-- Lilith POV, Unknown Basement --

  She woke like from seemingly eternal slumber, her mind all hazy and blurry. What? Oh. She was called! Called? There! Someone was calling her again. She felt it like a gentle tug. Who would call her? And why? A new call. A stronger tug. What was this? What was happening? A scream for her to come, an order, then begging, pleading.

  She was washed away.

  The next awakening was more substantial. She felt a cold hard floor below her, she felt her body, heavy against the floor. She breathed, then she opened her eyes. A golden glow? A circle? She was laying on some sort of brick floor and there was a golden glowing dome over her.

  She tried to sit up. What was happening?

  Her look was suddenly nailed to her hand. Her hand? The hand that she just had moved ... a slender hand, an elegant hand, with pale white skin and ... black claws at the end of the fingers? Was this right? She could not remember.

  She spun her head to check her other hand. Same! And her head. It had felt like there was a weight on her head when she had turned it to look at her other hand. She reached up to find, a handle? Why would her head have a handle? No that was a horn, not a handle. She had horns! Had she always been having horns? If only she could remember.

  The dome around her faded and she could see six hooded figures kneeling around her, bowed to her. "Mighty demon, we welcome you."

  The one figure gestured and around her, chains sprouted from the brick floor and tried to tie her. Startled, she got up and luckily the chains slipped from her, almost as if they were not there. She stepped toward the one who just spoke and bowed down, pointing at him with a midnight colored claw.

  "Are you responsible for this?"

  She grabbed his robe at the collar lifted him up, held him at her straight arm. Had she always been this strong? Well, her swishing tail clearly reflected her indignation about the sitation for everyone to see.

  When the hooded figure did not manage answer her after a few seconds she tossed them aside and glanced at the others, "Someone care to explain?"

  "We ... we have freed you from your abyssal prison, oh unholy mistress", a voice to her left declared reluctantly.

  "Prison? Nonsense! I have been sleeping." She paused, trying to remember. She had been woken up, so she had to have been sleeping, right? But what had been before she ... slept?

  Anger sparked in her over not being able to remember, "What the hell did you do to my memories?"

  "We did not mean to harm you, mighty Lilith", the person bowed deeper as they spoke again.

  "Lilith? I can't seem to remember my name right now, but I'm fairly sure that's not what I was called before ...", she had to pause again, "What I was called before my sleep."

  She bowed down to the one who had been speaking, now realizing it was a woman's face under the hood and put a clawed finger under the woman's chin.

  "So, you wanted to free me from my - prison - just out of good will?"

  There was some stuttering, then, "We, we wanted, hoped, please, we ... we thought you'll kill the king, take the kingdom and give us wealth and power as reward for setting you free."

  Wealth and power? Idiots. She definitely had no interest to kill a random king and give a bunch of strange cultists wealth and power. Particularly not after being summoned like this.

  "And if I do not want to?", she required.

  Another bow, "Morgan said he can bind you ..."

  So that's what the chains had been about.

  "Obviously that did not work", she stated when something tingled her nose, "Say, why do I smell blood?"

  -- Lilith POV, Village Guards Station --

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  It had not been too hard to find the guard house. The settlement was barely a few houses, and the guard house was the only one left lit in the night and the armed guy in front had started screaming right when he saw her.

  He seemed completely overwhelmed to decide if he wants to sent her as far away as someone can go in this world or right away drag her inside the guard house. With her preference for stepping inside, the decision was quickly made though, and now she was sitting in front of the presumable chief in charge.

  "So you want to report a case of murder and, umm, summoning without consent?" The guard chiefs hands were shaking as he tried to hold the paper with the hastily scribbled report from her explanations.

  "Yes", she confirmed patiently. Really, how hard was it to understand? At least meanwhile she had been given a blanket to wrap herself into, because, of course, these idiots had summoned her without any clothes. At least someone still had managed to think here.

  "And the suspects ran off once you told them you can smell the blood of the victims, you say?"

