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It is no secret that the territories of the Mountain Clans were always full of snow, and besides, there were severe frosts from which only demons could escape.

Perhaps this was the reason The Empire allied itself with the Legions of the Damned, marching towards the Mountain Clans. Of course, not with the war, because they all had a common problem that should be solved as soon as possible. Therefore, demons decided to help the others in this matter, forgetting for a while about the differences: such was the strange will of Bethrezen.

Not surprisingly, people huddled in their tents, pressing their backs and sides to each other in order to somehow warm themselves, but one Inquisitor, who had lost his entire squad, did not find a better solution than to go to the squad of the demons. Those at least had an unquenchable fire, while they humans themselves sometimes could not even ignite.

The man went out of his empty tent to the street and cringed from the cold, and while walking to the demon camp, he almost crushed his head on the ice, slipping very badly.

The borders of camps were so clearly visible and obvious, because at some point the earth turned dark red and dry, steam was coming out of its cracks, which barely had time to melt the falling snow.

As soon as a man began to reach the tent of one of the detachments, he was immediately doused with a warm gust of air.

Yes, at the demons were definitely better.

When he moved the edge of the dense fabric, he noticed one single mage-warrior - Demonologist, who rules the fire of the Underworld. Dressed all in red as if it were a mockery of the Inquisitor, he sat by the fire and reluctantly turned his head towards the visitor.

“Did you decide to come to me to carry the word of the Highfather?” - he said quietly, continuing to play with fire and create different shapes from flames.

It wasn't surprising to hear something like this from the lips of someone who in ordinary times was persecuted by The Empire.

“Hah, I came because I lost a detachment and because our magicians can’t create and maintain fire in such conditions,” - Inquisitor quickly went inside, sitting opposite the mage.

It seemed that demon was shocked by such an “invasion” and the very free behavior of a human next to him, but this is definitely better than a knife in the back.

“Magic of the gnomes,” - he drawled with displeasure, - “they aren't very happy with us, therefore they will do everything possible to worsen our conditions,” - guest quietly nodded and almost immediately relaxed in the warmth of the tent, even despite the fact that under him there was only a loose layer of tissue separating his body from the ground, - "by the way, why are you alone?" - Demonologist asked, looking at the ally through the fiery figures of the fighting troops.

“I lost the whole squad, but I finished off the damn elves… I barely survived, only the potion from the fallen brother in arms had helped,” the man said angrily, thinking about what kind of flies had bitten the pointy-eared ones to start their debauch.

The man involuntarily stared at the figures that flickered in the fire and was surprised that something strong and destructive could create something so elegant. And, as if on purpose, the magician began to create images more familiar to people from fire: cities, markets, crowds of peasants slowly moving along stone paths.

"If so, you are quite a strong warrior. I was able to douse the elves with flames and hide, watching how they tried to put it out... they burned down before my eyes, I must say, the smoke from them was bad," - the magician said, looking away from the fire, - "General promised me a transfer to another squad, but as long as I'm here and I'm alone, you can stay. Maybe you will even become part of my new squad, if, of course, a human is ready to fight shoulder to shoulder with someone like me"

“Nonsense, it makes no sense to look back at our faith when there is a more serious problem," - mage chuckled in response, - “you rule fire beautifully, I didn’t know that demons were capable of such a thing,” - priest said, taking off his cape.

He would like to say that he didn't expect calmness and cordiality from the demon, what can we say about such painstaking possession of his elements. He had long and naively believed that the Legions of the Damned were nothing more than hideous monsters that could only burn and kill.

"I am a master of my craft. And I am the one who curbed the recalcitrant flame. Aren't your mages practicing more subtle using of magic?"

It sounded so that the person was even slightly offended by these words.

“Um, I didn’t notice, they are too keen on studying old tomes and manuscripts. Yes, and with mages, I only occasionally intersect... and then with healers," - the man said in response, covering his mouth and yawning.

“I understand that people don't have much time to understand their magic, its nature, to gain mutual understanding with it. After all, humans live so little that I can’t even imagine how much grief your loss must have,” - Demonologist summed up, ending this awkward dialogue.

They sat in silence, broken only by the crackle of the fire, until the Inquisitor fell asleep, practically falling on his side, surprising mage in doing so: and how did he not follow?

“Perhaps it really was too cold for a normal sleep, people get exhausted quickly...”

At first, Demonologist didn't want to disturb his ally, but realizing that he might freeze to death when their fire went out, he simply took off his cape and sat next to him, covering his body with another layer of cloth. And all because the fires were always extinguished at night, otherwise anyone can burn out, even the master of the flame.

The mage himself didn't have the concept of "cold", his body was almost always hot and didn't feel frost, when their master, Bethrezen, is in good health.

At first, everything was fine, and after extinguishing the fire, the Inquisitor calmly sniffed next to his new ally, but after a few hours, severe frosts hit the camps again, from which human began to shake and wrap himself in a cloak more strongly.

What was going on with the poor people in the neighboring camp remained a mystery.

Demonologist began to slowly feel something was wrong and remembered that his neighbor did not tolerate such frosts very well. Turning sharply to his sudden comrade, he hoped that he was in order and that he could still be warmed. Although it would be unwise to start a fire now, given the demon's own fatigue.

"Hey, wake up! Wake up priest!" - mage began shaking him, causing the Inquisitor to jump up abruptly and grab the mace from his belt.

He didn't even seem to notice that he was freezing.

"What?! Attacked?!" - He looked scared and steam was already coming out of his mouth.

“No, the dwarves sent a blizzard, my cape will not save you, if you don’t warm you, you may get hurt... I didn’t notice it right away,” - mage explained, putting his hand on the man’s shoulder, - “you can’t warm you sharply, you can only contact skin to skin , so your body will endure the temperature difference more easily... I guess"

The mage himself was dissatisfied both with his inattention, for he had never been side by side with people, and with the fact that he would have to warm a person with himself. He didn't allow himself physical contact without gloves and clothes, at least, because he didn't need it.

Human opened his eyes and stared at the mage in disbelief, however, he was right. The cold was so strong that the priest was ready to do anything not to freeze, and if they both fell asleep, then there would be no one to control the fire.

The Inquisitor averted his gaze and frowned.

"Right"

“You shouldn’t be so embarrassed about things that will save your life,” - Demonologist said calmly and began to unbutton his uniform, forcing the priest to be embarrassed again and turn away, and mage only grinned in response, - “sit closer to me and take off your camisole"

Trying not to look at the demon like that, the Inquisitor sat down beside him and began to slowly pull off his own clothes with icy hands. He shuddered from every breath of wind that could get into the tent until he was pressed against someone else's rather hot chest. He involuntarily buried his nose in the neck of an ally, and he grabbed his torso with his hands, throwing his red cloak over his shoulders before that.

“Great, now you definitely won’t die from the cold. Try to imagine that all this is not happening for real... it will be easier," - Inquisitor only nodded, closed his eyes, and his ally slowly lay down in an embrace with him.

Although it was a necessary evil, such a "hug" was one of the major transgressions, although the Inquisitors were priests who went to great lengths to defend their faith. At first, the conscience and the light emanating from the eyes of the demon interfered with priest no worse than their close bodily contact. The feeling of someone else's hot skin was strange and completely wrong, causing bad thoughts and feelings in a human, but soon his fatigue got the better of his mind.

The Inquisitor sniffed softly, involuntarily wrapping his arms around Demonologist's torso, causing mage to smirk. He was surprised that priest so willingly pressed himself into him, muttering apologies to his god in Latin, but he understood that any living creature in a dream would reach closer to the warmth.

Mage only rested with his eyes closed, and priest at some point moved his hand up the man's back, thereby attracting his attention. But the Inquisitor was still asleep. In a dream, he slowly ran his fingers over Demonologist's hot skin, causing him to have slight goosebumps, and the mage himself silently looked at the calm face in front of him, which almost didn't express emotions.

"Mollis..." - priest muttered, and the mage chuckled.

Demonologist involuntarily wondered if it was worth waking up his ally, but then decided that this was just a dream, from which there would hardly be any problems: it was unlikely that anyone would report this to the church. And it was interesting to watch the actions of a stranger. Of course, it was difficult for the demon to endure something like this, but despite all the aggression of the believers of The Empire, the person looked harmless and peaceful. Not without oddities, but after all, everyone can have a dream, from which the body will begin to act without control.

The night was as cold as ever, and, most importantly, that his ally was warm.

***

In the morning, the mage woke up from a sharp movement of a man, after which he immediately calmed down. But the dream, of course, didn't return to Demonologist.

“Good afternoon to you too,” - demon muttered and opened his eyes to see the sleepy expression on his ally’s face.

“Julianos,” - mage raised his eyebrows in response, - “my name is. I'm sorry, I forgot where I was a little…" - his hair was disheveled, and his headdress lay about two meters away from it, his previously pale cheeks were now bright red.

Not daring to move out of awkwardness, the man at first wrapped himself in a cloak, now a comrade.

“Better dress properly…” - mage found his uniform, calmly pulling it on as Inquisitor hurriedly put on his clothes and was still trembling, even with the fire that the mage had kindled for him, - “call me Victor.”

People loved warm.

“A strange name for a demon,” - priest said and felt all the charm of frost again, - “it still shakes like yesterday...” - he sat down on the side of the magician, shamelessly pressing into his side and warming his hands by the fire.

Demonologist chuckled.

“Because you broke out of the heat from morning to early, of course you will freeze,” - he explained, - “in any case, warm up while I go to find out from the Duke the details of the military plan...”

"No, I'm coming with you!" - human jumped up, fixing the mace on his belt.

Julianos looked quite confident and even interested for a human on the cursed earth, however, the blush never left his cheeks.

"Do you want to freeze completely? Yes, to hell with you, let’s go,” - the mage practically led the man by the hand through the Legions camp.

Along the way, Inquisitor noticed how smoothly the army was preparing to move to a new point, examined each soldier and noticed even the Thief, who was leaning against the wall of some barracks and playing with his dagger.

It was warm and cold at the same time in the camp, because the demons were struggling with the frost sent by the dwarves, and Julianos was afraid of simply getting sick: he would have to go to the healer. And whether the demons had healers, the human had no idea, besides, it was difficult for him to imagine what methods of treatment they had.

“Be vigilant, our Thieves are very cunning and dodgy, besides, they show an unhealthy interest in other people's affairs, and Succubi and Incubus… you know, you're not a child"

The man turned his gaze to his companion and nodded in response, noticing the mage's complete calmness. This was at least worthy of respect, because, despite the alliance of demons and people, many in the camp stared in bewilderment at Demonologist who was paired with such a warrior.

Duke wasn't far from the captured city, in which both demons worked and peasants, who, before liberation, were enslaved by the elves. It was surprising that not everyone was happy with this liberation, because people, as naive creatures, it seemed that the elves were even better than The Empire.

The elves, by the way, were heading towards the Mountain Clans right now for some purpose of their own. But their actions didn't bode well.

***

A stately and tall demon, outwardly inspiring fear and awe in a person, turned out to be more loyal than many of his servants. As they say, looks can be deceiving. Commander-in-Chief accepted Demonologist and the Inquisitor, even despite the flurry of problems that had managed to fall on the allied army.

