3 Months before:

The sun went down over the Tashon Valley, an area in the near of the capitol Virga. It was a beautiful lush piece of land, with forests and meadows where wild flowers bloomed all year. Most of the people who lived there were farmers under the protection of a demon lord named Dantalion. He was a just man, sometimes cruel but only who deserved it. Another reason for the peacefulness was the fact that he was a demon lord.

Not many dared to attack a demon lord just to secure some land.

This evening the people in the mansion prepared for a feast. Rumors said that Dantalion’ cousin would pay him a visit. The people were abuzz because they never had seen anyone from their lord’s closer family.

The kitchen was busy preparing food while the servants arranged the other rooms. Despite not being human demons enjoyed food and alcohol. It was something that they indulged in even though they didn’t need either.

Just like any other demon he also had witches standing guard. They were not as cheerful as the servants since they knew which dangers a visit from another demon would bring. They were on high alert and on the edge. If something were to happen they would kill the other demon and his witches, family or not.

Dantalion’ physical appearance was that of a man in his mid to late twenties with shaggy auburn hair, emerald green eyes and a stubble. He head a quite an aristocratic face with a few edges that made him look rougher and a well-trained body.

He was, by all means, handsome but most demons were.

Right now he was in a secret room with the head of his witches. A powerful witch who was older than she looked like, and loyal to the core. Her hair reminded of a cloud of ashes, her hazel eyes sharp as a hawk’s. She looked over a document that had found its way to Dantalion a couple of days before.

“I can’t detect any evil magic from it,” she said. She raised her brow delicately as she looked at Dantalion. “And what do we make out of it now?”
The demon shrugged his shoulders lazily. “I don’t know. It is written in the language of the demons but it seems like nonsense. Doesn’t make any sense to me, at least.”
The two got interrupted by another person just arriving in the room. He appeared out of thin air, manifesting himself next to the demon lord.

“They should be arriving any minute. The scouts saw them on the main road just now.”

With a nod the head of the witches disappeared, leaving Dantalion with one of the very few warlocks. “Kai, did you see something strange?”

Frowning slightly, the dark headed warlock shook his head. “Be on your guard. And don’t let my cousin’s guard of your sight.”

Dantalion dismissed the warlock with a sign of his hand before disappeared in his own private rooms. Family or not, he did not trust his cousin. Whatever the reason for the visit was, Dantalion always expected that one would come to kill him. Not that it would be an easy task but he didn’t like to make a mess out of those things.

Now, what to wear, he thought by himself. Clothes flew out of his closet while Dantalion went through all security measures in his head. Everyone was on their designated places. Everything still could go wrong. “Damn family,” he muttered to himself. He could feel his cousin’s presence coming nearer and nearer though he probably still was quite far away.

Sorelet was a lower demon but he had good connections to higher demons. He was the result of a high demon with low class demon but his mother never acknowledged him. A sad sob story but it didn’t matter to Dantalion. In a sense all demons were related to each other somehow and he had hundreds of other cousins who had the same fate.

None of them was as annoying as this one though.

The huge dining room was decorated with red silk and gold adornments. There were several decanters with different kinds of wine and cognac standing on the long table already. One of the servants poured Dantalion a glass while he waited for his cousin to arrive, which should be soon. Two of his elite witches stood guard in the room. And hidden in the shadows and in the secret passages of his mansion there were even more.

The door suddenly opened and a whole caravan of people came in, led by Sorelet. He liked to picture himself as an overly handsome man with dark hair and charming blue eyes but Dantalion knew that all of it was a farce. “Welcome Sorelet. As I see you vanity didn’t diminish and still knows no bounds.”

A slightly sour expression appeared on Sorelet’s face but it disappeared as fast as it came. “I am happy to see you, too, cousin dearest.”

Gazing quickly through the rows of the foreign witches Dantalion saw a few quite promising talents. Sad that they wasted them on a demon like Sorelet. “You must be tired, cousin. Shall we sit down and have dinner?”

The consort of witches sat down on smaller tables with Dantalion’s witches. A hostile atmosphere spread in the room but the two demons ignored it deliberately. “What brings you here, Sorelet? You usually don’t come by at this time of the year,” Dantalion asked as the servants brought in the first course.

Taking his time, Sorelet looked around the dining room first. A grin coiled up the corner of his lips while he took a sip from his wine. “It’s quite sad that you still live in this house. You easily could build a new one and get rid of this tacky one.”
Soleret took his time to answer willfully. It was test to find out how Dantalion would react to someone undermining his authority in his own home.