57 New year

In the Steelwood empire, the years start at the spring equinox. When the day is equal in length to the night, it is a perfect moment to balance out everything else in your life.

People look back at what they did in the previous year, taking notes of their mistakes and pride in their achievements. People look forward to the next year and plan what they could do better.

It is time to forgive and forget but also time to step up and do things right. Everyone comes together at dawn and only part at dusk, believing that the meeting of moon and sun, night and day, is significant and will improve their relationship with everyone.

On the new year, people feast and dance, they drink and comfort each other.

In big cities, the tradition is a bit different but in towns and villages across the empire, everyone takes up a bow and a single arrow. A wish is made upon the arrow and then shot as far as possible into the woods, often in a curve far above the trees.

They believe that the wish imbued in the arrow will be transmitted to the ancestors as long as the arrow finds its way to them.

In cities, you either have to leave and walk up to the edges of the forest which many do, forming crowds outside the city walls, or you have to be original. When you can't get to the woods, the wish has to be written on a piece of paper and then kept in a jar warded by tree bark. More than a single wish can be held in a jar but if the bark is disturbed, none will be granted. Every wishes must come from different persons. The wishes are to be kept this way until the summer solstice when they will be burnt with the bark so that your wish may reach the sun with the smoke of the fire.

Emp got to experience both version of this celebration.

In the school, a huge party was made in the great hall. The tables were full of all kinds of food and were kept refilled at all times for the students and the teachers alike. Every group of students were present at the same time and mingled a bit but it seemed that most preferred to stay in the company of those they knew.

The new year was a very special occasion so not only the students and their sealed slaves but the servants of the school feasted as well in the company of the teacher and even the ancient.

It felt a bit like that time in the tavern, except here, Emp was having a great time like everyone else, well, almost. Some, like George, still seemed like he didn't want to be there but he came anyway so he must have had some fun as well no?

Laughter and songs rang through the hall from morning to night. Emp saw many amazing thing, most interesting of all, was Nessa's drinking. Emp had seen her gulp down a lot of tea before but she surprisingly did the same with alcohol. She didn't even seem affected by it at all. She drank just as much as the heaviest of drinkers but even after they ended up completely drunk, she just continued to discuss things normally with the girls and kept on drinking.

Unlike last time, Brenia refused to drink more than a few cups but still ended up in an arm wrestling tournament. While torrents of claps and cheers acclaimed the participants, Zoran ended up falling asleep on the table, with his two servants trying to wake him up from his drunken stupor.

Emp participated in the tournament but was defeated by Oran after a long and exhausting bout. He congratulated Oran who took a stance to show his bulging muscles to the crowd. Emp wasn't sad to have lost but...

"How could master be defeated like that!" Complained Harriett.

Mable plunged in-between him and his two slaves and grabbed his arm to shake it with vigor.

"Emp, you're supposed to win so I get to eat cake! What are you doing!? You're not respecting your promise at all!"

"There was no way he would have won, Oran is almost twice his height and five years older." Gytha answered with a bit of disappointment.

"It's fine, I'll train harder." Answered Emp calmly as he was pushed and pulled by his arm.

"See, that's how it's done. A true champion keeps on improving himself, just like me. Follow my lead and we will reach the highest peaks!" Claimed Odilon.

"You better not." Someone said, hidden in the group.

Everyone laughed hard while Odilon tried to find out who mocked him again.

Later, wishes were written down and placed in jars that every student brought back to their own room. In Emp's the wishes of Celtine and Harriett laid with his own.

It had taken him a really long time to figure out what to wish for, even with everyone around him raining suggestions upon him. This was the same as before, a goal was asked of him and he needed to think of something for himself. He had never managed to set a goal for himself before.

In the end, what he wrote down was simple, he asked for a better understanding of his friends and what friendship meant, like this, maybe he would be able to see more radiant smiles.

After the party ended at dusk, when the sun and moon where both just as high and low in the sky, many groups split up for smaller parties held by themselves. One of those parties was organised by Aglaya and most of the group followed to her room for a bit more fun.

Her room gave a much calmer impression than Mable's but it was hard to see a clear difference because Aglaya had everything removed from the main room to give space to the class. In here, it felt like the calm demeanor of Aglaya was soaking the place and seeping into their party, slowly mellowing it down to jovial conversation before everyone retired for the night.

