The Demon King's Hero Of Light 191 Chapter 191 Ill Tidings

"Don't you know it's rude to ignore a king?" asked Aella.

"You should be whipped by a thousand daggers!" growled Precious.

"You're a king?" asked the gnome, clutching his chest and glancing at the door, obviously trying to figure out how she got past him when he hadn't opened the door very far at all.

"Of course! Who else would brave that storm?" sighed Precious, rolling his eyes.

"I am King Aella, from the Demon Kingdom," said Aella, ignoring Precious now that she knew no one else could understand him. "I wish to speak with your council."

"They're pretty busy right now, trying to find room for everyone. These bunkers weren't made to hold so many people," said the gnome, reaching for his chair and pulling it closer.

"I may have a solution for that, if you would please escort me?" said Aella, gritting her teeth to try and stay civil. This gnome obviously didn't have any training in dealing with kings or people higher than him. Is this what happened when you got rid of a ruler?

"Oh! I can't leave the door, in case I need to open it for an emergency, but I can have my brother show you the way!" exclaimed the gnome, darting for the door and shouting down the tunnel.

Aella winced at the amplified noise, but didn't say anything because a second gnome quickly showed up.

"This is the demon king, and he needs you to take him to the council. He said he had something that might help with the crowding problem," said the first gnome.

"That's a guy? Looks like a girl to me," mumbled the second gnome, giving her a once over.

"Well, he's a demon," shrugged the first one.

"Fair enough," agreed the second one. "Right this way, Your Majesty."

Aella had to duck to follow the gnome, as the bunker wasn't made with people her height in mind. She had a feeling she was going to have a major kink in her neck and back by the time she left here.

"It's nice to be able to get these guard jobs," the gnome was saying as he led her deeper underground. "The lower sections where everyone's at, are always so noisy, it's a relief to get up here were there's quiet. Of course, it's also more dangerous because if the storm shoves something into a tunnel, it could kill you. I think it's worth the danger though, because the air is easier to breathe up here, too."

Aella ignored his prattle as they arrived at a ladder that was far too small for her to descend. Without blinking an eye, she teleported below, enjoying the moment of being able to stand tall. The gnome turned to wait on her and jumped back in shock to see her already down with him. He glanced back up a couple times as if he couldn't remember her climbing down, then gave up and led her down the next tunnel.

The air did indeed get worse the deeper they went, and Aella started to wonder if it was poor ventilation, or if the system they had just wasn't built for this many people. She could imagine someone skimping on their job while constructing the system. After all, why would they need an emergency shelter underground like this?

Using her air ability, she got the air circulating a little better, and listened as fans in the distance seemed to squeal with rust. That couldn't be good.

The further they went, the louder the noise level grew, and soon the voices of thousands of gnomes beat at her every side. It didn't take them much longer, after that, to reach the council room.

"Sector three and four are underwater. It looks like the pumps have failed," said one very tired councilmember as she walked in.

"How many have we lost?" asked another softly.

"Two hundred, and if we don't find a place for the rest of the people in those sectors, we'll have another five within a couple days," said the first councilmember.

"Excuse me?" interrupted Aella, stepping forward where they could see her.

"Ah, the Demon King," said a third council member, sounding a little less tired than the first two. "May I ask exactly how you managed to make it down here? Has the storm lessened already?"

Aella hated to dash the hopeful looks on all of their faces, but she couldn't lie to them.

"No, sorry, I have a magical way to travel through the storm."

"Ah," said the third council member sadly. "Then may I ask the purpose of your visit?"

"I have a proposition for you," she started slowly. "An acquaintance of mine wishes to open a bar within your country, and would be able to provide food at a reasonable price from the halflings."

"We would normally be delighted at such an offer, but I'm afraid we just don't have the s.p.a.ce," said a fourth council member, shaking her head sadly. "Unfortunately, the things we are dealing with are lack of s.p.a.ce and a failure of intensely important systems. If there were some way to get us more room, or be able to relocate us to different areas, then we would be all for the addition of this bar, but seeing as how that won't be possible, I don't see how we could possibly allow it. I do apologize."

"Well, actually," said Aella with a smile. "Bob would be capable of all of those things, if you allowed him to open a bar."

All of the council members turned their heads to look at her.

"You have our attention," said the first council member.

"Bob is not an ordinary individual. All of his bars, no matter where they may be, are all connected. He already has a bar in every other major kingdom, and has even facilitated movement of all of the elves into the dwarven keep during this time, because the elves couldn't make it before the storms destroyed their forest. He intended to offer halfling food to everyone, that he would purchase directly from the halflings and then offer to sale to everyone else throughout the realm," explained Aella.

"How is that possible?" asked one of the gnomes.

"It must be some form of teleportation technology," said another.

"If we can get our people somewhere safer, and be able to ensure the continuation of our race, I think we have no choice but to accept this offer," said another gnome that hadn't spoken up yet.

"I move to allow this Bob to open a bar!" shouted another gnome council member.

There was a mad scramble for someone to second the motion, and Aella smirked. Moving over to a blank wall, she drew the shape of a door with her claws. A door immediately appeared and Bob stuck his head through it.

"I heard you have need of relocating a large number of your people?" he asked with a smile.

"I'll leave you all to this," said Aella, relieved that she had finally finished paying Bob back.

Teleporting back to her throne room, she glanced over everyone who was present, and then moved to sit in her chair. Ignoring everyone for a moment, she just sat. Was this the first time she had a free moment? It probably wouldn't last.

"Your Majesty," said Seifer hesitantly.

"Yes?" she asked, opening her eyes and sitting up straighter.

"The n.o.bles would like an opportunity to ask you if you had a chance to bring food back for the lions? They are going through our food stores quite quickly, and are complaining that we are being stingy with them," explained Frederik, moving up beside Seifer.

Aella could see several representatives from each n.o.ble house waiting anxiously for a response, and wondered where she might be able to find food for them all. The storm would have shredded any dinosaurs that would have been around the city, and she doubted she wanted to pay the prices Bob would charge her. Maybe there was something in the treasure chests she could use?

As she went to open her mouth to answer, a scream so loud to shook her chair rang throughout the room. Aella jumped to her feet, looking around in panic for the source of the noise.

"Is everything alright?" asked Frederik, looking at her strangely.

"Who's dying?�� panted Precious, his claws dug deep into her shoulder, almost to the bone.

It took her a moment to realize only she and Precious had heard the scream, and then Joseph was there, walking towards her. Everyone in the room fell to their knees as he pa.s.sed, unable to look up at him.

"Aella, we have a problem," he said, real worry and panic on his face.

Fear unlike anything she had ever felt before blossomed in her chest as Aella realized this G.o.d was terrified. Whatever could scare Joseph was WAY outside of her area of expertise!