NEMESIS

STREETS OF ZENARLI, VENDERYA.

Abaddon teleported with relative ease. He had warped through holes in space and appeared exactly where his preternatural bearings had led him to... VENDERYA.

He was standing in what seemed like an alleyway. One of those humans was staring at him wide-eyed, stunned... He should be.

Lower class things they are.

"Cifaro" Abaddon called unto his soul bond.

A low hum of response reverberated within Abaddon as his soul bond set to work. After they left the In-between, Cifaro had locked into the signature of the vision shown in the In-between and it led them here.

All Cifaro had to do now was locate the orange-haired girl and maybe then some things would make sense to him. The In-between housed the vilest of creatures, creatures that had been trapped for centuries before the rise of the demon empire, even long before the beginning of any other life form. And that alone made Abaddon wary of the fact that one human was meddling with one of the most dangerous beings in all of the realms.

A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of another being stronger, capable of wiping him away from the surface of the realms.

" There," Cifaro's voice drew Abaddon back to the present and he turned instinctively to where his soul bond's energy was directed.

And his emerald green eyes fell on that of light brown ones, with the orange hair that was damp. He didn't even feel the rain, being a creature of fire like he was.

Without another word, he sauntered towards her but was restrained by a hand on his chest.

" Watch it we came here f-" But Cifaro was in no mood to patronize anyone. He was still sore from exerting too much energy in the In-between. So as the human-made contact, he was burned to a crisp, his skin devoured by Cifaro's fiery flames, eating his bones, in a matter of seconds, his hand was burned to a crisp and infinitely reduced to ash.

Now, where were we?

Abaddon drew closer to the girl whose hands were tied to a pole, her hair was slightly ruffled by the cold winds that resumed blowing with a little bit of gusto.

"Need help?" Abaddon asked, studying her appearance.

But before she could respond, tingling sensations spread all over Abaddon and he turned just in time to notice more men appearing all over, blocking both the entry and exit.

Adriana hurriedly tried to cut the ropes by pulling herself on her knees and began to make friction, by raising her hand up and down in quick motions, hoping the rope will cut loose. The new entry of bounty hunters wasn't what she could fight tied to a pole.

Abaddon sighed. He couldn't deal with this now, he had no time to deal with petty humans wars. Without warning, he drew in the energy surrounding him and was partly surprised to feel such an influx of energy around the area, but he was grateful for the familiar throb in his veins.

Exhaling, the energy grew thick, and the winds stirred at his command, swirling overhead the hunters receded a step and were visibly frightened. This wasn't what they signed up for.

But before they could contemplate running away, Abaddon let loose the energy and directed the flow into creating wind blades, slicing their forms down, their yells encouraging him to bring them down. Some were blown away, flailing their arms in the air, as their forms slam against buildings.

" That was fast" Cifaro commented. Abaddon could feel his energy returning.

" We haven't much time, have we?"

Cifaro didn't argue with that.

Turning his attention to the scrawny figure tied to the pole, he sent a half-blade of wind at her and it cut the ropes in half.

She stared at him for a moment, her bright brown eyes narrowed at him, before moving to a lying heap that Abaddon failed to notice.

Without sparing him another glance, Adriana shot for Kali whose bleeding had stopped by a margin, he was bruised all over from the beating he had gotten.

Luckily he was still breathing.

"Kali?" She called slowly. His breathing heightened and for a moment, Adriana was terrified that he was having a panic attack. Instead, he groaned and slowly rose from the position he laid, his hands reaching out for the cut in his wound.

" Are you okay?" Adriana asked forgetting her initial plans to escape from Vendarya.

Kali grunted his affirmation before his eyes land on Abaddon, Adriana's eyes trailed the look.

"Who are you?" Adriana voicedout.

Instead of giving a reply to her question, Abaddon diverted to the matter at hand. He had no time for trivial matters, he was certain now that his former contractor was after this girl and if he could find out why before he caught up to her, he might be able to destroy whatever force was at play.

" Your partner over there is in no good shape. I just saved your lives and I could do it again if you'd follow me," He replied matter of factly.

" Follow you?"

" I believe that's what I said. Are humans this dense?" Abaddon thought inwardly. Cifaro's anger was rubbing on him.

Adriana weighed her options. Ignore him and find her way out of this mess herself, whilst risking being caught and Kali's losing blood. OR. Follow the freak of nature, also known as a demon( don't forget) whose word she couldn't believe but might be able to help her if it was true.

What did she have to lose? Adriana thought and multiple terrible scenarios crossed her mind, causing her to shake her head like a dog with wet ears.

" Why should I trust you?" She finally said out loud, her resolve caving in.

" Why?" Abaddon repeated with a blank look.

Now, who is repeating words? Cifaro chuckled telepathically.

" After saving your life,-not to mention two lives!- you even dare question my motives?"

Abaddon scoffed, he had no time for this but her blunt attitude got on his nerves.

" Why shouldn't I?" Adriana replied with a nonchalant look on her face.

" Why should you?" Abaddon replied arrogantly. He was too much royalty to be arguing with a low life human, even if she was attractive.

" Oh, I don't know. I mean coming out of a portal is considered normal," Adriana replied sarcastically. " And don't get me started on the magic trick you performed there,"

Magic trick! The gall. Calling his skilled and intricate magic a trick. How insolent!

But before Abaddon could spin off a reply, Kali spoke.

" Uhmm... Adriana, I think we should get going," His voice was weak and forced

At the sound of his voice, her head whipped back to Kali, his eyes were partly closed, his breathing was labored and his wound pulsed slowly. Guilt drove itself and parked right in her heart, she had forgotten all about Kali-.

" You should listen to your friend there" Abaddon's deep baritone cut through her thoughts, but when Adriana sent a glare his way, he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the horizon.

Adriana's gaze followed his to the dark skies and she gasped at what she saw. A black-caped figure was floating mid-air in the skies, his hands were lit with green energy balls, and now and then, he would send fiery balls to the ground and upon impact, screams stole the sound.

The black-caped person turned slowly with a peal of maniacal laughter on his lips, and before Adriana could think to duck, her eyes met with his dark eyes, narrowed like slits.

Anlai

A grin crossed his face as he spotted her. Adriana could have sworn she heard him say..." There you are,"

And before she could voice out a warning, dark green energy balls shot towards her.