from Him, so I thought you wouldn't mind... too much, that is, if I were to help you."
"You great fool!" she said but her voice hadn't any of the scowling it should have had. "Didn't it occur to you that I'd have to protect you as well, now?"
"I can protect myself!" protested Tyrael.
"No, you can't," she replied flatly. "Silly, He's looking everywhere for you and He knows your name! Go back to Heaven at once!"
Then she seemed struck by an idea.
"'Hide him where he comes from'," she mused aloud. "Naturally! Why on earth didn't I think of it earlier? Tyrael, I have a big favour to ask you. It may bring you lots of troubles and I will understand if you refuse."
"What is it?" he merely said and there was no fear in his voice - rather some eagerness.
"Could you take Rshkiel with you in Heaven?"
"But no..." protested Rshkiel at once.
"Hush! You have no saying in the matter," Delilah silenced him. "Tyrael?"
"Bringing back a fallen Angel to Heaven..." he breathed, looking at her as if wondering how she could ask him such a thing.
She bit her lower lip, realising suddenly how much she was asking him. Letting a fallen Angel in Heaven was even graver than letting a human in. She concentrated to know where the Demons were and shook the head.
"It's too late, anyway," she murmured. "Oh well, I knew it would sooner or later end up like that..."
"End up like what? Delilah, stop speaking in riddles!" exclaimed Rshkiel, exasperated.
"As if you didn't already know... We can't afford to let Him have us both, so we have to secure one of us. I can't go anywhere; He will always find me. So if we can't have you safe somewhere, then I have to make sure He can't find me."
She looked sinister as she drew her demon blade from her boot and brandished it.
"You can't do that, Dee! If you use only the demon blade, you'll kill in you everything that's not linked to Demons!"
"Listen to me, Rshkiel, I'd rather be doomed for the rest of times than having Him win just because I wanted to live a few more minutes."
"I thought your demon blade could not kill you," put in Tyrael.
"I destroyed the limitation spell on it."
"So you would kill yourself if Rshkiel is not safe in Heaven?"
"Better me than him," she shrugged.
"Where is the closest holy place?" he countered, jaws clenched.
"You cannot mean it, Tyrael!" protested Rshkiel.
"You bet I do!" he growled. "She's the last Guardian. If she dies, I'm nothing. I will not let her die."
"You're crazy! The nearest temple is too far for us to reach it in time, even flying!"
Delilah was looking away and she saw the dust rise in the horizon. Her heart sank: they were almost here. She looked around her, despaired, stimulating her brain. Suddenly she knew:
"Rshkiel! The crypt! It's a holy place, even though it's in ruin!"
"Which crypt?"
"The Solar Crypt. The one with the sun symbol on the floor. Go there, quickly! And give me that," she added, snatching from Rshkiel's hands the spear he was carrying about everywhere since he had lost his angelic blade.
Rshkiel looked at her with boundless surprise, but Tyrael dragged him in the depths of the Stony Woods. She had a wry smile and drove the spear deep in the ground with a blustering move.
"Now come, Demons! I'm waiting for you and we'll see if you manage to make me step behind this spear!" she murmured. "Come meet the Demon's child!"

She stood proudly in front of the bridge, unarmed, for both her blades were in their scabbards. The Demons arrived even more quickly than she had expected. They were so many that she almost felt her heard sink and she wondered how long she could last before they overcame her. They were already grinning at the perspective of an easy victory: one mere girl to stop them from reaching the fallen Angel? It couldn't be anything else but a joke.
She remembered what Rashiel had told her about the Demons looking for Rshkiel. They should have been only five - with or without Rashiel - and they were a lot more than five! Possibly some of them had brought their minions also - maybe all of them. If she could spot the leaders, her job would be easier. It didn't come to her mind that Rashiel could have lied; she knew he wouldn't have, not about this subject, not to her. Though she needed both an angelic blade and a demon blade to kill him, there were still some unpleasant things she could do with only a demon blade and Rashiel knew it perfectly.
The first Demons ventured on the bridge, openly grinning at her. She answered with a sweet smile but the incongruity of a single smiling girl waiting for them didn't occur to them. She murmured:
"Rule number one: never come close to a demon knight without knowing her intentions, especially if she looks unarmed."
