Chapter 47: Tieflings (Part 1)
A pierg cold wind blew through the entrance of Stone Fortress, and a bst of icy air esg through the cracks made the goblin guard sneeze.
"Damn, it's cold..."
"Yeah," the goblin beside him agreed, rubbing his reddened nose, only to actally scratch a long mark across his face with his cw.
"Ouch!"
The gobli out a yelp.
A bead of blood appeared but quickly froze solid.
Over the past few months, many of Embers 's followers had begun dispying "dragon-like" traits. Although these ges weren’t as intense as those in their leaders, some red dragon-specific characteristics were emerging.
This included the occasional appearance of sparse scales, sharper cws ah, folds on the ears, and a preference for warmth and even hot climates...
The red dragon, slumbering deep within the cave, was like a massive source of radiation, using the gift of his bloodlio influend transform all of Embers 's followers.
Cassius y sprawled in the cave, his massive body rising and fallily.
With the weather growing colder, the heat-loving red dragon loathed going outside, preferring io remain in the cave, living a life of eating and sleeping, like any native red dragon in Erezaghe.
Lazily stretg, Cassius slowly opened his eyes. "But there are still some matters that ending."
In Draic, he softly called out,
"Chimera—"
The three-headed creature immediately emerged from a cave in the rock wall, obediently lying down in front of Cassius like a loyal hound, awaiting its master’s and.
Ever since receiving the "bloodline gift," this once defia had bee remarkably docile, a ge that even Cassius found slightly discerting.
tinuing in Draic, Cassius said, "Take me to find those tieflings."
"What?"
He saw all three of Chimera's heads tilt in fusion.
Exasperated, the red dragon picked up an old, horned skull from a er of the cave and tossed it in front of Chimera.
"Lead me to these people."
Chimera’s lion head leaned in, sniffing the skull carefully, then clumsily replied in Draic,
"Horned. Human. Not tasty."
Cassius, growing impatient, said, "Yes, them. Take me there."
Chimera obediently lowered itself, indig it would ply.
"Yes, Master."
With a low growl, it spread its wings and took off.
Chimera flew out of the warm cave, leaving the broad Giant's Valley to soar through the snowy, stormy skies.
Cassius followed close behind, gliding through the wind and snow.
In a secluded clearing shielded by yers of mountains, a group of crude tents itched in the snow. Nearby, a spacious cave was brightly lit, surrounded by roughly piled stone walls. This was the tieflings’ refuge, a pce they called the “Shattered Home.”
The tieflings, with their horns and scarlet skin, lived here.
The mountains shielded them from discovery by pursuers, but they offered no prote from the biting cold and snow.
Despite the harsh cold, the tieflings wore tattered clothes. The men braved the snow to chop wood in the forest, the women lit campfires outside their tents to cook game, and the children gathered dry wood and dead grass nearby, adding fuel to the fire, doing whatever tasks they could.
Meanwhile, a few iieflings y in the slightly warmer cave, ed in yers of animal skins and grass fluff, but even these measures could not prevent their breathing from weakening, their eyelids trembling as they began to close.
“Medrosh, we won’t survive the winter like this.”
“The injured won’t st. We o head to the nearby town.”
A hoarse female voice, trembling from the cold, spoke.
The tiefling referred to as “Medrosh” turned his head.
His rugged face bore burn scars, his tall frame bloodstained armor, which was also dented in many pces from blows.
He spoke heavily, “Lerisha, you still hold hope for these humans?”
The female tiefling shook her head, defending herself:
“No, I don’t…”
Medrosh cut her off abruptly, his tone growing intense:
“The pitchforks, the pyres, the burning houses, the naked bodies hanging at the city gates, the cheers and curses of the townsfolk—haven’t they revealed their true nature to you yet?”
“This is humanity, Lerisha.”
“If we go to any town noon’t be weled with wine; we’ll be met with ruthless evi—and the enforcers of that old vampire’s family.”
Lerisha’s voice trembled, her toears, “They just don’t know the truth. Maybe, maybe we could clear up this misuanding, expin it to them…”
“By now, you should uand how humans see us, child of devils.”
His cold, dark eyes seemed to pierce her soul, and the sudden gravity in his voice silenced her.
Medrosh tinued:
“One person’s curiosity bees a spiracy when it involves two.”
He paused.
“Three people…are a curse.”
“When they’re all stirred to raise their bdes against us, there’s no misuandi.”
Having said this, Medrosh ignored Lerisha, who was silently sobbing, and silently polished his blood-stained silver sword.
In the gleam of the polished bde, his weathered face was reflected.
Ram-like horns curled from his head, his bck eyes devoid of irises, sharp es, and crimson skin—all clear marks of his devilish heritage, despite his otherwise human-like appearance.
“Naive fool.”
Medrosh couldn’t help recalling his past, the painful and tormenting memories.
Back at Northwind Fortress, as a child, he had stantly been stared at and whispered about because of his “devil-born” lineage, enduring violend abuse oreets and seeing mistrust and fear in others’ eyes.
Yet he’d been lucky enough to have human friends he could trust.
This was both a blessing and a harsh fate.
The genuine from his friends once allowed Medrosh to harbor kindness and trust.
He joihe city guard, being a padin at a young age, swearing the Oath of Redemption—
Padins who swore the Oath of Redemption fronted evil with the hope of turning eo the light, using violenly as a st resort.
They would only kill if it clearly saved other lives, otherwise refraining from taking life.
The young tiefling believed anyone could be redeemed, that all could walk a path of kindness and justice.
Medrosh believed he could dispel society's prejudice against his devil’s bloodlihrough acts of goodwill, and he seemed to be progressing toward this goal.
