Maya took the lead blasting herself forward with wind as her carrier while she sent a blade of wind towards the demon’s belly. But the milky shield soon appeared and swallowed it whole. Then as the demon swung his hand to counter the incoming Maya, malice filled winds clashed with Maya’s own sending the girl backwards as cuts formed across her skin.

            “Damn you!” Blyke shouted as lightning ran around his body. But Rill stopped him in his rage as the boy placed a liquefied arm in front of his junior companion. “Hold on, attacking him with Gifts won’t do us as any good.” The boy said.

            With fierce eyes, Blyke looked at his shorter senior. “So you expect us to do nothing as he attacks us head on.”

            “No.” Rill said as he walked forward and his arms fell to the ground like flowing fountains. “I’ll try something.” The boy said as his hands reached out for the demon in front of them.

            The creature smiled as the pentagram in his eyes glowed and the eerie substance emerged from his skin to try and swallow up the water. But there was something strange happening. The water was not just water. It was Rill’s body itself and as a result, the boy got warped into the mysterious substance.

            “Rill!” Maya yelled as she reached out an arm.

            “Uggh!” the demon complained. “That doesn’t feel right.” He then raised his arm forward to shoot out the water and what came from it was a liquefied hand that then struck for his throat.

            But that same arm was also slowly turning to black as malice crept up the boy’s body.

            “Now’s our chance!” Lelita yelled and shot a beam of light towards the demon. Maya backed her up with wind while Teya ran close enough for her ring of fire to reach the man. Blyke, as well as Evan and Marcus from above, attacked the demon simultaneously as Rill choked the man while hiding inside of him.

            “Get out!” the demon raged and sucked Rill’s arm back into his body. After which he pulled his stomach in as he burped forward a watery man whose right half had been blackened with malice. Then the demon covered himself with the white shield and observed all the attacks that had been pushing him to his limit. He fell to the ground and caught his breath as he looked to Gifted around. Then his eyes glowed again and red fire like aura surrounded his skin as a third eye emerged on his forehead. Malice then blasted forth around him destroying the ground he stood on and sending debris as well as their own attacks towards the Gifted.

            Teya pulled Rill close to her and shielded him with her flame. Maya took care of herself with Blyke and Lelita as wind circled around them, deflecting whatever came their way. And all the while Evan and Marcus were still watching from above, safely behind a hardened cloud.

            “This isn’t good.” Marcus told the boy. “We should make a run for it. There’s no way we can win this fight.”

            And just as he said that, another demon fell from the sky, shattering the paved roads as he landed. “Elliot! Stop this at once.” the bearded man roared and the previous demon immediately stopped as he closed his third eye.

            “Ronin, what do you want?” Elliot asked as he folded his hands.

            “Do you not see the crests on those human’s clothing?” the older demon asked as he pointed. “They are seven of them, each with a crest hailing from one of the seven Gifted families.”

            “Yeah, so what?” Elliot asked in defiance. “I saw humans in the capital so I attacked them. I see no problem with that. Humans shouldn’t be here regardless of what their blood may have.”

            “You fool!” Ronan yelled as he walked forward, his long white hair flowing as he did so. And from the larger horns that curled on his forehead as well as his purpled pentagram eyes, Evan could tell that he was also a demon lord. One which seemed somewhat older than Elliot. And possibly a lot stronger. “Attacking them was one thing and I am only glad that I found out before you killed any of them. If that had happened, it would mean war between the humans and demons. And you would be the sore cost of it!”

            Elliot went speechless as he was lectured. He turned his head away and looked to the ground. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

            “Hmph, if you would pay attention to your studies then things might have been different.” The old demon said and then walked away. He then addressed the seven Gifted. “Please do not be afraid, I will not harm you.” The man then knelt on the ground as he bowed. “I only ask that you forgive my pupil for his foolishness. He is but a young lad who has much to learn.”

            “Evan, take us down.” Marcus ordered and the boy took the cloud lower to where the old demon was bowing.

            “Raise up.” Marcus said as he hopped off of the cloud. “We, too, have no want for war between the two races. We only wish to seek an audience with the overlord.”

