Chapter 2 - A rift opens in the world

Evan awoke in the morning to the sound of a bell, signaling the maids bringing him breakfast. He had a pancakes, three sausages, two drumsticks, some celery, a boiled egg and freshly squeezed orange juice from the castle's citrus garden. After breakfast, he took a bath and changed into some castle attire, putting aside his dirty cloak. He wore a white dress shirt, covered by a red jacket, laced with gold and a plain black dress pants. His robe, was also red, decorated with gold markings and the royal crest, a simple shield with a man bearing crossed arms within. As nice as this was, Evan would have rather worn the trademarked indigo of the Stronghold faction, but that too he was forbidden to wear by his father.

After completing his morning routine, Evan decided to go and explore the castle. Despite having been here once or twice, he never quite had the opportunity to look around. He noticed the finely crafted stone that made the castle walls, the well-designed banners that hung on every wall, each bearing the royal crest, and many fine artifacts that decorated the castle placed on small ledges. One such artifact caught the eye of Evan. It was an old sword, a sword from the great war of ages. That much Evan was certain of, based on its design – the golden hilt being a key indicator of the time when it was made. Nowadays most swords had steel plated hilts.

"It belonged to Sir Ronan." a young woman, seemingly about the same age as Evan walked down the corridor. She had ginger hair, ocean blue eyes and bore the crest of the Firestone family, the image on the crest formed in the shape of a dragon. In addition, she was about the same height as Evan. Though Evan was but a centimeter shorter, not that he'd ever admit of course.

"Ronan? As in the savior and first king of Efidel?" Evan replied with a question.

"You know your history. I'm surprised." Commented the girl. "I'm Teya Firestone by the way. And you are?" she continued, putting out her hand to Evan as she stopped in front of the sword.

"Evan Stronghold." Evan replied shaking Teya's hand, noticing its soft, delicate texture.

"Stronghold? I've never heard of you." Teya said as she turned and faced the sword.

"Father chooses not to acknowledge me as his son because of my Gift." Replied Evan.

"And what might that Gift be?" Teya asked, her eyes glimmering with curiosity.

Evan opened his palms in the shape of a bowl and in it he manifested a small cloud in the shape of a unicorn. It trotted and ran in circles seeming happy and free. Teya watched in amazement. She attempted to touch it. But as she neared it, a loud clanging of a bell caused her to retract her hands and faced towards the direction of the sound. She listened to the soldiers rustling about, running with iron clotted booths while she glanced at Evan. Her eyes met his and seemed to say the same thing "Trouble!"

The pair raced to the castle's entrance, Evan already soaring upon a little cloud. Teya noticed the captain of the guards shouting orders to the soldiers standing outside. "What's wrong?" Teya asked the captain. He replied quickly, "That." The captain pointed to the south over the twenty feet wall that surrounded the capital. On the other side, a magical rift in space had formed. And from it, an enormous hand was forcing its way out. "What is that?" Evan asked, his gaze fixated on the three, pointy black fingers that protruded from the rift.

"Don't know exactly. All we can say is that it's definitely a malice beast. We just don't know what kind." Replied the captain.

"We should attack it. While it's still vulnerable." Evan stated, his eyes saying that he was volunteering.

"Hold your horses, kid. Your brothers are already taking a team of Gifted to it. Right now, all we can do is prepare defenses if they fail and ready the batallion." Replied the captain, while he took a firm grip on Evan's shoulder.

Evan gritted his teeth and stared into the far distance. His eyes caught a few small dots beyond the wall, two of which were making enormous leaps from what Evan could tell. He knew that one of those two was Eon, the other was probably Lias. At the moment, a storm had begun to brew. Dark clouds filled the distance over the hand, which by now had revealed another set of fingers. Eon was heading straight into that storm, Evan couldn't simply sit here and watch. "Sorry, but I'm going." Evan stated as he pushed the captain back, using a hand that emerged from his cloud and then raced off into the distance.

~

"Hey, slow down a little. The others are barely keeping up." Lias said to Eon, who glanced back momentarily as he landed on the ground and launched himself upwards, the strange markings of the royal family emerging on his skin as he left the ground.

"If you can't keep up. I'll intercept the monster alone and wait for you all to catch up." Eon replied to Lias, who now landed, his legs breaking and repairing themselves almost instantly. After which, he leapt forward again. Lias had noticed that the small gaps he took to heal himself, was enough for Eon to get a considerable distance ahead of him. The others behind him weren't doing any better. Next to him, Raus Firestone was blasting himself forward with the power of flames, his entire body was engulfed in the raging fire. Then there was Maya Aerite, hovering using her sphere of air. And lastly, there was Rill Aquaran surfing on the water he had brought with him on the ground below. At this rate, Eon would have reached the rift and finished the creature off before they could even arrive. Lias didn't like the thought of that.

