Avatar Ch.3
#3 of Avatar
Once again all of these ideas from this story come from my mind. Any resemblances to any other stories or anything else is purely coincidence.
[Previous chapter](%5C)
- * * ##### Avatar Ch. 3 ##### by Mangy Mutt Sunlight gleamed through the windows, its rays reflecting through the glass causing it to shine brightly. Each beam of light spread through the room slowly in a haze. The bright morning sun slowly illuminated every inch of the room. Also revealed by the beaming sunlight were two prone figures under the thick woven blanket of the large bed. The two wolves laid there in deep slumber. Looking ever peaceful clinging to each other. Lukara lay there on top of Zero still dozing softly. Her head rested on his chest and both of her hands had a full grip on his chest fur. Zero had both of his hands resting on her back while he too was caught up in slumber. Both of his eyes flickered open slowly and his vision suddenly cleared and refocused. He turned his head looking around the room. It was a mess. Chairs had been knocked over, most of the objects in the room had been tossed around, and thin trails of white goo covered the floor. A small grin formed on his face as last nights events slowly came back to him. He felt warmth between his legs and curiously looked down. He found that his length was still buried deep within Lukara's depths. And her hips slowly moved up and down humping against him while gliding along his shaft even though she was still sound asleep. She let out a soft moan during her sleep and Zero suddenly felt his crotch become damp. She twitched and nuzzled her head into his chest. Chuckling softly he pulled up the blanket so that it covered her shoulders. Her eyes opened, slowly coming back into focus. She yawned and looked up to him. Her hair was mussed and unruly covering her face slightly. "Good morning," he whispered while caressing her neck. She smiled lightly. Leaning up a bit she licked his cheek. "Good morning to you too." "So I take it you enjoyed your sleep?" he asked with a small grin on his face. Curious as to what he meant she turned her head and looked down. She was straddling him and her hips had been moving up and down in a paced rhythm on his member. A small laugh escaped her. She had been wondering why she had felt so stretched. She turned her head a bit to inspect the room. And her eyes lighted with mild amusement upon seeing the wrecked condition of the room. "I think we overdid it last night," she giggled while turning back to face him. He smiled and silently stroked her back letting her soft ebony fur drift between his fingers. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest enjoying the warmth of his fur. Her hand traveled lightly up from his chest and to his neck. But when her hand fell on his neck she did not feel the soft warm fur she had been expecting, but instead felt something smooth and silky. She looked up and soon found what it was. Still wrapped around securely around his neck was the thick black scarf. She let her hand clutch at the weird material feeling the soft silky scarf beneath her fingertips. "I've noticed that you never take this thing off. You even wore it all last night. Why is that?" she mouthed while slowly unfastening his scarf from his neck. He was about to lift his hand to stop her but he hesitated. With a sigh he let his hand drop. She finally managed to get the scarf off from around his neck and let out a loud gasp at what she saw. A long jagged scar circled around the front of his neck parting his fur either side of it. And there were two weird symbols one on each side of his neck. One symbol was glowing dark red and the other glowed sky blue. She slowly traced her fingers across the scar. "How did this happen?" she asked. He turned his gaze away from her as the words came to him. "I believe you already know about Rain and how he attacked me, since Moggy already told you." "But how did you--," she stopped and suddenly went quiet. "Don't worry, I'm not angry. And I know because I have enhanced hearing thanks to be half demon. So I overheard your conversation with him in the cave." He closed his eyes while recollecting his past. "When Rain came on the mountain he did more than just attack me, he tried to assassinate me. I was still young and had not yet completed my training as a trolu so I could not have hoped to beat him. I was still in a dren back then. But when he attacked he slaughtered all of my dren and even killed the higher orders that had been teaching us, leaving only me alive. The whole time he kept stammering on and on saying he had to prevent it from happening and how he couldn't allow me to live. He did something weird with his sword and then brought it slicing to my neck to give me this scar. I fell to the ground paralyzed. Whatever he had done kept me from moving. He then brought his sword up for the killing blow. But I remembered there was a bright flash and then I blacked out. My memory gets a bit hazy after that." "But why was he so determined to kill you in particular?" Lukara asked. "I think it had something to do with me being part demon. From what I had heard he used to be a trolu. But I also heard that he quit our order and fled the mountain the very night I was born." "What about your parents and those weird markings on your neck?" "I have no idea what these marking are on my neck. I was just born with them. Many have tried to find out what they mean. But there is no information on them whatsoever, not even in the archives, and as for my parents. I know little to noting about my mother. The only thing I do know is that she was a demon. What I know of my father are only bits of information from talking to some of the older trolu. Apparently my father was one of the most powerful trolu to ever exist. Demons everywhere cringed in fear at the mere mention of his name. But unfortunately he died a few months before I was born. And my demon mother had died soon after giving birth to me. It just makes no sense that a renowned demon killer would have a child with a demon," he finished and went quiet. Lukara, who had crossed both of her arms on his chest and rested her head on them while listening to his story, suddenly looked up. "You shouldn't let it get to you. You never know, maybe your mother was different from other demons, and maybe your father saw that in her." "Ever optimistic even in the bleakest of situations. How do you do it?" he laughed while smiling down his chest at her. "I try to find the good in everything," she said while shrugging her shoulders slightly. "And besides you've been smiling a lot more of late instead of always looking angry like you did when I first met you. So I must be doing something right," she giggled. "It's hard not to be in a good mood when I'm around you," he muttered and leaned down to kiss her lightly. She blushed and smiled. Closing her eyes she nuzzled into his chest once more with a small sigh. His hand dropped to stroke at her hair. "You know we are going to have to get up and leave this room soon." "Mmm, do we have too?" she whispered and curled on top of him. "Yeah. The others are probably already at the counter waiting for us." He leaned up and pulled the blanket off and made to stand up. But before he stood Lukara wrapped both her arms around his shoulders and locked her legs around his waist so that her body clung to his when he stood from the bed. And she looked up at him with a coy smile. He stared down into her blue eyes temporarily losing himself within the pure depths of her gaze. "You know I can't get dressed if you don't let go." "Exactly," she giggled causing her face to light up. She leaned up to give him a soft kiss while grinding her hips against his. And her breasts mashed up against his chest while she clung to his body. "Well I see there is only one solution for this," he whispered with a small grin turning the corners of his mouth. She looked up at him curiously. Suddenly her back was up against the wall. She let a loud gasp of surprise as his cock was rammed deep within her. He drove deeper and deeper into her with each hard thrust. She tried to speak through her soft moans of pleasure. "But what...Ahhh...about...Mmm...the others?" she asked. "Well I don't think it would kill them to wait a little longer." She kissed him again letting her tongue wrap around his. And her rear bounced against the wall while she moved her hips to grind against his thrusts. Her legs squeezed tighter around his waist. She tried to get a grip on anything that she could to steady herself. He kept a steady rhythm while plowing into her moist flesh, enjoying the feeling of her enveloping warmth. Her walls tightened around his member squeezing it each time it passed through. An audible gasp escaped her lips as she felt his cock probe against her cervix. Zero strengthened his grip on her hips moving them to his tempo. Pushing his length into her as far as it would go with each of his thrusts. Her soft flesh sent fire shooting through every vein in his body. And a few drops of pre began to leak out while he continued to hammer into her unmercifully. Lukara moaned and felt every muscle in her body tighten. Her orgasm came on so powerfully that she could make no noise but merely open her mouth in a silent gasp. Her body shuddered and she felt her grip on his shoulders become weak for a few moments. Her juices came out dribbling down his shaft and soaking his crotch. Suddenly she slowed and stopped grinding her hips against his. He looked down curiously at her thinking she had had enough. But he was wrong. She bucked her body so strongly against him that his length popped free from her folds and he went toppling back towards the bed. He landed on it with a soft plop. He looked up at her in shock. "Hey why did you...Ahh." Before he could finish Lukara leapt onto the bed. Grinning she took hold of his cock and ran her tongue over the head instantly making him moan. She brought her tongue swabbing against the crevice of his sack while her fingers played up and down his shaft. With her tongue curling around his flesh she slowly took him into her mouth. Lukara nipped playfully at his flesh and continued to bob her head back and forth. She could feel his girth begin to pulsate wildly against her tongue. Sensing that he was close to his peak she picked up pace. His groans became louder and louder