The next morning a notice was sent out to the elites informing them that I wished to see them tomorrow at the crack of dawn for training. I made up my mind to spend all day today getting used to the castle. Opening the door, dressed in casual wear, I ran straight into Liz.
"Woah, careful there pumpkin. I almost crushed you!" She giggled lightly."Shhhh! Let me into ur room! Hurry!""Wha-?""I know you went this way!" Arisa yelled playfully from around the corner. Liz squealed quietly and his behind me, using me as a human shield. Not a second later Arisa peeked around the corner. I tried to look innocent, but judging by her face I didn't do to well."Hey"Do you know where Cziro went?" Arron asked Arisa worriedly."No Arron sorry." To be honest I was worried too. He didn't even say goodbye. We got word for the gate guard the Mark passed through the gate sometime early yesterday, but that's it. He didn't say where he's going or what he plans to do. What if it is something dangerous? What if he gets killed?!?"You guys worry too much," Liz laughed out cheerfully. "Mark is strong, he can handle anything thrown at him! Plus his hood is gone so he's definitely fine!""Hood?" Both Arron and I asked in unison. Liz looked exasperated."You know, the hood he used when he wants to walk around in his demon form without anyone noticing? He probably plans to be on demon for
A week later we waltzed through the castle gate looking as normal as we possibly could with torn clothes and dirt caked faces. A broad smile on each of our faces. Everyone felt stronger than before and closer as well. Jade had a dark sense of humor and was brutally honest. Apparently she got her scar from Levi himself. She, a talker, did not enjoy Levi's silence and got into a "small dispute" according to her, to which Levi simply smirked smugly. Levi does talk, much to my surprise. He is actually rather sarcastic and funny; I find his silence comforting. George can be a real hothead, but he is a good guy. He has a tendency to speak his mind and had the most trouble with our training, his loud angry voice often giving away his location. He has come a long way as he silently walked next to me, perfectly content with not speaking.
"So what are your plans then Cziro?" Arron asked me once we were secured in his quarters away from prying ears."I do not want to wait for him to arrive with his army, but it seems as though I have no choice.""By when do you think he will arrive with his army?" Arron's voice was full of worry, no doubt for the fate of his kingdom. I placed my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him."Nothing will happen to your kingdom, I swear it on my life. You have been a good friend to me over the years, I will surely do my best in order to help you." He looked up at me gratefully. "I have no doubt that he will come sometime within the next two days. We will be ready.""Well, glad I can count on it to be handled
"So Veronica, what was the message?" The dinning table silenced with my question. The clinking of glasses and utensils ceased. She raised a napkin and wiped her mouth, clearly stalling for time."Your Uncle wished for me to tell you 'Don't think you can hide from me. I will steal all which you hold dear before killing you slowly. Including your little sister'" Veronica said, clearly not enjoying relaying such a dark message. I continued calmly eating my dinner."Was that all?" I asked rather amused."All?!" Veronica said clearly astounded by my aloofness in such a tense situation."This was expected. Did you really think I would be able to keep Liz hidden all these years when she's around me? Why else would I h
It was a while before the doctors emerged. Arron sat next to me on my right, Liz only lap, and Veronica to my left. The first doctor I saw was the one to approach us. "Dr. Emerson," Arron stood up to face him, "what happened to her?" Dr. Emerson cleared his throat before speaking. "We had to sedate her using the pickaleyen leaf," the purple spiked leaf entered my mind, "before we could begin to see what was wrong. She-... She is a human, correct?" "Yes... why? What is wrong with her?" I asked carefully. "It seems we can not recognize her blood. It is as though her body is rejecting it. I just wanted to confirm due to..." he gestured towards me. Due to my circumstances is what he meant. "Yes, she is definitely human
Veronica decided in the end not to give Core Arisa's blood, as she was not happy being played like she was. We could not put the blood back into her body though. Dr. Emerson explained that now her body has changed into that of a shifter, it will no longer accept human blood and would make her sick for a few days.It made me think of my mother. Raise managed to somehow survive the change, whereas my mother did not. I tried to bring my mother's face into the forefront of my mind, but the image seemed blurry. I could not get specific details.I remember the color of her eyes, an emerald green, the color of her hair, light brown hair, her face shape was that of Liz's. The rest was long gone from my memory. I missed her.None of us knew what type of shifter Arisa would be, but we atte
George stepped up first- why am I not surprised?-swinging his sling in his hand. Arisa simply smirked and got into a battle stance with her sword in hand. "Begin!" George immediately threw the sling at her feet then jumped into the air, hoping the sling would distract her from looking up.Arisa caught the sling with the tip of her sword and flung it up at George who was mid-jump. George panicked as the sling went straight for him. Arisa aimed her sword and threw it at the sling. The angle she threw it caused the sling to change direction. The sword went through a chain taking the sling up and past George, getting it stuck into the wall. George landed on the ground, gasping in air. He looked back up and is sling now stuck to the wall by Arisa's sword."I do not want to kill any of Marcus' teammates after all." She shrugged it off like it was nothing. I smiled at her proudly."Marcus?" Ruben asked curiously. Of course he would be the one to notice it.
