C3(2) "Delyth"

"Delyth"
(WC 1098)

Oddly there was no sign of the demon to be found in or around Hearkendale. After parting ways with Chulon, Phillip made his way cautiously into the forests ringing the town. He spent the entire morning trudging through the undergrowth looking for any sign of which direction the demon would have gone. He smelled the air and reached out in search of some magical residue left by a demon's chaotic presence. He found nothing and this began to frustrate him. Still, he persisted, intent on dealing with the problem as he had promised.
Not knowing what else to do, Phillip made circles around the town of Hearkendale, widening his search slowly until he could find a marking or something to follow. It was strange that a demon would have covered his tracks so thoroughly, but strangeness had been his companion these past few months. Dour Gujhest was incredibly worried about the rise in demons, it was a dangerous turn of events and none in the White Council could explain why it was happening so suddenly.
So many dear friends had been lost. The occasional loss could be understood in a wry sort of way. The White tampered with magical power that bore a potency beyond what could easily be imagined. It was a discipline, something that required care and precision to execute successfully on a regular basis. But there was something romantic about manipulating that kind of power. There was something powerful about being tapped into a force like that. Sometimes, mages would succumb to the temptations of the magic. They would wrap themselves up in the stream of power completely, siphoning from it with reckless abandon until at last they lost their sanity.
Pure power had no regard for order or morality. Being swept away by the current of pure magical power removed a mage from his human sensibilities. It allowed him to forget the importance of his fellow man.
“What are you searching for?” The voice was a soft lilt that interrupted Phillip's musing unexpectedly. He had seen no signs of any person nearby. He turned to see an astonishingly beautiful woman seated on a tree stump behind him. Her brow was arched with amusement.
Phillip gazed at her for a moment before reminding himself to answer her question. He couldn't help but feel that he had met this woman somewhere before. “I am searching for a demon and a woman who was stolen away from the town nearby.”
“Ah.” Came the response. The amusement drained from her face and she sighed deeply. “I am the woman you seek, but you will not find any demon. It does not exist any more.”
Phillip believed her, but could not understand why. He couldn't shake the feeling that he somehow knew this woman. “I...,” he faltered, “Should I know you?”
Her brow arched again mischievously and Phillip thought it strange how her face could show such mischief and such grief all at once. “You men and your silly games. If you cannot say whether we have met, I am afraid I cannot say either.”
It was an odd response. Phillip thought it must mean that they had met somewhere before. She seemed to remember him or their meeting enough to be cryptic about it.
“I have trouble believing that this demon no longer exists... can you tell me what happened to it?” Phillip decided to deal with current matters instead of trying to dig up something lost to his memory.
Delyth stared at him for a few moments with no readable expression on her face. Her gaze made Phillip feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. He felt distinctly as though he were letting this woman down in some way, though there was nothing in her demeanor which overtly suggested that she felt the same.
“The truth of what I said is unaffected by your belief of disbelief. You need not know why or how, you need only decide if you believe me or you do not.” Delyth said at last and with finality.
She was obviously telling the truth, Phillip thought, and there was something in the authority of her air that made him believe something more powerful was afoot in this situation. Demons were not easily defeated or eliminated. To his knowledge, only Laethecna or a minion could overcome the chaos of a demon's magical ability in direct combat. If she had been stolen away by the demon, then Delyth could not possibly have avoided direct combat. Phillip looked at her again. She was lithe and beautiful, yes, but bore no signs of the physical ability necessary to be called Laethecna.
Her husband was a spiritual leader in the sect of Drujon, Phillip thought that perhaps she had submitted herself to the power of that god and been transformed into a minion to fight the demon. As he looked at her, though, it was apparent that she was no minion. She still retained her own free will. Perhaps she had become a minion and then ceased to be a minion after it was all over? This sort of thing was unheard-of. No god would relinquish the connection with the physical world that a minion provided. If a person subjected their will in such a manner it would be permanent. He had no way to confirm this, though, for though it was unprecedented and bore further inquiry, Phillip could tell that Delyth had no intention of answering any more questions about what happened.
She had turned away from him in disinterest, though she still remained seated on her stump. Phillip thought that perhaps if he could convince her to come to Dour Gujhest with him there might be a chance that the mage council could delve more deeply into what had happened and perhaps uncover the truth of the situation.
“You have found me now. What do you want to do next?” She interrupted his train of thought.
“I must return home to Dour Gujhest now and make reports about all that I have seen. I am sure you are anxious to return to-”
“I would like to go to Dour Gujhest.” Delyth interrupted him. “I would like to see my daughter.”
“Daughter?” The thought of a member of the Eclosei letting their child grow up in the ways of magic surprised Phillip. It went against every prejudice that had been taught and upheld for hundreds of years between the two factions.
Delyth smiled at him. “Her name is Mesyth Petora. She is in the School of Lesser Elemental Magic and I have not seen her in... many years.”