until he was barely able to restrain himself. She wrapped her tongue around the head letting it roll over his flesh slowly. This finally sent him over the edge. His cock tensed and with a roar he released spraying long gooey ropes of his cum all over her face. He moaned and came again spurting his seed into her awaiting mouth. She swallowed every bit and let her tongue wipe off the few drops that had drizzled down her chin. Wordlessly she crawled over and straddled him, and her deep blue eyes held a fiery glint to them. She placed both of her hands on his chest and tried to position herself. She murred audibly when she felt his massive length rub against her clit. Moving her hips back and forward letting the head slowly part her lips before she took him in. Zero then placed both hands on her backside and surged into her. She leaned down and rested her head on his chest while issuing a deep moan from her throat. Her hips rolled in a hypnotic dance allowing him to thrust even further into her damp sex. A loud wet smacking sound was produced each time they their bodies connected. Her walls clenched around him eager to take as much of him as possible. They began to pulsate around him faster and faster. She bucked her hips against him forcefully while feeling every bit of him buried within her depths. His girth grazed against every nerve within her passage sending her into wild spasms. And his shaft brushed against her clitoris upon each entry eliciting a gasp from her with each stroke. Suddenly she buried her face into his chest, which muffled her loud moan as she came with incredible force. Her walls clenched and unclenched wildly sending torrents of her juices surging out. Zero hammered into her. Feeling her tightening walls clamp to him like a vice while she went through the waves of yet another orgasm. He groaned while feeling every bit of his flesh ripped threw with unbearable pleasure. With a loud howl he hilted himself within her tight depths firing thick globs of his cum into her. He came so hard that that he filled her completely and the remainder of his spooge came leaking out around his shaft forming small puddles on the sheets beneath them. They laid their drawing labored breaths. And the sweat from their bodies beaded on the ends of their fur. She lifted her face to look up at him with a small grin. Zero smiled at the sight of her face covered in his jizz. With a content sigh she dropped her head to rest on his shoulder. And she murred happily while feeling his warm arms wrap around her. * * * * * It was around an hour or so before they finally left the room. And their afterglow surrounded them both. Zero reached the counter and was surprised to find nobody there but the red kangaroo. He was still sound asleep behind the counter. Suddenly he felt something tap his shoulder. And he turned quickly only to find Moggy's scowling face. "That was a dirty trick ye pulled last night Zero," he growled. Zero grimaced thinking something had gone wrong between him and Kiari. But to his surprise the collie came walking from behind Moggy. She stopped and planted a kiss on his cheek and then her tail curved to brush against his chin while she walked off in Lukara's direction. And Moggy stared after her watching the twist of her hips. Zero laughed and punched the scotty lightly in the shoulder. "You old fraud. You had me thinking something had gone wrong." Moggy laughed and shook his head. They both made their way over to stand by Lukara and Kiari. "Has anybody seen Rin?" Lukara asked. The kangaroo opened one eye lazily and scratched his head. "If your looking for the fox he's not here. He left real early." "Where do you think he went?" Kiari muttered. "The lad probably got caught fer stealin' somethin'," Moggy answered while scratching his side. As if on cue the door to the inn suddenly swung open. And in walked the blue fox with two heavy bags of gold and a mischievous glow in both of his orange eyes. He turned to see all of them staring at him. "What?" he asked. He emptied the large bags into some kind of weird black sack. But the sack oddly did not expand and fill up no matter how much gold he poured into it. He wrapped the sack up and tucked it into one of his many pockets. There was a loud yelling and the doors burst open once again. A large badger and two squirrels marched in through the doorway. The badger turned his striped head left and right. He then turned to Zero and the others. "Have any of you seen a blue fox with orange eyes and a weird hat." They looked around the room but Rin was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. Before any of them had a chance to respond to the badger's question one of the squirrels tugged on the badger's sleeve. "Sir I think I just saw someone go off in that direction." "Where?" the badger asked. "That way," the squirrel pointed. "Then lets be quick then. I'm telling you that fox cheated. There is no way someone can win a dice game twenty times in a row like that." And with that they were all out the door running as fast as their legs would carry them. "What did ah tell you," Moggy laughed. Zero shook his head. "Well with or without Rin we have to leave. We need to try and make it through the swamps as quickly as possible." "Leavin' already eh?" a voice called. They all turned to see the speaker. It was Hurgey. The old goat stove towards them with his eyes still closed and his pipe blazing. Moggy turned to Lukara and Kiari. "Ah believe ye two heard mae talkin' aboot ole Hurgey earlier? Well this is him." "Why aren't his eyes open? Is he blind?" Kiari asked curiously while leaning down to stare at the goat. "Ye have blonde hair an' yer eyes are brown," the goat spoke around his pipe without even opening his eyes. "Had ah been blind ah would no' have been able tae tell ye that now would ah? Ah assure ye lassie mah vision is jus' fine." He took a long puff from his pipe and turned to face Moggy. "An' ah don' need tae see tae know that young Moggy over there obviously has some sort o' infatuation wi' this wee lass." Moggy and Kiari both smiled towards each other. "An' what would make ye say that Hurgey?" Moggy laughed. "Well ye haven't taken yer eyes off the lass the entire time." He mumbled while taking another puff from his pipe. "So yer group is leavin' already eh?" "We need to leave early to get a good start towards the mountain," said Zero while checking his sword. "Well be off wi' ye then." He turned to walk away but then stopped after taking a few steps. "An Moggy, try no' tae get yerself killed," he spoke without turning around, And with that he was off once more walking away. Moggy smiled. "Don worry ole timer ah won't." Then they all turned to walk out of the inn. They received many goodbyes as they exited the town via the large drawbridge. Even the old bear gave her so longs to the group. No sooner had they exited the town they were greeted by the blue fox. Rin was standing with his back against a tree. When he heard them approach he lifted his head with a huge grin. "What took you so long?" he asked. "What was the deal with the badger? It sounded like you cheated him in gambling or something," they all asked simultaneously. "Hey, for once I did nothing wrong. It was the badger who was cheating. I was sitting there watching the guy cheat during all the dice games he played against all those who were foolish enough to bet against him. He used trick dice that landed on the number he wanted every time he rolled it. So I thought I would show him a thing or two. I went and bet against him. I did lose the first three games on purpose to make him overconfident. And when he wasn't looking I switched his dice out with a regular pair. And then after that I just let my natural talent take over and I cleared him out the next twenty games. Good haul for me eh?" "Shouldn't you have given all the gold you won back to the people he cheated?" Lukara scolded. "Hey there loss is my gain. And besides if I gave it back to them they would probably just go lose it some other stupid way. So the way I see it, their money is in better more capable hands now." He tilted his hat and turned towards Zero. "So where to next?" "We are going through the swamplands." "Ugh, couldn't we just go around it?" "If we go straight through it would save us a lot of time. Besides we have an old friend there that we haven't seen in a while eh Moggy?" "Aye, it has been a while since we've seen Gorace." Zero and Moggy turned to their left and were soon off with the three others right behind them. * * * * * The swamplands held true to their name. Every tree and bit of foliage in the area looked molted and rotten. And their footsteps would bring about a light squishing sound each time they tread upon the drenched ground. Long vines hung down like thick-corded ropes ringing about the tree's branches in intricate patterns. And loud groaning noises seemed to reverberate from every direction from some unknown creatures. "Yech," Rin grunted as his foot got trapped in a small pool of muck. "You should be careful not to touch anything around here. It could be dangerous," Zero muttered. "Well this muck I stepped in sure smells dangerous," Rin commented while holding his nose. "What you just stepped in was not muck." "Then what was it?" "I don't think you want to know." Rin made to wipe his boot off on one of the large roots of the tree. "You wipe that off on me and I'll rip you to pieces," a voice called warningly. Rin looked left and right to see where the voice had come from. Then suddenly the branches of the tree seemed to come alive with movement. One of the larger branches whipped through the air knocking the fox back. There was a loud groan and a large crack began to open up in the midsection of the trunk. It creaked open more and more until it held the form of an oddly shaped mouth. "Little bastards always coming in here. Ripping our leaves off, breaking our branches, bah!" it yelled with the weird shaped mouth sending out bits of chipped wood every time it spoke. "Leave him be. He's with us," Zero commanded. "Well you should teach him some damn decency. The trolu at least have enough respect for us to leave us be. But these damn outsiders. Always wrecking our swamps." "And tearing our bark," another of the trees answered. "And pissing on us," yet another tree chorused. "Let's just keep walking. Just ignore them, they won't harm