Smiling even more angelically, she said one single word under her breath and the belt of pentacles around her waist seemed to burst into flames. The Demons who were the closest to her fell on ground with awful cries of suffering, clutching their head in their hands, and soon enough they were gone. The rest of the Demons seemed a bit less sure and hastily cast spells of protection before venturing on the bridge in turn. Delilah slightly shook the head.
"Tss... Really, you should be more attentive in class! Rule number two: never come close to a Guardian, especially if she doesn't have an angelic blade. It doesn't mean she's on your side."
She waited for them to come closer, her belt still burning around her waist. As they were close enough, she made a simple move of the hand and all their shields disappeared brutally. The belt of pentacles burnt them the same way it had burnt the previous group.
She frowned. It was too easy. Except for the belt, the spells she was using were basic; they should have no problems countering them. Then the question was: why weren't they doing so?
"Gamaliel, please scout the surroundings and report anything unusual," she said without turning the head.
The problem was puzzling. They acted as if that didn't know she was both a Guardian and a demon knight. In fact, they acted as if they didn't know her at all! Why would Baal have sent such incompetents? He knew that she would stand for Rshkiel!
Waiting for the next wave of Demons, she concentrated, trying to determinate if other Demons were coming. Something blurred her usually clear perception and she nodded internally. So, that was what it was about! They were only here to distract her so that other Demons would arrive, probably from behind. Quickly, with determination, she began to strip the Demons in front of her of all their spells.
They felt her attacks at once and began to shit uncomfortably, looking around. Probably their leader was dead, which meant he hadn't been very bright anyway. As she undid a new spell, she understood their uneasiness: an illusion fell apart and she found herself facing minor Demons.
"You are taking me for an idiot, demon prince!" she fumed. "You're going to pay for that!"
Even though she knew she was wasting her energy on minor Demons, she finished to undo their spells and was very satisfied to find that the last one was a spy spell. Somewhere, Baal was observing her and He could tell what were her defences. She had a bad smile, summoned a Demon - a major one - and showed him the minor Demons.
"Get rid of them," she said casually.
The Demon looked at her with surprise.
"K'Jox, please don't make me become mean. I never felt the need to coerce you into obedience with a pentacle but I could from now on. So, are you getting me rid of them, yes or no? And I don't mean you sending them home safely."
"It's against the rules. It's said so in the demon knight's handbook."
"I never got that book. Now you want to discuss of it with my protective Demon?"
"No, little mistress," said the Demon hastily.
So, he obeyed to her and she watched the whole scene without flinching.
"Very good, K'Jox. I'll make sure you are rewarded for this swift and efficient action. You may depart."
Once the Demon had left, she smirked.
"Too bad you didn't see this one, Baal. You would have appreciated the irony, I'm sure. Well, Gam, what are the news?"
"There's a group of men coming this way."
"Is Zaniel with them?"
"Yes and no."
"Meaning?"
"Well, he's walking with them, but he's trying to convince them they're wrong."
"Great. Thank you, Zaniel. Anything else, Gam?"
"There is another man, alone. He seems alright enough but there's something about him that I don't like."
"Seems to me the next hours will be full of interesting incidents."
Gamaliel shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another.
"But will we come alive from them?" he finally asked.
"Gam, listen to me: if I'm captured or killed, don't try to free me or avenge me. Just run away and go back to Josh. I'll know where to find you later."
"If you're killed, good thing it will do to you to know where I am," grumbled the weretiger.
She had a bright smile.
"That's where all the fun is. Now the question is: who will arrive first, the Demons or the bandits?"
"Maybe while you ponder, you could turn off that burning thing at your waist."
"True. Very true," she said absently.
Gamaliel reverted to a tiger and came brushing his head against Delilah's hip. She patted him mechanically, obviously thinking of something else.
"Gam, please keep an eye on those humans. If they arrive here before I'm done, deal with them. Just keep Zaniel alive as usual. Yawni and Cin, watch out for me."
She knelt on the ground and projected her mind as far as her vision could go, to the coming Demons. She snarled when she found out they were again minor Demons and methodically stripped them of their protective spells. The leader was a bit brighter than the previous one and tried to block her. She grunted and, using an advanced spell she had created from the demon knights and the Guardians' spells, she burnt his mind. The effort left her exhausted but she wanted to get rid of the other Demons before resting.