  "Like that. I tried to grab one, but they wriggled out of the coat and ran as well", she pointed to the brown and stained coat now laying in a heap of the chiefs desk. "After that I came right here to report the murder." She certainly had told him that three times already.

  Behind her the door burst open and slammed into the wall, "Sir, we found the bodies! Just as she has said. And this .. this .. this magic circle thing in the basement!"

  She nodded to confirm, "See. And instead of sending your men to catch them right away, you have me sit here and repeat the story again and again. Now they are all over the hills and probably will try to do it again."

  The officer nodded, "Jameson, we'll have to inform the guard captain in Sunnyvale. We have six murderers on the run. I'll be with you for details, in a minute."

  "Aye Sir"

  "Miss Lilith, right?" She nodded, "Miss Lilith, to be frank. This village is not a safe place for you. People might try to kill you once they see you. No offense, but your looks will scare them. I'm afraid you will have to stay with us for your own safety while we hunt those cultists."

  She shrugged, "I guess that is alright? I have no place to go to anyways. Would be nice though if you can find me some proper clothes."

  -- Royal Chancellor POV, The Capital, Kings Palace, Kings Office --

  "Your Majesty, a report arrived just a an hour ago from Sunnyvale, and I think it requires your immediate attention", the chancellor explained.

  The king looked up from a messy heap of papers on his desk with a deep sigh, "What is it?"

  "I think it is for your ears only, your Majesty."

  The king nodded and the two guards left and closed the door behind them.

  "So, what is it, that is so urgent and secret?", the king inquired.

  "Your Majesty, we have captured a demon. An actual demon as far as the reports go, unless people suddenly grow horns, tail and claws. The story is most curious though, and captured might not be the right word to describe what happened. Apparently the demon came to the guards house in a rural farming village to report a case of murder. The guards were able to appease the demon, and transfer her to the barracks in Sunnyvale under the promise of witness protection, told her she might get lynched by uneducated village people due to her looks. So far no one was hurt, and I gave orders to keep up the guise of the witness protection towards the demon, while she is kept in arrest. We also have the six cultist who supposedly killed two people to summon the demon. One of them has already confessed. They will be quietly executed by dawn. After that, only you, me, the village guards and the soldiers in Sunnyvale will know about the demon. And the guards and soldiers are all sworn to you."

  He leans forward and lowers his voice, "If we can keep this secret from the church and sway the demon in our favor, we might be able to restore your power over the land and put the uppity priesthood back in their place."

  The King considered this for a long while, "How dangerous is this ... demon? Are we able to control her?"

  "The only power the reports mention is an evil stare that makes people scream. Well, also great physical strength, but that is probably to be expected from a demon. She also has a temper, but can be reasoned with." the chancellor tried to summarize, then added, "We might not be able to control her, but we should to offer her a deal that she cannot deny. And once she has helped you to regain power, we'll see to get rid of her."

  -- Lilith POV, Sunnyvale Barracks Prison --

  "Witness protection", she huffed, arms crossed, sitting on the bench in her cell, tail angrily swishing behind her. It had sounded good at the first moment, but turned out to be just another way of "You are arrested without due process and for as long as we deem necessary."

  On the other hand, from what she had gathered from the talks, with her looks of a demon people might try to kill her on sight, and the church would be just too happy start a crusade to catch and with great spectacle burn or banish her once her presence became known.

  So she had begrudgingly agreed. Not that she had much choice. Admitted, she had been given clothes, acceptable food and she was fairly sure they had given her one of the better cells. Dry, somewhat clean and not too cold. So it was probably better than being on the streets with nothing to her name.

  Now she was waiting. The captain had told an emissary of the king would come to see her and talk about plans for her future. Apparently she was supposed to work for the King, even swear loyalty to the king in exchange for protection or something. While messenger birds were quick, she was told, it might take the emissary a week or even two to arrive, if bad weather softened the roads. She just hoped the king did not want her to kill people, like the cultist had expected from her. Couldn't she just become a normal citizen? She had not even asked to come to this world.

  "Hey guard!", she shouted to the guard in front of her cell. "Got some game of dice or cards? It's pretty boring just to sit in here all the time."