~

As Eon reached closer, he began to make out a pair of glowing red eyes peering through the rift. They were massive, red balls of raging flame. The creature that bore them had to at least be as big as the castle itself. Eon reckoned that it was even bigger than that. But even so, he wasn't worried in the slightest. After all, he was the strongest and sturdiest of all the Gifted. The only people who could rival his strength were Lias and father himself. But his father's body wasn't as strong as his and even with Lias's healing, Eon always managed to keep ahead thanks to the barrier ability of the Royal family. No matter how strong and tuff this monster may be, Eon was definitely stronger. He had to be because if he wasn't, then who would be?

The giant struggled, seemingly trying to rip open the break in space. By the time Eon arrived, it had managed to slip an entire arm through which Eon made sure to give a good kick as he landed on the ground below. It roared and Eon launched himself upward again to deliver another blow to the hand and then leaping forward to its other hand kicking the three fingers that latched on to the rift back into the void of hell.

But the monster was determined. With only one hand still in the human realm, it slashed Eon, swatting him like a fly downwards into the ground below. Eon was hardly fazed, he got right back up and continued to deliver blow after blow on the hand, trying desperately to knock it back into the rift. The beast continued to resist and Eon continued to attack, all the while the Rift continued to grow.

Soon enough, the others arrived. Lias assisted Eon in relentlessly pummeling the creature while Raus, Rill and Maya supported from a distance with their elements. But regardless of how much flame, fist or fury that was thrown at the monster, it didn't return and the rift continued to grow. By now, an entire slouching shoulder blade was piercing through the rift.

"Raus!" Maya shouted while hovering around. "Combine your flames with my wind!"

Raus didn't reply with words, he instead conjured a spiraling flaming drill that he shot forward at the monster. Maya sent a spiraling sphere of wind towards the fire which fanned it, causing it to grow twice as big and deadlier than before. The entire shoulder of the giant became engulfed but it didn't seem fazed at all.

"That won't work you imbecils!" Lias shouted. "The creature is from Hell, flames won't hurt it much. The only thing that it'll do is burn us all to a crisp."

"Then why'd you make me come here." Raus complained, still throwing darts of flame at the beast.

"It was the spur of moment, we needed whatever help we could get. You guys just happened to be around us." Lias replied, he continued "The other Gifted in the castle will be joining us soon after they organize themselves. Our job is to hold the monster off, not burn everyone. Got that?"

Raus and Maya both gave an understanding nod as Lias leapt forward to assist Eon, Rill still giving cover from a distance. Meanwhile, the castle troops were organizing themselves into a battalion. The troops situated on the wall facing the rift were preparing two bastille that aimed for the monster. Others also readied boiling oil and several catapults, both of which would only be useful if the monster came closer. But from the way the situation was looking, that wouldn't be too long from now.

~

Evan soared through forward on his little cloud. By now, he had reached close enough to see the battle unfolding before him in the open meadow. The clouds above him still grew thicker and darker. The storm coming would have been huge and probably cause some floods in the lower regions of the kingdom. However, Evan had interfered. As of now, he not only motioned his little cloud forward but also the enormous lightning filled one that flew above him. A storm was indeed coming, but it would be their salvation and not their doom.

~

"Does the battle still continue?" asked a cold, unshifting voice which seemed to be only a bit annoyed about the entire situation. "Surely by now, Eon and Lias would have the situation under control. I didn't see the need for you to summon me."

"Mind your mouth, Emrit! You're speaking to the King." Reprimanded another man, this one tall, handsome and noble, having long blonde hair and bearing the seal of the Aquaron family.

"Perhaps you should mind your mouth. Or would you rather I do it for you, Arrone." Emrit replied.

"Why you-"

"That's enough you two!" the King spoke, his captain of the guards now by his side. "Sebastion, where are the others?"

The crown guard replied "The head of Natura is away helping the villages as you ordered prior to this whole occurrence. And the Lord Firestone is on the way, I would like to believe."

"And what of the Lord Electora?" asked the King.

"Well, I would assume he and his house left the capital. They probably foresaw the issue based on the number of recent demon attacks and took it upon themselves to retreat to their stronghold in the mountains."

"Nothing but cowards." Commented Lady Lillian who stood at the far right corner of the room but whom now approached the King.