They mostly talked about the nearing day when Winfred, the combat teacher, would allow some to spar. Since no one had any real relationship with the other class, the consensus was that Emp needed to win at all cost, at least against them. Between the members of their own groups, opinions diverged like in the first class they had. They all wanted to prove themselves and doing so, pushed each other higher.

They didn't have some prize to give the winner. They just wanted the bragging rights.

Aside from that recurring topic, they also talked a lot about the upcoming dance classes, taught by old miss Blackbull. Nessa was thrilled by it but most of the guys felt it was a chore they had to go through.

Emp had asked the teacher why they needed that class and had been told that of course, he would be made into a laughingstock if he embarrassed himself in a ball. Dances were a good part of many traditions as well, not knowing the steps would gather the glares of many.

Even for the new year party, many of the older students had dances throughout the day and most of the servants joined. Even though Nessa wanted to join them, Blackbull forbade them all in order to not embarrass themselves. It would have to wait next year.

In Dark-glint village as well dances took place throughout the day but those were vastly different, like the rest of the festivities.

Everything took place outside under the sun. It had rained quite a bit earlier that week so there was a lot of mud everywhere but no one was really bothered by it. Everyone brought out part of their reserves and shared with everyone in the center of the village.

Whoever felt like playing music did so in turn and the villagers pushed each other into the dancing space everyone had cleared, splashing mud everywhere. There was no real pattern to those dances, they just moved like they pleased, having fun and sharing it with everyone else.

Everyone wore their best clothes but weren't afraid to dirty them with food, drinks, mud or whatever else might jump their way under the roaring laughter of the rest.

The new year prompted a lot of unusual behavior in a lot of people as well. Vale for example took a bunch of things that reminded her of her disappeared husband and burned them in front of her house, cooking a pheasant she caught herself over it.

"I couldn't stand to see them all the time anymore." She told him when he asked about it. "I felt it was time to put it behind me, time to move forward. Now, do you want some of that pheasant or will you wait for Calla to bring you something?" She gave him that mischievous smile everyone always gave him whenever they talked about something he didn't get.

Emp took a bit of roasted pheasant. He would eat what Calla brought as well of course but Vale had promised to give them some of her catches when they made her the armor. It was only fair to fill his stomach with all he could get. Wasn't it the main point of festivities? To eat until you felt bloated?

About the food Calla was supposed to bring them. It all came from just after his soul was fixed. Many things had changed for his village-self since then.

The morning after the events, he had told Marcy about how he previously had two souls, how her words made the precarious balance collapse and that now it was fixed and he only had one soul left.

She listened to the story but seemed disappointed by the way he told her.

"Ya mean to tell me all that but not how or why it happened or even how it was fixed? Ya know how I feel about secrets."

She really hated secrets, Emp wasn't sure why.

"It's not that I want to keep it secret, if you ask me about anything I will tell you. I don't like to lie after all. It's just that every time I told something about me to anyone, they always start acting strange. Remember that time I just said I didn't know where were my parents and it made you ask me to become your apprentice? The rest of the things I kept to myself are far stranger. Just giving the rest of my name usually turn people crazy."

He had seen it many times already, the duke, the people in Red-water, his own slaves.

She gave him a pitying smile and hugged him again.

"My boy, ya think I'll treat you any different if ya tell me? Ya're an idiot, I wouldn't. I meant what I said yesterday, even more, I think not only my son would be a bit like ya if I had one, I would love him to be like ya."

"Really? I think there are enough me already."

Marcy laughed out loud.

"Ya slag don't play dumb. Do ya understand what I mean at least? How am I to say it in order for my words to reach that thick skull of yars? It's like ya coated yar head in iron."

"I'm sorry, I know I'm really bad at understanding things when they aren't said directly."

He hoped his new state would let him understand that kind of thing better sooner or later but in the mean time, Marcy was very blunt with him.

"I want ya to be part of my family, is what I mean. Ya already are like one, ya live here after all."

Emp wondered how many families one could possibly have. Could he get in trouble for it? He already had the Muraciers and his creators. He wasn't really a Muracier though, he was just borrowing Chinui's name for the school. It shouldn't be a problem then right? But was it a good thing?