us," Zero told the rest of them. "We will indeed harm them if they befoul our swamp," the trees called. "If you do I will be forced to set you all on fire." With a flash and an audible crackle of sparks Zero brought roaring flames to his hand. Suddenly all the trees went quiet and still. They ceased moving and looked once again like normal foliage. "Ha, that shut em oop," Moggy laughed. They tread on for a while through the swamps for a bit more until they eventually came to a massive lake. Many of the molted trees curved around the large lake forming a kind of fence. The dark green murky depths of the water seemed endless. And little rancid bubbles would come to the surface every now and then. The foul looking water seemed to go on and on. And it looked much too wide for them to swim across. "So uh, how do we get across this thing," Rin voiced aloud. "Yo Gorace!!! Come out, I know your there!!!" Zero yelled. At first there was no answer. Not a sound came from the swamp around them. But then a mass amount of bubbles began to surge to the surface of the water. The bubbling grew greater and greater until the water practically exploded upwards. A massive rock erupted from the water. The water streamed of the edges of the rock allowing it to pass through. It was extremely large and weird patterns going in a kind of design wove all around the rock. And unlike other rocks it was a bit more rounded and smooth instead of being pointy and rigid. Then the water calmed once again and they sat there facing the enormous hill of a stone. "So Gorace is a rock?" Kiari asked. "Oi Gorace! Lift yer head oop mate an' quit foolin' around," Moggy called. Suddenly there was another eruption of water right in front of the rock and something else lifted from the water. It appeared to be a massive head. Wrinkles and tough brown flesh lined every part of it. And when the head lifted higher a long thick neck could be seen connecting it to the large rock. It turned out to be a rather large turtle. Its enormous beak like mouth was large enough to fit all of them in it at once. Which really wasn't a comforting thought. But its eyes were squinted indicating old age. "I was not fooling around as you call it. I was eating," the turtle muttered in a raspy voice. "There's a mighty fine haul of insects and such under these waters. Couldn't resist. Now would you be so kind as to tell me who you are and why you called me?" "Come on Gorace your memory can't be that bad," Zero laughed. The turtle opened its eyes and stared at them long and hard. After a few minutes the turtle let out a loud laugh. "Ha. Young Zero and Moggy. It has indeed been a while. My apologies, my vision isn't what it used to be. So what brings you to the swamp." "Jus' passin' through mate. By the way would ye mind givin' us a lift across the lake?" "No problem at all. But first, I hate to ask you this, but would you mind taking a look at the back of my mouth? I have been having a dreadful stinging pain. It's not anything serious but it makes it a hell of a lot of trouble to eat." "Sure why not," Zero answered. He and Moggy both rolled up their sleeves and began advancing towards the turtle. "Uh, Zero are you sure it's a good idea to go into that thing's mouth?" Lukara asked. The turtle curved its long neck to look at Lukara and the others. "Ah, you have others with you. I assure you miss that I have no intention of eating these two or anyone else for that matter. Bad for the digestion don't you know." The large turtle then opened its large beak with a loud groan. Zero and Moggy ventured inside the cavernous maw and looked around the lining of his mouth. They were extremely careful not to tread on anything vital. "Well have you found the problem," Gorace mumbled in a muffled voice. "No' yet. But would ye try no' tae talk. Ye almost hit me wi' a wave o' drool jus' then," Moggy grumbled. "Ah, found it," Zero announced. He gave a hard tug and the object came free. He and Moggy both hopped out of the turtle's mouth. And Zero still held the object in his hand. It was a very large piece of timber almost the size of a small tree stump. "What the hell have ye been eatin' Gorace," Moggy asked while looking at the large piece of wood. "Oh this and that. Ah, my mouth feels much better know," the turtle laughed while flexing its jaw. "Right then, get on so I can take you across." Zero and Moggy climbed up on his head and walked across his neck to reach the massive shell. The others were a bit hesitant but with a little coaxing they finally managed to get on. "Aright then, off we go," the turtle called. He swung his head and his massive shell rotated with his body. With a lurch he tugged his body and began to slowly float towards the middle of the lake. Once it got its bearings the turtle began to move a bit faster. "Look there's more of them," Kiari called while pointing. She was indeed right. Three more rock like shells ascended from the murky water. And the green water rippled as the shells came closer to them. Once the shells got close enough three massive heads erupted from the water. The other turtles craned their necks to stare curiously at Zero and the others atop their comrades back. "Gorace, I do believe there are some things clinging to your shell," one of the turtles proclaimed. "Yes they seem to be stuck on there pretty good," another of the turtles called. "Things on his back you say? Do they look edible?" the third turtle asked. And he looked to be mostly blind seeing as there was a weird milky look to his eyes. "Now enough of that you three. These five on my shell are friends of mine so leave them be. There will be no eating them, understand?" Gorace chided. "Eat them? We don't eat their kind and would not dare think of it," the first turtle scoffed. "But I'm afraid we can't say the same for Lerin here. He's so blind that he couldn't tell the difference between food and his own ass," the second turtle laughed. "Quiet Terand! My vision is just as good as yours. There are five squirrels on Gorace's back. Now how would I know that if I was blind?" the turtle asked with a triumphant look on his face. "Their not squirrels you old fool. Sitting on his back are two wolves, a scottish terrier, a collie, and a fox. It's quite obvious," the first turtle chided. "I'm telling you their squirrels! You two are just saying their other creatures to confuse me," the blind turtle yelled. "Confuse you? Ha, you already seemed to be confused enough as it is. They're not squirrels and you're a complete stupid ass if you think otherwise!" "A stupid ass am I?" Suddenly the blind turtle charged through the water in an attempt to head butt the turtle that had insulted him. But since his vision was poor he ended up ramming into the head of the third turtle that had been watching them argue. "Ow! Watch it!" he yelled and surged to his left and head butted the other turtle. "Ugh! What the fuck was that for?" "You're the one who got him angry and made him charge me!" All three turtles suddenly broke into a fight. There was an audible crack each time one of their head butts connected. And a loud yelp of pain would follow each time. Gorace shook his head. "Let's just leave them be. They'll be at that for hours." Gorace drifted through the water further away from them. And the sounds of the quarrelling turtles could still be heard in the distance. It was a good few hours until they reached the end of the swamp. The stream of murky green water had remained to carry them. But the ring of molted foliage had cleared. Rocky outcrops now surrounded them. And the ground instead of being wet and gritty had now become hard and rigid. Gorace came to a halt as he reached the water's edge. "All right, everyone off," the turtle commanded. Zero and the others slid off his smooth shell and onto the rocky ground. "Thanks for the ride Gorace," Zero grunted while stretching his legs, which had become numb during the trip. "Don't mention it. Well I'll be seeing you." The turtle turned his body around with a mighty tug and slowly began to drift back the way he came. All of them turned to make their way through the rocky land. There was not a single tree in the dark barren land. And there was an eerie quiet surrounding it. The area itself was comprised of mostly boulders and gravel covered ground. And each step from them gave out a soft crunch from the rocks underfoot. "It's getting kind of late. Are we going to make camp in this place?" Rin asked while looking over the rocky lands. "No, a little farther ahead there's a castle. We are good friends with the residents so--," suddenly he went silent. "What is it?" Lukara asked. Zero lifted his hand for silence. He sniffed the air letting all the different smells sift through his nostrils. But one smell caught his attention. "Something's not right here." He sniffed the air again and caught the smell again. "Get down!" he yelled to them. They all ducked just in time. A stream of red smoke that resembled a long rope curved around them narrowly missing their bodies. The gas hit the ground around them instantly melting it to nothing with a loud hiss. There was a loud screech from over head. The sky suddenly became littered with hundreds of black shapes. A dark cloud of ghastly winged creatures was heading right towards them. Their large leathery wings were enveloped in thick bellowing black smoke. Each one of them had two compound eyes similar to that of an insect's. Their thick armored bodies were shaped like spears. And large pincers at their mouths opened wide to produce a high-pitched screech. All of them grouped together in formation as they plummeted faster towards Zero and the others, with their ragged wings beating against the air. "We are goin' tae have tae shield the others," Moggy muttered while keeping his gaze upon the dark creatures. "We can help you. You don't need to protect us," Lukara called while unsheathing her saber. Both Zero and Moggy looked at her sternly. "These are not your typical demons. These are some of the same types of demons that we fight back on the mountain. Your weapons won't put so much as a scratch on them." Zero turned to see the dark figures approaching fast. "Moggy you shield them I'll handle the demons." The scotty nodded and held both of his hands forth. There was a bright flash and they were all encompassed within a shining light. The light shifted and began to form around