Part 4. Forest wolf.
The cemetery was just a few steps away from them. It was the most typical cemetery one could imagine: gloomy, fenced with a forged fence with a bunch of crows, which flew away, it was worth getting close to them. From the very edge of the grave, someone was digging deep enough, because there was nothing but a shovel and a hairy back.
Coming closer, Forlie understood what Sophia was talking about. The grave was being dug by the Grey Wolf, or rather what was left of it. The lower jaw was replaced by a mechanical prosthesis. The brand of the manufacturer on the prosthesis was stated by Ayb & Bar. The augmentations did not end there: one eye was missing, the entire belly was covered with a lot of scars, all shapes and sizes, and the rest of the body, it felt as if the ice rink was gone. Here and there, metal parts were sticking out, apparently replacing the skeleton of a poor animal and giving it human traits. The wolf was so carried away that he did not notice how they were hovering over him.
- Hey! This is my grave, look for another one! - He wailed, shaking his shovel badly.
- We don't pretend. Has anyone fallen down here? - I asked him about the Succubus.
- No. Now, get lost! I'm going to bury myself now. This is a personal moment!
The wolf has returned to his occupation.
- Why are you burying yourself? - asked Forlie. - By the way, Red Riding Hood is looking for you...
The wolf shuddered and panicked.
- She's not with you? - he rushed to the ground. - You didn't tell her where I was?
- No! What happened?
- What happened?! Do you know what I'm going through every day? In the morning I'm going to blow away the piglets' houses. They're the only ones who are smart, they've thrown away stone estates, and they're shooting at me with a cannon! Have you ever tried to blow away a stone manor house? And what the hell is that? In the afternoon I'm going to my grandmother's, and the one who has no branch, no stretch, no stone, no bomb. And on any noise this maniac lumberjack comes running and...
At this point, the wolf couldn't stand it and sobbed, curled up in a roll. Having stood like this for a couple of minutes and made sure that he would not come to his senses soon, they went on. There was some noise at a distance.
- And these were still flowers. The deeper it gets, the more change there will be," Sofia said.
They're on another hill. Forlie froze in amazement. The wasteland stretched out in front of them, and a horde of demons marched through it into a huge magical portal. Big and small, humanoid and not, thousands and thousands of different creatures. In front of him was a demonic army, terrified of all living.
- The first horde. The great lord Never united the clans of demons and led them to conquests, - explained Succubus, nodding at three figures slightly aside. - Never mind, me and your friend Balael. We carried death and destruction, horror and fear!
Forlie, embarrassed by such details, did not ask anything and wanted to go back to the forest. But when he turned around, the magician realized that he was standing in a huge throne room, where a strange demon sat on the throne of skulls. He was gloomy and thoughtful. His face showed that his thoughts lay far beyond the throne room. In front of him, kneeling down on one knee and looking down on the other, there was another demon.
- My lord, the horde is waiting, why are we delaying? - mockingly, she said a Succubus. - Because I need to think, Balael. The conquests will wait.
The demon was clearly shocked by what he had just said, but he didn't mind looking at his master angrily.
The obsession was gone. Forlie was standing in front of the wasteland again. There fought fiercely small, like Balael's toy figures with Neverug. From their blows, the ground cracked and collapsed, forming huge gorges. The portal against the background of weakness and fading. Finally, one figure fell, struck by a blade, and the portal finally extinguished.
- Balael killed Neverug and seized power," Sophia explained.
The demon raised a staff of some kind above his head. The portal lit up again, but was much smaller and weaker.
- This was the beginning of the end. Very soon the staff will be broken and the campaign will stop.
- And where did you go? - The magician asked.
Sophia turned her back and went away without answering anything. Her wings were crumbling with dust, and she was almost the same height as him.