Chapter 62 - Demon

The sound of the engine working at full throttle was heard throughout the empty path leading out of Frostrest. Adelana had her guard up, they had made it a way out. Nighttime had now befallen, kids wanted to jump and play around while the elderly wanted rest. She had planned to pull an all-nighter and go as far as she possibly could. Sadly, that wasn't possible, the villagers were tired and bored. If she didn't hear their plea and cry, it would result in anarchy. Hand-tied and desperate, she ordered the few volunteers who came all the way from castle Garsley to set-up camp. It was freezing, the air around the foot of Brisnet heights was always chilly. The camp got set-up and she stood guard over everything. Their journey had been peaceful so far, though she worried deeply about her sisters who stayed back. It pained her to leave them to the wolves but sacrifices were needed to be made. Her gaze fixed atop Brisnet heights, "hard to imagine that you're the only line of defense separating us from total chaos. If only I could stay back and protect you from invaders, but its all but dreams."

"Adelana, we've got trouble," Alyson said while panting. In her hand, she held a black rectangle, a phone. Her fears had turned for the worst. "Kreston has begun their attack, and as we speak, they fight over the village." She quickly read out the last message received.

Fenrir and the others had to hold the village for longer than anticipated. The reason was that Adelana was still in the vicinity, and if the army were left to advance further, the innocent lives would be put in peril. It had only been a few hours since the camp was set-up, the villagers nonchalantly talked and ate to their heart's content around a massive fire. This gravely annoyed Adelana, she wanted to order everyone to get back in the trucks, sadly, it wasn't possible. All she could do was bite her lips and glare while waiting for the rest to recuperate. This goes to show that everything isn't as predictable as it appeared to be; the plan was to evacuate the village, while Kreston wasn't ready to attack. After the innocents were out of harm's way, when they would inevitably march into Frostrest, a fire would be set ablaze, both slowing their pace and giving time for Fenrir to set up their ambush near Brisnet heights. Against all odds, the attack began so much earlier than anticipated, the fires weren't ready nor were the defending party.

The sound of swords clashing against each other, the faint smell of iron and gun powder. Hidden within the shadows, Ayleth from close range and Annet from long-range picked off the enemy one by one. Their number didn't decrease, rather it increased, Fenrir made her way inside the forest and wreaked havoc on their flank. It accomplished nothing but cutting off their supply route, the forest had been cleared out partly and a path was cut out. Its vehicles moved up and down quickly. Using ice-magic, Fenrir froze said path, built numerous ice-wall as thick if not thicker than stone-bricks, all the while slaying whoever she saw. It may appear that the defending crew was winning this fight but it couldn't be any further from the truth. In reality, the army had other routes scattered around,

Fenrir only took out the main one, and the number of soldiers was mind-blowing. They came in waves that increased in number gradually, they were only the rookies and trainees. The real army hadn't shown its true strength, the pope led the whole expedition – rendering them twice as strong.

A good leader makes an already powerful army twice as mighty.

Annet and Ayleth fought and hoped for Adelana to move quickly, it was necessary to ensure their survival. It all rested on the elder sister's hand. Out of options, Adelana sent a message to Staxius, she knew full well that he was busy but he was the only one who could help. Avon read said message, though he slept in the trunk, he saw it and sensed it. A nightwalker and another powerful mage, the latter was Julius, he held no chance against the vampire, thus, Avon acted and decided to use both the siblings as support for Fenrir. On route to Frostrest, he explained everything. Julius's aura changed, he was serious and ready to go, the bloodl.u.s.t grew agitated. Autumn, on the other hand, understood the situation and was ready to fight to the death if need be.

"Thank you for understanding, Julius."

"No problem, anything to help out a friend," he smiled and the black car vanished in the night -

back-up was on the way.

"Why do you look so composed?" Alyson asked as she delivered the news.

"Support is on its way, Staxius is coming, though we have to move too. We can't idly sit by. We'll leave in two hours, go announce it." The breeze grew colder, she smiled and stared at the night sky, "thanks for being our leader." An image of his face crossed her mind as a shooting star flew overhead.

