The Real Demon (1)
"If this goes on, you'll either bleed or exhaust them to death. They haven't eaten anything for the whole day and the weather just turned bad." Elder Heuruk complained with his hands across his chest. He was face to face with another elder inside the audience box on top of the arena.
"All of them wanted the book of spells so much that their hearts did not lie. It was their decision to be here." Elder Heuruk groaned as he heard another elder scorn the group of 'contestants' below them. "It was so easy to place that magic spell on those invitations. Outsiders really are simple-minded individuals. They can easily be fooled." They were inside a small room on top of the light of the arena. There were four more boxes on the corners of the arena which cannot be seen if you were below. These boxes were all enchanted by powerful mages to not incur damage from the on-going competition.
The child emperor did not even pay any attention to any of his ramblings. His face was devoid of any emotion as he looked on the battle below him. 'How will be any one of them be considered great?' he asked himself.
Then as his eyes diverted to another box, he heard a girl's mocking voice. "Are you happy now that she did something and did not say it?" The mocking words left all the people speechless while sweat dripped from their foreheads. Their eyes were drifting to the little child on the emperor's seat. If he would go mad right now just because of what that young girl said, they would not know what kind of bloodbath he would deliver upon all of them.
The child emperor's eyes carried a dangerous glint as he pointed at Yllana. "That girl, give me her name and everything else you can find about her." After he commanded the elders, they heard thunder rumbling from above.
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The wind was blowing hard on the doors and windows. The leaves from the plants outside the inn were furiously banging on the walls and whatever was nearby. Huge drops of rain kept on pouring on the South Kingdom.
"Curses!" Shiiba stomped her feet on the ground as she watched the dark skies hover above them. "Master! It has been hours since she disappeared. We have to do something!"
Theoden's eyes never left the palace. He has kept an eye on it ever since Yllana disappeared hours ago. His heart was uneasy, but he could not be so rash as to barge into an imperial palace when they do not even hold any evidence on their hands. "Don't be so rash."
Yrah was sitting quietly on the corner with her hand on her forehead. She kept on tapping on the table restlessly with her other hand. "Father..." there was nothing more she could add to that word. Aren't all of them worried? Even if she says she is worried, her words will not change the situation.
"Ughhh! That fool! Making my lady worried and all." Prince Devon also eyed the imperial palace from the window thinking how upset Yrah is right now.
"No worries. Lucien has gone after her." Midel's calm and soothing voice startled them. That was when everyone noticed that the silent Lucien was not in the room.
Theoden's eyebrows furrowed and he massaged his temples. His worries have taken up yet again another notch. "Since when was he gone?" he asked.
"Just an hour ago I suppose. He said the sky was getting dark. I guess he brought Yllana an umbrella." he sighed at the thought of his own joke.
"He'll go get her, right?" When Yrah heard Midel's 'Uh-huh', her heart calmed down a bit. But her worries did not dissipate entirely.
"Well, that demon better bring her back, or else she will not have the chance to fulfill her destiny." Midel glared at Shiiba as she finished with her words.
"Destiny? My daughter? What are you trying to say?" Theoden caught Shiiba's hesitation as she continuously glanced nervously at Midel.
"You'll know sooner or later. But for now, I think it is better to just let fate run its course. Who knows, maybe she might defy what fate brings to her." There was an incredible calm in Midel's tone when he spoke. He looked at the citron slice on floating on his tea. He swirled it inside the cup as thoughts ran in his mind.
Theoden's mind got messier than before after hearing Midel and Shiiba.
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Bang! Bang! Bang!
The imperial doors opened with three loud noises from outside. Two bodies dressed as imperial guards flew inside. They were bloody. And they are dead.
Following the two dead bodies, a loud thunder struck a nearby tree and the feisty wind blew all the lights out inside the imperial palace. Through the darkness, a faint sound of footsteps entered the hallway. The servants and other guards were busy bringing back the lights to the hallways when they saw a dark figure coming in. They could only make out a faint figure from afar.
"You there! Hurry up and close the doors. The strong winds have blown out all the lights!" One of the guards ordered. "Why aren't you hurrying up! Do you want the emperor to punish you?" He walked briskly to that shadowed figure with a torch in his hand. But as he approached him, his steps slowed until it completely stopped a few feet away from the figure.
