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In one of the many rooms of the castle of the self-professed Lord Ahriman there was a human woman sprawled out on a bed with her back against the headboard and her ankles crossed as they stretched out in front of her. There was not much in the way of personalization in this room, but of course the occupant currently on the bed had only taken possession of the room a few days ago. There were several weapons scattered about and on the table besides the bed was a glass of water that had not been touch and would not be touched and a stack of books that also hadn’t been touch and would most likely be touched in the near future.

The woman had taken a few books for her host library to pursue at her leisure and was reading one now. They were all histories of various conflicts between Heroes and Demon Lords and she was finding them quite interesting. Do to her upbringing she knew most of these stories already, but reading them from the other side was proving enlightening. The most enlightening fact she got was that both sides of the conflicts were practice liars. Though knowing that the histories were full of lies meant, with a little bit of deduction she could figure out a possible truth. In short, the woman was enthralled and didn’t plan on ending her study anytime soon.

The door to the room was closed but the window was not. It was though this window that a hawk shaped creature flew in to perch on the back of a chair, [color=a88c4d][i]“We are going to be late Katrina.”[/i][/color]

Katrina flipped the page of her book without looking up, [color=8790a7]“So? What do I care? Ahriman certainly won’t. And if he does he’ll just kill me so whatever. I carry a death sentence anyways and I rather have a demon kill me than let the Valances have the satisfaction.”[/color]

The bird shaped thing mentally spoke again, [color=a88c4d][i]“If you die you won’t be able to finish those books.”[/i][/color]

Katrina paused her reading to look at the speaker. She wasn’t sure what Rolf was. He was shaped like a hawk but given his habits of making good points and asking annoying questions she couldn’t answer the human didn’t think that’s all there was too it. He might be a wizard’s familiar of some kind, but she had no magic so probably not. He might be an angel or divine messenger but given the fact that they were currently in Sheol that was also unlikely. He was most likely a minor demon and that should worry Katrina, but too be honest she didn’t care. She might also just be mad. She didn’t care about that either.

With a groan she pushed herself of the bed as she placed the book down, [color=8790a7]“Fine! Just how late are we going to be?”[/color]

Rolf sounded amused, [color=a88c4d][i]“Well, it was supposed to start at 1150. It is 1215 now.”[/i][/color]

Okay, they weren’t going to just be late. They were going to be [i]extremely[/i] late. There was no way Katrina was going to go walking around in a Demon Lord’s Castle without being fully armed and she wasn’t going to rush either. As took her time to pull on her boots, fasten her breastplate and secure her hawking leathers. Then she double checked that every knife, all five of her swords, her whip, her battle fan, and all of her other countless weapons were precisely where they were supposed to be. She took more time doing that than she should have, but she didn’t care and Rolf didn’t rush her.

Finally, Katrina left the room, not by the door, but by the widow. Since the meeting room was below her resting room it was the only logical choice. Her knees bent to disperse the momentum of dropping three stories and her legs protested with waves of pain. Katrina didn’t even hiss as she ignored the pain as she began walking towards the meeting room. She did not slouch. For one thing being a practical walking armory didn’t allow for that and for another thing her childhood training prevented it. So, yes, the woman’s posture was perfect as she began her trip and Rolf flew down to rest on her shoulder. She still gave the impression of slouching as she moved. Maybe it was the hands in her pockets gripping the hilts of two throwing knifes. Maybe it was the blank look on her face. Or maybe it was just the disinterested air that completely surrounded her.

Katrina finally made it to the hall and slipped inside without announcing her presence to anyone or anything. Despite seeming uninterested she took in everything she could see with a quick glace as she hugged the wall to slip into a corner to remain unobserved. Surprisingly it wasn’t all demons. There were a more than a few mortals, a few dark magicians, and yes, a couple of demons. What the specifics of this particular collection were Katrina didn’t care. She knew that in general they were all hear to hear Ahriman’s crazy scheme on how to deal with the Heroes. Katrina had nothing personal against Heroes as a whole, but as people or persons she had a great deal against them. So, she would listen, for now.

She wasn’t going to eat or drink though. It all looked impressive and it was clear that several demons had already started feasting, but Katrina wasn’t a fool. She had heard stories of both Heroes and Companions being stuck in Sheol after eating something there. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure that was true and was willing to doubt it, but better safe than sorry. Right now, she just focused on the conversations. She was late and now needed to play catch up.