them. Slowly the light began to fade. When it disappeared completely they could see its effects. A large transparent dome-like barrier now enshrouded all of them except Zero. And a blue aura seemed to emanate from around it. The winged creatures had finally gotten close enough to attack. Each one of them opened their large pincers. A thick twining stream of red smoke fired from their mouths in a vicious arc. The streams of the weird smoke came hailing down on them with incredible speed. But it was a wasted effort. All of the red smoke that hit Moggy's barrier immediately fizzled into thin vapors. But all of the ground around them that was not protected by the barrier had been melted to nothing by the smoke, to form a kind of trench around them. Zero however took a different approach. Since he was not within the protection of the barrier he brought his left hand up in defense. His hand glowed and a weird light began to bend around it. The light expanded outwards from his hands and formed into a large glowing disc. The disc radiated heat and hovered in front of him acting like a shield as it repelled all of the smoke away from him. With the disc keeping the smoke from hitting him he had both hands free to form his attack. He shot both hands forth and aimed them right towards the winged creatures. The air around his hands began to disrupt and spin. It spun faster and faster around his hand blowing up some dust from the ground as it did. Pretty soon what resembled a miniature tornado was now circling both his wrists. The tornado grew and grew until it finally it grew larger then his body. Satisfied he urged his magic and sent it towards the creatures. There was a muffled explosion and a massive tunnel of wind flew out from his hands. Its base stayed connected to his hands as it curved with a loud howl. All of the rocks and gravel around him sucked into the wind tunnel and circled around it. The winged creatures flapped their smoking wings in surprise as the wind vented its fury on them. The wind was so powerful that it would shred their bodies to pieces every time it collided with their bodies. Dozen of wails rent the air while they were destroyed by the wind. But a few of them who had seen the attack coming had flown out of the way just in time to avoid the large tunnel of wind. Those few demons reassembled themselves and swooped down to attack the red wolf that had killed their brethren. Zero had been so focused on killing the demons trapped within his tunnel of wind that he did not notice the others that he had missed diving towards him. Lukara yelled for him to lookout and he looked to his left. With a loud screech the winged demons grabbed Zero with their fierce talons and hoisted him up high into the air. Moggy immediately dropped the barrier to try and help his friend. Kiari notched an arrow to her bow and fired. It was a direct hit, but unfortunately it clattered off the demon's armored body unable to penetrate it. Moggy brought lightning bolts converging around his hands with a shower of sparks. He urged his hand forth in a strong lunge sending the light bolts shooting towards the demons in fierce arcs. But they flew higher and danced out of his shooting range. Dodging the lightning this way and that. The others set upon Zero. They tried to tear him apart while they held him in their grasps. But he fought like mad to break the demon's grip on him. He unsheathed his katana and brought the blade slicing through the creature's ankle. His blade being made from a special metal easily cut through the armored scales of talons. The demon gave out a loud screech as the talon it was using to hold the red wolf was sheared off in a flash of black blood. Zero fell from the demon's grasp and plummeted through the air. He was so high up that he could feel the air whipping at his face during his descent. Looking up he could see the rest of the winged creatures flying downwards to catch up with him. They were intent on ripping him to pieces. Zero closed his eyes and began muttering some kind of incantation. He held his hand out and continued muttering. The ether in the air began to form into small white threads and fed into his hand creating a white glow around it. More and more the white threads drew to his hand making the glow become brighter. He didn't have to open his eyes to know that the beasts were almost upon him. And his falling body did nothing to halt the gathering of his magic. He continued muttering while keeping his hand outstretched. The white threads began gathering to his hands even faster in fierce suction making the glow around his hands form into a large orb. The demons were now but an inch away from him. Each one let out a soft hiss of satisfaction as they moved to claim the life of the red wolf. Suddenly both of Zero eyes snapped open. He held his hand out letting his magic surge to it. There was a bright flash of light that was so strong that illuminated the dark sky. The white light shone with the intensity of a sun while radiating out from him. The winged demons melted to ash as the burst of light exploded out from the wolf. In a matter of seconds all of them were completely exterminated. Zero withdrew his hand and the light disappeared as fast as it had been produced. Zero looked down and saw that he was closer to the ground now. He spun in the air and pointed his left hand towards the ground that was getting menacingly closer to him. There was a shift in the ground and with a great lurch the earth erupted up forming into a large pillar. Rocks and gravel of the land sucked in to feed the pillar's growth as it ascended higher and higher into the air. The pillar of earth soon came close to his body. He used his magic to soften the blow of his landing as he landed on the top of the pillar. Zero waved his hand and the pillar stop growing. With another wave of his hand the pillar began to descend back into the ground slowly with him still standing firmly at its top. He could see the others running towards him while the pillar descended lower and lower. With a soft groan the pillar finally fed itself back into the ground and Zero hopped from it feeling his feet once again hit solid ground. Before he could get his bearings Lukara was suddenly upon him asking him if he was all right. "I'm fine," he answered. Moggy walked up to him while scanning the area around them for more demons. "Zero seeing those kind o' demons in these lands is no' a good sign." His eyes shot wide open as he realized something. He turned to the red wolf with anger in his eyes. "Why would these kinds o' demons be this far inland unless..." It suddenly hit Zero too. "Unless they were attacking the castle," he muttered. He turned to the others. "All of you grab hold of me and Moggy quick." All of them were curious as to why he was saying this. But upon seeing the fire in his eyes they were not eager to ask. Lukara and Rin each grabbed one of Zero's arm and Kiari had a firm grip on Moggy. "Hold on tight," Zero and Moggy both told them simultaneously. Zero and Moggy's bodies both began to emit a gold aura. With a small spark they both sent their magic out through their feet sending them into a wild run. Their legs moved so fast that they literally became a blur. Time slowed down around them while they ran across the lands at impossible speeds. The others tightened their grips on the bodies of the two trolu so as not to fall off during their run. Their speed was so great that had someone been watching them move they would have seen nothing but a large blur zooming across the land. They ran faster and faster leaving a massive dust cloud behind them. The large land passed by them in quick flashes. Over the edge of the land they make out a small figure. It became more distinguishable as they came closer and closer to it. Finally they came to halt kicking up a lot of gravel as they did. They now stood right in front of the figure they had seen. It was a castle, but quite a downtrodden one at that. It was in horrible shape. Bricks had been melted and the stones of the walls looked as if they had been scorched. And large chunks of stones were missing from the ramparts. The large oak door had been blown clear off its hinges with a few burn marks showing visibly near the entrance. Loud yells and screams could be heard coming from inside the castle. Not wasting any time they all quickly dashed inside the castle to. And a vicious scene lay before their eyes upon entering. Both mortal and demon bodies lay strewn across the ground. With pools of blood and organs littered everywhere. The few remaining soldiers yelled their battle cries whilst they fought to fend off large hordes of demons. But it was a vain attempt. Despite their valiant efforts their numbers were steadily decreasing. Zero and the others quickly leapt to the soldiers' aid. They charged the demons away from soldiers instantly repulsing them back a bit. The soldiers' spirits seemed to lift a bit at the sight of the group coming to their aid. And with renewed gusto they fought against the demons cutting their weapons into their vile flesh with unmatched ferocity. One of the soldiers lay wounded up against the wall. He looked up and saw the red wolf. "Zero," he called. The red wolf instantly turned and ran over to the wounded soldier leaving Moggy and the others to fight the demons. "Articus. What going on. How did all these demons get here?" he asked while kneeling down to look at the wounded fighter. "Ambush. They came and attacked us out of nowhere," he spluttered spitting up a bit of blood as he spoke. "We didn't stand a chance." "But Articus the juran soldiers have fought demons plenty of times before. Your soldiers have even helped us out at the mountain from time to time. So how did this lot of demons overcome all of you?" "No," he rasped. "Do not be mistaken. It was not those demons that overcame us. If it were just them alone we could have easily took them. But some weird creature, of the likes that I have never seen before, was leading them. He could use magic. Not even the trolu helping us were a match for him." "There were other trolu here?" Zero asked. "Yes. The remaining few of them are still fighting with that creature as we speak. Over there," he said while lifting his frail hand and pointing to the left. Zero turned and saw a massive explosion of black fire directly where the soldier had pointed. He