"What is the reason for the visit? I don’t have much time,” - he waved away, studying the map of enemy camps.

“I need to know when we are going to march and what to do with our ally from The Empire, since both he and my warriors died,” - Victor asked bluntly and the demon turned his gaze to the two of them, thinking.

“For now, we can’t move, and it’s not even about the weather. People sent another messenger to the dwarves, so we will wait for his return, now I would advise you not to split up. Just keep up the fire and, if necessary, try to help any warrior who gets into the same situation. Now, go," - demon returned to the map again, but this time the Pegasus Knigh came to him, who, as the leader of the human camp, brought his information.

Because of this, the two warriors simply had to leave with the advice given to them.

They could, however, go out to the edge of the camp to see if the greenskins were looking at them as at enemies. Although the mage assured that they also suffered from the actions of the elves and wouldn't interfere.

It seems that the storm was right on the borders of the camps, because inside the camp it was warm and quiet, and as soon as Julianos took a step beyond the invisible barrier, he was immediately attacked by wild gusts of wind and snow, and it was difficult to breathe, let alone walk. Unpleasant magic indeed, but who put up the weather barrier? It is unlikely that the demons had such protective spells.

"What are we going to do now? Locked in here doing nothing, and how are the rest of them coping?! Hell!" – priest rushed towards the camp of The Empire, but the mage abruptly stopped him, grabbing his hand.

His ally's puzzled look was so funny that Victor involuntarily let out a stifled chuckle.

“Wait, look better right there,” - on the way, with the help of the Sorcerer, who led everyone through the blizzard, a column of people went to the camp of demons, who immediately began to be distributed into tents, “our leader decided to share protection from the cold. Even if we don't move, we know what to do.

Inquisitor just clasped his hands and sighed, thinking that now the whole world was literally turned upside down, including his own faith and his beliefs. But this action on the part of the demons was the most logical and correct.

“We’ll wait for instructions, priest, you can walk around the camp and try to find something to do, or you can go back to the tent, choose"

Mage seemed to be waiting on purpose to give a tour.

“I think I've already seen everything. By the way, it would be necessary to gain strength after I barely survived and became numb the other day," - he waved it off, - "we will wait until we are given the opportunity to draw weapons"

To the mage's surprise, Julianos turned around and, with a heavy sigh of anguish, trudged to their tent with an exhausted look.

"And what about the intelligence of our territories?" - Viktor asked hopefully.

“Our… your… what difference does it make when we are allies?” - priest asked with a smirk in response, and the corners of the Demonologist's lips twitched into a slight smile.

Returning from memory to where he came from, Inquisitor wearily landed on the place where he had recently slept, and the magician returned after him, again beginning to feel a slight cold.

“Why don’t I see from you the fanatical hatred that is inherent in a man of faith?” - asked the fire caster and sat down beside him, leaning on the beam holding the tent.

Julianos made a face as if he had heard this for the thousandth time and rubbed the bridge of his nose, not wanting to bring the subject up again, but nevertheless he decided to answer.

“I was fanatical before Uther came back and deceived all of us… after we were fooled, many doubted our methods, faith, that we, humans, are on the right path,” - priest said quietly, closing eyes, - "yes, and we are allies... we aren't best friends and our peoples are not fraternal, but we will fight side by side with you. There's no place for religious arguments and interracial squabbles, Victor, but I think you know that yourself"

Demonologist closed his eyes, nodding to himself. This man wasn't stupid.

***

The priest woke up from the fact that it was too warm inside, he needed to get some fresh air, while the mage was still watching the fire.

"Rested?" - Demonologist asked, not taking his eyes off his work.

“My back hurts… oh, it’s already night,” - Julianos muttered in response, “but there’s no blizzard?” - He rubbed his eyes slightly.

He awkwardly got up and realized that they would definitely have to make makeshift beds.

“Not this time, they spent a lot of mana crystals on the blizzard, now they just have to wait for new parties,” - mage explained, - “go, but don’t risk going outside the camp, I heard that someone was injured recently..."

Priest nodded and somehow less confidently stepped outside, noticing the emptiness and silence, however, in one of the largest remote tents, work was in full swing, which was associated with a wounded warrior, it was worth assuming.

Because of his interest, which was difficult to suppress, and maybe because of the breath of fresh air that evaporated the remnants of sleep, the man began to walk towards the tent, listening to the conversations inside.

There were three warriors, one of them is definitely a healer, but the other two...

“What the hell, it was all right! We didn’t intend to attack…” - the Pegasus Knight spoke angrily, it was his voice.

“Everything always seems normal, human… nothing is so bad, death doesn’t scare me…” - Duke choked out, his voice hard to miss before he growled in pain.

"Please, be quiet! Treating such wounds is a difficult process!" - the healer said irritably.

“And what would have happened if I hadn’t been around?.. to hell with it, sometimes it seems to me that gnomes are too stupid!” - Knight growled angrily, losing the remnants of his precarious calmness.

“Oh no, human, they aren't stupid, they helped ours and yours to overthrow Uther… and now they must help, everything has its time…” - demon calmed down for a while, Knight sighed heavily.

“We have always been taught that demons are without conscience, terrible monsters that know no pity or boundaries, but when I first spoke to you… I began to have doubts. And now you command respect again by how calm you are,” - man said quietly.

"That's enough, just give him this potion in the morning and be done with it, Duke is strong and hardy, so he will survive, you don’t have to worry,” - healer left the tent, and the embarrassed priest hid behind the nearest stone, still listening.

There was complete silence for a while, after which the demon chuckled:

“What, he doesn’t know anything about us either?”

The Knight was clearly embarrassed and chuckled indignantly.

“Well, of course, why should they all know this? Wrong sidelong glances, conspiracies and rumors will begin..."

“I don’t think that hiding the truth will make the situation better.” - At this point, priest began to listen more carefully, but only heard the sound of cloth rustling, followed by a couple of languid sighs.

“You can’t actively move while the body is so weak,” -  the man said somehow too softly.

“Ha, little man, do you think I'm that weak? I just wanted to be taken care of and I appreciated that. People are worthy allies..."

Knight chuckled.

"Allies..."

“And lovers, of course.” - demon’s chuckle immediately made Inquisitor flush with embarrassment and move away from the tent.

“Mmm, eavesdropping on our generals?” - a demonic voice behind him chuckled, and human immediately grabbed his mace. - “Calm down, non sum inimicus, I’m just curious…”

Turning around, the priest saw the Thief with a wide smile on his lips.

“It happened by accident, I was told that someone was badly injured,” - Inquisitor justified himself, keeping calm.

Remembering the words about the Thieves, he tried to think ahead and act carefully.

"Yes, someone were hurt. The Duke was wounded when he and the Pegasus Knight were making their rounds of the human camp,” - he explained, - “well, huh, wounded so well! Your captain was able to bring him back and literally raise him from the dead"

They both stood silent while the Thief waited for more excuses, but in the end he himself broke the silence.

“Why are your cheeks "glowing" so much?” - he chuckled as he took a few steps forward.

It seemed that the Thief was able to take the man by surprise, if only by the fact that it wasn't known what was to be expected from him. But Demonologist came to the rescue, who threw a fireball between the priest and Thief, forcing the colleague to retreat with a grin.

Julianos was shocked at how his ally arrived in time and how he managed to find him in the first place. Probably intuition?

"What's your problem with a member of my squad?" - the mage said coldly, frowning and piercing the Thief with a menacing look.

"Oh, "your"? I’m sorry, I didn’t know, honestly,” - he said with the same smirk, - “you would have brought him up to date on some things..."

Inquisitor blushed again and frowned, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. Victor noticed this and tried to quickly resolve this stupid situation.

“I myself will decide what to acquaint him with, go and “dig” under the elves, and then it will be more useful,” - Demonologist snorted and dragged the priest by the elbow back into the tent.

This grip was so strong that it seemed that the magician's hand would now burn through the fabric of the sleeve. But he wasn't angry with the priest, or so it seemed. Demon was only angry that the Thief stuck to the man for no reason.

The tent was too hot from Victor's anger. Although Julianos could breathe, he had to undress almost completely, leaving only a blouse and trousers, which, however, were terribly uncomfortable, because they were almost firmly stuck to the skin. His form and so sometimes hindered movement, but now the inconvenience has reached a new level.

The mage still couldn't come to his senses and the Inquisitor had to bring his comrade to his senses, lightly shaking him by the shoulder. It was strange to see something like this from someone still unfamiliar.

"Hey, you and I will suffocate, temper your ardor!"

Demonologist glanced at the man, who was already completely sweating and trying to cool himself with a wave of his own hat, after which he instantly came to his senses and lowered his gaze guiltily.

“Sorry, in order not to be short-tempered in my behavior, I take out my anger into magic, but still, it is even worse…”

His voice was still unshakable no matter what.

“Nonsense… why did you come to my rescue with such zeal?” I thought we had no enemies in your camp…” - the priest almost interrupted him, unable to contain his curiosity.

Мage shook his head and replied:

“There are no enemies, but there are dark personalities, like the Thief who caught you near the tent of the commanders-in-chief… it’s very difficult for me to explain the essence to you… it’s better to just be next to me, it’s safer,” - after these words, Victor looked at his ally and sighed heavily, closing eyes.

He saw the misunderstanding in the man's eyes.

“But what is the reason…?” - Julianos asked several times more quietly and with apprehension.

"A thief, like a double spy, distrusts anyone, even one of his own race. Moreover, your curiosity gave him an incentive to find fault... and he can also begin to follow the chosen victim, all this has almost become a habit to them, Thieves do it as if by reflex"

Human nodded in response and looked away, taking a couple of steps to the side and placing his hand on his side. He was confused. The priest wondered if it was worth asking about the strangest thing tormenting his memory at the moment.

Is this question appropriate and will the mage be able to answer it for him? It is better to ask and understand what he will answer than to be silent and tormented all night.

“But what about our commanders-in-chief?" - Inquisitor snapped sharply.

The mage only chuckled softly in response, but under the expectant and embarrassed gaze of his ally, he gave up. It was pointless to keep this a secret, let the person know everything for sure.

More precisely, Victor didn't want him to go with the same question to someone else or, worse, to their leaders.

“Yes, they have an interest in each other… I don’t want to tell you about someone else’s personal life, besides… in fact, this is a very forbidden interest,” - mage quickly came to his senses and his fire began to behave as calmly as possible, without risk fire in the camp.

Inquisitor was still confused by the situation and recalled the manner in which the Knight and the Duke spoke to each other, blushing and feeling his heart begin to pound, either from embarrassment, or from what picture of events he painted for himself. It was contradictory for a man like him.

And, it would seem, one should be glad that he has the opportunity to rest, but obsessive strange thoughts climbed into his head, preventing him from even falling into a slumber.

In addition, he began to feel that he was missing something soft between his body and the ground. The earth may have warmed up, but it obviously didn't become softer from this.

“Listen, do you have something to sleep on? This fabric is still too stiff, our legs and arms will become numb,” - human asked slightly awkwardly.

