《Arbiter of Power (Canceled and currently redone as 'Re:' version.)》


 Prologue: Lovers of the same kind

    Year 0. Creation is standing on wobbly legs. Space shifts and behind the veil of nothingness chaos crawls and cogs are turning.


    A spark. Small and indiscernible against the backdrop of darkness. Eventually, eternities pass and the reality changes once more, the spark but a catalyst.


    From the mire of desolace existence birthed. Reminiscient of a crimson wildland fire those specks of matter and energy popped up everywhere throughout the nothingness, kindling an even more ferocious fire of creation.


    In just moments the void was filled with substance, the building blocks of life.


    But those blocks had no meaning to them, they were just that. Matter and energy. Seldom did they interact with one another, splicing the cosmos in two unwhole halves.


    Eternity passed before by the whim of the highest entity another spark flashed. Led by an invisible hand those forces assimilated to create greater, more complex structures. But over time they would repulse one another, undoing all effort, and with a pondering face the arbiter used a third, more mystical force, to fuse two to one.


    Particles, stones, rocks, satellites, planets, stars, galaxies, galactic clusters, universes, dimensions. In mere moments they were built, their construction coordinated by the essence of magic and the divine.


    Existence stabilized, the universes cooled down, life could now sprout; only a teensy-weensy magic was all that was needed.


    Magic amassed once again to create what underlied in its name, a miracle. Without the interference of The One the first will was created.


    Magic and divinity revolved around another and with a mind of its own the frothing liquid crystalized as the First Authority, called: Sara''ahn. The One gently felt the creature over, impressed by the power bound within its small frame, and yet greatly digruntled, for it would never rival itself in strength.


    Nevertheless, Sara''ahn was an entity to powerful for a single plane of existence. So The One smashed Sara''ahn into thousand shards, pairing them up with one another and gave them asimple task: Coordinate life and perish when your task is done. Sara''ahn''s pieces were placed into the countless realms of creation, each and everyone overwatching life and how it developed.


    But as magic did once it can twice. A miracle happened.


    The Sara''ahns died, except for one.


    The two had no memory, magic erased the self-destructive order from their ego and then banished them onto a fringe world.


    By intuition alone this lost fragment of Sara''ahn, last of its kin, linked its power with the mortals on its planet, siphoned power through them, through their beliefs, and continued living on.


    The One had observed it all, its new ability that it had introduced, ''magic'', was more powerful than it had expected. Not wanting to destroy this unique Sara''ahn The One left it alone, alone to its own devices.


    <hr>


    I don''t remember the past, only the present. My name, Hirahn, is the littlest remembrance of a time forgotten.


    Darkness was all that surrounded me at first but before I knew it I opened my eyes and breathed for the first time. I breathed fresh and sweet air, and my lungs and chest urged for more.


    But I knew better than that, so I gazed around, a bit woozy and unsteady by the situation at hand. Green hairs on a brown ground stretched for, for how long? I couldn''t even tell.


    Puffy specks of white floated above, drenched in a layer of sparkling blue.


    White, blue? My head felt dizzy and I laid back on the swaying hairs of green.


    "Haaaaaah....", I inhaled and exhaled, soaking my lungs with the intoxicatingly fresh wind. A light note of herbs was in the air that mesmerized my senses and I felt a grin creep up on my face. This would surely be ''paradise''.


    The green hairs, grass, that''s how it should be called from now on, tickled my fingers. Its soft, delicate, yet suave surface ran smooth against my skin. For hours I laid there, in the endlessly stretching patch of grass and admired the beauty of this... world.


    ''I wonder.'', I gripped the ground around my head. ''Why is this spot without grass?''.


    And indeed. Instead of grass there was something else. If the grass was soft then I had no words to describe what my hands were touching at this moment.


    I felt around some more and it felt sinfully good, as if all the softness and tenderness in existence condensed into one, nay, two; two mounds of what could only be pure bliss for mind and body.


    Blinded by the sun, shining on its zenith and greeting me whole-hearted with its loving rays, I winced. I trained my eyes at the sky, still fondling the heaps of amenity. I laid there for so long that the sun was now beaming down with all its glory. I grimaced at the glaring light but remained still on my spot, it felt way too good here. The light may broil my flesh and yet I would not surrender this place.


    And as though the sky felt my struggle it suddenly darkened around my face.


    Relieved I rubbed my eyes and gazed at the wonder that shielded me from the sun. I wondered if it was a considerate cloud that noticed my struggles.


    ''What could it be?'', I wondered while my hands continued their ministrations.


    "I- I don''t dislike what you are doing... Bu- But frankly... It-... You-! P-please stop now.", high-pitched like a chorus of angels a benign voice whispered into my ears.


    Still blinded by the residual light, my gaze only caught two brilliant orbs of green peering down at me, swallowing me whole in their sylvan beauty. I caught a slight glimpse of a chiseled man with red-golden eyes and short brown hair in the reflection of those two smaragd oceans. But honestly, I couldn''t care less for my own image. What my sights longed for was the face that framed two of such emerald gems.


    The sun, listening in on my wish to behold the beauty these eyes belonged to, dipped gently onto the horizon, illuminating a face that could only be described as... godly.


    Rosy lips with a tinge of vibrant crimson and velvet purple were straightened to a line by tense cheeks. A sweet nose dyed in an embarassed red sniffed in shame and darling dimples, bedecked in soft freckles, shonelikewise in pink.


    And then her eyes... her eyes: green throughout and glossy like velvety diamonds or burnished gold and jade. They were so unspeakable green, oozing life, vitality and spring. It was a green so powerful and vivid that I felt my soul lose itself in a sea of dancing trees. And her eyelashes, long and crescent, were dotted with brilliant...tears?!


    And then it dawned onto me. With a darkened expression my gaze traced up from my shoulder, to my elbows, to my hands.


    I gulped, the world went silent, my breath and the girl''s ashamed sobs were the only sound that existed in the moment.


    I retracted my hands, stood up from this magnificient lap-pillow, backflipped and slammed my head on the ground with as much strength as I could muster. The ground rumbled and a web of cracks spread on the earth, blood flowed from my forehead and clotted around my eyes.


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    "I AM SO SORRY! PLEASE DON''T CRY!", I shouted, nay, screamed from the top of my lungs. Every fiber in my body begged for forgivenes, lest I would never forgive myself, ever!


    The girl crossed her silky arms over her bust, a pout visible on her face and her lower lip trembling, her tears receeded.


    "N-no it''s alright... I didn''t... stop you, so-", her voice became inaudible as she bashfully avoided my quizical gaze. Looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing ever she shyly fidgeted.


    "No, it''s not alright! It was my fault, it truly was. I deeply apologize for my transgressions, a-and I... uhhh-", trying my best to keep my voice from cracking I managed to stutter out an introduction. "I am Hirahn. So, uhm... What is your name."


    ''WOW! Superbly done Hirahn'', I mentally chided myself for having absolutely zero tact, but otherwise kept my eyes fixed to the earth - Briefly I wondered where concepts like ''tact'' continued to spring out of.


    "Fuuuu... Hirahn, you are a pervert, I''ll leave it at that.", the angel said.


    "... And by the way, my name is Saraya, nice to meet you.", I gazed up from my kneeling position and saw an outstretched hand, followed by the most radiant smile.


    "Yes! Nice to meet you Saraya!", I shock her hand vigorously.


    <hr>


    Hirahn reminisced as he held onto the lifeless body of Saraya.


    She still had the same alabaster skin, the same glossy lips twisted in a perpetual cutesy smile, the same locks of soft gold. She was breathtaking, simply gorgeous, and Hirahn could not ever wish for a better partner.


    And now he had to witness his lover part prematurely from this world... in his arms, dozing into the night.


    With the sheer force of will Hirahn kept the tears at bay. His teeth clenched mightily and his jaw remained taut as grief and sorrow rampaged throughout him.


    Frozen in this subdued stance Hirahn kept caressing his departed lover, whispering sweet nothings to her and sharing his warmth evermore.


    <hr>


    The One watched the situation calmly, his ethereal form swaying side to side in contemplation.


    "No this isn''t right." Its all-mighty voice echoed through the realms. Hirahn and Saraya were the only remnants of their kind, The One''s first creation, and, to a lesser degree, his only form of entertainment. The concept would surely bewilder a mortal, but for The One it was of no concern. He would not let this spectacle end so soon.


    So he willed like all the other times. He willed and it was done.


    Above the unsuspecting Hirahn the air cracked apart and with a hollering fulmination the sky was rived.


    The One tinkered with fate, chance and coincidence, linking a ''Summoning'' to the Hirahn that was bereft of meaning. It was a gift from The One to him, another chance at a new life, symbolically not literally.


    Because Hirahnhad endured hardships and torment beyond compare. Because his other-half died. Because the pain of such a loss was beyond imagination.


    The One may be a callous being, but if he could then he would accomodate Hirahn. For a toy that was broken was no toy no more.


    <hr>


    Choosing an inconspicuous clearing in a dense forest, a rare plot of nature in this industrialized world, Hirahn dug a small hole right beneath a massive oak with size incomparable to the surroundings.


    It was time, time to part.


    Gnarled roots peeked here and there out of the moistened earth, playfully they dived through theair only to submerge themselves back into the warm soil. This was a watchful sentinel of nature, piercing with its crow deep into the sky, looming over the suckling sapplingsand yet its powerful anchors siphoned them of their strength. A two sided medal. As bifid as the entity Sara''ahn.


    All manners of creatures frolicked around this massive watchtower of a tree, burrowed beneath its roots and made small dens into homes. Birds quavered and trilled atop the stretching branches that reached out for the wide blue above.


    Hirahn was part of nature, nay, an progenitor of, therefore the creatures around paid him no heed other than maintaining a watchful eye on this clearly abnormal being, such commanded their instincts.


    Gently Hirahn lowered Saraya into the small hole lined with silks. As Nature''s matriarch she would return to her folk, the calm and slumbering earth.


    Mechanically he shoveled earth unto his beloved, one heavy slew after the other. Until she was covered by the shallow soil. A gentle breath escaped his lips.


    Severing the link that connected both of them Hirahn averted his gaze from the unremarkable grave. His heart was tranquil, his face expressionless. He was devoid of any reasoning, compassion or morals. Right now the only thing he had was his name.


    With the link severed the equilibrium between their characteristical dispositions changed, or rather showed its true colors.A holy white surrounded Saraya, a collar of feathers bloomed around her neck like a soft shawl, a brilliant halo seared the air in a blinding white.


    A holy white glowed from beneath the ground, it throbbed and grew. The earth ruptured and dust blew as a holy being ascended.


    A collar of feathers bloomed around Saraya''s neck like a soft shawl, a brilliant halo seared the air in a blinding white. Hirhankept his eyes averted but he could feel the change.


    Two ivory antlers grew out of Seraya''s temples and a pair of delicate gown-like wings adorned her back, they unfurled to their full splendor, even as she was suspended in the air like a puppet; death kept mocking him.


    Her form was literally angelic. With his eyes transfixed on the change Hirahn could only warmly smile, he expected as much, and although the sight pained his heart, flayed it to pieces, he looked on.


    Their personas had been acting as inhibitor for their actual selves. Because Hirahn seperated his soul from Saraya''s she could move on, the repercussions would only hit him.


    Pained by the now non-existent link Hirahn crouched on the ground, spit out a mouthful of blood, and rend the earth with his struggles. Black mist shrouded his form, it oozed and crept, insidiously like all evil compounded in one. The creatures of the forest perked up, scattered into all directions as the miasma coiled denser and denser around Hirahn, it happened so fast.


    Not wishing to stain this now holy sanctum Hirahn dashed into the sky as fast as he could.


    The black shooting star defied earth''s gravity and shot higher and higher. Like an inky brushstroke the slathers of murky darkness rose to the air.


    From afar one could see a forest excuding white radiance and a defiled being soaring the skies. It looked like the banishment of a great evil.


    Red-eyed, rotten fanged, balefully covered in black spikes and weaponed with claws as dark as the void. Two black crescents with a blueish hue curved from his scalp to the back of his head. A monstrous, gutural roar boomed from Hirhan''s unending maw. Black mist exploded forth from his unwinding wings and venomed the space around him.


    His gaze swept over the world below him, stopped at the forest shining in white and then continued on towards the blue light at his side; a whole new world was reflected inside.


    It beckoned him and his waning sanity. It called out with distress and an undying part of Hirahn wished to help, but a greater part thirsted for havoc, so he entered.


    A white orb swirled inside Hirhan''s blackened heart, it was weak and faint, a candle amidst a storm, but the potential for blazing righteousness and justice was there.


    Hirhan grabbed his chest and breathed in. "Farewell Saraya.", he whispered as his form churned with the rift, and he disappeared.

 Chapter 001: True Evil

    "M-My Lord, the troops of Tyrenfall have us surrounded!", a trembling man, barely coming of age, reported to the king of Silays. In his halfbow the sweat trickled down like the rain, unhindered from his face.


    Clutching the armrests on his throne with a beet-red complexion the king tried its best to stifle his ashen anger. As the king he had to retain his calm, keep the order in check and stand tall as the guiding star for the lost lambs called his folk.


    Nonetheless the anger was teeming under his skin, crawling through his veins and boiling him from the inside alive.


    "Those traitors...", he whispered in a voice so inhuman and rogue that the small messenger couldn''t help but shiver.


    Alexander Aries Vilis The First. This was the king''s title. Alexander Aries, named by his deceased father and Vilis, not a name in itself. Vilis is a title, but not any title. The Vilis is a being that tempts providence in itself with his might, the Vilis destroys life under his thumb, the Vilis is the title for the strongest only.


    Belowing with his ire Alexander''s golden robe rucked up, moved seemingly sentient in the stagnant air. His silver hair, stretching from head to toe, wallowed above the ground. The brimming power accentuated Alexander''s handsome yet crass features in a combination of heroic gold and beastly rage.


    Slowly he stood up, the titan actually stood up. The castle Ysold cried out in fear of its mighty king, the walls churned and the foundation shock. Hellish winds circled around the throne room, the messenger shielded his eyes with his shivering limbs.


    "HAAAAAAAAH!", an explosive roar lifted the curtains from the walls, turned the hellish winds into the scythes of the death God, made the ground split in all directions.


    The messenger was thrown against a wall, his cushioned leather armor tanking most of the damage that would have been dealt to him. He spit out a sliver of blood, gazed with upturned eyes at the war embodiment called his king.


    Clad in golden and silvern plates, intwining on his chest as dragon and phoenix that battled for supremacy, shrouded by red winds of power. A helmet with feathers and horns crowned the Vilis and rounded up his magical armor, Bullwark.


    A flash errupted in front of the king, illuminated even the outskirts through the tall windows mounted with rainbow coloured glass.


    Floating in front of the king was a slim long sword with simple ornamentations, grey steel with a worn leather hilt.


    The king caressed the sword''s fuller with his fingers, gripped the hilt and let the power surge through him. B?ses Blut (Evil blood), the sword left by the first king of Silays, unknown metal forged with unknown techniques, infused with unknown power. It was a sword that could only be wielded by the royal lineage but this simple sword came with a price.


    It is often said that power corrupted, this statement is false and anyone with power can confirm that; power does not corrupt, power uncovers your true nature. The natural thirst for power and carnage that went hand in hand with feral instinct and desire was embedded into every being, it just came in other forms for each and everyone.


    B?ses Blut''s hilt changed in a moments notice. A single spike emerged from beneath the crude leather and lodged itself deep into the king''s hand. Power unchained.


    The King''s soles tapped on the ground, light as a feather, and he vanished. Windows shattered from the supersonic boom and only the traumatized messenger was left in the throne room. He sometimes wondered why no guards were attendant in his majesty''s presence, now he knew why.


    ---------------  <- Change in settings with POV change optional.


    ''Those imbeciles, how dare they trespass onto my kingdom?!''


    I fumed with rage as I stood on the massive encirclement of walls. I was one of the last High Humans, yet those fools, those brats dared to attack my land, my capital, my kingdom. They pillage, rape and plunder everything on sight, brun and kill, indulge in carnal pleasure without caring about the poor souls they send into the afterlife. How much I hated those people.


    The grip on B?ses Blut tightened, I would not let one pass into my city. I glimpsed back, behind me was the majestic fortress Ysold. A beast among its kin. With walls as high as colossus and with girth that even titans could not break through it protected the delicate citizens from any harm. ''But...'' I swept past the horizon with my gaze. ''This is to much.''


    Spanning miles upon miles was an abominable amount of soldiers, siege engines and flares to light up the darkness in a foreboding crimson. ''How many have these mad kings assembled? What false promises have they given their soldiers to fight this senseless battle?''. Money and women was always a tempting offer, but for such an amount of soldiers to fall for this trick? Tens of millions stood at my door to barge in.


    They marched so far already, and now they went for the capital, the gem in Silays'' crown. ''I lost so many troops to them already, one was already to many....''.


    "This war is but a farce...", I sighed with indignation and swept B?ses Blut through the wind.


    A gale in red picked up from stillness, silently it approached the mass of soldiers below.


    *BOOOOOOOM! WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!*


    Their cries were drowned by their tearing flesh and spilled blood. A cacophony of pain and the stench of death wafted moments after into my ear and nostrils. I savoured this balm for my trepidated heart, filled with angst and anxiousness.


    Hundreds of meters of soldiers were turned into a magenta flower field, their blossoms made of disfigured bodies.


    Certainly this attack of mine killed hundreds or thousands of soldiers, but was that enough? No in just mere moments they were replaced by another company of battle keen soldiers. It posed the question, did they not see what I did to their comrades moments ago?


    I shrugged. "So be it."


    A burning arrow flew past my face, landed atop the fortifications, causing no damage whatsoever.


    "A brave one are you, huh...", I glanced at the crazed soldier that was holding his fibrous bow high up in the air, another burning arrow steady in his hand, ready to be nocked anytime.


    I turned my back towards the sea of soldiers, gave a warm look at the fortress that rose into the clouds, the people that bustled in the streets still ignorant of the threat that waited outside and at the soldiers that hushed past the populace, not trying to alert them.


    "Elina, I will see you soon my dear. Sara my daughter, I was never a good father to you, can you forgive me?", I whispered into the empty winds. Silence was frail today, but for my land, for my people, I would keep the silence, would keep the peace, would keep the danger outside.


    Without a sound I turned around, dived into the tidal waves of savage men. Today I would slaughter for a better tomorrow.


    "Father, NO!", I choose to ignore the cry from afar.


    ***  <-POV change but not change in settings.


    Alexander vanished admist the chaos of soldiers, turned into a hurricane of death and madness as B?ses Blut unfolded its true power.


    Sara keeled over the wall''s railings, her legs were weak, her dress in tatters and her hair disheveled. Incredolous she gazed at the back of the man that she called father. The back of the Vilis and how he ruptured through the enemy. Pride bloomed in her chest as well as insatiable worry. Her last bloodrelative was plunging himself into masses of death.


    "Father, please survive...", she pleaded to the skies and clutched with her frail hands a golden pendant around her neck.


    ---------------


    "Sara, are you alright?", a man in his thirties asked the young girl, barely 16 or 17. The girl, Sara Aries, the princess of Silays.


    With her chin cupped in one hand and with dreamy eyes gazing out of the window, lighted by the opaque moon, she was a beauty like only a handful. Her platinum hair swayed over her shoulders and her sapphire blue eyes followed the floating clouds, barely visible in this peaceful night.


    "Sara!", the man put more force in his voice.


    Sara bolted straight up. "W-w-w-What?", she wasn''t just simply absentminded she had been in her own world seemingly. Dreaming about her future summon and the incredible feats she would accomplish on all three continents. The warrior princess and daughter of the Valis, with her trusty summon, a dragon or gryphon preferably.


    Those young girls dreams were shattered as a vein popped on the head of the middle aged man. He smashed a fat tome on the table. "If you don''t care about my class then we can stop right here, right now!", he threatened. As a close confidant of the king he had nothing to fear in slightly reprimanding his daughter.


    "But uncle....", and he was also Sara''s godfather. "This is boring! I want to commence the summoning right now! You know as good as I do how masterful my control of mana and aether is! It is top class in all six human kingdoms!", she boasted with a raised chest.


    "Haaa? And what about the elves and dragonewts?", the man smirked and crossed his arms over his stout chest, the glasses on his hawk nose flashed with mischief.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Sara pouted. "W-well... It is unfair to compare humans with those... those monsters!"


    "For the love of God, they are not monsters, they are like you and me, just with different appearance. Don''t let those other nobles with their wicked tongues fool you Sara!", the man got slightly angry. As a rational human and living being he saw no reasoning in ocstracism and speciesism.


    "Muuu....... That doesn''t change the matter at hand! I want to have a steadfast summon, right now! I command you as the princess to assist me!", her haughty tone was kinda getting to the middle-aged man.


    "I have a name you dumb child!", he smacked her on the head with another book in his left hand, a slightly slimer and lighter book of course.


    "Auau... uncle Petrov, I will tell this my father!", she sticked her tongue out.


    "You think your father wi-!", Petrov couldn''t finish his sentence.


    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*


    The castle rumbled and aggressive winds clawed their way through the fortress, ripping paintings and cotton curtains from the walls.


    "Uncle, what was that?!", Sara asked with an obvious trembling in her voice.


    "It came... from the throne room! DAMMIT!", Petrov rushed out of the room in a hurry, his cape fluttered behind him; followed by the blank-eyed Sara.


    When they reached the throne room it was already empty exempt for the half conscious messenger.


    Creating a blob of water Petrov splashed it square into the messenger''s face. With a cough and a sudden jolt the man woke up from his stupor.


    "What happened here?!", Petrov inquired as he raised his arms to emphasize the damage done to the room. Sara stood silently behind him, not moving or doing anything noteworthy.


    "The King, he-he went for the troops outside.", the messenger tripped over his own words.


    "What troops you idiot?!", Petrov roared.


    "The kingdoms of, of... no, the aliance of Tyrenfall! They, they send their troops, want to destroy Silays, King angry, went outside *haaah*....", with a sigh the man fell unconscious again.


    "Wake up! Wake up dammit!", Petrov slapped the man''s face and sent him flying into another wall, not bettering the condition of the man at all. Luckily the man was still alive, but as unconscious as never before.


    "Fuck, what is going on here?", Petrov turned around only to find out he was talking to himself. "Sara? SARA!?", he screamed inside the vacant throne room.


    ---------------


    I hurried as fast as I could through the castle, past attendants and servants, giving me quizical looks, whispering: ''What is the princess doing? Probably just one of her many quirks.''


    They knew nothing about me. Quirks, no, the fighting, the battle, it was in my blood.


    I ran stairs up, down, up, down, narrow passages that sidled left, right, left, right. My legs were weak and exhausted, my mind in turmoil. As a child I lost my mother to illness, I could hardly bear it and now my father would succumb to the greed of fellow humans. I was the only one that knew the real character of my father, the undulating and volatile temperament but the steadfast will to protect his people, it was a virtue that lived on in my blood.


    I would not let my father die, I couldn''t let him die.


    Hushing out of the castle I was greeted by busy merchants and peasants sorting out their everyday struggle. I couldn''t bother with their salutes and greetings, surprised and anxious to see their kingdom''s princess in such a hurry.


    Passing the receeding masses of humans, most of them entered inns or their cozy homes with serene hearts, unknown danger just hair''s apart from their door.


    My thighs ached and my breathing became hard as the cold air sheared the warmth from my body. Under the watchful moon I sprinted upwards, up the palisade and further into the sky.


    Supporting myself on walls and anything I could grip onto I finally arrived at the foremost wall. I could see the torches lit up throughout the horizon, they illuminated a known silhouette with turned back to me.


    Words didn''t come out, my hands stretched out, praying to vanquish impossible to bridge distance between me and my father. I was so close yet so far away.


    His body vanished behind the artificial border of sky and earth made by the wall and was then swallowed up by the enemy forces. I screamed: "Father, NO!", and the tears rolled down my face.


    He would not survive, this was certain. Not unless I was able to change this fate.


    Remembering the old inscriptions of the ancient summoning magic, obsolete carvings depicting the two faced deity, and their meanings I tried to do what was deemed impossible for my age. A summoning.


    With my controlled yet immature magic I recited the old books in the tongue of the divine. Blue static sparked around my skin, pricked my flesh and burned my marrow. Pain plastered across my face but with indomitable will I forced the mana to burn my body and use my flesh as medium for the legendary summoning.


    I pictured a being of unfathomable power, loyal to me, a bad wish in retrospective. What being with supreme power would itself let be limited by a mortal?


    But the image was already created, the most important part with a summoning.


    A tail, wings, a massive body that could squash towns like insects, and power incomparable to everything in this realm. A dragon of ancient times, a wyrm that crosses the border of Godhood and nature, a wyvern that could incinerate hell itself, such beings were swirling inside my mind. I glimpsed through the summoning magic in millions of worlds at the same time. My lungs grew erratic and failed to nuture my mind with the much needed air. Blinded by the sheer magnificience of worlds unknown to this date I fell unknowingly to my knees.


    My eyes lit up the night sky with a blue lightning, projected those majestic creatures into the firmament as stars of its own.


    Informations bombarded my exhausted mind, I was on the verge of collapse. It was time to choose.


    A dragon in white, horns of golden brilliance, teeth that could purge your sins and wings that shielded the weak. Two eyed with silver pupils it gazed from its world into my soul. "Good. You are strong little human, let me help you.", the ancient voice echoed in my skull and numbed my body.


    A claw teared the clouds and space itself, with delighted eyes I was embracing sleep, my servant wouldn''t disappoint me.


    A pure majesty of creatures descended through a blue rip in space and amde everyone, even the blind and sick stare up in awe.


    Joyous the tears flowed down.


    "W-what are you? You abomination! Halt, don''t come closer, I Sarim the king of dragons will not permit it! You don''t know wh- ARGGGHHHHH", the dragon roared madly in the skies, people were thrown to the ground, even the army below was not any better.


    The white radiance abruptely changed into, into.... nothingness. The blue light vanished and no trace of my mighty summon was left.


    My heart jumped, my mind worked overtime. ''H-how could this be?''. The saviour was right before my eyes and yet, he was gone now.


    The clouds refigured themselves, surprised by the sudden change but quickly accomodating to the past state now that this was all over.


    "No...no, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!", I screamed and teared away at my hairs with last bits of strength remaining. Why didn''t it work, where did I do wrong?! So many questions without answers plagued my mind and threw my soul into a state of self-loathing. With empty eyes and a distraught heart I laid there on the ground and rain started to fall, lampooning my inability.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH", an otherwordly scream errupted from the skies. The clouds darkened and instead of rain thunder dropped down. A vile twist churned inside the sky and made space itself tremble. For a second time life itself was silent, not out of awe but out of fear and terror.


    A gigantic white draconic head phased into existence, but only the head. Golden blood dripped from the mauled throat, the serpententine eyes were lifelessly gazing into whatever was gripping this carcass in its umbrageous claws. A figure of pure evil and hate descended, floated only hundreds of meters in mid air.


    The large head was dropped down, smashed tens of the enemies soldiers.


    Black wings encompassed a red-veined body and with a mad grin, and baneful fangs the demon spoke.


    "Good evening my dear humans, is it not a nice day, to slaughter and destroy?", it asked with a smile filled with childish innocence. And then it held true to its rhetorical question.


    ''What have I unleashed?'', I asked myself as despair took hold of my heart. I didn''t know at that time but my fate was intwined insuperably to this atrocious devil.

 Chapter 002: Power without Reason

    The day Hirahn descended upon the world of mortals would be a milestone in history, forever to be remembered as the day when the lands turned red.


    An army comprising of hundreds of thousands of layman, slaves and servants alone, millions of trained soldiers from 3 of the six human kingdoms. Together they would be enough to conquer a continent for them alone, they were a force to be reckoned with.


    But on this fateful day, when the warministers and generals exulted in their presumably victory over the never before conquered fortress Ysold, when they uncorked wines that one would only get for odious expenses, even a life would not be enough to pay them off, on this day the Mad God descended on the realm of mortals.


    Heralded by gelid rain and fierce thunder a creature of pure spite took its leisure to rape the honor and courage those kingdoms'' soldiers had with an iron fist of terror.


    ---------------


    "Let us begin...", ceremoniously the devil raised his hands into the chilling air. As he willed the world obeyed.


    Magic was the fundamental essence behind everything, the make-up for aether, the life-force. It''s importance was higher than those of the many Gods, except for the one and only God that was renowed through the multiverse, Sara''ahn.


    But now, a rogue part of Sara''ahn landed in this world plunged in civil wars. Fight fire with fire. Fight evil with even greater evil. Hirahn gladly followed this principle as he licked over his nightmarish fangs.


    Hirahn clutched the empty space in his voracious claws, as magic incarnate he was more than capable of unleashing its full potential. The world groaned in pain as Hirahn used magic for his destructive urges, the strain of a real God using magic was barely endurable for the mortal realm.


    A deathly cool wind picked up from the dark sky and passed over the bulk of men willing to lose their life in a war with purpose, not this. Just a second later one could hear armors rattling and life being erased. Below Hirahn soldiers started to fall like leaves in autumn, their bodies wrinkled messes and masks of pain with pallid leather as skin. Blackened miasma left their orifices and gathered around Hirahn. Beating steadily inside Hirahn''s grip was now a globe of dark energies.


    "Purge all.", Hirahn whispered, the globe deformed and changed into a crimson heart.


    *Thump Thump*


    The heart pumped life for an unknown body, send a shockwave over the battlefield. Some people in Silays might have not understood the situation at hand but now even those few felt this foreboding chill deep down in their guts.


    *Thump Thump*


    Another layer of soldiers fell victim to the invisble death that harvested their life force. Only the wind told them what future was to come, and as it did some prayed, others cackled manically, anon others weeped as the winds  scythed them down for a third time.


    *Thump Thump*


    With each platoon of soldiers vanquished, their life squeezed from their mortal vessels, the heartbeat grew steadier. Nurtured with each passing of life it grew louder and more powerful. Surprisingly some of the soldiers stood stock still after the wind passed them, unharmed and with life teeming in their young bodies.