"What is a family really? What's its purpose? Why be part of one and why do you want me in yours?"

She made a strangely sounding sigh before she answered.

"Ya can be so annoying sometimes. I'm opening my heart to ya here and ya assault me with a bunch of crazy question. Ya're so bad at this it's incredible. It's decided then, ya have no choice, ya are part of my family now. I'll show ya what it's all about! It's only about love and trust."

If she said it like that, there was no way he could refuse. He didn't really want to refuse anyway, he was just curious behind the meaning of this all.

He understood that a family was a group of people sharing their name and blood, except Manley who was adopted, but he couldn't understand what was the goal of it. It was the same as when Chinui told him about wives. It wasn't really about helping each other out, Galana had been rejected when she showed up to her family with her problems.

Then maybe it really was all about love and trust, like when Marcy wanted to go all the way to Artefine to help him or when Heida's father sent her away to school in order to protect her from the lack of food. Those were acts of love were they not? He still did not understand them very well. He hoped Marcellia would be able to help him with this.

After that, the way Marcy treated him didn't change at all, but, she seemed warmer, if that made sense. Emp wasn't sure how to explain it, her smiles seemed more real, the way she addressed him and others seemed to be a bit softer than usual. She was less often angry and when she was, not as much as before. Her eyes were different too, but he didn't understand in what way they were. He could see that her gaze wasn't the same but not in what way it was different.

Maybe it was just because he got better with the things she was trying to teach him, or maybe he just got used to it all, or maybe, the way his soul was changed affected how he saw her usual actions. In any case, he really liked the changes. There was like a shine about her.

"She's like an old sword recently polished." Bor said to describe her once.

Emp could see what he meant, Marcy had him polish a lot of old stuff after all.

"I'm very glad you didn't die Emp. Not only for Marcy but you know, a less bitter Marcy is a better Marcy. Hahaha!"

Emp too changed a bit. It became easier to understand the other kids of the village. Sometimes, Marcy was trying to teach him something and he would see the others outside, making him wish to join up with them.

He was very interested by the teachings of Marcy but he also wanted to know what all the fun was about. He got closer to a lot of them over time. In particular, he became really close to the Champom family.

With his soul in a better place, it didn't take long before he got frustrated with his meals in the village. Harriett was a good cook and he ate a lot of different thing at school but in the village, it was either him or Marcy that made the food, it was almost always meat they got from one of the hunters and neither of them were good at preparing food.

It always tasted the same, morning noon and evening, it was too repetitive and he couldn't help but grumble about it to the others.

"I don't want to upset her but I can't take anymore of those tasteless meals." He had told them.

This is where Calla came in. The timid girl who tripped all the time. It turned out that she loved cooking a lot.

"Hm... I... Maybe I could help. I mean, I could bring you something to eat if you want. Would you like it? Would that help? I like to cook."

Emp thought it was a great idea.

"I'm sure it would be much better than what we can do. I would really like it if you did sometimes."

Calla had half her face hidden behind her hands because she was somehow afraid of what he would answer but when he spoke his interest, everyone saw her smile stretch behind her hands. After that, she couldn't endure the eyes of everyone else and ran back home but the very next day, she brought dinner to Marcy and him.

Even though she had five sisters and four brothers, she made it all herself and it was delicious. She didn't just like cooking, she gave them the very best meal Emp had ever tasted. It was some sort of ragout with some bits of apple mixed in but it somehow only enhanced the taste of everything else instead of disturbing the balance of the herbal mix.

Both him and Marcy praised her highly for it. She went back home with a spring in her steps, very proud of herself, hugging her empty pot on the way back.

After that, she brought them food time and again, ever more often. After a while, Emp and Marcy just gave her all the food they had and let her do every meal for them. She was having a great time doing them and they loved those meals greatly, there was no reason for them to cook at all. Emp adored her food so much that it wasn't long before he considered her more talented in cooking than Harriett.

He did appreciate Harriett's meals, however, they would never be a tasty as hers.

Because of that, even at the new year celebration, Emp expected Calla Champom to bring some food for the festivities and he was eager to get a taste of it.

While he waited for her and her family to show up, he had a tug of war against all the other boys. He stood at one end of a rope with everyone else gripping the other side and the goal was to see which side could pull the rope. They were ten on the other side but Emp won by himself anyway, pulling everyone towards him including Chase and Gilbert who fell in the muddy grass.