Victor was again amused by the look on his ally's face and for some time he thoughtfully looked somewhere past him, just to enjoy this strange human embarrassment.

“You can think of something,” - magie nodded his head towards one of the huge bags, - “I haven’t slept well for a long time either"

Demon rose from his seat and left his staff aside, removing his hat and putting it aside.

“I haven’t eaten for a day…” - human grumbled sadly, as soon as the mage approached him to help with a sleeping place, - “damn that elves, I would work in the city with papers, if not for this war!”

The anger and excitement of the warrior really hinted at a severe famine, as he said, and the words about the war with the elves hurt even Victor himself. He wasted a lot of time fighting to keep his people from suffering from the prick-ears' antics.

“Then we should at least eat a little… both of us. We may be demons, but many of us still eat what you eat. And tomorrow you will go to the field cook, I need you full of strength on the battlefield,” - Demonologist sounded very serious, despite the fact that he showed concern for some stranger.

The priest, in turn, silently nodded again, which he had done much more often lately than said something in response.

In fact, at first he had problems due to the fact that he had to endure the demons next to him and accept them as allies, but over time, all this simply disappeared. He came to terms with this alliance and realized that helping each other is more important than hostility in such a difficult time.

They managed to pull out a soft, slightly cold, but dense piece of fabric and spread it out, and then, in order not to use capes instead of blankets, the man pulled out from somewhere a large woolen blanket, which the inhabitants of nearby towns had recently provided them.

People have never been so kind to the demons, and to the troops of The Empire, too.

From the reserves, priest modestly chose something that most corresponded to his diet, because, due to his faith, he could not afford much, and the magician only looked at the man with some kind of pity, sincerely not understanding how the Inquisitors could be, with this food, so strong.

“If you decide to go outside at night, wake me up,” - Demonologist said and put out the fire with one movement of his hand.

Victor was happy deep down that his back wouldn't hurt so much, and with the people in their camp, he didn't have to be constantly on guard. We can say that the presence of an ally gave him at least some incentive to sleep well.

"All right, I'll wake you up,"  - Julianos muttered already sleepily and slightly indistinctly.

The human's headdress rested in the same place as the mace, and his feet were finally freed from the shoes that had managed to rub his feet during a long time of almost continuous walking.

The man sighed blissfully, falling back on the mattress and did not even believe that he had the opportunity to just sleep well. Although he knew that at any moment the alarm could be raised.

"Somnum bene," - the mage said to the ally and also relaxed on his half of the impromptu "bed".

"Bonum noctis," - replied the priest, and wrapped himself in his part of the woolen blanket.

***

Morning greeted all the warriors with the news that the ambassador had been killed by the elves. Imperial Assassin who accompanied him barely managed to escape thanks to his dexterity.

Will the Mountain Clans now continue to think that the elves are doing all this because they are afraid?

This made the task more difficult, now someone else will have to act with a new messenger, and it is not surprising that the choice fell on Inquisitor and Demonologist.

The messenger squad wasn't supposed to be large, but at the same time it had to be strong and experienced, because two experienced warriors sitting idle were quite suitable. At least Knight and Duke insisted on it.

The same leaders who, constantly embarrassed by unnecessary attention, caught the strange looks of the priest.

Julianos seriously wondered what it was like to be in such close contact with a demon... no, even just a man. Of course, sodomy was no exception in the human armies, and on a decent scale, but this was the first large-scale war of Inquisitor in which he had not yet managed to be drawn into something like that. And, of course, he perfectly knew the physiology of both women and men, but he never delivered anything to anyone but pain. He was extremely interested in why one of these high-ranking people succumbed to temptation. Is it really that great, or does it give extraterrestrial pleasure? The only thing that returned his thoughts to something mundane was hunger, which caused terrible pains, including headaches, which, moreover, intensified by daylight.

Following the advice of a new acquaintance, priest went for the food that the mage considered normal for a person and the one that spitefully violated his fast. The cook stared at the Inquisitor for a long time, who also stared at the dish with undoubtedly perfectly cooked meat and a side dish of vegetables, from which the stomach only howled more. The demon didn't understand why the effort, if a person was so stupidly looking at food, instead of eating, until Victor showed up to replenish supplies for the campaign.

"Damnare. Is he out of his mind?" - at this phrase, the man grunted indignantly and immediately began to reluctantly eat rations, not even knowing how long his ally had to persuade him to feed him out of turn.

Have you forgotten that he is a priest?

The demon scratched the back of his head. He was an excellent butcher and cook, yes, but he certainly had no knowledge of the diet of the clerics of the Empire.

“They have adopted a completely different food, since they are servants of the Highfather, they are not supposed to eat many foods, especially during fasting,” - Demonologist explained, and the cook held out “ah, I see” in response.

However, in the depths of his soul, mage understood that this demon still didn't understand anything.

“Fasting or not fasting, I know one thing, if you don’t eat meat, then sooner or later you will die,” - cook chuckled, - “so chew and gain strength, man”

Priest silently nodded and continued to eat, not noticing the attentive look of his ally. He, not hiding his emotions, amused himself with what a displeased, but at the same time with this satisfied look, a person consumed food that contradicted his post.

***

“Here, take this,” - Victor handed the Inquisitor some kind of amulet with a completely serious expression on his face.

He looked at the amulet with some slight contempt and, nevertheless, took it, turning it over in his hands.

"What's this?" - red, patterned, in a word, a strange object on a red rope.

He asked, arching an eyebrow and staring questioningly at his ally.

"It's a guardian talisman. Since you are a warrior who fights in front of the squad, I thought that you need protection from magic,” - Demonologist calmly replied and looked away in the direction of the messenger, - “besides, you'll have protect him by fighting against serious opponents"

Inquisitor just smirked.

“But you are strong too,” - the messenger looked at the two with interest, noticing how they calmly get along with each other, - “so I trust your back, and for that matter, take this,” - Julianos held out a small bag in hands of the mage, - "potions for the resurrection of the recently deceased and potions of treatment. In case something goes wrong… I don't want to lose the second squad"

Demon and human nodded to each other, as if they were already mentally saying goodbye to each other, which the archer considered reckless.

“I understand that you like the exchange of pleasantries, but it’s time for us,” - messenger said, shouldering the bag, - “take the rest, I hope for you”

***

For two days, the men made their way through snowdrifts, and, mainly, thanks to the magician: whose fire easily dealt with such problems as snowdrifts, ice and cold. However, the path ran, moreover, through the forests, in which only messenger himself felt like a fish in water. It was he who was always on the alert and knew where danger could come from, from which Inquisitor felt extremely ill.

What is his strength if he is not a Mage, not an experienced tracker, not a skilled Thief or Assassin? Maybe his faith was at least somewhat useful, protecting him from the many mental influences of the enemy, but still didn't give much advantage.

This depression was quite noticeable to Demonologist: humans often considered themselves weaker than they really are. Mortals often weakened themselves with their own thoughts and arguments, not realizing the full power that Bethrezen put into them.

One way or another, even with the dexterity of a messenger, as soon as the detachment nearly reached the capital of the dwarves, the elves immediately crawled out of the ambush. It was a squad that hadn't yet recovered from the last skirmish, but it was with a numerical advantage. It seems that they didn't even think about changing their position for an ambush, because last time they attacked from the same place, and therefore the messenger's squad was able to quickly prepare for a fight.

The pointy-eared warriors were either idiots or overly self-confident idiots, besides, these elves behaved so strangely and fanatically. Even Julianos noticed that their eyes had become as if glassy, empty and insensible. He had never seen this before. Even if you compare them with those whom Inquisitor had killed recently, they seemed to have completely lost their minds.

The sharp-eared ones, as great lovers of chatter and boasting, fell into such shock and anger that their mouths could not be closed.

“Humans and demons?! You aren't just traitors, you are also heretics who dared to hang out with lepers!" - the head of the squad, a centaur archer, began to speak first in order to try to humiliate the enemy. - “Gallean is leading us, and you, stupid lower creatures, will not be supported not only by your Highfather, not even Bethrezen!” - he chuckled, and the mage became alert because he noticed how the messenger drew his bow.

Human almost instantly fired at one of the elven archers, who began to laugh at the stupid things said by his commander, and he fell dead. The rest of the squad abruptly fell silent and grabbed their weapons.

“Instead of empty chatter, it’s better to accept your death, your madness is incurable,” - mage said calmly and sent a fiery rain on the enemies, barely dodging two poisoned arrows.

The elves twisted their faces so that for a moment they even became similar to goblins.

"Empty chatter? Our Oracle listens to God and transmits his words to us through his mouth!" - shouted the archer, in between suffering from burns and trying to find a healing ointment.

Julianos clenched his fists at this, and then tilted his head slightly forward to hide the hideous creatures and his own eyes from view.

Every time he heard heresy from the lips of the enemy, everything inside him began to boil and anger completely took possession of him. He could barely control himself now, but that didn't make much sense. Sooner or later, everything will break out, as always.

Even Victor noticed it. The man was too quiet.

“So naive, did you really think that your god would just speak through a mortal like that? Well, well, he isn't of such a low level," - the priest grinned, - "and if this is true, then Gallean is no better than such stinking forest scum as you"

He laughed muffledly, and the magie looked at his ally with surprise and some degree of respect, noticing a slight smile on the messenger's lips out of the corner of his eye.

The two warriors in front of the Inquisitor rushed at him with almost animal screams, and he was surprisingly able to deflect attacks while keeping an eye on the archers, who could switch to him at any moment. In uncontrollable anger, hardly any warrior could hit his target, because even if his attacks became strong, they also became very rash.

However, when one of the attacks did land on Julianos' shoulder, he froze abruptly and grabbed his arm. The opponents also froze, but rather in a fit of pride from the fact that they had put a blasphemer in their place, and only the messenger understood what would happen next.

Pain. The pain was what brought all of his power out, unleashing the torrents of anger and madness that had been hidden in the back of his mind. Pain opened all the doors to his hidden power, and while opponents turned up their noses, laughing for no reason, priest slowly prepared.

As the archer was about to fire at the Inquisitor, he bared his teeth, feeling his heart begin to pound in anticipation. Mage was able to focus the attack so that the archer was distracted from his partner, and messenger was ready to shoot at the centaur, when the priest burst into laughter again and grabbed the mace with both hands.

He laughed, it seemed, from the bottom of his heart, and the elves began to realize that they had contacted the wrong fanatic. Let him be weak, but in a fit of madness he could have laid down a detachment of such warriors as those who stand in front of him and are already beginning to doubt their strength.

Inquisitor suddenly fell silent and began to speak, which made the elves tense more, expecting a blow. Those who stood behind thought only of the demon and the archer, and the warriors in front were shaking from the realization that they alone would have to fight off the sick man on the head. Literally just like them.

"Is it a hit?" - he said slowly, looking at what he already considered a corpse with a predatory grin. - “And you consider yourself capable of holding a sword?” - He chuckled one last time and stooped slightly, wrinkling his nose in disgust. - "You're no better than a dumb zombie who can't even raise his arms! Worm!" – swinging his mace from below, he sharply charged one of the warriors in the jaws so that they literally shattered, and the swordsman simply fell to the ground, choking on his own blood.