turned his attention back to the soldier. "I'll go help them, just hold on you will be okay." "You're a terrible liar Zero, you always were," the soldier said with a lopsided smile while leaning forward to cough up more blood. When the soldier leaned forward Zero got a glimpse of the vicious wound going across his chest. "Just try and keep breathing," Zero called to the soldier while running back towards Moggy. The soldier let out a grim laugh and leaned back against the stony wall. His breathing became slower and slower until finally with one last gasp his eyes glazed over in death and he fell to the ground never to rise again. "Damn li'l bastards are everywhere," Moggy grunted while swinging his blade to and fro. "Moggy," Zero called while leaping alongside the scotty to help him out. "It's lik nothin' ah've ever seen Zero. All o' these demons are the same types that we fight back on the mountain. It makes no sense fer them tae be able tae git past the mountain an' through these lands. The soldiers here never stood a chance." "It wasn't the demons that did this, it was their leader. There are other trolu over there fighting their leader as we speak. We have to go help them," Zero called while slicing his katana upwards to cleave one of the beasts in half vertically. "Zero," Lukara called while stabbing her saber through a demons throat to get to him and Moggy. Kiari and Rin soon joined them. "Lukara I need you and the others to help these soldiers. We have to go and help the other trolu." "Be careful," she muttered while leaning up to give him a quick kiss. And Kiari did the same with Moggy giving him a strong kiss then wrapping her arms around him. "Hey where the hell is my kiss? I'm busting my ass out here fighting too," Rin grumbled. Both Lukara and Kiari shot him a look that could pierce through stone. "Okay, okay it was a simple jest nothing more," Rin laughed. And with that Zero and Moggy turned and began running towards the area where the other trolu were fighting. It did not take them long to spot them. The black flames cleared a bit and they spotted the trolu. There were only five of them. Their condition was pitiful. Their clothing was torn in many different places and numerous cuts and gashes covered their bodies. They all grouped together and backed away from the flames slowly but fearfully with weapons held up defensively. Then a figure emerged from the flames. It slowly advanced on the five trolu. The creature must have been at least ten feet tall. Most of its body was hidden behind the long blood red cloak it was wearing. A long thick muzzle protruded from its face. But no mouth could be seen on the muzzle. Its face itself was jet black making it almost impossible to see against the dark night. Four long spikes protruded from the back of its skull, each one with a razor sharp tip. Long dark gray hair descended from its head all the way down to its long sinuous neck. But it was the eyes that were the dominating feature of its face. The pupils were slits and the irises surrounding them were pale yellow. The area surrounding his irises, which would usually be white, were a deep crimson red. Its eyes stared at the trolu. But what was truly fearsome about the eyes was that they contained now emotion. No hate no happiness. They were just two devoid portals that gave a glimpse to the very depths of hell. Moggy lifted his hand while they ran to help their trolu comrades. Small orbs of golden light drew to the scotty's hand rapidly forming into an enormous ball of energy. The scotty drew the magic in more and more until the ball of light had grown to massive proportions. He then reared his arm back and threw the ball of energy with fierce intensity. It flew zipping through the air while it zoomed towards its target. It hit the large red-cloaked creature square in the chest sending him flying back into the black flames with a massive explosion. All of the trolu looked back to see the red wolf and the scotty running towards them. One of the trolu, a russet furred female otter, turned to greet them. "Master Kindarus, master McCraggen," she said with a bow. "You can drop the formalities Sheila. What is going on here?" Zero asked. The other four trolu slowly walked towards them but they all kept a steady eye on the area where the beast had been blown back. A second trolu this one being a short black squirrel padded up to them. "You should not have come Zero," he muttered while stabbing his blade into the ground to rest his tired body against it. Numerous cuts and bruises could be seen all over his body. "Why no'? Whats goin' on? What was that thing?" Moggy asked. The squirrel looked up with anger in his eyes. "It was a tiyan," he said with a low growl. Zero and Moggy were both taken aback. "But that can't be true. The last of the tiyans were exterminated nearly a century ago," Zero spoke disbelievingly. "Believe me I didn't believe it myself when I first saw him," the squirrel let out a sad sigh. "They're were ten of us when we first came here. We had gotten an urgent call to return to the mountain. So we all met up here and decided we should stop at the castle for the night. But as soon as we got here we found that the castle had been nearly destroyed. All of us quickly rushed to help the soldiers here. We managed to hold off the demon hordes but then he showed up. That tiyan...the way he fights...its unreal. Even with ten of us we didn't stand a chance. We couldn't even put so much as a scratch on him. His magic is different then ours, much more powerful. He can't be killed, it's impossible." The squirrel gave another tired sigh. He looked up to them with fire burning in his eyes. "You two need to get out of here now! Go as fast as you can. We will hold him off for as long as we are able. Tell the council about the tiyan." "We won't leave. It is our duty as trolu to fight demons no matter what the odds. We will stay and help," Zero and Moggy answered simultaneously. "You don't understand!! He can't be beaten! He has been picking us off as if we were no challenge to him whatsoever! Now you must--," Suddenly there was loud explosion. Something big flew from within the flames. It resembled a massive ball of fire except it burned with sickening green flames. But it had a gruesome face quelling within the flames as it moved. The face looked like that of a demon. But it had no limbs; it was just a horribly disfigured face flashing from within the green blast of flame. It looked to be some kind of odd spirit since it moved with a life its own. It howled and curved and flew like a missile. It howled more and more until it hit its intended target. It flew straight through the back of the squirrel that had just been talking to Zero and Moggy a few seconds ago. Zero and Moggy could only watch in horror at what happened next. The deathly spirit burrowed deep into the squirrel's body not leaving a single mark or scratch on the outside of his body. But as soon as the spirit entered him the squirrel doubled over screaming in agony. He vomited and crouched low. His stomach began to expand wildly growing more and more with each passing second. A green light began to glow from within his stomach. The squirrel opened his mouth to yell but all that came out of his mouth was more and more green light. Then his stomach expanded until the breaking point and suddenly there was a small blast. The green light had exploded and the squirrel's body had been blown clear in half. Bones and organs scattered in every direction sending out torrents of blood. Both halves of his body fell to the ground. His spinal cord and his rib cage could be seen showing clearly from the opening were his body had been ripped apart. And bits of his intestine littered the ground. His eyes stared in shock at his legs, which were at least ten feet away from where his top half had landed. And he died with that shocked look on his face while watching his legs writhe and fall to the ground. There was a low hiss and the black flames evaporated instantly. And the tiyan was right there walking towards them with the green flames still radiating around his body from the spirit he had fired. Zero and Moggy immediately ran up to him to meet his advance. The other trolu followed them still shaken from watching their comrade die. The tiyan saw them approaching and readied itself for battle. It threw open its cloak dramatically, exposing its body. Its entire body was jet black just like its face. And its body was not large and bulky like most demons, but it was instead lanky and sinuous, almost skeletal. Covering its waist was a large black kilt that looked to have been sewn together from large batwings. The kilt was opened in the middle allowing it freedom of movement. A long thick belt wound around it waist. And hundreds of tiny skulls covered its belt like small trophies. Its legs were long and powerful, teething with muscle. The long legs were jointed in many different areas, which gave them appearance of being digitigraded. Ending its legs were not toes but large razor sharp talons. There were five talons in all, three on the front of its foot and two at the back. And hidden at the palm of each foot was a small fleshy pouch like slit that seemed to have some hidden purpose. But its upper body was the true wonder. Weird markings and symbols covered the entire length of its torso. And coming from its body were not two arms, but four. All four of its long skeletal arms extended from its torso like slithering snakes. Contained within three of its clawed hands were extremely large swords. Each sword was at least five feet long in length. Two prongs extended from the beginning of the blade and odd markings covered the blades edges. But what was truly odd about the swords was that an odd murky green glow seemed to be emanating from the blades themselves. Its fourth hand which contained no weapon at all just sat there clenching and unclenching. Zero, Moggy and the four other trolu slowly edged towards the tiyan. Being extremely cautious and keeping a close eye on all of his arms. But it was the tiyan who commenced the fight. He shifted and moved towards them. When he moved he did so with such speed that after images of himself trailed after him following him like a shadow. He would simply shift his body while in one area and within a split second he would be in another area. All of the trolu tensed. They