The Demon King's Hero Of Light 165 Chapter 165 The Bones Of The Betrayed

"Wait," cried one of the elven servants.

Aella paused, turning with a raised eyebrow.

"You're still going to take us to your lands, right?" asked the servant, with panic in her eyes.

"Technically, I'm not your king. Second, the princess here just said you were all going to be killed. I was going to kill all of you anyway, so now I don't have to worry about it," she said with a shrug, turning back towards the wall.

"What?!" exclaimed the princess in confusion.

"Why would I want a bunch of weak elves in my kingdom?" asked Aella with a sigh, not even bothering to turn around. "I have enough sob stories among my own people, without inviting more trouble by adding these wimps. They couldn't even stand up for themselves against someone they knew was doing bad things, and they knew the consequences if they were caught and never sought a way out of it. Let the king kill them. Saves me the trouble."

Tapping the wall, she heard an echo behind the only bookshelf in the room. Grasping it firmly, in order to rip it away from the wall, she sighed and shook her head.

"Bridgette would kill me," Aella said, looking at the books.

"Bridgette?" asked Daefina. "Who's that?"

Ripping the shelf away from the wall, without answering the elven princess, Aella visualized the human library, where Bridgette was busy still sorting the books from the church's library, and teleported with the entire bookshelf to an empty wall next to the Sage.

"Good morning, Aella," said Bridgette, not even bothering to look up when she set the shelf down with all of the books.

"Good morning, Bridgette. I thought you would like these," said Aella, teleporting away as she heard the sharp inhalation as Bridgette caught sight of the books. She narrowly avoided getting pushed to the side as Bridgette made a mad dash to check them out, appearing back in the elven estate, beside Daefina who had stepped forward to investigate the gaping hole in the wall.

"The stairs follow one of the main roots down," murmured the princess sadly.

"Time to check it out," said Aella, stepping through the hole and ducking so her head didn't sc.r.a.pe along the low roof.

Winding down, below the ground floor, the stairs finally ended in a large room, ornately decorated with skulls and various bones. A handful of black candles were cl.u.s.tered around some kind of an altar, and Aella wondered what that was about.

"Looks like Lord Avalon wors.h.i.+pped a different G.o.d," whispered Daefina as she stepped out beside Aella.

"Is that what all this is about?" asked Aella, looking around the room. "At least there's no…"

Her words were cut off as she heard something move just beyond the altar.

"What is it?" asked Daefina, squinting her eyes to see in the near dark.

Aella ignored her, walking towards the tiny lion cub. It was locked into a small cage, and shoved back behind the alter. It was clear it wasn't very old, since its eyes hadn't even opened yet, but the thing that was the most startling was that it was only the size of a normal kitten. Aella reached down, opening the latch on the cage, and held the cub in one hand. It nuzzled her thumb, trying to latch on to it, in order to nurse. A quick search found several small bottles that had been fastened together with odd materials, with sour milk still in some of them.

"He was milking the mother lion, to feed this one," said Daefina, puzzled. "Why not just leave it with its mother?"

"You saw the way the others were treated, and how many had already died," said Aella, turning to leave with the tiny cub cradled in her hand. "It would have died very quickly being so small. I'm not entirely sure why it's still alive."

"Probably magic," suggested Daefina, following her back up the stairs to the light of the main room. The servants were all still there, huddled in groups looking forlorn and void of hope.

Aella held the cub up to examine it a little closer. Its fur was completely black, and small wing stubs poked out of its back, to signal where its wings would be as it grew older.

"There's a small discoloration on its chest," said Daefina, looking at it as well.

Aella turned it over on its back to examine its chest and saw the discoloration. Some kind of symbol had been drawn on the fur, causing it to be a different color. She imagined as the kitten grew, the fur would revert back to its normal color eventually.

"Are you even sure that's not just a normal kitten? I don't think I've ever seen one that small actually survive," said Daefina stepping back.

"It has the wings," said Aella with a shrug. "Regardless of whether it's a lion or a cat, it still does not deserve to be put in a cage underground."

Her voice had grown deeper as she spoke, and the princess nodded, stepping back another step.

"I have a lot to arrange, so I guess I will leave you to deal with the kitten," said Daefina. "I will see you back at the palace when you are done?"

Aella nodded, teleporting to her throne room, and looking over at Josephine, who was busy healing the last of the lions.

"They don't have any social skills," the Water Healer was saying sadly, shaking her head. "I can heal the current damage, but there is so much else wrong with them, that I can't… Aella!"

Aella held out the kitten to show it to Josephine, and noticed that the black on her hands had faded somewhat. She pulled the kitten back, to examine her hands more, and saw that only the very tips of her hand still had black. When had that happened? Bridgette had said only white magic could get rid of black magic? Maybe it was her gargoyle side overcoming her demon side?

"Why do you have a newborn kitten?" asked Josephine looking confused. "I don't know that there are any cats, other than the lions you just brought, in the whole kingdom."

"We can't put it back with the lions, its far too small," said Aella with a shake to her head.

"What do you mean put it back with the lions?" asked Seifer. "That can't be a lion! It's way too small."

"The elven princess thinks that there must have been magic involved to keep this one alive," said Aella.

"Its not very old. You're going to have to give it milk until its older," said Josephine.

"Me?" gasped Aella. "Why me?"

"That's not what I meant," began Josephine, rubbing her head as if she was starting to get a headache.

"Actually," said Aella, looking down at the small kitten. It had curled into the palm of her hand and fallen asleep. "I think I will keep it. There's magic about it, and until we've discovered what kind, I don't want anyone else touching it."

She glanced over at the other lions and sighed at the state they were in. Very few of them actually had enough muscle control to walk, and the chances of them being able to survive in the wild with the other lions was very slim. She could try talking to them, but the looks in their eyes told her they wouldn't trust her. They should be killed to end their suffering.

"I will be back. Don't do anything with them for now, other than tending to their needs. I want them as comfortable as you can make them," said Aella.

As Seifer and Josephine nodded, she teleported to her room and started going through the chest with magical items. Maybe there was something in there that would help her tend to her small pet. Looking around, she spied a small backpack, that she could wear on her front, to put the kitten into. It fit perfectly, with a small blanket in the bottom to pad it.

The backpack was supposed to be used for transporting small birds and such and would provide for their needs while they were inside it. Aella wasn't sure if the magic of the bag would carry over for a newborn kitten, but it was worth a shot. Looking around for something to feed a newborn proved fruitless. Apparently, whoever made magical items didn't think the very young needed much.

Teleporting to the new lion den outside her castle she spotted the king of the lions and approached him.

"I have rescued many of your people who were contained in an elven house. I don't think they will be able to survive out if the wild due to damage from their containment. Would you care to look at them to see what you would wish I do with them?" she asked him.

He glanced over at her, yawned slowly, then stood up and stretched. Aella waited patiently, knowing that he wasn't someone she really wanted to get into a fight with. She would win, but it would look bad in front of the rest of the lions.