"You…you're a demon!" The guard shouted and he brought out his sword, but the shadow was already beside him with its pointed fingers stuck on the guard's chest.
When he pulled out his hand, blood gushed out from the guard's chest. The dark figure lifted its face to see the other people in the hallway. Two red dots…no, those were eyes! Bloody-red eyes!
The servants screamed and tried to run away. The guards who rushed in to help with the lights were caught unaware and were mercilessly slaughtered by the demon who entered the palace. "L-long slender hands with pointed fingers t-that are as-as sharp as blades and as quick as lightning, he k-killed all of them swiftly. I-it was a demon! A demon!" the servant who made the report to an elder nearby stuttered repeatedly as her eyes darted from one corner to another trying to find out if the demon has caught up with her.
"A demon? Inside the South Kingdom? Why didn't the oracle…" the elder's voice trailed off as a familiar scene went back to his mind. He could not say that the oracle did not warn them. She DID warn them. And it was rather very early. They expected that she was wrong. Now all he could think of was to let the emperor know. The guards and other servants were all slain except for this one who escaped.
"Go to the guest wing and tell the enchanter to get rid of it. I will report this to His Highness." The elder swiftly darted from his spot to the hidden chambers beneath the palace. There was a huge space with four doors on the ground positioned in a circle and with one more in the center.
The elder knocked on the center door and hurriedly went down the hole. There he saw the other elders bickering and the emperor watching the battle with his amused gaze. "Your Highness, a demon has entered the palace and slain the guards on watch. The oracle's vision…was true."
The elder's words silenced the whole group. The child emperor's eyes squinted as his vision directed at a girl with brown hair in the middle of the arena. She was locked in a battle with a powerful mage from the Banished Village.
He swung his robe and went out of the box. "Call all the elders and the enchanter too." Soon as he opened the door, a cold voice greeted them.
"No need." The eerie sound and gloom in the voice matched the demon's face that was as cold as ice. His two white fangs hang out of his red lips. His long and slender arms almost reached his knees. And his blood-red eyes concentrated on the child emperor's figure. His eyes were so red that it may have been where he gathered all the blood of the people he has slain. Though he looked like a monster, no one could deny the fact that there was something attractive about his demeanor, like a monster with manners.
The child emperor noticed the fresh blood dripping off the fingers of the demon and the dead bodies that have been piled up behind the creature. "You killed my most powerful subjects and allies? Impressive. By chance, are you the demon king?"
The emperor's words did not even help his subordinates' worries but even worsened it. If he was correct about his assumptions, as he always was, then they would really die in the hands of this monster. There was no record of any human that has survived when faced with the demon king. Even touching him would break your bones and wound your life force greatly. There was only one survivor but it was only a rumor from the North Kingdom. Nobody believed it.
"You have something that belongs to me," the creature did not bother to answer the emperor's questions nor reject it. But it did not displease the child emperor. The elders moved forward to guard the child emperor, no matter what happens, they must protect him at all costs.
The creature gave them a smile so creepy that it showed its pointy fangs. Fear crept into the elders' spines.
Swish! Splat! Swish!
It only took a dash and three sways of his hands and the elders fell on a pool of blood. The emperor stood his ground. He was only at the waist level of the monster but there was no fear in his eyes. He even seemed…amused? After realizing the situation, the emperor whispered, "Evindal, come out."
As the creature's finger was about to reach the child's neck, white smoke burst out of the child emperor's body and covered him. When the smoke thinned, a man who was as tall as the demon emerged from where the child emperor stood. His hair was as black as the night and his eyes were as purple as the lavender flowers. There was a majestic air about him attracting people who set their eyes on him. Even his body was proportionate and manly matching his pretty face. He was too handsome for words.
"The real emperor," the monster's eyes surveyed the man before him and saw the resemblance between him and the child emperor. The creature raised his hand again to hit the emperor.
"Bluemoon staff," the emperor summoned his staff to meet the creature's attack. The creature's hands met the enchanted wooden staff and produced a loud bang erupted into the air sending waves to the whole kingdom.
After the powerful wave, Yllana saw something glittering from a dark side above them. There was a faint sound of a flute following the glittering light.