In response to this, human only smiled and additionally, so that he certainly wouldn't get up, stepped on his head with force, feeling the crunch of bones under his feet. Victor tried to distract himself and check on his comrade, but only managed to notice how the green eyes had changed. It was the look of a bloodthirsty predator, but not the one with whom the mage had recently spoken.

The second elven warrior was so unprepared for such a show that he didn't even notice how the mace swung a second time and hit him in the temple with force, and Inquisitor himself burst out laughing at the stupidity of the enemy. It seemed that the mace was so heavy that it couldn't strike so quickly, but it happened and the blow was lethal.

The two warriors in front were killed by inattention and slowness, while the archers at the back managed to load their arrows and decided to choose a weaker target than the messenger, who deftly dodged their attacks. Demonologist. Mages didn't wear heavy armor, but could control the elements, from which it would be wise to remove it first, however, this was a mistake that cost them their lives.

Inquisitor had just begun to understand and study his ally, he didn't want him to die just like that in their first joint battle. And that is why the arrow, which hit just in the hand of his partner, made the warrior completely lose his mind.

No one even thought what this fanatic was capable of, until his mace began indiscriminately bludgeoning the archers in all parts of their bodies, breaking bones, and the arrows of the messenger flew straight into the heads of the elves, piercing their skulls.

In these sweeping movements of an ally, Victor saw so much, but the most surprising was one thing: priest was comparable to the elements of fire. Quiet and calm when kept in check, and completely insane, deadly, when he loses control.

And he wasn't afraid of Julianos, on the contrary, it made the Inquisitor in the eyes of the mage almost the ideal of a real warrior. For a long time, of course, his thoughts didn't last, because the poison of the pointy-eared was really strong and could easily poison even a demon. Demonologist completely forgot about this when he was collecting equipment. In fact, he really became absent-minded due to idleness, and it turned out sideways to him. His eyes began to swim, his gaze couldn't focus on anything, and his body began to weaken rapidly by the time the entire enemy squad had already been killed.

While mage struggled to stand, clenching his staff in his hands, Inquisitor caught his breath and approached the bodies, spitting on them and baring his teeth.

“And you told me something about your All-Defending Gallean, you stupid bastards?” - Julianos said softly, looking at the bloodied corpses and wiping their disgusting blood from his face.

Some considered the blood of the enemy to be something to be proud of and brag about, but the priest wasn't proud of such trash.

“Stop talking with the remains, better help: your friend may die if we don’t give him the potion,” - messenger snorted, holding the body of the mage, who was in a semi-conscious state.

Priest abruptly woke up and turned to his comrades, noticing in shock how pale the demon was. He was breathing rapidly and heavily, clutching at his throat as if the air wasn't getting into his lungs.

The human's heart involuntarily skipped a beat, but why, he didn't understand. He seemed to be afraid that Victor might die. But this is a war, any of them can die and it's only a matter of time or luck. Human quickly rushed to the bag and took out one of the healing, blood-purifying potions.

***

The mage woke up only when it began to get dark, and he woke up, being practically in the arms of Inquisitor, who was clearly too tired. Sleepy eyes and a staggering gait betrayed him.

Julianos was so exhausted that he would have collapsed, and no wonder: they had spent a lot of energy on the battle, they were injured and now the warrior was dragging him, despite his own wound.

"Maybe a halt again?" - priest asked, sighing heavily and adjusting Victor's hand on his shoulders.

"No, we can’t slow down, who will protect us from the cold?"

Demonologist cleared his throat, trying to inhale a little more air, and both warriors stopped, turning sharply towards the wounded.

"I'm fine,"  - he replied quietly, looking up at the concerned Inquisitor.

So he wasn't abandoned, even though he was a burden and wasted their time?

"Oh, finally!" - priest said with a smile and stopped. - "We urgently need a halt, this is not discussed!"

“Okay, to hell with you, anyway, at night we would freeze to the bone,” - the messenger gave up and stopped, - “but I’ll find a place to halt. I hope there are no objections"

Victor finally got to his feet and took his staff from the hands of the Inquisitor, on which he leaned almost the entire way. His legs were still slightly weak and sometimes he had to hold on to his comrade's shoulder.

For a moment Julianos didn't know what to say. After all, he was afraid that he did not have time to give the potion to the magician, but, apparently, he was very lucky: the poison of the elves acted quickly and Demonologist had every chance of dying on the battlefield.

“I am glad to see you in the ranks, even though we fought only for the first time,” - human said quietly, still being in the vile blood of the enemy.

However, this vile blood looked like an ornament to the Inquisitor's snow-white skin. This was the first thought that entered the demon's head as soon as he looked at his ally. The mage attributed this to the effects of poisoning.

“Thank you, but all the talk later, I feel the presence of dwarf magic here… they can send some more rubbish…”

The wariness of the demon was also transmitted to people, who began to more diligently set up a tent and hide it in the forest. They were lucky to get through this before another wave of blizzards and blizzards hit the forest, hitting the elven armies as well. It's amazing that the dwarves already had the resources for these spells, apparently they began to prepare for serious problems.

"It would be funny to see frostbitten elven faces, but it's better if they just freeze away from us," - priest smirked at his own thoughts and swallowed, trying to contain his chuckle.

We can say that they got what they deserved, even though it pleased the soul.

The darkness in the forest was a little different, and the cold made it thicker and more unpleasant, from which the proximity to the fire was a divine providence for mens. This warmth seemed so cozy and soft, even homely, from which, despite the bad, for some reason, mood of the Inquisitor, he was calm in such an environment.

“You fought well,” - mage quietly broke the silence, looking at the priest lying a little further away, and for some reason he immediately frowned in response.

Perhaps this anger tormented the man, or maybe it's something that Julianos fears. People seemed so strange, being sad in their victory isn't that logical. It doesn't matter how the victory was won.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” - priest replied calmly and obviously not without reason, because Demonologist only nodded and looked away.

So be it, let this person continue to surprise the mage, while they have time to study each other.

Messenger was already full of enthusiasm in connection with their victory, and if the elves understand that people and demons become much stronger in alliance, fear will seize them, and fear will be their grave.

“Tomorrow we will already be in the capital, unless, of course, someone else is found in ambushes,” - messenger said, still awake and afraid that they might be caught at night, - “Victor, I advise you to rest, and you too," - he looked expressively at Inquisitor, - "knowing how tired you are. Tomorrow I need a good protector, so sleep well." - Human nodded back and closed his eyes, relaxing rather quickly

And the mage, despite his post-traumatic and weak condition from poisoning, couldn't fall asleep just as quickly, still holding in his head the picture of the battle between the priest and the elves. Who would have known what one such warrior is capable of doing, and there were many like him, though not thousands.

Previously, the Demonologist met only Witch Hunters, and those were many times weaker and more impulsive in the worst possible way. A single fire attack could kill them, and the Possessed were only too happy to strangle them with their bare hands. This Inquisitor was absolutely different.

Calm and intelligent, though overly curious. He is forgiving and able to accept his mistakes, and his madness in the heat of battle is his strongest weapon.

***

“Humans and demons?! Well, well... I thought that I would not see anything more wonderful," - Yataa'Halli said uncertainly and with some apprehension, - "why did you decide that the elves are coming to us with not good intentions? More precisely, why did you decide that we would trust you?"

The squad was a little shocked by the woman's resilience and the fact that she believes in the rationality of the elves to the last. Although, it's hard not to have resilience when an entire guard is pointing their weapons at an enemy squad.

“Since, your grace, they have already begun to encroach on foreign territories, referring to the imaginary orders of Gallean, who, as many have already noticed, either went crazy or became a victim of Mortis,” - the messenger explained, while two warriors stood on the sides of him.

The queen frowned slightly and turned up her nose. She silently considered the words and saw the meaning in them, but still hoped to appeal to the minds of Gallean's childrens.

“Let me say my word,” - mage said quietly, which even surprised the princess.

The demon hadn't said a word since entering the capital, and to be honest, she was interested in hearing it. Maybe there will be some sense in his words, and if the Inquisitor, the killer of heretics, is in the squad with him, then this mage is clearly not so simple.

“So be it, I’m listening,” - she said condescendingly and lowered her attentive gaze at the men.

“We, demons, don't wish harm to you or humans, we ourselves have suffered from Uther's vile invasion and continue to reap the fruits of his actions. The elves are waiting for the moment to destroy us to the end, while hobnobbing with the rabble and using the most vile and dirty methods of dealing with the enemy. As our spy found out, the meaning of their campaigns is to return "their" lands and overthrow demons, dwarwes, people, and sometimes even sea creatures from them. What can we say, they don't disdain to kill their own kind because they don't support all these atrocities"

The mage spoke calmly and confidently, not even paying attention to the skeptical looks of other dwarwes. Princess liked it. If the demon was lying, it would be obvious, but Yataa'Halli herself saw how difficult it was for the children of Bethrezen. Regardless of who they are and what they have done, no one deserves final destruction without the right to repentance. Even though it's strange, talking about demons' repentance.

“I see, but what will this man tell me?” - she turned to the Inquisitor.

He shuddered, and Demonologist looked at his ally with interest.

“All I can say is that I have seen enough of the elves' madness in frontline combat. I realized one thing - this is worse than any other fanaticism. It looks like they completely lost their will or went crazy under the influence of their god, but I'm only guessing because the elves didn't behave like that before,” - princess nodded and looked around the warriors, thinking what to do in such a situation.

On the one hand, everyone noticed a clear danger, people and demons are now allied against a common enemy, and it was really amazing. On the other hand, it was not entirely clear what the elves were doing and what their god was up to, and Mortis was definitely no less dangerous.

“Well, leave them for the night, but put on good guards." - The queen gave the order to the servants and then turned to the squad. - “As for all of you… I will take note of your words and stop counting the Legions and The Empire as enemies of the Mountain Clans, but on one condition – you leave our territory. If you are will fell yourself calmer, I am ready to agree to a peace agreement. Rest, tomorrow you will have to go back," - woman let them go with an escort and they were assigned to several nearby rooms.

***

“Excellent, they even allowed us to stay, at least we didn’t have to go back,” - priest said heavily and wearily sat down at the table in the room.

Outside the window it was deep night, and from the snowfall outside it was almost impossible to see anything, except for the vague contours of the capital and brightly lit windows.

“Yes, I was also expecting the worst, it’s strange that I’m still here,” - Victor said quietly, who gave the staff to the guards and sat without a cloak and mantle on the edge of his bed.

To prevent the demon from being killed on the spot and allowing him an audience? It really was amazing.

“Stop belittling yourself like that,” - the messenger grunted, - “you didn’t do anything to get arrested. Yes, and you look like a human, you behave with restraint. This is probably why you were treated with complete understanding, besides, you don’t often meet comrades like you two"

Their conversation was interrupted by the discontented hiss of the Inquisitor, who tried to pull off his camisole, stained with blood.

Messenger immediately began to search for potions while Julianos clutched at his bleeding hand and complained about his ruined clothes. Demonologist slightly excitedly grabbed the bottle he had just found and approached his comrade, causing the archer to swallow his objections.

