Demon Guard

Demon Guard (DG) is a short story set in the Elsaverse. Originally planned as a series, the first chapter was initially released on February 16, 2019, in HTML format, as a Patreon perk for Tora Productions' supporters. The second chapter was released for patrons on April 15, 2019, just four days before writer Tlaero unexpectedly announced her retirement. For that reason, the story was put on hold and it hasn't been resumed ever since, even though Tlaero eventually came back to writing. Those two chapters of DG were publicly released on June 23, 2019, alongside the short story Won: Darkness Within, and are also included in the Elsaverse Omnibus Vol.1 bundle that came out on August 5, 2021.

Demon Guard tells the story of Xara as she comes back to her homeworld, immediately after the events depicted in Saving Chloe (2018) canon path. It also sets the parallel universe canon, with several sentient species from various planets coexisting and fighting in a classic space opera setting in which powers are relatively common but, oddly enough, gunpowder and firearms are not known.

Chapter 1: Escape
The story starts by introducing Sa'al, a female Bary'an (a race described as an evolution from tree-dwelling nocturnal creatures, much smaller than humans and with prehensile tails) who is a "Tech Witch" capable of casting spells that allow her to work more efficiently with machines and electronic devices. Sa'al is enslaved by the Draegorai, a species of lizardmen similar to those seen in Royal Guard (2016), who sexually abuse her on a regular basis while forcing her to keep an interdimensional portal constantly running. Although she doesn't know it, this portal's other end is located in Morland's mansion in Sangrive. When Xara comes through it with her two prisoners, Morland and Crow, she kills the Draegorai guarding Sa'al and then flees with her from the space station where this portal end was located. On their way to the Terran High Command center (Terrans are the race Xara, Morland, and Crow all belong to), Sa'al also discovers the punishment Xara must endure every night, reliving the moment in which she was blinded by Crow, and tries to comfort her when Xara wakes up from it. Upon arriving at the Terran High Command and handing over her prisoners, Xara demands that her commander, Axis, must lift the punishment as she promised, but Axis tells her that she cannot do so, since the punishment can only be lifted by the same Dream Master who imposed it, and he has recently died. As the war against Drae is almost lost, Axis can only plead for Xara's forgiveness and grant her a modern spaceship to travel wherever she wants, free from any further obligation. Devastated, Xara holds her own until they leave the station, and then sets a random course before collapsing into tears, with Sa'al as her only support.

Chapter 2: Punishment
This chapter's action is set a couple of weeks after the end of the previous chapter. During that time, Sa'al has been comforting Xara every night after her punishment, and this is slowly creating a special bond between them. It is also hinted that Sa'al is working on an optical device that could bring Xara's vision back. After being licensed, Xara is still looking for a new purpose in life and they decide to travel to an asteroid that is not aligned with either side of the war, to look for some components Sa'al needs for her project, as well as suitable clothes for her. When they arrive there, Xara performs a demonstration of her legendary skills to protect Sa'al, and the asteroid's rulers, Ah-So-Ni, grant them protection and a safe port to dock their spaceship; in exchange, Xara and Sa'al will be at their service when needed. Then, while Sa'al is buying clothes, it becomes clear that a budding love is blossoming between the two of them, despite Xara's noticeable shortcomings when it comes to manifesting her feelings and even properly identifying them.

Miscellaneous

 * Demon Guard offers an official denomination for Morland's and Crow's powers: strategic prescience and high fidelity visual illusion, respectively. It's also stated that four of the twenty guards assigned to take care of the prisoners are "dispersers", which seems to be an important skill to deal with them, but no further info about this is unveiled.


 * Several different sentient races are mentioned in the text: Terrans are the human-looking race Xara, Morland, and Crow belong to; Bary'ans are described as furry creatures evolutioned from tree-dwelling nocturnal animals, much smaller than the average Terran and with prehensile tails; Draegorai seem to be a sub-species of the lizardmen Drae, with a lower intellect, just a bit above another mindless sub-species called Draegor (which were the beasts Xara is seen fighting against in Royal Guard); Tri-forms, as Beta rulers Ah-So-Ni, are a species with three genders that mate for life, becoming effectively one person formed by an individual of each one of those genders (commonly named 'heart', 'mind', and 'body') that can communicate telepathically with each other; and Tandaros are biped felines with dangerous claws and neurotoxins in their teeth. There are, however, many more races, according to some dialogues.


 * Sa'al defines Xara as a "Zierton" or a "Demon Guard", which seems to be the name used to call Xara's legendary squad across the galaxy. However, Xara is officially an "Elite Guard", the last surviving member of the Terran's "Elite Corps".


 * Xara names their new ship "Demon Witch" in an attempt to make Sa'al understand that she considers both of them equally important, as the Bary'an is constantly calling her "boss" due to the huge respect she feels for her savior. What Xara doesn't realize is that Sa'al keeps calling her that also as a way to have a little good-heartedly fun, due to Xara's awkwardness every time she hears it.