tried to keep track of the tiyan's shifting form. They all backed up and encircled the tiyan as he skidded to a halt right in the middle of them. As soon as he came within range of them their blades all met in combat. The trolu hefted their weapons while meeting the demon's swords head on. But their attack was immediately repulsed and they were instantly on defense. The squirrel had been right; this demon's fighting was unreal. Most demons may be fierce but their attacks are crude and blunt. But the tiyan's movements were a completely different story. Each one of his arms could move in unison or individually. All of his strikes were precise and calculating as if he was fighting them and looking for all their weak spots at the same time. His attacks were far too fast too them to keep up with. The trolu could do not but defend against his vicious onslaught. They were far too busy blocking his blade strikes to have time to even gather magic. Two of the trolu leapt into the air towards the tiyan with a flip in hopes of catching him off guard. But they had no such luck. His two arms kept the other trolu at bay while the third moved up by itself to fend off all their attacks from above. The two trolu who had flipped over him charged his turned back to get a strike in. But then the unexpected happened. Without turning around the tiyan moved both of his top arms to attack the trolu in front of him to distract them temporarily. But the two lower arms gave out an audible crack as they unhinged themselves and reset the joints. His lower arms then did the impossible. The lower arms on his body turned in the other direction so that they were facing behind him. His arms had turned completely the other way. Both of the arms instantly swung out with their blades to attack the two trolu that had gotten behind him. All of the trolu were completely caught off guard by this spectacle. Each of his arms moved with a mind of their own. He couldn't even see the two trolu behind him and yet his two arms attacked them relentlessly. He began to back up slowly to give his two lower arms better reach to the fighters behind him. But this made him lose his edge for a second. The four trolu who were in front of him leapt to take an advantage; since only one of his top arms had a sword. But little did they know that his fourth hand that did not hold a sword was the most dangerous of all. The fourth arm moved in arc. He slammed his open palm upon the ground so forcefully that the very earth beneath their feet shook. There was a rippled and a cascade of sparks. Suddenly from where he had slammed his hand an enormous ring of black fire expanded out. It grew larger with each passing second as it radiated outwards. All of the trolu were forced to jump away from the tiyan. If they had not jumped the large flames would have consumed them. But since they had jumped so far away from the tiyan this gave the trolu time to gather their magic. All of the air around them began to ripple as each one of them gathered their magic. Small white orbs formed from the ether in the air and formed around each of their bodies feeding in to their beings to fuel their magic. And finally a loud explosion rent through the air as each of them fired their magic. Zero and Moggy had both sent out large spinning orbs of ice that misted the air as they flew towards their target. Three of the other trolu had fired massive comets of fire, which sent out wisps of flames in every direction. And the last three lifted their hands to shoot crackling lightning bolts from their palms. The tiyan lifted its hand from the earth. His eyes narrowed while he watched the trolu's magic fly towards him from every direction. But just when the magic attacks were about to hit him he suddenly leapt into the air. He curled his body together into a ball. Small black sparks began to from around his body. The sparks began to multiply around him creating a weird mist around him. Then with a flash a massive orb formed around his body. The orb was a mixture of black and blue resembling the sky of a moonless night. All of the trolus' magic hit the edges of the orb trying to get through it. But the orb acted as a shield. The orb like barrier halted the fire, ice and even the lightning bolts that had been sent out by the trolu. Then the orb pulsed and with an audible bang it exploded sending all of their magic flying back towards them. The trolu jumped in different directions to dodge their own magic that had been sent flying back towards them. Oddly enough the tiyan was still suspended in the air. He was obviously descending a bit, but very slowly. He just hovered there slightly, negating the laws of gravity. Then while still hovering He brought all three of his blades up in fighting position. He swung the blades and there was a ripple of heat sent through the air. Large curving ropes of ebony fire were sent from the edges of his swords flying down towards the earth. The ropes of fire left long trenches of melted ground wherever they struck. All of the trolu had to keep moving to avoid being hit by the flames. The tiyan while still descending slowly through the air suddenly let the bluish black orb gather around his body once again. But this time he didn't use it as a shield. His body suddenly shot down from the air like a bullet. He crashed into the ground right next to where the trolu were standing. Once the orb around him came in contact with the ground it caused a massive explosion. The ground incinerated all around him as the explosion from his barrier was sent flying outwards. The trolu knew they would not have time to dodge. So they all threw up barriers of their own to shield themselves from the explosion. The blast hit them but it merely caused small ripples in their barriers, and they were able to withstand it. Once the blast cleared the tiyan once again charged them. The trolu went to meet his attack, but this time with a different strategy. Zero, Moggy, and one other trolu went to attack the tiyan while the other three stayed to the back. While Zero and his group kept the tiyan busy the three trolu who had stayed behind began to let their magic gather to them. All their bodies began to pulsate with the same blue aura. They all lifted their hands simultaneously letting their magic form around them. With a strong thrust they all released their magic surging from them. The result of their fused magic was an enormous spiraling pillar of blue flame. It flew from them leaving wisps of smoke in its wake. Howling its power as it flew towards the tiyan. But the tiyan had not been fooled by their ruse. He knew exactly what they were planning. He had been waiting for the trolu to fire their magic at him while her fought the other three that had supposedly come to distract him. When he saw the pillar of flame coming towards him he immediately reacted. All three off his blades shot out from his hands and towards the three trolu who had been fighting him up close. His blades hit their weapons with such force that they were all sent careening back. His blades although he wasn't holding them stayed locked against their weapons keeping them from attacking him. The pillar of flame advanced towards him with increasing speed. The tiyan brought all four of its hands swirling together. There was a loud crackle and a small orb of black and red lightning began to form between his hands. It swirled around in circles as it grew larger. Within seconds the orb of lightning had grown so massive than it was larger than his entire body. He flung all four of his hands forth with a mighty heave sending it flying right towards the pillar of blue flames that was heading towards him. The orb of lightning sent out angry sparks as it flew to meet the trolus' magic. It collided with the pillar of flame head on causing an earsplitting explosion to rent through the air. But miraculously the orb of lightning plowed right through the flames as if they were nothing. The spiraling flames were forced to split open while the lightning flew through them. All of the three trolu who had conjured the blue flames held a look of pure shock written upon their face. They were forced to jump away to dodge the spinning orb of lightning as it shredded right through the blue flames and crashed and exploded into the ground where they had been standing not a second earlier. The tiyan motioned his hands and all three of his of swords were instantly sent flying back to his hands. He caught them and spun them in his hands while maliciously staring down the trolu waiting for their next attack. But he had not been expecting what happened next. Zero came running towards him fast as lightning. The tiyan readied all three of his blades, and his fourth hand, which held no weapon, waved about menacingly. Just when Zero reached him he did the unexpected. Instead of trying to attack the tiyan he instead stopped at the last second narrowly dodging the creature's swinging blades. As soon as he stopped he leapt high into the air. The tiyan who had been focusing all his attention on Zero had not noticed Moggy flying right towards him. The scotty brought roaring flames to his hand making his fist alight with fire. He brought his fist crushing into the tiyan's chest sending the fire burning to his flesh. The tiyan doubled over with a loud hiss. He lifted his blades to deal with the scotty but then he was caught off guard once again. Zero came plummeting back to the earth. He hit the tiyan hard with both of his feet causing the beast to topple over. But the tiyan was not to be bested. He stabbed all three of his swords into the ground and applied his fourth empty hand to the ground in a weird handstand to give himself leverage. Both of his legs reared back while giving out a loud crack as the joints unhinged. He then shot both of his legs out like two cannons. Both of his taloned feet smashed into the red wolf and the scotty with such force that they were sent flying into the air with a muffled crunching sound. Farther and farther they flew, easily clearing the wall of the castle. The remaining four trolu leapt to deal with the tiyan. They saw this as their only clear chance to attack since all three of his blades were still stabbed into the ground. One of the trolu who was faster than the others came jumping towards the tiyan, shouting his battle cry while he brought his weapon up for attack. But