Human simply watched in silence as Victor rolled up the priest's sleeve and treated the wound with the potion. The inquisitor winced in pain and pursed his lips so as not to make a sound, but continued to furtively glance at the magician.

"Why are you silent? Is it really that bad?" - the mage asked Julianos quietly, but he only snorted in response.

It didn't really hurt, but the wound stinged a lot, the fabric stuck to it, and in general it would be ugly to splatter the guest bed with blood, and he himself was very, very tired.

"Calm down," - the archer waved his hand, - "let him rest"

Priest still looked gloomily to the side, but when his comrade finished treating his wound, he managed to say “thank you” in a barely audible voice.

“Nothing to thank for,” - Demonologist replied, and once again left the man alone.

Mage would like to know more about his condition, but he valued the calmness of others more than his own curiosity.

Demon sat on the edge of his bed and sighed heavily, taking out a magic book that was kindly lent to him in some human city. The messenger had already begun to collect his things and was ready to write a mission report all night, and the priest was already nodding off, unable to lie down on the bed.

The medicine was, in addition to everything, a strong sedative, so that it was easy to relieve pain and give the body a rest.

“I’ll go, and you put him on the bed, otherwise his whole body will ache,” - archer said quietly and looked at Inquisitor, who was almost asleep at the table.

With a gesture, he signaled to the demon that he was going to his room, after which he still helped drag the priest to the second bed.

“Good night,” - mage said quietly to the messenger, after which he, though not immediately, relaxed on his soft bed.

It's funny, but before he never missed a soft bed, never attached importance to such trifles that people care about... and now he began to notice something warm and pleasant in them.

Maybe someday he will be able to understand a human and learn to live like him.

***

Back the next morning, the proverb was resolved via teleportation, reluctantly with the help of Wotan's priests.

The Valkyries helped them get to their camp, because detachments of elves gathered outside the gates of the dwarves, looking for the heads of people and demons that entered the city. From the view from the windows of the castle of the capital, Inquisitor was again seized with anger, which only Demonologist could curb, by admonishing human before he decided to go out to the enemies alone.

In the camp they were greeted with joy and hope, the commanders only thanked them in the same way as any other warrior who coped with the task, while the messenger reaches to hand over a report to them.

And mage and the priest returned to their tent, already completely damp and cold.

“Well,” - Julianos complained with his shoulders, - “now we just have to wait?"

He didn't want to sit around doing nothing again until they got together. When he has nothing to do with his hands, his mind itself comes up with things to do.

“No, I think there will be a lot of work for us soon,” - mage remarked and began to warm up the tent, drying the damp firewood.

Of course Victor was right. Soon several warriors joined them: the Possessed, the Witch Hunter, the Healer and the Assassin. Their squad was strong and Inquisitor was pleased that the Witch Hunter learned a lot from one, adopting the invaluable experience of an older warrior.

And mage was simply glad that he was still alive, and that, for now, the entire confrontation was in a calm state.

They were scouting but after they were acquired by elf wielders trying to acquire them in the village of humans and demons. There, the soldiers were treated, helped the townspeople and rested.

Once they were sent on the ship, and then they were overtaken by the most unexpected enemy, who frightened some of the soldiers of their detachment.

"Kraken?! Seriously?! What did he forget here?" - shouted Vlad, the young Witch Hunter, after which Julianos just chuckled calmly.

“Even with the fact that he was created by Soloniel, now Mortis, he is still a wild animal, and therefore,” - human took out a mace and turned to the mage - “get ready to fry his damn tentacles,” - he grinned predatorily and the Demonologist slightly shrunk to himself.

All the same, this person is something special. This mood was picked up by the Assassin, who quickly and imperceptibly poisoned the sea miracle with his blade, and then retreated behind the Inquisitor.

"How do you feel the heat of the underworld?" - roared Victor, throwing all the powerful spells of the Kraken, and then Julianos and the Witch hunter delivered two strong blows, barely dodging from the powerful offshoot of the monster. In the end Kraken simply didn't stand one of the best poisons of The Empire, from which he died.

While the detachment was celebrating the victory over such an unexpected enemy, Demonologist silently stood by the ship and looked into the distance. Mage was so imbued with his ally during all this time that he couldn't even imagine his squad without this priest. Everything would be wrong.

***

Dwarves realized, though not immediately, that the elves were trying to destroy the connection between their clans. However, no one expected that they would try to lure the queen out of the capital to use her as a hostage.

Although the elves didn't even succeed, simply because the demons and people put up their troops in a place that was safe for the dwarves, but completely inconvenient for the elves, because they simply couldn't get past the battle.

This news forced the Mountain Clans to reconsider their policy and reluctantly go over to the side of The Empire and the Legions, and after this, the elves decided to simply leave the Clans lands.

But still, no one forgot about their doings, therefore, shortly after the retreat of the elves, planning of a military campaign began in order to return the conquered lands back and destroy the one who created all this madness - their Oracle. Yes, maybe she was only the voice of a madman, but it was she who gave impetus to events, pronouncing insane orders of an equally insane God with her lips.

While the war squads of humans and demons retreated to their capitals, mage and his party remained in a city not far from the capital of the dwarves, accompanied by a couple of groups of warriors.

Demonologist was finally able to experience being in an ordinary wooden human house. It was strange: every day he hosted members of the detachment and they, most often, discussed the events that were happening outside the walls of the city, simultaneously preparing for possible attacks on him. It looked so unusual and, at the same time, he was pleased that such different creatures could find a common language in difficult times. Something human still lingered in him, maybe memories of a past life.

Julianos often came to him, who simply talked with the demon on various topics abstracted from the current war. He often talked about what people used to do in everyday life, about how he became an Inquisitor and what he does on duty, and the mage listened to everything and didn't miss a word, waiting for when he himself could tell him about himself.

Although, sometimes demon saw a human at some awkward prayers to the Highfather. Despite the fact that he almost lost faith, he prayed for the health of his comrades-in-arms, for a successful outcome of the war, and for the Highfather to have mercy on Bethrezen and his creatures.

***

"Well, are you ready for battle?" - said human with a smirk, knocking on the door frame with his fist.

Mage shuddered slightly as he looked up from reading the human book. He was clearly not ready for such a late visit, but at least he didn't shoot a fireball at the guest. Priest often approached unnoticed, although he obviously never planned it.

“I was made for fight, just like you… of course I’m ready,” - the man muttered back, looking down at the book again.

Human was obviously upset that his comrade-in-arms paid him so little attention and answered so dryly, it was noticeable on his face.

“I didn’t expect a different answer,” - Julianos entered the room and put his hand on the shoulder of his comrade, slightly embarrassing him.

Victor had long begun to suspect that something had changed between the two of them, although they never learned anything specific about each other, as ordinary people, peasants, for example, do. They talk about this and that, asking who does what and what they like, who has what kind of family. But warriors don't have time for that, they only talk about their military training or general information about their entire race, that's how they are.

There was a strange mood between them, which few people could understand, it could be called solidarity and some kind of friendship. Probably, it could even be called affection, because both the mage and the priest lost their troops very quickly, and with each other they were able to survive and live right up to the end of the entire defense and campaign to the capital of the dwarves.

And each of them thought that they would die after all.

"What are you reading?" - human leaned over the text and realized that demon was leafing through new magic books.

He began to notice that people were more indulgent about the curiosity of his comrade-in-arms and allowed him to purchase new books so that he would learn new spells. Whether this meant that the demon was accepted as an equal, or whether people sold books to him out of need, or maybe vice versa out of fear, priest really didn't know.

Julianos' face was inches away from Victor's, which made them both feel the air around them growing hotter and heavier, and the tension of the silence growing.

“I am studying human's science,” - he replied, even with some fatigue, - “to be honest, I found something new, but fire magic is easier for me than anything else"

Demonologist showed a hint of embarrassment on his calm face for the first time when the Inquisitor turned his head towards him and looked straight into his eyes with interest. It was the first time, for a man had not allowed himself such intimacy since their first meeting.

“Ha, nothing, you’re a master, I think you just need to try harder and everything will be fine,” - warrior said confidently and patted the mage on the shoulder, slowly straightening up, - “besides, your age makes understand that you have much experience, more than human mages, right?"

He glanced at his friend over his shoulder and felt a strange feeling. The demons never spoke some simple words of encouragement, their speeches often sounded with notes of causticity and sarcasm, even if it wasn't so. That's how they are by nature. What Bethrezen put into them had too much influence on their behavior.

"Probably," - he replied calmly, but Inquisitor was already accustomed to the reticence of his brother in arms.

Therefore, the man's lips stretched into a smile and priest decided not to distract demon from the learnings anymore, slowly moving away to the exit from the room.

“Here’s what I wanted to offer, although this is not welcomed in our church ...” - human began somehow from afar, and mage didn't take his eyes off him, - “in general, if we win and survive, then I am ready to pay us as much wine as in it will fit us until we faint,” - he grinned and Demonologist raised his eyebrows in surprise, - “but what? I think you will fall first"

Probably Julianos and the rest of the people don't know much about demons to suggest something like that. But that would be extremely funny, so Victor accepted the challenge with a smirk.

“If you are so sure, I am ready to prove the opposite,” - demon replied and turned back to the book, - “for now, with your permission, I will try to succeed,” - mage said with the same smile and priest nodded, closing the a door.

His feigned confidence was gone, and his cheeks were reddened. His heart was pounding with excitement, because he couldn't show his weakness and his feelings to an ally. He couldn't afford anything at all.

***

The victory was hard. Financial losses, fields of the dead, which, due to the danger of the undead, had to be buried for a long time, performing all the rites (with which the Inquisitors and monks kindly helped right after the battles). So many ordinary cities suffered, three trading port cities were also half destroyed, besides, the dwarves suffered losses, but the elves were driven back to their lands.

The mage and the priest were in the same unit all this time, they became more experienced with each battle, occasionally losing allies, but gaining new ones. They were often on the verge of death, pulling each other almost out of the world, sometimes even in the literal sense. And that Victor, that Julianos always panicked from the fact that they could lose each other.

The commanders-in-chief regarded this as the strongest and most amazing friendship between human and a demon, which served as an example for many fighters, while human almost fought in hysterics when the demon opened his eyes already in the infirmary bed, being half dead. And demon didn't get up from the chair in front of the human's bed, guarding him from any external irritants, including any unfamiliar visitor, and watching every healer that came to Julianos.

In the end, many were confused... what to do with the demons and who are they now? In the end, they decided one thing: demons have the right to exist, but only in a separate territory. As long as they do not threaten anyone, they can live in peace without fear of destruction. After all, the demons did a lot for people and gnomes this time, besides, people were imbued with respect for such strong warriors.

After such news, Demonologist seriously began to think about finding a home somewhere far away from the hellish crevices and capitals, in peace and quiet. As far away from the battles as possible. He wanted new knowledge and wanted to understand people better, seeing them as potential allies, teachers and students, and the battles only took precious time.

***

The celebration in honor of the victory was short, but very solemn. Yes, and it was short only because it was necessary to quickly restore and rebuild cities anew, helping the peoples to recover. What can we say about the establishment of trade, international relations and replenishment of the treasury.

