Demon Lord of Meralosa

by Austin Henshaw

 

Introduction

 

A tall man with blue eyes and brown hair stood over a ledge in an ancient temple breathing heavily. He had golden plated gauntlets and steel boots with a golden chain mail shirt. On his back he had a crossbow with enchanted arrows and his blue titanium sword was in its sheath. He was holding in his hand a golden trident. Around his neck there was a ruby red amulet with a golden chain. His name was Robert and he was called by legend a Chosen One. In other words he was a sacred knight with powers that exceeded others tremendously.

He jumped down from the ledge 15 feet. To a normal person a fall like that would have at least stunned them but it had no effect on Robert. He walked forward to an altar and without looking behind himself he caught an arrow. He quickly rolled over behind the altar and pressed himself firmly against it as the stone from the altar caught the arrows.

At that same moment a person who was on Robert’s side was behind a pillar loading an arrow onto his enchanted longbow. He was only 13 and a half years old. Robert was reluctant to let him come but he let him anyway. His name was Algraan. Robert and Anne had adopted him 4 years ago in Felerco. Felerco was a realm where the knights and sorcerers of modern days lived. He had lived at an orphanage there his entire life until Robert and Anne adopted him. Right now he wasn’t wearing any protection gear except for a steel gauntlet on his right hand. He was tall and strong for his age with blue eyes and blond hair. His weapon of choice was his enchanted longbow with his steel spiked galvanized mace.

By his side was a golden retriever who was peeking around the cornor. He wasn’t your typical dog though. His name was Max and a long time his owner Valurias, a medium sized brown haired women, gave him a potion which granted him the gift of speech, understanding, and infinite youth. He had lost track of how long his life was but he knew it was over 5 centuries. Valurias had been killed a day later Max had the potion by Seraph.

Seraph was their formal rival who was dead for sure now. He was the lord of vampires. His name was Christopher before he had been killed by Dracula and gained his powers. He and Lecrecia sent seraph to the underground originally. Lecrecia was an ancient woman who still had youth on her side. She knew things nobody else knew and acted in mysterious ways. Over 5 centuries later he met Anne. She adopted him and then a couple years later he met Robert and Kevin with Anne. This was when Robert and Anne learned of being the Chosen Ones and they sent Seraph to the underworld.

However Valurias was resurrected evil and she tried to do a ritual, which would sacrifice the Chosen Ones and resurrect Seraph. The Chosen Ones were able to stop her and they freed her soul. Later on though Serilla, Seraph’s love and lover, resurrected a divine Seraph and he searched for the tri-amulets to forever open the portal to the underworld. Robert killed him himself and in the process had gained the Trident of Horus. Horus was an Egyptian god and the son of Osiris and Isis. Shortly after this experience they moved to Felerco and gained ownership of a castle. Shortly after they got married and adopted Algraan.

Kevin and Anne were also hiding behind a pillar. Kevin was medium sized also with brown hair and brown eyes. Although he wasn’t as muscular and athletic as Robert, he was skilled in combat. To make up for his small lack of skill he was able to morph into a small red dragon. His mother was Serilla and his father was actually a dragon named Draken. He had thought his father was Seraph but Serilla told him the truth before he killed her.

Anne was tall with blond hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a red cloak and had a ruby red amulet around her neck. It was identical to Robert’s amulet. She loved Robert and Robert loved her. They had gotten married after all. Anne was a mage with tremendous powers. She was able to reach deep into the tapestry of magic and could use some magic of the gods and she had holy power. Although she was blond she wasn’t your typical dumb blond joke. She was one of the most intelligent people any of them had ever seen. Most of the time she was doing the explaining and planning.

 

Robert rolled away from the altar and did a back flip kicking something in the chest. He turned around and drove his golden trident into a stone knight’s chest and it crumbled to many pieces.

Seeing Robert’s sudden act of bravery everybody decided to reveal themselves. Immediately once Anne revealed herself she threw a bolt of light at a stone statue and it crumbled to pieces. The temple seemed to be full of the stone knight’s now. Algraan then saw one approaching him and shot an arrow at it. It hit the knight in the head and it’s head crumbled but the rest of its body kept moving towards him. He decided to drop the longbow for now and pulled out his mace and swung it in the air a couple times. He quickly dodged an arrow that the knight sent at him and ran towards the knight. He brought his mace up to defend himself from a blow of the knight’s sword and slammed his mace in the knight’s stomach and it crumbled.

Kevin cut off a knight’s head and dodged an arrow. Meanwhile Anne had picked up a sword one of the knights’s dropped and was swiftly cutting through the stone warriors. Max noticed one was behind her raising its sword and Max barked. The knight turned around and an arrow from Algraan’s bow went through its head and it crumbled.

" These knights are pushover’s," Algraan announced holding his mace up. Luckily he did hold his mace up since an arrow hit it’s steel and he heard it clang. However a light bolt from Anne took care of the stone archer.

Anne had dropped the stone sword and resorted to her light bolts. An arrow that was heading straight for her head exploded just a couple feet in front of her. She dodged an arrow and sent a light bolt at a knight who was attacking Robert. The knight crumbled and Robert nodded to Anne. She smiled and ducked a knight’s sword. She did a backflip kicking the knight in the chin and she sent a light bolt at its stomach and it crumbled.

Kevin jumped down from a platform and his sword practically cut one of the knights’s in half. He dodged an arrow and rolled over on the ground cutting on of the knight’s feet off and brought his sword up and the knight crumbled. A couple minutes later the entire knight’s had crumbled and they were all victorious.

Anne then stopped and started thinking and a white light surrounded her. " I have sent a message to the Surents that the temple has been cleared of all its guardians," Anne informed them. " Good, that means they can add to Felerco through this temple," Robert said. " Exactly," Max answered and they were surrounded by light and dissapeared.

 

A normal day at the Castle

 

Anne walked down the staircase and saw Ferdith, their young butler in a black cloak and he was cleaning a goblet. " You really should take a break Ferdith, you are going to have a seizure young if you don’t stop working some time," Anne told him. Ever since they had moved in the castle he had always seemed to be working. " Sorry, my lord," he said bowing down to her. " Ferdith, I am not your lord, I don’t even consider you our servant, you should just take a time to relax some time," Anne told him smiling at him. " You really think so?" Ferdith asked her. " Sure, you should go to the library and read sometime, you spend so much time dusting the books you never even bother to flip through it’s pages," she told him. " Thank you, oh by the way Algraan and Max left a couple hours ago while you were in the library," Ferdith told her. " Oh? Where did they go?" she asked him. " Max was going to show Algraan a book in The Endless Library," Ferdith told her. " Oh my," Anne said looking down. The Endless Library wasn’t endless but they had a track runner run from the front to the end once and it took him a couple hours to get through the entire library going one way. Anne had been there a couple times to look up spells and potion combinations but all that stuff was close to the front. The first time she went there however Valurias, who at the time was possessed by Seraph’s evil, kidnapped her.

" Actually Max was probably going there to show him around," Ferdith changed his answer. Anne swept her cloak on then. " I’ll just go with them then," she said brushing hair away from her eye. She was surrounded by light and dissapeared. Ferdith accidentally dropped the goblet then and it broke in pieces on the marble floor.