Fortunately for her, minor Demons were rather coward and even Baal's anger was nothing compared to this unknown threat able to kill them at a distance. They scattered in all directions like a terrified flock of birds and, very faintly, Delilah could feel Baal's discontentment. She had a weak smile and broke the spell.

At usual, Cinnabar was near her and she reached up for her saddlebags, hoping to find some food to get some strength back.
"Gam! Where are they?" she called.
The tiger came back running and transformed into a human long enough to tell her:
"They're coming, but you still have some time."
"Good."
He had a reassuring smile and left again. She scratched Yawni's ears and laughed softly.
"Don't be jealous, Yawni. I still need you, don't worry."
She stood up and walked some steps, breathing deeply. The humans were now close enough for her to hear them in the Woods.
"Humans allied to Demons!" she growled. "I hate humans! I really wonder why I keep trying to save them! For all the gratitude I get..."
Yawni had a snort like a laughter and she smiled at him.
"I know, I know, you prefer to eat them. Someday, one of them will poison you, you know."
She sighed and turned to face the path they would be coming from. Gamaliel came by her side and a group of men appeared in front of them, Zaniel among them. He looked at her a moment and then left his companions to come by her side. She hadn't made any move toward the blade by her side.
"Zaniel, come back!" called one of the men. "She's a demon knight!"
"Demons knights are not evil," Zaniel riposted, nevertheless eyeing the heavy medallion hanging at Delilah's neck.
"Except the renegades, but we track them ourselves, so I don't think you've heard of them," she murmured. "So you've decided I was on the good side finally?" she asked aloud.
"Yes, so I offer you my sword to fight by your side."
"I'm afraid the first fight is going to be against your former companions."
"I know. But well, that's life, huh?"
She grinned and raised her sword.
"Kind sirs, we are waiting for you!"
They didn't wait long. Gamaliel, glad to have no restriction, was everywhere and Delilah had a hard time keeping an eye on him to make sure nothing would happen to him. It seemed Zaniel's former companions were quite enraged by his defection and they were several against him.
"Yawni!" snapped Delilah when she noticed it. "Go help Zaniel!"
But it was already too late and Zaniel fell. He turned the head toward Delilah and said:
"I regained my honour, lady..."
Delilah growled her anger and resumed the fight aggressively. Neither five nor ten men had stood victoriously against her before and this group made no exception.
"I hate humans!" she spat as Gamaliel was taking care of the last one.
"You hate humans, Angels and Demons, if I understood well the whole story. Who do you like then?" asked a new, young voice.
She turned on her heels to face a young man, whom she identified immediately as one of Varaxador's white warriors.
"Antonian!" she exclaimed, stupefied. "You are the traitor? I can't believe... You're one of the best white warriors!"
"One of the best only, Delilah," said the youth with a dangerous voice. "I should be the best! I heard you defeated Nymrial and I never managed to defeat him!"
"He who told you that lied to you. I didn't defeat Nymrial; he stopped the fight of his own accord."
Antonian looked a bit uncertain but his anger quickly came back.
"You stained my honour, Guardian! You defeated the only one I couldn't defeat and everybody mocks me because I have been surpassed by a mere girl!"
"I'm surprised Nymrial didn't set it right immediately," muttered Delilah.
"Nymrial isn't at the temple anymore. He's looking everywhere for the traitor, to protect you."
She raised the eyebrows in surprise.
"Well, it seems I've found the traitor before him," she commented.
"Me?" laughed Antonian. "I'm not a traitor, I'm their saviour!"
"I can see that. A saviour, who lied, deceived people, hired assassins and allied with Demons. Whose saviour are you exactly?"
Antonian laughed even harder.
"You don't understand. I didn't ally with Demons! I'm spying on them. Naturally they have to trust me first, thus this ridiculous story of traitor, but how do you think we know about the secret section?"
Delilah looked at him with a disgusted air.
"You really sicken me, Antonian. Because of your stupid scheme, every priest and warrior of Varaxador is watching every step I take, ready to kill me at the first mistake! I hope you realise how hard you made my work!"
He had a bad smile.
"I'm going to simplify it on the contrary, Delilah."
He drew his sword. She sneered.
