19

Devilkghth looked up as he heard the bellow of his mother. He glanced over at the boy on the ground in front of him and gave him a wink which seemed to calm him down a little bit. The boy's hands were shaking but that was nothing new. His mother hadn't been kind either these days though. Devilkghth couldn't remember what his father said when she went off like this, all he knew was that it didn't matter because she came back in a foul mood, so it never did any good to ask about what happened to make her so mad, only to get smacked with whatever object she could find handy. It was one of the reasons why he was scared sometimes.

The boy on the ground stood up unsteadily. His legs wobbled under his weight and he fell to one knee, then the other. He took a deep breath and stood up properly. He ran his fingers through his hair and brushed some of it away from his face before taking another deep breath. His eyes locked onto Devilkghth's. They were the most beautiful green Devilkghth had ever seen. Not to mention they were filled with courage. The courage of a young boy facing something he wasn't sure of. But even as the words formed on the edge of his tongue he hesitated and stopped. Instead he smiled encouragingly. This boy needed no encouragement to get him going. And he was going to do just that.

As the boy walked towards him, Devilkghth took note of his body language and decided that he wasn't going to give him a piggyback ride this time. He waited until the boy was close enough before jumping backwards and landing on the ground behind him. There wasn't an ounce of fear on the boy's face and for a moment he envied that quality. Even if he was going to be beaten half to death later today, there was no trace of nervousness left in him.

Devilkghth watched as the boy pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and held it out for him. He read the text written there as the boy began walking again.

'My name is Xellos. I live in Yarnwood, near the woods by your parents' castle.'

Devilkghth nodded. He knew where Yarnwood was. It was a small forested area next to the castle where the king kept his prized horses. His dad used to go out there when he wanted to think or be alone. He remembered that trip well. His dad had taken them out here once before they moved from their old house. The place had been full of wild animals and Devilkghth still remembered how excited his dad had gotten whenever they got attacked by one or two deer or foxes. It had been the same every year since then too. When their family was big enough they moved to a bigger house so they wouldn't have to worry about things like that anymore. That was the last thing Devilkghth wanted to happen right now though so it would be nice if they didn't run into anything too bad today. At least not anything too dangerous anyway.

Devilkghth looked around him before following Xellos down the hill towards the castle. The air felt cool and wet against his skin. There were clouds floating across the sky, casting a grey glow over everything. Everything looked damp. He could smell rain on the wind, and as he followed Xellos the sound of heavy footsteps echoed off the walls surrounding the castle. He could hear someone running towards them at high speed and he wondered if it was the king or someone else. Probably the king.

He saw the person coming down the steps and he thought for a second that maybe this was Xellos's mom or even Xellos himself. But then he realized that he was wrong. This man wasn't the boy on the horse and he didn't look anything like Xellos. This stranger was shorter and stockier and wearing all black with black gloves covered in gold and silver chains. A red scarf was wrapped tightly around his neck while his dark brown eyes stared angrily down at them.

The man slowed down as soon as he got closer. "What are you doing out here?" He growled.

Xellos stepped forward. His hand was gripping onto the piece of paper he'd brought with him. His knuckles were turning white. "I came to meet my friend."

"Your friend?!" The stranger yelled, his fist balling up into a tight fist.

"It's okay, I told him already." Xellos said calmly.

The man sighed loudly before speaking again. "Why would you want to meet your friend on our grounds?"

Xellos's mouth twitched and he started looking slightly irritated. "Because this is my home and my friends deserve to see me every once in awhile. I don't know why you seem so concerned. It's my home as much as yours."

Devilkghth stepped forward. "We just want to come see each other. We're not here because we want something from you."

"That doesn't answer the question. Why are you trying to visit?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"I told you, we want to come see each other. What more is there to it? We just want to catch up. You don't have to be so rude."

Devilkghth felt the heat rise inside of him and he clenched his fists together, willing his anger down. He knew it wasn't worth it, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't stand people being so rude. If you were mean to someone, you hurt them, and they could very easily hurt you back. And he really didn't feel like fighting right now.

