Azrasti

Several minutes after Tamra left, she returned with three bronze cards. She handed two of them to Azure and Sticks while keeping one inside a small bag she had strapped to her side.

Sticks felt the surface of the cards for a few moments and frowned.

"What the fuck is Azrasti?" Sticks asked, feeling the surface of the card again to make sure he didn't make a mistake.

Azure who seemed to be the more reasonable one looked at his bronze card instead of feeling the surface like Sticks. He frowned when he saw the word 'Azrasti' engraved into it.

"What he said". Azure said almost immediately.

"It's a combination of all our names". Tamra said flashing the two boys an innocent smile.

"A combination?" Sticks still didn't fully understand what was happening.

"Az- from Azure, Ra- from Tamra and Sti- from Sticks". Tamra explained. "Azrasti".

Sticks regarded her with a somewhat irritated expression and turned to Azure who shrugged and raised his hand as if signifying that he would have no part in the argument.

"You like the name right?" Tamra asked Azure who nodded his head furiously. She turned to Sticks and asked the same question.

Sticks' first reaction would've been to toss the bronze card back at her and ask her how the name 'Azrasti' made any sense. Something in the way her eyes darkened when she looked at him made him nod his head like a robot.

"Beautiful name". Sticks said.

In response to this Tamra smiled and placed a stray strand of hair behind her ears. Azure looked at her and shook his head.

'Kids these days can be scary'. He mused.

"Alrighty! It's time to start the second round of the members exhibition!" The middle aged man announced from one of the corners of the room, garnering the attention of almost everyone with his words. "Those of you who registered as a group should move to the left while those of who decided to go solo should move to the right".

After a few moments of moving and minor conflicts, everyone had found their place.

The middle aged man pointed at the ceiling and a silver ray of light burst forward and enveloped everyone standing under.

Few moments later, the room was almost empty. Only the middle aged man and the woman who was in charge of the registration were left inside the room.

***

The sound of rain droplets crashing heavily against the ground reverberated in the atmosphere. Sounds of rain crashing against tree trunks, leaves etc also reverberated mixing with the aforementioned sound creating a noisy rhythm.

It was almost impossible to tell whether it was day or night. The sky was grey for the most part. The only form of light that one could find was a lightning bolt preceded by a violent thunderstorm.

Azure, Tamra and Sticks lay on the floor which consisted of mud and water puddles formed courtesy of the rainstorm.

Azure coughed violently and sat himself up, albeit with much difficulty. He looked to his side and saw Sticks doing the same thing. To his amazement, Tamra was already up. She was just about to seat on a nearby rock.

"Where are we?" Azure asked in a mutter to no one in particular. He was mildly shocked when his question was answered by Tamra.

"The endless storm realm". Tamra said. "Because it never stops raining".

Azure smiled. Dear old tour guide. He wondered where he'd be without his tour guide.

"How are we supposed to find demons?" Sticks asked the million dollar question.

Tamra opened her mouth as if she was about to answer his question, then closed it again upon further thought. It was obvious that she hadn't given much thought to the subject mentioned.

"We'll just roam about and pray that the first demon we find isn't some high level demon, kill it and use its blood to draw other demons". Azure said matter of factly. "Easy".

"Not easy". Tamra said. "For all we know, walking around could take us farther away from the demons than nearer to it".

Sticks turned towards Azure and raised an eyebrow clearly in favor of this new found argument.

Lucky for Azure, he wouldn't have time to defend himself. In front of them was a pale looking demon that had two bloody gashes across its chest. Its originally white hair was stained with blood and its clothes were all torn.

The demon stood at an height of about seven feet. Its fangs were chiseled straight.

Upon seeing the demon, the three humans smiled. Excitement showing on their faces. Who knew that God chose today to bless them with good fortune.

Tamra and Sticks were about to rush towards their prey when Azure held them back.

"Something doesn't feel right". Azure muttered. His face formed a frown as he looked at the demon.

It was a weak demon that seemed on the verge of death and yet every time Azure looked at it, it hate him an ominous feeling.

"Doesn't feel right my ass". Sticks wrenched himself free from Azure's grip. "That is a demon that is near death walking to our doorsteps when we need it. There's nothing that feels more right than killing it". Sticks said while unsheathing his sword. His figure turned tk a blur while he charged at the demon.

Azure and Tamra didn't know what happened. All they knew was that they saw Sticks' figure that accelerated towards a demon few moments ago fly towards a tree like a punctured parachute.

Azure looked at the demon once more and suddenly something clicked. He looked at the Tamra and muttered. "Supreme level elemental demon".

"I actually thought I could reason with you kids". The demon said while smiling, flashing its chiseled fangs at Azure and Tamra. "It seems I have to kill you".

As soon as the demon said those words, it charges at Azure.