"You should not refer to your companions as such, Lady Aerite," the King reprimanded the only Lady of the room who shifted her head sharply in response, flinging her long white hair in the process.

The king sighed a hand on his forehead, only glancing forward when he saw the eccentric, huge form of Ratuna Firestone enter the room. "You took your sweet time to get here, didn't you?" the King asked.

"Well, I didn't see the need to hurry." The Lion of a man let out a roaring laughter, despite the clear annoyance of his fellow companions.

"Can we just get on with this already? Why are we here? I've already sent my two strongest to battle the situation, I don't see how else I can help." Emrit questioned, hurried to leave and return to his chambers.

"This is a meeting to discuss the matters occurring. Well, at least future occurrences such as these. The one right now, as Lord Emrit has said, is already being handled by some of our best. And soon enough, a battalion of men lead by my brother will be there to assist." The King paused and took a breath "The reason I summoned you despite everything that is happening is because I have a suspicion and the longer I wait, the deeper that suspicion grows. So I've decided to just to put everything out there. Based on what has been happening, Sebastion and I have come to a conclusion. There is a traitor amongst us, one which sides with the Demon King and whom is a threat to all of humanity."

The room went silent but not for long as Lord Aquaron questioned "And what do you have that would suggest such a thing, if I may ask?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lady Aerite cut in. "Rifts are opening in the world. Rifts that can only be opened from the human side.

"I mean, I've figured that was always the case. That's why I keep my distance from you lot." Commented the Lord Stronghold

"Yes, well said, Lady Aerite." Sebastion commented. "There is indeed a traitor. But fear not, the King has his absolute trust in the ones here today. However, it is undoubtable that the traitor is a Gifted, since it is only but a few of you who knows the secret to open a gate. A secret that even myself does not possess."

"So you believe that we told that secret to one of our successors?" asked Lord Firestone. "Well hate to break it to you, my lord. But I've done no such thing. Aside from my first wife, none other knows of it in my familia."

"I've only told Eon." Lord Emrit stated bluntly.

"And I've told only my first and second children." Lord Aquaron said.

"And I've yet to tell any." Lady Aerite declared.

The King glanced at Sebastion, and then looked once again at the three leaders before him. "Then we must keep those who know under a watchful eye."

"And what of Nutura and Electora?" Lord Aquaron asked.

Sebastion replied in place of the King "Both the Nutura and Electora families are out of the kingdom. From what the King has told me, you must be nearby to open a rift. So for the time being, we have eliminated them as suspects until and if they return."

"Yes, about that." Lord Emrit began. "But wouldn't that place them perfectly in position for opening the other rifts that popped up throughout the country. Not to mention, opening a rift takes a great deal of time and effort. Especially for that huge one out there. A member of one of those two families could have easily left that rift to grow slowly over time and went on their way. If someone inside the kingdom left, you would know. So if you ask me, that puts those two families high on the suspicion list. More so for those Electoras who left just before this whole thing happened."

"You do indeed have a point, Lord Stronghold. However as of now, all we can do is observe." Sebastion replied and then turned to the King who quickly said "Well, that would be all." and dismissed the meeting.

~

The situation had gotten much dire by the time Evan arrived and most were too preoccupied to even notice Evan hovering above. Eon had made sure to give the boy a sharp eye when he saw him but soon after leapt back again to attack the monster.

Now, a leg of the shadowy creature made its way in to the human realm. Evan glanced back to see the battalion of men marching forward lead by his uncle. They would also arrive soon but Evan doubted they would be much help, with the exception of his uncle who was a very skilled Gifted.

But as of now, Evan couldn't quite do much other than to wait. While he was motioning the giant storm cloud in the direction of the battle, it moved much slower that the cloud he rode on. Not to mention, it was incredibly heavy. But still Evan did what he could to speed the process, he stood still on his floating cloud and concentrated on bringing the storm now that he had stopped moving himself.

~

"Halt!" commanded the tall, muscular man with short trimmed hair who wore the royal robe and bore a remarkable resemblance to the King. "Ready the catapults and fire at your discretion, the same goes for the bastilles and those bearing crossbows. The rest of you, hold your ground here. If that monster somehow gets out and starts marching to the walls, it's your job to stop it in that scenario." And with that, the man along with about ten others approached the battle unfolding.

Now in addition to the five who first came, there were now nine other Gifted along with a battalion of about a hundred men relentless attacking the monster with giant stones, arrows, fire, wind and water. "Eon!" shouted the man, "Come down here."

"Commander Marcus," Eon gave a small bow. "What are your orders?"

"Yeah, about that." Marcus rubbed the back of his head. "Report to me any weaknesses you may have discovered."

