Chapter Nine: When the Coven is gone.

Stermons stand up still as the prince approached the bridge. He fingered every single bone and frowned. He walked firmly on the bridge while his hands are resting on the handlebars. They knew that, just by looking at his face, he did not like it. When he reached the end of the bridge, he pulled out the gem that decorates it, and it collapsed in the lava. Even the fruit of their hard work was destroyed, the stermons remain blank as the prince continues his walk. 

Their craftsmanship did not please him. It is been years when he first got them from his father, Satan.

He grunted. Such disappointment. His expectations are high, and the poor stermons cannot keep up with his standards. The only thing they can do is to accept that they failed.

He looked around. Stermons block the sight of the fallen buildings.

He bit a finger, and then his wings grew. Black and gold dust float around his body.  Blood dripped, and the wind blows. It revealed his large black wings.

He flapped his wings and made his way up to the sky.  He blinked, and the sunlight kissed his face. His wings flapping, the wind blows. He protected his eyes. He peeked a little, and when he saw the dust being blown away by the strong wind. A cloud covered half of the sun yet the sunlight is too bright.

He was disgusted. A touch of goodness is still in this city, and it made him feel like the god above destroyed his plan. At least, he destroyed London. Still, he isn’t happy.

He raised both of his palms. A swirl of gold and black appeared. An orb was made.

He raised it to the sky and then a black explosion occurred. The sky swirled black and white, sounds of thunder can be heard. As if the two forces are fighting. Gold glitters fall from the sky as a large thunderbolt hits the ground. He flew to the leader of the stermons, and said;

“I will go to Olivia and I will call your clan if she needs reinforcements.”

The stermons is a clan, living on the outskirts near the city of hell. The clan lives around a big tree in the middle of the forest, named The Death Tree. The clan had a huge favor that they need to repay for a millennium. It all started on the day of Prince Merlin’s birth.

Merlin spent a decade in his mother’s womb and came out of her mother’s body when the war began.

It was a war that made history in Hell.

An empire in Planet phenomena, which is now proclaimed as one of the dead empires in the galaxy, fought with the hell demons to protect their territory. It was ignited when the emperor in Planet Phenomena signed a contract of peace and harmony. Beelzebub, the demon who reign on hell at that time, used one of the lands of that empire for war camps. The emperor, who thought Beelzebub will use it to conquer them, tried to stab Beelzebub on the night of the emperors' wife. He was right. After that night Beelzebub ordered one of his armies to conquer one of the biggest villages in the empire. The empire acted immediately and that is the start of the war.

It lasted for a decade, and on its last forces, the empire asked for more reinforcements from other states.

This ended it.

Desperate to leave a mark of their defeat and victor, the empire planted a tree sapling, and so did Hell.

Hell have also another reason for planting it.

A soldier from  Beelzebub’s army,  found a clan of stermons hiding in the mountains and disturbing the sleep of sinful humans. For the very first time, Beelzebub showed his kindness to the stermons since he discovered that his grandmother was a half-demon half stermon. The leader asked him to plant a tree for them to live and take care of. The stermons also promised to pay his kindness even it would last forever.

Instead of a single tree, Beelzebub ordered all his armies to plant an entire forest in an empty firm where nutrients are rich.

Now that Satan was the one who reigns on the throne, the price of Beelzebub's kindness is still not paid fully.

The stermon nods his head and so did the lower-level ones. They sat on the ground while Merlin flies to find Olivia.

…

With Karla in his hands, they rolled out of the portal. With scars all over his body, Helios looked around. He looked down at her. In his face were worry and anxiety.

“Karla!” He shouted. Her eyes blinked. He shrugged her, and then patted her head. Karla scratches her head and stares at him. He stands up from kneeling on the ground and then looks around.

Karla, in his arms, yawned and found herself carried by the sorcerer. She looks up, a sky blue sky with thin clouds and a big yellow sun stood before her eyes. And the temperature is scorching hot.

“Where are we?” She asked.

Helios kneels and places her on the ground. Helios stands up and then twisted his head to look around the place. Karla stands up by pushing herself using her left hand. She bends her body and jumps to a standing pose. She found a portal swirling behind them.

Helios was frowning as he tries to analyze where are they.

“I think I can’t answer that, Karla.” He replies as he shields his eyes from the sun.

“Uh, Helios?” She said as she turns her head to Helios and pointing the portal with her finger.

“Yes?” He replies his attention on Karla.

“Did we just-“ Helios interrupted her.

“Yes. And I still don’t know where are we.” He moves forward.

Karla looked around. She remembers this place.

“Karla!” Grunted by her maid, running towards her with a bottle of water.

It was a wonderful day they have spent in a country named Canada.  It’s the fourth day in the vacation week she experienced when she was ten years old. Approximately six years ago.

It is still fresh on her mind, and she hopes it will happen again.

The temperature is scorching hot in the Osoyoos desert. The family managed to visit the desert on the first day of its opening to the public.

“Hmmmmm.” She said and drank the water from the bottle while her maid holds it. Water drips from her mouth to the sand.

Cactuses are around her, her legs covered with glochids after tripping over a bush of causes. Her maid picks her up from the ground and carries her to a small restaurant located in the middle of the desert.

The maid pants as she jumps over the cacti. She looked far away, the billboard of a restaurant show.

“The Desert Dinner!” Her maid shouts.

“Desert Diner!” mimicked Karla. Her eyes are full of amazement as she rewinds a memory that can help them two.

Helios turns his back to her. He runs to her, and then asks, “Desert Diner?”

She nods. “And this place is a desert, Osoyoos Desert.”

“In which country?” He asks.

“Canada, located in North America,” Karla said. “We need to find the Desert Diner, so we can ask help from a friend of my mother.”

“That is a good idea.” Helios goes his hand under his cloak and reaches out something. “And also, we need to find out where Master and the others went.” He shows her a book of spells, a sun engraved on the book cover.

“We’re here, and the others went away?” She asked.

“No, we got separated from the others.” He tells her. “We need to go now, we should not waste time.”