The girls and a bunch of onlookers laughed at the demise of the entire group of kids.

"How come Emp is so strong?!" Complained Cuthbert.

"That's crazy, there's no way anyone can beat him!"

If it had been before, Emp would have thought they were mad at him for winning but he now knew better. It was more of a funny complaint than an angry complaint. It had taken him months to understand that such a thing was actually possible.

"Marcy! Emp's too strong, what are you feeding him?" Exclaimed Bor after his roaring laughter was over.

"Nothing at all, it's all the small Calla. She's the culprit."

"Calla huh? I want some of it too then!" And he laughed again.

When the Champom showed up later, everyone threw out remarks at her about her superhuman food.

She was dressed in a light pink dress with flowers in her hair and a pretty smile to go with her plate of special new-year stuffed poultry.

She gathered so much attention from that and the excellence of the food she brought, she got way to nervous and lost all the confidence she showed at her arrival. She ended up hiding behind her mother all day in an attempt to escape a swarm of newfound admirers.

Fiona Champom was a bit amused by her behavior.

"Everyone is praising you, why are you hiding? Go get yourself a dance, it's the new year and you're all dressed up."

Calla turned red, shook her head and stayed hidden.

Anyone else would have been pushed towards the dancing area anyway but Calla was likely to get so nervous she would trip or even faint right away so her understanding mother just kept her close and came to talk with Marcy and the others instead.

Emp took the opportunity to thank Calla and tell her that her food was better than anything else that had been brought out for the new year. At least, he sincerely believed so. If he had not been certain she didn't knew any magic, he would have believed she had cast some spell on it to make it all taste better.

Her blush furiously worsened and she barely managed to mumble a thank you. He didn't want to embarrass her so it was probably for the best if he stopped talking now.

Calla was a bit like Zoran, both were always scarred of everything and both had a hard time asserting themselves. As long as you didn't address them directly, they were fine with the company of others but they didn't like gathering the attention.

Emp was pretty sure the current Calla wanted nothing more than to disappear. Leaving her alone was probably for the best. She probably wanted to dance even less than him wanting to go to a tailor.

She wasn't the only one who didn't want to dance. Marcy as well refused to go there and turned down Sophus the mage when he came to ask her.

"No way, I told ya already, I'm not interested. I won't dance with ya this year or the next either." She told him clearly and decisively.

He obviously wanted to insist but the glare she gave him forced him to back off. As he left, he glared angrily at Emp again. Did he think he had anything to do with her rejection?

"Why is that guy so mean to me all the time?" He asked Bor who was happily drinking nearby.

"What? Sophus? He's always been like that. I'm pretty sure he's just jealous of the way you get treated by Marcy."

"Jealous?"

"Yeah, you see, he's had an eye on Marcy for a long time but she always turns him down. Then, you show up out of nowhere and she takes you in immediately. I'm pretty sure she's the only reason he's in this village too. When he first came here, we made a deal with him that included a bunch of benefits in exchange for his protection. One of them stated he could have any one unmarried girl he wished. Of course Marcy was an exception. She isn't really married but she was indeed fiancé. Not only that, she's well known around the whole kingdom for her craft, there's no way we can force her to wed anyone. He agreed to the deal but never chose anyone, he kept going after Marcy instead."

That explained a lot of things, Emp was glad Bor told him. Sophus didn't care about Emp at all, he was just resentful towards all the attention Marcellia gave him. Emp was pretty sure that even if he wasn't there, Marcy would still not give him more attention. However, he knew it was a bad idea to tell him this directly so he said nothing at all instead.

Vesa too got turned down. Not by Marcy but by Calla. Like Emp, he started by praising her food which prompted the same blush but he didn't stop there and proposed they went dancing with the others. Calla answered with a few nervous shakes of her head and made herself as small as possible on the bench. Her mother had to intervene.

"Calla, at least give him a proper answer. You're too old to hide behind me. Sorry Vale."

"It's okay, I should have known she wouldn't want to."

"Before I forget to tell you, good luck for your first hunt."

"Thanks Mrs Champom. I'll show you what I can do."

"Do your best."