"As of now, nothing particularly stands out as a weakness except for the fact that it's stuck behind that rift until it opens more." Eon replied.

"Well, I was afraid you might say that. Seems like we only have one option then." Marcus began, "We're going to have to close the rift, hopefully it can chop off its leg and arms when it shuts."

"But how? As far as I'm concerned, father has only told me how to open a rift. Not a way to close one." Eon stared into his uncle's eyes, looking for an answer.

"Well it's simple really. For a rift to stay open, it needs a constant supply of magic energy. For one this size, that must be a considerable amount. So find the source, and the rift will close. However, the problem is that the source could be anywhere within a hundred mile radius. It can even be spread out on different spots, which is most likely what happened." Marcus explained.

"So you're saying it's almost impossible to get the rift shut before this monster comes into our world?" Eon asked, out of great concern.

"Pretty much. But we still have to try." The man then changed his tone of voice and shouted "The first five gifted who came here: Raus, Maya, Rill, Lias and Eon will spread out in search of the source of the rift due to their high mobility. The others will remain here and hold off that beast. Got that!"

"Wait, what source?" Lias inquired, landing next to the commander.

"All you need to know is that there'll be creepy weird markings and probably a bunch of dead bodies around. The smell alone should give it away. Though it's probably located somewhere far in the forest or nearby mountains." Said Marcus fierce and firm.

"But why woul-"

"You've got orders kid! Get to it!" cut in Marcus before Lias could finish.

And with that, the five Gift raced off in different directions in search of source of the rift while the remaining soldiers struggled to keep the monster at bay. All the while, Evan had been preparing from the short distance, and by now, the storm had arrived.

~

The time of reckoning had arrived. Now the rift had grown big enough for the giant of darkness to pass through. It was a horrible creature, its face was warped and ugly, having teeth so jagged and pointy that even a man beaten ten times over looked better. But still, it was powerful. With one swing of its arms, it completely knocked away the first line of soldiers that tried to intercept it. The Gifted, ballistae and catapults still supported from behind, the giant arrows equipped with chains in an effort to slow the giant. But even so, at this rate it wouldn't be long before the creature killed them all. But what made matters worse, was the other hand reaching through the rift, an arm half the size of the first giant. Now if that thing came through as well, then the kingdom would most certainly be placed in a siege.

But luckily, Evan had planned for the first giant. As for the second, he trusted his brother to close the rift before that thing could get out. But as for the moment, the smaller giant became engulfed by the storm cloud. Rain poured and lightning struck while the monster haphazardly swung his arms around in vain trying to attack the cloud that turned to mist in is hands.

"What the hell!" commander Marcus exclaimed as he saw Evan floating above on his little cloud. "What are you doing here?" Marcus asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm saving all of you." Evan replied.

The commander let out a small chuckle which transformed into a coy grin, "Now is that so? Well, keep doing what you're doing and we'll see how we can help."

"Yeah, about that. I don't suppose you could get anyone from the Electora family to come here?" Evan asked.

"I'm afraid not. They've all evacuated to their fortress in the Thunder Mountains." Replied Commander Marcus. "But why?" the commander asked as he ordered the troops to fall back away from the storm cloud and recuperate.

"Well, you see. I can't exactly control rain or lightning. The only part of the storm I can manipulate is the cloud itself. If someone who could control lightning was here, they'd be able to make use of the storm better that I can. That being said, the Aquaron family could also use this to their advantage." Evan explained as he flew upwards to look at the giant within. The monster was walking towards to walls of clouds that surrounded him but Evan cleverly moved the storm in turn with him so that he never reached the wall. But even so, at this rate he would still reach the kingdom since the giant seemed to know the direction which to walk without even seeing.

"Well, water won't do much damage. But I probably can." Evan said to himself as he pulled a piece of the storm and bundled it into a giant arrow. He compressed it to a degree where it could actually pierce through something, not to mention it occasionally sparked lightning. If Evan could time it well enough, he could hurt the monster.

Lightning sparked in the arrow cloud and instinctively, Evan launched the arrow straight into the beast's neck. It growled in pain and reached to pull the electrifying cloud out of itself. And so it did. Evan watched as the shadows immediately converged and began to heal the 'wound' of the giant. Truth be said, there was no blood or flesh, just like the Hell wolf, the monster was nothing but shadowy darkness. The problem, unlike the Hell wolf, this giant was much too large to be crushed. But still, there had to be limited amount of shadow mass that the creature consisted which meant that it could only heal itself so much. In fact, though it was barely noticeable, Evan saw the giant had reduced its size ever so little. But regardless, it was visible which meant he monster could be defeated and would be defeated if they continued attacking it. The problem was that they would not be able to defeat it before it reached the Kingdom's wall.

