Beginning of the End

*Too bad the sky is covered again.*

It was almost sunset. The clouds' color was a mixture of pink and purple. The rays of fading light must've been beautiful if they were visible.

SMACK! The sound of wooden bars hitting each other echoed in the crisp air. Hyeon and Shika were practicing bo-staff in the garden. After all, Sani said to 'play with some sticks.' Haruma, curious about their recent spars, sat in a huddled ball on the entrance steps to watch. Personally, Hyeon thought it was to keep an eye on him after almost losing his temper on Imoogi.

Today was unusually warm despite winter, so they switched their session to outside. Hyeon was glad for the hotter day. With all of his clothes destroyed except for a few autumn outfits, it was difficult to stay warm. Sani still had the coat.

Shika was getting faster with the movements.

Thanks to muscle memory, he was almost back to his old skills. His antlered friend admitted that he saw his competition video on YouTube and asked if Hyeon could show off a similar routine. He was uneasy at the idea since it reminded him all too well of his bo-staff troupe. The ones he killed that night from the accident. So, Hyeon answered with, "Maybe in the future."

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the centipede's initiation was delayed by five days. He and Fenrir haven't seen each other since he sucked his—

THWACK!

The tip of Shika's staff jabbed him hard in the ribs.

The deer stopped and leaned on his pole. "I knew it. I just struck you with a beginner's move, meaning you're distracted. Does your hand still hurt? Are you thinking about the spirits who damaged your apartment?"

Nero, the bat spirit, caught the four vandals. It was thanks to her spiritual ability as an ex-familiar to a human witch. In an odd turn of events, Hyeon didn't know any of them and they refused to say why they did it. Imoogi wasn't part of the incident. All were sent to the basement for two months. Sani mentioned the likelihood of leaving the southern lights soon to go shopping in Stewart Island.

Ever since it happened, he and Nammi were temporarily crashing on Shika's couch.

Hyeon flexed his hand. It completely healed yesterday. "Nah, it doesn't hurt anymore. I just remembered something that happened recently."

Haruma said aloud, "Kare wa masutā no koto o kangaete imasu." (He's thinking of Master.)

Shika laughed. "Masutā wa jibun no heya kara dete kuru hazudesu. Watashitachi no chīsana ningen wa seiteki yokkyū fuman desu." (Master should come out from his room. Our little human is sexually frustrated.)

When they had secret discussions in their native tongue, Hyeon felt left out. He didn't know enough Japanese to follow along. Something about Fenrir?

"Do you know why Master postponed that new servant thing?"

Shika shook his head. "No one knows. Normally, he wants to get it over with as soon as possible, but Master has been locked up in his chambers and won't let anyone in; not even you to deliver his meals."

He wasn't wrong. Haruma suspended the food delivery.

They resumed their match, but it was obvious Hyeon would continue his losing streak. There were some close calls to winning, but he lost every time.

Shika narrowly blocked the front spin strike to the leg. He returned the gesture and under swept at his opponent's ankles.

Hyeon's feet lost their balance and fell onto his side. He heaved in a breath and rolled onto his back with a groan.

"Why are you terrible this week? Haruma could do better," Shika criticized. "I know combat isn't your style, but it could help you if you find yourself in a dangerous situation. Keep that in mind, especially with Master Fenrir losing..."

Shika shut up when Haruma looked at him with a warning.

Hyeon furrowed his eyebrows. He had a lot of anxiety from being kept in the dark this week. "Losing what?"

"Nothing. Well, not nothing, but you need to be more vigilant. You'll know in time what I mean."

This made Hyeon annoyed. He sat up. "You know, if this was a book, I'm sure the readers would appreciate cutting the bull crap. Can't you skip all the mysterious baloney?"

"I can't say anything about it, baka!" (Idiot!)

While they were arguing, Haruma stopped listening. Something else had caught his attention in the distance. His instincts were on edge. "Perhaps it's time you take your own advice to be more alert, Shika."

The deer turned to him all riled up from their bickering. "What?"

Haruma pointed at a specific spot on the barrier, which protected the property from outside threats. That area was only a half-mile away.