Like Emp had thought, she didn't want to dance. He could understand that, after all, he didn't want to dance either. He was pretty certain he would be really bad at that. He was relieved that no one came to drag him onto the dance circle.

But, he didn't want to stay at the table all day either. Now that he was filled, he got up and left with Vesa towards the others partying further.

He had become a good friend of Emp over time. He was a fun guy and he thought him a lot of games with the others here in the village.

"Hey Emp." Vesa said with a serious gaze on the way.

"What?"

"I won't give up."

Since Emp had clearly no idea what he meant, he had to explain.

"I'm not sure how Calla feels yet but I know she at least has an interest in you. I think she may like you, and her parents definitely do."

"Really?"

Emp had noticed nothing of the sorts.

"Isn't that obvious? You proved your strength the day you came in, you gave them two silver coins for almost nothing and being Marcy's apprentice, you're sure to have a valued and safe work. Which parents wouldn't want their daughters to go after you."

Emp was really bad with feelings but what he said seemed logical. Vale's husband was a hunter and he just vanished one day, that kind of thing happened all the time. There was no way Marcy would disappear like that, between her and a hunter, the work of Marcy was the safest bet.

Emp wasn't really aiming to become a smith but it was easy to think that was what would happen from an outside perspective. On top of that, there was a lot of victories recorded on his hunting card already.

"She was wishing me good luck earlier but what she really meant was 'come back when your hunting card isn't as empty'. She wanted to get Calla close to you and that's why she sat at Marcy's table right away."

"I think you're seeing too much into nothing. There's no special meaning in her choice of seat. Also, she does want you to succeed in your hunt."

"I know but it doesn't mean she'd agree with me and Calla. All I'm saying is that I won't give up because I like her. What's annoying is that I'm not even sure you understand what's going on and you're my friend too. I can't hate you even if Calla likes you but I'll do everything for Calla to chose me in the end. I can't let her fall for you, I have to hunt something quick. I won't go on the hunt tomorrow like Chase though, I'll wait a bit more for practice."

Vesa was right, Emp had no idea what real love felt like. Or maybe he did but he had not recognized it as such yet? How did one know they were in love? Was it just like how you identify the best cake?

Not that it would be easier though since he still didn't know which cake was the best even after two more parties about cake. He was pretty sure that at this point, they all thought he pretended to not know just so that Mable could make more cake parties. She really liked them after all, even though the teacher complained every time.

"I think I've loved Calla since that time with the apple." The boy continued. "You'll think it's dumb but there was that one time when I fell and hit my knee on a small rock. It bled everywhere and I started crying and wailing, I was small back then. Calla came to see what was happening and started crying too when she saw my knee. She ran back to her house and brought me that small apple. it wasn't even a good one, it was just an ordinary green apple, small and hard. She didn't know what to do so she just gave me that apple hoping I would stop hurting if I had it. She's always like that, she tries her best to help everyone because she can't endure the pain of others. Most of the time, what she does is about food too, like how she brings you and Marcy some meals all the time because she knows how bad you two are at it. I think it's cute, she's so afraid of someone getting hurt that she worries all the time for everyone. I wish I could help her too."

Emp could at least understand the part about wanting to help her too. It was true that he often felt like just thanking her wasn't enough for all the meals she brought them. That didn't mean he loved her did it? He was just grateful. This was complicated.

He really felt that most of his troubles recently stemmed from love or the perception of the love of others. There was that rumour with him liking Mable and the opposite, the love between Chase and willow which had caused the events that led to his soul problems, Sophus's unrequited love, Marcy's lack of love and now Calla.

He wondered what was the best way to deal with all this. He believed that being honest was the best thing to do but he had no idea what he felt himself and no understanding of what the others felt. Was it better to wait and see what everyone wanted or was it better to figure himself out first, somehow.

While he was thinking about all that, they joined up with the others to play some games for the reminder of the day.

The last thing everyone did that day was to go up to the border of the woods with their wishes in mind and bows in hand. Whenever someone was ready, they would draw their bow and shoot as far as possible into the forest. The further in it went, the higher were the chances of it becoming true after all.

Emp too went towards the trees with the others. Marcy had helped him make a new bow just for this occasion. He could have used any old bow like the training one he usually used but Marcy insisted he had to do things right, like always.

