As the storm clouds moved in and as the moon started to rise, myself, Akiyomi, Scarlon, and Vanessa headed for the woods. All except Akiyomi were armed with something. I had a knife, a gift I got from Scarlon before I really knew him. He carried his sword, and Vanessa had a book and a spear.

Scarlon then looked at me as we approached the area of the woods I passed through with Akiyomi just days earlier. "Now Colin, is this around where you were when you took those pictures?" He asked.

I glanced around and nodded. "Yes. Some of the trees do look familiar." We then moved a little closer toward some of the oldest trees in the woods. "I think that's the place."

"Very well. Then let's proceed with caution." Scarlon said.

We approached the trees close to where I saw the summoning site and an axe started swinging our way. Both Scarlon and Vanessa quickly drew their weapons to intercept the swinging blade and I immediately thought of how glad I was, and still am, that we did not get any closer to the place than we did on my last visit since I now knew what I had sensed then.

"Took long enough!" Scarlon shouted as an orange-skinned creature emerged from the trees, swinging the axe around.

"You humans shall not pass!" the creature shouted.

"Oh please." Vanessa sighed, rolling her eyes. "Like a lesser demon can stop us!"

The demon's eyes flared, which is one of the most frightening sights for a young human sorcerer-in-training. Come to think about it, that is one of the most frightening things anyone can see. "You will pay for that insult with your lives!" it bellowed as it moved toward us.

"I don't think so!" Scarlon grinned, blocking the demon's axe with his sword once more as Vanessa joined in, both fighting the demon for a few minutes before Vanessa slashed it across the arm and Scarlon sliced it in two.

"I hope a lesser demon like that wasn't the best they had to offer." Vanessa groaned as she put her spear away. "I'm just getting warmed up!"

"I both hope so and don't, Vanessa." I replied, having seen her in action before and many times since. I've always tried to get as far away from her as possible when she is during such times. "Anyway, let's proceed."

"Yeah. I have no doubt that they're aware of our presence now since we just killed their guard. Not that they can get past us." Scarlon said as we walked between the trees.

As we emerged from the trees we spotted three people our age, well, mine and Akiyomi's, anyway, standing at different parts of the portal. Two girls and a boy. A large red-skinned creature stood in the portal, which was now giving off a bluish glow, and the creature towered over us all. The boy was holding a book identical to the one Scarlon showed us earlier. I was pretty sure that these were Akiyomi's friends, though what she said next confirmed it.

"Guys, what in the world are you doing?!" She shouted.

The boy with the book looked up at us. "Oh. It's just Arizuno."

"With some friends, including that upperclassman." One of the girls remarked as she glanced at me. "Not that she can make a difference."

The other one, who I knew to be a foreign-exchange student from the Jagerfell region, spotted the twins and pointed to them. "I wouldn't say that, Tegan." She said. "Those two are quite famous among supernatural enthusiasts."

"Big deal." Aidan said. "Like they can stop us, though how they got past that guy we summoned to guard this place is anyone's guess."

"Not that it matters since we have more where they came from." Tegan smirked.

A few more demons emerged from the smaller portal, which had a similar glow to the other one, and the larger demon spoke to them in a strange language. Well, at least it was strange to me at the time. I watched as the twins talked to the main demon in the same language. He was just as surprised by this as I was, though I could not focus on this at the time as one of the demons came at me. I didn't know a lot of combat spells at the time, but I used one of the few I knew which happened to be a lightening spell that fried the demon. Akiyomi hid in the trees as we started throwing spells and weapons around, though I did see her pick up a discarded knife and slash a few runaway demons with it.

"Who in the world are those three?!" Aidan shouted. "They're more than just a couple of enthusiasts if they know the language of the demons, and a sorcerer on top of that?! Though it doesn't make a difference." He looked back at some of the demons who were recently summoned. "Kill every last one of the intruders."

"I don't think so." Vanessa grinned.