Victor barely recovered from the stormy battles and did not even notice how he was already sitting at the table next to Julianos, who moved in and shouted loud toasts, raising glass after glass of finest Imperial wine.

At this time, the High Inquisitor, who, as the demon understood, was the boss of priest, covered his face with his hand and could hardly stand everything he saw at the feast. He was an impenetrable, true believer, because for him such events were simply beyond understanding.

In the green eyes of the Inquisitor, it was as if the fire “flared up” again, which appeared during the most cruel and exciting battles. And the very last battle made mage feel goosebumps all over his body from how crazy and beautiful the man was.

And how lucky he was to have a friend covering his rear again, like so many times before.

“Well, are you still on your feet?” - priest said slightly indistinctly, getting up from the table and staggering.

Victor saw Julianos almost fall back. Only a chair saved him.

Demon wanted to take the man home, because he could drink himself to death or, worse, get into trouble that he could hardly get away with even with his merits.

"I? Unlike you, I don’t even have a slight weakness in my body,” - mage grinned and saw the disgruntled face of his ally, - “can we go from here?"

The hall was actually slightly uncomfortable: so crowded and hot that Demonologist's head was spinning.

"Already? What, are you tired?" – the Inquisitor stared at his comrade-in-arms in bewilderment, and demon noticed how his friend’s cheeks were flushed.

It's time to take the human out.

It was difficult for him himself to sit in a crowded hall, where everyone was in a semi-conscious state, and those who were not were lying under the table and on the floor. The air was stale a long time ago and it was hard to breathe.

“I’m not used to such a revelry,” - Victor said a little louder and got up from the table, - “if you want, you can certainly stay.”

But priest again got up from his chair, and almost immediately began to fall back, already without a saving support. Of course, Demonologist caught him and grabbed him by the elbow, throwing the priest's arm over his shoulder.

It seemed that Julianos weighed almost nothing for a partner, although the Inquisitor's body and muscle mass suggested otherwise. Victor tried to get rid of such thoughts as quickly as possible, but alcohol did its job well.

“So you lost a bet,” - mage said quietly and heard a chuckle from his comrade.

"Why are you okay?" - his drunken speech was so funny that a barely noticeable smile simply couldn't leave demon's lips.

"Because I can't get drunk"

Inquisitor sighed in displeasure and looked away, trying to stay on his feet and wrapping his arm around his ally's shoulders. It didn't go unnoticed, such a frequent friendly gesture that, surprisingly, caused more than friendly feelings in both men.

"Well, of course…"

Demonologist just laughed softly and shook his head. The demons can't get drunk, that was the rub, alcohol poisoned their bodies in completely different way. But Victor had never tested it on himself and didn't assume that it would work on him.

Demon led his comrade to the place where he lived - to the outskirts of the capital, a quiet and peaceful place. The house wasn't to say that it was ordinary, but it wasn't the royal mansions either: two-story, with a couple of unkempt flower beds that were unattended during the war.

As mage walked along with the burden, priest told him about how nicely they fought and how interesting it was for him to deal with such a warrior as Victor. He also talked about how ashamed of his madness, which wakes up in him as suddenly as it recedes, because the Inquisitors were literally tortured to make them what they are.

From these stories, Demonologist drooped a little and understood why priest felt so disgusting after each battle. Probably, he often recalled the pain that was delivered to him in the torture chambers.

"Here's the door, will you open it?" - priest nodded in response and, with the help of a friend, took out the key, unlocking the thick oak door.

Both silently went inside and closed the house, and Demonologist kindled a fire in the fireplace, escorting man to the second floor, to his bedroom. This seemed like overprotectiveness, but the demon had little resistance to his hidden desires and couldn't just leave his friend.

“Thank you for being there all this time,” - Julianos said softly and smiled a little as they entered his room, - “you know, after the horror that Uther caused, your presence helped me to come to my senses... not alone. I think otherwise I would be completely crazy," - priest sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hands over his face.

Victor took a step forward and bowed his head.

"Help?"

Human suddenly froze, but then looked up at the demon and gave him a faint smile.

"You can stay if you want to help..."

Demonologist arched an eyebrow.

"That's too much trust, isn't it? This is your house..."

“I just… just,” - human hesitated, not knowing how to explain his offer to stay.

“I don’t need to know why, I’ll stay anyway, I just have nowhere to go in the capital of The Empire,” - he said quietly in response and saw an already guilty smile on the lips of Inquisitor.

While the man was undressing, mage studied the interior of the house: everything was so clean, order reigned absolutely everywhere. Surprisingly, books on magic stood right next to the scriptures. He also found a pipe for smoking somewhere on a shelf, and also a statuette of the Highfather next to the candlestick, but didn't touch anything he saw.

He wasn't in the other rooms on the second floor, but he didn't go there on his own either. Maybe later, when his comrade gets better.

"Hey," - priest's voice came from behind.

He stood in a loose shirt with ruffles and trousers, but without military ammunition. It was a view Victor had seen infrequently, which made it even more admirable than the inquisitorial form.

His human's face became softer, kinder, his eyes seemed less formidable, and his neck was so thin and free to touch. Usually only women bared their shoulders and neck in order to attract suitors. It was strange to see a man in such a vulnerable state.

"What?" – trying to hide his interest monotonously asked the magician.

Priest hesitated slightly, as if searching for words.

“You should also take off the excess, I don’t think it’s that cold here,”  -demon shrugged his shoulders in response and pulled off his cloak and robe, which constrained his movements, remaining almost identical to the Inquisitor.

Both of them sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace on the first floor, and just in time, because now the man was already shaking from drunk alcohol, and his body was thrown into the cold.

Julianos thought for a long time whether to say something else to his comrade or not, but nevertheless parted his lips and began:

“You know, I don’t know if you noticed, but I’ve become very used to you lately...” - Victor looked at the man with interest and leaned back on the soft upholstery, - “i mean that I have never felt such attachment to the usual man, and you are Bethrezen's servant. This is strange," - priest looked at the flames and smiled slightly at his intoxicated thoughts.

Now he felt so light at heart when he finally said all this aloud.

“I understand that, I didn’t like people very much, but you are a completely different matter. Despite how different you and I are," - mage said quietly, - "answer only one question: are you afraid of your depraved fantasies?"

Human flinched at those words and stared at his comrade in shock. Of course, demon knows what is going on in his soul. He feels anger, lies, lust... it's a demon, after all.

“I… I’m not afraid of fantasies!” - human snorted, but quickly softened. - “I'm ashamed of myself for my emotions,” - he sighed heavily, - “I'm ashamed because it's a sin. I can’t resist feelings, but when I feel them, it hurts me... I am consumed by anger from these feelings," - priest spoke out and Demonologist listened to him to the end.

Now everything has become even clearer.

“You're just not made for your vows. You are like fire, and only a few creatures can control such an element, let alone some imaginary punishment from heaven,” - he said, looking at the embarrassed Inquisitor, - “and outwardly you are as... amusing as a flame"

Priest once again looked at the mage in shock and swallowed, sharply lowering his gaze to the floor. He had never heard such words before in his life. Even his appearance didn't resemble the appearance of an ideal husband, not only a bad temper, which didn't seem to excite the demon at all.

“Are you really saying such words to another man?.. It literally sounds like…” - he stammered when he felt someone else's hot hand on his shoulder, squeezing a thin white cloth, and turned to the mage.

His ally's face was suddenly completely different without all of his equipment. Demon looked many times more beautiful and even more human, and his features were so pleasant that priest's heart melted.

“Sounds just like you thought, human,” - Victor said invariably confidently, - “at first I thought that you were one of those who scream the loudest, but in reality it’s not worth a penny, but during the first fight I saw how you can be,” - demonic eyes flashed in the dark, seducing human and making his whole body goosebumps, besides, the alcohol had already clouded his mind enough to make it difficult for him to control himself.

Both of them were no longer comrades in arms, because the war was over. Now they are only two creatures that have experienced a lot together, and this made the person even more uncomfortable. It was all too intimate and they were too close to each other.

"Would you like a permanent life with someone like me?" - priest asked with a grin, and the mage grinned back.

"How can you scare the demon? For heaven's sake, mortal,” - he laughed heartily at how tense the man was, who bashfully looked away, clutching the upholstery of the sofa.

His heart began to beat faster and the air became hot and heavy, and it was hard to know why. Perhaps the mage himself raised the temperature without realizing it.

"What do you suggest?" - human asked uncertainly, breathing heavily, but quietly, feeling how the lower abdomen begins to reduce ardent desire.

Mage wrapped his hand around the human's waist and he gasped in surprise, but couldn't resist in any way. He closed his eyes and felt his chest pressed against his own. There were only two pitiful pieces of cloth between them, which couldn't hide the heat coming from the Demonologist's body.

"Do what you want," - Victor croaked, kissing his lips softly and pulling away.

At first, Julianos was in shock and couldn't move at the realization that he had been kissed by a demon. Another man. But then he slowly opened his eyes, looking at his comrade with a completely different look.

“Good,” - priest's speech became more sober, and his voice became lower.

And he roughly dug into Victor's lips, grabbing at his shirt only to force it off his body, tearing out all the buttons. Demonologist returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm, unbuttoning human's blouse more carefully and pulling it off his shoulders to toss it aside later.

Inquisitor pressed his chest into the mage's chest and wrapped his legs around his waist, running his hands all over the demon's torso and deepening the kiss. His hips pressed against Demonologist's by themselves, and human himself groaned softly, more from the close and desired contact than from the vivid sensations. But they were there too, and they were strong.

Everything that was happening made Julianos go crazy again: their hands sliding over each other's bodies; lips touching each other again and again; intertwined tongues that tried to fight for supremacy; inconsistent hot breath on the lips. But most of all, he liked just being pressed against another, hot chest and feeling the beating of a second heart next to him.

Julianos raised his arms, wrapping his arms around the mage's neck and running his fingers through his ashen hair, who hummed contentedly and pulled back to grin back.

“That's not all, right?" - demon teased the priest and knew that he wasn't yet brave enough to act more sharply.

He only frowned and pursed his lips in response, wrapping his lips around Victor's neck, mage put her out to meet him, closing his eyes and sighing languidly, from which the man became a little bolder.

“Are demons allowed to do something like that to humans?” - he whispered back into his lover's ear with a grin.

"You answer a question with a question. Then it's my turn: are people allowed to commit adultery with demons?" - he stared into the man's eyes, and both of them were breathing faster.

"Hah, we'll find a compromise," - man barely managed to say before being drawn back into a more insistent and passionate kiss.

Victor took the lead, placing his hands on Julianos' hips, slowly pressing down on them, causing him to begin slow movements, fidgeting on top of him.

“Do you think I don’t know what thoughts were in your head?" - mage croaked, ending the kiss for a second.

He cupped human's lips again and rested his forehead against his. Priest bit his lip.

“I remember how on the very first day your hands wandered along my back,” - demon said, breathing heavily, looking intently into the man’s eyes clouded with lust, - “every time you slept, you moaned and said my name, clutching the blanket…” - Inquisitor swallowed and softly touched his lips to the lips of Demonologist, not finding a place for his hands.