This meant that he had to make his own to have a better connection with the ancestors inhabiting it. Emp wasn't convinced that the ancestors would listen to him since they never did before but he did like Marcellia said anyway.

The main advantage of making his own bow with the help of a master crafter was that the tension ended up properly adjusted for him. If you can't draw it then a bow is pointless but if it's easy to draw, the arrow doesn't have any power behind it.

Ideally, one would want a bow which requires all of his strength to draw without snapping. With his abnormal strength, that was pretty much impossible to do with common wood but they still managed to make a decent weapon. Aside from him, only Marcy was able to pull the string because she knew how to use self-magic. (1)

Because of that, he had his own bow to shoot his wish skyward but he had no idea what he should wish for. He watched the others from kids to elders come and go, satisfied with their wishes. His friends too, Willow didn't shoot that far but Chase and Vesa had decent shots. While everyone had their turn, he thought about his own wish for a long time.

Would it even work properly if the two versions of him both made a wish? Wasn't it a bit like cheating? What did the other him ask for? He would probably end up asking the same, they were the same person after all.

Should he just ask to be enlightened about family and love? That seemed like the most worthy wish to make. He did not want to disappoint Marcy after all. She wanted him to consider her as his mother and he wasn't against it, it felt gratifying even. He just didn't know... anything.

He was about to draw his bow with that wish in mind when he caught a scene from the corner of his eye.

Calla was there with her own small bow. She took a breath of resolve, drew her bow and let the arrow loose. It flew upwards for a bit but then caught onto the first tree in front of them and stopped dead in its track, falling back down right in front of them. That was bad luck.

"Oh no!" Squealed all her friends while Calla gasped in shock.

Calla did her best to not cry but she was a very emotive girl and it was obvious she found the result disappointing.

Emp thought that Calla was a very kind girl, she deserved her wish to come true, whatever it was. He stepped up to the girls while her mother was trying to cheer her up.

"You never know, it might come true anyway and if not, you still have next year, your wish isn't lost at all."

Her face was all scrunched up, from holding herself together. He felt very sad for her but he also had a great idea. He told her his thoughts.

"I don't know what your wish was but I hope it comes true. That's my own wish."

After that, he drew his bow with a loud creaking noise and shot far above the trees. His own arrow flew well beyond the point the arrow of anyone else reached. He may have been really bad at targeting things but just shooting far was easy.

This was a much better use of a wish. The results were immediately obvious after all.

She made one of the sweetest smiles he ever saw before she started crying for good because of the unexpected turnaround. Those were good tears, she wasn't sad at all anymore.

"Wow! The arrow flew so far we can't even see!" The others praised.

Calla sniffed and thanked him meekly.

"I had to pay you back for all the good meals you made for us after all." He answered. "As long as you are happy, I get to eat amazing food. It's pointless to wish for anything else isn't it?"

Wishing to understand things was pointless after all. Celtine and Even Love kept telling him it was all inside of him. He was sure it would come out on its own at some point. He just had to be patient.

The relief and joy on her face was worth much more to him, that and the food of course.

The new year was almost over now but the wishing arrow wasn't the event that marked him the most in the village, it was instead the day that followed it.

***

Few know about their existence but those that do usually fear them. In these next few pages, the characteristics of the lust devils will be exposed to all.

The true name of their race is Venosectors but everyone calls them lust devils for obvious, or at least soon to be obvious reasons. But, to do justice to this creature, one must mention a great deal of other details before describing them directly.

There are many tales in the folklore of many kingdoms on how a race or another takes young human girls to use for reproductive purposes. Those stories gain a lot of awareness, often leaving the opposite kind of stories in the dark. Rarely do you ever hear about the man who was caught by a spider woman or in the case of this article, how they were sacrificed to the lust devils.

You could find lust devils everywhere but the only stable settlement of them known in our empire is on the border between the kingdom of Dugo and the sand wastes.

Dugo was never known for its sprawling cities and the safety of its territory. The harsh reality is that our empire cannot protect every corner of itself and every villages. New settlements are made as often as they are forgotten. In Dugo, if it is not a coastal town, chances are, the army will never come to its help. It only gets worse the further east you go.