They had to attack the creature and more, had to cause enough damage so that it would reduce its size small enough for them to simply crush it. But how? Evan watched observed. He noticed that most of lightning attack the creature but at different spots. Small wounds, easily healed, not enough for it to reduce its size quickly enough. They needed a concentrated attack, a wound big enough to drain the monster's size. So Evan came up with an idea.

If he could redirect most of the lightning to a specific part of the giant, and then deliver and final blow along with the others, then perhaps they could win this battle. But first, he needed equipment. Evan surveyed the troops below, the arrow heads were made of iron and so were the chains, both of which were conductive. The soldiers also used iron spears, perfect for lightning rods. All Evan had to do now, was create a circuit for the current to flow. His mother had thought him about this when she spoke about the Electora's family powers. He remember the stories of the mountain fortress that was run completely on electricity. Plans for the capital to undergo such changes were being made but it was still a working progress. But right now, Evan thanked that he had this knowledge.

Without even explaining, Evan grabbed several spears and chains using a cloud formed hand and hoisted a ballista into the sky along with Commander Marcus and two other soldiers. "Hey! What the hell are you doing kid?" exclaimed his uncle.

"I don't have time to explain. Just aim the ballista at that things back, make sure it's somewhere he can't reach." And with those words, Evan flew around the creature and struck iron spears into its shadowy skin, then wrapped a different chain around each. "Shoot it now!" he shouted to the commander who ordered the two men to aim and shoot straight for the back of the creature. The monster groaned in pain, while lightning still continued to strike it. Evan then connected each of the chains to the giant metal arrowhead, but as he was wrapping the final one, there was a quick flash and before anyone could blink, Evan found himself staring at a bolt lightning. In less than a second, he would have thousands of joules of energy passing through his body. He could even die. However, from the peripheral right of his eye, Evan noticed another flash of red which moved ever more quickly than the bolt of lightning coming towards him. And in the blink of eye, the two bolts had collided saving Evan from a near death experience. Evan quickly wrapped the last chain and flew out of the storm.

"What was that?" Evan asked the commander, who was as lost as he was.

"That I believe, was my awesome Gift saving your butt!" an eccentric voice came from behind and Evan turned around to see a boy with red hair floating in the air, assisted by someone from the Aerite family. The boy then hopped onto to Evan's cloud and reached out his hand with a grin "Name's Blyke Electora, you can thank me later. But right now, let's kick this giant's ass!"

"Blyke Electora, but your family is-"

Blyke cut off the commander "I don't consider those cowards my family. Big deal, I stayed behind. Saw the commotion and thought I'd blend in with the battalion and Gifted, my buddy down there helped me out with it. Now let's get on with already."

"This is great!" Evan exclaimed. "Say Blyke," Evan put a hand over Blyke's shoulder, "Think you could aim a gigantic bolt of lightning at that ballista arrow's head."

Blyke replied with a grin "Damn right I can!" Blyke then charged a lightning bolt but was stopped by Evan "Hold on, let's wait until everyone else is ready to attack. Not to mention, we should let the natural lightning of the storm do some damage first."

And with that said, Evan hoisted all the remaining Gifted over the storm where they could easily strike the monster. "On my command!" shouted Marcus, while readying a translucent, thinly sliced shard from his hand, "Attack!" Marcus shot a shard from his hand while the other Gifted shot multiple powerful attacks at the monster.

The giant roared and raged, it became quite noticeable as lightning struck along with the attacks of the Gifted, that its size was being reduced. "Do it now." Evan said to Blyke who was charging his lightning bolt, one remarkably larger than the first. And as such, with a confident battle cry, Blyke blasted the giant straight on to the arrow's head electrocuting the monster to a crisp. Or at least, to a fraction of the size that it once was.

The giant now stood only a little under ten meters tall, and for the most part, it would be no threat to the Kingdom's wall, giving the Gifted time to recuperate their strength and ranks. And also allowing Evan to return the storm to the skies, sending it away from the direction of the Kingdom. The remaining troops and Gifted could take care of the shrunken monster in due time, now the only problem that remained was the even more enormous arm reaching from the rift. And what was even more frightening was the intelligent eyes that peered through it. Eyes which were little more than burning balls of fire, but rather glowing orbs of red that traced a pattern within. A pattern which Evan recognized as the symbol of transcendence in hell, a symbol which marked a lord. A demon lord.