 

Max led the way down the corridors of books with Algraan behind him. " That’s how we defeated Seraph and Serilla and stopped them from opening the portal to the underworld," Max was explaining to him about their last big adventure. " Wow," Algraan said amazed looking at the books. They walked for about 10 minutes and they made a left turn and came to a golden door. " What’s this?" Algraan asked Max. " This is a storage room in the library," Max informed him staring up at the door. " Shall we go in?" Algraan asked touching the door wondering if it would hurt him. " Sure," Max said and then a familiar white light surrounded him. He focused his energy on the door and white light flew at the door and it opened. " Only holy magic can open the door," Max told Algraan walking in. When Algraan walked in he gasped in amazement. Everything in the room was made of gold and there were several artifacts and relics. In the center of the room a glowing white orb was floating in midair. " What’s that?" Algraan asked Max. " The orb of light, all good magic is drawn from the orb the same way with dark magic which the demons have," Max told him. " Perhaps sometime we should pay the dark orb a visit and destroy it," Algraan told Max. " No, the orb’s can’t be destroyed, that is what I have heard anyway," Max disgruntled Algraan.

" What are the two of you doing here?" they heard a voice asking from behind. They turned around and saw Anne illuminated in a white light and it dissapeared. " I was showing Algraan around," Max said innocently. " Well then Algraan, do you want a little history lesson?" Anne asked him crossing her arms. " Sure," Algraan replied to her.

" Ok, a long time ago before there was any life there was an orb. Half of it was light and the other half was dark. The gods had a power struggle and the orb was split in half. One side got the dark orb the other the light orb. Eventually they both learned they could extract certain powers from these orbs. Billions of years later when there was human life the gods dropped the orbs from the heavens. The people who discovered the dark orb became necromancers and this is how necromancers originated. The people who found the light orb tapped into it’s holy magic and were able to make a pact with the gods. Felerco is a godly realm and that is how Felerco was originated. Millions of years have passed and now this is how we are," Anne finished her explanation.

" Wow," Algraan said. A lot could happen in billions of years. " Well anyway, why don’t we just come home and have some fruit punch with Ferdith," Anne told them. " Fruit punch?" Max asked. " Ferdith was going to make some later on today and I expect he has it done now," Anne replied. " Where’s dad and Uncle Kevin?" Algraan asked. Anne smiled; Algraan always referred to Robert as dad and Kevin as uncle. " Well Robert had to go deliver a letter to a sorcerer and Kevin went somewhere with Valurias," Anne told him. " Ok, let’s go back then," Algraan said walking out the door. " Algraan, Anne can. You know… teleport us out of here," Max said. " Oh yeah," Algraan said as if it was obvious. Anne smirked. Max and Algraan stood next to Anne and dissapeared.

 

Ferdith finished cleaning up the shards on the marble staircase and then he entered the kitchen. He took a big metallic bowl with fruit punch in it and set it on the dining room table. He then dipped a big spoon in it and stirred it a couple times. Anne, Algraan, and Max then walked through the door.

" Lord Anne, the fruit punch is ready," he said wiping dust from the table. " Ferdith, you don’t need to call me Lord Anne, call me Chosen One or something but really, I’m not your lord," Anne told him giving him a certain look. " I am sorry Chosen One," he said pulling a chair out for her. Anne promptly sat down and sighed. Algraan took a seat on the other side and Max sat at his side. " You may join us," Anne offered Ferdith. " I would be delighted to," Ferdith said taking a seat on the table also. In moments they were all drinking from goblets except for Max. Max refused to drink and Algraan kept on petting him. Anne knew that Algraan and Max were probably best friends. Algraan sometimes shared Max’s sarcasm. " How exactly did you guys defeat Seraph the last time?" Algraan asked. He had always been interested in their exploits. " Well we tried controlling him with a book of necromancy but all that got us was a gruesome sight," Anne told him. She didn’t want to get into details like that. " Then I summoned Horus to us, Horus is the Egyptian son of the light and he is the brother of Seth and Anubis," Anne told him. " I know that, we are learning about gods in class," Algraan told her. Algraan attended school one day a week here. It was the same with all the other children. Felerco schools were different then the schools in the regular realm. " Anyway he gave us a trident which your dad used to kill Seraph," Anne told him. " Yeah and yet their was another gruesome detail but that’s all over with now," Max told him.

 

Meanwhile Robert was walking along some trees with a letter in his hand. It had a golden seal and was addressed to some sorcerer named Feldin. The mayor had given Robert the job of delivering the letter to him. Robert, the Chosen One, one of the children of the gods, was delivering a damn letter to some low life sorcerer who couldn’t find a proper home. He came to a hut, which looked much like Merlin’s except for no firebird was circling it. Robert knew this must be it. He decided to knock on the door but changed his mind. The first time he had knocked on Merlin’s door he was practically thrown in. Robert scratched the idea of knocking and decided to yell. An old man with many scars and wrinkles answered the door.

" Yes?" he asked in a voice Robert could barely make out. " A letter from the mayor of Felerco," Robert said handing the letter with the golden seal to Feldin. Feldin carefully examined it and broke the golden seal by merely looking at it. " Care to come inside?" Feldin asked unfolding the letter. " No thanks," Robert said barely holding his anger in. " Come in anyway," Feldin said taking a seat at a wooden table. It was a command. Robert sat down on the side opposite of Feldin and Feldin gasped. " An entire town was found dead a couple of days ago, they believe the demons are responsible for it," Feldin said examining the text better. Robert decided to hold his anger in too listen. " Everybody is being notified of the demon’s resurfacing," Feldin read on. " Hmm, this is very serious," Robert commented. Feldin pocketed the letter with his hands shaking. " Chosen One?" he asked Robert examing him. " Yeah," Robert replied hoping Feldin wouldn’t want his autograph. " I am honored to meet you," Feldin said bowing down to Robert. " Please get up, I don’t need the publicity," Robert sternly told him. " I will help you go home so you don’t have to travel through the forest again," Feldin said muttering something.

Robert hated being teleported and then he dissapeared and found himself in the dining room standing on top of the table. " Robert," Anne and Algraan gasped. " Sorry about that, Feldin isn’t good at teleporting it seems," Robert said flipping off the table. Ferdith stood up and inquired, " Feldin is a bad sorcerer, no offense to him, but he always teleport people to the wrong places," he told them. Robert announced the news about the demons and everybody was deeply concerned. " Why would they kill though, demons don’t kill for no reason?" Anne asked. " Wait a minute," Ferdith told them getting up and he walked to the cornor of the room. He pressed a panel and a wide-screen TV appeared in the middle of the room. Felerco’s technology was called techromancy. It was enchanted technology. " News," Ferdith said out loud as if he was commanding somebody. A screen appeared on the television set and after 10 minutes the story was over. Robert was hugging Anne as she was crying in his arms. His eyes were teary also. The town that had been wiped out was the town they had previously lived in. They had made a few friends there and it was shocking something like this would happen. Ferdith was also silent along with everybody else.

 

 

Demonic Raid

 

Later on that evening Anne was looking from the balcony with Robert right next to her. Everybody had gone to bed. Oddly Kevin and Valurias hadn’t returned. They had gone somewhere with some other sorcerers to investigate something. It might have been connected to the murders in the town. It wasn’t a really big town. Only with a population of about 500 but it was still a major loss. " We will get back to the demons for doing this," Robert was telling Anne caressing her. " Do you think it is connected to us? Where they killing everyone trying to find us?" Anne was asking herself. " They probably have a bounty on us in the underworld but unless if demons don’t keep up with the news, they probably know we live here now," Robert reassured her. " Yeah, but why would they kill an entire town?" Anne asked him. " They took the people’s life-force," a voice said from behind them. They turned around and saw a youthful looking woman with completely blond hair. It was Lecrecia. " What do you mean?" Anne asked her. " The demons went there and from what I know they drained the life from every mortal there," Lecrecia answered her. " Why would they need the energy though?" Robert asked. " I’m not sure, but we better keep on checking in on the underworld and have our defenses up," Lecrecia said. With that she faded away. " Why does she always do that?" Robert asked Anne. " It makes her more mysterious, she likes being that way," Anne told Robert. " Shall we go in dear?" Robert asked her looking her in the eyes. " Let’s," Anne said leading the way in.