            The man rose up. “In that case, I will guide you there personally.” He then bowed slightly. “My name is Ronin Arcanus, one of the nine demons lords that personally attend to the overlord.” The man then raised his head and pointed to the previous demon. “The younger one there is Elliot Liothon, son of another of the great nine.”

            The demon then looked towards the seven Gifted that gathered. He also took note of the skeleton and his horse who were now beside the shattered remains of an old wagon. The demon then whistled three times and only mere seconds after, a strange carriage, who had no horse but rather two enormous bat like wings on its roof, appeared and hovered slightly above the ground.

            “I believe this would be suitable for transportation.” He said as he gestured to the carriage.

            Marcus nodded and signaled for the Gifted to enter into the carriage. And as Teya came bearing the malice filled Rill on her shoulder, Ronin placed a hand on the boy and sucked the black ash into his own body. Immediately, the boy felt vibrant again and hopped into the carriage.

             Marcus also saw Silva emerge from behind an alley and walked towards the carriage with shame as his hands shivered while desperately clinging to his sword. When they were all aboard, Marcus threw another bag of gold to Skull Jones. “Take that as compensation for the wagon.” The man said and then boarded the carriage himself.

            “Oh, how generous you are!” Skull Jones yelled as the carriage flew off into the air. “I wish you luck, humans!” he waved as he laughed manically before he jumped bareback on to his horse and blazed off into the distance to leave the kingdom.

~

Silva clenched his fist as he gritted his teeth. He had hid himself in the alley way behind a building ever since the cart was destroyed and he saw the yellowed pentagram eyes of the demon before him. Malice beasts were something he had seen and fought before. Those didn’t faze him much, no matter how large or plentiful they were. But that thing that attacked him…After seeing the Gifted struggle so much with him, the boy couldn’t help trembling in fear. And while at first, he only hid so that he could await an opportunity to sneak an attack on the demon, he soon became petrified with fear as he saw the monster transform himself. After that, he couldn’t even find the will to move despite the chaos that was unfolding. Had it not been for the older demon, Silva would have stayed frozen in fear as he watched the Gifted he swore to protect die, one after another. And for that, he hated himself.

~
The carriage flew smoothing over the kingdom and Evan watched below to see the crowd of demons and undead walking through the stone paved streets. He also looked ahead while peering through a window to the majestic palace in front of him. It was enormous and would be bigger than some smaller kingdoms. Its courtyard was as big as several rice fields and was decorated with green grass and red roses all over. And soon, after not even five minutes of flying, they descended to the ground where a concave passage way lead into the gigantic building.

The Gifted hopped out of the carriage and into the grass pathway that lead to the entrance. With Ronin in the lead, they walked forward as soldiers saluted them as they did so. Teya, as usual, walked next to Evan.

“Hey, what do you think the overlord is like?” she asked the boy with her usual cheery attitude.

“Beats me.” Evan replied nonchalantly.

“Oh, common. Where’s your imagination?” she said and then continued. “I bet he’s six meters tall and twice as wide with bull like horns as thick as a buffalo’s leg.”

“Well, I’m sure he’s something like that.” Evan replied as they entered through the entrance and continued walking down a grimly lit hallway. “After all, he has to be overlord for some reason. So I’m sure he’s intimidating in his own right. If he weren’t, the other demon lords would probably just kill him and take his place.” The boy spoke as he looked to the side and saw a portrait of a woman with tentacle like feet and curly black hair. He turned away sharply and continued to look straight. “Either way, I just hope that we get this over with already. Even if I did volunteer to be here, I don’t want to stay in hell for too long.”

            They continued walking down the straight hall until they reached an enormous room and  Evan looked up to see a large chandler made entirely of bones and skulls whose faces were lit with candles within them. “That’s creepy.” The boy said to himself and looked forward up the red carpet which lead to a higher platform only accessible via a set of stairs. There, rested a huge golden throne with candles lit all around it. On that throne, was a little man whose features Evan couldn’t make out from the distance. And as they got closer, Ronin bowed and the group followed his lead. Then a roaring voice spoke. “Raise.” Did that voice really come from the little demon?

            The group rose up and Ronin continued forward and then stopped to stand next to the throne. With his hands held in gesture towards the demon, Ronin then spoke. “I introduce to you all, the twenty second son of the first overlord, Arnos Leviathon Rogus.”