    Cordially those few rejoiced in silence, in absolute bliss of well... living, what else?


    Hirahn bit his lip as he saw those few soldiers still standing. "You won''t allow me huh....?", he whispered in his original voice, mellow to the ears and as pleasant as any other voice out there.


    He clenched his chest and shock fiercly his head. "Because of this you died, we were to soft!", he cursed himself and returned to his much more evil ego.


    Those soldiers that kept standing were deemed innocent by his heart, he couldn''t kill them. Those were the soldiers whose life was riven by the cruel inteference of conscripts. They wanted nothing more than go back to their home, greet their family, their wife and maybe even kids. Those were the soldiers that judged their comrades in arms with patronizing gazes as they raped and plundered, some even hindered their comrades at doing the cattish deed. It was their luck that morals and ethics prevailed in them, in a time of strive and war this was rare.


    Hirahn paid no further heed, he had more than enough specimen of the genus homo to vent his despair on.


    "Let''s continue...'', he mumbled.


    *Thump Thump*


    Another heartbeat and more souls were harvested. Thousands had now already lost their lives. Messengers of all three kingdoms scattered into all cardinal directions, passing one message after the other to their respective generals.


    Hirahn only grimaced at those insects and jaunty thought about ways to crush their hope. Why even wait with the crushing? His preparations were nigh complete.


    Pricking the steel-like skin on his palm with one of his claws he smeared one small drip of blood onto the still pumping heart. Edaciously it swallowed the blood like a newborn its mother''s milk, tendrils shot out from the heart, tried to force the small cut ajar to get closer to the anodyne liquid.


    Hirahn only smiled warmly. "No, no my dear you can eat in just a minute.", he soothed the mass of flesh with his diabolic words. Squirming under its father''s comfort the heart retracted its tendrils and waited, waited for the time to unleash its strength to its father''s will.


    "A body... you need a body...", Hirahn grumbled and scratched his chin. He swept his gaze across the endless plain of more soldiers. "Guess they will do...".


    Clasping his hand he let the heart float still in the air. As he distanced his palms from each other a red lightnting arched across his skin, crackled with deadly static and powerful electricity, but how could it be as simple as that?


    Swiping with his hands once over the battlefield the red tether of lethal energy transformed into something much more devestating. Lunging forward the red wisp of magic warped its form into beastly spectres, whailing over the plain with crisp cries they harvested more souls for their master.


    Swaping from one charcoaled body to another they zapped to and fro, extinguished life in mere moments. The wraiths spread further and snaked their way through the masses of soldiers. Undiluted their power remained stable and many more people were sent to the afterlife, of course except the innocent few. Later reknown as the choosen ones that survived this deadly cataclysm, but that''s a story for another time.


    A gale scrapped the ashes from the bloodied soil and moved as one being of greyness into the air, swirled around the red, vividly pulsating heart in Hirahn''s clutches and formed bizarre shapes.


    Swallowed by the airborne body of ash the heart fused into the grey, demonic mass of human remains. Delighting on the burned carcasses of thousands upon thousands of sullied soldiers the abstract and wriggling mass of dried flesh and blood started to coalesce into a palpable creature.


    *Wuuu Wuuu Wouaaaaa!*, the cry of a newborn echoed over the vestige of troops. Naturally they couldn''t bother with this unfitting cry, it might prove as nothing more than a mirage, wanting to tear their flesh and delight on their bones, that lured them in with a newborns innocence. No, they had enough. This battle was lost.


    All conviction aside, they didn''t fear being branded as renegade as long as they could keep their skin and bowels intact. Obvious terror festered in the minds of those millions of soldiers as they could only watch fecklessly how their comrades were simply turned into minced meat, heaps of flesh, empty casks that harbored a once brisk spirit or into ash and dust. They could do nothing, they wanted to do nothing with this war anymore. But alas it was to late for them to repent and pray to whatever Gods they believed in. Hirahn was the dark judge, he would let justice befall those that sinned and on this field of carnage there were only a handpicked few that would survive him.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    It was not a call of duty that spurred Hirahn in destroying those people, they were no different than those that hid inside the fortress that laid in his back. But they were right before his eyes.


    Let me ask you: Would a starving man refuse the meal infront of his nose and instead walk hundreds of meters to get a scoop of the same shit that would have been dished up at the spot he was two minutes before?! No, he would not. He would eat the scraps of dirt and feces, smear his face in them and maybe just maybe take the meal that is around the corner as seconds.


    Hirahn was the same. Senseless slaughter was not in his character, well, it was but Saraya''s influence stopped him from going ramapant. But who was there to stop him now? Humans? PAH! Don''t be hilarious! Even the halfwits of selfproclaimed Gods would bow their heads below their ballsack if they encountered Hirahn!


    Today Hirahn would feast!


    "My child, go forth! Indulge in their despair.", Hirahn commanded the child as he flicked the youngling demon into the many armies. Latching onto the first soldier in its vicinity the dark child ripped his spine apart with unnatural strength. Bathing in the man''s blood the creature grew bigger.


    "I think it''s time to thank the person that gave me this golden opportunity!", Hirahn smirked the most devious of smiles as he uttered those ostensibly thankful words to his ''benefactor''. "Yes, thank him...", he licked his ashen lips.


    Landing admist the corpses, nay, unidentifiable remains of what may have been at some point in time human, he plunged the air into turmoil and the earth trembled from his arrival. A man in his early twenties, presumably -appearances can be deceitful-, blocked Hirahn''s path. A plain yet blood stained sword was held tightly in the man''s hands, the long sword perked with its tip into the scattered remains around those confronting figures.


    Silver hairs swayed harmoniously in the wind and those few rays of moonlight, rare and sparse, shrouded the man in blinding handsomeness and naughty playfulness. But right now his features were tenesed as angst-sweat covered his brows.


    "Mortal, scram!", Hirahn did not deign to further look at the Vilis, the king of Silays, Alexander. He simply waved him off like a page, disrespect that could only come from those with powers unsurmountable.


    Alexander clutched his sword even tighter, ignoring the blood that flowed freely as his nails pierced the skin on his palms. The slight pain was rather a perk for Alexander, it distracted his mind from the fear that threatened to pull him into a chasm of eternal terror and trauma.


    Hirahn walked past Alexander, how could he expect any resistance from a mortal?


    *Rustle*


    Unbelieving Hirahn stared up. "You gotta be kidding me.", he whispered to himself. Surprise was all over Hirahn''s face, even the false, hideous grin had combusted into nothingness. "I guess I can spare a bit of my time.", he spoke slightly louder as his bare feet crunched the ground beneath.


    "What do you have to say, demon?!", Alexander inquired as he picked up the sound of Hirahn''s whispers. A reaction from the enemy was good, it made him predictable and raised the chances to survive!


    "Nothing, it''s just. This gives me all such a headache. Can''t even kill in peace. Tsk tsk tsk!", dejectedly Hirahn sighed.


    "So you just think this is a game? Have you no heart?!", Alexander screamed, hoping to defy whatever madness was trying to grip his soul.


    "Whatever, let''s get started!", Hirahn smiled the utmost disgusting smile in the world as he motioned for Alexander to stop his useless questioning and just get this over with.


    "You will regret this, filthy monstrosity.", Alexander crouched down, ready to shot out like the arrow of its bow.


    "Oh! I a monster? No, no, no! Tell that this guy behind me.", Hirahn jokingly said and pointed behind him. Alexander couldn''t help but peek over Hirahn''s shoulder, one eye still focused on him although this might be as useless as simply closing his eyes completely.


    Soldiers flew through the air as a ten eyed apparation plowed through the ranks of defenses like a hot knife through butter. Its four arms equipped with four equally massive cleavers crushed the soldier with their weight rather than cut them apart. Three black hooves crushed all those that were lucky enough to avoid the fourfolded incarnaion of massacre. A child''s face peeked out from the monster''s abdomen, with a happy grin human remains preyed from between its lips. "Waaaahahaa", the face giggled and another row of soldiers was flatened by uncomparable strength. Spears and swords stuck in the abominations body but it choose to ignore the light tickle.


    Eyes filled with despair Alexander could only keep a wry smile to himself. He wanted to kill these men just a moment ago, but this? No, he could not allow such a thing; a warrior had its pride! This devil had to be stopped at any cost, reasoning was of no use this far into the carnage already.


    Alexander gulped down the threats he would have spit out, was he really in any place to say that to the master of the beast that could in all likeliness slaughter ten of his kind? No he could not.


    "Haa... you devil will face my retribution!", he spit out the most generic of heroic lines in the book, Alexander knew it was pathetic but his jumbled mind didn''t allow any smart follow up.


    ''So this will be it... At least I can buy us some time. Yes, that will do.'', Alexander found a sliver of hope in this literal night of otherwise festive days.


    Kicking off the ground he sprinted with his sword nudged at his shoulder, the proximity of his closest partner calmed him down considerably. This would be the last fight, the last stand and the last chance!


    ''Go, Alex, go!'', he heard his deceased wife''s voice lull inside his numb head, as spirited as always. ''Elina, wait for me, soon I will be at your side my dear.'', he answered the call.


    With a terrifying grin, fangs as black as the night dropped from his jaws, Hirahn unfolded his wings and floated with explosive speed into the sprinting Alexander. ''Let''s see what this world has to offer.'', he thought slightly intrigued.


    With this the fight between the Vilis, the Strongest, and the Mad God began.


    (I apologize to all of those that would love to lynch me since I took so many parallels out of Overlord. I won''t do it again, I promise!)

 Chapter 003: It is over, Hirahn...

    ''Haahahahaha! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAA! What have I expected? What was I even thinking?! HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! I must have gotten senile didn''t I?''.


    *Cough!*, the blood splashed from my agape mouth as I breathed hardly the stale and with death pervaded air. My lungs burnt as smog and miasma entered and ravished my insides. I snorted as the pressure on my head intensified. Diabolic claws pried open the skin on my face as the demon''s dirty soles stood atop my cheeks. With one side of my face buried into the earth, badly beaten and bloody, maybe even broken, I could only glare with my remaining eye at the king of devils that was pinning me down with one limb alone. B?ses Blut in his hands he disdainfully smiled down.


    "Give me that sword you devil!", I tried to speak in my raspy voice, my throat was clogged from dirt and blood.


    "This little toothpick? Certainly!". "AHHHH!", I groaned as the unnamed devil rammed the blade deep into my stomach. With each passing second I felt my life force, so enormous, dribble away like dirt on a rainy day, in this devil''s eyes I certainly accounted to nothing more than dirt.


    Sharp pain assaulted my body as my staunch sword was used against me, this fact alone only added insult to injury. But no matter what I would not surrender, I would not fofeit this chance. I might be on the ground but I am still alive and as long as one is alive hope always prevails.


    Muffled breaths escaped my lips as I forced my arms to push my worn and torn body up. My bones creaked and my muscles tensed.


    "No you don''t!", I heard the devil clucking as he stomped with his taloned foot on my head, planting me straight into the musk and damp earth. I huffed and puffed, ogled the battlefield that was riddled with death and carnage. I felt the devil crouch down to me. "You see that?", he asked humorous and wrenched my head to face the fiendish abomination, how it grew bigger with each second and turned humans into meat paste, I struggled with all my might to avert my gaze but the devil only clamped down harder on my skull. "This is what awaits all of you, all of you little sinners!", he mused the jeremiad into my ears.


    The pressure around my head lessened and I felt my body being lifted upwards, a claw clutching at my throat, throttling the air from my lungs.


    "Let''s end this, shall we?", the devil tilted his head and questioned himself. I gazed at those red eyes, the sharp contours and the feral smile that crossed his face. Nightblack hairs stood on end, transitioning into giant batwings. Two crescents glowing with ineffable darkness curved over the demon''s head and crowned him the pinnacle of evil. ''Was there really a chance?'', I wondered as I stood face to face with death itself.


    *SCHLICK*


    I felt my sword being ripped away from my intestines, I followed the bloody trail that was left floating in the air with blank eyes, my struggling has longst stopped, there was after all nothing I could do.


    The demon raised the sword high into the air, B?ses Blut''s aura was in disarrasy, unwilling to kill its master, but the devil domineered with his own dark power. The silver flared like a second sun in this darkest of nights, its opal hue beamed down upon me like a heavenly judge. ''At least I die with pride.'', one thing I could appreaciate in my exitus.


    A shooting star of silver guillotined down onto me, the vibrating steel panting to cleave my body atwain.


    A flash ina iceblue breezed past my face. The devil stopped dead in its tracks, an icicle shot straight into its head, only to shatter upon impact. With a surprised expression I gazed at the bruise that was now emblazoning the otherwise immaculate skin of the devil. Pride welled within my heart as I thought about the lucky fellow that managed to wound this beast, but this pride was soon replaced by terror and fear.


    "Leave my father alone!", I heard a distinct feminine cry at my back. ''No, no, no! Gods, please don''t do this to me!'', I wanted to shout out but the claw strangulating my throat left no space for words.


    With beads of sweat trickling down my face I managed to crinkle my head to the side, one eye watching the figure that spelled its own doom. My heart was plunged further into despair as I saw the frail figure of my exhausted daughter, Sara.


    ''No...'', I prayed. My thoughts revolted and I couldn''t help but think about what I could have done better, to prevent such an outcome.


    ---------------


    Accelerating with impossible speed Hirahn shot over the ground, a swirling cloud of dust, ash and flesh and blood was left behind.


    Alexande ducked on the ground, one hand placed on the sullied earth, silently invoking magic. The earth split apart and a row of deadly earthen spikes emerged from the soil, scrabbling forward to clash with the flying Hirahn.


    Nimbly avoiding the earthspikes Hirahn gave already a little insight to his monstrous speed, of course he was not serious at the moment, for him this was just a little farce that he could stop at any time he wanted to; a play that Hirahn directed.


    Hirahn''s claws swiped through a massive earthen wall, sliced and diced through the massive monument of defense. His sharp talons left behind a ghastly afterimage which made even space buckle. As though hirahn was pulling a curtain aside the space folded up and followed his claws, distorting in the process. What less could one expect from a God?


    Breaking down the wall of earth and avoiding the continuous assault of the stone spears Hirahn was greeted by a wave of searing heat. A sphere of molten rock, bubling with searing heat and disastrous latent energy.


    Alexander grinned victoriously and let the crimson core tumble down onto Hirahn with speed surpassing a bullet. Hirahn moved his wings in front of his face, their thin membrane beclouding him into a cocoon of darkness. Relentlessly the globe of crimson came crashing down on the in comparison tiny figure of Hirahn.


    *BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*


    The smelted bedrock exploded in a cone of fire and living lava, tepered into a cloud of heat and pure destruction that shrouded the surroundings in misty heat. Another wall of earth protected Alexander from his own magic as he gazed between gaps to eye the catastrophic scene.


    Anything in a radius of hundered meters was utterly obliterated and a large cone, spanning several football fields long, stretched its tail behind where Hirahn was standing. This quietus of a magic spell cost Alexander a good chunk of his magical reserves.


    Cracks covered the earth in its ugly scars and the deep rumbling from the collision still continued on, painful heat drifted with the wind and made breathing pure agony. The lava sloshed from above, like the rinsing rain it washed the devil away and even the clouds parted for a split second. Silence so frail hooked into the stillstanding massacre of the beast at the horizon. The beast actually stopped to see what has transpired around its master.


    *WOUAAAAAAAAAAAA! The scarred face on its abdomen cried out in hate , soon the massacre continued, more fierce than before.


    The ground sizzled from the heat and vapor rose into the sky, like hundred cicadas the heat rustled symphonic as Alexander got into a kneeling position.


    *Cough*, he coughed and tried to regulate his haggard breathing. He wanted to smile in victory and raise his heda to face his ancestors but something deep down, in the recess of his mind told him: ''This, this is far from over.''. From the beast that shattered the will of countless and the body count of dead soldiers, a diplomatic and economic headache was sure to surface. Alexander stamped his nervousness as such, the aftermath of this fight would surely prove to be hard to solve. But this nagging in his mind was not satisfied with this reasoning. This sinister feeling, this eclipsing power the demon displayed, could it be that easy? Oh hell no!


    Coming to a realisation Alexander prepared the sword in his hands, the fight was far from over.


    Visceral, as his intuition told him, he quietly observed the scene of impact. A large crater, ranging many hundreds of meters in diameter and a depth of at least a few tens of meters, was standing where prior Hirahn was. Fumes still rose from its center where the lava was the most concentrated.


    With dead eyes Alexander watched as the lava slid froma rock like surface, a smooth obsidian shell stood haughty admist the artificial volcano.


    The shell throbbed and sent shivers through the earth, it unfolded slowly, dramatic even. The sharp tips of Hirahn''s wings wriggled and the membrane between weltered. A small gap let two vermillion eyes peek out of pure emptiness, dark fangs glistened in the sparse moonlight and formed a cruel and savage grin.


    "This was quite... interesting.", Hirahn mumbled louder than usual. The loofty tone entered Alexander''s ears and in the mix of despair and helplessness he felt a bit anger mixed in between as he saw the demon''s carefree atitude.


    "Wh-where are you from, from what level of hell did you spawn, devil?!", Alexander asked with a quivering voice as Hirahn shrugged the molten stone of his skin.


    "Hell? Don''t misunderstand little human, I am more heaven than anyone could ever be!", Hirahn''s tone was a scolding one as he stretched his limbs. He folded his fingers together and kinked them above his head, his bones lightly popped. "Such a nice, hot bath. I really needed that.", Hirahn said in his deep husky voice that made the living quail.


    Alexander took a step back from the edge of the crater. ''A bath?! Hahahaha... I am nothing more than a joke to him, ain''t I?'', he thought.


    Grabbing onto his plated armor he collected all his shattered temerity, pride, valor and strength. ''I failed, so what? Let''s try it again.'', was Alexander''s train of thought.


    Hirahn jumped and in a second appeared at the perimeter of the burning sinkhole.


    Only a few breaths apart Alexander could feel the devil''s faunal respiration on his face, the intense heat that came from the diabolic body and the dark miasma that clung onto your soul like an anchor, dragged it into black waters. Hirahn carried a cruel smile, his rotten smell of death and blood wafted over.


    Hirahn clicked his tongue. "Just gonna stand there? Alright with me.", his words blured with his fading figure.


    "UAAAHH!", Alexander groaned as his plate mail, Bullwark, was caved in with one clean knee to his abdomen.  Being propelled over the ground for a good twenty meters he came to a rolling stop, his limbs sprawled into all directions.


    ''I-I couldn''t even see him...'', Alexander despaired as he reared his body with the support of his arms. He tinkered around on his armor and felt warm liquid slowly seeping from the cracks. Holding his fingers right before his face he could faintly perceive the red luminescence that glowed menacingly in the dark. ''Fuck!'', he cursed and straightened himself up, supported by weak legs.


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    Holding one hand in front of his body he summoned a myriad of red gales. Their sharp winds silting anything in sight. Cramped Alexander waited for the devil to reappear.


    "Behind you!", Hirahn laughed and kicked Alexander in his knee''s hollow, one of Hirahn''s talons cut at the same time Alexander''s calf and armor apart, as if it was made from the same material.


    "AH!", Alexander screamed, his concentration waned and the wind blades errupted intoa storm that encompassed the total vicinity.


    "HAHAAHAH!", Hirahn laughed as the windblades desperately tried to dug into his flesh. "This is all you amount to, I am ecstatic?!", Hirahn jested with a sarcastic voice. "AS IF!", Alexander retorted and caused a light chortle from Hirahn.


    The sword in his hands flared up in a bright purple, the wound on his leg sewed up magically and dark veins surfaced all over his body. "Taste my blade!", Alexander sprinted forward, faster than before.


    "PAHAAHAHAHAHA!", effortlessly Hirahn dodged the dancing blade. First a left swing which flowed seamless into a down swing from overhead with the power to cleave stone. Hirahn changed the weapon''s trajectory with his bare hand, jumped over a low-kick and gripped Alexander on his collar as he tried to bodycheck him. Snorting Hirahn threw him away with one arm.


    Alexander skittered over the moist earth and came back with even more zeal. Diagonally from above he let his sword smash down with gravity. Hirahn spared a glance at the sword raining down from above for amusement, knewing to well what would come next. Instead of going through with the attack Alexander covered his fist in a destructive combination of fire and wind magic.


    *VROOOOOOOOOM*


    With breakneck speed the fist collided with Hirahn''s face, or rather what was left of him. The fist broke through a thin layer of miasma in the form of Hirahn, in the end its damage amounted to nothing as the magical power was directed at the sky with the fists trajectory. Hirahn smirked, he stood only two steps behind this crude second skin that he created on the spot.


    Catching the sword in the air Hirahn pulled Alexander''s hand downwards while holding the arm upwards. *CRACK!*. Alxander''s wrist broke without the slightest resistance and his sword dropped from between his fingers, the large spike still dripping with the blood it was sucking.


    The dark veins on his skin receeded and like a puppet that had its strings cut he slumped to the ground.


    Hirahn kicked his face and Alexander fell to the side. Standing with one foot on his head Hirahn belittled him from above. "This is all you can do? Pathetic.", a tear rolled down Alexander''s cheek. ''I know'', he whispered in his mind. In the end he couldn''t protect one thing, but maybe, just maybe, his remaining family and friends could survive.


    As the sword was stuck into his ribs and as he was then lifted up from the ground he could barely remain conscious. But this one scene repeated itself in his mind over and over, was kept luscious as he took joy from it. The scene were a single icicle smashed against the demon''s face, hilarious.


    Without having his guard up, as all sings of life were to weak to be considered a threat to Hirahn he hadn''t noticed the ice spell that was flying in his direction. He hadn''t even set up any measures for observation, his toying around with the mortal consumed more time and concentration than he had esteemed.


    --------------- <- Back to the beginning :D


    Shifting my gaze from the puny mortal in my hands to the being that had the AUDACITY to attack me. What insolent fool would dare, would dare to attack me? Have I not proven what I am capable off? Are humans that narrow in their mindset?


    My mind was seething with rage, ire and lunacy. "MORTAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", I let a primal roar escape from my insides. This hate on humans that was lovingly festering itself into a tumor of frenziness, it suddenly errupted. A red veil covered my sight as my pupils shrunk to the size of a needle eye. With trembling limbs I let the mortal in my claws flop on the ground. Slow and imperious steps moved me forward in the manner a predator would stalk its dying prey. My lips quivered in excitement as I imagined the fool that I would rip into shreds.


    A slight weight suddenly tugged at my body. With a slow, deep breath I looked down at my leg. Two hands clutched my foot, unwilling to give way for me. "I... think... you don''t know... WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!", I howled a roar from hell.


    "My daughter... *cough* leave! NOW!", I heard the small man cry.


    "Daughter... DAUGHTER, HUH?! LET ME HAVE SOME FUN, WITH YOU DAUGHTER!", I laugehd and spit black blood.


    "Devil, I will tear you apart! IF... IF YOU HARM A SINGLE HAIR ON HER HEAD! I... WILL DESTROY YOU!", I heard his miserable threat echo as nothing more than a plea in my ears. What could he do? HA! NOTHING!


    I willed the magic energy in my body and gravity around me increased manyfold. "Uhhhhhhhh....", I could hear his lovely groans as his bones and organs collapsed in on themselves. *Cough*, his warm blood splattered all over my leg.


    "Demon! Leave my father alone!", I heard the caged birds cry, weak and yet brazen. ''Such a nice sound'', I ruminated as images of me ripping the female apart flooded my mind. ''That will feel nice....~''.


    I took another step forward, quicker. I heard the man''s shoulder dislocating and another groan tuned in on his wretched cries. "Little Miss, don''t you see the pain,", I increased gravity again, the grip on my leg faltered and I was rewarded with a muffled scream. "that you are causing your father?"


    From my front I heard the shuffling of feet as the woman''s determination faltered. ''That''s right, you don''t want your father to die, don''t you?'', I barely hold in the laughter that was about to leave my throat.


    Slow and steady I moved forward, the man hardly awake anymore. "Sara... Leave, now....", I heard him whisper while the last remnants of his power forced his hands to twine around my leg.


    My world suddenly stopped. ''Wh-what?'', my mind halted in its tracks. Instincts, emotions, thoughts, they all stopped dead in their track. I felt myself being pulled out of the recesses of red intent into a world of sanity. ''Sara, how long have I not heard that name...'', I mumbled to myself. ''Sara...'', I repeated countless times as time has seemingly frozen still. With a bit reluctance I raised my hands and felt around my face. Wrily I wiped the tears from under my eyes.


    "Sara...", the name arbitrary flowed from my lips.


    "D-Don''t you dare speak her name! DEVIL YOU HEAR ME?!". The mad roar of the father reveberated in my mind.


    The red cover was replaced by a thin but endurable bloodlust. My hazy vision cleared, I had to see it with my own eyes. My mind that was thinking about nothing than the killing spree unfolding under my will was splashed with cold water, be it or not the desire to continue this was now gone and replaced by curiosity.


    From the ground upwards I gazed at the bold figure that stood its place before me.


    Two long and slim legs covered by formfitting, lightbrown leather trousers blended into a hourglass figure draped in a tight red velvet robe and thin white undergarments. A developing bossom jut from underneath the textile. Slender collarbones; an elegant neck with the subtlest of hairs supported an oval shapped face. A bewitching constellation of features unfolded before my squinting eyes; a pointy chin; luscious magenta lips, bit down by pearl-white teeth; cute dimples, paled by fear; a slim nose and two sapphire blue eyes. A river full of platinum strands cascaded over her frail shoulders and accentuated those ocean blue eyes. Her features were breathtakingly similiar to, to... Saraya!


    My mind went blank and before I realized it I hugged the unknown woman tightly.


    "KYA! NO!", a faint scream left her flossy lips as I burrowed my face deep into her hair, sniffed her sweet smell with faint traces of sweat.


    "I-I thought I had lost you Saraya", I whispered as tears rolled down my eyes and mucous clogged my throat. "I thought, I would never see you again.", I whispered endearing into her ears hidden by her reflecting hairs.


    "Saraya, never leave me again.", I cried my emotions through my lips, all the sadness and hate overflowed from my heart.


    The coiling miasma that surrounded my body vanished without a trace, the demonic features dimished as the white orb inside my heart jumped out of joy. Wind picked the miasma and particles of demonic origin and dispersed them over the battlefield like the burned remains of the dead; those were the remains of a Hirahn I would never wish to be again, not as long as I am with Saraya.


    With longing eyes I locked my gaze with hers, focused on her sapphire eyes with my own golden-red ones. "I can never get enough of your blue eyes... blue... blue eyes...", I parted from the embrace and jumped back.


    "You, you are not... YOU ARE NOT SARAYA!", I roared in wrath. "IMPOSTER! YOU ARE NOT HER, YOU WILL NEVER BE!", the tears dried on my face as the heat around me surged.


    Saraya''s image overlaped with the woman in front of me. ''STOP IT! You are not her!'', I bewailed the illusion. Saraya''s image simply smiled warmly. ''Hiri, it''s fine, really...'', she whispered into my deaf ears. "No it is not! It is not fine!", I limply fell to the ground and pounded the earth with my fists. "It will never be....", my voice broke as well as my resolve.


    ''My love, it is over.'', her illusion teared up as I did. ''There is nothing you can do anymore. Live on without me...'', she whispered and the mirage faded.


    "NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!", I grasped empty air. The clouds parted and let the moon''s monochrome rays light on my back. It was indeed over.


    (Fuck I got really sad while writing this, next chapter in work already!)


    :(

 Chapter 004: The Devils Offer

    (I am sorry for all plot addicted readers but this is only a reiteration, another POV of what had happened till Alexander lost to Hirahn''s hands and then a bit plot related stuff in the end. But it is seriously not much :S I promise I will make it up tomorrow! :D )


    With all my might I backtracked the snaking labyrinth of passages I passed through to end up on the outskirts of Ysolde''s walls.


    The first set of stairs was flown over with ease, my mind was still in turmoil, what abomination have I summoned into this world? All I wanted was to bring peace and rescue my father.


    I remembered starring up into the sky, as the wind transitioned into storms and the rain was exchanged by fierce lightning. I saw him standing, floating, there, right beneath the dark blanket of adamant clouds that let no light through. A demon not out of the history books or from cultural lessons about our world, no, it was a demon more basilar, more ancient and more perditious than anything seen before. In seconds the peaceful night was transformed into a nightmare of hellish scale by this, this unspeakable terror, and it was MY fault!


    Tripping over my own short gasps as I ran down the ridiculously long stairs I finally reached the conjunction of multiple town squares and hundreds of inns and other nightly shops offering their services. With disdain I glared at a broad man, luring customers into his brothel, whilst unbeknownst to him his King, my father, is fighting his demise. Such people are really not worth it to be protected.


    I smacked my cheeks, the hot pain made me jump into action. ''Concentrate!'', I let this mantra repeat itself. Yes, I needed concentration like never before, concentration and endurance. As a mage my physical abilities were rather unimpressive, my body was weak and those short sprints, the ups and downs of the stairs tore away at my energy, mentally and physically. Luckily I was one of the few that can raise their chest high and call themselves High Humans. An ancient race of humans that hailed directly from the God Sara''ahn''s remains. I was not one to wag his title in other''s people faces but right now it helped me in enduring this exhausting marathon of a run and I was thankful for it.


    Having my mind preoccupied with worry I bumped into the passerbys repeatedly, for good measure I even toppled a small stand over. "Ex-excuse me!", I stammered while I tried to keep my breathing in check.


    The old woman smiled warmly. "No worries princess.", she cawed and gave me a playful wink.


    I could only return a smile of my own. Most people in Ysolde were accustomed to see their royality run unhindered through the city, my family was an eccentric one.


    Fiddling a bit between my pockets I found the small leather pouch. With a light shove I pressed the pouch into the hands of the old lady. She tried to open her wrinkled mouth as her dark eyes blazoned with reverence, I stopped her before she could speak. "Excuse me but there are things I have to attend to.", I told the elderly woman and dissappeared into another alley, my red robe trailing behind me.


