1 Prologue.1

Long has this war-ravaged creation.

Long have those who dwell in the middle paid with their lives and their sanity.

But they are not without their defenses.

And the names of those who fight are whispered through eternity.

This is one such story.

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The setting sun peered softly through the top of evergreen trees as a soft breeze jostled the branches, giving all the tell-tale signs of a windy day coming to a close. Insects acknowledged the coming night and a dazzling show of fireflies danced among the sparse shrubs scattered along the forest floor. Nothing, it appeared, could break this tranquility except for, of course, a snarl from what sounded like a large predatory creature. A snarl followed by an unmistakable crunch of bones.

One side of a large conifer revealed that something very violent and very large had destroyed a path to a clearing. There, the blood-spattered back of a scaly beast lay hunched over its prey, lifting its serpentine head every so often at the random noises of the forest and sniffed the air.

Waiting.

A tree creaked loudly next to the thing and with a loud snap and thrashing of its tail, the tree came crashing to the ground. The beast reared its head with a snarl as it glared at the now fallen timber.

The head was that of a lizard with fans of bone and skin extending from its cheeks, its eyes the color of deep emerald, with a pair of twisted horns atop its glaring brow. Its tongue was split like that of a venomous snake. Teeth as sharp as daggers protruded haphazardly from its mouth, growing whichever way, glistening with the blood of its victim. The legs, however, seemed more like that of a lion patched with rough and bloodstained scales, with claws like a massive predatory bird. Its tail, addled with spikes and split at the end looked as if someone had attached two painful looking whips to it.

It licked its lips and hissed a low, menacing noise and clenched its paws, digging them into the ground, loosening the dirt underneath. With a snort, it continued its meal: the torn arm and upper torso of a most unfortunate male traveler.

But the creature was not alone.

The tree struck down earlier was very near to another one, still standing, behind which a hidden figure was leering at the feasting beast

He squat down behind the tree with his hand raised to his mouth, not in disgust, but in thought; his face surprisingly calm. Unnatural crystal blue eyes peered over his hand and were determinedly focused; fixed on the thing in front of him. If the beast in the clearing was intimidating, the gleam in this man's eyes was downright fearsome.

He used his hands to muffle words he spoke so as not to rouse the creature before it was time. A light rapidly began to encase his arm, bringing into focus the delicate yet defined features of his face, and his eyes turned white; issuing their own luminescence.

"Now," He whispered, "let us be rid of it."

The light from his arm became suddenly blinding for a second then dimming just enough to reveal an intricate gauntlet laden with otherworldly symbols and runes; an image of his resolve. He dashed from behind the tree and, with a powerful leap, crashed with all his might upon the ground. He missed the creature by mere inches, who noticed the attack and managed to dodge it. Unwavering, the man veered from one side to another, as the creature attempted to thrash him with its tail. With a whip-like motion, the beast landed a sweeping blow to the man's leg, the blood now trickling from his torn flesh only provoking him further.

The creature hunched its back like a vicious cat ready to pounce and bellowed a mighty roar that echoed through the trees around the pair, bringing branches to the ground and sending frightened animals skittering out of view. A glow from within the creature's veins began to emerge, emanating from its throat as it braced itself for another attack.

The man, his face wild with the thrill of battle, lunged again for the creature.

With a loud snap and a splatter of blood on the ground, the beast clamped its jaws tight on the man's fist, his whole arm nearly all the way down its throat. He vainly tried to free himself away from the beast, but it sneered and proved to be just as unrelenting as its opponent. The man grabbed its upper jaw, attempting to pry them open to no avail.

"I admire your tenacity, demon," the man sneered back into the creature's eyes as the demon dug its claws into his chest, drawing blood with each slow rake. "But it will do you little good for, you see, I am not alone."

The creature knew what his opponent was and knew to fear him, regardless if it had a firm hold on him. However, another figure opposite of the struggling pair very slowly emerged grabbing hold of demon's attention. It was a woman with skin as dark as the trees that surrounded her, her black eyes calm and glimmering with the same delight as her companion. Her thick lips broke into a calm smirk as she focused on them, giving her heavy woven hair the slightest wave behind her back. She stopped, tilted her head and brandished an even wider smile as the demon began to panic, trying to calculate who was now the bigger threat.

"My, my..." she mused in the very ancient language of Egypt. "It looks like we are out of practice. What do you think?"

The man glanced over his shoulder with a grin of his own; an attempt at cheerfulness despite his predicament. "You could say that. But, also..."

"Mmm...As we suspected." She smiled in acknowledgment as if reading his mind. In a single motion, she wrenched both of her arms as wide as they would go while spreading her legs for a better footing. A flash surrounded by runes and symbols flitting in and out of view quickly formed a disc of pure light that floated atop her now spread fingers. She clapped her hands together. The disc broke apart into hundreds of shards that flew with incredible speed and force, lodging deep into the demon's skin. It released the man in a howl of pain who then, without hesitation, grabbed the creature by the neck, preventing it from running away.

The woman lowered her gaze, grit her teeth and smile widened with just as much lust for victory as her partner.

"How unfortunate it is for you to cross the stewards of this world...Be gone, beast!"

With these words, the shards of light embedded in the demon's flesh exploded and bits of the creature showered the ground in a smoking, bloody mess. The monster let out a shrill roar of pain and anger as its body was torn apart. With one last breath, the demon began to melt in a dusty haze that drifted upward and was blown away by the early night's air.

The demon had been felled.

The duo stood motionless as the ground only showed the gnarled victim lying in its own bloody mess minus, of course, the destruction the demon had caused in its quest for food.

"Well that wasn't so bad, was it?" She smiled with her hands clasped in front of her chest. She lowered them when her companion shot her an incredulous look and, rolling her eyes, waved a hand for him to proceed. "Speak your mind."

"We shouldn't make light of this! This creature..." the woman held up her hand. He was immediately silenced.

"I know, Mihr. Thank you." She huffed, batting her dress free of dust.

"This demon did not belong here." He brought his arm to his chest as the light from his gauntlet faded away, leaving behind unscathed skin and cloth. "And these attacks are happening more often. You and I are strong but we cannot be in two places at once. What are we going to do?"

The woman stared at him for a moment, deep in thought. She carefully considered each word before speaking and then, when she made up her mind, beamed an enlightened smile.

"I've been thinking a lot about that recently and there is a solution..." she lowered her gaze and with a tune in her voice concluded:

"But you're not going to like it."