Chapter 32 - Little Girl with Strange Eyes

Near to the small demon village that laid next to the Gate, Skull Jones had been tending to his undead horse. He gave the creature a bucket of something (who's to say what that was) and then took a seat in the hay that coated the floor of Sally's (the horse's name) stable. As a matter of fact, it was also here in this little barn at the outskirts of town, where Skull Jones lived. He only ever went to town when he felt that he needed work. But as it were now, he had more than enough money to last him a good while. And that much was thanks to the human Gifted that he had helped escort to the Overlord's palace.

But as Skull Jones was idly lying in his red, wooden barn, a small creature had been limping along the red sand as it made its way through the harsh, heated climate.

And finally, that little demon had seen the barn that was surrounded by a small red garden and a few patches of Coconut trees (which weren't exactly that but shared a resemblance with the exception that those tree, like most things in Hell, were reddened.)

In a limp, the little demon continued to walk until it arrived at the barn where Skull Jones had fallen asleep within the hay.

And frantically, the little hooded figure searched for something to eat. Its first instinct was to take whatever that undead horse was munching on. But it decided not to do so after having seen the horses flame burn along its back when the little demon tried to approach.

So next, the hooded figure went to the garden and picked whatever was there to start munching away immediately.

And when it was content, it went into the barn and laid down next to the enigmatic Skull Jones and soon fell into a deep slumber of its own.

Skull soon awoke and to his surprise, he found a cute little demon girl sleeping beside him. She was small little thing with smooth red skin and little tiny horns that had yet the chance to fully mature. She also had pretty long eyelashes and brows that matched her white hair, which was the same length as her entire body.

But that aside, who was she? Skull, being the polite man that he is or rather was (since you see, he was dead) tapped lightly on the girls shoulder. "Little miss, little miss. " he called as he did so.

The girl rolled over on to her back and then began do stretch wide as she got up and opened her eyes. Still sleeping, she rubbed her right eye and then turned to Skull.

And at that, Skull fell backwards and scrambled away on his hands. "You're....you're... Those eyes... " Skull couldn't find the words. He looked to the girl's two eyes in both amazement and fright. For you see, this girl had two eyes of different color, the right was blue and the left was purple. But that was merely a genetic trait that she was born with. What really got the skeleton worked up was the two heptagonal symbols within those eyes. A pentagram brought upon the birth of a demon lord, a hexagon meant the rising of an Overlord but a heptagon, that was something else entirely, which not even Skull was entirely sure of what it meant. All he knew, was that this girl was far from ordinary.

"My eyes?" asked the little girl as she twisted her head, staring profusely at the shocked Skull Jones. "What about them? You're not going to try and take them to replace the ones that used to be in your own eye sockets, are you?" the girl continued as she scurried backwards herself.

"What? No, no, no, no…." Skull Jones waved both of his bony hands in front of him. "It's just that…" he scratched the side of his 'bonified' cheek. "There…uh…well, how should I put this young lady?" Skull Jones got up and walked over to the girl. He smiled with white teeth and held out a hand. "They're very pretty." He lied as the girl grabbed his hand and he hoisted her up on to her feet.

"But if I may," Skull went on. "Who exactly are you and what might you be doing in my barn?"

"I…" the girl thought about it for a second and then suddenly remembered. It would seem that her tiredness had left her still in a daze and when she caught wind of her purpose, her eyes widened and she immediately made to leave. "I'm sorry for eating your crops and also, thank you for letting me sleep here." She said before she opened the barn's gate and ran away towards the town.

But the enigmatic Skull Jones would not leave it at that. He immediately got on Sally and went after the girl. And of course, he caught up instantly and strutted next to the little being as he looked down upon her small form, while mounted on a new saddle that he had recently bought for his horse.

"Would you like me to carry you to your destination? For one such as you, I will do it for free. Especially since I am quite well off at the moment."

The little girl shook her head. "Thank you, but you won't be able to take me where I would like to go."

"And where is that exactly?" Skull asked.

Now in the middle of the village's scarcely populated street, the little girl eyed Skull Jones and then proceeded on her way forward where she stopped at the Gate that was to be found at the end of the road.

"You don't mean…" Skull said quietly and then his eyes widened (though of course, he didn't have eyes.) "That is madness, even if you could open the Gate, it would be crazy to go…"

Before Skull could finish, the girl had already touched the strange structure and soon enough, a strange liquidly substance filled the hollow section of the Gate. And then after, the girl left the Demon realm without a hint of hesitation.

Skull Jones shook his head and with a deep breath, he motioned Sally forward and into the human realm he went as well. As he left, he spoke quietly to his horse. "What kind of a man would I be if I left a little girl like that to go into a foreign world?"

~

The arena was what you'd expect – a large, circular structure with a wide open, concrete platform in the middle. It was located in the middle regions of the Kingdom and was built to be used as a sparring ground for Gifted as well as the hosting area for occasional tournaments. On such occasions, everyone including folk from the lover Kingdom and faraway villages would be invited to watch (assuming they paid the entree fee, that is.)

But of course, Evan and Blyke were not here for some fancy event. As it were now, the two were standing face to face with each other at separate sides on the stone platform, awaiting the signal from the referee to begin their fight.

Teya, on the other hand, was watching from the stone, stair-like seats that surrounded the platform. She for one, had decided to go far up to the higher seats where she would be shaded by the overhanging roof that didn't cover the lower half of the viewing area. And the girl had a bored expression on her face as she slouched with a hand braced against her cheek. She, for one, didn't seem to get what this was all about and had only come along for the sake of it.

All the while, she had been walking and talking with Evan but with him now in the arena, she had nothing else to do but wait for the battle to begin.

Bang! A huge gong rang from above, coming somewhere high in the seating arrangements where a hut like structure was built to overlook the battles that would take place.

And with that out of the way, red lightning ran along Blyke's body while Evan conjured a barrier infront of him.

The fight had begun.

~

The little demon girl, along with Skull Jones emerged in a strange room with seemingly no openings to be seen.

And with the markings that ran along the wall slowly losing their glow as the Gate began to close, the room soon became dark. But not for long, since a flame ran along Sally's back to light their way.

"Why did you follow me?" the little girl asked as she looked to Skull Jones who had gotten off the horse and now held Sally by her saddle.

"Well, little lady…" Skull tipped his gentleman's hat as he bowed a little. "I couldn't help but become entranced by your beauty and as such, without even thinking, I followed you here."

The little girl smiled briefly but she tried to hide it as she bashfully turned away and folded her arms. "Don't try and fool me." She said. "I don't know what you're up to but there must have been some reason for you to come here."

She shook a pointing finger in front of Skull Jones as she stared at him with a glare. "Who are you?" she asked fiercely.

"Ah, I haven't actually introduced myself, have I?" Skull said and then placed his hands out in front of him. "Skull Jones, at your service, my lady."

The girl shook his hand quickly and then turned around to continue walking around in the room. Eventually, she found a tunnel and called Skull. "Common, let your horse light the way. As much as I don't trust you, I've yet to learn how to use fire, so lead the way."

Skull walked forward with Sally in tow. As he continued through the tunnel, he asked. "Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

The little girl looked to the ground and said in a whisper. "Emma."