Robert and Anne lay in bed. They were both fully awake. " What time is it?" Robert asked Anne. " In a couple of minutes it will be midnight," Anne told Robert looking at the clock on her desk. " Oh I can’t get to sleep," Robert said getting up walking to one of the desks and he turned the lamp on. Anne got up also and went to the desk Robert was at. He was looking in a journal. " It’s the journal I have been keeping ever since the first incident with Seraph," Robert told Anne. Anne looked back remembering what she considered to be the last days of a normal life, and the first days of a paranormal life. They had been on a train heading for the Paradise Hotel. It was one of the best top rated hotels in the world and brought the town a lot of prosperity. It was a small town but it was also highly prosperous. Robert had found out his best friend Tyler had been murdered by the vampires and eventually Anne, Robert, and Max were attacked one night just while they were heading for the town. A lot of things happened and eventually they came to the conclusion that they had sacred powers. " You know Anne, why don’t they make enchanted guns?" Robert asked half-heartedly. " Who knows? Maybe they have to wait until guns are old," Anne told him. They heard a crashing noise and Anne and Robert ran down the stairs.

 

A person dressed fully in black was in the main hallway and threw a black orb at Anne. Anne did a sideflip and ran towards him. He pulled a dagger out but Anne took his hand and twisted his arm bringing the dagger in his stomach. He cried out spitting blood and started on fire fading away.

" That’s a demon," Anne said undraping her own daggers from their sheaths. " Oh joy," Robert said gripping onto his trident. He didn’t have any protection gear now but he managed before without it. A moment later they heard a man screaming in pain and another man dressed in black was thrown at them. He was already on fire though and faded. Algraan and Max ran towards Robert and Anne. " We have killed a lot of them already but they keep on coming," Max announced to them. " Where’s Ferdith?" Robert asked them. " I’m not sure," Algraan said. " I’ll go look for Ferdith, you 3 kick some demon a…" Max wasn’t able to finish since a demon jumped onto Robert’s back. Robert fell but did a backflip up and pounded the demon in the face. He unsheathed his sword and the blade cut through the demon’s chest and it faded in fire. " Be careful you 3," Max said flying up the stairs with his angelic wings.

Ferdith was in the potion room hastily mixing ingredients. He heard a growl and quickly turned around. A person dressed in black and with a deformed face was looking at him with red eyes. Ferdith threw the potion on the ground and the room was filled with a mist. The demon cried out shielding it’s eyes but it set on fire and faded. Ferdith then took another potion and ran out of the room.

Max accidentally flew into him knocking the potion to the ground. They heard a couple demons howling falling down. " Well I was going to use the potion in a different spot but I guess it worked good enough," Ferdith said standing up. " Look out!" Max exclaimed. Ferdith turned around and dodged a demon’s fist. Max slammed himself into the demon biting into its hand. The demon cried in agony as he was surrounded by a white light and faded. " My bite’s worse then my bark," Max told Ferdith who seemed to be shocked.

Meanwhile Robert heard another demon crying in pain when his trident went through its chest. " Have we ever considered an alarm system?" Robert asked half sarcastically. " It would be a good idea," Anne said rolling over the back of a demon and embedding her daggers in its stomach. Robert slid on the ground a couple feet and tripped another demon. He unsheathed his sword and brought it down on the demon’s chest. It howled and turned to flame. " I wonder how Max and Ferdith are doing?" Algraan asked them leaning against the wall almost casually. " I..," Robert couldn’t finish sense a demon jumped down from the wall in front of him. Robert swung his trident cutting into its chest and the demon backed up while green blood oozed from its chest. Robert swung again barely missing its neck. Robert then had an idea on how to clear all the demons. " Everybody down the passage," Robert yelled at them. Anne chanted something and a door appeared and they went down it. Ferdith and Max were already there.

 

A couple minutes later Robert had allowed himself to get surrounded by demons. They were all hissing at him trying to intimidate him. "Sorry to disappoint you all but I have no time for this," Robert said raising both of his hands and a white light surrounded him. The demons hissed and shielded their eyes. Robert then brought his hands out and the holy light went through the hallway as the demon’s cried in fear, agony, and defeat. All but one demon had been turned into flames.

The demon was holding a black orb in its hand. " The orb of darkness," Robert gasped. The demon faced him. It too like all the former demon’s before him was dressed completely in black with pitch black eyes. The difference was his hair was blond and spiky and he had a couple of scars above his eyes. He was also very muscular like Robert. " Yes Chosen One," the demon said taking a step towards him with the orb. Robert strafed to the right a couple feet. " Do you fear me oh mighty Chosen One? Are you afraid? Look into the orb and your fears will be over with," the demon told him strafing left.

Robert drew his golden trident and held it out in front of him ready to attack. " Always the fight isn’t there? Oh well, I haven’t had a good fight in a couple of centuries," he said. The demon with the orb then rushed towards Robert. Robert ducked down and rolled towards him a couple feet tripping him. The demon tripped but then froze in midair and did a backflip kicking Robert in the stomach. Robert clutched onto his stomach but the demon hit him across the face and tripped him. Robert fell onto his back and the demon slammed his foot into Robert’s stomach. Robert cried out in pain but he was able to trip the demon from the ground. He jumped up and returned a favor from the demon. Robert slammed his foot into the demon’s stomach. He kicked the demon in the side of the face but the demon jumped up and punched Robert again spinning around. Robert stepped back and swung his trident at the demon’s back but the demon spun around missing the tip by inches. The demon then lunged for Robert again but his trident ripped into the demon’s stomach and the demon fell trying to hold his insides in. Robert then tore into the demon’s back and it sprawled to the ground. Robert swung his trident to finish it off but the demon simply dissapeared. Robert flipped around and saw it standing behind him. It’s wound appeared to be healed.

" I haven’t been wounded for a couple centuries, congratulations," the demon said punching Robert across the face and slamming into him. Robert was thrown back 6 feet and landed on both of his feet and one hand. Robert then held out both his hands again and he was surrounded by white light. The demon hastily grabbed onto the orb in his pocket but it was too late since the holy light hit him before he could hold it up. The demon yellrf in agony as it was blown back 5 feet. Robert suspected this was a higher level demon since that would have instantly killed most demons. The demon quickly stood up and formed a dark bolt in his hand. He threw it at Robert and Robert quickly unsheathed his sword and brought it up. The bolt hit the sword and reflected hitting the demon. The demon yelled in pain when it was blown back. " 2 can play at your holy attack," the demon said standing up. He held out both his hands and he was surrounded by a black light. Robert did he same and was surrounded by a white light. They both pushed holy energy and demonic energy forward and both of the light’s met as they struggled to push it forward.

The demon’s light won however and the white energy dissapeared. Robert did a couple of backflips avoiding the black energy but he couldn’t avoid it and yelled in pain when the light finally hit him. Robert flipped towards the demon unsheathing his sword nearly cutting the demon’s feet off. The demon jumped up and kicked Robert in the stomach. " No more games, I’ll just suck your soul from you," the demon said holding the orb out. Robert felt something pulling at him and occasionally his vision blurred out and he was out of breath. The demon concentrated on the orb more but Robert still barely kept himself together.