Julianos's palms slid over Victor's shoulders and forearms, feeling his soft skin and muscles. Fingers slid over the mage's belly, and the lips again descended to his neck, this time digging deeper into the skin, as human listened to the quiet sighs of his lover. It seemed so amazing to finally feel the naked male body under my hands. And how wrong it was, only increased the excitement and desire, rather than stopping him.

Soon, Victor's neck was covered with purple spots, and their bodies were literally glued to each other. From the heat, the skin was covered with sweat and it was difficult for the mens to move away from each other in order to take a friend, a more comfortable position.

This couldn't help but make both of them chuckle, but as soon as they were able to separate, Julianos immediately led mage into his bedroom, holding his hand tightly. Probably, human was afraid that he had a vision of Victor, and if not, that demon would simply run away.

Having dragged mage into the room, priest pushed him to the bed and Demonologist obediently fell on her, looking expectantly at her lover.

“I've been waiting for this for so long I can't believe it,” - Inquisitor whispered, unbuttoning his pants and pulling them off, along with uncomfortable shoes and stockings that caught demon's attention, - “it was so hard to contain if you knew.

He closed his eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed, slowly, stealthily, hovering over Victor.

“I know,” - mage replied and ran the back of his hand along the man’s cheek, - “I still feel the strong smell of wine coming from you, it continues to cloud my mind..." - this phrase wasn't easy for him, he wasn't used to saying such things so honestly and straight forward.

Inquisitor arched an eyebrow and sat on Demonologist's hips, placing his palms on his chest.

"Do demons get drunk?" - he chuckled, but immediately saw demon's smirk.

“They don’t get drunk, but alcohol causes completely different symptoms in us...” - he raised himself on his hands, approaching Julianos’ face, - “increases lust and causes an adrenaline rush... but only increases, and you understand what it means"

Priest opened his mouth and moved towards Demonologist's thighs, rubbing his cock against his through the layers of tissue again.

Silence hung in the room, which was interrupted only when the friction intensified: through the heavy and frequent breathing, the quiet growl of both broke through, the rustle of the blanket and the creak of the floorboards under the bed seemed to be completely imperceptible to hearing. The mage sat up on the bed, pulling Julianos to him by the waist, not preventing him from continuing to move. He nuzzled his collarbones, inhaling deeply the scent of the human's body, enjoying it with a smile. Victor slowly covered Inquisitor's chest with kisses, patiently waiting to see how his lover's behavior would change and what else he wanted.

“Why am I so pleased… to feel your lips?” - priest asked as if to himself, and mage laughed hollowly in response.

So many strange questions from this warrior, who, it would seem, was completely different in the field. It meant a lot to both of them. At the very least, that Julianos trusted demon, allowing himself to relax next to him.

“You are feverish from alcohol, and my lips warm your skin,” - Victor said quietly, closing his eyes and wrapping his lips around the man’s lips.

“Oh, I didn’t mean that,” - he grumbled in annoyance in response.

Indeed, it was so nice to feel so close to someone with whom you went through a difficult path and with someone who managed to understand you and accept you as an equal. It was a sweet sensation, similar to what people might call "happiness". But Viktor didn't say that out loud.

"Would you like to hear something romantic?" - mage chuckled and priest pulled away, leaning slightly uncertainly towards the demon's chest and forcing him to silently observe.

He was amused by how slowly and gently the man covered his skin with kisses, descending lower and stroking the demon's thighs with his hands. And he noticed with some delight and interest that the whole physiology of Demonologist was identical to the human one, except that the body temperature was completely different.

Under the gentle movements of the fingers of a man, the demon lay down on a soft blanket. He quickly lost his temper, although he always showed himself to be the most calm and reasonable warrior. His scientific interest in humans was initially high, and when Julianos joined him, this interest turned into a subtle but intense obsession.

The tip of human's tongue slid to the navel and began to move lower, causing the mage to slightly bend his legs. It was a gesture that the priest was on the right path, so he just smirked silently, glancing at Victor, and then smoothly pulled the edge of the linen from his hips.

"Too much human, I thought I'd find something unknown under your countless robes," - Julianos said softly, and demon rolled his eyes.

“Well, there’s definitely something unexplored in this, right?" - he said with a touch of resentment and wrapped his legs around the man's torso, not allowing him to move away.

Julianos, however, wasn't afraid of this, only with pleasant surprise expected the partner's further actions.

And they didn't keep themselves waiting long. Grasping human by the chin, mage clasped the already long tense cock with his other hand, gently running his fingers over it. Priest bit his lip and closed his eyes, soon feeling Victor's hot and wet flesh on his lips, which for the time being was sliding around the man's mouth, as if teasing him.

Surprisingly, this didn't arouse disgust in priest, rather, on the contrary, interest and desire to learn something new.

"You're even hotter than I thought," - man mumbled before the head of mage's cock slid over his lips.

Demon only chuckled in response and tilted his head to one side, studying with interest such a naive behavior of an experienced warrior of The Empire. He looked a little, just a little confused, but he clearly knew what they were doing and what he himself should do.

“Imagine how hot it will be inside you,” - mage said quietly and priest was embarrassed in response to such words.

His eyes widened and his mouth parted, as if he wanted to say something. But instead of words, only a noisy sigh flew off his lips, after which he surprisingly quickly decided to grab his lover's cock with his lips, carefully and gently slide them down the trunk.

Demonologist moved his hand from Julianos' chin to the top of his head and gently stroked his hair, noticing how coarse it was, yet soft to the touch.

In response, human mumbled contentedly and pulled away, running his tongue along the entire length of his cock and looking up at Victor's relaxed face. He nodded approvingly, after which the man smiled and continued to study demon's cock with his lips and tongue, slowly starting to suck on his head.

Priest noticed for himself that he didn't feel the typical taste of the male organ, according to the descriptions of the treatises, except perhaps a weak and sweet aftertaste. A taste that I wanted to study better, taste it and understand why it is the way it is. Or perhaps the pheromones clouded the mind of the weak-willed servant of the Highfather.

“I can’t move my eyes away… you are so cute in this form,” - Victor said softly and brokenly, attracting the attention of a human.

He grinned and for the first time tried to take a member in his mouth deeper, trying to contain the urge to vomit. Mage stared at the priest intently, ready to stop him at any moment and prevent him from choking, but Julianos held on well, until, of course, he reached the peak of his powers.

At some point, he abruptly pulled away and cleared his throat, gasping for air. He looked absolutely frustrated that he couldn't surprise his lover, but still, he is a man, and doing such things for him is against nature.

“Calm down,” - mage said quietly, - “you can’t learn to fence just by picking up a sword.” - He raised himself on his elbows and ran his hand through the man’s tousled hair.

Inquisitor only sighed heavily and looked at the demon, who was just as calm, but his entire face was already covered with beads of sweat. Behind the calm was a whirlwind of emotions.

“That's right…” - priest answered in a barely audible voice and felt Victor pull him towards him, forcing human to lie on top of him, and then abruptly switch places.

Inquisitor swallowed as he looked up at the mage looming over him, and as his gaze found the shining demonic eyes. Victor's hands gently folded his lover's legs as his lips fell on Julianos's neck. Priest let out a low, short groan as he felt someone else's cock sliding over his own.

“Th-this feeling… this is so wrong…” - Inquisitor muttered brokenly, and his mouth was immediately covered with a kiss.

Demonologist pressed the warrior's body into the bed so that he was shocked by the strength of his lover. The man didn't expect this from someone who fights with magic, but he definitely liked the feeling of heaviness on himself. Inquisitor's body shuddered and crawled from the friction of their flesh, and intermittent moans were clearly heard through the kiss.

Victor continued to move with pleasure, feeling priest's legs gently wrap around his waist, and his tongue completely surrenders under the onslaught of his own. Weakened palms and thin fingers slid down mage's back, trying to pull him even closer to them.

"Wrong? Now you think it's wrong?" - he whispered, pulling away from his lips and looking at the imploring gaze of priest. - "Do you think I'm wrong? I am a demon, and therefore…” - yellow eyes stared attentively at human's face.

He was embarrassed and looked away, restoring his breath.

“I… I didn’t mean that,” - demon laughed hollowly, in response, amused that he had touched his lover to the quick, but stopped at the moment when he noticed that Julianos was visibly taken aback by his words.

Victor softly touched priest's cheekbone with his lips, forcing him to instantly come to his senses.

"Calm down, I'm joking..." - he breathed a sigh of relief in response, - "when you know pleasure, I willn't stop until you reach your climax," - demon leaned towards the lover's ear and both of them breath quickened, - "I will make you forget about everything your rules just like I forgot mine for the sake of it"

Victor wrapped his lips around human's neck, biting it and then leaving a bright hickey on it. Julianos' legs trembled, and he involuntarily threw back his head, exposing his neck to his lover.

“Relax, let me do it,” - demon said into the man’s neck, and he bit his lip, running his fingers through Victor’s hair again.

Priest tried to relax his body and muscles, feeling mage's hand slide over his stomach, sinking to his groin and causing human's body to flinch. Then she sank lower and her fingers slipped between Julianos' buttocks, startling Julianos a little, but seeing Victor's serious look, the man calmed down.

Human swallowed and closed his eyes in shame, barely felt the unusual pressure on the anus. Still looking at the mage, he tried to catch on his face, in his eyes, at least somewhere, an emotion that would tell what would happen next.

But then he could only feel demon's heavy, hot breath on his neck as his fingers gently and slowly sank further through the ring of muscles still tense. Priest closed his eyes and tried to force himself to relax, hearing in response a quiet chuckle from his lover, who began to gently run his thumb along the inside of his thigh.

“Don't rush, this won't make the process go faster,” - Victor said softly, softly touching Julianos's earlobe with his lips.

Man tried not to show how the sensation of something foreign inside slowly ceases to be painful and strange, causing something else in him instead. He understood that each time the movements become deeper inside him, but despite this, his back arched smoothly and unobtrusively towards mage, and inside everything seemed to itch.

As Inquisitor's hands gripped the soft fabric of the coverlet forcefully and his mouth opened to let out a restrained groan, Victor knew he was definitely on the right track. He began to stimulate priest more intensely, moving closer to his body and pressing his hips into his leg. Human's face was distorted in a grimace of pleasure, and moans and noisy sighs broke from his lips every now and then, which he simply couldn't suppress, which gave demon a lot of pleasure.

Victor smirked, touching the edge of Julianos' lips with his lips, whereupon Julianos only reached out in response, in silent plea. Mage couldn't refuse and left a longer and deeper kiss on the lover's lips, which drowned out another groan, louder and no less vulgar than those that were earlier.

Demon's fingers penetrated much deeper and reached the human's sensitive point. Muscles tensed and legs trembled. A momentary sensation of pleasure swept through the priest's entire body, causing his hips to move towards demon's hand.

"You liked it, didn't you?" - Victor whispered, pulling away, against Julianos' lips.

Human nodded quickly, looking up at his lover in embarrassment.

“C-can you…do that one more time?”