"Begin!"For a second, no one moved after she spoke. He shot one arrow and I slide to the right and made a break for it towards him. He shot off several arrows, each barely missing their intended target, me. I flipped up into the air and brought down my leg which he blocked with his bow. I was pushed back and landed on my feet.Instead of waiting to catch my breath like he seemed to expect me to do, I shot forward again, this time sliding slog the ground. I made a swipe towards his feet. He jumped up into the air and tried to shoot an at my chest. I rolled away just as the arrow was shot. He landed a few feet away from me, panting hard. Archers don't normally have to move around as much as they are not normally used for one-on-one battles. Seems as though he's close to reaching his limit.I ran towards him again, picking up the arrow on my way. Just before I reached him he shot at arrow off towards my head. I jumped back and threw the arrow I picked up tow
The hall was filled with demons of all kinds. They all stood proud and tall, as though it was they who were becoming the new Demon King rather than me. I stood hidden away as they all took their seats, Liz and Arisa were sitting in the very front of the royal families. Each had on a hand-stitched gown of the finest quality made by demons. Arisa's was a long flowing gown which shimmered in the light. The colors of her gown were red and purple. Red signified that she was a blood partner while purple signified royalty, meaning she was MY blood partner. Liz's dress was nice and puffy, at her request, and had the colors purple and white. Purple, she was now a Dark Princess, and white signified purity, AKA, she's single. The rest of the ceremony was a blur. I remember the cheers as I walked before everyone. I remember looking out and everyo
Before long each of the demons had suffered major injuries while I sunk farther and farther into my demon side.Marcus!I recognized the voice, but it did not register to me who exactly it was. My demon did not care, albeit it was slightly irritated from someone attempting to distract him from a most glorious fight.I felt a pull in my head. Things were being moved around. Memories seemed to resurface. I pushed them all down in an attempt to focus of my battle.Marcus, you need to wake up! This is not who you are!My head was pounding. One memory successfully resurfaced, the night at the hotel."Mark, you have to be careful. Dangers lie ahead. There are somethings you need not face if you tread carefully. Do not listen to those who want you to hear, listen to those who speak with blood through their hearts and a soul as pure as all the innocence in the world. For if you venture from their path, your death will b
"Anyone can get and pretend to have the royal name. My brother, Peter, did not have a blood partner. Are you suggesting he had an intimate enough relationship with a woman to allow her to conceive his child without a blood bond?" The generals shifted around uneasily. It was something considered to be prohibited and extremely wrong and dirty."He had a blood bond, he just did not want her, my mother, to deal with all that came with being blood bound to the Demon King," I am not entirely lying."And your mother?" Adraelech asked, though by his voice I knew he already knew the answer."She died four years ago." There was no hesitation in my voice. It was said as though it was nothing but another fact. My demon side was seemingly affecting my emotions, it seems I gave into too many dark desires when fighting this mini army.