The next instance the demon glanced up and saw a light bolt heading his way. He ran back taking his concentration off of Robert and the light bolt hit into the ground. A woman draped in red clothing revealed herself from the darkness. " Glad to have you back," Robert greeted Valurias standing up breathing heavily. " Good to see you again also," Kevin said revealing himself also. The demon looked at them all in hatred. " You may have won this time but next time I will come more prepared," the demon was surrounded by fire and faded away. " Welcome back to demon slaying times," Robert said sarcastically sheathing his sword and turning around.

 

Max’s Obsession

 

A couple of days later Robert walked out of the Endless Library with a white orb in his hand. He held the orb carefully in his hand as he walked up the steps to a glowing white building high above. He reached the doors and greeted one of the guards in golden chain mail.

About 10 minutes later he was talking to a white robed person with a wooden staff. " Yes, thank you for bringing to orb to me. We will shroud it in a place the demons will never consider. " Why do you think the demons directly attacked us? We don’t have the orb," Robert asked him. " Well you are a fulmination to them. We have put magical enchantments in and around the castle. " That’s good but do you have any clue who that demon was with the orb?" Robert asked him. " Tyros, a demon lord, luckily he didn’t use any overly powerful spells," the white robed man said.

A couple minutes later Robert walked back to the castle. Kevin was sprawled out on the couch. Max lay down on the blue carpeted floor stretching himself out. Valurias was sitting on the couch with Anne on the opposite side of the room. Where’s Algraan?" Robert asked Max. " He went to

Fedsor’s Magic’s," Max told him indifferently. Fedsor’s Magic’s was one of the many magic shops in Felerco. Robert slumped down into a chair and changed the channel on the television with the remote. " I was watching that!" Kevin exclaimed grabbing another remote and changing it back to the documentary. " Well the news is much better," Robert said changing it back to the 24-hour news channel. " The news is worthless," Kevin said changing it back to the documentary.

Max sighed and ran upstairs. He nearly ran into Ferdith on the way up. " Sorry about that," Max said passing by and nudged door open and entered the library. In his spare time he usually found himself reading. He jumped on a desk and nudged a book to fall onto the floor. He jumped down and worked a couple minutes trying to get the book to the right page with his paw. When he found the page he smiled and began his reading session.

Meanwhile Robert and Kevin were still having a conflict about the television. Valurias and Anne had left to go shopping for clothes. " Kevin, we need to stay updated on the news, we ARE the Chosen one’s afterall," Robert was saying to Kevin. " Correction, you and Anne are the Chosen One’s, and this documentary is much more interesting," Kevin countered Robert. " I’ll just go watch the news in my room then," Robert said getting up and he ran up the stairs. " Woah," Kevin said switching the channel back to the documentary.

 

" So, you have an interest in Kevin now?" Anne was asking Valurias rummaging through a pile of cloaks. Some of them dusty with mothballs on them, some of them new with golden lacing. " Yeah, but you know, he’s part dragon-vampire, and I’m a sorceress who has been dead for over 500 years," Valurias told Anne. " Interbreeding," Anne told Valurias half-heartedly. " Do I look good in purple?" Valurias asked Anne sweeping a purple cloak over her head. " Red is more your color, but green wouldn’t be bad," Anne said looking at a red cloak with gold lacing. " Red is more your color also, it’s better without the lacing however," Valurias told Anne. " Actually I like black cloaks with gold lacing, but they remind me to much of Seraph," Anne said.

" Tell me about it, we have both been killed by him," Valurias said. " Well I wasn’t technically dead," Anne told her. " Neither was I, I could be resurrected afterall," Valurias inquired. " Well we have a bunch of things in common then, oh my god, look!" Anne said pointing across the room. They both grinned when they saw Lecrecia with golden clothing. Lecrecia wasn’t the type for selective clothing and shopping.

Lecrecia noticed them and walked over to them. " Greetings, the Surent’s are still pleased, I have been informed there was a misunderstanding on the demon’s side and you were attacked," Lecrecia said looking at Anne. " It was nothing, Robert really showed Tyros he wasn’t such a lord afterall," Anne said smiling. " Well, that is nice to hear," Lecrecia said. Anne and Valurias weren’t shocked when Lecrecia sort of faded out of their view.

 

Robert was sprawled on the bed watching TV assiduously when he heard a voice in his head. " Meet Horus at the Arena of the God’s now," he heard somebody say to him. " Is that you Lecrecia?" Robert asked out loud. " Yes, it is me," the voice in his head said. " How do I get there and why do I need to be there?" Robert asked. " Go to the Endless Library and go right down the first hallway. A door will appear only you can see for now. That will lead to the Arena of the gods. Horus has a trainer he wants you to consult with. The voice ended and Robert knew he had lost contact with her. He sighed indifferently and went out to the courtyard.

He jumped on a golden motorcycle, which surprisingly flew up into the air and he flew it to the library. When he landed it dissapeared and he walked towards the library’s golden doors. He took a right down the first hallway and saw another set of golden doors. He entered and a white light surrounded him and he passed out.

 

" This is boring," Algraan said to himself looking at all the books. The shop only had so many books to offer and half of the books he couldn’t even read. " I see you have found the book section," he heard a voice from behind. Algraan flipped around nearly stepping on Max’s paw. " I finished the book I was reading so I thought I would go check on you," Max reassured him. " This shop is boring," Algraan commented indifferently to Max.

Without warning Max hastily trotted off and looked at an ancient looking book. " What is it?" Algraan said running up looking at the book Max was looking at. " It’s a novel by my favorite author," Max said a little too enthusiastically. " It looks over a hundred years old," Algraan said looking at the book as if it were grotesque. " It’s new. That’s just the binding on the book. If you bother to look all of the new books are required to have the binding when they are bought," Max explained to Algraan. " Did you bring any gold?" Max asked Algraan. " Shouldn’t we ask Robert and Anne first to buy it?" Algraan asked him. Max sighed, " I am the eldest of them so I think I can buy a book without their consent," Max said.

Algraan pulled out a pouch of gold coins. He grabbed the ancient book and put it on the front counter. An old man was working and he asked him for an ID. " ID to buy a book?" Algraan was offended. " Just a second," Max said rummaging through a backpack, which a moment ago was on his back. " Here it is," Max said with a golden card in his mouth. Algraan took it surprised that there was no slobber on it. The old man examined it and took 4,578 gold coins. " What!" Algraan said. " That’s how much it costs," Max said as if it was obvious. " For a patriarchal looking book?" Algraan asked. " It’s not just any book I hope you know," Max argued.

A couple minutes later they both left the shop. Algraan was mumbling something under his breath as they left. " Algraan, you should really go up into the library sometime," Max told him. " Why?" Algraan asked swinging his mace in the air a couple times. " Literature is being forgotten by the younger generation today. Damn, I’m making myself sound elderly," Max said sounding irritated at himself.

" You are elderly aren’t you?" Algraan asked him. " Watch your mouth. I bite hard." Max answered him edaciously. They walked to a teleported and Max ordered " Castle". A moment later they were sitting down in the living room. " Give me that," Max said to Kevin snatching the remote in his teeth and with expert skill for a dog, changed it to a dog show contest. " Thank you Max. That documentary was getting boring," Kevin said as if he couldn’t change the channel himself.

