The Duel

Ugh.

Damon groaned as his eyes came slowly to focus. He blinked against the harsh light, it was noon, the sun high up in the sky, the heat seeping into his body.

He tried to stand up and immediately regretted it as a dull throb resounded in his temple. He looked around, he was on a freaking rooftop !

"Finally awake?", a raspy voice called out.

Damon turned sharply to the sound .

An extremely muscular guy sat some distance from him, blonde hair splattered thinly across his forehead. There was a dragon tattoo on his big arm that seemed like it could crush a human 's skull in no time.

"Who are you?", Damon asked as memories of the moment before he blacked out came flashing back to him flickering faintly through his mind like a broken film reel.

The exorcist... Mark.... The loud noise

"I don't give out my name", the big guy said simply. That was when Damon noticed it, curled at the big guy was a huge snake…

No,is that a human snake? , Damon wondered.

"The hell is that thing", he muttered pointing at the creature that seemed to be both human and snake, sleeping silently, it's breathing soft and uneven, long dark hair concealing it's face.

"That thing", the big guy drawled , "saved your life, her name is Nagini, she's a basilisk".

"Thanks", Damon nodded, "guess you saved my ass".

"Don't thank me", the big guy rasped, drawing out a cigarette and a lighter from his pockets, "pay up".

"Excuse me".

"You are the third prince, ain't you, shouldn't be hard", the guy shrugged blowing out a deep puff of smoke .

"Well, I don't have a drachma on me now", Damon said raising his brows.

"Well, I guess you are stuck with us till you settle your debts", the big guy said picking up Nagini from the roof gingerly.

Damon sighed, "I have a family dinner in about two hours, keep up",he said and pounced off the roof , pain lancing at his temple.

Damon met Karma pacing in front of the palace gates, his bronze skin glistening in the setting sun.

"I couldn't find you in the pummel nor the palace and I found scorch marks at the sewers", Karma panted as he ran up to Damon," and who the hell is this? ",he said pointing at the big guy and Nagini who had began to mumble about rabbits in her sleep.

" Nice to meet you too",the big guy grinned.

Damon told Karma of the exorcist .

"Cocky bastards", Karma spat.

"Yeah", Damon agreed, "they saved my life by the way, Nagini and muscle".

"Muscle?", the big guy rasped clearly confused.

"You have my gratitude", Karma nodded towards the big guy.

"Don't thank him, he wants me to pay him", Damon sighed.

"Naturally", the big guy shrugged.

" Take them to my chambers Karma, I would rejoin them after the dinner ".

Karma nodded, as Damon veered to the left towards the main palace , it's marble columns towering against the orange sky, the air suddenly filling his nostrils with incense as servants skittered about, their soft chatter blending in with the distant sound of music.

Karma was about to enter the dining when he came across his brother, the fourth prince, Alaric.

"And what do we have here?", his brother crooned, green eyes widening malevolently, fingers swirling around a small dagger, "even bastards eat, don't they? ".

" I guess no maid is pregnant today? ",Damon sneered , walking around Alaric,"remind me how many bastards you have fathered again? ".

Damon knew it was coming before he even saw it . He was about to dodge the dagger slash before he heard blade hit flesh.

Damon's eyes widened.

The first prince had grabbed the blade mid strike, blood oozing out of his palm, a smile plastered on his face as he towered above Damon and Alaric.

"Prince Carlisle", Alaric panted, his hands shaking as he bowed hurriedly.

"No worries now", Carlisle laughed, "just don't kill each other in the palace corridors , it's humiliating".

The first prince drew out a large white napkin from his coat pockets, wiping out the blood softly. He gave a quick glance at Damon before he pranced off without a word leaving Damon to stare at his wild dark hair .

Great, Damon thought, his father hated him, Alaric wants to kill him, his elder brother wouldn't even speak to him, and his last brother, the second prince, well, that one is a hell of a case.

Damon groaned as his father sat down after giving out a toast to prosperity. The dinner has gone smoothly with the senator and his father discussing boring politics, Carlisle and the senator's son whispering in hushed tones , Alaric had spent his time pelting damon with berries from across the table , the flickering light from oil lamps casting a warm glow across the hall.