Demon chuckled softly and repeated the movement, this time a little stronger, and priest couldn't help moaning this time, pleasing them to the mage's ears. After a while and enjoying Inquisitor's facial expressions, Victor began to slowly and carefully stretch his lover, preparing him for something more serious.

"Deus det mihi fortitudine..." - escaped the man's lips, only inflaming demon.

He had heard Julianos speak Latin before, it was no less passionate and sensual. But now it sounded much more beautiful and emotional than prayers memorized by heart. And his voice changed, became softer and more tender, as if he enveloped everything he touched, and caused wave after wave of pleasure. Julianos is the only one whose prayers did not cause pain and anger in the magician.

“Ego sum Deus tuus,” - Victor answered with a grin, turning Julianos’ surprised look on himself, - “we both know this language, man, don’t forget”

The deep voice of the mage and his words brought them together in Inquisitor's stomach, causing him to languish with lust even more. At that moment, demon's fingers slightly accelerated their movements, stimulating the sensitive point more actively, depriving poor Julianos of control over his own body, which began to move on its own. A thrill grew inside, pleasure that gained strength, the back arched again, and legs parted to the sides, pushing the hips towards what gave the person pleasure.

“God… I feel so bad…” - he said between moans, pulling mage to him by the neck.

Their foreheads collided and Victor bit his lip, gently slowing his hand movements.

“No, it’s good,” - Demonologist explained, looking into the eyes of his lover, - “your body is so actively giving in to me, and you don’t feel pain at all,” - after these words, he pulled out his fingers, in response, priest stared at him with surprise and shock.

“W-why are you…?” - he was embarrassed by the question he wanted to ask, but it was unnecessary.

“It’s all right, it was just preparation,” - demon said softly, kissing human softly on the lips and pulling away, - “now open your mouth,” - in bewilderment, Julianos did what Victor asked, immediately feeling the fingers of his second hand in his mouth.

Priest ran his tongue over them, wetting them with saliva and furtively observing the emotions of his demon: the sparkle of eyes burning in the twilight meant that this was to the liking of the lord of fire.

Soon mage pulled his fingers out of his lover's mouth, keeping his eyes on his lips. Inquisitor held his breath as he felt the wetness and chill on his sensitive skin, and then felt the same wet but hot cock. Human gritted his teeth but tried not to tense his muscles even as he felt slight rhythmic movements and pressure that quickly built up until the demon entered him. Just the tip caused a sharp pain in a person, which he was able to withstand without problems, but a displeased growl still escaped his lips. Victor paused for a while, watching priest's facial expressions to let him get used to the new sensations: he didn't want to cripple Julianos' insides and hurt him, at least because he knew how dangerous it was for people's health.

"Does it still hurt?" - demon asked softly.

“Damn… tolerable,” - man barely uttered, grimacing, not knowing where to put his hands.

They either squeezed the head of the bed, then the blanket, and sometimes lay lifeless when the muscles got too tired.

"I'll stop if you chan-"

"No, I didn't change my mind!" - priest abruptly interrupted his speech, still frowning from the unpleasant sensations. - “You can… continue. I'm already used to..."

Demon, despite his skepticism, believed his lover and slowly, trying not to make sudden movements, continued.

Gently but persistently, he continued to move deeper, occasionally allowing Inquisitor to rest and adjust, until he finally entered completely. At that moment, both men breathed a sigh of relief, and human noticed that the feeling of fullness inside him, which should have seemed obscene and dirty, caused him impulses of pleasure that were sent to every part of his body.

Mage chuckled softly, resting his forehead against Julianos's shoulder.

“Finally,” - he looked up at the priest, who smiled slightly in response, - “you?..”

“… okay…” - human looked embarrassed and guilty.

For a few more moments, they both regained their breath and calmed down before their patience came to an end.

Inquisitor pulled Demonologist to him by force and, after a glimpse of his eyes, cupped his lips with his, clinging to mage so tightly, as if trying to run his fingers under his hot skin. Demon, wasting no time, began slow movements, lightly biting the lips of the priest, who could not utter a word, uttering only groans and ragged breathing. He trembled all over, and his muscles involuntarily tensed themselves every time Victor's cock slid inside, and his voice suddenly became higher.

Mage gradually increased the pace, breathing heavily and barely touching his lips with the lips of priest. He didn't take his eyes off Julianos, who, despite his embarrassment, didn't look away. With each movement, Inquisitor moved more actively towards his lover, and the sensations became brighter. The more frequent the movements became, the stronger the burning sensation inside him increased, making him want even more. He pressed his hips close to mage's hips with a silent request and hoped that he would understand his desires. And it would be strange if Demonologist didn't understand him.

"What?" - demon asked with a grin, brushing sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes. - "Your lips are trembling like I've touched something very sensitive... right here"

He couldn't stand it and let out a loud, drawn-out groan, shuddering again and arching his back.

"Fuck!" -  Inquisitor breathed out, the first harsh curse that escaped his lips. - “This is too good… wait a minute—”

But Victor had other plans, because he had already warned priest that he wouldn't stop. He repeated the move, causing human to moan pleadingly as he tried to pull his hands out of his grip. After the second movement, demon bit his lip and leaned down to Julianos' cheeks to wipe away his tears with his lips, which involuntarily came out from so many sensations that he had not yet experienced. After a couple more movements, loud and stifled moans returned to more relaxed and depraved ones, and the hands weakened and stopped straining.

"That's all," - mage said, but the man could hardly answer.

He completely lost touch with the remnants of his mind, when his whole body was shackled by such a strong pleasure that he had long been on the verge and at any moment a person’s endurance could run out.

From the goofy smile and the way the man licked his lips, running his fingers through his hair, it was hard not to notice that now was the time to fulfill his promise to the fullest. He leaned down to the man's lips to place a light kiss on them, after which his movements became a little faster and rougher, each time speeding up.

"Hell!" -  priest exclaimed between groans and threw back his head, grabbing the demon by the neck and pulling him to him. - “Don’t… stop… bite me…” - he whispered it all into Demonologist’s ear, gritting his teeth as his orgasm came closer and closer.

Despite the fact that Victor didn't want to hurt his lover, he gladly used his fangs for their intended purpose. Being a demon, he had them just for this, to put marks on his lovers... so it was conceived by Bethrezen.

Human at first hissed in pain, but almost immediately hummed contentedly, turning close to his lover's face and holding his breath for a second. They both grinned at each other before their lips touched again. At that moment, Demonologist immediately felt how close Inquisitor was, listening to the loud exclamations and watching the bliss that was reflected on the human's face. Demon's hands rested on the pillows so that they were completely crushed under them.

"Deus propitius... esto mihi," - Julianos pleaded, cupping demon's face in his hands, - "this is delicious... you're so good... damn... I adore you," - he said in a halting, slightly growling tone, a sharp departure from his past pleading and high.

Mage bit his lip and chuckled, moving harder and harder inside the priest.

"Meus Ignis. Pray for me, not your god," - Victor hissed with an impudent grin, running one hand along the human's torso and causing him to shiver slightly in his body.

“Precor, Victor,” - Julianos whispered in response, gently stroking the demon’s cheek, - “I want ... even rougher,” - after these words human bit his lip, and Demonologist, satisfied with what he heard, gently touched priest’s cheekbone with his lips.

He continued with quick and sharp jerks, straightening his back and throwing his lover's legs over his shoulders. The sensations inside human's body intensified doubly, forcing him to collapse powerlessly on the bed, trying to move towards every movement.

“More… more… so close…” - human muttered thoughtlessly as he felt the throb of his cock inside him, - “damn, Victor, I… damn it, stronger!” - he exclaimed, throwing his legs off mage's shoulders and pulling him towards him with superhuman strength.

Demonologist growled in displeasure and roughly dug his teeth into human's neck, moving sharply, quickly and completely in him, squeezing his hands painfully.

Inquisitor threw his head back, trying not to choke as everything inside him began to burn, and his cock hardened and throbbed painfully. A few more jerks inside him touched his cherished point and human couldn't stand it, uttering a long groan and feeling that his whole body seemed to be pierced by lightning, his eyes sparkled and a wave of hitherto unknown pleasure passed through his body. Demon grinned contentedly and, making a couple of last jerks, let out a hoarse groan, releasing the hands of priest.

Julianos felt something hot spreading inside him, even a little burning, but pleasant, without noticing that his lips involuntarily stretched into a peaceful smile.

"Did you seriously ask me to put a mark on you?" - demon asked with a grin, already sober lover, and he immediately covered his face in embarrassment.

“I was in a state of passion,” - he mumbled.

Mage only laughed softly and left him, noticing the quiet exclamation of a human in response. Pulling away from Julianos' neck, Victor looked into his eyes and ran his hand over his cheek, afraid that after this night they would part forever and never see each other again. Because the war is over, and because demon and human shouldn't live together.

"What?" - priest asked wearily and smiled wearily.

"What's next... with us?" - demon was upset for the first time and this alerted the man.

Inquisitor pressed the Demonologist's head to his chest.

“Go to sleep, the morning is wiser than the evening, tomorrow we’ll decide,” - Victor was surprised by such a gesture, but obediently lay down, covering them both with a blanket and extinguishing all the fire in the house with one movement of his hand.

The already slowed down beating of a person's heart soothed no worse than a "sleep" spell, lulling the lord of fire like a baby.

***

Pretty peaceful, at first, the morning was broken by the noise of the warriors gathering on their lands. The sound of armor, the noise of negotiations between soldiers and the sounds of banners waving in the wind filled the streets, but it was far from this noise that woke Inquisitor and Demonologist.

They were awakened by an insistent knock on the door, which forced the owner of the house and his guest to put on at least something in a hurry, without even giving them time to talk among themselves.

As soon as the door opened, a messenger of the Legions of the Damned appeared behind it, who stared at human in bewilderment, but, fortunately, wasn't speechless:

“Victor, the commander-in-chief is looking for you, we are already departing,” - Demonologist grunted and stared thoughtfully somewhere behind the messenger, who began to shift from foot to foot, impatiently waiting for an answer.

Inquisitor looked excitedly behind messenger and saw crowds of demonic and gnome troops leaving the capital to the loud cries of its inhabitants. Perhaps this is what the mage had in mind when he wondered what would happen next.

"I'm staying," - Victor replied calmly, crossing his arms over his chest and amused at the messenger's reaction.

He, in even greater perplexity, did not know whether to persuade his brother to leave, or to leave him. And messenger was also afraid of being reprimanded or punished for not bringing mage back.

"And what should I tell the Duke? I don’t think he will be pleased with what he heard,” - demon hesitated and saw priest’s smirk.

“Tell him that I’m staying because I want to learn a lot from people, I’ve finally begun to learn other elements, and, if it comes to that, no one is waiting for me anyway there, where they all return,” - summed up Demonologist and messenger, shrugging his shoulders, hurried after the soldiers of the Legions.

Julianos went back into the house, after which Victor himself returned inside, catching his lover's questioning glance.

"Are you dissatisfied with my decision?" - mage asked slightly distressed, after which the Inquisitor laughed softly.

"How is it?" - human came close to him and wrapped his arms around demon's neck. - “I prayed that you would stay, and apparently my prayers were answered,” - Demonologist grinned dully and pulled human to him.