They all heard a crashing noise and rushed into the other room. There was a green mist in the room and the wooden table had fallen over. Many glass bottles were shattered and liquids leaked into the floor. They heard a moaning noise and saw Ferdith standing up. " What happened?" Kevin demanded. " I was making a sleeping potion since I haven’t been able to get to sleep but I mixed the wrong ingredients and," Ferdith was interrupted. " We can guess the rest," Max said. " It is best to leave this room. Some of the fumes might… might I say do strange things," Ferdith said walking out of the room. Everybody followed and shut the door.

" I think I’m going to go read. Algraan, take that book to the library," Max said jumping up the stairs. Algraan sighed and followed him with the book in his hand. When they entered the library Max opened the first page with his paw. Algraan started to walk out of the room but Max told him to stop. " There is a rather interesting section in the back, I insist you go look at a book and read," Max told him. Algraan started to protest but a stare from Max told him otherwise.

Algraan trudged to the back of the room and looked through some of the books. He found a book about a boy who was born in Meralosa. Meralosa was the realm of the demons and the necromancers. He read the first page and resisted the urge to throw it across the room. What were books for? They were just boring. Most of them didn’t even have pictures. Algraan set the book down and tried to sneak out of the room but a growl from Max told him that he had been caught. Algraan went to the back of the room again and picked a book up. It was a book about what to do if you were in a burning building. Algraan cursed. This library had ridiculous information in it. He tossed the book aside.

A couple hours later Algraan had finished the first page of a book he found 10 minutes ago. Max was still reading and he had appeared to read far. " How can you read so much?" Algraan asked irritably. " Algraan, if you keep on insisting to interrupt my reading, I will deal with you in quite indespicable ways," Max spat at him edaciously. Max wasn’t really a person or dog minding you, who got really angry. Algraan knew Max well enough to know Max was into the book very much. Algraan simply walked out of the door and Max either didn’t take notices or care.

 

Anniversary

 

Robert had been training assiduously for a couple hours. He went to his room and changed clothes and looked in the mirror. He wondered if Anne found him more attractive in a tuxedo or his regular clothing. He changed again into a tuxedo he had. He liked this one and stuck with it. It was their 4^th anniversary. Even though nobody but Anne and Robert knew about it.

Anne walked up the stairs in a white gown with blue lacing. She opened the door and found Robert in an attractive tuxedo. " Beautiful," Robert commented. " Your not so bad yourself," Anne said holding her golden trademark staff with the glowing ruby. Robert walked up to her and kissed her on the lips. Anne pushed her blond hair back and embraced him during their kiss. During the embrace Robert slipped his hands under her gown but Anne playfully slapped his hand. " Pervert," she accused him. " I am because you make me," Robert said in an effusive way kissing her again. It was just like their first kiss the night after Robert had came out of a magical sleep. She held him in her embrace for a couple minutes more and brought her hands back. " A necklace for you sorceress Anne," Robert bowed down to her like a loyal knight revealing a golden necklace. " Thank you, I’m not so sure about the title but it will do," Anne said as if judging Robert’s act holding onto his hand bringing him up. " Well you are a sorceress," Robert told her looking into her eyes. " Well, I am, but I like to be considered human," Anne told him putting the necklace around her neck. She held her staff in her hands.

" How very sorceress like," Robert had to comment bestowing a loving look upon her. Anne firmly hit him in the stomach and the both of them laughed. " I have the dance hall reserved just for us," Robert told Anne. Anne kissed Robert passionately. " You shouldn’t have," Anne quoted. " I did, and I should have done more," Robert said kissing her.

 

About 5 minutes later they were both walking down an elegant hallway with music playing. " We seem to be the one ones here," Anne said. " The less the merrier," Robert said taking her in his arms. " Shall we dance now?" Anne asked putting one of her hands on his broad shoulder. " Let’s," Robert said. Anne put her other hand on Robert’s side and they started an ancient dance Merlin had taught them. At a moment when Anne spun around Robert she slipped but Robert caught her in his arms and then he bent down and kissed her.

The kiss lasted for a couple minutes and then they reclaimed their dancing positions. About half an hour later they were still dancing. They were waiting for the other one of the 2 to suggest quitting so they wouldn’t look lazy. Robert was the one that suggested quitting first. " You know, I was just going to say the same thing," Anne said coming out of Robert’s embrace and fluttering over to the main hallway. They decided to walk to the castle that night.

" Sorry about ruining the perfect anniversary day but we have to deal with this Tyros demon somehow," Robert said sighing. " Yeah. If he is using the orb of dark to drain power from mortals he must have some master plan," Anne said. " Perhaps we should go to Meralosa," Robert suggested. " Instantaneously? Are you deranged? We have a bounty on our heads," Anne fretted. " That’s the point. They won’t suspect use to go there. We should just put on a disguise and go there," Robert said. " They can track us. Higher level demons can sense others," Anne explained. " This could be more complicated then I thought," Robert said thinking.

"Oh yeah, why were you at the Arena of the God’s today?" Anne asked curiously. " Horus had some trainer teaching me some neat attacks," Robert said. " Like what?" Anne asked. Robert grinned and held out his hand. A ball of light appeared in it. " Light energy ball," Anne observed. " He also taught me this power up sort of thing," Robert said. " Interesting," Anne commented. They reached the castle and Robert changed out of the tuxedo and Anne got dressed in her usual pink robes. They both sat down in the bed and looked at each other. Their blood got warmer as they looked each other. Robert embraced Anne again and they fell to the bed with Robert on top locking lips.

 

Merlin’s Visit

 

Anne was walking into the kitchen ready to make some coffee. She was wearing pink robes with the golden necklace. A form of techromancy braided her hair. Techromancy was magical technology created in Felerco. Anybody who saw her at this hour said she might have had an evil look on her face. She was her usual cranky self-that morning. She did a spell to open the door.

When she walked in there was a purple mist and a peculiar odor in the room. Ferdith was over a cauldron and he seemed to be throwing stuff in He was throwing feathers, liquids, papers, and then he threw a fork in. " Ferdith what are you doing?" Anne asked concerned for Ferdith’s mental stability. " I’m making a water-breathing potion," Ferdith announced to her proudly. " Right, for one thing why would we need it? For second, forks don’t really help you breath underwater," Anne said crankily. " True, but they make the potions go down quicker," Ferdith said. " When was the last time you had a CAT scan?" Anne asked him sitting down. " CAT scan?" Ferdith pondered the word. " Oh yeah, I forgot, they don’t have those here," Anne said thinking hard. " Actually the iron in them mixed with some of these liquids makes a retrogression which destroys the hydrogen molecules converting it to only oxygen molecules when the liquid enters your system," Ferdith explained. " Well it is clearly noticeable you don’t need that CAT scan," Anne said jealous that Ferdith had came up with the scientifical explanation this time.

Anne made some coffee from the auto-coffee maker and sat down while Ferdith was busily throwing things in the cauldron. A moment later Algraan practically jumped in the room and glanced over at Ferdith. " He’s making a potion," Anne told him looking at the front page of the newspaper that was delivered to them daily.

Some demons had been executed. They were some of the ones that killed the people in their town. " I wonder what happened to the enchanted forest," Anne pondered aloud. " It has been untouched," a familiar ancient voice said. Anne looked up and grinned when she saw somebody she thought of as her grandfather.

Merlin had sat down at the table. His long silvery beard going to his lap seemed to almost glow. He was in blue robes with moons and stars. " Where have you been?" Anne asked. They hadn’t seen Merlin in nearly half a year. " Hey Merlin," Algraan greeted him with a boyish grin. Anne smiled to herself. Just about everybody admired Merlin in a way. " I have been fine, thanks for wondering. I have stopped by since I have heard about the way your powers are growing. Your and Robert’s powers have almost reached their maximum. You know about all the healing, defense, and light spells in the book and Robert has mastered all the weapons and he is learning about energy bolts," Merlin explained. " Are you going to raise our salary?" Anne asked him sarcastically. Merlin chuckled.