    I ran and ran through the torch lit alleys until I collapsed. "Haaa Haaaa.", I pressed with my hands against my temples and leaned against the hard wall of solid rock. The cool stone calmed down my heated disposition. My hand felt over the uneven surface, so lovingly made, by human hands nonetheless, such a ginormous structure was erected in just decades. But now? Now those same walls faced their end, and everyone within did too. ''No, I won''t let that happen'', I smashed my fist against the wall. Languid I parted from the propping wall, my body was trying its best to keep up with my egoistical wishes.


    Further sprinting through meandering alleys I was already moving for minutes through this behemoth of a stronghold and the gates had yet to come into sight. As I was getting desperate I could hear a baby''s cry in the distance. Not around a corner but all the way at the horizon. It was a frightening and deviate cry that couldn''t possibly be the spawn of humanity. The cry, laced with subterfuge and desire for carnage made my hairs stand on end. Wondering if I was the only one that heard this treacherous cry I peeked at the surrounding night owls and likewise they shared the same contorting expression of anxiousness.


    My heart beat accelerated as I imagined what incubus was waiting at our doors. In my ears I heard the echo of my palpitating heart, like a countdown it ticked down and stressed what danger was lying ahead.


    In the spur of the moment, as my pace finally found its rythm I bumped into a group of drunkards, their musty odor and grime-stained clothes hinted at a heavy drinking bout. A red nosed man with a dumb grin stepped forward. "Oy, ''lil missy, what cha doin'' so late *hic*. There are baddies all around.", his yellow and rotten teeth fromed a ''charming'' smile.


    "Get out of my way, now!", Why did I have to keep still while those filthy drunkards, those degenerates kept me from saving their sorry asses. "My, my, my ''lil miss relax, ain''t ''tis night beauti-*hic*-ful?", he placed one of his hands on my shoulder.


    "Yes it certainly is a good night, but it''s a bit cold if you ask me.", I said and combed a strand of hair out of my face.


    *ZOOOOOOM CRRRRRRRRRCK*


    Returning to my pace now would prove to be difficult, those imbeciles better pray I won''t see them the next day. And just like that I left the frozen statue of four men babbling and drinking right there in the middle of the street, I had more important things to do.


    Seconds later.*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*


    An explosion not to far from the city gates clang in my ears. The walls all around rumbled, debris came tumbling down, and the peacefully sleeping citizens gazed with worried eyes out of their porches.


    ''Oh no!'', something big was happening and this had to be the final act.


    Protuding over the towering walls was a firebal of red magnificience, stretched into the sky and enlightening the night as clear as day. "My God!", "What is happening?!", people stumbled out of their houses to view the spectacle that was unfolding. Soon red dots, sparkling stars littered the sky and came flying down as deadly projectiles. ''This can only be father''s doing!''. I swiftly created a thin sheet of ice spanning several houses far. If it was my father that created this mess then I should be one to keep the destruction in check.


    Seconds later the molten rock rained from above, pierced through my cover of ice with little to no effort. I clicked my tongue and created a multilayered baricade. Around me a large portion of the city was now coated in a light blue. ''This ought do it.'', slightly proud of my work I ran further up ahead, to where the gate was standing with incorruptible durability.


    Soldiers ran to and fro, panicking about the situation. What could I tell them? The princess arrived and everything is fine and dandy? No, I started this mess to begin with, I had no right to reassure them with my words if I didn''t speak with actions.


    "The princess commands you, open the gates!", I screamed the guard next to me in the face. The middle aged man was thrown aback by the sudden shout, so close to him all the more. His armor rattled as he stepped back.


    Adjusting his helmet he eyed me as if I was crazy.


    "HAAAH!", I exhaled excessively and showed him the imprint on my tunic as well as the pendant around my neck.


    Carfully the guard scrutinized over the symbols and took out a printed replica on a linen cloth. His eyes shot open and his mouth slightly parted. "I-I am sorry princess!", he tried to bow but I waved him off. "Tell your supervisor to open the gates as fast as possible, now!". "Of course, princess.", the man bowed and disappeared through a door leading into the interior of the walls.


    Seconds later a bear of a man came running out. He kneeled on the raw ground and gave me a apologetic gaze. "I am sorry princess but I, no, we cannot allow you to leave right now.". Confused I blinked once then twice. Anger started to boil inside of me. "What, why?". I asked with ire audible in my voice.


    The guard captain shrunk back and seemed to age a few years. "T-there is a great cataclysm taking place outside, it is to dangerous for you princess.", he said and knocked his head on the ground.


    "I decide that for myself, and now, OPEN the gates!", I shouted at him, dissheveling my hair even further.


    "P-princess we can''t do that. It- it is to dang-!", I waved him off, no need for him to repeat himself.


    I harrumphed. "Ok then I will leave by myself.", I said to the surprise of the captain. His hands folded on the ground as he cowtowed even deeper, his face kissing the earth. "Princess I beg of you, I will pay with my head if anything were happen to you."


    In the end he was just worried about me. The wratch was replaced by a warm feeling in my chest. I smiled at him. "Don''t worry, if anything were to happen I will talk with my father. You are doing a great job and my father should now. Now, open the gates.", I told him in a reassuring and soft tone. "T-thank you princess, I won''t forget it...", his voice trailed off as he ran back inside the walls.


    Shortly after the gates split open and let a hot gust of air assault my face. All around me the guards went into cover as the heat turned unbearable. Projecting an ice spell to cover my body in a comfortable chill I plowed straight through the heat and ash that was flying happily in the air.


    With terror in my eyes I stared at the corpses littering the ground like flowers on a willow. "What happened here?", I asked myself aloud. A field of corpses, dried, hacked or turned to ash filled my vision. Heaps of flesh and puddles of blood clustered about and sieved the fields in death and war. Each step I took was accompanied by the crunching of bones and the splashing of blood, a sickening stench pierced into my head.


    I shortly glimpsed back at the walls. With such a thing keeping our eyes blindfold reality will inadvertently be abstracted. Those things blinded us from the harsh reality: war and destruction, shrouded us in an illusion of safety and warmth. Sharp gasps resounded behind me as the first guards followed my example and set foot out of the cursed stronghold. ''How long have we been closing our eyes and shuting our ears in fear of reality, of madness?'', I gulped down as the full situation kicked in. Even our state''s soldiers had barely any idea.


    ''Was this the reason that father had been so absentminded this past months?'', I couldn''t believe that my father kept such a secret to himself, suffered from the fate of our citizens, alone!


    Speaking of the devil I saw him standing with blood dripping from all over his body. Just as I was about to stretch my hand out, call out to him, I saw him again. The fiend in the clouds.


    The demon was here. In a split second he swooped from empty space, appeared in mid air, scowling down on my father. Unfolded wings, dark, purplish skin that moved bizzarely as if insects crawled beneath, claws as black as night itself, two horns that mirrored a crescent moon and fangs that composed an insidious grin.


    I paled and my hand trembled. The demon''s outline trembled.


    *BAAAAM*


    My father was sent flying over the ground, blood leaving a crimson trail behind him. I wanted to squeal in panic and step in between but before a second breath could leave my lungs my father was already pinned down by the devil''s vile talons.


    Mumbles to faint for me to hear were exchanged between my flat lying father and the domineering devil, a reality I didn''t want to accept. As the Vilis my father was in the possession of power beyond imagination and yet he was beaten into submission, crawled on the ground like a child, by the demon that could only be birthed from chaos itself.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    The devil robbed my father of his sword, my eyes widened, my mind hindered myself to turn my gaze away, and then he impaled him with his own blade. ''No way....'', I held trembling fingers against my lips. This can''t be possible.


    Furrowing my father from the ground like a vegetable the devil strangled my father''s throat, plucked the sword out of my his stomach and heaved it into the air. ''No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I won''t allow this! Leave my father alone!'', I heard my thoughts scream.


    My hand rocketed forward and with what remained of my power I shot a frightening fast ice spell, a simple icicle more I wasn''t capable off. I watched as the blue light clashed with the devil''s demonish grin.


    ''I... I did it.'', such a stupid thought burrowed itself in my mind. I was far from being as strong as my father, how could I even think about being able to harm, much less kill, this devil?!


    "MORTAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!", a primal, gutural roar boomed from behind the cover of splittered ice and cold mist. With brutality of untold magnitude he smashed my father''s limp body onto the ground.


    ''Oh no.'', I wanted to step back but horror rooted me in place. All my will was now limited on keeping my bowels from releasing whatever nasty liquid they were about to spill.


    The devil turned its visage into my direction, at that moment I could feel my spirit being broken like a twig. There was no hope, there was no felicity that could lit this situation up. My death was now gouged in stone and it made me shudder uncontrollably. As a sane human being I would naturally fear the premonition of death, how the father of all evil loomed over your small, trembling self and let his scythe eviscerate your whole being.


    Frozen solid by angst I could only watch as his ground trembling steps crept closer to me. The evil aura around the devil rumbled in wrath and skewed into agony inflesh. Rotten faces and skeletal limbs reached out from his shadows, pointed their grizzled hands into my direction and wauled: ''This, this is the next one!'', in a voice so hoarse that it could be the crunching of bones that was commanding its legions of death to reap my soul.


    Petrified I watched out of the corner of my eyes the ever so slight movement of a sluggish, dead thought figure. His fingers scrapped on the devils legs before my father''s two hands fully clutched around the dark flesh.


    Noticing his foe still alive the devil roared an avalanching scream as he pointed his claws vice the sky. Words flowed from the devils mouth but they all drowned by his thunderous roar. Inbetween I heard my father talking, so close to the demon he could understand the words of the damned.


    The ground trembled and the clouds crepitated, dust particles rose into the air and even small pebbles were picked up from the cursed earth. Space distorted and from one moment to the next the flying objects plummeted down at twice the speed as normal. The devil ripped with his hands towards the ground and everything surrounding him budged deeper down. Spacial static appeared all around the devil and showed him in a distorting picture of havoc.


    My father spit blood and groaned as this phenomenon, defying nature itself, took place before my eyes. My knees quaked and tears edged my face.


    "Demon! Leave my father alone!", I screamed and a strand of spittle came flying out, flanked by snot and tears.


    The fiend gave me a wicked grin and the distortions in space were augmented further into ripples. I heard him speaking to me, threatening my intervention with the death of my father.


    Faltering I took a step back, the smile on the devil grew wider.


    My father mumbled my name, bid me to leave this dashed place, but I couldn''t let him die here alone, could I?


    As the last words of my father waned into silence I saw the devil stop in his overbearing steps. ''What happened?'', praying for a wonder I thought the demon was wounded or something had stopped him but nothing of the like has occured.


    The demon started to tremble, slight at first. Confused and afraid I watched the devil shudder in internal conflict or whatever was betiding.


    And then I noticed the row of crystaline reflections on the devil''s darkened face. As surprised as I the devil swiped the -undoubtely- tears away from his face. ''He, he is crying?'', I began to wonder but my guard was still up. A trap nothing more, yes, that had to be it!


    "Sara....", I heard him whisper my name. My father being in earshot heard it as well and had another fit of rage and began to bellow loudly. All the while I was stunned in place and could only watch with creasing eyebrows what was happening.


    *WOOOSH*


    The devil disappeared and my vision was turned black. Fear tightened around my heart as I felt a muscular body embracing me. I cried in shock and tried to stuggle, expecting the worst. I imagined myself being crushed into a cripple by the devil or torn apart by his claws but instead I was embraced. A bit tight but it was an embrace of warmth and familiarity.


    I heard the devil sniff on my hair and nuzzle his body against mine. Still panic stricken I struggled before even the wildest attempts proved as useless. I could only wait.


    Seconds and then minutes passed. The devil''s warmth spread into my worn body; as much as I hate to admit it, it felt good. No longer struggling I simply stood frozen in this beast''s embrace. Suddenly his body shifted, he grabbed me by my shoulders and gazed into my eyes. I only noticed it now, after being released from the tight hug against his chest, he was human. Not a single trace of a demon could be found in those red-golden eyes that showed only warm kindness. I locked my gaze, embarassed, with his. He was not so big, not so scary anymore. Instead the ''devil'' looked harmless, kinda goofy now, a person one would want to be friends with. Also he was barely older than me it seemed, ranging only inbetween his early twenties.


    For a moment I thought the devilish aura and appearance was just fake but then slight change happened in his eyes. They shrunk down, the hazy mist consisting of tears dried up, his face turned into a mask of anger and unbearable heat arose around us. I heard him mumble: ''Blue.... blue.... blue.'', before he started to change into his demonic form once again.


    The devil stepped back! "Imposter!", he roared in his mad voice before collapsing on the ground, his eyes dilating and shrinking as he mumbled incoherent sentences.


    His torso stood tall against the heavens and the most sorrowful cry I heard in my entire lifetime afflicted my ears. Tears, more than ever, ran down the face of the presumed monster as he cursed the Gods in the highheavens.


    *** <-remember, POV-change but not setting-change


    I could only watch from the sidelines as the devil embraced my daughter with his filthy body. I imagined her being obliterated right before my eyes, the devil delighting in her corpse, but instead he silently wept. The situation escalated as the devil starred my daughter into the eyes before a major breakdown assaulted the fiend''s mind.


    He kneeled down on the dirtied ground and his maw gaped against the sky and created the most miserable cry I could bear witness to hear. Incredulous I starred at the demon, no, now human crouching on the ground as the moon lit his body in a circle of solitude. He looked so small and weak right now, as if my hands alone would be enough to strike him down, and he probably was at this moment.


    Behind me I heard a faint explosion, a wet and nauseating sound. With an expecting smile I watched as the giant abomination, now towering many meters into the air, collapsed in on itself. ''Huh... I wonder hom much longer I could resist before I would end up like that.'', I chuckled but instead of your typical chuckle I vomited blood.


    "Father!", my daughter hurried past the desolate demon and supported my body with her frail arms. I wanted to speak but only fizzles of red dripped from my mouth.


    "No father, don''t speak!", my darling daughter shock her head and tears were sent flying into all directions. "Relax now, I will call the mages.", she said, turned around and tripped over her own feet. Only now did I notice her tatered clothing and exhausted complexion. ''You certainly had it hard...'', I shock my head inside my mind.


    Dusting of her clothes she ran past the devil. "Be care-!", ''Be careful'' I wanted to throw at her but the devil already gripped her by the hem of her robe. I could only watch as she was pulled down onto the ground once again.


    The devil stood up, the devil in human form. He locked his eyes with Sara and then pulled her by the wrist towards me.


    He kneeled down, my daughter crying and punching with the last bits of strength. His gaze was a chilling smite that had no resemblance of the feral hate prior to this. This thing was now rational its seemed.


    He parted his lips and Sara continued beating him. He clicked his tongue and threw her on top of my chest. The wind was pushed out of my lungs and my eyes buldged out. The devil grinned victoriously.


    "So as the victor of our little, uhm... dispute, I decided to impart an offer onto you.", his arms crossed over his chest. All the pain and death he inflicted was just ingored by him. Instead there was a coldness behind those lightly spoken words that left no room for rejoinders.


    I knew he could kill me, us and everyone in Ysolde if he wanted to, I could only nod in reluctance.


    "What do you want demon, speak!", my harsh voice couldn''t soften although I should submit to him.


    "Nothing much, let me live with you for a while, I got no place to sleep.", he shrugged his shoulders, stating matter-of-factly, and I could only stare in utter, complete and absolute disbelief at what he had said. Answering my confusion was a broad grin of him, so false and artificial that it made me cringe in disgust.


    The words set in. "W-what?, both me and my daughter voiced out in accord.


    "You heard me right, or are you deaf? I. Will. From. Today. Onwards. Live. With. You.", he drew a crude house in the air with his fingers and gesticulated excessively. "Or do you want to pick up where we stopped?", he hampered anything I could have retorted while his hand transformed into the previous shadow cloaked claw. ''Inviting the devil into my house, HA!'', I laughed about my incompentence.


    "Alright....", I whispered between clenched teeth. "No, father don''t do it.", I heard my daughter voice out but what else could I do? I had to choose between living with the devil or dying by his hand. Option one was way more appealing than option two.


    Turning around in all his nude glory, which I only noticed now, the devil faced my fortress. "This will certainly be interesting.", he said and rubbed his hands.


    ''Oh you Gods, why do I deserve such punishment?'', I questioned the highest entities in existence but how could I know that one such entity was now living with me under one roof?!


    (So I corrected all the grave mistakes and added a few words at some places to make the flow more... fluid? Anyway, all those that hadn''t read this chapter ''till now, have fun! ;) )

 Chapter 005: A small chat

    (This is mostly dialogue that it somewhat necessary as it works on the arising problems and personalities of the till now introduced characters. Oh yeah, if you expect fast romance, go away and come back when ten or so more chapters are out, only for the slightest sliver of romance. Romance will take some more time. Anyway, I hope you enoy the chapter, next one in process already! :D ) + Dumb me forgot the title.


    "Father, do you know were that devil is prowling?!", I heard my sweet darling daughter''s voice coming from the far end of the claustrophobic room.


    Shuffling the towers of papers with utmost care around I tried to get a look at my daughter, standing in the doorframe. Giving up half way as the overlapping plethora of papers overwhelmed me in a sea of white and black dots I could only answer from behind the wooden desk, creaking from the weight of all those documents.


    "F-father are you here?", I heard her light voice ask. ''Was it that bad?'', I queried myself as I gave a short glance at the work I still had to do and the work I had already done. Monuments made of paper loomed over my head like watchful giants, a single tremble could make them fall and squash cities underneath. I digress.


    ''My God...'', there was still a ton of work to do.


    Costs for destroyed plantations and farmlands and their restorations, the bodycount of soldiers and my citizens that lived on the outskirts of my kingdom, prisoners of war, the occupied iron mines in the north, the recovering of silted trade routes and so, so much more. The only sliver of hope that laid between damage reports and complaints was this nondescript and plain document that tauntingly and prone laid right in the center of my desk.


    ''Treaty of armistice''. ''Treaty my ass!'', my mind boiled in rage. Those rabid dogs as kings plundered my lands and killed my people, they wanted to erradicate my kingdom from the map and now? And now they want peace. OF COURSE! Hardly holding in the blood that was right about to spill from my mouth as I eyed the telltale document and couldn''t forbear my thoughts circling around the ''devil'' that, in the end, saved me, my country and my people. He might have been squired by death and carnage but in the end he got the job done.


    Was I a fraud for thinking like that, when I especially wanted to kill him just a dozen hours prior? Probably yes. But I couldn''t help but let a grin creep up my face as I thought about the beast that tore through their soldiers and dished out vengeance. Nonetheless fury was still prevalent in my veins as I answered my daughter from behind the piles of papers.


    "No, I haven''t seen him. Why do you ask?", yeah, him, he was living here now! That darned devil ordered me around, took a chamber in MY castle and is now probably rummaging through my city with his evil intent. I could only pray for my citizens to not anger this devil. As there was nothing for me to do about the current situation I could only dejectedly sigh.


    Once again I starred at the papers on my desk and the quill in my hands. I starred those dark blue letters down and let the quill flash through the air. One stack of documents after the other was blighted by my extraordinary workmanship with ink and nib.


    "Well, we don''t even know his name yet or where he came from.", my daughter asked with inquisitiveness liable in her voice. I thought about it sharply and tried my luck.


    "Was it not you that summoned that devil into our realm?", I asked with certainity although I was unsure about how that little, dancing dervish, scoffing devil, treacherous demon -''Haaaah relax Alexander...''- got into our world. I craned my neck back at the rack filled with ancient scriptures, no such demonw as reported in the stories of old.


    "W-w-w-w-w-WHAT? I-I summ-. H-how c-could I even summon such a devil, that is impossible!". ''Oh my dear daughter why are you lying?''


    Her stutter, trembling voice and depleted magic energy spoke volumes about what has happened. Massaging my temples I stood up from the desk, the towers of paper leaning minatoy forward. Using one hand I stabilized one such tower that was about to squash me underneath. ''Fresh air! I need fresh air.'', with quick steps I openned the hinged window. The wooden frame crackled over the windowsill. A glossy gust of refreshening air zoomed into the suffocating office.


    My sight wandered over the city beneath, the frightened citizens, murmuring over the events yesterday and the corpses that leaned against the city walls. The sun glimpsed over the edges of the mighty walls, told tales of a better tomorrow.


    ''This will be a hard time...'', I mused and turned around.


    Shock, fear, terror, it all dawned onto me as I noticed the grave mistake I had done. The cold breeze, derisive I blowed straight through the documents. Teary eyed I watched as the destruction unfolded, as the wind blowed the papers to the ground, ruind the order I have worked so hard for, smudged the yet to dry ink.


    Tears fell on the ground as I slumped on the ground. ''No....'', my thoughts pitchpoled.


    "Father I think it''s better to leave now.", my daughter whispered while closing the door halfway already.


    "Help me....", I coughed out with a stretched hand before my daughter vanished behind the ligneous door.


    "FUUUCK!", I slammed the ground with my fists and the furniture jumped up.


    ***


    Leaving my father to my his own devices I hurried through the castle and past the innomerous attendants. The atmosphere was glum, new of the disaster outside the walls has already spread and people began to doubt the safety of our fortress. But who wouldn''t be leery of our defenses now?


    A mass of millions of soldiers was only a few meters apart from our homes and loved ones. A few hours later and the situation would have escalated, thos walls would have been nothing more than a cage to us once the soldiers breached them. It was a dangerous gamble.


    "I tell you, a miracle! The Gods have sent their envoy to protect Ysolde!", people praised inside the castle. Yeah, miracle; a demon of the deepest hollows of hell slaughtered thousands and you call that a miracle? ''Certainly it is, but...'', I couldn''t really find a fault in that logic. For us it was indeed a miracle, who cares about its execution? Smited by holy light or ravaged by dark tyranny, in the end countless lives would have faced the same end.


    Exhausted I diverted my thoughts from the fiend, whose name I haven''t even heard once till now. I was a bit angry, I won''t lie.


    I stepped out of the castle''s main gate and sauntered through the openning stalls, smithies, tanneries and other workshops. An invigorating air of activity sparked through the atmosphere, those hard working people worried over today and not tomorrow. An ideology which I would be keen to spread through the continent. Carefree they engaged in their everyday struggle, with a smile on their lips they worked their way up.


    Cheerful I helped an elderly cuple set up a small fruit stand. I bought one of their fresh, crunchy and sweet yet sour apples. I bit off a large chunk of the big red fruit and let its sour juice clear through my throat. Refreshed I danced through the masses of citizen, a smile unable to part from my lips.


    I hummed a jolly tone and went further into the city. People talked, shouted, whispered all around. Wooden crates rattled, man drawn carriages juddered over the stone ground. It was a beautiful mood.


    ''Now... where is he?'', I thought as I stood in the city''s hub. ''Ugh... I am an idiot.'', I smacked my head and people eyed me puzzled, parents pulled their children closer.


    I concentrated on my aether, the force that can dictate the magic in all substance to do its biding. A faint trace of my aether lingered further towards the gates of the city, stationary to my luck. ''Hehe...'', I giggled in my mind. ''Found ya!''


    With my destination now in mind I walked through the city with purpose, quick steps guided me past numerous inns and taverns. The first drunkards stepped outside but I nimbly avoided any confrontatio, I did not want to repeat yesterday.


    Pacey I whooshed past the buildings that reared up into the sky. Tapping I reached a tavern like any other, its sign a bit unhinged but the overall look was warm and homey.


    Openning the heavy door I walked straight past the reception.


    "Excuse me lady.", a young and jolly girl called from behind the counter. Almost the same age as me I gave her a quizical look. "If you want a table you have to pay here first.", the girl said and gave a small smile.


    "Sure.", I did not want to cause any inconvenience. "How much will one table be?", I asked. ''Although I won''t stay here...''.


    "Ten coppers for one table, the menu should be on your table to browse through.". "Alright", I nodded and fumbled in my leather pants.


    "Just a moment.", I said and held a finger in the air. My hands trembled as I searched through my pockets. ''Nooooooo....'', I felt myself drawn into an abyss of shame, so much shame.


    "Miss, you don''t have any money on you?", the girl asked and couldn''t help but giggle.


    With joy I would now show her the insignia of royalty but she was just doing her job and I was not exempted from the costs, I was as princess but not as citizen.


    I felt my cheeks redden. "N-no...", with a meek voice I answered the fidgety girl.


    "Then, I am sorry to say this, please leave this establishment.", she said and bowed her head goodbye already.


    *SLAM*. "Here ten coppers!", a masculine voice answered me from behind.


    Sweat trickling down my cheeks and with great repugnance I tuned around. Two orbs of golden and red stared straight back at me and I shrunk down. ''ARGHHHHHHHH!'', I could bite my ass off for what is happening right now.


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    With a smug grin the devil payed off my table.


    The gril''s brows rose up and down. "So that''s how it is. If you need a room for you two alone just say it.", she winked and disappeared behind a door leading into the kitchen. "-!", I wanted to shout at her but in the end my target was indeed to meet up with this devil. But as sure as hell there was nothing romantic between us!


    The devil gripped me by the hand, I winced, and he pulled me towards a table in the far off corner of the tavern, stairs right from us led up into the rooms the girl offered us so ''playfully''.


    We both seated down on the hard chairs, the devil right opposite of me. He leaned back in his chair hold a hand into the air and snapped. Suspecting chaos to befall I ducked down, the chair toppled back and I crouched on the ground. I closed my eyes tightly shut and hoped for the disaster to be over. Nothing happened.


    I openned my eyes and the devil just smirked, smirked a confused albeit wide smile. Trembling I stood up, the patrons all around gave me commical looks, some even began to whisper.


    My face turned red uncontrollably. With my hands I covered the portion of my face and hid my embarassed complexion from the other customers. I sit back on the chair and with a sigh I hung my head down.


    "Pfffft...", the devil sneered. He snapped his fingers once again. "One beer please!", he shouted and a "Coming up!", answered back. He tipped forward with his body, leaned his elbows on the round table and tilted his head slightly. "So what do you want to drink? I ask because you seem pretty... broke right now.", he said in a cherry tone, unable to hide his ridicule.


    I grit my teeth and my hands balled into fists.


    "Why thank you? A juice would be nice.", I answered with a hiss.


    "Apple, orange, peach?", he canted his head further and slowly raised his hand.


    "Apple please.", I told him with a wide ''smile''.


    "Missy, add another apple juice please!", he shouted square through the tavern. "Alright.", was the only answer that came back.


    "So... what do you need right now?", he asked the topic I tried to avoid, fear sealed my mouth tight. Whatever I might say or ask could invoke a disaster.


    "AHH! Now come on little princess, you think I will kill you?", he asked loudly.


    Naturally I bopped my head up and down. ''Of course you will kill me, that''s what you tried yesterday!'', I wanted to scream at him.


    "Yesterday was a, uhhh...., faux pas! Yes, it was all unintentional.", he said and nodded his head with closed eyes and crossed arms. "Yes that has to be it, a faux pas.", he mumbled.


    "You killed thousands.", fizzled from my mouth.


    The devil only gave a wide smile. "Haven''t I did what you summoned me for? Have I not solved your problems?!", he stated as his teeth showed beneath his lips.


    "Have I asked you to help us?!", I slammed my fists on the table and leaned closer, looking around and feeling the gazes on my back I slowly relaxed and sat down.


    The devil raising his palms in the air and feigning ignorance spoke. "Oh, excuse me! I just thought that killing of soldiers in a war is a normal thing to do?! Ok, next time I will sit down with them while a having a nice cup of tea, is that alright with you?", he said with a ''serious'' tone of voice.


    "Shut up you devil. It was you who interrupted the summoning. Everything was going straight up until you arrived!", I shouted at him, anger splashed inside my guts.


    "Hoho! Alright, I didn''t know you wanted to be devoured by that gigantic white, holy, saint and whatnot winged lizard!", again he retorted.


    "You idiot! I could have controlled him, there was no need for you!", I so dearly wanted to pummel this man, this devil.


    "OHA! Like, how you are controling me?", he asked and smirked.


    "W-w-wha-. Th-that is different!", I couldn''t vocie any objections, he was right. A summon should be able to be controlled by his summoner but this was clearly not the case right now.


    "Don''t tell me! You can''t contol me?!", he asked and inhaled profoundly, feigned shock visible in his expression.


    "Y-you are different! And, yeah, how do you think I tracked you down?!", I asked, victory over this argument so close.


    "Tracked me down?! With this?", his body shuddered and shortly after blue wisps of smoke dispersed in the air. "You think I hadn''t noticed the stupid leash on me? Pah!", I checked for my aether again but I got no sign from the demon before me. ''Dammit! He got me!'', I had lost the quarrel. He was right but I wouldn''t accept it just like that.


    The girl from the reception walked to our table. A dish with two glasses wobbled on her hands.


    She placed the bitter beverage in front of the devil. He gave the girl a little nod and thanked her. Likewise the girl gave me a cup full of ocher-yellow, transparent liquid. I thanked her as well.


    "How much will that be?", the devil asked and looked up to the girl. "30 copper all together.", she answered back. He gaave her the money out of a dirty pouch and she hurried back to the kitchen.


    Carefully I pressed the glass against my lips and began drinking, my throat was already hoarse from the searing wrath that flooded my insides.


    The devil took the clay jar and gulped its contents down in one go. With a satisfied burp he placed the jar back on the table. "Haaaaaaa... I missed this.", his eyes starred into a past that was unreachable for mortals.


    Calming down by a large degree I asked light hearted. "Where are you from?", I tried to keep the curses down to a minimum, after all he payed my stay and my drink.


    He scratched his chin. "A place far, far away.", he told me and starred in his jar.


    ''OH REALLY?! I HADN''T KNOW THIS!'', the anger, I had to calm down. "C-could you tell me more about where you came from?", I asked with dander trembling voice.


    "No.", he answered flat and starred over the edge of his jar into my eyes before he squinted them into content slits. "Why should I?", he asked gibing.


    "W-well, you don''t seem like a citizen from this world so I just wanted to ask.", it was my honest intention.