"Oh, that's honourable! After asking several hired assassins to kill me, now you're going to affront me after I got rid of your henchmen. You're not tired and you're a white warrior while I'm exhausted. Oh, Varaxador, if you hear one prayer, let it be this one: let me punish this young arrogant puppy the way he deserves!"
Antonian laughed very insultingly.
"Prepare to die, Guardian!" he exclaimed.

She was going to draw her sword with very little hope when she heard a call:
"Delilah!"
She didn't need to turn around to know the owner of the voice and silently she raised the arm. A shining sword arrived just in her hand, perfectly thrown.
"Thank you, Tyrael," she said without looking back, facing Antonian.
"My pleasure. Sorry I took so long."
"You were not supposed to come back at all."
"I told you I would protect you no matter what."
"Ooh, that's so sweet!" said a new voice, which startled both Antonian and Delilah.
"Tyrael! Go away!" she yelled immediately.
"Too late, Delilah," replied joyfully Rashiel. "I'm afraid it's far too late."
"Rashiel, I have a demon blade and an angelic blade. Don't try your chance with me."
"No, beautiful lady, you're going to follow my rules, because your dear friend is my prisoner."
"Sorry, Delilah," muttered Tyrael.
"Don't be sorry, Tyrael. Rashiel is good at capturing Angels. So finally you will hand me over to Baal, huh?"
"Have to, just to prove Him He should have listened to me rather than go on with His stupid plan."
"You're on the Demons' side!" exclaimed Antonian, sounding horrified. "But you're an Angel!"
"A fallen Angel," rectified Rashiel with a huge smile.
"The friendly, falsely tempting, fallen Rashiel..." murmured Delilah, understanding Antonian's behaviour. "The more I know you, the more you disgust me, Rashiel."
"Ah, wait till you're my queen for the insults, delightful Delilah."
"Your queen?" she repeated, feeling herself pale.
"Oops... Slip of tongue. His queen, naturally."
"Why don't I believe you?" murmured Delilah.
Tyrael made a move as if he was ready to make Rashiel eat his words but the fallen Angel tightened whatever grip he had on him so he would stay still.
"Rashiel, are you telling me you made believe to Antonian that you were on the good side and that he had to kill me to save the world?"
"In fact, not exactly. I just told him that killing you would hinder seriously the Demons' side. I thought it would keep you pretty busy and thus allow me to take you by surprise."
"I hope you were around to protect me, in case he had been successful in his attempts," she said reproachfully.
"You know what? It never occurred to me that he could succeed," Rashiel said thoughtfully while wearing a large - infuriating - smile.
Delilah sighed.
"He sets a white warrior of Varaxador on my track and prays for me to stay alive!"
"Well, you survived, didn't you?"
"That's not thanks to you! Now, how did you trick Antonian?"
"Pride, Delilah, remember?"
"And pride was thy fall..."
"Antonian was just ready for a fall; I just had to exacerbate a bit his jealousy of Nymrial and it was done! He already didn't like you that much, you know, something about you being a 'mere girl', obviously the wrong choice for such an important mission."
Delilah glanced sideways at Antonian, who appeared to be slightly uncomfortable. Rashiel had a sly smile.
"It was so easy, Delilah, that it wasn't even fun. When their feelings are too strong, they're easy preys for me. Like little Shela, for example. She hates you so much that it wouldn't be hard to push her over: her pride should react by itself that she's better than you and so Tyrael should care more for her than you."
Delilah raised the eyebrows.
"How interesting..." she murmured.
"And dear, nice Tyrael!" added Rashiel, and the venom in his voice was unmistakable. "How easily I could make him join the rank of his fallen brothers! Just telling him that you'll be safe if he follows me should be enough!"
Delilah had a brief laugh.
"He has more sense than that and, anyway, he knows perfectly that I refuse the life you have in store for me."
"Don't underestimate me, Delilah. He's the Angel of Guardians, which almost makes him predisposed to fall and believe me, I know how to flatter their pride to push them over."
"Goodness, did you replace Lucifer as the Demon of Pride? Someone could have told me."
Rashiel seemed ready to reply dryly but then he chuckled.
"Well said! So, now that we had that entertaining discussion, may we go?"
"No, we may not."
"No? And why is it so?"