Somewhere in the mountains, far east of the empire but not far enough to get close to the Vaelian territory, a village found itself isolated. For the purpose of keeping their privacy and traditions out of the curious eyes of the nation, I will withhold its name. They do belong to the empire but for hundreds of years now, they followed a different set of traditions, proper to that place only. One of those is to honor a pact they made long ago with the lust devils.

On the eve of a new year, many young man of the village will be lined up in ceremonial clothes at the border of the village. Large scented pyres are to be lit behind them and loud ceremonial songs are to be sung, signaling the venosectors to come take their tribute. The creatures come and choose at most ten boys they bring back with them to their nest for reproduction purposes. Those boys will never be returned but in exchange, the venosectors protect the village from any and all threats.

Most might think that the villagers should protect themselves, raise warriors and defend the village on their own but the lust devils are not a weak race. One of them can easily overpower a full squad of trained soldiers. Having an entire society of them to protect a single village is more than enough to ensure a perfect peace.

In reverse, a minority might think that the chosen boys won at the game of life instead of getting sacrificed. "With a name like the lust devils, they must be one hell of a lay." I heard once before. Those thinking this are very wrong.

The reason isn't exactly the same as for the arachnes although the end result stays the same. Were an arachne would kill its mate and use the corpse of the poor man to shelter its eggs, a Venosector will do its best to keep their lovers alive for as long as possible.

Despite their horrifying appearances, they are extremely loving of their mates and consider them important treasures. A man caught in their clutches will be treated like a king for the remainder of his life, a very short life.

To properly understand the reason behind the short lifespan of their chosen mates, one has to understand what they look like and how it is they reproduce.

A venosector usually has mostly human proportions, they are always born female, tall and strong. They stand on two legs, posses two arms and that's about all the similarities with the human race they have.

Their skin often range from black and deep purples to a reddish brown or a muddy color. Their long an powerfully muscled legs bend backwards and their arms have three articulations instead of one. They only have three toes, one being behind their heel. They do have five fingers like us, ending in short claws hard enough to dig into wood and stone alike, but their pinky is instead a second thumb mirroring the first.

They do have breasts used just like a human woman would to fed their young but most of their torso is surrounded by some bone-like formation covering them like armor. part of it seems to be the base of some form of vestigial wings though it was never proved to be the case. They also have a long and slender prehensile tail ending in venomous barbs. The effects of this venom will be described later on but for now, three points remain to be described, the three explaining why they are forced to use said venom, their faces, the "curse" and their reproductive organs.

The primary function and appearance of their reproductive organ is similar to that of a human except for the vivid colors it show in contrast to the rest of their body. A male would have no problem mating with them if not for the jaw-like fangs on either side of it. Indeed, in order to stop male specimen form escaping their clutches, nature gave them many a sharp fang to dig into the genitals of their mate, stopping them from moving away from them.

When mating, a venosector will entirely cover it's mate with its tall body, trapping them in a world made entirely of itself. The vision of the man will therefore be entirely filled with the visage of the creature.

Their bald head is crowned with the same bone-like structure that covers their body. Their face posses no eyes as the bone structure covers the place where they should be. They do however posses a pair of large bat ears and a nose that is vaguely human above their mouth. Said mouth opens in a set of mandibles separated at the chin to reveal two long downward facing fangs and a thick tongue that can extend down to their chest.

This kind of face alone could turn off any man but it gets worse. It is widely believed by scholars that they were once cursed to project an horrifying image. The truth is still unknown to this day but none ever withstood the sight of their faces without breaking down in fear. Whether it is a curse or by choice, whether it is a magic effect, a mental projection or a chemical reaction, the mere sight of a venosector can instill deep fear into anyone. The strongest of men could freeze in fright seeing one up close.

Considering this, no man can ever get in the mood for them. Even if they could endure the pain and ignore their faces, they could not go over the aura of fear they project. Even while being extremely loving creatures and even if the man in front of them knows this fact, getting the deed done would be impossible without the venom held in their tail.

Said venom has two function. First, it's a powerful aphrodisiac, second, it increases the blood pressure and heartbeat of the victim. It is as powerful in combat as it is in bed and in a mere minute, their mate is ready to give them children. The real problem lies in its repeated use.

Not only is it applied on someone already deathly frightened and with a heart likely beating at breakneck speed, it is frequently used on them. Over time, this usage almost always result in one or more internal organ failures. Most commonly, the heart is the first organ to give out, causing the death of their beloved and no small amount of grief on their part.