    "Hum... Do you believe me when I say that my world was only inhabited by humans?", he tilted his head. "Sure, why not?", it was not that unrealistic.


    "And those humans drove around in moving blocks of steel and build structures that would be twenty times as tall as your puny castle? Also they flew through the sky in steel tubes weighing many tons and also into space, a place where one dies in a minute or less.", ludicrous I looked at the devil, trying to see the light grin that told me he was lying.


    "No, that, that is impossible.", I stated and he just shock his head in disappointement. "Of course you would think so...", he leaned back on his chair and let his words be absorbed by the chattering around us.


    "You know...", he straightened his posture. "I don''t give a flying fuck about your world or any other world, I just want to have my peace, and fun!", he said and sipped the last longst dried drops of bear in his jar.


    "And what is with all this: ''Uhhhh... demon; uhhhhh... devil'' shit? Can''t you see that I am as human as you are?", he inquired. I felt he was a bit insulted by our words.


    "Is that not what you are, devil?", I asked with peering eyes.


    "Are you not a princess? But you still see yourself a normal citizen don''t you? Ok, wait a moment, let''s see how you like that...", he coughed and lolled his body.


    "MY GOD, THE PRINCESS! IS THAT YOU?!", he shouted and all eyes focused back on me. His arms fumbled in the air and he jumped up from his chair before he rapidly knelt down. With shock and aspiration he spoke even louder. "I DIDN''T KNOW IT WAS YOU, PRINCESS! FORGIVE MY INSOLENCE!", I tried to pull the hood from my robe over my head but a strong gust of air blowed it down the moment my face was covered, I could only shrink down as I saw the devil''s evil smirk.


    People around us began to whisper before one after the other they knelt down before me. "PRINCESS!", they shouted and tried their best to keep their half drunken bodies from falling over. From outside even more people flooded the tavern and eyed their twitching princess.


    "Y-you asshole!", I whispered but the devil was nowhere to be found anymore.


    ''ARGHHHHHHHHH! I WILL KILL YOU!'', I cursed this traitor.


    ***


    Swiftly I left miss ''Stick-up-her-ass'' with her new crowd of fanatics and adorers.


    I wanted to laugh but I tried to keep low profile. Strolling through the vast city I found the next inn I would crash. Before entering I gazed into my pouch jsut to see that it was empty. "Tsk!", I clicked my tongue and threw it away. I took it from some unconscious mongrel lying flat on the street.


    ''What a pain in the ass!'', I cried out and summoned myself a neat leather purse filled to th brim with the three colors, copper, silver and gold. It was neither tedious nor time consuming but using magic could make others alert and the last person I would now wish to meet was the stocky princess.


    With my most professional smile I greeted the mistress at the counter and relaxed in the warm mixture of alcohol and static background noise.


    Those days are God send.


    A happy smile flashed briefly over my face before I continued drinking my third beer this morning, trying to deviate my thoughts from becoming to glum. Alcohol proves its worth around all worlds.

 Chapter 006: Diplomacy

    (Sorry that it took so long, making a map and imagening fantasy politics is kinda tiring. Anyway, enjoy the chapter since it will contain major plot advancement, or prepare for a major plot advancement in the future chapters. :D  All errors are caused by my half closed eyes and aching neck, just... just... sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!!! I correct them tomorrow as well. ;) )+I corrected the mistakes and hope you guys can now really enjoy this chapter :)


    With a satisfied smile and a mustache of beer foam Hirahn left the third tavern of the day. He might be new to this world but he could already say that he liked the beverages here. On earth there was just something missing, the personality of the brewer and the rowdy atmosphere that carried the taste onto your tongue. Earth turned sterile, people rarely communicated with each other anymore, head craned down and with cadence they moved to whatever destination they were heading to. Slow but steady the humans personality was drained from their marrow, only the most primal of emotions prvailed, hate, greed, egoism and the urge to replicate. It was a sad world.


    Breathing in the fresh air, untraceable in a world where smog blinded your vision, Hirahn enjoyed the noon sun that was unobstructedly shining from the azure sky. The world didn''t care about pety crimes, slaughter and war, the world would live on, even without humanity. The sky didn''t bother to weep for the poor souls and families that would paitiently await a return that would never come.


    Was Hirahn feeling guilty? No. He did what he did and he avowed it to himself. He would continue his life and tick this chapter off as if it never happened in the first place.


    Birds he had never seen before warbled on the red-brown housetops. Though science was standing still most houses were made up entirely of stone and bricks, beaded against each other to form stout walls.


    Hirahn ambled along the crossing paths of the alleys, no destination set in his mind he simply wandered off into the city. He was impressed by the whole lot of females that were working and chatting with others as equals. Hirahn didn''t want to be pretentious but even on earth it took a long time for females and males to stand as equals.


    Maybe this is what happens when society does not forget the powerful energy called magic? In the end with magic at their disposal the physical gap between man and woman could easily be overstretched.


    Of course this would change for the unfortunate mass that was not apt in using their aether to control the magic bound particles in the atmosphere and everything else.


    A spark flared in Hirahn''s mind and he found his destination.


    Storming from one pedestrian to the next he asked them about the cities libraries, a single major library or small stationery stores. He found out that all three options existed, all centered around the castle were information could be guarded the best; and of course the biggest of the libraries stood proudly inside the castle, to Hirahn''s dismay.


    Having unnerved enough people with his erratic attitude Hirahn decided to make his way back to the castle. One day or another he had to face the king and the princess once again, so better now than later when the situation escalated because of his obvious lack of knowledge.


    He had only entered the castle once, as a half nude savage that was told to be a prisoner of war, personally escorted by the king. After getting clothes, cleaning his body from all the blood and gore and having a good spoonful of sleep he turned into another person. His dirtied hair returned to its dark golden sheen, his face regained its immaculacy that one could only dream of and his body regained its healthy light brown tan, instead of the purplish hue that was radiating in his demonic form.


    Hirahn shuddered as he thought about his ''true'' nature. Were it not for the piece of Saraya that was still within his soul, so deep that he could not part from it even if he willed it, he would not be able to regain his humane form. Humans on earth have pretty much pinned the nature of Sara''ahn down, as Yin and Yang. It was a simple imagery but was the truth of Sara''ahn. As evil as Hirahn might be there is always this tiny bit of benignity that could flip his personality upside down. It was an unassailable fact.


    Half an hour later, after being led by the nose by new scents and small critters that he has never seen before, Hirahn finally arrived at the castle.


    The guards carefully surveyed the robed individual. It was a red robe no less than that, the sign for nobility. But they have seen this young man never before. Was this a beguiler?


    "Halt, who are you?", the guards asked, palms resting on the pommel of their swords. One guard moved down the few steps, the one that was left called another few guards to him. Hirahn was surprised by the security measures, for a city that was entirely surrounded by walls the security around the castle was extremely high.


    The single guard inched closer towards Hirahn, the armor rattled with each step and the sword swung playfully to and fro. As he was in direct reach of Hirahn he squinted his eyes. ''Can''t say I have seen him before...'', the guard thought but instead of jumping to conclusions he went the rational route.


    "Sir, do you have any form of identification? It might be presumptuous of me to say this but you seem fairly foreign here in Ysolde. I don''t want to hear any excuses, just show me your identification.", Hirahn nodded his head slightly in respect, this guard put thought into his actions, instead of arresting him under fleeting suspicion.


    Neither Hirahn wanted to make a mess out of this, obediently he reached into his loose breeches, aside from the well-stuffed purse he also had a small golden ring with a single flame shaped ruby woven in its material.


    As trusted as the guard was Hirahn simply placed it in the palm of the man and waited paitently. The man held the ring against the sun and eyed through. He observed the reflection inside the ruby and nodded to himself. "Certainly, certainly.", he pushed the ring back into Hirahn''s hands. "Excuse me for the rough treatement but this is the norm, have a good day.", the guard went back to his position and conveyed the information he collected.


    Slightly astonished the other guards watched Hirahn make way past them. They had no further business to conduct, the ring told them he was certainly a noble, so he had to be trusted although he was never seen.


    The guards were just slightly impressed before they dispersed, collecting, as watchful guards should do, intelligence whether this individual had not stolen the ring from somewhere or maybe even murdered someone for its aqcuisition. On the surface they let him in but one guard was steadily moving in the shadows, observing this fishy noble and all his actions.


    Hirahn payed no mind to the guard that was pestering him like vermins, as long as the guard let him read his books in quiet he would show no inclination to cause problems.


    He wandered through the marbled corridors and the overall victorian architecture and admired its beauty. To note: The castle was seperated into three parts; the private part reserved to the king, his family and close prot¨¦g¨¦s; the guard chambers and a courtyard for training and disciplining and lastly the library for lesser and higher nobles to browse through.


    After relishing his eyes on picturesque images and the ornamented interior Hirahn decided it was finally time to frankly study and upskill his knowledge of this world.


    Two thick doors let no sound in or out, the entrance to the library. Slightly bilgy air spread from the wide open room. Stairs led to higher levels and all around stood shelves filled to the brim with fusty literature.


    Hirahn let his hand slide past the shelves and took out whatever book interested him. He went past tens of meters of books before he had fished out three thick slabs of cased parchment.


    He overviewed the library, desks, seperate armchairs and rows of benches filled the otherwise empty space. People of all ages conducted their search for knowledge and hopped from one book to the next.


    The urge to learn was still strong in this world, and that was good.


    Smiling Hirahn took seat on one of the benches with a table connected to it. With a flop he let the books slam against the wood, annoying those that were immersed in their own little world of written language. Hirahn was mischievous to boot.


    The first book was flipped open. ''Creation of Asthea'' was its main title, ''History and Geology of Asthea'' was a smaller title underneath. Hirahn could guess what this book was all about.


    And there he got it, a dry envisaged reiteration of Asthea''s -this world- history.


    Having not the time nor the nerve to go through the whole thing Hirahn tried to peck out the most important parts.


    Having virtually no idea of georesearch the book picked up where the first human and humanoid civilisations spawned, those that were cultured enough to leave behind some sort of memento for the next generaion to notice.


    It was an informative book, not the history part that told about most likely imaginary tales that are so far off from reality that it might even prove to be true in the end, but the various specieces of humanoids that inhabit Asthea were far more interesting.


    Ranging from the four main races: the Humanoids, including Elves and Pixies, Dwarves and Kobolds and last but not least, Grams; then came the demonkin, containing Dragonnewts, Orcs and all beast related population, the rest was a jumble of unspecifiable demonic looking humanoids; the third group were the Monsters, for obvious reasons there is no further explanantion needed; and lastly the Gods.


    What interested Hirahn the most were the subspecies and how they were linked to the Gods of Asthea. Each and every race had a special, more apt called, regal bloodline which suddenly sprang forth millenia of years ago. Humans had the High Humans, theoretically immortal humans with higher aether capacity than their brethren. Theoretically immortal because they are only age-wise undying, disease and infighting can kill them as it can kill any other human.


    Those ''High-'' races had all augmented strength and intellect, some more of the other while the High Humans for example are a rather balanced variant. Enabling one to discern between normals and high variants was quite easy since most had special features. The High Human for example had hair and eyecolor closely resembling metals and gems, their features were also incredibly beautiful, sharing the top spot with High Elves and some higher demon variants.


    Problems arose with the ''High-'' species as they tried to enforce their morals, ethics and ideologies onto their weaker brothers, thus bloody wars spread over the globe, nearly erradicating most of the ''High-'' subspecies. Now after thousands of years have passed those last ''High-'' beings ascended once again their rightful rule, but they keep watch to not anger their weaker but more numerous cousins.


    Not many know where the ''High-'' races hailed from but tales are told that they are direct descendants of the primal Authority, Sara''ahn.


    Hirahn swept over the white pages, one block of text was more prominent than the rest, written bold and squiggled in an elaborate frame.


    Diary entry of the first High Human: Erian Wazzerer; unsolicitous translated by the novelist Eirich Maler


    6. 5z. 000004


    I reach my hand for the starry sky, yet I can''t touch it no matter what.


    My father send me out to harvest firewood, the brute imbecile hit me again.''Foul dog!'' he shouts and yet he is just overwhelmed by my intelligence, lucky for my mother she left him already.


    It''s exhausting to keep this old man company, I just ask my self how long it takes for him to pass on.


    Inside this glade I feel free. Today is a good night to stargaze, the sky is exceptionally beautiful; I can even see the twins Iraya and Ireya high up there.


    The entry stops for a moment, the translator explains that part of the diary was burned down and ripped apart, the pieces had no info on them whatsoever.


    My head was bleeding as I awoke. I don''t know for how long I slept but in my dreams I saw the sky falling down. It was a beautiful sight, colors everywhere. I should better go home now.


    Another interruption before the climax of the diary is revealed.


    HAHA! I didn''t knew it was that easy?! That old man dared to hit me and it took only one slap and his head was glued onto the wall. HAHAAHA! The whole house collapsed as I smashed this old fool''s body into fertilizer! HAAAAAAA! It feels good my diary! Maybe now I can go and visit the twins, I wonder!~


    After this rather unsettling end the history book shows the first human dictator, exactly Erian Wazzerer. With an iron rule and surprise evoked by never before seen power he domineered large portions of the two northern continents and set foot into the territories of the demonkin, stationed at the western continent. His rule ended when more and more ''High-'' races emerged and fought in apocalyptic wars with each other.


    ''Continents....'', Hirahn thought in silence.


    He flipped the book onto its end page, a small, coarse map was drawn onto it. Two small continents in the north, another bigger continent underneath in the equatorial zone, one extremely large continent in the west that stretched from the high north until the deep down south. And lastly, now with northwest, northeast and southeast covered, there was a empty region in the southwest.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ''Hum...?'', Hirahn scrutinized over the map and read the sparse description about it. Alas he couldn''t find curcial information about the southwest of this world. Taking the information with a huge portion of salt Hirahn told himself to investigate it himself when he had the nerve to do so one day.


    But to be extra sure he asked one attendant that was running through the halls with books in both arms. "Excuse me!", Hirahn called out and waved with his arm.


    The attendant, a youth around 14 with thick framed glasses, manouvered with professional deftness around the table and benches until he reached Hirahn. "What do you need?", the boy asked as he snuffled his nose from all the dust.


    "Do you have a more up-to-date version of this map?". "Excuse me.", the boy said and changed one of the books in his arms with the one in Hirahn''s hands, all in a moment. ''Wooah!'', Hirahn was taken aback that a person doing such a petty job could harness such high agility.


    "Oh I know this book. It''s popular all around the continent.", the boy stated and further read in the book.


    "It might sound idiotic so I apologize for my forgetful mind, but... on which continent are we now?", Hirahn asked sheepishly.


    "Huh?", the boy looked at him asking with his eyes if this was a joke. After seeing Hirahn''s pained albeit serious look he couldn''t help but inform this illiterate man.


    The boy put the book on the desk and pointed with his finger at the northwestern continent right beneath the two smaller ones. "We are right here.", he moved to the southernmost part of the continent with his slim fingers.


    "Could you tell me the names of the continent as well?", Hirahn shrunk back as he asked. "S-sure...", the boy replied slightly hesitant.


    "These are the twin continents Iraya and Ireya, named naturally after the twin stars Iraya and Ireya.", the boy pointed at the two smaller continents in the north.


    "This here is Wazzerer.", his finger went towards the larger continent where Sylais rested on as well. "It was named after the later generation of the Wazzerer bloodline as they stopped what their forefathers began.", he chuckled a bit.


    "The ''Demon continent'' how some like to call it is officially named Xaris, that''s how the demonkin call it and how it is refered to as dominion of the demon clans. Was that it?", the boy asked and waited for Hirahn''s answer.


    Hirahn was still sorting out the information in his head before he nodded.


    "Alright, and what is this?", he pointed at the obscured part of the ''worldmap''.


    "I think no one can tell yet.", the boy''s lips torted into an ''S''.


    "So that would answer my first question, there is no more current version right?"


    "Sadly, no.", the boy answered. "Was that all you needed?", he asked as he lifted the other book from the table and tucked it under his arm.


    "No, that was it, thank you!", Hirahn gave a thankful smile.


    "Anytime.", the boy said while running back already.


    The second book was about various herbs and fauna that could prove dangerous or advantageous, according to how one used or treated those things, for humans. The third one was all about magic but as Hirahn let his gaze roam the halls of the library he saw that it was getting dark. There were of course magical lights build into the walls but Hirahn preferred the natural light of the sun to read.


    Walking up to the reception he asked a woman, at least in her forties, if he could borrow books from here. Before she asked about the name and pulled out insipid paperwork Hirahn choked her off by showing the golden ring. The woman gasped sharply before she gave the ''O.K.'' for Hirahn to lend a few books. He sweared on his honor and dignity as a man to give the books back once he finished reading them, a somewhat gradiloquent gesture in the eyes of the receptionist.


    With slackening steps approaching the district only for the royal family the guard that was half asleep waiting for Hirahn to make a move finally awoke from its slumber.


    "Hey! You there, stop!", he shouted as he ran behind Hirahn.


    Hirahn raised his eyebrows. "I thought I had permission?", he asked.


    "Well, yes you do. But this is the district for the royal family only and their closest friends. I can''t say I have seen you here in the past.", the guard begn to argue.


    Just as Hirahn simply wanted to forfeit and walk out, sleeping on the street was better than quarreling with some nosey guard, a voice called out to the guard. Hirahn could, although he barely spent time with this figure, discern this voice amongst hundreds. ''OHHHHH! Not miss make-my-life-miserable!'', he shouted in his mind and turned around. His fears came true as he saw Sara standing with shoulder wide footing and her chest raised high.


    "I know him, he is a close friend of us, the royal family.", she said and passed the guard with her platinum hair.


    She gave Hirahn an arrogant smirk. ''Now you need our help huh?'', her smile told him.


    His eyelids twitching and his fists trembling he followed the arrogant lady.


    ***


    "So, what do you now expect me to say? Thank you my goddess? Let me lick your feet? What do you want?!", I asked with uncontained anger.


    "Hehehehe.... So I win round two.", she blankly answered.


    "What round two?! What are you even going on about?", the little miss really knew how to incur my wrath, she was doing it like a pro.


    She choose to ignore what I said, visible by the *hmph* and the hand that oh so ''graciously'' flicked a strand of hair behind her back. My steps faltered as I thought about simply bringing this castle down and then running for it. I had nothing to do with this situation, I had the strength to make everything mine and kill those that disobey me, yet... yet I knew I wouldn''t hurt her, I couldn''t do that, I was not enough of an asshole to do so.


    Giving up on my thought I decided it would be best to just hear her out.


    "Come on, should I beg you? I know you won''t help me out, not if something important happened that needs my assistance."


    "You haven''t even told me your name yet, you devil.", she might have wanted to hide it but the pout was clearly visible in the reflecting walls.


    "ARGH there you go again, DEVIL, DEVIL, DEVIL! Why should I even tell you my name, you seem to have found it already?!", I shouted and threw my arms into the air. ''Fuck this, fuck her!''


    "Ok, I am sorry, but what else should I call you after seeing you... in... your... devil-form?", she asked and wondered about what I was exactly; one finger at her lips and her head tilted she looked rather cute, I had to admit.


    "I told you already, I was... angry", it was the truth after all, since I was at that moment in all likeliness anger incarnate. A collection of all engative emotions that ran rampant in an empathic mind.


    "So next time you get angry you will turn into a devil?", she asked.


    "Do I look like a devil right now?", I countered.


    "Duhhh, no.... Ohhh! Haha, funny. Asshole.", offended she hurried on with her steps.


    "Can''t even endure a small joke?", I followed her swaying behind with its entrancing elacticity. Don''t you misunderstand me, she simply was leading the way right now, I could only stand behind her.


    I pinched my nose bridge. ''This princess..... Ahhhhhhhhhhh...... One of those days.''. I could already imagine myself with a massive headache from the hangover I will get after drowning the stress in alcohol, stress caused by this arrogant missy.


    "Hirahn, Hirahn is my name. No last name, just Hirahn...", I answered, half hoping to resolve the bad vibe between us and half surrendering to this childish fight.


    She turned around in a speedy twist. "Ohh! So the devil''s name was Hirahn after all?". ''My God! I will kill you!'', ire fizzled in my head.


    "In all honesty, apple-head please stop calling me devil.", I spoke with all my mustered seriousness before breking down into a grin.


    "What did you call me?!", her love for apples was an obvious one, I could still smell the faint sweetness wafting from her smooth hairs and tender skin. ''What the fuck Hirahn! Get a grip of yourself!''. My mind was a mess.


    I choose to ignore the ranting princess for the rest of the way, maybe the alcohol had a different backlash in this world and that''s why I was thinking such puberal thoughts.


    Still fuming the princess bumped against a massive door. "Ayaya!", rubbing her nose she openned the door and entered, followed by myself of course.


    Inside was a table laid with masses of food and a smiling king at the top. I still had no idea how he was called nor did he know what my name was.


    Miss important-princess was continuing to tend to her red nose, with teary eyes she sat down at the table, on its side. Alone from the seating and the way the king smiled ''warmly'' at me I knew this had something to do with... me.


    Sighing I pulled a cushioned chair back and sat down at the table, my elbows resting on the wood while I supported my head on my scissored hands. I glimpsed at the wine that stood prepared at my side. ''No, not now.'', I shock my head and locked my gaze with that of the king.


    "I am Alexander Aries the First, and former Vilis.", his voice seemed a tad saddened?


    "Vilis?", I couldn''t help but ask.


    "The title for the strongest and since you beat me, the stongest of High-Humans, the title is now naturally yours.".


    I choked a bit.


    "Uhm... No?", I asked or rather stated.


    "I guessed as much...", the king sighed and rubbed the armrests on his seat. "Could you tell me your name?", since he didn''t keep calling me DEVIL -I glared at the little miss and she jolted up, returned a glare of her own.- I really had no problem in telling him my name.


    "Hirahn is my name, plain Hirahn."


    "Alright.", he poured himself a glass of wine. The purple liquid shone brilliantly in the yellow light provided by magically powered chandeliers.


    His lips nipped from the glass and he let it rest back on the in white blanketed table.


    "No need to feign ignorance or any formalities right?", he asked and raised a brow.


    "Of course not.", I smiled in the same crimson as the wine.


    "Then let''s get straight to it. I need your help. What am I saying, you guessed as much already, right?", I only replied with a nod.


    "Good. There are some problems that need my attention in the next days, also...", he fumbled with a thin document in his hands. The smudged ink and scrawled words reminded me of the existence of the deadly burocracy, the paperwork that literally sucked ones soul out. Right then I noticed the rings under the king''s eyes. ''How long has he been keeping up with those little shits?'', I asked myself as I glared at the documents with their smooth surface but lethal edges.


    "Sara my dear could you please?", he asked and passed the document to the missy.


    "Of course. Here, Hirahn!", it seems she dislikes the name apple-head as she put extra emphasis on my name to get on my good-side.


    "Thank you, Sara.", I said and her chest rose with pride. ''What a simple girl.''


    I skipped over the document.


    Carefully I gazed back at the king. "Me, a bodyguard? For the little miss nonetheless?". "HEY!", I heard her shouting. "Sorry apple-head, won''t happen again.". "Muhhh... you bastard!". I knew I had won this argument, resorting to simple insults was as good as a loss. "You knew anything of this?", I held the document into the air and questioned the princess.


    "Yes, of course. Why do you think I picked you up from the library?". ''Oh right there was that.''.


    "So, you think I will agree? You don''t have anyone more capable to protect the little miss?", the task was a simple one. Instead of a meeting of the kings it would be a meeting their heirs, held in two weeks. Each person could only bring one guard with him or her, in case someone is in a rather stab-friendly mood.


    "There are more trustworthy people, but noone as strong as you. If you decline I will take somebody else. But I think you made it clear already that you want to learn more of this world.", he knocked on the table. "So why not keep my daughter company?", there was nothing wrong with that logic, really.


    I shifted my gaze to the princess. "Are you ok with that?", I somehow couldn''t imagine it.


    "That way we got surveilance on you and at the same time I can learn more about you.", she didn''t even try to hid her intentions, they were obvious from the start but it is still etiquette to keep ones desires hidden from the other party.


    Pushing myself away from the table with my arms I leaned back with the chair. I watched the magic crystals build in the chandelier flicker from time to time. "I guess I could accompany you.", I said in a low voice.


    "With that out, let''s eat.", neither of us three kept lingering on the topic and we simply enjoyed a delicious meal.

 Chapter 007: Spoonful of Evil

    (This is not so plot.... ploty? Plot focused? I amde this chapter so that the enemy will realize that it was not only one but two demons. More trouble for Hirahn! Yay! Sorry that it took so long, I kind overslept. 14 hours, can you guys believe that? Anyway, enjoy this chapter, I feel it is somehow weaker than the prior ones :S!  I apologize beforehand. Enjoy! :D )+ this chapter is kind a throwback to Hirahn''s past and the synopsis of the story, tell me in teh comments what I could have done better, I know this chapter could be tens of times better! :(


    With nothing else to do after the grandiose meal that consisted of a heavy and fleshy main course garnished with herbs, which oddly reminded Hirahn of cilantro and mint, and a side dish of vegetables and fruits of all kinds, Hirahn wandered off through the castle with a full stomach and tired legs.


    Snapping the door to his room open he graciously jumped into the bed covered in thick woollen blankets. Stripping the itchy garments from his body he changed into a comfortable grey men''s skirt and a loose sand coloured linen shirt.


    Minutes passed by peacefully as he laid there, starring at the ceiling and wresting with his blanket, he thought about the upcoming weeks. There was still the issue with the corpses all aroud the stronghold, the quaked lands, unending craters and the remains of the disgusting creation Hirahn concocted on a whim. He snapped, he tried to hide it but the mental trauma inflicted by losing his loved one, the person he spent his immortal life with, could not simply be shrugged off.


    It might have been just his wild imagination that projected Saraya''s picture onto the princess but the words and the meaning this illusion carried onto Hirahn was the same as what the real Saraya would have wanted. Why would one want to see his loved ones suffer and grief over them endlessly? Even worse when those loved ones have an immortal life, causing their souls and minds over the passing of time to corrupt, writhing in torment they would end their lives themselves. In the end it''s better to live on and keep the lost ones in good memory instead of torturing oneself about what one should have done differently.


    Hirahn remembered as he laid there in the bed, starring not at the ceiling but at the heaven behind.


    ---------------


    Hirahn didn''t know how long he carried the lifeless body of Saraya with him, how long he prayed that she woul wake up and sport a smile that would even on judgment day make the sun shine through. He still remembered her warm touch, her soft lips and gentle bossom. When he was sad she would comfort him. When he was angry she would soothe his temper, when he was happy she would be too. The only one she cared about was him and he only cared about her. Let the world end, as long as they both had each other they would face death together.


    And then, as the grim reaper reached out with his scythe, left her seconds to convey her feelings in its entirety, when she died, she told Hirahn not to cry, not to sadden, to not be angry about her departure; she told him ''be happy'', ''let me see you smile'', ''laugh for me one last time'' and with a smile on her face, ''farewell...''. And so Hirahn did, he smiled her the most goofy of smiles, he laughed the loudest laugh he could muster while he hugged her body tighter and tighter and finally he cried when she closed her eyes to be never opened again. As he starred at her motionless body, the satisfied grin on her face, her chest that stopped breathing and the hands that lost their grip, so cold and without vigor, his world came crashing down. Sky, earth, nature, fire, animals, plants, everything looked grey in Hirahn''s eyes.


    Years passed as he sat on the same spot he sat on years ago, still hugging Saraya''s body with all his might. For decades, centuries maybe he didn''t budge an inch. A forest grew around the two lovers, magically it let not one human soul into its midst. It was then that Hirahn moved, burried her corpse and left his old world, left Earth. (There I said it!)


    ---------------


    "Fuck...", Hirahn tried his best to stop the tears from flowing, staining the sheets in their salty wetness. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!", he sat up and put his hands on his legs. "I need to get out of here. Fast!", he whispered to himself as his eyes strangely malformed. Sweat poured down his skin and his breathing was getting heavier by the second.


    Breaking his door open rather than push it open with care Hirahn stumbled into the hallway with unsteady steps. Holding his head between his hands he banged against the walls while giving is all in not keeling over completely.


    Through Hirahn''s eyes the corridor spiraled into strange shapes, the walls were one time close and another time to far apart to grasp them. Hirahn''s shadow flared up, shifted into cruel faces and began spreading onto the walls like small blots of jetblack color.


    "Ah... come on!", Hirahn shouted. The space around him warped as though it was a pond and someone threw a pebble into the water. Waves of distortions cracked over each other and magic in dangerous quantities was released.


    "Tch... not here.", Hirahn mumbled once, twice, thrice.


    "I have to get out, now!", he roared to himself and the castle''s walls began trembling. Magical lights all throughout Ysolde began fading on and out. Their sporadic flicker presaged disaster.


    *SHOOM!*


    A second later Hirahn disappeared and the tempesting space calmed down. The town''s lighting returned to its steady rythm of yellowish pulses of warming radiance.


    ---------------


    Not to far off from the castle, around the same spot were the massacre started, the same spacial distortions occured. Escorted by roaring shatters in the ground a demonic figure emerged. Once again Hirahn let his true self, his absolute self, take control over his awareness.


    With avid breaths and black soot leaving between his putrescent teeth Hirahn''s dark red eyes stared at the ground. His gaze turned between his demonic claws and the dark miasma that coiled itself around his limbs. Ghastly figures nestled onto his claws, flanked by the whail of thousand souls, and gnawed at his raven skin.


    Hirahn clenched his fists, let his eyes rove through the now of soldiers emptied plains until he found a small fountain of light at the far end of the horizon.


    Wicked fangs contorted into a grisly smile. His wings flapped, sent debris flying everywhere, and Hirahn began to lightly hover above the ground, his wings steadily moving up and down.


    Setting his sight on the next prey his body tipped over slightly. Forcing magic energy into his already by aether permeated wings they began to grow and fester lurid spines on their edges. The spines moved like apendages of their own, squirming under the moonlight and raising their heads to pray to the dark deity.