"Because even if he's only half-guilty, I'm not going to let little Antonian here go away with it. I hate traitors!"
"And what about me?"
"Oh, you're a traitor of the worst sort, but I never expected anything else from you, whereas I expected better from Antonian. After all, the white warriors are supposed to be the elite."
"I was asking about me waiting for you, not for your opinion about me," rectified Rashiel.
"Oh! Well, you really have to wait. I hate work half-done."
"So in fact, you want to punish him for disappointing you."
"That sort of summarises it. Are you ready, Antonian? I certainly am."
The youth clenched the teeth and nodded.

Despite themselves, Rashiel and Tyrael found themselves caught by the intensity of the fight. Antonian clearly had a neater style, wonderfully efficient, but Tyrael's sword and Delilah's calm helped her. She kept everything measured while Antonian was being reckless, trying desperately to win in the shortest time. As she pared a vicious thrust, he uttered a cry of rage.
"How do you know this? Nobody does!"
"My last fight at your temple was with Nymrial. You should practice more often with him: it's amazing how much one can learn from practicing with Nymrial."
"She really likes that Nymrial, doesn't she?" commented Rashiel mildly.
"He's a nice fellow enough," replied Tyrael with a shrug.
"The fights at the temple are not supposed to teach you our techniques!" raged Antonian.
"So what is it supposed to teach me? Nothing? Am I just going there to be humiliated?"
"Exactly! That should teach you your rightful place! Let the fighting to men and go back to your kitchen and kids!"
"My, my, aren't we aggressive today! For your information, Antonian, in case you had forgotten, I am a Guardian, so I'm supposed to come to your temple. Being humiliated every time would be very tiresome."
"Because you don't see the real point of it: you have to learn humility!"
Delilah almost choked.
"Humility! Don't make me laugh, Antonian! I cannot learn humility from someone as full of pride as you are! Only the humbles could teach humility if they thought themselves fit enough for that, which they don't, since they're humble. See my point?"
Antonian was so astonished by her statement that he almost impaled himself on Delilah's sword.
"Be careful now!" she exclaimed, mildly irritated. "I almost killed you!"
"Impudent! I will teach you to mock your betters!"
"My betters? Pray tell me, Antonian, in what are you my better? For all I see, your pride has made you fall so low that I can't even see you anymore."
Antonian spluttered with anger while Delilah seemed to be immensely enjoying herself.
"I doubt Nymrial would encourage such a behaviour in one of his pupils," she added.
Delilah knew where to hit to hurt Antonian, for he had an open admiration for Nymrial and half his rage was probably coming from the fact that he couldn't accept the idea of somebody defeating his mentor. His anger blinded him but then he regained part of his calm and said quietly.
"Well, at least, I was his pupil. He thought I was worthy of his instruction!"
"Ah, I have to agree on this," she replied quite sadly. "But I've always known I couldn't be his pupil: I'm not a warrior of Varaxador."
"That's obvious," sneered Antonian.
"Your attitude is becoming really tiresome," sighed Delilah. "If I remember well, there was a woman among Varaxador's paladins. What was her name, already? Wasn't it Michal? Oh, but Michal was your mother; silly me, really."
Antonian's face turned ashen.
"Who told you this? Nymrial?"
"Nope. It was Gerniam, if I'm not mistaken."
"My mother was exceptional! Don't you dare compare yourself to her!"
"I'm not!" flared Delilah, beginning to lose her calm also. "You just did! Frankly, I'm glad I'm not one of Varaxador's paladins, I couldn't put up with you all the time!"
"I think it's time to put an end to this discussion," said Antonian with a dangerous voice. "I have to say I'm impressed that you lasted so long against me. I shall make sure to report it to Nymrial when I tell him of your death."
"I think I'm going to commit evil very shortly," muttered Delilah.
"Evil?"
"Well, yes. Normally there's no renegade among the white warriors, so killing one is really a truly evil act. Sorry, but I think I'll just do that."
"Killing me!" laughed Antonian, pressing her with vast moves of his sword. "You must be... kidding..."
He looked at her in disbelief as she was half-kneeling, her sword having caught him in the belly. She straightened up, a bit pale.
"Yeah, right, I'm kidding," she said, her voice lacking assurance.
The disbelief was still on his face when he fell backward.