Miles apart from each other, Staxius panted. The vampire had done a number on his body, he got weak. "W-what do you m-mean you're not human?" She carefully eyed him down. He coughed, he couldn't speak, "d-don't you g-get it by n-now?" Something shifted, the Enbalar siblings felt it and knew that feeling all too well. "Watch out," the kid sister screamed. "He's a demon," the brother added. "They are right," Staxius smirked. Out of reflex, Aurora continued piercing his stomach as opposed to his heart where it felt hot. Her hand went right through him, it was as easy as plucking a flower petal. "Stop, it's getting boring." He rolled his eyes and stared at the elves. "How d-do you s-still draw breath?" Her eyes filled with anger and hate, "why won't you cower before me? Am I a joke to you?" Her ego took a hit, normally people would run away at her sight.

"Is it the first time you've stood up against someone equal to you?" he spoke monotonously, his gaze returned to her eyes. Her face, it bled, she bit her lips out of anger. "Let me tell you a secret, the more you kill me, the more powerful I get." Quickly, he rose and got closer to her face than before, they were inches apart, her whole arm went through the hole she made. Blood gushed out, but he didn't look phased at all. "W-who a-are you?" she asked, her face remained still, it looked as if it were stuck between happiness and dread. "I'm the one who is going to kill you," she felt his aura and quickly flapped her wings to get away.

"Why are you running away from a puny human," he smirked, the hole in his chest regenerated.

"Am I not worthy to stand close to you?" he made it seemed as if she rejected him. "Am I not worth being your lover," he chuckled. *Death element: Unleash Aura." She tried flying away but got swallowed up by something invisible. She felt as if she was drowning underwater, her movement completely stopped, her wings froze and she fell straight down. "Let me tell you something," he slowly approached her. The look on her face changed, never had it happened for her to be so overwhelmed. Though her ranking was the worst out of the royal guards, a measly A-rank which translates into SS-rank here, she, in fact, was powerful. "D-don't c-come c-closer," she tried crawling away, her legs gave up on working. *Whoosh,* as gently and elegantly as a butterfly, Staxius dashed forward and appeared before her. Her face stared at the ground, the subtle movement of grass made her raise her head. Crouched down, she saw death staring at her, his face was inclined to the right, "is there something wrong?" he asked with a casual and friendly tone. "Because how you're acting," he stood up, "-is a complete reversal to what you were saying earlier." *Crack,* he slammed on her right arm, it instantly shattered, she screamed, it echoed all around. "Is a superior race suppose to scream like that? Isn't it strange how the role gets swapped around." His eyes held no remorse nor feelings. "P-please d-don't k-kill me," she begged. "Oh I'm sorry did that hurt?" her arm begun to regenerate, "you're a superior race after all," once the arm healed, he slammed on it again.

She screamed louder than before, "you're resilient, just like humans." Staxius covered his mouth, he tried looking surprised. "Oh my," *Crack,* he broke the other arm. She was in agony; his aura was so dense it seemed like an imprisonment spell. "N-no m-more." Tears flowed down her cheeks; her massive stature turned back to normal. "Oh my, look at this now, you've grown smaller. Should I take this as a sign that you've given up?"

"Stop it you demon," Erlareo jumped into the battle; he wanted to save the vampire. Meanwhile, the kid's sister began shooting arrows. "Don't interrupt me," the brothers face got slammed into the floor right next to the vampire, he was knocked out instantly. He turned to look at the sister, she already shot an arrow. Out of reflex, he caught it, the tip was coated with poison, it was millimeters away from his eyeball. "Disturb me and I swear this arrow ends up inside your brother's skull," he pointed the tip downwards and shoved it into the ground next to his face. "I won't be so kind next time." The sister faltered, she fell to her knees and remained silent. "Now then, miss vampire, where were we?" Her injuries healed. "I-I'll d-do a-anything." Her sobs fell on deaf ears. "Those black-wings look so pretty." He changed his target, slowly and gently, he caressed the edges. On the ground, Melantha twitched uncontrollably, "I see, this is your sensitive spot." With a smile of satisfaction on his face, he reached for his sheathed sword. "Let's see how you do against this," he gently touched the cold tip of the blade on the wings, she m.o.a.ned. "Not the reaction I was looking for," he lightly let the sword's weight pierce it, her sensitive spot. Her scream turned into cries, it was deafening, she screamed so painfully it made his ears hurt. "Shut it," he grunted. Out of spite, he tore her dress partly, folded it into a ball and shoved it inside her mouth. "Let's have fun," he smiled and patted her head cheerfully. Her screamed muffled, he effortlessly began to slice her precious wings. She tried to fight back, her power grew stronger, "No, no, no," *Death element, Unleash Aura x2* this time it was so dense it felt like the world rested on her shoulders, her body stuck onto the ground like two magnets getting attracted. He took his time, sliced, and played around like a madman. That part of him had been lost, he always loved to make people who look down on others suffer, he did it to anyone. The people who seemed to be almighty and untouchable, he loved bringing them down.