    In one single motion the wings on Hirahn''s body propelled him with the speed of a phantom through the planes. From one shadow to the next Hirahn used the cover of the night to its full potential. Steadily he closed the gap between himself and the unsuspecting encampment, his claws already twitching from the bloodbath that was about to unfold.


    A moment later he already loomed over the first soldier. Dark and disastrous a thunderous boom followed his arrival as the sound only now catched up to him. One claw lifted against the heavens, impending with its black luster it gave no time for the poor man to meet his reaper from face to face.


    ---------------


    "Hey Liam, have you heard about the frontlines? Obliterated by a single demon. Tch! What weaklings those farmers are.", a guard shouted out of his tent. Moving the tarpaulin to the side he exited the sandbrown tent and sat down around the warming bonfire.


    "Heee... I heard it was pretty gruesome. People smashed to pieces and ripped apart. Not such a nice thought.", another sldier answered, roasting a piece of fresh game over the orange flames. Taking a bite from the skewer he took out a small scope from his vest and kept a watchful eye on the horizon; continuing to nibble on the hot meat.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Pffft... what are you talking about? Those peasants can''t fight for shit. If seasoned soldiers like ourselves would have stationed at the front, I promise we would have taken that thing down in just moments!", the first guard said as he took his own serving of meat.


    "I think you underestimate the numbers.", a man with spectacles answered. Taking a swig from his canteen and flipping through a small notebook he continued. "Over 50 thousand soldiers killed, just like that. This is not the work of a simple demon.", the man scratched his cheek with a finger. "And we still have no information what species this monster belonged to."


    "Ah Sven! That thing was probably a piece of cake, the body count was all done by that stupidly strong King!", the first guard shouted with a mouth full of half cooked meat.


    "Einrist I think you don''t understand.", Sven, the man with the glassess, held up a page in his book. A detailed draft of a soldier''s corpse was drawn onto it. "Bones broken, lower body ripped apart, left half of the face smashed into the ground and one arm was seemingly eaten off. The traces fit perfectly with the fangs of the abomination they fought against. Have you even seen that monstrosity?! That thing was stupendous 12 meters tall, even the giants of the demonkin don''t come close to that!".


    "That thing probably bloated before it died. Or will you now tell me that such a giant simply, poof!, spawned right in the battlefield?", Einrist obstinately defended his position.


    "Sven, Einrist, you see that?", the second guard, Liam, tapped on the ground to get their attention, breaking the argument between the other two guards.


    "What?", they both joined in sync.


    With slightly trembling hands the guard Liam passed a gourd formed object to the other two, a small scope for surveilance. "There.", he pointed with his skittish fingers to where the guards should direct their sight.


    "Hum... probably some magic going rampant. Maybe the magic went corrosive after the Vilis shot that giant flame ball.", the spectacled guard Sven mumbled.


    "Yeah, I can''t see shit there.", Einrist agreed with Sven.


    "I tell you, there was something. Some kind of demon or so.", the soldier Liam said and stood up from the block of wood he was seated on.


    A sharp wind bellowed over the fields, the fire whipped with the tumultous squall and sent tongues of orange and red ambers flying everywhere. "I don''t like this.", the guard Liam whispered as he took another step back fom the camp.


    "Relax man, there is nothing. And if there is we ought have seen it already", Einrist chimed.


    "Man, I really don''t like this right now....", Liam continued on as a slight tremble set in his steps. "I tell you, there was something!", he shouted at his two comrades with a scared voice.


    Einrist and Sven eyed each other in confusion. "Sit down, drink something. The stress is getting to you.", Sven said as he approached the now utterly terrified Liam with his water flask.


    "Here drink.", Sven said and pressed the waterskin into Liam''s hands. Unresponsive he stared over the campfire, his hands, his entire body not moving except for a slight shiver. "Are you alright?", Sven asked as he fanned with his hand right before Liam''s eyes.


    "T- Uhh- M-m-MoNStEr!!!", the soldier screamed and pointed with a trembling finger over the silent fire. Sven noticed the stillness in the air and followed to where Liam was pointing. Behind the calm fire, so eerily calm, standing banefully over their frozen comrade Einrist was a winged entity. But it was not shrouded in white with wings of feathers, no, it was a creature that haunted you, ate your dreams in your sleep and twisted your mind. Tall, like a black obelisk, the creature stood with unfolded wings over their already by death marked comrade. One claw was curved into the air, blending into the night with cruel darkness fuming around it.


    Sven''s heart stopped beating as he noticed the cruel flicker of a grin that passed over the creatures grotesque visage. The scythe of the grim reaper hurled down and took its first soul.


    In a single swip the vivid and yet xenophobic comrade of Liam and Sven was cubed into fine pieces of blood splatters and intestines.


    "RYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!", the demon howled a  banshee''s whail and his claws turned into blurrs. Before Einrist''s life could even leave his body he was transformed into red mist that drifted off into the wind.


    *Crackle*


    The fire flared up as Einrist''s remains were used as a fuel for the esurient flames. It crackled happily, uncaring about the cruel fate that awaited the other two soldiers, rooted in place by the terror of the demon they were facing.


    Licking over his crimson stained claws with a blistered, black tongue the demon gazed at the other two soldiers with sanguine eyes. Those crimson orbs confronted with the soldiers could do nothing, not even pray. Its fell slits formed blazing crescents as it hid its blood sullied mouth behind a drape of dark flesh.


    A hint of amazement over this fiend''s power crossed the two soldiers eyes, though it was minuscle when compared to the primal terror they felt and how it made their marrow shudder and their souls concuss. With their bladder not in their control anymore the yellow piss plodded from their pants. The demon''s face crooked as the piss stained the ground it reigned over.


    Both soldiers gulped as the fire frizzled for its last moments before it was gone and with it the sparse light it provided. Leaving behind a searing trail of red the demon''s diabolic eyes danced like fireflies in the night. Covered in darkness they both waited their demise, carnage unfurled.


    ---------------


    My eyes were watery, smoke and the scent of burned hair, flesh and bones stung my sensitive nose. I faintly remembered and, knowing what was to come, I sighed and openned my eyes. First the sun greeted me with its bright rays and aferwards a field of carnage, a red mirror glued to the ground.


    I gave a quick glance around the destruction, ten or so corpses, torn apart of course, walled my feet in a disgusting sogginess. ''I thought they were only three.'', I faintly remembered the faces of utter terror of the other two guards as I ripped them asunder like paper.


    "Haaaaahhh.", I sat down on the only sound makeshift chair of wood. Funnily enough a soldier still held its skewer into the air, his face cracked open like an eggshell. I thanked him for the meal and plucked the skewer from his hands. In hindsight I should have known it would taste terrible. I ignroed the musty taste and simply ate my fill in this field of blood and chaos.


    "What a good start in the day.", I softly spoke and rubbed my temple with one hand. The problems this would cause would bring me a massive headache, I felt it already. I was not one to flee from my responsibilities, not unless I couldn''t prevent it of course. Dreaming about the trouble I would cause I began wandering back to the castle, a smile forming on my lips and a tune being whistled; but not before I licked the spit of wood clean of its disgusting but sating flesh, I was really hungry.

 Chapter 008: First disciple

    (The last two chapters are shorter than normal, I am sorry, oversleeping really took a large bite out of my writing time, I will make it up sooner or later with HUUUUGE chapters :P. Although those chapters are more of a light prelude to more serious chapters, I don''t wanna bore you with all the dry stuff and not even a resemblance of comedy. The mistakes will be corrected right now while you guys read or tommorrow morning. I need a new keyboard, some letters won''t be typed when I press. I really don''t want to keep writing into the night, that won''t end good. Anyways, enjoy this little chapter of mine. :D <- smileys are reeeeeally important.)


    Morose Hirahn walked away from the camp, a bit of magic later and the corpses were burried under rolling masses of earth. As he strolled over the parched plains, the small pebbles tickling under his feet and the warm wind caressing his body, he began thinking about what his actions might have caused. In all likeliness the information of a second demon was already spreading far and wide, further hindering diplomatic interchange.


    He knew his little ''midnight-snack'' would cause massive fights and probably the abortion of any future for peace treaties. He made the load on the king''s back a tiny bit heavier. Hirahn in his human form shivered from the paperwork Alexander would have to go through. ''But I really had to alleviate the stress on my mind.'', Hirahn didn''t want to accept his grave mistake. ''Well, I will make it up to him somehow.''


    Two outcomes were plausible:  Either he would be seen as a third impartial individual or they would associate him with Sylais. Whichever held true the meeting in a few weeks would be canceled as long as no additional security measures were in place. Placing himself in the shoes of the Alliance he could already invision heirs being slaughtered by a feral demon in all places. Of course if, and only if, the meeting would still take place Hirahn would make sure to keep his killing to a minimum and maybe look for some sinners to kill and vent his anger on before the meeting took place.


    As he wandered and thought about things that could not be prevented anymore he already reached the outer perimeters of Ysolde. Checking up on his body, covered in gore and grime, Hirahn decided that it would not make such a favorable impression on the citizens if he entered like this. What would people be thinking if they saw a half nude man covered in blood stroll through their streets as if it was a warm sunday afternoon.


    Hirahn focused his mind, the bare minimum of his concentration was needed for the spell he was about to use. Like the night before the space around him began to tremble, a teleportation spell, impossible for humans to conduct, was now taking place.


    The problem with teleportation was the fact that matter was already present wherever you would want to teleport to, only a being of pure magic, a being that mastered its control, can use teleportation. Instead of teleporting to the position he decided on he would rematerialize himself out of the particles in that area, it was more of a transfer of the vessel from one point to another with his soul bound to it. The main reason why ''gods'' and mortals couldn''t achieve such a feat was the fact that their body and soul were not one. Even if against all the odds a being reached the pinnacle of magic control they still won''t be able to move their soul into their vessel once outside, only if the vessel is damaged to a large degree which would cause the soul to slip out again in no time.


    Hirahn was amazed by how weak those creatures around him are as he thought about the fundamental laws of magic that he himself has discovered.


    Faintly he remembered the days when he tried to play God. Standing, without anyone noticing, besides a comatose boy he could see the young humans soul slowly drifting into the nether. Having nothing else to do Hirahn tried to plug the boys soul back in but all his attempts have failed, with Hirahn ending up destroying the vessel, in which he could then plug the soul back in. But well, the vessel was already destroyed so the soul slipped back out. He gave up after ten or so attempts in reincarnating the boy. Good ''ol days. He remembered Saraya reprimanding him because he shouldn''t play with human souls.


    As the spell finished Hirahn faintly remembered the most absolute law of magic, a pardoxic law. It can create miracles. What were once laws could be broken by sheer will, the snap of a finger or by a word alone, nothing was impossible. The existence of magic was absolute but not its rules. ''But then this law can be broken as well, can''t it?'', Hirahn thought before shrouding himself in the distortions of space.


    Seconds later Hirahn stood in his room again.


    Raising his arms and sniffing underneath Hirahn could only grimace about the stench of his own body. Casually taking the torn clothes off and chucking them into a corner he turned around to leave for the baths. As he turned around he noticed that the door he broke off was repaired. ''Have I not... I have kicked that open, haven''t I?'', Hirahn grumbled but thought nothing of it.


    Silently, tiptoeing, he dragged his feet towards the door, he leaned his ear against the wood and listened. Nothing, no soldiers running through the castle investigating his disappearance, no people going mad that a devil is on the loose. ''Good, good.'', he whispered to himself.


    Slowly Hirahn openned the door to the neatly lit corridor. The door creaked slightly, made his appearance audible and Hirahn jerk up in nervousness. Not wanting to get any more stressed out he gulped down and in all his nakedness he set his first foot into the hall. His eyes scanned both ways where people could jump out of at any moment. ''No one here...'', Hirahn was cautious, those humans were pesky little creatures. ''I should stop thinking like that.'', darning himself of the feelings of lordliness over mortals Hirahn closed the door carefully.


    ***


    With utmost care I closed the door behind me and just as I was about to leave my eyes caught sight of silvery needles snuggling against the wall. With agape mouth and slumped shoulders I waited for the little miss princess to rebuke me. I waited a few seconds but not one single sound was uttered by the else so buoyant princess, instead there was the quietest of snorring floating side by side with the low background noise of the everyday life outside.


    My gaze followed the lank, platinum coloured hair, thereupon shifting onto the peaceful sleeping face of the princess, resting with one hand against the wall. As the dulcet snores left her thin frame I couldn''t help but chuckle. Her lavender lips slightly parted to reveal her beady teeth; her cherry cheeks and cute nose twitched with the light breeze passing through the hallway; long lustrous eyelashes and two fine eyebrows, both made up by silver sheen, coronated her lofty gorgeousness in a painting that even I had to admit was beautiful to behold.


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    As naked as I was I took no chances. Walking back into my room I left once again shortly after, this time pants covering my private zones, the same dirty pants in which I killed unsuspecting people; they were densely caked in blood.


    I noticed the occasional shudder that went through the princess, after all she had only a thin blanket to cover her body, and decided for myself, ''I can''t leave her like that.''.


    Call me a fool that I help my enemy, my mortal-enemy at that, but she was in my eyes nothing more than a innocent child. I lived for eternity, I lived with Saraya through times were people ate each other, burned others down and condemned their loved ones to a life full of torture. It was a dog eats dog world. This here? This was nothing, it was a childish cry for attention, maybe we both needed it and that''s why I couldn''t stop myself from provoking her. But I knew when was the time to stop such puerile acts. I didn''t want her to become ill, highly unlikely since she is a High-Human, yet my consciousness would nag at me all day if I leave a child out in the cold.


    Carefully I placed one hand behind her head, her soft hairs ran through my fingers like water. My other arm lifted her by the legs and in a kind of humilating princess carry I walked her, drowsing in my arms over the whole process, into my room. As though she was a piece of frail glass I placed her gently on my bed. I shuffled through the wardrobe, since I couldn''t simply pull the blanket from underneath her, and covered her sleeping figure in a second blanket.


    Smacking her lips cutely in her sleep I decided to finally wash myself off, clear mind and body.


    I closed the door behind me, the little princess still showing no inclinations of waking up, and walked towards the baths. Not being nagged at was quite nice for a change. ''I think I like her sleeping self better.'', I mused.


    Finally reaching the destination I had set my sights on the entire time I could finally relax. I pulled on the handle of the two birch white doors and stepped inside. A cloud of vapour enveloped my body the moment I set my first foot in.


    Slowly I accustomed myself to the foggy environment and who do I see there? Another High-Human with platinum hair.


    Relaxing in one of the bigger baths was the king, Alexander.


    With a towel on his face and leaning back on the baths rim he only noticed once I set foot into the water. I exhaled a long due sigh which caught his attention.


    Leaning back in the heated water and letting its relaxing properties take over my body I could not care less about etiquette, any other king might have ordered his soldiers already to hang me for going into the same bath he was in, but Alexander was pretty open hearted the whole time; it may have been because I gave him a thoroughly beating, who knows?


    "Has anyone told you, you smell?", the king asked me.


    "Hum...? I think not, but yeah I pretty much stink like piss and shit.", I shrugged my shoulders.


    "You really made yourself comfortable here huh...", the king hesitantly said.


    "Sorry but I won''t leave this bath any time soon.", I halfway submerged my face into the water. "It''s way to snug here."


    Instead of getting angry Alexander just smiled. "No, I don''t mind it at all. In fact it''s good that you are here. Can I ask you something?", he asked somewhat timid, which really caught me off-guard.


    "Go ahead, as your guest I should answer your question. I don''t want to be rude after all.", I gave him an evil smirk.


    "Well, ignoring the fact that you barged into the castle of a king and took a room for yourself you are a really nice guest, I have to agree with you there.", he chuckled a bit. "But now serious. It might be a hassle to you and you can say no whenever you want. It''s just-!", I burked his slow speech.


    "''Can you train me?'' or ''Show me how to improve my fighting style.''. Is that what you wanna ask?", one brow of mine rose as I asked.


    "Y-yes it is.", he stuttered. ''It seems all those years of standing on the top made him forget how weak he actually is.'', I gave him a soft smile. It was good to improve oneself, it is the basic principle behind strength and success. Since his aim was one that fit with my principles I would gladly help this poor king.


    "Boy, I will accept you as my disciple.", I said and puffed my chest into the air.


    "D-disciple, boy... that is somewhat contemptous, don''t you think?", the phrase was disguised as a question but it was more of a demand coming from the last specks of dignity the King had.


    "*cough* Alexander don''t get me wrong here, but in comparison to me you are nothing more than a weak child, strength- and agewise. If you don''t want to my disciple then so be it.", having finished cleaning myself I emerged from the water and prepared to walk it off. An evil smirk crossed my face as I saw the sulking king, his mind in conflict between the thirst for power and the last strand of royal dignity he had.


    Alexander exhaled profoundly. "Ok.", his head nearly bowed into the water and the towel plopped down. "I accept you as my master!", he downright shouted with tears glistening in his eyes. "You do it for your kingdom, for your family, your citizens. There is nothing wrong with being his disciple.", he softly mumbled to himself.


    "PAHAHAAAH!", I couldn''t help but laugh as the king tried to assure himself that the decision he made was a correct one. He gave me a wry look before he too sported a defeated yet honest smile.


    "Boy.". ''Man, I really like to denigrate people, don''t I?''. "Your first lesson will begin shortly, after I put some clothes on.", I stood and said with hands on my hips.


    The king shielded his eyes from my obscenity. "Y-yeah please do so. Like really, please put something on.".


    As I headed for the door, gripped the handle, I turned around another time. "With that our debt is settled, right?", I said and bowed before leaving as jaunt as possible.


    "What debt?!", I heard him asking in the distance.


    "I killed a few of the enemy soldiers, scouts or something, nothing to severe.", it only reached the king as a faint whisper but his reaction was something I would have loved to see.


    "W-W-WHAT?!", he shouted, the walls trembled and water splashed into the hallway. I on the other hand could only snicker.


    ''Now, how do I sneak past the sleeping princess and get myslef some new clothes?'', I wondered as I began pursuing my way back.

 Chapter 009: Brilliance of the devil

    (Sorry that it took so long, I was to immersed with another story here on RoyalRoad. http://royalroadl.com/fiction/1233</a>; Overseer, a brilliant story. No, I have not permission from the author to post his link and promote his series, I will PM him and ask for permission, but I can''t stand still, I want the whole world to know of this gem.


    The synopsis might seem a bit boring but the story folks, the story. It''s about lizards but I will be damned if I don''t confess that I cried manly tears, multiple times. It''s a story about life and death, the good for you and the group as whole, feelings of happiness and feelings of hate and vengeance. If some of you think my story is good then I can only tell you this. My story is shit, compared to Overseer. It is so... so... good! You want to know more about the Mc with every chapter and each chapter takes you on a ride you would have never expected. I can only warmly recommend this fiction. Read it and brag to others that you were a few of the ten-thousands that discovered this gem before through the, hopefully, coming releases this fiction will again climb towards the top 5 or the top 1 position. Enjoy this chapter and Overseer, read it, now!!!!!!!!!! ;) )


    All the while walking back to my room the early sun''s rays shone on my back through the tall windows. Through the heightened position of the castle I could watch the denizen of Asthea and the citizens of Ysolde go on about their daily struggles. They sold their handmade trinkets, goods of all kind, and grappled with the problems life threw at them.


    It was such a nice change in comparison to earth. I was sure Saraya could have kept living if we had found this place sooner. But it did pose the question, ''Why have I got the easy task?''. Hate and death was always existent, it was a natural in most living beings and empowered me with each spurn and quarrel. On the other hand we had the frail feelings of love and the desire to comfort, so weak and unable to hold prevail in most people. Some say hope dies last, that is false, I was the best proof of that. As long as you had enough despair and hatred you cut suffocate each and every speck of warm love that dared to intrude on the cursed lands.


    I shuddered as my stomach churned from the unpleasant memories. The choleric feelings, I tried to surpress them as best as I could, it was an arderous task.


    Contemplating on life and such I did not notice that I stood in front of my room already. I let the last cogitations flush through my mind before I was freed from my torpidity.


    Unreserved I broke into my room, completely forgetting about the princess inside.


    Stunned I stood in the doorframe as I saw the halfnaked figure of the princess peeking out over the window ledge and into the city beneath. My eyes couldn''t help but wander towards her supple buttocks wrapped in white lace panties. I feasted my eyes on the buttocks lifted slightly and accentuated by the wonderfully revealing piece of cloth. I thought for a moment about it. Objectively speaking she was more than just a simple beauty, she was mind-blowing beautiful and yet my body did not react, not even the slightest bit. It seems my heart still had only one it could open up to.


    *AHEM!*, cleared my throat.


    Unlike what I expected, a flustered spin around or maybe even a squeal, she did not even move an inch. Her body did not even the slightest tremble, her breathing was serene like a forest smothered lake.


    "Oy!? Are you alright?", I asked but got no answer. Either she was dead or.... No she could only be dead at the moment.


    "I can''t marry anymore...", a faint whisper left the princess.


    "W-what?", I did not hear completely what she said.


    I moved closer to her, touched her bare shoulders. The nightgown she had worn before laid on top of my bed. Carefully I peaked at her face.


    She didn''t even look at me, her gaze directed at the horizon, her body cold as ice. But what I saw stunned me a whole few seconds.


    Tears, a nonstop stream of tears, hailed down from her two sky-blue eyes. Heavy and perforated with unending sadness the tears rolled down her cheeks, followed the line of her curvaceous body, over her perky breasts, her hiding navel and then fulfilled their purpose as they bickered on the ground, to the home that nourished their host.


    Taken aback I could only distance myself from her a bit. A light clicked inside my mind. I took the blanket from my bed and drapped it around her shoulders. "It''s all good now, right?", I asked and forced myself to smile.


    She only answered my smile with a blank stare. Her pale face regained its healthy pink as she traced down my own naked body that was now standing so close to her, and this time it was fully illuminated by the sun''s prominence. Furhter and further her gaze left the rudiments of what was ''O.K.'' and what was considered sexual harassment in my old world. With a mix of disgust and curiosity she traced down my body, I could only stand still as she inspected me, at least my debt would then be paid off. I could see her mind conflicting with her actions; horrified even she could only watch her own eyes, not under control of her sanity anymore, trace down to the deepest parts of my body.


    Her gaze rested softly on my manhood, my pride, and the jewels that contained the seed for the next generation. With a light smile she returned to stare at my eyes. Her face rested in this horrifying expression for a while, the dead smile widening, threatening to split her head apart. ''My God!'', I felt my back shudder as the smile contained a dead soul and silence that did not wish to be disturbed. No words could describe her expression. The once dried up tears bubbled out of her ''contently'' closed eyes, the sun painted them in a red that could certainly be her lifeblood slowly seeping from her body.


    "I-I really won''t marry anymore, I will die as an old hag.", her lips slightly parted as this single phrase exploded in the stillness. With the blanket covering her body she picked up the nightgown from the bed. Slow trods, each step further down into despair, she removed herself from my room. I could only helplessly sigh as I watched her back.


    ''Curiosity killed the cat.'', I chuckled.


    Somehow I knew things would be different now between us, be it a good change or a bad one, I had not the slightest clue.


    I openned the closet and picked out stretchly but resilient woven clothes. A dark brown shirt, its loose ends knotted by a light brown leather girdle; the lax ends of my pants were stuffed into tough, dark leather boots; a leather vest topped my attire off. Heavy protection was unneeded since, I knew that pretty much, I would not suffer one wound form the upcoming battle.


    Completely clothed and ready to battle I began searching for the King, magic wuld make it easier but somehow it was boring to rely on it all the time. But after looking for the King another 15 minutes, tiring 15 minutes, I decided that magic might sometimes be appropriate to be used.


    My etheral body sparked from one dot of magic to the next, a giant web of my consciousness spread over the castle and even further. It was not exactly taxing but more irritating to spread my self like that. Since then I would hear and feel everything that happened inside this dome that was disquietingly the scattered parts of my body. The thought made me pertrubed as I thought what disgusting acts were currently performed INSIDE my body; the twitch turned into a tremor coating the whole city in panick, hilarious.


    I found the King resting on the walls of his city. I needed only a second before I rematerialized beside him.


    He didn''t even turn his head and only spoke to me. "That tremor, was that you?", he asked but I was to preoccupied in ogling his regal clothing. ''Damn, I really want that....'', I thought and gawked down at my own impoverished clothes. ''Was that room inhabited by a beggar or what?'', I asked myself, slightly angered about my bad decision making.


    "Hirahn?", he turned to look at me, my eyes still scanning his scarlet robe and golden chain mail with intricate ornamentations. Even the boots he was wearing were clad in precious metals and gems.


    "If you want I can let one be made for you. Not the same quality but at least it would look similiar.", he hit his fist onto the sturdy looking mail.


    "Wait, haven''t I destroyed that armor?", I asked bewildered as the phoenix and dragon reappeared inside my memory.


    "Hahahah! You certainly did.", Alexander trailed along the chest area with his fingers. "But this armor, ''Bulwark'', has special properties.". He stripped a glove from his hand and applied pressure. The enchanted metal cracked between his fingers that were harder than any steel. I felt his aether flow from his body and into the metal. Enraptured I watched as the gauntlet took on its original shape.


    ''This... Magical minerals? Why was something like that not on Earth? So many cool things could have been done with that stuff.", I complained inside my mind but my eyes were still glued onto the shape-shifting metal.


    "W-where can you find such stuff?", I asked as my vocie trembled. I might have been a godly being but this was new to me and I was always enthralled by new stuff. It didn''t even come to my mind that all the time I could have made this stuff myself if I put my mind to it.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "It''s not that hard, it''s the process of injecting magic into the material with a beforehand imprinted task. The smith was a highly renowed High-Human [....]", Alexander praised without limits.


    Carefully I began to send my own being into the gauntlet. The stable magic energy, each with its own pre-destined position that would be recovered once a strong source of aether was fed into the metal, was captioned by my own will. I changed the structure a bit and made it sturdier. I tinkered around a bit before I realized that the King was giving me a questioning look.


    "Uh... Sorry. I changed your gauntlet a bit, it should be stronger now.", I said, completely oblivious of the fact that this was a family heirloom.


    "You did what?!", his anger was audible and understandable.


    "Relax, I can change it back to how it was. But test it out, the metal should be much tougher like this.", I smiled arrogantly.


    The King furrowed his eyebrows before he began to clench tightly onto the gauntlet. What took only a few seconds before and ended in the utter destruction of the gauntlet was now nigh impossible. I left a durable imprint of my own magic inside the gauntlet; whenever force was applied, lethal force to the armor, it would push back and try to keep its form, likewise I augmented the overall defense by changing the position of the metal on the molecular level.


    "W-what... No. How?! How did you do that?", the king asked in a trembling and anxious voice, his hands gripped tightly onto my shoulders.


    "What''s gotten into you? That was nothing special, let me tinker a bit further and this gauntlet alone could shatter whole kingdoms beneath it.", I voiced out what information I could grasp from the power output and the possibilities in infusing mana into metals. If I wanted I could make a whole assortment of weapons that can shake the foundations of this planet, is what I could tell from my little experiment.


    "My forefather''s... No one! No one could even grasp the principle behind enchanting armors and weapons! Only the elves and dwarves are able to produce such things but they keep the whole process behind closed curtains. Even wars were fought for the mystery behind enchanting. H-how did you do it?", and there he went and told me another juicy piece of information.'' One of these days I will make a trip to the other races just to see their faces when I stomp them into ground.'', I already felt the laughter that would fill my lungs once this day would come. (Even I am trembling from excitement when the ''Zero-Fucks-Given Arc'' starts :P )


    "Hum... I can''t explain. It''s not that dfficult really, you just have to use your aether to give the magic inside a task. Once that is done you hve to leave the aether inside, best with another layer of magic preventing it from leaving.", I brood a bit about how to explain it but I think my explanation was good enough.


    "Of course! How easy! How could we have not thoguht about that?!", Alexander nodded his head vigorously, a true epiphany struck him.


    "I-I-I can''t even... I can''t even tell how grateful I am to you Hirahn. I am truly, truly grateful.", he said and bowed his head.


    "Boy, call me master.", with that out the window we still had a sparring to do.


    "Y-yes master.", and with that I have straight out killed Alexander''s excitement. Oh I love myself so much.


    "Ehm, Hirah-.". "Master!". "Ehm, Master..... Where should we fight, I don''t think using the plains would be a good idea.", he had a point.


    "Hum..... Wait a moment.", again I spread my entirety over the lands. If I wanted to I could encompass this whole world but I would have a massive headache afterwards, again rather from the unnerving stimulations than from the magical strain.


    With eyes closed my peerspective changed to that of an allmighty overseer. I could see the vast oceans, the towering mountain ranges, the earth that tried to touch the sky, I could see whatever I wished to. But instead of a land battle I choose a different location.


    Spacial ripples surrounded myself and Alexander. *Poof*, I let him vanish and followed closely after. (For my next trick I will make you disappear. Shoutout to all those that know this quote. XD )


    ---------------


    I didn''t know what happened just that I was thrown into a storm cloud of magical energy. All around me it suffocated me with its absoluteness, it had unsourmountable strength that all beings alive could never hope to even cathc a glimpse off. The power, I knew it came from the person I was standing side to side only a second before, and it made me fear on a whole new level.


    His whole being encompassed me, a being of raw power, the cusp of all existence held me in its dreading graps. In that moment I really thought it was my end. Unlike the mindless and even playfull power that Hirahn displayed when he was angry this was much more foundamental, it was as if I starred into magic itself. Slowly the realisation dawned onto me, when Hirahn told me he was more Godly than anything could ever be. He spoke the truth. He was more of a God than the Gods we believed in, not a demon, not a devil, he was the chasm of magic itself. ''H-how can such a being exist?'', I thought in the quivering shambles that were my mind.


    Deeper and deeper I was swallowed by Hirahn''s, by Master''s, absolute power, a power that would contest the heaven''s. I thought us Higher beings to be the apex, the summit of strength, the elite of our people but I was so wrong, I was never so wrong in my entire life. If we considered us the peak, what was Master then? He was what laid beyond the peak; while we stare into the sky, reached out to this endless distant place, he was the sky. He looked from above and laughed about our thriftless wishes, because he stood at the peak he knew we would never reach it. Such a being was now my Master.