"Delilah, my dear, doesn't evil feel wonderful?" Rashiel called joyfully.
"I'm going to be sick..." she murmured.
She barely had the time to turn away before. Then she came back by Antonian's body, closed his eyes and drew a pentacle with dust on his brow.
"What is it for?" inquired Rashiel.
"To let Nymrial know who's the culprit," she replied, coming toward him.
"I'm impressed, Delilah. I wouldn't have thought possible for you to defeat Antonian."
"Things happen. He was too angry," she replied grimly.
"Even so. He's used to quell his feelings and his superior skills shouldn't have yielded like this."
"I had an advantage. Are you ready to commit your ultimate betrayal?"
"At the condition you keep your distance. I don't intend to be the target of your vicious belt. If you only try to use it against me, your friend Tyrael will be the first one to suffer from it."
"You should know me better by now," she said disdainfully.
She had a slight move of the head toward Tyrael, asking him if he wanted his sword back but he shook the head. Somehow, he had again switched scabbards without her noticing and her banal sword was now hanging by his side. Slowly she sheathed his own sword in the scabbard batting against her legs. She made her way to the spear she had driven in the ground earlier and drove it again in it, by Antonian's head.
"All this is pure waste," she murmured, feeling as if she was going to be sick again.
"Delilah dear, everything's a waste. That's why it's so entertaining to watch you humans with your lives so short. It's amazing how easily you can create a mess from something that was clear and neat at the beginning."
"And it's amazing how often you have a part in the mess that has been created," muttered Delilah.
"Time to go! Delilah, you go first. I'll tell you where to go, but I don't want you behind me, trying to trick me."
"No," she replied flatly. "You're more up to tricks than me, so you go first and then I'll be sure that you don't do anything to Tyrael during this time."
"Don't you trust me?" he asked softly.
"No, I never did. Now, I thought you wanted to get going?"
"After you," countered Rashiel.
"After you," she replied, quietly sitting on the remains of a wall.
"Why are you being difficult?" he complained.
"Because you are not trustworthy. I am a lot more than you."
"I was under the impression you were my prisoner, not the other way around."
"I wonder where you got that impression."
Rashiel sighed.
"At least, can you give me your word you won't try anything foolish?"
"Of course not. You should know you have sort of a warranty but it may not be enough."
Rashiel sighed again and shrugged. Without adding another word, he walked into the Woods.

"Are we going to walk till the Mounts of Moen?" Delilah inquired.
"There's an entry here and if you don't stop talking, I'll gag you."
"Do that and I'll forget to be nice," she replied.
"I'm scared," said Rashiel sarcastically.
"You should."
As they were walking, Delilah's eyes fell on the hand that Rshkiel had healed only moments ago and she frowned when seeing something black pulsing just under the skin. She looked up briefly, took her demon blade and stopped for coldly driving it in the back of her hand to extract a small round stone. She gasped quietly at the pain, wiped her blade clean and slid it back in her boot. She looked at the black stone for a short moment, put it carefully on a rock on the ground and smashed it under the heel of her boot.
"You just killed a Demon," said Rashiel, who had stopped and was watching her with interest.
"Too bad for him."
"You're not supposed to run around smashing soul stones," he commented.
"You Demons don't have a soul," she retorted.
"Let's say pseudo-soul stones, if you prefer."
"It's not a question of preference, but of accuracy. Now, whose pseudo-soul stone was it?"
"Jorram, if I'm not mistaken."
Delilah winced. Jorram was a young Demon, quite nice for a Demon, and he could even pass for her friend.
"Why on earth would he have accepted to have his stone stuck in my hand?" she muttered, puzzled.
"I'm not sure about the 'accept' section, but maybe he volunteered hoping to protect you from Him."
"Never mind. I'm not keen on having a demon hand."
"It can be useful sometimes," shrugged Rashiel, resuming his way.
In the silence of her mind, Delilah heard Tyrael's voice:
"Why does the death of a Demon affect you so?"
His surprise was genuine so she thought back, deigning to answer:
"Jorram was my unofficial protective Demon. Protective Demons are usually a lot nicer and cannot possess people."
"So Baal cheated when he said he was going to be your protective Demon."
"Oh yes! He just wanted to trap Lilith and, eventually, me."