The stranger glared at Xellos. "Fine. Do you want to come up? Or are you afraid of me? Are you scared of the dark? Or the ghosts? Come upstairs with me. Your mother won't mind."

Devilkghth frowned and shook his head. "No, we're okay. Thank you for inviting us up, but we can see ourselves home. Goodbye!" He said sharply and turned to start walking up the stairs towards the gates of the castle.

His mother must have been waiting outside because she was quick to rush after him before anyone else could say anything. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "Sorry about him."

Devilkghth shrugged. "It's alright."

They walked up the stairs quickly and made their way through the corridors to the door to their room. Devilkghth pushed open the door and stepped inside. His mother closed the door and joined him. As soon as they both sat down on their beds Devilkghth grabbed the book his father had given him earlier and flipped open to the chapter that dealt with magic. He tried to focus on reading but found his attention wandering to the window beside them. He gazed out at the rain falling slowly against the glass.

The door creaked open and his mother entered. She walked past them and picked up one of his books. She tossed it onto his bed and he picked it up curiously. He recognized the cover as one of the books he read in class when his mother didn't feel like teaching him. He opened the book to the first page and read the title out loud. "The Book of Spells." He frowned at the odd title. Why was it called that? He was about to ask his mother about it when he heard the familiar squeak of shoes hitting the floor of the hall.

He quickly shut the book and hid it underneath his blanket. Then he turned to see his mom putting her hands on her hips and grinning.

"Oh, good. So you actually came to talk to us instead of hiding in your room. Good work, son! Now I can teach you how to play chess with your sister. And we can learn magic. Well, I guess you haven't learnt quite yet, seeing as I'm your teacher. But it will take time. Time you will need to learn how to behave yourself." She grinned as she sat down beside him and patted his head. "Now tell me who it is."

"It's Xellos." He said quietly, staring at his feet.

The woman gasped in surprise. "It is? Oh dear…" She whispered, frowning in concern. "I hope he doesn't bring any monsters home. We already have enough trouble with the creatures roaming around outside these days."

Devilkghth frowned and tilted his head. "But we already fought a monster today."

"So did I. I bet I am the only one you met who didn't die."

"Yes, well, that wasn't really a monster, so we weren't scared." Devkghth replied. "I've never seen another ghost before."

"And yet you managed to kill it. Very impressive, son. I'm proud of you." She chuckled softly, ruffling his hair playfully. "Anyway, what was so important that you had to come talk to us about? Did you find out about what happened last night? Is it true? Was someone hurt? Where is Xellos?"

Devilkghth smiled and looked away from his mother. "Yeah, some people were hurt but everyone is fine now. No one died or anything." He paused. "Well, except for my friend."

Her face fell instantly and she let go of him. Her eyes widened, staring at him in shock. "What do you mean, your friend?"

"Well..." He began hesitantly. "It was my fault."

She raised a brow at him. "Your fault? What does that mean exactly?"

"I- uh...." His voice trailed off. He felt uncomfortable as he glanced down at his hands. He couldn't help it though and he started to pick at his finger nails nervously. He could still feel the pain in his leg and he knew that it wouldn't be long until it healed fully. Even the painkillers his father gave him hadn't worked. He couldn't believe that he'd done that to Xellos. He'd killed someone who he didn't know. Who would've ever thought he would ever be able to do that? He'd never hurt anyone before in his entire life and he didn't understand why this happened tonight. He could feel tears stinging behind his eyes and he quickly wiped at them. "I'm sorry, m-mom." He managed to croak out before his voice broke and he burst into tears.

A moment later, his mother was kneeling next to him, her arms pulling him into a hug. "Shh...it's okay, dear. You'll get used to it. There's no need to cry. We're going to get through this." She said, rubbing his back soothingly.

Devilkghth kept crying and hugged his mother tightly. He buried his face into her chest and let out small whimpers. "I'm sorry…