"And what about a duel to quench our boredom?", the senator suggested loudly, gingerly sipping wine from a goblet.

Everyone became dead quiet. Duels were always fought to the dead, surely the senator was not suggesting that.

"And you are sure about that?," Damon's father, Alastor mumbled, his eyes flickering towards the senator.

"Of course, I'm quite confident in Daiki, I would love to test royal strength against him",the senator crooned softly," so i assume Carlisle would be up for the task, huh? ".

" No ", Alastor said softly staring at a berry in his hands," I believe Damon wouldn't mind".

Damon's eyes met his father's and he saw it in his eyes, the one word.

Dispensable.

The sun was nearly gone, orange light barely flickering over the sandy duelling grounds.Damon's heart pounded as he glanced around, he could see the senator muttering wildly to his father whose eyes were on the senator's son on the other side.

Tch, his father wouldn't even look him in the eye after sending him to his death.

He could glimpse Carlisle looking surprisedly concerned as he crossed his arms,while Alaric lips were locked in a smug smile. He would definitely enjoy watching this no doubt.

"Five thousand drachmas that Damon dies in the first five minutes!", Alaric suddenly yelled, grinning stupidly.

"Four minutes!,Daiki would crush him in four minutes", the senator yelled from his seat chuckling softly.

"Ten thousand he doesn't die", Carlisle suddenly said.

Damon glanced at him as Carlisle stared back at him, eyes unwavering.

"Oh", Alaric muttered.

"Get it over with", Alastor drawled ,glancing at Carlisle.

The duel began and Daiki wasted no second in summoning a wave of seawater to crash down on Damon . He leapt aside, dodging the attack with ease.

Great, Damon thought, he also hosts the God of the sea.

"Aren't there about thirty of you sea weeds", Damon drawled as he dodged another dangerous wave that nearly took off his head .

"You are cocky for a weakling", Daiki said as a huge wave suddenly gathered behind him solidifying into thousands of ice shards,each of them circling around Daiki at blind speed. He raised his hands.

Fuck me, Damon thought as he parried the projectiles as fast as he could, however a few managed to tear through his skin as he gritted his teeth in pain.

Damon groaned as he pulled out a huge shard from his thigh, he was losing blood. He needed to end this quick.

The duel raged on with Damon going on the offensive trying to close the distance between him and Daiki who kept sending ice shards sporadically without even moving an inch.

Damon feigned a stumble, leaving himself open, and his opponent took the bait unleashing a dangerous wave of water towards him that would surely tear him apart with pressure.

Damon stamped his foot hard on the ground. He sucked in deep to keep his breathing even, his eyes slitting and narrowing at Daiki.

Whoosh.

Everyone gasped as Damon seemly teleported from his spot, next thing he was in front of Daiki who stumbled back with a gasp but it was too late. Damon slashed across his chest, a blow that sent Daiki flying backwards and landing bloodily in front of his father whose mouth was distorted in shock.

Good thing he observed that trick from the exorcist at the sewers.

"You fucking bastard!", the senator cried out, bending over Daiki who was beginning to gasp for breath.

Just as Damon sheathed his sword, Daiki ran wildly with a yell, water bursting out from the ground and different sections of the palace,an entire sea gathered above Damon as if angry themselves.

"You shouldn't have piss me off", Daiki snarled as he sent the entire wave towards Damon.

Damon was about to run when he felt a huge jolt coursing through his body. His eyes rolled backwards as his body spasmed violently.

*************

Damon opened his eyes, he was lying on the wet ground, his eyes fluttering as the sun finally dipped in the horizon, the sky faintly pink as bats flew wildly overhead.

Everyone stared at him as he stood up slowly, the looks on their face was one of shock and disbelief. That's when he saw it.

Daiki 's body was covered in about a million cuts, his head separated from his body and Damon's sword right in the middle of the corpse, jammed deep into the heart.

What monster had done this?

Or was that monster himself?

That's when he heard the voice he had been awaiting for twenty years of his life,a silky voice filled with pure malice .

His demon has awokened and it was angry.