    Joy which I never felt before welled inside my heart as I thought about the magnanimous being that not only has proven mercy to an insect like myself but also taken me under its wing. A debt for a life time. The brilliance of the Devil was without bounds.


    A brilliant light enveloped me, I felt my Master tug at my very being, pulling me out from within him, from the maelstrom of energy that no being shall ever reach. So grateful I let him guide me iout of the precipice of magic, I wanted to learn so much now. ''Dragons, demons, angels, Gods quiver in fear! My master could face you all with ease! And maybe, just maybe, some of his brilliance will rub off on me. I felt truly joyous at that moment.


    ***


    For some reason I felt really weird while transporting Alexander over the clouds, there was some disturbing feeling fanning over from him. Before I knew it goosebumps spread over my etheral body.


    ''Must be my imagination.'', I simply shrugged the lingering presence of horror from me and rocketed forth into the sky, a huge mass of earth trailing behind me.


    ***


    The light gradually strengthened and like the sun''s providence it beamed onto my body before I was ejected roughly onto the... ground?


    I stood up, looked around, and my vision grew hazy from the miracle my Master once again created. An island floating in the sky!


    Even mother nature had to bow down before Master.


    My eyes gaped wider and wider as I saw the huge mass of earth that was floating stock still in the sky, clouds floating beneath us testifying for what my eyes couldn''t fully dare to believe.


    I paused my thoughts for a bit, wondered if there was any instance in which such a thing occured throughout history. there was none, no being has achieved such an incredible feat. All those pathetic Highers'' I would love to see their faces once they encountered my Master. Those arrogant brats, thinking themselves as the pinnacle of creation yet they have seen nothing!


    I clamped down on my gauntlets, unsure whether I should feel insulted or happy that the divine armor I was gifted with was further strengthened. And from Master''s words this was not even the limit to their true potential. Draws, Elves, they couldn''t hold a candle against Master.


    "Oy Boy! What you starring at like an ass?", I turned my head and saw the person that could be considered the top of creation.


    "Just admiring the view.", I tried not to show to much of the apotheosis I felt for Hirahn, for the Master that could certainly bring ruin or prosperity on a whim.


    "It certainly is beautiful, standing above the clouds, being free from everything earthly. I don''t like it that much.", he answered me with a typical crooked grin.


    "Well, whatever, we are here to fight are we not?", his entire being changed as he clenched his fists and turned a deadly chill into my direction. The aloof attitude, nothing more than a lie, now replaced by a cold aurora of energy that flashed past my face like arctic wind.


    "Are you ready?", he asked while I shrunk and his figure grew bigger and bigger, more imposing with each second.


    "O-of course Master.". My fighting spirit was kindled but at the same time it waned, there was no possbility for me to reach where Master is now; but at least, at least I could try to climb the starry sky and admire its view from close-up. A egoistical wish, I know, but I so dearly wanted to view the world as Master did.

 Chapter 010: In Two Weeks

    (Yup, school started once again. My plan will probably be like this. Prepare half a chapter, finish the chapter on the next day and then prepare another half chapter for the next day, and so on and so forth. So it will probably only be 1 chapter per day now, maybe two when I got some more time, most likely tomorrow it will be two :D


    Enjoy this chapter, plot is still progressing slowly or not at all, but my plot will revolve around messing around with kings, queens, emperors, empresses, tyrants, patriarchs/matriarchs and so on. Anyway, enjoy :P Mistakes will be corrected right now, or tomorrow, like always XD )+ Oh yeah tell me about the new synopsis. I can still tweak around :D!


    Facing of against each other, a peerless warrior of the High-Human race and the leftover half of a God, it was bound to be a fight that thirsted to have specators. Regrettably only the sun and the azure sky would have the chance to watch these two ehavyweights fight it out.


    Lifted into the air, with magic power unmatched, the floating island stood its ''ground'' against the sharp gales that chipped over its rocky surface. Some clouds tried to reach out to the titanic mass of earth that somehow found its way among their otherwise soft kin, but this giant towered over the puny clouds with an unbridgable gap between. Yet nature embraced all its oddities and soon the floating landmass, so foreign in this uncharted territory, was lovingly coaxed by its elapsing children; loving rays of the sun and the rgiorous yet fond gusts.


    The earth mass purred softly, a deep, visceral din of earthly might that clangoured through the sky, as the two foes atop began their dance with kicks and fists.


    Hirahn waited with indulgence for his pupil to initiate the fight, he needed to test just how much force he had to apply to gracefully keep Alexander''s life on the thin and instable line between life and death. A rope act that would need a whole lot of patience from Hirahn''s side. To what length would he go for those humans? His magnanimity knows no bounds, truly.


    There was no need for circling around each other, for taunting, for gestures even. Alexander felt Hirahn''s intentions just by the way he stood. Exuberant the winds blew through his hair, would it hinder him in the fight, should he have cut his hairs down, something he prided himself on? What did that matter now?


    Blazing resolve shot through Alexander''s eyes, his feet crunched the ground beneath with the pressure they enforced onto the earth. A second later his whole being stirred as the muscles coiled like springs in his inner workings, heat builded steadily up and vented their ferocity on the earth that provided them with the much needed stability. Akin to the explosion of a volcano, its cauldron Alexander''s feet and the pyroclastic flow the dust that exalted itself behind him. What a sprinter would need a handful of seconds for was done by Alexander in the blink of an eye.


    Nigh instantaneously he appeared with frightening speed in Hirahn''s line of sight. A fist with bones clustered denser than steel and skin tougher than kevlar swatted the air in its path to dense pockets, ignited the oxygen and left a minute trail of explosions stagnant in the air. A full powered fist of a High-Human, a weapon turned limb, pierced straight towards Hirahn''s chest. There was no tactical reasoning behind the punch, it was an intuitive motion spurred by the high-pitched ululation in his heart, a scream for freedom, to fight and achieve victory through raw force alone.


    For a moment there was nothing than the barreling fist, the wind stopped, gave homage to the mettlesome man that lifted his fist against a God.


    With cold calculative eyes, as dark as the eclipsing shadows, and face bearing an infantile grin Hirahn watched the whole scene unfold before him. The thousand of millions of ways he would redirect, parry, crush, obliterate, the fist that was coming his way. In a fight like this, when he was not being overpowered by his ''true'', cold yet fervent nature, he was a being of irrationaly brutal rationality and calculation. There was nothing he did not see, he did not sussed in Alexander''s movements.


    ''Should I break his limbs, shatter his organs, trample his will?'', it all crossed his mind at once. If he willed it he could seal with a single flick alone the aether inside Alexander''s body, tell him it is nothing and wait for the catastrophe to uncurl, the ticking bomb to explode. Slowly his thoughts took and abstract turn.


    They drifted into the dark recesses of his being, the part that wanted to consume life itself, extinguish its sparks, the part that she tamed! He did not want to stare into the ever-consuming abyss that threatened inside his heart, the abyss that cleft ever since she left him. Sometimes it''s void eyes gave him accusing looks, as part of him it peered deep into his soul. ''Why have you not helped her?'' , ''You could have rescued her!'', the abyss screamed at Hirahn. But he didn''t know it himself. Maybe he wanted Saraya to live her life unrestrained by his own selfish desires. But had he persisted, would she have changed her mind? Hirahn was confused, one moment he was in battle the other he secluded himself from reality. He did not want to face the world, the fact that she was gone; his only salvation were the convexing thoughts that spiraled deeper down into a self-destructive amount of forlornness but kept his mind preoccupied.


    Were it not for the despair that clawed at him, that he he cussed at and tried to admonish from his being, than he had longst given up on life. A life without Saraya was not worthy of being called a life. Certainly she would hit him for such thoughts. But she was not -not anymore- there to do so.


    Now it was only Hirahn with his abhorrent thoughts.


    *BAM!*


    Fist connected with face yet Hirahn''s body stood rooted in place. A God would not buckle from such a puny attack.


    As the fist pushed skin layer upon skin layer over each other Hirahn could only smile through clenched teeth. "Thank you Alexander.", his words were taken with the wind.


    ''What was I even worrying about?!'', his fists snapped back, power cursed through his arms. ''This is all that counts right now!'', with the truculent might his twin fists, twin lightnings!, struck out. As though a hammer pounded onto a heavy gong Alexander''s body merely trembled, it trembled before it collapsed.


    Brittle his armor split apart, two indentations reaching through to his back decorated the golden chestplate. A misty spray of red bursted from Alexander''s frozen lips, his brain could not even keep up with the damage in his organs. He was dying after a single hit.


    "Ups!", Hirahn supported the curbing Alexander. Blank eyed his vision shock, his eyes revealed surprise before their life was forcefully taken from them. ''No good.'', Hirahn thought and infused his own being into Alexander.


    ''Hum... I certainly overdid it a bit with the attack.'', respectfully his essence bowed inside Alexander. ''Won''t happen again.''. In light speed he began to fuse the tissue together, mend the broken bones and severed nerves, even strengthening them. He was luckily still ''fresh'', his soul only waiting to be released into the nether, alas that won''t happen, not under Hirahn''s tutelage!


    The faint shimmer in Alexander''s eyes regained its vigor, with a sharp gasp he snapped back into the realm of the living. "*cough!*", residue blood flowed from his hanging mouth. "I-I thought I would die!", flabbergasted Alexander uttered under his erratic breath.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Well, you were not far from it! Hahahah!", Hirahn laughed hefty. His gaze turned proper, with a palm strike he sent Alexander flying over the earth platform.


    His body flew like a ragdoll over the uneven ground, bumping into stalagmites that probed from the rocky surface. With a coughing fit Alexander tried to stabilize his body. With more ease than he could have possibly mustered he stood up. Incredulous Alexander''s hands felt over his body, the power from the palm strike alone could have shattered his ribs, but right now his skin was a bit reddened and a soft pain spread across his chest.


    He had already wondered to much and seen to many impossibilities. "You did this to me, did you not?", Alexander asked Hirahn who only responded with his trademark smirk.


    Kicking a pebble with incredible speed down from the floating island Hirahn appeared rather bored right now. "Well, else one hit of mine would kill you. It still does, your body is just that weak that even all my tinkering won''t help out.", he pouted as if he was a child that had a potential toy taken from him. "But if we take your strength as the mean value then you would now be at least. Hum.... thrice as strong? Of course magic is something else entirely, as long as you can''t understand it you won''t be able unleash its true power."


    "T-thrice as strong?!", Alexander gulped down the ecstasy that was surging within his body. With a rapid flop Alexander kowtowed before Hirahn.


    "T-thank you so much, you have done so much for me, for my people even, already.", his words of veneration left unabashedly.


    "Ah, don''t sweat the small stuff, you gave me a roof over my head and treat me like a ordinary being, that''s already good enough for me.", Hirahn spoke and gave a rare honest smile.


    "Come on stand up! Now we can really fight!", and like that his personality changed again into his cold self that waited to crush his opponent, but somehow, this time, the ruthlessness seemed more mellow.


    "Alright Master!", Alexander clasped his hands together before taking another fighting stance.


    The deadly dance between the torn God and the ascended High-Human fomented into a crackling of fists. The sky boomed with explosions  and buzzed with unleashed power and yet those echoes of the strongest were left unheard, their legacy swallowed by the yawning sky.


    For outsider, beings that did not stand toe to toe with immortals and Gods, the fight was nothing more than shimmers of gilt streaks and the occasional bolting out of a dust clothed figure, like a meteor crashing into the ground. But this figure stood up again and again. Heroic and yet in vain the man jumped up, dirt followed his weakening steps, and fought against nothing more than what seemed to be a beggar, his clothes plain but contrastingly clean; it made one''s heart rap when the beggar''s cold gaze swept the iron clad man.


    ---------------


    "Haaaah. *Pant*. Haaaaaah. So-*cough*. Master, what do you think?", Alexander laid limply on the ground, more blood than his body could wring out clotted on his cleaved armor. Over the whole process Alexander was on the brink of death and everytime is life seemed forfit Hirahn would heal him back to health, to start it all over again.


    "Weak!", Hirahn''s foot trampeled onto Alexander''s open wounds.


    "AHHH!", he screamed and squirmed in pain.


    "So... When are you leaving?", Alexander asked between his askew gasps, his kingly demeanor returned as the relationship between student and master was for a while dissolved.


    "How did you know?", Hirahn asked, he was impressed by Alexander''s uptake.


    "Just a hunch.", Alexander smiled cordial.


    Hirahn sat down with slow, laggard movements. With a content sigh he leaned back and gazed at the sky, his arms keeping his body upright. "I think, after the meeting. Though I doubt that. Because of my interference there will be no such thing anymore.", a wry smile, unsure if this was funny or rather tragic, crossed Hirahn''s face.


    "Meh, I don''t think so. They are to afraid to back out now, they lost so much already, likewise I don''t think they care about their heirs. They can just make another one after all.", Alexander said with a sad tone of voice.


    "I never asked, what is this Alliance exactly?"


    "It''s just a stupid bunch of kings trying to take away my land, claiming High-Humans to be the bane of humanity, being in cahoots together with the other Higher beings. A load of bullshit."


    "Why not kill them if they get on your nerves so much?"


    "They are stronger than... no, sorry, for you they might not even amount to a grain of dust, but for me they are a real threat. What would happen if they took the chance to get my dear daughter?", a nigh unaudible sob left Alexander''s lips.


    "The little missy, huh...", Hirahn debauched in the few moments he had with the arrogant princess. "You really need to teach her some manners."


    "Come on, it''s not like you are making it easy for her. I think she really likes you.", Alexander elbowed Hirahn in an amicable fashion. What father did not wish a God to be together with his daughter.


    Hirahn couldn''t believe what he had heard. "Wait, what? Are you blind and deaf?!"


    "If you would have seen her handle other people besides me and her uncle. It was not easy for her since my wife died, for both of us.", with eyes gazin into the distance Alexander revealed more of his past. Not whishing to pry any further Hirahn chose to ignore the latter half of what Alexander said.


    "Don''t even try to couple me with your daughter, there will ne-... No maybe there is a possbility but that is far in the future.". "Haaa... all the things I could do if you would only marry my daughter.", his wounds closed up Alexander relaxed and let his head rest on his arms.


    "You are trying to use me? You got a death wish?", Hirahn''s cold gaze sent a chill through Alexander''s body.


    "C-certainly not, who would do that?! Hahaha, haha.", his nervous laughter resounded through the open sky.


    Hirahn got up as the sun began to set, red warm rays grazed past his face. After dusting of his clothes he helped the fatigued king up to his feet. "Let''s go back, your daughter is probably bawling her eyes out right now."


    "She is probably pilgrimaging through the city."


    "Does she..."


    Space folded onto itself as Hirahn prepared the teleportation spell. With wobbly legs Alexander tripped into the fluctuating mist of space.


    A second later they were already inside the castle, their dirty feet sullying the carpeted floor. Sighing Alexander floundered into his chambers, though he was in no condition to even attempt such a thing. Mentally exhausted thefirst thing he did was crash into the nearest support pillar and fainting on the spot.


    Giving the king''s worn body a few light kicks Hirahn could only facepalm. "A looooong way to go...", he let the king peacefully sleep in the midst of passage, not caring of what pedigree he is or from what caste. Hirahn was a God, he stood above them all.


    ''In two weeks.'', Hirahn rubbed his hands against each other like some cartoon villain. Oh, how he would enjoy causing havoc all over the world.


    (He will see the princess and king again in the future, just saying. I might not have the best storyline but that much is certain.)

 Chapter 011: Noble Disposition

    (No action but new character. Tell me what you think in the coments below. And sorry ''bout being so late, was going out with friends and a bit wasted, there was the insiration for thhs chapter coming from. I hope you enioy! :D Mistakes will be corrected tomorrow, my mind is bursting apart, got ill or something. Action and killing and all the brutal stuff will come back next chapter. Also I will skip a few days, don''t wanna write about two uneventful weaks. I wanna go on an adventure! Have fun with this ''lil fiction of mine! :D  Oh right! Has someone some kind of vocabulary learning site? I am feeling that in the current chapters my choice of words is getting redundant and I wanna change that. If you know a helpful site let me know. For those that wondered, I am not an english native speaker. Portuguese and German here XD)


    Ardent zeal gripped Hirahn''s heart, his mind focused on the adventures that would come. The foes he would slay, the mysteries he would uncover, the rapture of gest that would sweep him off his feet and make the blood boil in his veins. As he stood there, wandering absentmindedly through the hallways of the castle, his mind was in the clouds. Almost sensible he could see the broadening horizon, the towers of mother earth that dipped into the blue sea, their clouds the spume on roaring waves. It was another reason why he did not spread his entirety over this vast and unknown world. Where would be the fun in discovering if he had seen it all?! Right, there would be none!


    Quixotic Hirahn hummed a beautiful tone and waddled forward. Right now he was oddly at peace with the world and himself. His heart throbbed with thrill, his mind raced with lucid images, his eyes sparkled in incandescence, even his teeth shuddered. When was the last time, the last time he felt so ALIVE?!


    HIrahn himself couldn''t describe it, rarely has he felt that way in his quest of solitude. It was a wondrous feeling, he wanted to kiss the world itself! This shock, this unwrought eagre (Tidal wave) that swept his whole self and baptized him anew in the waters of zest and mirth. He was... happy.


    The tiny little sparkle inside Hirahn''s chest, it pounded out loud with afresh vigor. This tiny little light helped Hirahn whenever he felt himself fall into an abyss that he would find no way out. As he landed in this world, as he despaired and lost himself; this light guided him, there was always good in him, it just needed a reason to thrive. But as soon as the light vaunted itself with the deed it had done the darkness around descended upon it. It crawled, gnarled at the luminous light with its own obfuscatory caliginosity adn then it barred its fangs and let them slide into the light, until it only puled, but never did it grovel for mercy. Internecine they both blighted each other in a struggle for supremacy. Wounded the light retreated, waited to bath Hirahn in blinding light, but the time was not ripe yet, it had to recover and nourish what was left from Hirahn''s else jolly personality.


    Slowly Hirahn''s emotions settled down, ignorant of his own inner turmoil he didn''t notice his abnormal shift in behaviour. Instead of humming he kept silence clogging his throat.


    The king would be out of comission for the entire day, that much was sure, and now with nothing to do Hirahn wondered if rootling through the city in the search of another few taverns would be worthwile.


    His gaze lowered, landed onto his beggar-like clothing. Although Alexander did not manage to land one hit the ricocheting particles of dust and debris still settled into the fabric, like brown-colored fungus they festered in the cloth.


    Not even taking a second to overthink what he was about to do he discharged his self into the world around him. He serched through the castle and landed with his senses in the king''s chambers. Though first he teleported to the king, slumbering peacefully on the ground.


    "Oyyyy!", Hirahn nudged the king''s face with his foot until he woke up. "I will be taking some of your clothes for the night, that alright with you?"


    "Yeah, yeah do whatever. *snore*", the king didn''t even bother to look Hirahn in the eyes. He simply waved him off and turned his body against the wall.


    "Alright then...", with a slightly more elate complexion Hirahn teleported into the giant privat chamber of the king.


    It didn''t take long for Hirahn to find the massive wardrobe made out of a sophisticated combination of white marble and some kind of golden wood that shimmered mystically in harmony with the setting sun. Hirahn slid open the light doors with ease. Behind a landscape of befurred mantles and robes, velvet pantalons and silver brooches expanded. It was an exqusisite collection of sumptuous clothing only a noble could pay of and Hirahn was ditching and flinging around those same precious articles with relative disinterest. He wanted something less itchy and more pompous. In the end he decided for a navy blue shirt and anthracite grey pants, his surprise over the modern looking clothes was genuine. ''The king has taste. I have to admit.''. After poking in the smaller shelves he took out satiny, dark leather shoes. Slinging a dark mantle over his back he left the not-so-private-anymore chambers of the king.


    His shoes clacked on the ground, his stride was erect and his face combined with the noble clothing made him look dashing. The fierce, amber flamed eyes and dark golden hair contrasted starkly with the dark colours; his brutal muscles that bulged under the tight clothing and yet kind and gentle aura gave him a masculine and enigmatic air. He truly looked like a noble.


    Warmed up by the professionally processed clothing Hirahn greeted the late afternoon with a smile arching on his face. His cunning eyes skipped over the castle''s outskirts and landed on the first taverns. ''Oh God! I have barely tasted any wine!'', his eyes became frantic, what he needed right now was a high class restaurant and not some grubby tavern.


    ''Alright!'', he pumped his fist into the air and continued his ramble through the forest of densely packed houses.


    Hirahn flit through the crowds with the malleability of the wind, his body formless he merely brushed past the pedestrians. Only a golden ring with a sparking flame was alit on his hand as he, nothing but a dark spectre, wafted through narrow alleys and stuffed passages.


    After a while Hirahn noticed the change in the people around him, their clothes were much more colorful and sometimes revealing, be it riches or certain female charms. Standoffish gazes followed Hirahn''s every step in this bizarre world. Flowery and sweet smells floated in the air, draped in smug silence, a stark contrast to the smell of sweat and sound of laughter.


    The nobles flamboant lifestyle was mirrored in their lavish lodging. The houses were gigantic, though small compared to the castle they were still a class for themselves. Each was provided with a large, lush garden and wide teraces for afternoon teas. Hirahn felt uncomofortable as he passed by the houses that derided the poor with their very being. It made him self-conscious that he saw others as mere insects that he could trample on anytime.


    Most gazes held a certain interest, mostly about his gallant attire and the way Hirahn channeled his steps, but also about the ring that he wore on his finger. He heard faint gasps from the balconies above him, surprise and envy shillerized their voices.


    The face was ornated with a daedal smile, a foxy smile that held a chilling cold beneath. ''Yes, you are below us -me-.'', the darkness whispered him.


    Flaunting with the ring Hirahn took his time, there was no restaurant in sight anyway. His hurried steps turned into a slow dawdle, using the chance he let his gaze wander over the arrogant nobles. A mocking smile further infurriated the hearts of those young and old nobles, his hand dandled down, uncarring whether he hid the ring or not. Then a thought struck him.


    What do these nobles even do? Other than the king and the princess he had never talked with any other noble. There were some nobles in the library but Hirahn doubted they had any political influence, unlike those upper class nobles right here.


    One idea was that they lived in a kind of symbiotic relationship with Ysolde. The nobles used their income through farmlands and used that to buy the protection of the walls. After all Ysolde had not once been successfully besieged, it would have been once but a certain God barged in between and prevented it.


    Now that he had his head not directed to the front but rather purposefully tried to make eye contact most of the nobles shrinked back. He was an existence that was above them, the ring testified for this. But not only that. With a wide smile he saw the noble ladies flinch under his intense glare, their complexion bewildered yet intrigued coupled with a red tinge.


    Again; Hirahn was a handsome man, his face sculpted by Daedalus'' hands, and eyes made of liquid fire. He was rakish and certainly an interesting sight to behold with his unconventional yet tasteful clothing. But what enticed the noble women even more was the power that he exuded, a power of a king; he was more than qualified to bear the ring in their eyes, to the misfortune of their partners.


    A minute later or so Hirahn gazed into the darkening sky, a tear was about to leave his eyes. He was lost. ''DAMNIT!''


    With a panic-striken face and a body that thirsted for wine he let his gaze scan the area. ''Phew.'', luckily there was a triplet of woman chattering and tea-sipping on a canopied terace, small confects disappeared behind their rouge lips. Instinctively, as though a predator had set its sights on them, they twitched in surprise. Turning around they saw the mysterious Hirahn pacing towards them.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The ever patting hand placed on his golden ring intimidated the three ladies. Nodding with their eyes they quickly stood up and prepared to leave, Hirahn was after all still tens of meters apart, impossible for him to catch up, right?


    As the first of the women gripped for her mansion''s doorhandle a dark rattle settled into their hearts. The tallest of the three, a slender and tanned beauty with curling chestnut hair and piercing green eyes, which stood at the end felt a sudden tug at her slim shoulders.


    Thinking her mind played a trick on her she looked back with a somewhat curious look. "AHHH!", the woman shrieked and jumped back. Two eyes made of fire opal, coiling dragon fire, peered straight into her soul. Her knees trembled, the instability causing her body to lean against the enigmatic man that came out of nowhere.


    Hirahn held the beauty with gentle arms, his eyes keeping contact with hers and his body inching forward until his fragrant breath tickled her neck.


    With one hand he pulled the woman upright, under closer inspection she looked to be in her early twenties or even a mite younger.


    The woman, taller than Hirahn, looked at him in surprise, at his gentle smile and kind eyes. "My beautiful ladies, do you know where one can taste the best wine in this area?", Hirahn asked into the group, though his eyes stared into the exotic beauty.


    "C-certainly my lord. Though, it is a complicated way, should we accompany you? Should she accompany you?", one of the other two woman giggled and nudged the taller woman.


    "Much obliged, quaint ladies. Alas I have to reject your offer. I won''t force anyone.", Hirahn winked. His hand reached out for the taller woman. "But I have to ask, are you alright? Young lady, you seemed fairly weak right now.", he clenched her hand, his gaze a mixture of worry and kindliness.


    The two women pressured the taller one with hard eyes. ''Go with him!'', they shouted via women-only telepathy to their tall friend.


    "Y-yes I am alright. M-my l-lord it really does not inconvenience me at all to accompany you.", the tall woman smiled at Hirahn.


    "Well then.", Hirahn nodded grateful. "I am in your care."


    "Have fun Myrel.", the other two woman waved and disappeared behind the door.


    "Y-yeah....", Myrel replied.


    After an uneventful walk with awkward silence filling the air, even more so because Hirahn gazed at her throughout the whole walk, they arrived at a small sized restaurant. Placed between a hotel and a noble house the shop was swallowed by the background.


    "Hoh... that certainly looks interesting.", Hirahn whistled.


    "It does, doesn''t it?", Myrel turned around and chuckled lightly before noticing that Hirahn''s gaze had not left her once.


    "Yes, you are certainly a interesting woman. Myrel was it?", Hirahn stretched his hand out. "My name is Hirahn, how about we two enjoy ourselves in some wine."


    Reluctant Myrel took Hirahn''s hand. His hand felt warm and strong, a hand that could protect, but also kill. Getting pulled inside her violet dress fluttered in the night.


    ---------------


    "An-an- and then they began to pull on my hair! They we-were all so mean to me! Wuuuhuuu! *sob, sob* *hic!*", Hirahn looked awkwardly around as he scratched his head, people were already looking at his table.


    Four bottles of the most exquisite wine were popped open, three of four were gulped down by Hirahn alone, Myrel uneasy with her own personality tried to do the same. It was painfully obvious that she had barely any tolerance for alcohol.


    Her breast pressed beneath the wet dress against the table she laid on, her finger was lifted into the air and making circles as she talked about her past.


    "There, there.", Hirahn moved his seat next to ehr and patted consolingly her back.


    "No man likes me! Wuhuuuu. They are all afraid of me, I look like an ogre!", the beautiful girl sobbed and fiddled with one of her curly strands of chestnut hair.


    "They just can''t stand being smaller than you. But don''t worry. There will be a man that will love you and all your quirks.", Hirahn gave the crestfallen Myrel a reassuring smile.


    "Look, you are tall, and?! That way we men have more to love.", like a gentleman he wiped her tears away with a tissue. "You feeling better now?", he gazed her deeply in the eyes.


    "Hiraaaaaaaaaaahn!", Myrel threw herself into the embrace of the man she barely knew.


    "Hahahah, it''s alright. Let me accompany you home.", Hirahn stood up and offered Myrel a hand.


    With Hirahn''s consolations she felt more vibrant than ever before, sadly that didn''t change the fact that she keeled over on the first try to stand up. "Ah, sorry. I think *hic* I can''t walk right now.".


    "Don''t worry.", with a slight shift of his arms Myrel was already being carried by him.


    "Oy! Here is the money for the wine and the dinner.", Hirahn shouted through the establishment and left a pouch fileld with gold and other coins on the table, it was more than enough.


    A waitress came passing by, noticing the huge amount of money and the golden ring on the customers finger she hurried to give the money back. With fast breaths she offered Hirahn the pouch. "My lord, there is no need to pay, we are honored to have you here.", the petite woman said as she bowed.


    "Ah! Hogwash! Take it miss.", Hirahn simply waved her off, with Myrel clinging onto his neck and in need of his arms for support there was no way he could have accepted the money without making a fool out of himself. "T-thank you, generous lord! Please visit us again!", the woman bobbed her head up and down.


    Hirahn simply laughed it off and tried to open the door with his foot. "Ehm... miss could you...ehm...-". "Of course!", respectfully she openned Hirahn the door.


    "Thanks again and sorry for the little miss here.", he said as he gestured at the woman that was slowly falling into a deep, drunken slumber.


    He couldn''t hear the words of the waitress anymore as he was already to far away.


    *Snore~*. A cute rout sounded from his chest. "Yeah... I would now ask you where you live but I think we can cancel that.", Hirahn exhaled deeply. ''Not that I mind having a cute girl press her see through dress against my chest, not at all.''.


    "Ok, you come with me to the castle.", space cackled happily as its master ordered it to his will.


    *SCHOOM*


    Wasting no more time the both of them vanished. They reappeared inside the king''s chamber. ''Hey, if that wimp is sleeping outside like a corpse than I can at least use his bed. Won''t hurt anyone, right?'', Hirahn mused to himself and laid the tanned beauty onto the bed with the utmost care.


    "Muhuhu, No... Bad boy... A tea can''t fly... cakes... nuhuuuh.", Myrel babbled something incoherent to herself as Hirahn tried to get her out of her wet clothes. Fortunately Myrel wore a violet dress which made the red wine stains less visible, but not invisible. It still looked as though she was the accomplice in some sort of murder crime.


