Morn ran up a hill and looked around under the red sky. The orc knew that they had little time to spare. The news that Kendoll had given them had been useful, but upsetting. Kendoll had proven himself to be useful and Morn was glad to have the fellow orc under his protection. Just before Morn had returned to Hell, Acantha had asked Morn to take the orcs under his wing and Morn accepted her offer gladly because it helped Morn in gathering all the Chroma back to one people again. Soon, Morn would have an army and they could defeat the Sun. First things first, Morn thought, first were the Imma who had been forsaken by their Totem.
Morn thought back to where they had last seen Iratus and for the first time they realized how easy it had been with Jade to lead the way. Somehow the elf had always known which way to go. Morn, however, had to find clues within the landscape and sometimes they had to trail a bit back after they had evaded a group of daemons. Most daemons traveled in small armies, the ones that did not were usually incredibly large, which was a clear indication of strength. Morns ground rule was to avoid any volume larger than themselves, which had worked out well so far, since the orc was still alive.
Morn saw something move and jerked their head to the side. It was a small daemon, only meters away, with a reptilian face. It was clad in black armor that looked like the shell of an insect. The creature had not seen Morn yet, which was fortunate. This daemon, thought Morn, could be a source of information. Morn started sneaking up on the creature, but stopped when they realized sneaking was for weaklings and instead Morn decided to lunge forward. By the time the creature had turner around to see what was coming for them, Morn had already thrown the daemon on the floor and with their knee on top of its chest, had it pinned it to the ground.
“Tell me, where are the Imma.”
The daemon started spluttering and making rasping sounds, suggesting it had trouble speaking, be it because it didn’t speak lingua, or because there was a giant orc-knee controlling its ability to breathe. Morn took some of the pressure off the creatures chest, making sure it was unable to escape.
“I- What are Imma?”
“The minions of Madigas.”
“Madigas is gone.”
“Where are his minions?”
“I don’t know.”
Morn punched the daemons face and immediately the orc felt better. It had been a long time since Morn had punched something. It was, in many ways, nostalgic. The daemon threw his hands in front of his face and whimpered:
“Pleaf dow’t huft be!”
“Tell me, then.”
“I towd you, I dow’t wow.”
“Then tell me what you do know, or-”
Morn presented their fist.
“De Ibba awe aww daemof bow abd hafe bee adwufded do fiw de awby of de Fun.”
Morn sighed made a mental note not to punch their next interrogatee in their mouth.
“Kevins and I are going to restock.” said Acantha’s voice inside Morns head, “We’ll be heading to the Sun temple in Hell. If you’re able, join us there.”
Morn grunted and stepped away from the creature, who scrambled to his feet. Morn let him run away.
“I am going to Imma castle.” Morn returned the prayer to Acantha.
It was unlikely that Iratus would be there, but the castle might give them a clue about its whereabouts. If not, they would just resort to hitting more daemons. Morn turned an squinted. On the horizon Morn could make out something that looked like a large building. At least the castle was still standing. Morn started running.
After some hours of running Morn decided that running was hard. The orc heaved and looked at the castle that did not seem to be coming any closer. It would take days of walking to reach it. Morn groaned in frustration.
“Hey buddy, what are you up to?” said a calm, feminine voice.
Morn startled and turned towards the daemon standing right next to them. She was an elf with pink skin and her armor had been crafted to be decorative rather than defensive, since it covered only a few part of her body and not the tummy. Morn considered this for a moment and concluded that she must be exceptionally strong to leave such a weak point open. Maybe it was to trick her enemies.
“Can you talk?”
“I am going to the Imma castle.”
“Ah, are you one of the new guys?”
“Hmm?” Morn grunted.
“I passed by the Imma castle a few days ago, I can tell you about it, if you want.” The woman sprinkled some tiny white crystals on the back of her hand and held up a little pouch, “Here.”
“What is it?”
She started laughing and said:
“What are you? It’s salt.”
Morn held up their hand for her to sprinkle white crystals on, which she did. Then she licked the salt off her hand. Morn followed her example.
“Hmm,” she said with a hint of pleasure, “Now, we seem to be coming from opposite directions. Want to trade info? I’m Theresa, by the way.”
“Morn. I came from the mountains, a few larger armies traveled through, but they seemed to have no interest in me as I could pass around fairly easily. I did not come close enough to see which people they were.”
“Great, thanks, Morn, I went through the Imma castle, which is now owned by the Sun. So I guess we should call it the Sun’s castle. I noticed that some of the Imma are still there, but now wear different armor, as if they are dressed up to be an insect. Quite cute, in a scary sort of way.” She winked. “Anyway, if you’re looking for Madigas you’re out of luck, because that guy is gone. I always thought he was a scary guy, he didn’t like daemons very much. The Sun does not seem to mind the daemons, but that somehow makes him more scary. Do you know what I mean?”
Morn shook their head.
“I am not scared much.”
“Good for you, but you should be careful to stay out of pickles. Fear can be really useful sometimes.”
“I will take my leave now.”
“Ok, nice talking to you Morn, see you next time.”
Morn nodded and left Theresa standing there. The orc started jogging towards the castle, the Sun castle. It would be days before they reached it, but Morn did not care, every step would take them closer to knowing whether Iratus was there. And this time, no detours.
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