Rakon overlooked the destroyed town of Berg atop the tall, disorganized stone wall. He watched as the residents and merchants continued shifting through the ash and rubble, finding the bodies of their guards and the savage demons that fought during that raid.
Rakon sighed with frustration building up.
Suddenly, a bloodied savage tribed demon erupted from the rubble. Panic erupted as he swung his sword around wildly, killing anything that moved.
Just as he aimed his sword at a merchant, A large red-stained hammer swerved and smashed into the demon's face, splattering the matter all around. The body, now headless, collapsed, leaving the residents in shock as they looked at the girl responsible for this retaliation.
She was a blue demon girl with drooping blue eyes, white hair, and horns curving from the sides of her head. She rested her large hammer back on her shoulder as she exhaled from exhaustion.
"
"
Gaz came to Rakon's side.""
Rakon darted his sharp gaze at Gaz, who kept an unreadable expression. "
"
Rakon brought his eyes down as he pondered to himself. After a while, He started to think out loud. ""
Rakon sighed. "
Gaz stated. "
""
The ground shook with an audible thump that came from behind. The big blue ogre demon, Magnus, stood at Rakon's side, overlooking the same ruins that Mae is keeping under control.
"
Magnus lifted a single finger, which shot out a long line of blood into the sky.
"
Webs of blood suddenly shot out, diverging and reconnecting and piercing the ground below without mercy. Residents dodged the best they could as the lines and webs of blood continued to scatter and shoot around madly, thrusting into every brick, mortar, and ash. Like before, the demon residents and guards alike stood speechless at the sudden display of power by the one large demon.
After a minute of silence, the blood retracted and dashed back into Magnus's finger form whence they came.
"
"
Mae turned her head as Magnus turned to Rakon for his next mission.
"
"Ah, Bona, that brings back such great memories," Gaz noted.
Magnus ignored Gaz, keeping his gaze fixed on Rakon. "
"
"
Mae scoffed, seeing that Magnus was now gone.
"
"
"
Mae nodded and dispelled her hammer. She manifested a bubble made of her blood and floated to the top of the wall, where she rejoined Rakon and Gaz.
Gaz chuckled to himself. "
"Gaz."
"
"
"
Rakon raised a brow. "
Gaz nodded in agreement.
With a waning interest, Rakon turned to descend the walls with Gaz, Mae, and his guards, who followed close behind.
"Kalika couldn't have fallen into the Pit. I still have time to find her. And I will find her!" Rakon thought.
********
Soft fire flickered against the hot, suffocating stone. A long, ever-expanding line of demon children began to pant from the exhausting trip as they kept close to the zombie woman who led them.
"Jala, how much farther is the exit?" Lillian asked as her voice echoed through the narrowing tunnel.
Jala grasped the corner of the tunnel, and a bright light peeked out from a distance. "Not much longer now. The exit is right up ahead now."
Lillian lit up. She peeked around the corner, too, with a new hope invigorated in her. "Finally." She muttered.
Fren, holding the hand of her zombified sister, Tellan, followed Lillian's lead. She peeked around the corner of the tunnel, and her eyes lit up just as Lillian's had.
To Lillian's surprise, Fren pushed past her abruptly, dragging Tellan along with her. An excitement seemed to overcome her as she took off past Jala with Tellan.
"Fren!" Jala yelled. He could only watch as Fren continued to run ahead without them.
"
"< Where's Lucius?>"
"
"
Suddenly. Jala took off after Fren.
"Oh my…"
Kajd glared much more harshly at Jala. He scoffed and muttered to himself. "
********
Fren and Tellan emerged from the crevice of the pit wall. A blinding light struck Fren, and to her shock, she found herself in a lush forest of black and purple, along with a broad, valley-like area of tall yellow grass and flowers.
"< It's beautiful.>"
The cool breeze flowed past Fren, causing her to shiver. "
Fren turned to Tellan, who mindlessly overlooked the dense landscape of the pit, and with curiosity moved closer to the cliff.
A firm hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back.
"< Don't get too close.>" Jala warned. "
Fren gave a solemn nod and went on to enjoy the view of this new world next to Jala.
"
"
Fren's eyes drooped, a long pause consuming them. Jala crossed his arms, looking at the large natural stone pillar in the far distance to their right. "
Fren raised her eyes and traced Jala's glance. "
"< That's the capital. Home of the Demon King. A city carved in stone named Oar's. It was my home for a long time after I left. And where I served this land's King…>"
Fren glanced up at Jala in surprise."