    With pride Hirahn did not avert his gaze from her opulent chest and the cute pink nipples atop the caramel brown skin. Of course the gentleman he was he did not touch Myrel in the slightest, he would just use her dirty clothes as an excuse to see her naked. Hirahn was such a man, because in the end he could clean her with the use of magic alone, but who would want that? But even then he limited himself to her brassiere and dress, he left the rose coloured panties in tact. What a shame....


    Raising the blanket up Hirahn pulled it tightly over the half naked Myrel. In mere moments she snuggled into the soft fabric of the king''s bed.


    "Good night.", Hirahn whispered and moved out of the room, the magic crystal that illuminated the room was turned off by Hirahn.


    "Wait!", he heard Myrel shout from behind. As he turned around and switched the light back on he saw Myrel sittin gup with difficulty on the bed. Her cheeks were reddened and her breathing heavy. "You... ahhhnnn... are the only man that ever tried to *hic* comfort me. Come here! Let''s have sex!", Myrel said and spread her arms in a welcoming fashion.


    Hirahn only face palmed. He went closer, Myrel was already wriggling her hand down her body, and then flicked her head with his finger. "No.". As though her brain suddenly blacked out she fainted back into the bed. ''How can one get wasted from only one bottle of wine?'', Hirahn wondered about the mysteries of the mortals and went back to his own room.


    "Ahhhhhh! That''s better.", he said to himself and embraced sleep after a long day.


    (and what do you think about Myrel? I wanted to make a love trianlge with her, Sara and Hirahn. Mainly because she would throw herself at Hirahn, cause Sara to be left out and/or jealous and accelerate the pace in which romance will develop. Yes I am a shabby guy that invents a whole new character just to make romance go faster. Don''t judge me! Oh yeah let me know what you think about sex chapters, mature chapters or however you wanna call it; always wanted to try my hand at writing one of those. ''You know where I wanna try my hand out?'', please don''t make such comments guys. I know you want to if you read this. ;) )

 Chapter 012: Say hi to the King

    (Sorry that I couldn''t post a chapter yesterday. Was on a birthday party and only came back today in the morning hours. I hope you enjoy this chapter, romance won''t go as fast as some people want to, I don''t even now if there will be a sex chapter before Hirahn leaves. I just think it is urealistic for Hirahn himself, since he is still heartbroken, and the two females to fall in love in just two weeks. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter, next one will be a fight again and a bit of exploring. Have fun and thanks for all the comments and massive views I am getting lately. I do wonder where you guys are all coming from so suddenly? XD :D ) P.S.: I can''t help myself with the long and complex words, please fogive me but...but just for this one chapter... pretty please~? I promise the next chapter won''t have those up-my-ass words and I will try to put more into needed details isntead.


    I dreamed about a man. He had golden hair and passionate eyes that burned with the same fire they reflected. His attitude, his very strides, were deeply soaked in majesty, as though it was rooted in his marrow. Robed in expensive clothing and an air of divinity he reached out to me with his hand and I took it. In the dream we treaded through the city, colourless and voiceless the people passed by us; all I could feel and see were the man''s inflame eyes.


    I had a wonderful night with the man. We laughed, we talked and bribbed. Inane we let the red wine moisten our throats, in streams the livid(dark purple in this context) liquid was exhausted. Unbridled I took one glass after the other, let all the sorrow I felt in my childhood flush out of my heart. Faces of people laughing about me, calling me the ''giantess'', passed my mind''s eye and it made me irate. I shifted my sadness onto the man, let the alcohol speak what my mind was to timid to say.


    It might have been a dream, but in this dream I truly felt free. And I would never forget his face, intwined we laid in bed and enjoyed our bodies. He slipped down, worked his way from my naval to my vagina, his tongue painting a steady line downward to my pubis. A mixture of pleasure and nervousness swamped my nerves as this unknown man made me his woman. The time we spent in the dream, I won''t forget. Hirahn was his name, a wonderful name.


    But the dream didn''t end there.


    "W... u...", I heard faint whispers. Heavy eyelids turned my world black and my mind raced to understand what was being said.


    "W...e ...p", I knew this voice. It was still so vivid lingering in my ears, a soft vivace tone with underlying might. It could only stem from the man in my dreams.


    "Hey! Wa...e up!", the voice was getting angry?


    My fatigued body tried its best to ascertain the sound, its origin, but my eyes simply won''t open! The voice threatened me but it was impossible to understand what exactly it said, I just felt my heart pumping as anxiousness overtook me. A second later a cold wave washed over my body and startled me fully awake.


    "KYAHHHH!", freezing cold water splashed all over my body and sent me into a panic; I broke out into goosebumps from the sudden chill.


    Sunlight blinded my eyes and turned the world of darkness into a world of bedazzlement. My head was spinning from my sudden jolt, a mushy feeling surged from my stomach. Knowing what it was I could only hope for the best as I tried to keep whatever was going to leave my body inside, with my hands only.


    "UGH... BLERGH!", my throat retched the nutrition from my stomach into the open. The regurgitated substance made my eyes watery, the stinging, sour scent let another wave of vomit loose.


    Dizziness overtook my body and for a second I was about to black-out. Luckily two strong hands supported my back while a wave of heat dried my body. I felt one of the hands caressing my head like one does to a crying child, afterwards my lips were cleaned with what felt to be a soft tissue.


    Ever so slowly my eyes accustomed themselves to the blindingly well-lit room. Suddenly the the dream seemed to repeat itself as the first thing I saw through my teary eyes was not the unknown bed equipped with heavenly soft cushions I laid in, but two glowing eyes that held an arctic frigidness and a dragon''s breath within. Those two conflicting forms compunded with each other to create a mythical gaze that held wisdom in nimiety(excess) and a cornucopia(also means excess) of unutterable might that filled itself by the mere act of existing. ''It''s.... him...''


    Right, those two golden-red eyes, so profound and inscrutable, belonged to no one less than Hirahn. A man that could only hail from dreams themselves.


    A soft smile was on his lips as he cleansed my mouth from the last drips of slobber and acidic liquid with an ornamented rectangle of the finest fabric.


    I felt my face flush red from embarrassment to see my dream prince once again and how charmingly he cared about my well-being. For a moment I enjoyed his hand stroking over my skin, until the moment I noticed what just happened. My sight wandered onto the frightfully expensive clothing of Hirahn and the few splashs of vomit that so beautifully splattered all over him.


    ''Oh my God, he hates me.'', for a moment I could imagine myself being beaten or even killed by this mysterious man, it made me want to wish this was all just a continuation of my dream. But the gentle hand that continued wiping off any impurities on my face told me that this man would not be so puny.


    A relieved sigh left through my parted lips which prompted a chuckle from Hirahn. "You are really a beautifull woman. Even after all that I have seen I am still infatuated with you.", he jested but continued caressing my worn body nonetheless. I could only answer with an ashamed smile.


    Minutes passed by, Hirahn sat onto the bed with me and continued his slow strokes over my naked skin. "Oh right.", Hirahn began speaking. "You might want to dress yourself.", he said with a devious smirk and his eyes began to lower their gaze.


    I was stumped how I had not noticed that I was naked the entire time, except for the panties. Alas those were also drenched by a rather sticky fluid which made standing up and leaving impossible. I might have vomited onto the man of my dreams but only over my cold, dead body will he see this stain between my legs.


    "If you need fresh underwear you have to ask the princess.", I was somewhat dumbstruck but even more so abashed. His eyes kept looking over my body but somehow he had caught me red-handed. "Wh-what are you talking about?", I asked with a rapidly beating hard and a meak voice, the heat that surged into my ears and painted them like cheeries was not helping to convince him in the least. "I guessed as much from your cute moans while you were sleeping.", he winked and stood up.


    I could only squirm under the blanket which spread the fluid only further between my legs, I wanted to die on the spot.


    "Come on, you can keep the blanket on and I will guide you to the bath.", my mind told me to bury myself from shame but my heart told me otherwise. This man had a genuine soul, he would not hate me for whatever I am, maybe just snicker about it in good humour.


    With unsteady legs I followed the back of my dream prince out into the hallway. The long blanket was tightly pressed against my bossom.


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    I stepped into the long and tooled passage, tall windows let patches of light flow into the hall and gave a fleeting view of a befogged city. "Hirahn you know, stripping a woman without her consent is a crime.", I chuckled and moved closer to the windowsill. My breath stopped, my words died in my throat, the long carpet tickled under my feet, the happy grin left my face. "Hoho, but I did that so that you won''t get a cold or a fever my dear.", I heard him jest but my mind was preoccupied by another question. ''Where am I?''. The view was breathtaking; the red roofs were decorated by beads of condensed water, orange rays of light gave the city the illusion as if perpetual fire was shrouding its entirety. My weak arms gripped onto Hirahn''s sleeves for support; was this still my dream? He stopped in his tracks. "What''s wrong?"


    "Hirahn, w-where are we?", I was exhausted from the question alone, my heart and mind couldn''t keep up with what was happening around me.


    "In the king''s castle, what else?", I heard my mind shattering to pieces and thoughts began to tumble over each other.


    "Hahaha... I think I misunderstood.", my tearing eyes looked pleadingly at Hirahn. ''Please tell me you are lying.''


    "Oh! We are in the king''s castle, dear Myrel. Did the alcohol get to your head?'', his hands cupped my cheeks.


    "W-w-why-... No... How? Who are you even?", my reasoning crumbled away adn I slapped Hirahn''s hands from my face. Trembling I sat down at the window. ''What have I done? I will be executed!'', my heat palpitated and anger surged from my core. ''Because of him! I don''t want to die! I have to flee!'', I couldn''t even compose one decent thought, I did not even care how I got in here in the first place.


    "Relax Myrel.", he tried to calm me down but my fury and fear of losing my life were not satisfied by simple words. "As if I could calm down! We will be executed if they find us! We have to leave, now!", I shouted at the man that supported me and cared about me. I stooped onto the lowest level.


    "Oh Hirahn! Good morning!", another voice cut in, hindering me at slighting Hirahn. A man with long platinum hair and geared in golden armor rolled into one of the bright blotches of light from behind a support pillar. His sleepy face and carefree eyes gave Hirahn a content look. "Good morning Alexander!", Hirahn gave a simple reply.


    From there on the two began talking as if they were old friends. "Hehehehe. You already have the permission for my daughter and yet you take another beauty. Hahahaha.", the man laughed hearty.


    "Ehy! I told you already, I am not interested in your daughter. Oh right. Alexander this is a friend of mine, Myrel. I gave her your bed, that''s alright I hope?", Hirahn introduced me but I only jerked as he mentioned my name.


    I felt that I knew this man from somewhere.


    "Hohoho! It''s an honor to meet a friend of Hirahn. I am Alexander. Alexander Aries...", he looked at Hirahn and he answered with an approving nod. "Vilis the First. The king of Silays."


    ''WHAT?! This has to be a dream, this is a dream!'', I felt my body crumple into a fetal position and I started crying. I heard a sigh and was then lifted up. "Hirahn?!", I wanted to struggle but I remembered that I was still naked under the blanket. "You dirty girl should first take a bath.", he tittered and went past the king that was still lying on the ground. My eyes were glued on the man, the king, and how he didn''t care a single bit about the disrespect we have shown him. ''Hirahn... Who are you?'', I was left alone with my thoughts as I still felt awkward that I have shouted at Hirahn and decided to keep silent for a while.


    ---------------


    "Ok, here we are!", Hirahn startled me awake. The nap in his arms helped me calm down to a large degree. I eyed the big double door as he placed me on the ground. "You go in there. If you see the princess just tell her that you are my friend. She should then keep her mouth shut.", he told me and ushered me in with a slap on my bottom. "Auuu...", with a pout I entered through the double doors, the blanket sliding from my skin. "I still can''t believe this.", I mumbled to myself.


    ---------------


    "Haaaa.... What should I do now?!", Hirahn wondered and stepped away from the bath. "Killing something sounds fun. Right, training with the king! Hm hm hm...", humming a quiet melody Hirahn teleported back to the king.


    Alexader was still lying on the carpet, dozing off in the warm sunlight. A kick to the stomach sent him flying and churned his insides awake.


    "Oy! Boy, we are going on an adventure!", Hirahn shouted, gripped Alexander at his shoulders and threw him into the unstable space. Alexander spun in the air and spit mouthfuls of blood all around, his eyes rolling back into their sockets.


    "Bwhahahah!", Hirahn chortled like a bloody idiot and followed the trashing puppet that was Alexander.


    ---------------


    Multiple slaps woke him up, his hand holding his reddening cheek and his cracked lips. "W-w-what?! Where am I?", Alexander shock his head and let his eyes scan the vicinity.


    "M-master?", Alexander asked as he saw Hirahn standing on the head of a massive dragon.


    With a loud and obnoxious laugh Hirahn commanded the dragon forward. "You will fight this thing now! Hahahahah!", Hirahn grinned, placed a hand on the scalp of the dragon. The dragon''s eyes turned black, its scales into a dark red that was dripping with delusory real blood, and its muscles bulged outwards. "Forwaaaaard!", Hirahn ordered and the berserk dragon roared into the skies.


    "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", the ground trembled from this life extinguishing thunder and plant life withered away. Alexander still not fully understanding the situation barely dodged a sanguine claw that shredded through the air and cleaved the ground hundreds of meters behind him. Gulping loudly Alexander got into a fighting position. "What is happening?", he asked himself and prepared to face the behemoth of a dragon.


    The monster cocked its head backwards, openned its caustic maw and a wave of heat surged from within. "Alexander, prepare yourself!", Hirahn shouted between the rustling of purgatorial flames. All sound in the surroundings were silenced; the dragon closed its mouth, a little spark flashed betwen its fangs and then its power exploded forth with a spirit rending boom.


    "What is this?!", Alexander screamed as the purple flames swallowed him and a whole mountain behind him into its fiery innards.


    "I think I powered that thing up to much.", Hirahn said and stroke the sharp scales on the dragon''s head. "Good boy~.", he gave the beast an affecionate kiss and it purred lovingly.


    "Come on, let''s say hi to the king.", Hirahn urged the dragon forward and on all fours it crawled to the scene of destruction, to cause even more destruction.

 Chapter 013: Five days left

    (Hurray! Over 1 k views!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PARTEY HARDDDDD!!!!!!!! UTZ! UTZ! UM! UM! UM! PARTEEEYEYEYEYEYEY! No? Ok...


    Guys you did it! You gave me your attention and even though I used incredibly unecessary words you still sticked with me. I am forever grateful to each and everyone of you. That''s why I tried my best to write another chapter although I got an exam tomorrow. Who cares anyway? I do, but don''t tell anyone. I tried to make this chapter a bit of everything. A short glimpse into the future, a short timelapse and a bit OP action. The things that were skipped over will probably be added as side-chapters that are only optional to read since everything that will happen was summarized already in the few sentences you guys will be reading. I thank you guys so much for all your views, nice comments and even more so the incredible good ratings! I can''t even believe my eyes just how close my puny fiction got to the 5 star mark! That is monstrous! With much love I hope you guys will have a good night! See ya tomorrow! :D ) +Don''t kill me but I haven''t pr''ed this yet, sowwwwey!!!!! :(


    Hirahn rode the massive dragon, which he so lovingly called Lizzy, to the centre of the purged plot of land. Hirahn himself had barely any idea where they were. He had just got this get-up-and-go feeling and decided it was a good time to continue the training of the King.


    Through Lizzy Hirahn could see the vast land that was stretching even beyond the horizon. It was a land uninhabitated by anything else than beasts and giant monsteres that roamed the dark green forests and towering mountains. At least that was what Hirahn could tell from the top of Lizzy''s head.


    Their meeting was an odd one. The moment Hirahn stepped out of the cracks in space Lizzy thought she, yeah she is a girl, could have a quick snack. With as much power as she could condense into her body she lunged at Hirahn. He simply intimidated her by releasing a portion of his strength, making her surrender before she had the chance to attack him. Covering in fear Lizzy could only watch as this god-like entity made itself comfortable on top of her head. Thus began a long-lasting pet-master relationship.


    Back to the important issues.


    Alexander was a bastion of calm, braving the potent flames that licked over his armor like hungry wolves. The sea of purple surrounded him and melted the rock on the ground, the heat began surging and made even the air itself bubble. Alexander used his awfully huge repertoire of magic spells to counter the rising heat.


    He used fortifcation spells, shielding himself behind adamant walls of stone. Alas the heat inside climbed even higher since it had no way to escape, this plan proved to be a failure. Next he used the wind to shroud him in a small pocket of breathable air. Again the plan failed as the turbulent air fueled the might of the flames surrounding him. What made matters worse was that the fire fed of the exuding aether and kept growing and growing with each spell.


    Alexander cursed his luck that he had no ice or water spells at his disposal. His natural aptitude differed greatly from his daughter Sara which was most proficient with water and ice.


    Gritting through the pain he had to endure the harsh reality that was his impotence and the searing flames that turned his armor to cinders. ''At least I can repair this.'', Alexander sighed to himself and trusted his own durability to withstand the fire.


    Seconds of enduring hellfire turned into minutes of absolute torment. This was not part of Hirahn''s training but it could be considered as one; to endure pain and come out scathed but alive and well. Because there was always a sliver of hope if you are alive, you can''t change your fate when you are dead after all.


    Lizzy loitered around the eges of the crater, kept an eye out for the man her master ordered to attack. Herself she would have never been able to have such a high degree of destructive capabilities, but after being modified by Hirahn her power skyrocketed manyfold.


    It must have been demeaning in the past to let a human ride her head but right now she felt honoured to have her master snooze on her red scales. Right now she was the strongest monster in the lands she was born in, with delight Lizzy began thinking about all the vermins she would devour with her new found power.


    Alexander, his body covered by a layer of burnt flesh and ash, shuddered slightly beneath the layer of death. His bodily regeneration, tens of times higher than before, kicked in and ejected the cracked and dead tissue from his body. Born anew the black shell was discarded onto the ground. Rotating his limbs he gave the dragon a dangerous glare which Lizzy returned with a bestial grunt. Although Lizzy appeared to be in an unresponsive state, the intelligence and ability of decision making were shining as vibrant in her eyes as never before. Not only was her physical prowess heightened by a large bit but also her intelligence was raised to unknown levels; her whole self benefited from Hirahn''s modifications and she was most grateful for it.


    The air around Alexander and Lizzy became tense, Hirahn woke up from his slumber and let the two fight it out for themselves by floating away, atop a mountain''s peak. Alexander getting beaten into the ground by him won''t prove as advantageous as a fight against an opponent on the same level of power; they could counter, block and deflect each others attacks with medium difficulty, this nurtured a mind ready to adopt new tactics, techniques and strategies in the thick smoke of war.


    Both were eager to try out their newly found powers. With zest they entered the fray.


    Blood-red claws tore through the earth and created ripple like quakes, purple flames fused earth with fire to create sizzling magma, black fangs crunched the empty air as after images whirred around the dragoness.


    Fists imbued with powerful magic, easily mistaken for incarnate destruction with its menacing dark red glow, rippled onto equally flaming red scales. Kicks with the power to topple mountains were blocked by talons that could carve the soul out of one''s body. Powerful earthquakes and catastrophic storms were countered by a despotic and draconic breath. After just a handful of clashes the forest and mountain ranges in the distance received considerable damage, flocks of birds and even other dragons and winged reptiles fleed from the disaster that struck their homeland. Mountains turned to dust, trees to ash and the ground to fire.


    It was a scene straight out of the apocalypse.


    "Haaa!", Alexander shouted and kicked after the colossal dragon. Once his leg made contact with the dragoness'' body a visible tremble went straight through her flesh. She retaliated with a tail swipe that took the air out of Alexander''s lungs.


    *BLEURGH!*, Alexander skid over the stone and smashed into a protruding rock. Before he could stand up a giant maw spanned itself over his head and swallowed him including the ground he stood on only seconds ago. The dragoness crunched on the brittle earth with her dark fangs, small particles of powder and debris trickeld down with each motion of her powerful jaws.


    "What are you doing?!", Alexander roared and sent a massive earthen spike from beneath the dragoness'' chin. Getting uplifted from the ground the dragoness used her wings to stabilize her body in mid-air. *CRACK!*, a powerful claw gripped the dislocated jaw and tugged it into its rightful place. Blood seeped from all over the both adversaries.


    Putting all her might into a final breath attack the dragoness flew high up into the sky, out of reach for Alexander. He squinted his eyes and shielded them with one hand from the sunrays. ''Not good.'', he thoguht and began to collect mana around himself.


    The earth calved and could be easily erred as a glacier with its buckling and roaring. The wind turned wild, mad storms trenched trees from the ground and hoisted even boulders into the air. Nature screamed in agony as its children were mercilessly slaughtered but all it could do was watch the madness unfold. A burning swig of infernal hot fire was added into the mixture of breaking earth and rupturing wind; it all coalesced into a mass of undiscernible magical might.


    Alexander lifted his arm into the air and the mess of unruly elements moved with him. His eyes scanned the blue sky and looked for his opponent.


    Though her intelligence rose to an herself unimaginable level it did not mean she ahd lost her dragon''s pride.


    A massive draconic body, coiled around itself and absorbing the very essence of light, eclipsed the sun and drowned the earth in everlasting darkness. Just as the darkness swallowed the lands it was soon replaced by a squirming second sun of incarnadine colour. The atmosphere heated up and Alexander''s vision was as though he looked through petroleum fumes.


    Wood began to crackle from the heat and was set ablaze, initianting a disastrous chain reaction that turned everything around Alexander into a sea of fire.


    "Let''s get it on!", Alexander shouted at the dragoness that obscured the sun, unknown if she truly heard his words she nonetheless attacked; with joy she complied to his wish.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    A magenta inferno descended from the sky, combusted the heaven''s themselves in its suffocating crimson heat. Ember rained from the sky like golden tears, the tears of the Gods as they saw this cataclysmic power rob them of their world.


    "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!", Alexander shouted and the triform magic energy riled into the form of a golden aegis and a oblong sword with intricate runes engraved on it.


    Hell''s Arms clashed with Heaven''s Judgement and turned the landscape for a short time into a white nothingness, where only power prevailed.


    "ARRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!". "ROOOOOAAAAAR!!!!". *CRASH!*


    ---------------


    "You guys done now?", Hirahn threw a pebble at Alexander and Lizzy each. The fistsized stones simply rebounded from their unconscious bodies, but none of them managed to actually wake them up.


    "Haaaa.... what a pain.", Hirahn cussed himself for allowing the fight to escalate to such proportions. His eyes grazed over the desloate landscape. Forests and mountains were no more, just an all encompassing expanse of debris and fine ash. The whole environment changed into a desert.


    Hirahn rubbed his hands. "And now I gotta clean this mess up....", and let his magic do the work.


    A gentle wind collected the dust, the pieces of rock and burned wood and the yet to cool lava. It picked it all up and rebuild trees, towering mountains and even riverbeds. The ruptures in the earth mend themselves magically and in a snap everything returned to normal. It would take time for the animals to reallocate themselves to their home after the trauma they suffer under, but time will hela all wounds, even this one.


    ''That''s right. Only time can heal the wounds in your heart....", Hirahn reminisced and the face of Saraya quickly emerged from his closed off memories. "How I''d love to see this world with you.", Hirahn gripped with one hand after the mirage. His hand passed right through the empty air. Dejectedly Hirahn could only smile at the beautiful image of Saraya and turned around.


    He picked Alexander from the ground and absorbed Lizzy into his own being. The teleportation was invoked and he dissapeared from all sight, with Lizzy and Alexander in tow.


    ---------------


    The days passed by uneventful. Hirahn would train Alexander and Lizzy, or rather those two would spar with each other while Hirahn slept or napped, or both at the same time. Hey, who knows?


    Myrel grew fond of Hirahn and would often come to the castle to enjoy a good wine with him, the King and the still sulking princess. Unlike Myrel Sara couldn''t bear the shock of being seen naked by a person she despised, although she was not sure about the hate part anymore, since everytime she got a glimpse of him her face would turn a crimson shade. But even with their two differing attitudes towards Hirahn they both became good friends. While Myrel was no magician she still helped Sara with her general studies. One might have not noticed it but Myrel was actually well educated in the subjects of mathematics, including this world''s equivalent of algebra, geometry and, of course, simple arithmetic, and in most facets of social sciences, which amde her a good teacher.


    Hirahn was also acquainted with Sara''s uncle Petrov, they both became good friends and shared the same thrist for knowledge.


    Over the time Hirahn warmed up to Myrel, not enough to actually start a romantic relationship but they considered themselves good friends by the end of the first few days. Alcohol might have had its hand in the development of their relationship but they both were grateful for it.


    Through Petrov and Alexander Hirahn found out that all living creatures that have inborn aether also have a disposition to which kind of element they can insert their aether into. Magic made its own rules.


    People that had a high aptitude for fire could use their aether to create, with the magic particles in the air, actual fire. There was a rare mineral found deeply buried into the ground that could tell one''s aptitude for magic. Such a stone was used on Hirahn and as expected it showed a brilliant rainbow, including gold, silver, white and black. Hirahn himself had barely any idea about the potential of his power, he only knew that he barely tapped into it while being on earth and now the chance offered itself for Hirahn to enjoy his magical capabilities to their fullest.


    On a side note, the tri elemental wielding Alexander was among the rarest of the rare. Only 1 out of 1000 would be able to become a mage with a single element, 1 out of 1000 mages had two elements and 1 out of 10000 mages had three elements. 1 out of 10 million had three elements; the chance of having another element increased exponentially with each one that was added. But all elements! People wouldn''t even dream about that one.


    Hirahn noticed that with each fight between Lizzy and Alexander that their attacks became fiercer, more powerful and at the same time controled, he couldn''t help but ask them why their magic was steadily increasing. In the end the aether and whatever organ produced or collected it was much like a muscle. The more you are using it the bigger your aether pool becomes. As simple as that. But most people make the mistake of infusing more aether into their spells to make them stronger instead of heightening their control over them, resulting in many young geniuses dying off in real fights because they lost the ability to govern their magic.


    Only five days left before the meeting of the heirs.


    ---------------


    Further northeast of where Hirahn and co. established their ''training grounds'' for their spars.


    The ground trembled in a steady rythm, unlike the beastial and exploding rage induced tremors caused by Hirahn and his disciples this quaking was much more, harmonious if one can say so.


    It was an unending drumming noise that echoed over an endless forest, steady like a heartbeat the thuds etched temselves into the hearts of the many that called the forest their home.


    Cloaked in dark garbs a group of five people flew through the canopies of the monumental trees. With thick roots and sturdy trunks those ancient giants guarded the entrance towards a sacred land, they defied the mass of squirming flesh and steel that was stampeding their way inwards.


    The stench of burned wood and blood penetrated the five cloaked figures, even with their hoods covering large portions of their face the disgust was visible as they watched those horned fiends raping and pillaging their sacred forest. With hawking eyes they sat on the branches of the tall trees, and even if their hearts revolted they noted everything done that was happening.


    They all could only watch with horror and disdain as more trees were felled, more life was extinguished and more of their home destroyed. The wish that this was all a phantasmal dream festered within all of the five figures and they began to wonder. ''Why must we suffer?''


    Mortified over their own powerlessness they hurried back to deliver the news about what was happening to their sacrosanct forest, worried hearts hastened their steps.


    "What are the elders doing?!", one of the cloaked figures spat out as they flew from one branch to the next. "They are only waiting to be overrun by these demons! Those imbeccile and senile idiots!", the figure cursed.


    "Shut up! You are in no position to slander the elders, they did their all to protect us and everyone within Isnaes. If not for their protection, our families and we as well would have perished already.", another figure snarled back.


    "I am sure if they would channel the power of Yggdrasil we could wipe those disgusting demons from the face of our world.", the first figure mumbled to himself, his hand fidgeting with a white-bladed dagger.


    "Tsk you won''t learn.", the second figure clicked its tongue.


    The other three figures just looked back at each other, shrugging their shoulders. ''They are always like that.'', the three of them thought and tried to catch up to their two leaders.


    "Guys, in five days we will be back at the capital. The rate at which they destroy our forest means we have roughly one month left before they will invade even the midst of Isnaes. And this will then spell our doom. Let''s hurry!", the second figure called out while dodging a low hanging branch.


    The wind rose gently and with a speed boost the five vanished through the foliage with incredible swiftness.


    Out of the five figures one in particular held an air of panic around it. Two violet-skinned hands gripped tightly around each other, trying to dispell the continuous trembling. A cold and dispondent breath left from behind the figure''s hood. The cold breath dissipiated with the passing wind as well as a part of the figures worry. ''It will be alright.'', the figure told itself and followed its comrades.

 Short summary and explanations

    For those that have problems understanding my fiction, please read!


    First off, hello there my dear readers. Sorry that I am betrying your expectations by making a thread that is not a chapter, I sincerely apologize. But one commenter on the latest chapter openned my eyes, kinda.


    There were obvious misunderstandings on how my characters should be seen, how I envisioned them. Such things are bound to happen, I as the author have a different image of my characters. Some emotions and conversations are left out but I still keep them in my mind which creates a more complete character that is only kept to myself.


    So I made the problem clear, let''s first give a short summary.


    The One, is in my story the TRUE GOD. THE ONE, like his name implies, is THE ONE! The being that created reality, time, space and existence itself.


    The One created the multiverses and dimensions, those didn''t do well without something to guide their elemental particles. So he used magic to make those tiny particles do his biding. Now comes -created by magic- Sara''ahn!


    Hirahn is part of a multiverse spread entity called Sara''ahn, based on Yin and Yang. Sara''ahn DOES NOT consist of two parts, it is balance itself. Its only function is to govern the cycle of life and death and oversee all those little creatures, after those little creatures evolved far enough Sara''ahn dies, its job is done.


    Saraya and Hirahn are the exception, an anomally created by magic itself, they are polar opposites. Sara''ahn is Yin AND Yang. Saraya is only Yin and Hirahn is Yang. They got parts of their powers taken from them, randomly from magic as an exchange for freedom; since a free God would be simply TO OP. Think about it. Each Sara''ahn got one UNIVERSE to oversee, imagine its powers. This would not even be in the realm of OPness anymore.


    Back on track.