Hyeon pinpointed a flock of small birds scattering away from there. Since the misty barrier reached the sky, they couldn't see beyond it from this angle. What was disturbing them at this hour? At this time, birds were usually quiet until morning.

After the birds flew to a different location, it was quiet. The air felt uneasy.

Then, a pair of glowing white eyes could be seen through the mist. For them to see eyes from such a distance could only mean one thing. It was big. Very big.

Haruma ran down the stairs to join the duo.

"What is that? I thought the barrier couldn't be penetrated?" Hyeon asked with worry.

"It can't," Shika said, also troubled. "The barrier is made up of many layers, each one stronger than the last. This demon somehow made it past all of them except the last one. Haruma, this has never happened before."

Haruma's body steamed with smoke. He was preparing to shift. "I know."

At the same moment, the ground started to tremble like an earthquake. At one end of the castle was a massive building that could fit a professional sports stadium. It was a side that Hyeon hasn't visited yet since it was off-limits. The structure's windows were lit up with a yellow light.

"What is THAT?!" Hyeon was freaking out with all the weirdness happening at once.

"Stop saying that question!" Shika yelled.

"Initiation," Haruma said. The ghostly outline of his other eight tails could be seen. "You should go to him. Master Fenrir is using too much power for that instead of protecting Festr Castle. He needs soul energy."

The ground's shakiness increased. It was difficult to stand. Some heavy bricks from the castle's roof rolled down precariously below and crushed the plants.

The demon that was almost through the barrier was trying to push through the last layer. More would come.

"IKE!" (GO!) Haruma shouted.

They went their separate ways. Haruma raced towards the potential intruder. He finished shifting and had nine tails. His maroon and blue odd-eyes now gleamed purple.

Hyeon and Shika went back inside the castle. They stumbled on the quaking floor. It would take forever to reach Fenrir in time.

"Too slow," Shika complained. His body released thick smoke. Since when could he shift? "Hop on!" He pulled Hyeon's hand with immense strength to carry him.

"W-wait! I'm too big for you!"

But rather than finding himself being transported by Shika's small human frame, he was riding on the back of a deer.

Shika's hidden form was the size of a small car. His tail extended out like a male peacock, but in muted nude colors. The antlers grew an extra few feet and an impossible number of sharp points were added.

More knife-like antler points stuck out from his neck vertebrate. If Hyeon accidentally fell forward, they would gouge his upper torso. Heck, even small spikes jutted out from around his hooves.

Shika's speeding prance made Hyeon grip onto the antlers curving above him. They raced past servants trying to find safety.

A boom thundered around them. There were screams.

When they arrived at the huge, dark room, the air was blackened with hazy smoke. The scene itself very cultish. There was an intricate, white circle design on the wooden floor with a star in the middle. Black candles surrounded the shape. In the center was a centipede demon, curled up on the floor while rocking back and forth. Blocks of old brick broke off from the ceiling.

Hyeon slid off Shika. Sani came running when he saw them. His crooked, broken nose was pouring with blood. A good-sized chunk from his coyote ear was missing.

"That fool initiated a new servant without telling anyone! He's lost control!" Sani tried to yell over the loudness. "GO TO HIM!"

"Where is he?!" Hyeon shouted back.

"In the corner behind you!"

Hyeon whipped around. The black fog that was burning their throats was coming out of Fenrir in tidal waves.

The Norse god stood there in an awful condition. His normally perfect hair was in greasy strands from the lack of washing. Stubble poked out from his chin to his sideburns. The dirty clothes were stained. Actually, weren't those the same ones Fenrir wore when he greedily went down on Hyeon's crotch?

A shining, yellow line ribboned around his arms. The line disappeared under the shirt. His baggy eyes were luminous with the same color.

"What do I do to help?!"

Sani was already gone. He tried to get the hysterical centipede to move before getting crushed. The roof was going to collapse.

Hyeon was petrified. I'm so scared.

With as much courage as he could muster, he inched closer.

Fenrir reacted to Hyeon approaching him by transforming into a wolf.

And there was chaos.