There was a brief silence before Jala affirmed. A strange surge of nostalgia overtook Jala as he continued to speak. "When I first arrived with Jafkal, we explored around like brazen fools. We fell off cliffs, fought strong monsters, and got swept away by a river, almost dying in the process. But thanks to the King, we were saved and given a place to eat, train, and even serve...>"
"
Jala turned his head with a bitter memory of killing his brother, returning. "
Fren gave a subtle, surprised gasp."
""
To Jala's surprise, Fren had suddenly embraced Jala with a hug.
"
"
Unexpectedly, Tellan came up behind Fren, stroking her head, confusing not only Jala but Fren too.
"
Kajd scoffed. ""
Jala pulled Fren off him. " Fren became downcast, left with Tellan as her only comfort.
********
The group ventured down the mountainous cliffs utilizing the help of artificial paths made of earth magic. Lucius took the lead as everyone behind him carefully took one step at a time down the foreboding cliff.
Jala, along with Kajd and the other hunters from his village, kept a watchful eye out for any threat. As the trail to the forest ground neared its end, Jala was bumped into by Kajd.
Jala glanced at Kajd, who coldly whispered.
" Jala matched his tone. " "< Don't play dumb, Jala! As the last woman from our people. I refuse to let the 'will' of an unloyal traitor like you! Be wasted on Fren!>"
Jala tightened his jaw. " " Jala stopped himself. " " The many gazes of the demon children looked around in continued awe, with a few that seemed unnerved and frightened. A couple that were curious even tried to wander off, but were quickly corralled back with the others.
Jala looked into the sky, noticing that the light in the crystals above was dimming. He then turned one of the demons from his town, a blue demon with long black hair and a stern face, Gail. " Gail nodded. He turned to the others, relaying the same message.
********
Another tree was felled, with the stump left behind being burned asunder. Lillian raised her hands to the earth below and watched as the ground rose, churned, and then flattened before her. She exhaled and finished some of the work.
Lillian then turned to the large group of demon children in the distance. They were feasting on the portioned food of dried meat when suddenly, another fight broke out between two of the demon's kids. The two boys were pried apart in an instant and promptly punished.
It wasn't long after that the crystals above finished dimming, bringing the blanket of darkness they had expected.
"Good work," Lucius praised. He lugged a huge sleeping pouch to the newly terraformed terrain, which had been made just for him and Lillian.
Lillian turned to the forest that surrounded them and carefully manifested walls of earth between them and the forest. "Are you sure it'll be right for everyone to sleep out in the open?"
"I have some of my undead minions patrolling around us, so we'll be safe."
"But what about you? Won't you-"
"Don't worry about me." Lucius interrupted. He then brought the cloth to the ground and unfolded it. "Once we bring everyone to Bremwall, then we can get back to the castle. I can manage myself just fine. It'll take a lot for me to devolve."
"And… How long will that be?" Lillian asked.
"Can't get her out of your mind?"
Lillian kept silent. Waiting for Lucius's answer.
"Bremwall is another day away, then it'll be another week or so until we reach the castle after."
Lillian sighed and looked far into the pit ceiling above.
"Is something wrong?"
"I never told you this before… But remember when I was fighting against the other heroes of prophecy?"
"Yeah. If I hadn't arrived when I did, you'd be dead."
"And I'd be back in the god Cassell's cycle of reincarnation." Lillian joked. "But when I was fighting them, I felt our… spirits converge and I heard for the first time in my life God's voice."
Lucius gazed back at Lillian, surprised. "You… Heard your God's voice?".
"I did. He sounded much like a little child and…" Lillian's smile slowly turned. "He referred to my sister and 'The Evil One' and wanted her sealed away."
"What? And you didn't tell me sooner!?"
"The Heroes weren't a threat anymore. And I didn't want to distract you from the war. I was going to tell you, but I wanted to keep this between us."
Lucius stopped and pondered to himself with new, strange questions he had never thought to ask himself.
"I don't know why it is. But, God Cassell seems fixated on Kalika."
"Yes, that is strange," Lucius said. "For millennia, the heroes of Prophecy have always targeted my family's bloodline, culling our kings one generation at a time. But now this one human? Could it be her immortality?"
"It's possible, but in either case, I won't let God Cassell have her.
Lucius sighed and looked back at Lillian, who looked more determined than ever. "This has been on your mind this entire time. Hasn't it?"
"Maybe… I… I don't know. I guess I'm a little worried, but that's not important right now. What is important is that we get these children somewhere safe and retake the castle."
Lucius gazed at Lillian, more concerned. He stood back up and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Kalika will be just fine. Once we take back the castle, you'll have more than enough time to reconcile with your sister."
Lillian smiled and averted her gaze.. "Thank you, Lucius… Thank you…"
"Don't thank me just yet. We still have a ways to go. But we'll get there."
Lillian nodded and was led to their bed to pass the time for the day ahead.