I watched as she took out her book and flipped through it. At the same time, Scarlon was fighting against some of the demons that came after him while still talking with the main demon.

"What exactly are they saying?" I asked, looking at Vanessa.

"You don't want to know, Colin." Vanessa said. "The basics are that Scarlon is referring to this guy as a lesser demon prince, which is what he is, and the demon doesn't quite like that."

"Who would?" I asked, swinging around as a demon came at us shouting and quickly stabbing the creature with my knife. "That was a close one."

Vanessa nodded in agreement. "A little too close. Anyway, where was I?" She flipped through her book a little more. "Here we are, though this spell will take a little longer to prepare than I thought. Can you cover me, Colin?

"What kind of pupil would I be if I didn't?" I asked.

"Perfect." She grinned as she started reading from her book in a strange language, though different from the one Scarlon and the demon prince were talking in.

"What is that woman doing?!" Tegan asked as Aidan looked over and saw Vanessa's casting.

"About to die. That's what!" he shouted. He looked over at the demons and pointed to a few who were not fighting anyone. "What are you siting around for?! Kill that woman and then search the trees for Arizuno. I'm sure she's the one who told these people about us, and your boss doesn't want any rats!"

The demons nodded before some ran toward us while others flew. I fought off some of the demons and though I tried to avoid it, I had to kill a couple of them. I looked over while struggling against a couple of flying demons and saw that Scarlon was fighting against the head demon. I could tell that he was doing his best to avoid killing him since there were a few points where he could have ended the fight with a swing of his sword, but he didn't. Vanessa looked up from her book after some minutes with an intense look in her eyes.

I heard her voice in my mind shouting, "Everyone duck behind me!"

I immediately ran for the trees behind her and Tegan and Tazume did the same with Scarlon following.

"What are you doing?!" Aidan shouted as he watched his friends escape. "Running at our moment of triumph?!" He watched as Vanessa held her hands out and a translucent white wave emerged from them after waving them in a few ways. The wave swept the area in front of her and engulfed all of the demons along with Aidan, dropping the book on the ground in the process.

"Better luck next time, demons." Scarlon grinned as he started putting his sword away. "Now I hope you'll learn your lesson. This world isn't up for grabs by ANYONE!! Especially when your summoning portal is this close to me!" Everyone engulfed in the light was dragged into the portal and as as the glow around both was about to fade, one of the demons showed its claws and tried to crawl back through while preparing to strike at us. Scarlon then started shouting at it in the demon's language with an anger I had rarely seen before then and only a couple of times since then.

"Vanessa, what's he saying?" I asked.

She sighed. "That foolish demon! He's telling him not to do what he's about to do and that he has already spared him once. You know how he is about second chances in situations like this!" I grimaced and simply nodded in response.

"Oh? What's his stance on that?" Akiyomi asked. "Grandpa's always avoided telling me about that."

We watched as the demon lunged at Scarlon and tried to slash at him as he turned around, only for him to swiftly draw his sword and slice the demon in two without even bothering to look back.

"Poor choice, demon!" He shouted as he put his sword away.

"He doesn't have one. Not for something like this, anyway." I replied.

"Good to know." Akiyomi said. As the glow around both portals faded away completely and it looked like the area was empty outside of the markings, Kinoka and Tegan emerged from the trees along with the rest of us.

"What in the world just happened?!" Tegan asked.

"I kept you two from making a very foolish mistake." Scarlon began. "Don't summon demons unless you know exactly what you are doing and even then, don't! If it wasn't for your classmate seeking me out, who knows how this would've ended for you?! Those demons would've caught my attention soon enough especially since they were practically on my doorstep, but you two, along with your friend, might be dead!"

"What about Aidan? You basically left him at the other end of that portal to die!" She shouted.

"Though he's the one who started this mess, he should be fine." He replied. "I'll make sure of it."

"What? You know some demons or something?" Tegan asked.