" Unfortunately not. We do however have news on Tyros. He is the lord of one of the largest demon factions. We also know he has a way above average strength, speed, and endurance for a demon. His power’s are one of the highest of demon’s also. We believe he is using the orb of dark to drain energy from mortals," Merlin did some more explaining. " So basically it’s going to be hard to kill this guy?" Anne asked. " Yeah, and also Robert’s trident won’t work since he doesn’t have divinity," Merlin told her. Algraan and Ferdith were listening intently.

" Perhaps later on I should go to the library and look this up," Anne told Merlin. " Perhaps. I have to leave and talk with some of the Surents," Merlin said. With that a white light surrounded him and he dissapeared. " Can I help defeat this Tyros demon?" Algraan asked pleadingly. " No," Anne said sternly. She finished her coffee and walked out of the room to watch the news.

" Great, spellbook prices are raising," Anne was saying to herself a couple minutes later after watching the news. The news also had something about the day when the demons attacked the castle. Nothing had been damaged fortunately. Then after that it had something about some warlock who attacked in a downtown area a week ago. Robert was the one who defeated the warlock. He hadn’t been severely injured except for he got a big bruise on his arm from a spell the warlock did on him. Anne ran her fingers through her hair and walked out of the castle towards the sacred library. She teleported herself to the front door and pushed open the golden doors revealing countless corridors and shelves of literature just waiting to be read and contemplated.

 

 

A Little Acrimony

 

A humanoid figure stood behind a shelf of books with a jade dagger. He was listening to footsteps waiting for the right time to attack. Tyros employed him. He was one of Tyros’ top warriors. He was pendulant in black and his eyes were glowing red.

Meanwhile Anne was looking through an ancient book deciphering the old text. She heard a footstep and with quick reflexes she pulled out her 2 daggers. " She could be a problem," the demon said looking around the cornor. He formed a ball of dark energy and threw it behind Anne’s back but she noticed and jumped up high avoiding the bolt. In return she sent a bolt and some books went flying. The demon ducked and threw a dark bolt in a random direction. It hit a shelf and the books on the shelf went flying and the shelf came crashing down. Anne had perceived him and she threw another bolt. He barely avoided it and he fell down hitting his head.

Ignoring the pain he rolled away as she threw another bolt. He jumped up on one of the shelves and threw a bolt from above her. She saw it and with one word she generated a partial shield around her. The bolt however did send her flying a couple feet into a bookshelf and the bookshelf toppled. The demon smiled and jumped down but she threw a light bolt from the ground and it hit him in the chest. He cried in agony as he was thrown back and he slammed into a bookshelf also. Anne had jumped up and she threw a dagger at him. He quickly held up a book and the dagger went through the book but it cut through his hand spilling black blood.

He cried out in pain when he pulled the dagger out of his hand. Anne threw another light bolt at him and he avoided it that time still spilling black blood on the floor. He gripped onto his dagger with his good hand and threw it at Anne. She did a backflip and the handle of the dagger hit the sole of her shoe and it fell to the ground. Anne threw a light bolt blasting the demon’s shoulder. He fell back in pain but he threw a dark bolt at her and it hit her in the chest. She spun around in the air a few times and she fell down to the ground. She wasn’t breathing. The demon smiled omitting his pain. His task had been done and he would be paid well for it. He was encompassed by fire and faded out.

 

" Anne," Robert yelled running past a corrider of books. He was reading the newspaper at the castle and he saw a demon attacking Anne in his mind. This was the second time he had a premonition of her being in distress. He noticed further down books and pieces of ancient wood littered the floor. He ran as fast as he could in that direction and noticed a section of the floor was scorched. About 10 feet away he saw Anne with her lip breathing. Hs ran to her teary eyed and felt her pulse. She had none on either her neck or her wrist. He felt her heart and it wasn’t beating. He started to push against her chest and breathing in her mouth desperately. " Anne," he said silently with tears dropping breathing in her mouth again. " Anne!" he yelled hitting the floor.

A moment later he saw a person in a black cloak running towards him. " Move back," Ferdith, yelled practically pushing Robert away. Max was by his side. He pulled out a small white potion and lifted her limp head up and the liquid went down her esophagus. She was surrounded by a white light and started coughing. Robert lifted her up embracing her kissing her on the lip.

 

A couple minutes later Anne had regained her composure. " The demon hit me with a dark bolt and everything blackened. It was just like the time Seraph killed me," Anne said clutching her chest making sure her heart was beating properly. " It was a planned attack wasn’t it?" Max asked. " I am afraid so. I could tell he was hiding. I injured him severely but he probably escaped," Anne told him. " Maybe it could be a demon that is part of Tyros’ hierarchy," Robert suggested holding Anne. " It was homicide, he came here to specifically kill me I expect," Anne told them all. " This is very unpleasant. It looks like the demons are ganging up on us," Robert said concerned. " Well demons aren’t my business. I do however feel obliged to help you," Ferdith told them looking at Anne making sure she was fine. " I’m fine," Anne reassured him as if reading his mind.

Ferdith then looked alarm. " I left the potion alone, It’s probably going to explode," Ferdith exclaimed running out with his black cloak swishing behind him. Anne got a tear in her eye and put her head against Robert’s chest and Robert embraced her firmly. " We can’t go on like this. You can’t just keep on reviving me! Why can’t demons just leave us alone? I thought it was over when we killed Seraph. I hope Tyros burns in hell!" Anne exclaimed infuriated. Robert didn’t expect that outburst from Anne. " Don’t worry. I will do something… might I say painful to Tyros," Robert reassured her looking at her grinning. " We will Robert. We will," Anne simply said as they both walked out of the library. They forgot about the mess that Anne’s quarrel with the demon had left.

 

Apep

 

The demon with the blond spiky hair with the highly visible scar above his right eye was holding the orb of dark as dark light passed through the hand of Lucerfidus. Lucerfidus was the demon he had hired to kill the impudent Chosen One. " Lucerfidus, I am very pleased with you. You shall be second in command once we destroy the orb of light," Tyros looked down at Lucerfidus with pride. Lucerfidus stood up looking at his master with respect. Tyros sat on a stone throne with 2 torches on the wall behind it. They were in a dark underground chamber. There was a pit of fire in the middle of the room which Tyros and some of the other demons used for transportation.

" There is still the other Chosen One," Lucerfidus told him. " I will deal with him myself. I underestimated him last time. If he were a demon he would make a great warrior. However he has chose the path of light. He chose the weak side and for this he shall suffer," Tyros said with a black book in his hand. The book was one of the sacred books of the necromancers. " Master, I shall let you be," Lucerfidus said walking out of the chamber with his black cloak swishing behind him.

Tyros smiled when he looked in a certain page in the book. He muttered some ancient Egyptian words and a gold light appeared in the middle of the room. In just a moment out of the gold light came slithering a deadly cobra with instant killing venom. " Apep," Tyros said in ancient Egyptian. " You don’t need to speak in my language," Apep hissed. " I have the power of understanding evil and those that defy me," the serpent said slithering up to Tyros’ throne. " Don’t even thank me from bringing you back from your banishment," Tyros said sarcastically. " I have been summoned between worlds more then you think. Did you summon me just to chat?" Apep asked eagerly. " I have a certain job for you. It will benefit you also because of your defiance of the gods," Tyros explained to him. " Hmm, this interests me," Apep hissed at him slithering around his throne. " You may have heard of the Chosen Ones. 2 of them are dead already. That one they called Tyler and then Anne. One is left, the strongest one I believe," Tyros explained " Ah yes. The children of the light and the gods," Apep hissed looking at the sky. " I have a plan to kill this one so the threat to my plan is eliminated," Tyros told him bestowing an evil look on Apep.