the tiyan still had one surprise left to him. He lifted his leg and the bones gave out another crack as the joints in his legs reset once again giving it more flexibility. The talons on his foot all clenched together to resemble a fist. And then the fleshy pouch at the middle of his foot opened wide with an audible slurping sound. From the pouch a long sleek blade emerged. It slid out quickly until it was roughly six feet long. The blade was a dull silver color. It was completely drenched in putrid green bodily fluids, which dripped off the blade and landed sizzling to the ground. And the base of the blade stayed partially buried in the fleshy pouch so it could be withdrawn back in if need be. The trolu had not been expecting this from the tiyan. His eyes went wide with surprise while he descended towards the creature. The demon surged his leg in an upward motion impaling him on the blade coming from his foot. The trolu gasped and looked down in disbelief to see the dripping blade that had been stabbed through his stomach. His blood drizzled out along the blade staining it crimson. He could feel the life slowly draining from his body. The blade retracted from the trolu's stomach letting his now limp lifeless body fall to the ground with a soft plop. All the rest of the trolu watched in horror. When they saw their comrade's body fall, it took what seemed like an eternity for him to hit the ground. Their eyes lit with anger while they watched his eyes slowly roll back into his head taking with them his last breath of life. They all turned to the tiyan with unbearable rage. They charged him with nothing on their mind except revenge for their comrade. Strategy, technique, it was all forgotten. All they wanted was now was to bury their blades as deep as they could into the tiyan body. The tiyan drew all four of his hands from the ground to right himself up once again. He watched the oncoming warriors run towards him snarling their anger. If he was capable of emotion he would have been smiling wickedly. They had thrown caution to the wind and broke out into an all out reckless attack against him. He decided that it was time for him to stop toying around with them. He would finish them quickly. The trolu were upon him and swung their blades with unmatched ferocity. But the tiyan had changed his fighting style completely. Instead of just swinging the swords in his hand like he had been doing, he begun using the blades coming from his feet in unison with them. He balanced his entire body up on his one empty hand while the three swords in his others assault the trolu. But two massive dripping blades emerged from the flesh pouch on the palms of both of his taloned feet. His legs unhinged themselves again and he spun himself on his empty hand and swung his legs. It took every once of strength in the trolu's arsenal to block his attacks. His legs had become so flexible that they could swing the blades just like if not better than his long arms. He folded and twisted his body in impossible angles with each blade strike. The tiyan brought all three swords crashing into the ground making it shake. But following in an instant he curved both of his legs over his shoulders so that they swung to protect his body. Instead of dealing with just three swords they now had to watch out for five from the ferocious demon. His body moved in a somewhat odd dance. He would bring the swords in his hand slashing horizontally and then he would flip his body swinging his legs with the blades coming from his feet. One of the three remaining trolu yelled triumphantly as he caught one of the blades coming from the tiyan's foot between his axe cleft. But before he could shout to the others to move in for the attack the tiyan flipped his body into a handstand once again and swung his other leg line a circular motion. His entire body spun like a top and the blade from his other foot flew right towards the trolu who had trapped his foot. The trolu used his magic to try and create a barrier to block the blade swinging towards him. A mist formed around his fist and was about to radiate outwards. But before his barrier could become corporeal the tiyan retracted the blade that had been caught back into his foot. And the other foot extended its balde and swung in an arc slicing him right across the stomach. The trolu stared disbelievingly while watching his intestines slowly drip and spill out taking gallons of blood with it. He fell to the ground creating a soft splash falling into a puddle of his own blood. The tiyan turned to deal with the other two. He swung the blade in his foot in a swift kick seeking to catch them off guard. But the second trolu ducked low and rolled under his foot. The trolu brought his magic to his hand making it flash with a blue aura. He beckoned the magic with all of his might so that it would gather fast enough for him to attack. Small blue particles from the air gathered to his hand while the tiyan reared the three blades in his hands for attack. Before the tiyan could bring them down the trolu shot a massive shower of lightning bolts, which hit the tiyan forcefully in the chest. The lightning bolts managed to restrain his three of his arms from attacking with their blades. And every time he swung one of his long legs to score a hit the trolu would dance out of his reach and keep the lightning flowing. But the trolu had unfortunately forgotten one thing. He had forgotten the tiyan's fourth arm. While the other three arms were suspended from moving the fourth empty hand let a dark mist began to gather around it. The mist formed together with an audible crackle of sparks. All of the mist suddenly formed into a long whip of pure black lightning. The whip showered black fumes and sent out small snaking wisps of sparks in every direction. The tiyan swung his fourth hand with the whip of lightning flinging with it. The trolu saw the whip and jumped to try and dodge it. But the whip curved like a serpent and wrapped around his legs. At the instant the whip touched his legs he let out a loud scream of pain. The whip had melted right through his flesh and sheared both of his legs off at the knee. What remained off his legs were just two bloody stumps. All the muscle and veins of his legs hung out from the stumps like limp strings. His body fell having no way to balance itself with no legs. But the tiyan reached out with one of his long legs. All five of his sharp talons grabbed the trolu by his chest and clenched around him like a fist. He lifted his leg up to stare into the face of the trolu. The trolu's face was a mask of pain and suffering. There was as shrill shriek behind him. The female otter that had talked to Zero and Moggy earlier ran towards the tiyan to try and help her comrade. But the tiyan lifted three of his arms, which contained the blades. Two of his arms moved like lightning and knocked her weapon spinning from her hands. And the third came down in an arc slashing across her chest. She fell to the ground in agony, but still alive. The cut had not been deep enough to kill her but for some reason the wound from the tiyan's sword burned like acid. It felt as if her insides were on fire. She looked down with a gasp and noticed that her cut was glowing the same murky green as the tiyan's blade. The tiyan kept his attention on the trolu within the grasp of his talons. His eyes narrowed and with a quick deft motion he let the blade emerge from the very same foot he was using to hold the trolu. Blood spilled from the trolu's mouth in raspy coughs as he felt the blade from the tiyan's foot stab right through his lung. He couldn't breath. As many breathes as he tried to draw all that came to his mouth was blood. He could feel the demons talons squeezing his body and slowly but surely crushing his bones. With his last breath he gathered his magic to him in copious amounts. His body began glowing bright yellow sending its light over the area. With his body still glowing he turned his head to look at the otter. He spoke his last words to her with the last breath he would ever take. "Run Sheila, get away from here now," he spluttered spilling blood from his mouth between the words. Her eyes went wide. She knew what he was about to do. She got to her feet while still feeling her insides burning and made to hobble away as fast as she could. The trolu within the tiyan's grasp turned his eyes back to the tiyan with pure hatred. All of the light around the trolu's body pulsed once and suddenly shifted. He let the light enter his body and fill his entire being. And with his last ounce of magic he let the light explode from him. His body was blown to pieces, but he had created an extremely powerful blast in the process. He had given up his last ounce of failing life in an attempt to destroy the tiyan with him. The bright light enveloped the entire area making it trembled and shake with its might. Then it exploded sending stones and other debris flying in every direction. Sheila watched the last of the light fade away from the blast. She could still hear the battle cries and yells of the demon hordes still fighting with the soldiers. Her insides still burned from the wound the tiyan had given her. And the pain got worse and worse. But despite her pain she looked on as the light from the explosion dissipated. And she felt sadness at the loss of all her comrades. But when the glowing light finally faded the sadness within her suddenly turned to fear and shock as her eyes set on the figure advancing towards her. It was the tiyan. He was walking slowly towards her and his body was still completely intact. There was not a single scratch on him. He finally reached where she stood and loomed over her like a shadow. She tried in a desperate attempt to gather her magic. But as she did she felt the pain from her wound flare up once again. She knew something was weird about the cut from his blade. It kept pulsating murky green and causing her more suffering with each passing second. The tiyan lifted all three of his blades. His pale yellow eyes still filled with no emotion narrowed on her form. He was just about to swing his blades when he heard a loud bang. A blur streaked from nowhere and passed right over the otter's body. When the blur passed the female otter's body had disappeared. There was another loud bang. And the tiyan turned to investigate the noise. Zero was flying