The children conceived this way will always be a venosector and always a female. There is two records of hybrids of human-venosector being born throughout history but both were reported to be infertile. A real shame for both races considering the much more bearable characteristics of those specimen for a typical human male.

Outside of their peculiar reproductive habits, the lust devils have many noteworthy traits that gave them the starring role in many a roadside horror story.

First of all, their voice is very particular. With them having no eyes, they use a form of echolocation to move in their environment. They are releasing screams almost all the time however, the pitch is so high that it cannot be heard by humans without some help from magic.

This method of understanding their environment seems impressive but it is indeed flawed. Mainly, they have trouble recognizing individuals either of their own race or humans unless they make their voice heard. It is impossible for them to determine who is who in a crowd in a timely manner.

Their echolocation is also rather imprecise and someone or even a creature with the correct preparations could make himself invisible to them simply by hiding his presence under a wooden box for example.

However, when they do find something worthy of hunting or an intruder, They will release a powerful blood freezing scream to alert the rest of their group.

After this, using their supernatural agility, their arms with so many joints and their sharp claws, they will crawl and stalk their prey using any available surface. They will move through the high branches of the threes, crawl on the ceilings of caves and make their way on walls and cliffs alike. Using their high speed and mastery over the environment, they surround their target and corner it in the most uneven terrain they can before attacking from every angles at once.

All of them will attempt to inject their venom in the target, overdosing it with the stimulant. In case of failure, they will use the overexcited and frightened state of their target to take the advantage in combat and quickly claw or bite the enemy to death, using their superior strength and speed efficiently.

It has been observed that very few use their deadly fangs in combat, it seems that as an intelligent specie, they dislike to use their mouths on uncooked meat or things they do not plan to eat at all.

They are also disadvantaged in combat against highly trained warriors, if they can survive the fear that is. If said warrior can dodge the toxic barb, they can easily use the fact that they are blind to mount an effective counter attack. The venosectors will have trouble sensing the fast movements.

Despite their grim hunting method, they do have a stable society and they can easily learn and use human language, they do not however, make use of clothing. Not only does the cloth disturbs their senses but it is also obviously of no use when everyone else is blind as well. No one will see their nudity and no one would be able to see the clothes if they wore any.

In the past, a few diplomatic envoys did accept to wear clothes in order to abide by human customs but they complained that it was itchy most of the time and removed them as soon as possible. It is commonly believed that the venosectors have a very sensitive skin but the purpose or reason for this characteristic remains unknown.

Before this entry is concluded, I would like to inform everyone of the rumor on their city of flesh. According to rumors and legends, venosectors would be able to grow flesh in the color of dark clay and use it to shape dens, tunnels and entire settlements in the deep reaches of their territory.

Such a thing takes a long time to mold and grow so only the most ancient of venosector's places of living would be made this way. No one knows how or why this happens but we do have a few information on this flesh.

It is said to be alive, pulsing with blood but without skin. it is warm to the touch and seems to be mostly muscle fiber and fat. the lust devils claimed they liked its warmth and are unable to understand the disgust of the other races towards this building material, possibly due to their inability to see it.

The hybrids have been heard before, claiming that they too found it repulsive but that they got used to it over time. Reportedly, the sacrificed men are brought into the flesh tunnels and are made to mate with the entire colony until their deaths.

-- Common Steelwood Bestiary entry on the lust devils.

***

(1) My best guess about bow making for Emp would be to use a wood with a ridiculous compression value for the belly and line the back with something else entirely. You'd want a metal probably, with a high tension value that would match the compression value of the wood making the belly. This is only speculation of course since I'm not a bow expert, I don't have a superhuman strength and I'm trying to make a bow for a fictional being that could easily snap a traditional wooden bow between his fingers. For all of those reason, I did not go into details about which wood was used or the length of the bow or anything. It's just a good bow for him, probably horrible for everyone else. If he one days gets a magic bow, I'll make it more fancy. and detailed.

()It doesn't fit into the author thoughts but I drew a map of the Steelwood empire for your enjoyment. I can't include pictures here so I placed it over on my *******. It's not behind a paywall so feel free to take a look if you want to. It's not the best but I think it does it's job well.