The Hunt

Emperor Tyran rode out westwards with his group which he split even further along the way to go with the others.

Gerald looked behind him,they were barely up to to sixty in his group now.

The most number of men?more like the most outnumbered.

The emperor had selected the choicest of Knights to go with him.

Tyran's reason for going with the least number of men and for split them even more bothered him the most.

The emperor he knew was the most difficult person to read in the realm after General Ren.He couldn't tell what he he was thinking.

Was he trying to take down the most number of savages with this small mighty group in order to protect his men?or was there another reason...

Gerald shook off the thought...

No..that had to be the reason.

He eyed the emperor as his horse galloped in front of his.

Tyran had never ceased to amaze him.

He was most certain what would give his group the upper hand in this hunt was mere skill.

The demons gathered as a team were more than enough to take down any number of savages.

Gerald looked at the people riding behind him,all able bodied powerful warriors and of cos, General Ren was here,the strongest among them all.

He spotted Athena,when their eyes locked he averted his gaze immediately.

Tyran raised a hand and his horse halted, causing the whole company behind him to halt.

They all looked ahead to see their opponents who had stopped as well.

The savages were now within their range of vision and from where they stood the whole forest ahead of them were covered by these beasts who were close to twice their heights in stable form and covered with black fur.

Their faces looked like wolves,only larger with extremely huge fangs that sat in both jaws dripping saliva.

"Your imperial majesty the horses_"

"Our brethren are more important than horses...there is more where these came from...yet_"Tyran paused.

"Station some knights to guide them but let them not be afar of...I don't trust these beasts!"

Gerald passed on the Emperor's orders to a chief Knight who organized some Knights to lead the horses some distance away from the battle field,two chief Knights accompanying them.

The savages charged towards them and all demons took to flight,the Emperor leading them,all yelling out battle cries.

As both sides made impact,battle cries and snarling filled the atmosphere.

Some knights fighting with weaponry,some their powers and others transforming.

The elementarists among the knights used the earth to their advantage.Having gathered Infront of a good number of savages together,they opened up a huge hole in the earth which swallowed hundreds of them before closing it back.

While they were at that,some knights backed them up, killing savages that tried sneaking up on them from behind.

The morph demons led by Athena killed a good number as well summoning multiple weapons at once and diving them into the bodies of their opponents.

The knights fought in groups based on their abilities but the generals only backed each other up.

Gerald's wings lifted him off the ground as he lifted as many as he could with his mind, throwing them afar off,diving some into some sharp tree trunks and leaving the lucky ones landing with a thud, breaking one or more bones before finishing them off with a quick roast.

This was his power,an inborn fire demon who could as well use telekinesis.

The morph demons took charge of summoning a cage to look them,these cages would they take back to Delvin to imprison them.

Tyran busied himself distributing their excesses among his men,revitalizing and renewing every bit of their drained magic energy.

In no time the forest was a bloody mess, the forest floor littered with bodies of savages and only a few of the emperor's men yet the beasts kept coming.

Gerald looked around him, observing hoe the general's killed the savages with ease,some even dealt with them without moving an inch.

So far he couldn't see any using weaponry except for the morph demons among them.

His eyes scanned the battle field but he couldn't find Ren.

"That nuisance general was supposed to be by the emperor's side.He never followed orders...."Gerald mumbled.

It didn't look like the emperor would be needing babysitting but that was a Royal command how could he.

A good number of savages ran past them,racing in the opposite direction.

Gerald realized what they were trying to do immediately.

They were going after their horses and the small group guarding them.

"By God!"Gerald cursed."Your majesty!_"

"It is evident"Tyran cut in, clearly observing the same thing.

A savage approached him,he flew up and slit it's throat with his sword before looking around him as he stood atop the beast.

Gerald knew he was looking for Ren.

"Your majesty General Ren had disappeared before they ran past us".

Emperor Tyran looked thoughtful,then he tried establishing a telepathic link hoping Ren's won't be blocked as it always was.

He hated someone speaking through his head Tyran knew but no demon was expected to block his telepathic link in battle for communication purposes,a rule Ren almost always violated,yet he had never reprimanded him for it.

Sometimes he felt he was going too easy on him but when things went down to Ren,he found himself strangely softened.

What some others would do,even his knight that would anger him,Ren would do but Tyran would find no trace of anger in him.

What he would punish others for he would conceal for this demon.Even Tyran couldn't understand why,was it his love for this demon of was there something more to it?

"General Ren!where are you?"Tyran demanded.

For a while Tyran got no response,he was sure his message had gone through, Ren's telepathic wasn't blocked.

But would the arrogant Demon even respond even if he heard him?

Emperor Tyran shook his head and sighed.

Suddenly Ren's voice boomed in his head.

"With the horses your imperial majesty...I figured they would come this way".

Tyran didn't know if it was the general's soothing voice or the the fact that it was he guarding the horses that made him smile.

"I trust you will guard my men with your life General..."Tyran said again.

But this time Ren didn't answer.

Tyran looked down at Gerald who was busy manipulating some weapons to leave the bodies of already dead savages to pierce the bodies of the living.

"We will leave the horses to General Ren... he's guarding them,he alone is sufficient".

They heard a loud growling in the opposite direction some distance away and watched a good number of savages run that way.

Gerald watched them for a while before turning to see the smirk on Tyran's face.

"Calling for backup aren't we?.... General Rengyoutsu's dealing with them".

"Your majesty,aren't they a bit unusual and strange?as if they can reason now....it's like they've evolved...and again...are being controlled by something".

Tyran looked his way then averted his gaze.

"Oh they have alright..."

"And Your majesty there is something more... something you are not telling me".

Emperor Tyran ignored him as his eyes scanned the knights below.

His wings spread out and they lifted him above the ground, landing him atop a tall tree,his eyes still searching.

His sense of smell had bungled up,the reek of blood and dead corpses preventing him but as he strained his senses he still got nothing.

His eyes met his knight who stood below watching him.

"Where is Zero?"came his sleaty voice.

"Chief Knight Zero!"Tyran yelled via telepathy.

"Your imperial majesty!"Came Zero's voice.

"You dare disobey the royal order?!"

"Your majesty I will accept any punishment you seem fitting....I will take down the Alpha myself and...Dark..."

"How did you find out the Alpha?"

"I will also tell when this passes but I beg of you your imperial majesty!....don't let anyone on that field out your sight"

Tyran tried to speak but the Knight had blocked his link.

His eyes scanned the field as he descended, pondering on the Chief Knight's final words.

Dark was somewhere in this forest.

He had thought the Chief Knight was on the same side as Dark or was this a scheme of theirs.

Tyran thought he had something to do with what was going on,perhaps they had informed the Alpha about their coming.

But the Alpha he knew hated both demons and human alike.Unless....

Unless he was being controlled by a Leiner.

The Alpha he knew wasn't a Demon just any Leiner could control and Leiners were extremely rare to find these days,he hadn't heard of any born since his reign.

Some believed that power was extinct,even he had seen just one in his life time,hundred years old demon Zac who he had once met in Polymus when his Father was Emperor.

Had Dark somehow managed to find Zac?a demon almost impossible to find and somehow used him.

Tyran looked in the direction of the cave,a place he knew held the answer to his questions.

They would quickly wrap things up and enter the cave,he would even if he had to do it alone.