Their conversation wasn’t continued however since Apep was surrounded by a gold light and dissapeared. Tyros grinned and looked down at the black book again.

 

 

Cobras

 

The next day Anne and Ferdith were in the potion’s room mixing up holy potions. These were the potions Ferdith had used earlier to kill demons. " The mist is deadly to a demon’s skin except for higher level demons," Ferdith was explaining to her as she was stirring a bluish liquid around in an old cauldron. " I already know that. The blue liquid contains invisible holy energy which sets off an allergic reaction in a demon’s skin," Anne told him dropping drops of red liquid in the cauldron from a vial. " Behind you," a voice whispered in Anne’s ear. Anne gasped and turned around quickly and ducked a golden light. Vials of liquid fell to the carpet.

Ferdith ducked down under the table and decided to leave this to Anne. He screamed though when a cobra with yellow glowing eyes almost bit him in the face. Anne quickly sent sparks flying down from her finger and the cobra slithered away and dissapeared in golden light. " Ferdith!" Anne exclaimed. Ferdith ducked down again sweeping his cloak over his head and a fang nearly went into his finger. Anne grasped onto the cobra but it dissapeared again.

" That’s no ordinary snake," Anne stated the obvious looking around the room. She did a backflip onto the table and unsheathed one of her daggers. " May I get up there with you?" Ferdith asked looking nervously at the floor. " SHH," was all Anne said. A moment later she threw a dagger across the room and it almost pinned the cobra’s neck. Anne looked into the cobra’s eyes for a second and muttered, " Apep,"

Apep slithered across the room while Ferdith climbed up onto the table. A moment later Robert and Kevin came crashing through the door. " It’s Apep! An ancient evil Egyptian Serpent," Anne exclaimed ready to throw her other dagger at any time. " Kevin!" Robert yelled.

Kevin ducked as Apep tried to bite into his face. Kevin fell to the ground. Luckily Robert had brought his sword with him and he swung it at Apep’s body. The serpent hissed as it ducked the blow and snapped at Robert’s leg. Robert jumped back just in time and Anne sent a white bolt at the serpent. A gold light surrounded Apep and he dissapeared before the bolt could hit him.

Apep appeared next to Anne then. It tried to bite at her ankle but Anne jumped back just in time. " Incarceration," Anne bellowed holding her hand out at Apep. A white light surrounded Apep for a second but it faded. " You can not use the magic of the gods," Apep hissed snapping at her again.

Robert swung his sword but Apep faded out again and reappeared. " Incarceration!" Anne yelled more forcefully this time. The snake bent down for a second as a brighter light surrounded it but the light faded again. Robert swung his sword again and it cut through the snake’s neck. However the neck healed itself. " He is of partly divine power. He can not be hurt physically," Anne explained and yelled, " Incarceration," again. A white light surrounded Apep again and the serpent fell to the ground and it seemed to turn into plasma that faded away.

 

" What’s incarceration anyway?" Kevin asked. " Imprisonment. He was originally incarcerated but the Book of Necromancy probably freed him," Anne told him. " I’m betting it was our friend Tyros that unincarcerated him," Robert exclaimed. " That would most likely be it," Max said. Ferdith was cleaning the potion’s room up. " We really do need to get that security system installed," Anne said half-heartedly. " Not a bad idea," Robert crossed his arms.

A moment later Algraan came running down the stairs. There was another serpent snapping at him. ""I thought Apep was incarcerated!" Robert exclaimed drawing his sword and running towards Algraan. " That’s not Apep," Anne said casually waving her hands. The snake was surrounded by white light and hissed fading away.

" I want to know why there is a snake trying to kill me," Algraan said emphasizing the word why. " Apep must have sent some of his serpent friends to help," Kevin said perceiving the room. They decided to inspect the castle and in the end they killed 6 cobras. All of them seemed to have an urge to bite Max’s tail. " Die!" Max yelled one time shaking an already deceased cobra in his teeth.

" Max, I think it’s dead," Anne finally said after half a minute went by. " So?" Max asked still shaking the deceased snake in his mouth. Anne pointed one of her daggers at the snake and the body went flying towards her and it thumped to the floor next to her feet. " I shall disterminate of this cobra as well," Ferdith casually said picking the snake up by it’s tail and throwing it away in the garbage. " How are we going to explain why there’s 50 snakes in the garbage can?" Ferdith asked himself.

" I think it’s time to strike at Tyros this time," Robert said when he flopped down on the couch next to Kevin. " Where would he be though? If we went to Meralosa we would surely be killed by all the demons," Anne said calmly as if it was normal for demons wanting them dead. Well it sort of was normal.

"Oh my god," Kevin suddenly said getting up. " What?" everybody asked simultaneously. " Haven’t you noticed Valurias has been gone for a couple days? You think she would have dropped by with the Tyros thing going on," Kevin said bestowing a worried look upon them. " That’s true," Anne said concerned about her friend. " Can you try to speak with her telepathically?" Robert asked. " I’ve only spoken telepathically a couple of times before and that was when I knew where they were at. We have no clue where Valurias is," Anne explained. " Maybe she went after Tyros herself," Max added making everybody even more alarmed. " I don’t really think so," Kevin said solemnly. However he didn’t know how wrong he was.

 

 

 

Paranormal Wave

 

The mage Valurias looked at the island with lush vegetation from the red helicopter. She was wearing earmuffs and kept on cautioning the pilot. On normal circumstances they would have been able to translocate or teleport here. However due to a magical field the natives had erected they had to depend on technology. They believed that one of the entrances to Meralosa was here and that a lot of demonic traffic could be going through. The island was uncharted and was found by magical radar.

" We will have to land by the ridge," the pilot completely dressed in orange announced. The helicopter started to descend down but Valurias covered her ears when she heard a loud blaring sound. The helicopter went sideways and she fell against the window cracking it. The pilot yelled and fell over also but kept hold of the controls and tried to reposition the helicopter. " Are you ok?" the pilot asked urgently pressing a bunch of numbers

Valurias looked up at him. A trickle of blood was running down her head but other then that she was fine. " What happened?" Valurias demanded of the pilot. " Some paranormal wave hit us," the pilot announced to her. Valurias put her hand against her head and the blood dissapeared.

Valurias screamed however when her body was jerked. The pilot tried to press another button but he seemed to be ripped out of his seat screaming in agony when he crashed through the window. Valurias jumped over to the pilot seat but the helicopter spun completely around and she cried out when she hit the ceiling. She tried to grab onto something but another invisible force jerked her and she nearly fell through the window. She muttered something and the glass restored but the carpet started on fire.

She muttered something and the flames went out but an invisible force jerked her entire body and she was almost pulled through the window. She ducked down and grabbed onto a seat but it ripped out sending her flying hitting the dashboard. Luckily she didn’t go out the window but the chair nearly hit her. She dropped down onto the floor but sparks coming from the ceiling almost hit her in the eye. What’s happening she asked herself? The helicopter had seemed to be breaking apart since that paranormal wave the pilot claimed hit them found them. She stood up but another seat was jerked from it’s spot and it nearly hit her in the head. She ducked just in time but where her hand was at appeared a hole and she nearly cut herself on it.