right towards him like a rocket. Before the tiyan had time to defend itself the red wolf crashed into him with a fierce tackle. The demon was sent flying back from the force of the hit. The creature had to dig its talons into the ground to keep from hitting the wall. The demon was actually surprised to a mortal could hit him with such force. Instead of retaliating instantly he instead inclined his head to stare at the red wolf curiously. The blur flashed by again and began to slow down as it approached Zero. Once it slowed to a halt it regained its physical appearance. It was Moggy. The gray scotty stood there by Zero. And in his arms he held the unconscious form of the female otter. The demon then began to speak. Even though the tiyan had no mouth the voice came out in an audible whisper. But it was in a completely different language. Its language was a mixture of hisses and snarls and clicks. It's speaking continued for a while and then it stopped. The tiyan then stared at them expectantly. Moggy turned to Zero. "What the hel was that aboot?" he asked. But the scotty was surprised to see the look on the red wolf's face. It was not a look of confusion but one of shock. He looked as if he had understood every word the demon had spoken. Zero turned to the scotty. "Moggy go help Lukara and the others, this is my fight." Moggy was so taken aback by this comment that he almost dropped the otter in surpris. "Are ye fuckin mad. Yon demon was able tae fight ten trolu an' still emerge victorious. Ye need mah help." Zero shook his head. "Moggy look to your left." The scotty complied and turned his head. He could see the soldiers still fighting with the demons. But they were getting beaten horribly. Even with Lukara, Kiari and Rin fighting the outcome still looked bad. "Those demons are too strong for them to handle alone. If you do not go help them they will not last long," Zero said flatly. Moggy saw that he was right. But was still reluctant to leave. He looked at the tiyan and then to the soldiers getting slaughtered. With a grunt he slung the otter over his left shoulder and unsheathed his sword with his one free hand. He backed away slowly towards the soldiers. Zero turned to him once again. And the scotty saw something he had never seen in his eyes before. But he couldn't quite place it. "And Moggy," Zero called. "No matter what, do not interfere in this fight." "Yeah whatever. Here catch," he heard Moggy yell. Zero turned and saw the object flying towards him. He caught it deftly with his left hand. It was the sword of one of the dead trolu. The silvery white metal was exactly the same as his katana. He hefted both his katana and the other sword getting used to the feel of two blades. "There. If yer gonna git yerself killed then a' least make a show o' it." And with that the scotty was dashing of towards the soldiers to help them; with the female otter in one hand and his sword in the other. Zero then turned his attention back to the tiyan. He opened his mouth. But what came from his mouth were not words. They were fierce growls and clicks similar to the language the tiyan had spoken. The tiyan let out a cold hollow laugh. Then instead of talking in the weird language he began speaking in a more distinguishable dialect. "So I see you speak the demon tongue. So I was right in my assumption," the tiyan spoke. And his disembodied voice once again echoed around as if coming from all places at once. "If you don't mind I would like to collect my trophies before I deal with you." He then lifted his hand. What remained of the bodies of all the dead trolu floated around him. He gave his hand a quick flick. Then was a sickening tearing sound and all the heads of the dead trolu were pulled from their bodies. All the heads began circling above his clawed hand. Suddenly all the heads were engulfed in putrid green flames. The flames licked and crackled around the heads, slowly melting the flesh off of them. After but a few moments all the flesh had been completely melted off leaving nothing but the skulls left. The skulls began to shrink in size until they were no larger than the size of a small marble. He then took the skulls and applied them to little notches in his belt among all the other skulls he had collected. With that done he let his hand drop and his red cloak descended covering his body from view. He looked back up and noticed the hatred in the red wolf's eyes. "Do you like it? It's my little collection. A skull from every trolu I have ever killed," The tiyan spoke in a deathly whisper. "So from what you said in this so called demon language of yours I take it you came here for me," Zero shot back. "Yes. I was told that you would be coming by this way. So I came to this castle to wait for you. But my, wasn't I surprised to find other trolu here. They made an excellent consolation prize." "So yet another demon assassin hired to kill me. So what are they giving you for this service?" Zero asked. The tiyan let out another cold laugh. "Free of charge. Once they told me who and what you are I was all too willing to come here and kill you." "What do you mean what I am?" Suddenly the tiyan lifted his hand. A sickening green glow began to surround his hand. The tiyan swung his arm in arc causing the green glow to waft a bit. He shot from his hand another green spirit identical to the one he had fired earlier to kill the squirrel trolu. Except this one was much larger in size. The spirit flew howling with rage as it sped towards the red wolf. But Zero let his demon power begin to gather to him. With his demon power coursing through his veins he swung both of his swords. When he swung his blades it caused a ripple effect in the air right in front of the spirit. The green flames surrounding the spirit shifted for a second as it came to a complete stop. Then without warning the spirit changed course and began flying towards the tiyan. The tiyan merely gave a deft flick of his hand and the spirit exploded into nothing but thin fuming vapors. "I see you know much of the dark arts, a rather rare talent among the trolu. Interesting indeed." "It is not that rare for trolu to know some extent of the dark arts," Zero responded. "Yes but how many of them can actually use them the way you can?" "What are you getting at?" The tiyan laughed. "To put it simply. You and I share the same blood." Zero shook his head while holding up both blades defensively. "Not this old speech again. Yes I am part demon. It's funny almost every single assassin that's been sent after me always brings that up." The tiyan let out his cold shrill laugh again. And Zero felt the air around him suddenly begin to chill. "You misunderstand," "Then what do you mean?" "Your so much like your father," the tiyan whispered. "I have killed many trolu before but I have never come across a warrior quite like your father. You see he was the one spot on my flawless record, the one trolu that I could not kill. He actually was able to defeat me. And you wouldn't know much about your mother now would you?" "How do you know that?" Zero shouted. The tiyan began to speak. And finally showed a bit of emotion as he did. His voice was tinged with hatred and malice with each word dripping from him like raw acid. "You wouldn't know much of mother. Mother was a true tiyan, one of the greatest killers. And to think that she would end up running off with some mortal, a trolu to make it worse," he spat. "And then what would be the result of that betrayal? Why it's standing right in front of me! She went off with that wolf and had you!" "What do you--," Zero eyes suddenly filled with shock as he understood what the tiyan was saying. "So you understand it now? You understand how we share the same blood, don't you, little brother," the tiyan's eyes lit up with hate as the words echoed around him. "Your no brother of mine," Zero retorted. "Believe me brother the feeling is mutual. It burns my mind with hate to know that a mortal would actually have the blood of the proud tiyans running through his veins. And that he uses the power of my fore fathers to help mortals instead of slaughtering them like the wasteful things they are. And now you see. It is to that very reason that I have sought you out. Just as your father was the one spot on my record, you are the stain on the proud heritage of all the great tiyans. Your very existence is an abomination! So I have come to end this mistake by exterminating you," he shouted. Zero was now shaking with rage. He let as much of his demon blood course into as he could. But he made sure that it would be enough so that he could maintain his control over it. He knew he would need his demon power for this fight. For the first time the tiyan closed his eyes. "I can smell it now. You are using your demon power now as if it were some cheap toy. You are afraid. Afraid to let it completely consume you. You only use a small portion of the power that you could have, because you are afraid. You are afraid to let the demon power take over. You fight it as if it were your enemy. You fear what you might become if you let it all out. No doubt it is your mortal blood that has instilled this weakness." There was aloud thundering from above as they stared each other down. The sky had become a mixture of black and murky gray. Thick wispy clouds covered the moon, the stars and all other signs of night. It was as if nature had set this about to reflect the battle that was about to begin. The sky thundered again. And slowly but steadily it began to rain. Not a light drizzle but thick sheets of rain, each drop of moisture being the size of a large pebble. The rain fell to the earth soaking everything in sight. But despite this the tiyan and the trolu still stood there silently, not taking their eyes off each other. The raindrops drenched them from head to toe forming a light misty aura of water vapor around their bodies. Loud ringing sounds were sent echoing through the area as each raindrop came in contact with their blades. And the fire in their eyes brought dark promise to their seemingly destined fight. For one thing above all others was certain, that the morning sky would assuredly shine over one of their corpses. I am afraid this will be the last avatar story for awhile. I will definitely come back to the series later but I really need time to reformulate my thoughts on where this story is going. -Mangy