    Hirahn and Saraya lived on earth. People on earth forgot everything about magic, their God''s legacy and so on. Humans became cold and calculating creatures, let''s imagine a dystopic future that will in all likelihood never come true, but whatever.


    Hirahn was left alone, for decades, centuries or even millenia. So long at least that a whole forest build around the two lovers. AND NOW GOD FORGIVE ME! Those that think Hirahn overreacts... sorry guys but in my imagination, losing your LITERAL soulmate will darnly hurt, like it will hurt as fuck! Some people can''t overcome the shock of losing a person they know for maybe 10 years, now think about two beings that knew each other since time immemorial. It would simply be maddening to lose that part.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The One saw all this and thought: ''Hum...Let''s give him a better life.''. Remember Hirahn survived since he personificated all bad emotions, those that are impossible to vanish, but like Yin and Yang he always has a seed of good in him, which keeps him from going all crazy all the time. As youc an see he DOES NOT have his emotions in control, this white seed, this good part keeps him from going ham and destroying the whole fucking world he resides on.


    So back to the summary.


    Blahblahblah, let''s jump over the war part, there can''t be to many misunderstandings.


    He met Alexander and the princess Sara. Those that are, sorry but I gotta word it like that, ''bitching'' about Sara''s character, I can''t beleive you guys. Am I the only one that has those friends that like to piss you off, but you still like them cuz they just are those stupid mofos? No, no one? Hum...


    Those that wonder why Hirahn does not bash the head in of both of them because they ''direspect'' him. WTF. What is wrong with you guys?! So, because someone does not agree with you you will kill them? What a fucking child are you? Yes, I am getting pretty salty over such things.


    Making Alexander his disciple is for me a pretty fucking big hint at trust. He sees him as a friend, maybe you can see that at the way he speaks. Oh right to the thing I mentioned about disrespect, calling you by your name is disrespect? Come on guys!


    And so on and so forth, Hirahn met Myrel, he does not have the immediate hots for her, they are good friends only for now. The princess is still sulking because Hirahn saw her naked. The short glimpse into what is happening with the demons, the forest and the, OF FUCKING COURSE, elves.


    This thread ends here for now. I love all of you guys and hope you get a better understanding how I envisioned the characters, and how they are supposed to be. I am still a noob at writing so it will take some time until I can fully transform the thoughts in my heda into written words.


    Again I apologize for this ''unchaptery'' thread, I am working on the next chapter already. I hope you gyus have a good night. :D


    + Oh I forgot. For those that wonder why Hirahn has such limited knowledge. He spent his life on earth, nothing more. He has never seen a fantasy world with people that use magic daily. He is not omnipotent, is not the wisest. He is more human than God, and that''s how I wanted him to be! Can''t a God have emotions, can''t a God be childish, can''t a God be whatever the fuck he wants? Hahhh..... sorry guys...

 Chapter 014: Fate is for the weak

    (''Why am I so late?'', you guys ask. Well, shit is going on. Seems that some sissy birthmark of mine thought it would be fun to turn into skin cancer. That little fucker was luckily big enough to raise suspicion when my mother saw that little shit on my back, ye I am young, so what?, and so she dragged me to the doctor. I assured her it was nothing but hey, two weeks later and another examination it seems that little fucker was cancerous. It is only local around my back but the problems start once those stupid cells begin rooting into my organs. I will have surgery and the doctors prescribed me some kind of medicine that keeps the cancer local so that it can be removed without chemotherapy, I would not like to lose my fabulous dark blonde hair. So that is that, I was pretty stressed out, had still some exams to write and stuff to do, partying counts as stuff also. I just hope everything will be resolved since the surgery is set in two months already, snap snap on my back. I will try to keep the chapter count up, I was just taken aback by the sudden notice, so nothing major will change. I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :D ) +please let me proof read it tomorrow, still need to proof read the other two chapters! XDDD Sorry guys :P.


    "So Hirahn, only a few days left, huh....", Alexander sighed, cross legged he sat on the town''s protective walls and let the full moon bath him in it''s glittering refractions of the sun, the only time you could see the sun''s magnificience without hurting yourself.


    "Yup, it was a fun time...", Hirahn nodded shallowly and let his body fall against the walls parapet. Below him was the barren wasteland, havocked into an irreclaimable state of unfertility by Hirahn''s rampage. It would take months or years for the earth to soften through wind and rain and then another few months for the first plant life to break their way through the hard shell of sere and compressed dirt. Nature would reclaim what it had lost.


    "Why are you not afraid of me?", Hirahn turned to look at Alexander, the silence broken.


    "How should I say... You are not that bad of a guy as I made you out to be.", Alexander shrugged his shoulders, over the weeks he got pretty close to Hirahn, they could be considered old friends by now.


    "I tried to kill you...", Hirahn''s interest was piqued and he began whispering. "I am a being that could destroy this world. Shuld you not feel the need to, I don''t know, chain me into some kind of seal? Rally other strong people to fight me? Something like that.", Hirahn tapped onto the iron railing with his index finger.


    "Pfff... Let''s be honest here. Hirahn, what could stop you? Please don''t be silly. Nothing, even all of humanity and the other races combined could amount to the dirt beneath your feet. There is only one way. Surrender.", Alexander replied grudgingly.


    "I guess you are right... But are you not afraid that I will go around killing your citizen?", in Hirahn''s eyes a severe curiosity sparked. "You have seen how I can be at times, irrational slaughter, do you want that in your kingdom?".


    "Are you going on a killing spree then? I think it was two weeks ago when you told me that you killed off some of the enemies encampments. Isn''t that proof enough that you won''t harm us anymore? You especially went out of your way to NOT harm us. That''s enough for me, but who am I to judge?", Alexander stood up and leaned on the railing likewise. His eyes focused on the full moon that enveloped the two lonely man in its monochrome rays. "Maybe I trust you, no, I definitely trust you.", Alexander''s words abated.


    "You know, I really like this world. I have barely seen anything and yet, the people are all I need. You guys are upright, or maybe its just you and your city. Of course there are some black sheep but if you would compare that to my old world. *sigh*", with a heavy heart Hirahn pressed more of his body against the slightly rusty iron railing.


    "You want to talk about it?", Alexander asked. This would be the first time Hirahn seemed to open up to anyone, Alexander wouldn''t want to miss that.


    "Nah, I''m good.", Hirahn smiled weakly. The cold wind blew through each and everyone of their hairs, platin and gold. It made up a scenic picture.


    "So, how is your kingdom, what are you planning?", Hirahn tried to change the subject, although a bit mechanic it still worked.


    "I don''t know... Living those few weeks inside my trusty castle''s walls showed me that there really is no need for some extensive plot of land, some giant kingdom that encompasses the continent. I just want my city, that''s all.", Alexander''s tone was sombre, filled with reluctance and yet with resolve.


    "So? You will relinquish your lands? Are you crazy?", what King in his right mind would voluntarily surrender his lands? His own property?


    "Yes... Those people live the same as they did years before, only the name changed. I barely controlled the outer reaches of my kingdom, they were self-reliant to the most part. Only those noble fools are crying around like children right now. The least I could do to appease them is to reclaim the mines. But right now... Even if they tried to take down my loyal fort.", Alexander''s fingers scratched over the brown rust. "I won''t let them."


    It was the truth. The two weeks of training, barely hanging onto dear life, the modifications to his body, the augmentation of his armor, all of them raised Alexander into a completely new realm of power. Forget the Higher beings, Alexander was now in a league of his own, only Lizzy and Hirahn, obviously, can compete with him.


    "What are these nobles even doing in your city?", Hirahn inquired.


    "You really think I could administer all this paperwork by myself? They work from home just so you know. Hasn''t Myrel told you any of this?", Alexander raised a brow but at the second part of his answer he began poking Hirahn with his elbow and winked repeatedly. "My daughter is still available, you know.". *winking intensifies* (Had to do that XD)


    "First off,", Hirahn''s voice was not playful in the least and prompted Alexander to stop with his hoaxes. "I am not interrested in your daughter, in Myrel or anyone, you get that?", his gaze was cold and suffocating. "Second, that can change.", Hirahn''s grim expression turned into a goofy smile.


    Alexander sighed in relief, his hand holding onto his beating chest.


    "I will certainly get a heartattack one of these days.", Alexander mumbled to himself while Hirahn enjoyed the cool breeze with a carefree face.


    "Hirahn.", Alexander nudged Hirahn''s sides and gestured behind him.


    An exhausted Myrel, hands cupped on her knees and sweating profusely, eyed the two man.


    "Hirahn, Alexander, what are you guys doing here?", the sweet woman asked and wiped the sweat from her face.


    Hirahn pushed himself from the railing to support Myrel. His warm and charming eyes kept their focus on the tall woman. (I shall remember you, she is taller than Hirahn. Let''s say 1,85m or so, just a bit taller than him.)


    "Why are YOU here?", he asked and walked with her towards the ledge of the walls.


    "Enjoy the night?", Myrel asked but she herself knew what a lame excuse that was.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Yeah... of course.", Hirahn gave her a sceptical look. "Of course you walk up many hundreds of stairs just to enjoy the night, who does not.", he said with deep sarcasm.


    "Ok, excuse me mister. I wanted to see you, is that wrong?", Myrel retorted with a proud and slightly red face, she did not hide the fact that she liked Hirahn. Alas Hirahn didn''t think much about romantic relationships, not for now...


    "Myrel you were bullied as a child were you not? Tall and weak was it, right?". Myrel''s expression changed from one of happiness to anger and sadness, she couldn''t believe that Hirahn would simply ask such a question out of nowhere. Did he want to humilate her?


    "Before you lash out at me, hear me out.", Hirahn raised his hands in an innocent manner.


    "Do you want power?", he continued. Alexander''s eyes were wide agape until a wide smile crept onto his face. ''Hahahaha, just as expected, always doing what he wants.'', Alexander thought amusedly. "Hirahn your eally care about us.", Alexander chimed in between.


    Hirahn rested his stern gaze on Myrel, ignoring Alexander''s remark. "Tell me, yes or no. Do you want power?", Hirahn too had a smile on his face.


    "W-what do y-?", Hirahn waved her off.


    "Myrel, I will be gone in a few days, for a long time. I can give you all the protection you need, you would be on par with Alexander afterwards, I could even make you stronger if you want.", at the same time a charge of spatial ripples waeved in the air, a picture of a large red dragon mirrored inside. "This is Lizzy, some random dragon that I modificated. Her power could eradicate this whole fort.", Lizzy perked her ears up as her master''s voice echoed all around her.


    "W-why? What? I-I mean why would you give me such power, and for what reason?", Myrel asked nervously, somewhat taken aback by Hirahn''s offer.


    "It''s easy. This world is ruled by the powerful. Without power you will never be allowed to elave these walls here. You can continue living in this birdcage, or... I will give you the power to transcend beyond what you are now, to break away from the chains that bind you! What do you say? Freedom and power? Do you want that?", Hirahn stretched his hand out towards her. "Grab my hand and I will change your fate forever."


    Unsure about what to do Myrel tried to reach out her trembling hand yet something stopped her from seeing it through.


    "Fate, fate is for the weak, the powerless, the craven. You are not one of those. Myrel, take my hand!", the few seconds of timidly reaching out her hand and then drawing back at the last second seemed to aggreviate Hirahn. "Myrel! Take my hand, I won''t allow you to succumb to fate, not one of my friends will!", his voice urged her, it turned dark and threatening even but the last few words, the meaning behind his words, lit a fire inside Myrel''s heart.


    Hirahn never spoke to her so openly and even Alexander was surprised by Hirahn''s change in attitude.


    The air trembled as Hirahn''s voice became more powerful.


    "Myrel, listen! I won''t let any of you die, I won''t let you guys be taken away from me, I WON''T ALLOW IT! Take this power! You need this power! I can''t let you die, not again. Saraya. TAKE IT! MYREL! NOW! TAKE MY HAND!", Hirahn''s body started to change, miasma oozed out of his skin as dolorous memories assaulted his mind and began to strengthen the darkness inside him. One hand gripped his aching hand and the other one waned in front of Myrel. Alexander stood up and unsheathed his sword, B?ses Blut, at the saem time he equipped his armor ''Bullwark''.


    Instead of stepping back or even showing as much as a tremble MYrel stepped forward. "You endured so much.", one of her hands reached out and stroked Hirahn''s face. "Remember when you did the same to me?", the beautiful woman chuckled and continued to caress Hirahn. Hirahn continued to change appearance, dark snakes coiling underneath his blackening skin.


    "Myrel go away! This is going to get dangerous!", Alexander assessed the situation and motioned for Myrel to distance herself from Hirahn. He won''t win, he knew that, but if he had to fight his master Alexander would not falter even for a second.


    Myrel ignored the shouting King, the reason might have been the sharp winds that howled over the walls or maybe she choose to ignore him out of her own. Her face drew closer to Hirahn. "You see us as really important, don''t you?", she whispered into his cracked face.


    "You care so much about us. Yet you are too afraid to show it... too afraid to open up to us. Hirahn we are here for you!", Myrel shouted and tears began rolling down her face.


    "Why can''t you see it? What is holding your heart back?". The white globe resonated with each of Myrel''s words. This last part of good could only totally agree with Myrel. Saraya would not want to see Hirahn like this. No one would want to see his lover turn into an apathetic machine.


    "Yes, I want power!", her fists slammed against his chest as she leaned her body forward.


    Hirahn''s body shuddered for a moment. The air was silent and even the clouds high up in the sky stopped their monotonous floating.


    "Haaaa......", Hirahn exhaled a long sigh. "Thank you Myrel.", his voice was weak and apollogetic but Myrel simply shock her head.


    "I thank you.", she said and pressed her lips against Hirahn''s.


    "Puaahh! What was that?", Hirahn parted with Myrel''s lips and looked at her curiously.


    "Whatever made you what you are now, whatever pain it is that causes you such torment, I will fill it with happiness, ten fold.", the feisty woman smiled in delight and pumped her fist in the air, still holding tight onto Hirahn with one hand.


    "Hahahaha.... You really are... a good friend.", Hirahn laughed feebly.


    With one hand he smacked his cheeks. "Alright, you accepted my deal, you miht have not taken my hand but I take you kiss as a yes.", he jested and returned to his joyous demeanor.


    "I like you better like this.", Myrel giggled jauntily.


    "Then let''s get this on.", Hirahn clenched with one of Myrel''s hands. "How do you wanna look? Some extras?", Hirahn laughed and pulled Myrel closer to him.


    Her lips puckered up and one finger pressed against them. "Hum... I liked how Lizzy looks. A strong dragon, dangerous yet prideful, some times gentle and at other times ruthless, I like it.", Myrel nodded her head to herself.


    "Alright.", Hirahn pressed her hand tighter. MYrel''s body trembled for a bit, her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Hirahn laid her unconscious body on the ground and prepared to customize one of his friends into a draconic aberration. A somewhat frightening thought.


    Alexander huffed and said back against the railing. "Fate is for the weak....", he mused and began reminiscing.


    (Another note: Can someone tell em some good site to learn drawing and stuff, a free one would be good XD I thank you guys in advance!)

 Chapter 015: Angel of War

    (Heyho cotton eye Joe, my nickname btw -only Joe, not cotton eye-, how you guys ''doin? I am doing great, enjoying my time until I will beat cancer in his ass! No, that sounds desperate. I am doing fine guys, just so you know. This chapter is not much, just Myrel''s new form and showing a bit of Hirahn''s personality. Nahnahnah! He won''t be suddenly all chill-milly, he will gradually coem to accept those around him as friends, although they are human. The plot will go forward in the next chapter, probably skip a fight between Alexander and Myrel, and then initiate the first arc. Yeah this was more of introduction and enabling Hirahn to know more about this world. Don''t forget there is still the unexplored southern part of the world of Asthea, and so many races to screw around with. Vampires, elves and all those stiff guys will be smacked by Hirahn''s madness. It will be so much fun! I hope you enjoy this little chapter here, sorry guys but I sprinkled a few harder words here and there to give it more authenticity. I AM SORRY! I KNOW I SHOUDN''T DO THIS! :( Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :D )


    Hirahn submerged every fiber of his being into Myrel''s weak and mortal body. He snaked his way past strands of muscles, friable bones, layers of flesh and seas of blood. He took in all the informaton about Myrel''s body, her strengths, her weaknesses, her physical layout, even her memories were flipped through like a book.


    In seconds Hirahn knew more about Myrel than she herself did, does and will ever do.


    His ethereal form sweeped through her body, deformed the weak and human tissue, destructurized it and melded it with his magic power into something incredible. He willed the essences of the elements, magic and matter into the yet too weak body. Raw power ruptured Myrel''s flesh and bones, imbued it with magical energy and formed her anew.


    Unlike Alexander Myrel''s body got a complete overhaul, she was being reborn, in the truest sense.


    From the outside Alexander stared wide-eyed at the trembling body of Myrel. Blue crackles rippled through her body, her limbs trembled and her complexion turned into one of immense pain. Each jolt of staticity was flanked by a burst of power that quietly vanished. Her body began to change, from the inside out. Organs, bones, muscles, nerves, everything that made-up her body was being enhanced, or rather exchanged for denser and less fragile tissue.


    Slack-jawed Alexander watched as a thin layer of scales began to breach Myrel''s tender skin. The scales rattled in delight as they breathed their first wiff of fresh air. Hundreds of those silvery spikes raised up towards the moon, like tiny hands they send a prayer into the sky before they settled onto Myrel''s skin and mimicked her originally tanned color.


    Myrel''s eyelashes fluttered, her eyes gaped open with shock. Her back arched as if possessed by a demon and the skin underneath began to crawl. Brilliant blue eyes stared at the nightsky as Myrel''s hairs began to sway in the motionless air. Each strand discharged a white radiance which blinded Alexander and sent him back onto his bottom. Alexander rubbed the surprise from his unfocused eyes and sat back up. Like a beacon of might Myrel sent out a powerful burst of energy that made even the clouds scatter into all directions. The abundant energy dispersed in flashes of light around Myrel and surrounded her in a halo of blue flares.


    Her body descended and Myrel was once again lying down on the ground, black ash surrounded her but apart from that she seemed normal. Her hair was back to its warm chestnut brown instead of the searing white and even her eyes were soundlessly closed, she looked relaxed and at peace with herself; Alexander couldn''t detect a single difference. Though instead of using his eyesight Alexander pryed into Myrel''s strength with his own instincts and his instincts told him that another apex fighter was standing right before him, one that could even shadow his own power.


    Hirahn''s body that was standing stock still began to move like a rusted machine, gauche and clumsy. Humpy he began to rotate his joints and flex his muscles and then stretched to the sides. "That took longer than expected.", he mumbled to himself with a dissatisfied tone. He might have said so but the whole process took at most two minutes, maybe even less. That he was even able to modify a human being was already bordering utter infeasibility.


    ''Why can I not enhance her any further? Are there limitations?'', Hirahn wondered as he looked at the sleeping Myrel. As mucha s he wanted to he could not turn her to a this world''s equivalent of a God, and this nagged at Hirahn.


    "Hirahn what is... this...?", Alexander walked up to him from the side and picked up the ash from the ground. He let the black powder slide between his fingers; it somehow felt familiar to him, not its touch but the aura that was radiating from it.


    "Unlike you, whose body is pretty top-notch already, Myrel''s body had to be changed from scratch. This ash you are so closely examining is the shed body of the new Myrel.", Hirahn explained. "So its better to not touch that, it''s disgusting.". "W-what?", Alexander stuttered and let the ash fall from his hand.


    "Wouldn''t that mean that you killed Myrel?", Alexander asked worryingly.


    "You know, the soul leaves the body when its beyond repair, when you are dead and your body won''t work anymore. But with you as my first guinea pig I found out that if you gradually change and destroy the vessel of the soul, the body, and replace it with a stronger vessel at the same time you can keep the soul contained within. Memories, emotions, everything spiritual is residing within the soul, or in other words, your ego and self are your soul. I did not kill Myrel, I just gave her a new body.", Hirahn crouched down and poked Myrel''s face with his finger. "Wake up Myrel.", he whispered into her ears. "So I was only a guinea pig.", Alexander mumbled dejectedly at the side, unheard by Hirahn, and sighed.


    "Mhmhm...", Myrel groaned while stretching her cramped limbs. Her eyelids fluttered and slowly openned to reveal her originally rich green eyes. Confused her sight darted between Hirahn and Alexander.


    "W-what happened?", she asked in a hoarse voice as if she was asleep for many hours although she lost consciousness for only a few minutes.


    "I finished modifying your body. See for yourself.", Hirahn pulled her onto her two trembling legs with ease.


    Expectant Myrel felt with her hands over her skin, face, limbs. Her fingers traced down over her body and yet they couldn''t feel a difference. From her hairs to her nails to her teeth, everything stayed the same. Her eager expression turned into a frown and even more confusion. "Hirahn, I don''t feel... different?", Myrel asked and looked at Hirahn with puppy eyes. "Do it again.", she said with a whimper. She needed the power to prove herself, that she was not just some tall brute, but a competent person; but it was even more so to stay at Hirahn''s side and support him, only with strentgh she could achieve such a feat.


    "Pahahahaha! Myrel let me show you something.", Hirahn raised his hand upwards and a slim dagger began to form inside the empty air, clenched by his hand. The dagger had a diaphanous blade, as though it was made of glass. The shiv was razor sharp and exuded terrifying danger. Myrel gasped in surprise, surprised about the floating dagger and the next action Hirahn took.


    With a lightning fast strike Hirahn''s hand gripped the dagger and at the same time curved with a horizontal slash downwards. Myrel cried in terror as the glossy steel began penetrating into her skin, at least it tried to. Though there is a difference between trying and straight out failing; knowing it will fail but struggling in desperation.


    The moment the powerful and mystical steel came in contact with Myrel''s tender and silky skin, so weak and fragile, thin cracks began to spread from its tip. Despite being able to cleave other high grade metals in two, this dagger was not able to pierce Myrel''s skin, on the contrary! It shattered after Hirahn applied more pressure to it, like the fragile glass it looked like, just like that! Later Hirahn would find out that he created an even harder metal than mythril and adamantium combined, and all that just on a whim.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Fragments of the dagger shot into the air. Myrel ducked with extremely fast reflexes to the side and avoided each and every splinter of crystalline metal; not even those pieces that barely reached the size of a grain of sand could touch her. Her eyes managed to keep up with the ricocheting glass fragments, although they were lightning fast, and her brain had enough time to sent out orders and calculate the trajectories of those glass bullets.


    Hirahn now held onto the hilt without blade and let it drop to the ground. The remains of the dagger vanished before touching the stone ground; swallowed by a gust of wind silvery ashes were scattered into the air. "This is what you are now.", Hirahn pressed with one finger against Myrel''s chest. "This will hurt a bit.", he added.


    A subtle spark of aether smelted with Myrel, the blue tether swam through her body and reached a blue core of immense power. Acting as a catalyst to jump start Myrel''s aether core it infused itself into the blue globe which was rotating around itself in absolute stillness.


    Myrel wailed as a sharp pain assaulted her body. Her skin began to show cracks in a repetitive pattern, vaguely reminding of scales on a reptile, they looked the same as those scales she showed while Hirahn transformed her! Those same scales flipped around themselves to display their blazing white underside and turned Myrel into an angel clad in purity. It all happened so suddenly.


    Two thin and light grey wings penetrated through Myrel''s shoulder blades. They sent a volley of golden blood splatters to the ground as the wings unfolded to showcase their true beauty. Trimmed with spikes at their edges and half-translucent the wings were an odd combination of a butterflies dapperness and a dragon''s fiercenss. Even Myrel''s eyecolor changed from its rainforest green into a piercing blue, as did her chestnut brown hair. Its warm brown colour tuned into an equally warm white that could soothe a mad man''s heart.


    Her body rose upwards as though it was lifted by invisible strings and halted in mid-air. Power surged from all around the amalgamation of angelic and draconic features. The moon''s rays seemingly increased in intesity and shrouded Myrel in a dazzling gown of beady light that was thrumming around her floating body.


    The divine light eked Myrel''s sacred appearance. Her gaze, wide open and awake, turned callous and yet contained its unblemished beauty -both aspects stood contrasting with each other- as it washed over the walls and the city beyond. Only when her sight stopped on Hirahn did it change from impassiveness into an adoring if not even venerative and loving gaze. She was a cold beauty with tyrannical power but there was only one person in her heart.


    She turned into a fierce warrior, bristling with astuteness and duty, but at the same time her frail buterfly-like wings, her beautiful unsmeared skin, as though even the air did not dare to touch, and her wispy frame made one think of a fabled fairy. One wanted to protect her but at the same time go with her into an arduous battle. There was a kind of thrill and longing one experienced when watching Myrel''s new form. She was a goddess of war and beauty.


    Hirahn turned towards Alexander and pointed with his thumb backwards. "Alexander, you got a name for that race I created?", Hirahn asked, unaffected about the fact that he created a whole new race that was in strenth close to the Gods themselves.


    "N-no... I think only angels could be comparable to... this.", unlike the first few times Alexander was now quite calm when facing an impossible miracle created by Hirahn, he simply accepted that such a being existed. A being that could make the impossible possible.


    "Hum..... I will baptize this new race as Valkyries. I bless you with future success and hope you will have many descendants... Pahahahah!", Hirahn laughed out loud, it was the first time he created an entirely new race and the absurdity only hit him now. Thinking back about how he modified Alexander''s body and turned the High-Human into something beyond those limitations he looked at the old and yet, compared to Hirahn, young king.


    "Alexander, you are not a High-Human anymore; you are this mankind''s genesis, you are their Prometheus. A Primordial, you shall now be named as such!", Hirahn commanded and clapped with his hands, delighted about his superb naming sense. This too just happened in a mere second. There was no room for debate or anything. Hirahn said it was so and that was it. ''The sun spins around the earth'', if Hirahn said so then it was true, it HAD to be true. After all those words came from a real God.


    "A-alright, I think?", Alexander could only scratch his head, certainly he was not a High-Human anymore but it still felt wrong to have his race changed so abruptly.


    "Ah! I think her body should ahve accomodated to the changes by now.", Hirahn clasped his hands together for a final time, at the same instant Myrel''s body began to plummet, her eyes closed and her body relaxed. It was surprising how swiftly Hirahn could change subjects. It just went to show how much of his uncaring attitude still remained, deeply ingraved in his heart, he would be no fool to just go and accept some humans as his ''best'' friends, they were comrades for now.


    "Hyup!", Hirahn jumped and catched the winged girl before she hit the ground, breaking through serveral floors in all likeliness with her new and more sturdy body.


    "Tsk, now I have to wake her up all over again!", Hirahn grumbled as he observed the peacefully sleeping Myrel in her new form, in her new body, the body of a mighty valkyre!


    As he began to tug at her nose and pinching her cheek Hirahn started to revel in thought. In just a few days he would leave this kingdom, this continent probably and all he could do was to bestow his comrades with power. ''Comrades... or friends? No, not yet. But some day.'', Hirahn mused happily to himself. The darkness took a heavy blow from the white orb that was spinning and brimming with new-found power, giddily bouncing up and down inside Hirahn''s heart. He finally realized, he finally acknowledged those around him. It was hard for Hirahn to show it but aside from his apathy he also felt something else now that he could not explain, it could only be the warmth of companionship, to share a bond that was beyond race, ideologies or anything that made on differ. (For God''s sake if anyone misunderstands making friends with being able to be 100% empathic and then tells me it contradicts with what I said about Hirahn I will fuck a hole into my laptop!)


    For the second time in just a few minutes Myrel woke up from a sudden fit of weariness. Her fair hands rubbed the sleep from her eyes, her tall and elegant body wriggled in Hirahn''s strong arms and her mouth openned up to release a cute yawn. Her wings shuddered, openned and closed like window shutters until they leaned closely onto Myrel''s back. Smacking her lips Myrel woke up, feeling literally like new.


    "How are you feeling, my little valkyrie.", Hirahn offered the awakening Myrel a large smile, showing his brilliant teeth in folly.


    Thinking about it, Hirahn was not only a  being of cold, hard, apathy but also chaos. He was ever-changing, chaotic and a lover of the unknown. What might that mean for the future?

 Heyho Cotton Eye Joe

    Whatsup guys? Not much? Nooooice~


    To does that wondered what happened to me -doubt there are any- I was diagnosed with skin cancer and had it removed at the beginning of february with a combination of chemotherapy and surgery. And now I am back, not at my highest but back nonetheless.


    In the meantime of me transitioning between exhaustion from the therapy and overall boredom I thought a bit about this fiction and came to the conclusion that it needs a rewrite. A better one, one that is more enjoyable and not needlessly verbose.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    THOUGH! I leave the end decission to you guys. Do you want a full on rewrite or should I continue normally witht eh fiction? I could also do both, rewrite just some parts I am extremely dissatisfied with while I add to the story. What will it be?


    I appreciate any comment down below and all my dear readers that contine to support me with those dank views and stars.

 And God said: It shall be rewritten!

    First off, to all those that hoped I would continue this asap: I am sorry!


    I decided against the majority since I was more comfortable to rewrite the story, ground it on a more solid foundation and then work my way upwards. I apologize sincerely to all of you I have disappointed!


    But do not worry!


    The story itself will follow the same charaters, the same premise, but this time I will try to write it more serious. With actual conflicts and bloodshed and not some wishy-washy stupid-ass cringe clownfiesta.


    When I look at the first few chapters of my fiction I actually feel a shiver run down my spine. It is SOOOO BAD and I even feel bad for offering you guys this bullcrap! It is so cringeworthy and though I don''t know if I will do any better on this second attempt I still hope so.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    So, reason one clear why I wanted to rewrite it: It was pretty bad and cringy.


    Reason two: the fiction will include characters and situations that weren''t included in my first attempt albeit it will roughly follow the same story. So I thought it would be nicer for you guys to -instead of re-reading Arbiter of Power- be offered a slightly different story so that you guys won''t be bored out of your minds.


    Well, that was all from my side. You can write down below, as always, what you think about my decision.


    Another imporrtant thing. The rewrite will be called: ''Re:Arbiter of Power'' creative, right? No? Oh...... #feelsbadman.