She cursed but she screamed when she saw a transparent figure surrounded by rainbow lights flying towards the helicopter. Valurias started to say something but all the windows shattered again and a shard of glass sliced across her hand spilling blood. The figure flew closer to her and she cried out in pain when another shard sliced across her arm. She was surrounded by black light and consciousness started to slip away. Moment later natives on the island could see the helicopter exploding.

 

 

Ferdin

 

Valurias woke up in a less than cozy bed. She opened her eyes half way and saw a thatched roof and it was unusually warm in here. She slightly stirred and tried to lift her body up but she seemed to be paralyzed. She closed her eyes and she felt consciousness slipping away again.

Ferdin, the sorcerer Robert met in the Enchanted Forest stood over Valurias rubbing her wounds with a special herb. He then went outside to a stream and put some water in a pale. It was dirty water and there was a chance this woman might get adulterated but he had to try to save her. He went back inside and cleansed her wounds. He then bandaged them with reddish damp leaves.

Ferdin had found her washed ashore on the coast a mile from his so-called house. It wasn’t much of a locality but it was mostly serene. Besides the demons that somehow made it to his house most of his days were quiet and such. He had recently moved here because he knew of all the efficacious herbs here. He planned to setup permanent residence and he might upgrade his home.

Ferdin as most people don’t know was an important part of the light prophecies. Ferdin was mentioned a couple times in the beginnings. Ferdin was 978 years old. In a couple of month’s it would be his birthday.

He had killed 5 of the past Seraph's. They weren’t however the same Seraph as Christopher. The Seraph line was believed to be eternal but however the very spirit of Seraph was destroyed with Christopher.

Valurias started to stir again. Ferdin walked over to her and pressed a rare cloth against her forehead. " Where am I?" Valurias asked. The last thing she remembered was black light and falling out of the chopper. " Is that you Valurias?" Ferdin asked curiously. " Ferdin!" Valurias exclaimed embracing him. " You shouldn’t be getting up dear," he said setting her down again. " It’s been hundreds of years," Valurias told him. " How could you still be alive? I never thought the prophecy would speak of you," Ferdin inquired her. Valurias frowned, " Not the light prophecy, but the dark prophecy."

" How so?" Ferdin asked backing up slowly. Valurias laughed at him. " Don’t worry I’m not evil, well at least for now," Valurias told him. " What do you mean at least for now?" Ferdin asked her. " Ok I suppose I’ll start to explain. You know the dog Max the prophecy talks about? I was his owner and I gave him the potion. Anyway Christopher… or Seraph killed me," she choked out. Ferdith gasped at this revelation. " Anyway I found myself in this abandoned church hundreds of years later. There was all these people robed n black. They were probably necromancers. They were following this so-called Seraph Prophecy.

" Ah, " Ferdith said, " The resurrection of a victim I presume." " That’s correct," Valurias said. " Well anyway I went unconscious right away and when I woke up again I didn’t have control of my body or my thoughts. Well I could control my thought’s part way but the thing that was inside of me. There was no denying it. It was pure evil and very persuasive of my soul. I tried to rip away from its grasp many times but it always pulled me back.

There were these 3 sorcerers that always obeyed me… I mean IT. They went about gathering items for the ritual of Seraph. Eventually they put the Chosen one named Robert in some kind of magical coma. They however were all killed in the process.

Anne and her alleys including Merlin started investigating. They eventually found out about me I guess. That or it was pure coincidence we met at the Endless Library. Anyway for I moment I had won over IT. I told her to run away from me and it attacked her. She fought back and it grabbed her. My body teleported her out of there after I finally saw Max for the first time in hundreds of years.

I took her, including the disabled Robert to Seraph’s castle and I almost completed the ritual when the others came. They did some spell on me and I was finally released from the grasp of it. With their help I was able to vanquish it and my purpose with the dark prophecy had ended," Valurias finished.

" Quite a story, I suppose everybody is wondering where you are by now," Ferdin said. " I suppose. I never should have left without telling the others," Valurias said somewhat depressed. " Why did you come here in the first place?" Ferdin interrogated her. " This place has the safest entrance to Meralosa I believe," Valurias told him. " Oh dear. I suppose this isn’t such a lovely spot after all," Ferdin inquired. " It’s more of a paradise then others," Valurias told him. " True, and there are also many special herbs. You should still be resting. Fall back to sleep. I’m going to go out and gather more herbs," Ferdith said cogently leaving the room.

Valurias sighed and shut her eyes blocking out all the madness of the world and entering the peace of slumber.

 

A Few Drunk Demons

 

Lucerfidus took another drink from his mug watching Tyros’ harem doing their assiduous "entertainment ritual" for Tyros from the balcony. The harem just lived idyllic lives dancing around for Tyros like that. Lucerfidus kept on smiling to himself many times thinking of repugnant ideas of things to do with those pristine bodies. Before he could indulge farther into his fantasies he was whacked on the back of the head. He turned around and smiled at his friend Charlie.

" We best leave unless ofcourse you want Tyros catching you having your fantasies," Charlie said sardonically. " Oh shut up," Lucerfidus replied whacking Charlie in the head this time.

They left the caverns and sat near the beach. Charlie pulled out some bottles. " I had to go to a liquor store and I killed half a dozen humans to get those so let’s use them wisely," Charlie said emphatically. " I planned on it," Lucerfidus said popping off the top of one and bringing his head back tilting the bottle downward allowing the liquor to go through his system. " This is the life," Charlie said gulping down some whiskey. When he finished with the bottle he just slammed it down onto a jagged rock next to him. The glass shattered and he grabbed for another bottle. Lucerfidus however grabbed it first.

" That’s my moonshine," Charlie said warily poking Lucerfidus. Lucerfidus promptly punched him across the face. Charlie returned with an upper cut to Lucerfidus’ chin. Lucerfidus jumped up and promptly started running away from Charlie. " Give me my moonshine," Charlie yelled at him running and falling. Within a couple of minutes Charlie had bruised himself rather badly. " I’ll get you for this," Charlie yelled at the sky and fell down in the sand.

Meanwhile Lucerfidus was up in a tree finishing his moonshine. He dropped the bottle down purposely making it hit a bird that just wouldn’t shut up. He needed more. He tried to slip down the tree but he fell and cried out in pain when he cut his hand on a glass fragment. " Damn," he muttered to himself when he realized he couldn’t walk straight. Maybe he didn’t need more moonshine.

He found Charlie unconscious about 50 meters away from the area they were previously having their "fun" at. He looked through Charlie’s pack and pulled out another bottle of moonshine. He started to take a sip when glass shattered against his head. He fell down clutching onto his head and he was kicked in the stomach. Lucerfidus rolled over in pain and Charlie pointed a rusty dagger at him. " Give me the moonshine friend," Charlie said warily swaying.

Lucerfidus jumped up kicking Charlie in the chin. Charlie backed up but Lucerfidus’ foot made contact with the side of his face and he fell over on the sand again. " Charlie, you will never learn," Lucerfidus said turning around heading back for his moonshine. He however cried out in pain when he felt the dagger going through his back. It hadn’t went through anything major and about all the damage the blow Charlie had done would do is put him in some pain for a while. Lucerfidus drew the jade dagger he had tried to kill Anne with and swung at Charlie.

Charlie was slashed across the face but Lucerfidus’ arm was slashed. They continued this until they were both slashed all over and finally Lucerfidus slashed Charlie across the neck and he fell down dead. He had just killed his best friend. But what did he care? He had all the whiskey and moonshine he could ever want now.

 

 

 

*********************************************
© 2002 by Austin Henshaw. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.