Arisa?! Arisa! What's wrong? I could not help it as my body automatically looked for her. She was still on the other side, but she was looking for me. I sighed in relief that she was not in danger and continued my battle. Oh thank goodness you are alive! Where are you- No, Arisa. Stay away. Please. I shot up my mental walls and felt her surprise. I do not want her seeing what I have become. The longer I am like this as a demon, the more I feed off of anger, the more demon like I become. Right now, though all the odds were against me and I was worried, I was enjoying this fight. I was enjoying the blood and the violence. Using my power to get what I want, it is in my nature and I am finally giving into it after all these years of pushing it back and away. I
Levi shot an arrow in my direction, taking out a demon next to me. I turned to face him. He gestured with his head to the archers. I quickly raised my arm and closed my fist. He signaled to the archers to fire their arrows. I continued in the battle and avoided the arrows as best as I could. It took extra effort on my part to try to avoid the arrows while fighting with the other demons.As time went on, the number of demons in the sky diminished greatly. I was able to go back to swooping down and taking down demons on the ground. The battle waged on. The numbers of both sides was slowly diminishing. There were more humans than demons at this point, but I was not celebrating our victory until my uncle was dead. I searched the ground for him....What? W-where is he? He has to be there.... Maybe I missed him. No, he is not there. He is not
It was silent for a while before Jade finally broke it. "That... was... awesome! I can't believe you did that! I would have been scared shitless!" After that everyone around her cracked a grin. "It is because this guy thinks he is a hotshot since he is the prince and all," Amanda joked. The all chuckled and I smirked. They all knew that was anything but true. "I do not know why you all are so afraid of him, he is all bark and no bite." "How?! He waves that big axe around like it is nobody's business." "Buffoon." Levi muttered the words causing everyone to break out into laughter.After the laughter finally died down, I continued. "He is not so bad, especially for you guys now. What did you think all that trainin
The next morning I could feel the nervousness of the kingdom in the air. Everyone should be evacuating right now except for those few who were fighting. Marcus, turn that brain of yours off, it is way too early to be worrying about the whole kingdom. I chuckled lightly as Arisa's voice played in my head. Sorry beautiful, but I have to get up and worry about the kingdom. Liz was leaving with them today. Just as I got up Liz burst through the door and ran into my arms. "Mark! Tell them I am staying with you! Tell them I am not leaving!" Looking up I saw Arron running in. He placed his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths. Liz must have made a run for it and I have no doubt in my mind the Arron followed her the whole way through. I smiled at him both gratefully and sympathetically. I squatted down to her height. "Now Liz-" "Oh no, Mark no! When you start like that it is never good. Please Mark, do not make me leave you here to f
When we arrived back to the kingdom, they were all expecting us. "Prince Cziro, it seems your presence is requested in Prince Arron's quarters.""Okay, thank you." I turned to face Arisa, "Can you please put this in my quarters?" I handed her the book. She nodded softly before turning towards the building which houses the royal family. After checking on the team to make sure they have gone to check on any injuries they might have sustained, I went straight to Arron's quarters."You were looking for me." He looked up from the book he was reading. He let out a long sigh before putting the book down."I am afraid we received some news. Apparently the Demon King and his army shall be here by tomorrow morning, earliest. I would have liked a few more days to evacuate my people, but we'll do the best we can. Everyone but those fighting in the battle are going to evacuate before the armies arrive. We should be a safe distance away by the time they arri
"Hey Marcus, what does the book say?" Arisa carefully slide a finger over the binding of the book. I did not really want to read any of it in front of her. I have no doubt that some of the things held within the book may be harsh and brutal. It is for the Demon King of course."It is uhhh... It is for the ritual I will have to partake in when I finally defeat my uncle." She looked over at the book curiously. She reached for it but I pulled it back away from her."Marcus? W-what is wrong?" Her eyes were full of hurt."Arisa, I am sorry, truly I am, but some of the things in within this book are not pretty. I am going to have to do everything in the book, whether I want to or not." She placed her soft palm on my cheek. I closed my eyes and took in her warmth."Mark, no matter what it is you have to do for the ritual, I do not care. I know you are doing this for everyone around you including those whom have fallen victim to bad demons