3 Chapter 3

The huge head chugged up the fast-moving river at a pace where wondering demons were able to see the surrounding forest. Millions of trees covering the 5th kingdom as far as the eye could see. Creeping vines that hung low, so low that they touched the surface the water.

The demons following the head recognize the it and looked all the way up the mountain, that touched the clouds. At the mouth of the cave where Jorogumo lied, stood Vince with his sword and clothes covered in her blood.

No one knew if they should cheer for the death of the criminal or be afraid that Vince Maru was staring down upon them with an evil glare.

Fire rushed through his bloodstream creating an intense echo of cracking skin. His bones outstretched, his jawbone dislocated and developed into a vicious fanged mouth, his entire face structure transformed. Scales spurted all over, his eye turned blood-red. Vince's fingernails grew at an alarming rate into razor-sharp claws, as he was forced on to all fours. They all watched in  horror. He let out a ear-bursting roar and jumped off into the wood.

The travelers stood with their hearts in their throats as they could hear the faintest cricket chirp, before being knocked to the ground by a powerful force of that of a dragon taking flight.

Fur of fire and onyx colored scales decorated his new form. He moved like a serpent in the water until a lilac rip in the sky swallowed him whole.

----

Eijiro stood at the base of the humongous portrait painting of his late mother, Irene. He stared upon it before crouching to the floor and grab the welted pot of roses and replacing it with a fresh bouquet. The old ones disintegrated into a pile on the floor where it laid for only a few seconds before a faceless maid  vacuumed it up.  

"Will you come back to work now, my king?" Lela stood a few feet away, holding papers for him to work diligently on.

"No." Eijiro spoke and turned on his heel before taking the papers from the android and returning to his study and closing the door.

"Its been thousands of years, stop mopping over your mother." Roubi sighed as his eyepatch began to slip off. A pale dainty finger poked out from his eye socket.

"I apologize." Eijiro put his eye patch back on and sighed.

The sudden commotion from outside caught his attention. He glanced down to the ring on his right thumb. It glowed and he fixed his tie. "New arrival."

Lela opened the door and bowed as he passed. "Your crown, your majesty." He grabbed it and placed it lopsided as he maneuver to his throne and took a seat while Lela reached over and fixed his crown.

"Open the doors." Eijiro ordered

Guards walked in with a girl linked around each arm. Her feet dragging along the carpet as they throw her down to her knees.

Eijiro sighed, "Another dead walker."

"So it seems, my lord. This is June Hiryama. She is 18 years old and was murdered December 29th on her way home from..." Lela stopped as she read on from the paragraph that was displayed behind her eyelids.

"From?" Eijiro questioned.

"From hunting, sir." She opened her eyes and detected something being thrown in Eijiro's direction.

A silver dagger was caught in between his index and middle finger. He looked at it then back to the girl, who got free from the guards grip.

The girl chuckled as she was restrained- more secure this time- again.

Eijiro stood and started to walk down the steps to June. "Well now, that's unfortunate. You just met me and now you're trying to kill me?" He put the dagger in his pocket.

June looked up at Eijiro, before he motioned for the guards to let her stand. "I would like my dagger back." She said, reach into her pocket and popping a stick of gum in her mouth.

"No. Oh, and you both failed to keep the king safe, you will be publicly executed." He looked to the two guards who were now stricken with fear. "Now, if you will please excuse me, I have work to take care of. Good day."

He turned on his heel and June got mad. "HEY! GIVE ME BACK MY DAGGER! MY FATHER GAVE THAT TO ME!" She barked as the guards held her back.

"Well, you should have thought about that before throwing it at your king."

"Your highness, please! I have two children!" One guard pleaded.

"My wife is sick!" Said the other.

Eijiro didn't respond as he turned down the hall and too his study.

"Oh ho ho!" Laughed Roubi. "That was new! I never seen you act so cold! Almost brings tears to my eyes." She laughed as he sat back down at his desk.

---

The rain fell steadily, not a slow drizzle, but sheets of pounding rain. Thunder shook the trees, reverberating the high canopy of the forest that surrounded the kingdom. Deep in the forest laid multiple Skeleton Hunds that jumped from Pit to Pit. Their leader, a male with a leather jacket that was accented with wolf fur around the collar, was known as a conman and a thief among the townspeople.

Strange light fell upon his face as he stalked a group of hikers, throwing hard angles and planes of his face into sharp relief. Water glistened in his thick, wavy white hair that stuck to his forehead. His eyes moved restlessly, continually, forever seeking for his moment to strike.

The hikers gathered their things after setting up camp so they could wait out the rain. The male whistled quietly as three of his Skeleton Hunds howled and ran in front of the hikers while he snuck around and stole them blind.

As the hikers tried to fight back against the demon dogs, the man rolled his eyes and entered from behind.

"Back!" He ordered and they listened, cowering with their tails, the ones who still had them, between their legs. "Go on! Get out of here!" They all ran into the forest.

"T-Thank you sir!" One of the youngest dead walkers said.

"Names Dek. You three are pretty lucky that I was around." The male said as he turned to face them.

"Y-yes! Very lucky! How can we ever repay you, sir?" The other hikers seemed to be more cautious.

"Oh, well..you see food is getting pretty scares around here nowadays. If you got anything, I'll be glad to take that as payment." Dek smirked. The youngest searched in his pack, but found nothing. "There's no more food? But how?" He asked the others who also had no clue.

"Well, there is another thing you can do." Dek said and they all looked at him with curiosity.

His face began to stretch as his skin got ripped apart, showing the split transformation of a human to wolf before a fog emerged itself upon them. The density made visibility nearly nil.

The humans grouped together as they heard whispering all around them.

One by one they all got picked off by something grabbing their foot and dragging them away. The youngest held a pistol as he was the only one left.

"You know, I never liked humans who carry guns." Dek's voice could be heard from behind. As he turned, the kid was face to face with a skeleton hund who had the body of the man that just saved them.