Melantha Aurora's scream grew so intense that she ripped her vocal cords.

"Guess it's time to stop." The sun rose, dawn approached, it didn't look that great for the vampire, her mortal enemy was waking up. Staxius tortured her for the whole night, and now planned on leaving her to suffer and die as the sun rose up. The brother woke up hours ago and sat with his sister, they both watched as silently as a picture. Their fear grew, they had annoyed the wrong guy. As he stepped away, the vampire looked at him, her eyes were filled with regret and fondly enough he sensed a bit of friendliness. She didn't seem angry nor displeased by him, her whole emotion changed – after what she went through Staxius waited for anger but got a glimpse of joy. Her eyes slowly shut, deep inside, she accepted her fate to die out here.

"I forgot to ask her questions, damn it." *Death element: Shadow-step.* A gust of wind flew by, it awoke the siblings from their state of lifelessness. Staxius and the girl had vanished.

Out on the path leading to Frostrest, Staxius's car passed by Adelana's truck. The former shot by like thunder while the latter moved at a steady speed. "Sister, was that just?" Alyson asked.

"Yes, that was Staxius," Adelana replied.

Sat on Autumn's lap, Avon grew tired. "Julius, I'm getting slower, the mana given to me by Staxius is running out, I'm on twenty-five percent. I can take you there but not back, not together with you; I may need to return alone. "Don't worry about it, when are we reaching Frostrest?" Julius said reassuringly.

"Fifteen minutes," the car shot into overdrive and went twice as fast as before.

"Get ready for an all-out assault when we get out, Autumn." He warned her.

"Yes, count on it brother."

Back in Arda, the queen grew impatient. Vampires were given straight orders to return before daybreak and had limited time outside. It was necessary for their survival as well as safety. That is to say that most vampires can last outside and live normally, those who've trained hard enough and reached a certain level of maturity that is. Despite that, the sun is still their biggest weakness, especially if they're hurt or injured. Queen Shanna Islegust paced around her room worryingly. Questions like did the elf get killed or were they captured ran through her mind. She wasn't a bad person, just overprotective and over caring though heartless when need be. All creatures were dear to her, especially the one hailing from Arda, but humans didn't see that. People often took advantage of her gullibility, if a young elf or any other race came to meet her and say someone else tried to harm them. Then may it be a lie or truth, the accused would be put through the harshest punishment. She knew deep down that people used that weakness against her, but she could not just turn a blind eye to a crying young one. After all, she's a fairy, almost like a mother but a lady as well.

None really knew how a fairy is born, some say when a child smiled but those were tales told to make kids obedient. Only she held the answers and secrets, people have said that the day when someone truly deserving of her comes around; she'll transform into an angel and devote herself to that said person. It's all speculations and folktales. The queen who leads Arda is real; her stature is one of a grown woman as opposed to what people in the villagers say fairies are. Usually, they describe said beings as child-sized and bearing green eyes with wings on her back. Here in Arda, away from all other eyes, that description could not be any wrong, she has wings but it's hidden. Her eyes are green but changes throughout the day and her mood affect it. Little do those cheerful kids know that a real-life fairy exists though that information is secure and only a handful of people know it. Some waited for that fated someone to come, while others just scowled at the idea of the queen being romantic to another being.