"I believe he does if he's who I think he is." Kinoka said as she looked from Scarlon to Vanessa. "You two are the Demalgo twins, aren't you?"

"We are." Vanessa said. Kinoka gasped in astonishment. "Since you know of us, I'm guessing you're in some magic circles outside of this mess?" Vanessa asked.

She nodded. "You can say that. I've heard of you and your accomplishments, though I never realized you were as good as the stories say. Better even, and that's saying something!" She said. "So you're sure Aidan is safe, wherever he is?"

"Let's just say that if he isn't, the demon responsible can expect a visit from one of us. Namely that prince we just dealt with." Scarlon began. "I should mention that the prince's kingdom learned a very hard lesson the last time I came down there."

"So what are you going to do with us?" Tegan asked. "Come to think of it, how did you know we'd be here on that day in the first place? I know Akiyomi probably tipped you off, but even she couldn't have guessed exactly when we were doing this since she wasn't with us during the preparations. Aidan made sure we had no outside contact during all of this."

"That explains a lot, and why I grew concerned enough to get help." Akiyomi said, not wanting to mention that she had overheard them in the woods.

They watched as Scarlon walked over to the book and picked it up.

"There are other copies of that thing, aren't there?!" Kinoka asked. Scarlon nodded. "I knew it! I've heard rumors that there were. Do you have one of them?"

"Indeed I do." Scarlon said. "I'll return this book to your school and have a bit of a chat with your principal to see if some other books in your founder's collection ended up in the library. I'd suggest burning this thing, but I know that isn't going to happen."

"But that doesn't answer my question." Tegan snapped. "What are you going to do with us?"

"Since the summoning ultimately failed and nobody got hurt, save for that foolish demon, I'll let you guys go." Scarlon began. "Though if I hear that any of you are involved in something this dangerous ever again, I won't be so generous."

"He means it when he says that." I said.

"Fine. We'll get out of here." Tegan sighed. "While we won't give up on magic pursuits, you have our word that we'll never attempt to summon another demon. Thinking back on it, Aidan went a little farther than any of us were anticipating."

"Good. Now I hope you have a wonderful evening." Scarlon said.

Without even giving him a second look, Tegan and Tazume turned around and ran into the woods. Akiyomi looked at us once they were gone.

"How can I ever repay you for your help in this matter?" she asked.

"There is nothing to repay." He replied. "As I said before, I, well, both me and Vanessa, owe your family more favors than can be fulfilled in a single human lifetime. So as far as we're concerned, there is still more we can do to repay you."

"You've got that right." Vanessa said.

"Yeah." I said. "Is sparing her friends' lives part of those favors?"

"Saving that Aidan guy, absolutely." Scarlon said. "If he wasn't known to the Arizuno clan, I would leave him in...that place until my next planned visit, which won't be for at least a month."

"You really mean it?" Akiyomi gasped.

"He always does." Vanessa said. "Now don't get caught up with people who do this stuff anymore."

"Eh. I can try, though I wasn't anticipating something like this the first time." Akiyomi replied. "Though what could those demons have done?"

"If we weren't here, those demons would've taken over this world in less than a week. Granted, they'd barely keep it longer than that regardless, though that is another matter." Scarlon explained. "Do you need any help from here, Miss Arizuno?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. The woods should be safe, right?"

"It should be, not including the animals that roam around, though it should be some time before they make their way back to this part of the woods. Demons tend to frighten local wildlife off for a time." Scarlon said.

"Then I bid you good night, Scarlon. Your sister and your student as well. I'll contact you if anything comes up." Akiyomi said. "Thank you for everything you have done."

"Don't mention it." He chuckled. "If you come across any more magic problems or happen to hear of them, feel free to come our way."

"I'll keep that in mind, though hopefully I won't be too much of a burden to you." She said.

"I highly doubt that, but just don't intentionally seek out trouble. I might draw the line at that. Good night, Miss Arizuno." Scarlon said.

Akiyomi gave a light bow before all of us then went our separate ways.