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A heavy silence descended throughout the confines of the Vukanovi as Li ended his sentence. The space inside the Vukanovi was large enough where everyone had easily enough space to sprawl out and sleep and tend to their own, but now, that space seemed smaller, almost constricting as the weight of Li\'s words dawned on those present, no doubt dredging up old scars. 

"No."

Ears perked up as Sheela\'s voice rung through the Vukanovi. 

"No, no, no." Sheela\'s lips were curled back, the bloody red of her gums showing as her sharp, needle-like teeth flared out as anger coursed through her veins. Anger not directed at Li nor to anyone there, but anger that still flowed regardless, and her body expressed it unconsciously. "Demons ruin everything. Burn my home. Make tribe weak. Take Nadir – our soul."

Mason saw Sheela\'s indignation and felt enough courage to speak up himself, knowing that he would not be alone in opposing Li. "I must agree with the beastwoman. I…," He glanced at Asala for a moment before swallowing down a breath to continue. "I know that I know not history as it truly is. But I know it to be true that the demons have wrought untold suffering upon our lands. Upon all lands. If there is any truth I know to be certain, then it is that. It cannot be that for a thousand years, the Light has fought against the dark of demonkind for simply nothing."

Mason looked to his younger brother, perhaps looking for something like reassurance, but he did not find it. Mercer sat cross-legged with his gaze directed downward, listening. His usual energy was not gone, but instead, it showed in the furrows between his eyes as he concentrated with tightly wound lips, wanting to hear out both sides first before forming any opinions of his own.

Vilga\'s boulder like shoulders slumped ever so slightly in a shrug. "I do not know. I have lived through twenty eight years if my trainer in the pits was right of my age. I am too young to have known the demons as they were. Only as I have fought them, and to date, I have clashed with but one. I see them as foul creatures, but there are a great many vermin in this world."

"Because you are slave," cut in Sheela. "Slave since young. Taken care of by the elves. I too am young. Younger. Twenty-two years, I think. But I live where demons were. Where they fought. With shamans and elders that remember them, remember who they burned and what they stole." 

She took in a breath that calmed her a little bit, but not quite enough. "You grew up with elves. Little elves that never lost anything to demons. You just like them. You lucky. I am not."

"Hm." Vilga stared at Sheela, their yellowed, predatory eyes matching. Both pairs of eyes were the kind that never backed down from any challenge. Nor ones that took any kind of insult lightly. And now they stared each other down. 

Vilga\'s eyes were larger, suiting her canid features, and they were calm yet deadly focused. Sheela\'s eyes were sharper, fiercer, her stare more directed. 

"You are right," said Vilga as she broke off the staring contest. She crossed her arms. "I know nothing. That is why I adventure. To know. And to make my own judgements."

In the face of the sudden de-escalation, Sheela grew quiet, then flitted her eyes away, ashamed she had let her passion boil her blood so. 

"It is said that discord among adventurers sows naught but heavy misfortune," said Asala. "Both of thee are quite young, and thou minds art most painted by the environs within which thee grew. But I hath learned the value of neutrality – the very core principle unto which my sisters and I dedicate ourselves to as stewards of history. 

Thus, it is in upholding that principle in mine forty years that I shall say now that the demons do have place upon this wide world. "

"But how?" Mason leaned forwards in questioning. "If the legends that I grew up with, the myths I cherished so dearly, are indeed true, then did not your own goddess fight against the demons in the First Darkening?"

"Quite so. For a hundred years, too. But doth that wear away any at their marks upon history?" Asala flitted her tongue out. "Nay. For a thousand years, they hath lived among themselves in lands never before trod upon, carving out their own history, and that history, the sheer breadth of it, doth hold value."

"Then eradicate the demons and record what they knew," said Mason. "Do not let them continue to exist to cause suffering anymore."

"Lad, calm down," said Old Thane. "If years be a measure of wisdom, then do heed this old fool. I have fought personally with demons in the fourth darkening. Known them. Drew their blood, had them draw mine own blood."

"Yes, you did fight them-," began Mason.

"And I broke bread with them, too." Old Thane listened to Mason pausing and continued. "Aye, that I did. The demons are not a thing, lad, one big monstrous mass uniform in its darkness and horror. Nay, every demon stands different. Some are mighty. Some are wise. Some are fools. Some are cruel." He paused. "And some are kind, in as much the way they can be."

"Kind? Demons?" Disbelief laced Mason\'s words.

"Aye," said Old Thane. "The demons of Pride are mighty and fierce indeed, but show them yer spirit, and they\'ll be the first to spare ye. Give the demons of Greed a deal, and they will hold true to their word, more so firmer than any man. The demons of Lust, well, lads, I do believe ye are too young for that," said Old Thane with a chuckle. "When the demons invade, they are no different than a conquering army."

"And conquering armies we must rebuff to the best of our might," said Mason. "What is different here?"

"Aye, no disagreement there," said Old Thane. "But eradication? Lad, that word is too big for ye britches. For all of ours. So much is lost in eradication In a complete loss of a people, and that is what the demons are. Mightier than us, different in their ways from us humans, aye, but still, they are a people of this earth. 

"The aged human doth speak truly," said Asala. "Precious few records there are of demonkin, but what hath been collected showeth not a hive mind, but something more akin to tribes. Seven tribes united under a banner of war. Seven bodies disparate from the other, prone to arguing and fighting and disagreement.

Were the demons truly unified, then I shalt fear that this world may have long been under their rule."

"Precisely why we must strike them out before they can do so!" said Mason. He pointed to Li. "The three great gods left us mortals in the wake of the first darkening, but now, a new god has risen, and his messenger lies right here, willing to aid us. Divine might should be used to strike out the demons utterly."

"No," said Li. "I strike out what I must, but no more than that. The people that have walked upon this world for a thousand years should continue to walk upon it. Together."

Mason looked at Li, his blue eyes matching Li\'s glowing green stare, and the young man could only look away. 

"Lad, I know how ye feel," said Old Thane. "But ye have not even seen a demon, nor ever fought one. In this adventure, ye shall, and when ye do, come back to us with ye beliefs if they be the same."

"I understand," said Mason after an extended pause of thinking.

"Not me," said Sheela.

Li was about to speak before Asala took his spot in explaining.

"I know well of the histories of thy people. Perhaps among mine sisters, I am but one of few brave enough to wander past the Sandrivers to record thee still," said Asala. "Thus, I ask of thee: what hast the demons done to thee to wrong thee?"

"They burn away our home-," began Sheela.

"Three tribes of Feli – the goldmanes, pantherians, and tigrans - doth did live upon Sher-Halha, or better known in common tongue as the northern central plains. Is this the home that thou speaks of?"

Sheela nodded.

"The Fourth Darkening didst see the demons encroach upon Sher-Halha, tis\' true, and yet, the Fourth Darkening amongst all others was the shortest by large margin. The Fourth lasted but five years before the Shining One ended it. 

The Third lasted fifteen years. The Second fifty. The First an entire cycle. Five years was not enough for the demons to fully raze Sher-Halha, nor wouldst they have desired so for it would hath been land they wished to live upon.

Then when the Fourth Darkening did end, why did thy people not return to thy homes?"