The Real Demon (2)

Lurking from the shadows, a familiar long silver hair and blue eyes met Yllana's. "Biel," she whispered. On stage with her for the fight was Alek. His staff covered with black metallic vines and thorns was pointed at her throat in a breadths' distance. They were in the middle of a fight.

"Cover your ears! Don't look at him!" Yllana bellowed to the others. Her voice was shaking from hunger and exhaustion. But she still pushed on to fight with these people who were trapped by the invitation. 'If only I did not accept that invitation,' she thought.

Kheera woke up sensing the commotion inside the arena. There are more people fighting inside than before. And what surprised her was that they were fighting who odd-looking people.

There was a throbbing headache cursing right through her temples. When she tried to concentrate, she heard that faint sound. A series of soft notes being blown in the air. It was calling to her soul. She searched for the source of that sound and found a man entering the stage with a flute to his mouth. 'Imari!' her eyes quickly searched for a familiar figure. When she saw a small head with yellow hair lying on pieces of robes a few meters away from her, she sighed in relief. Upon seeing the heaving chest, she understood that her sister is still alive and fighting the insurmountable power from the blood drop stone.

Thud!

It started with just one body falling to the ground. Then another. And another fell. Yllana's eyes were barely concentrating on what was happening around her. When she forced her head to look at her side, there she saw the smile on Garron and his men as they swayed their blades on the young people she was with.

"Leader…how could you?" Kareem's eyes were wet. He clenched his sword and thrust it forward to one of the enemies. Only he was the one who is not affected by the enchanting spell being played on the flute. Biel had blessed them with the spell that could resist the enchantment. Everybody else just stood on their spot in a trance.

"You are accusing our leader something you shouldn't. The emperor already met with our leader and promised that the banished people will be welcomed back to the kingdom if we get rid of all of you here. Shouldn't we ask you why you are with these people?" Garron spat out his words as he held the neck of the young woman who woke Yllana up earlier. The fear in her eyes mirrored in Kareem's as Garron's thick calloused hands split her head from her body.

She did not scream nor cry. She never had the chance to. And Yllana did not even have the energy to run to Garron and curse him. When she saw the young girl's body being torn in two, her body stopped shivering. Something inside her was fighting to let out.

"We were thinking of how the South Kingdom was able to get foresight from different events since there was no oracle living within the kingdom. It seems we have found the answer." Biel's lips curved into a dangerous smile. "You are a traitor to the Banished Village. You and your sister will never be welcomed back nor will we have your name listed by the emperor's decree."

"You killed her,"

Suddenly a soft steady voice came from the center of the arena. It was a girl. Her head was lowered so no one could see her face. She was holding a long sword and her whole outfit is a mess. She seems to have been fighting since the start. "You killed her," she repeated.

Biel looked at the unfamiliar girl and smiled. "It is only our means to survive and come back to this kingdom." Something was growing inside his chest.

Yllana raised her face and meet Biel's cold gaze. She smiled at him. "Not if I could kill you first."

Ting… ting…

Red cloth danced in the wind along with the sound of bells. In the middle of the swaying red cloth, her red lips were curved into a smile. Her face looked enchanting. Garron and his men looked dazedly at the woman in red who jumped inside the arena.

She was swift and seductive. Her eyes locked onto Yllana as she whispered, "Kill them while they are still hallucinating," She touched Yllana's forehead and freed her from the trance of the dance. "Go."

Yllana woke up and as her mind cleared, she swung her sword at Garron and his men. The tables have turned. The slaughter continued. There was no resistance. It was a magical dance of a swordswoman and an enchantress in the middle.

Yllana left Biel for the last hit. His eyes cleared up when Kheera stopped dancing and faced him. Those eyes were familiar to her. His smell is also like her. She eyed the flute on his hand before speaking. "Thief, that belongs to our tribe. You were never part of the Banished Village. You are from the Nymphs Forest. Did you think that the man you were searching for will accept you if you find him?"

A storm formed inside Biel's eyes. Yes, he was a thief! He stole the treasure of the Nymph tribe who were secluded from the rest of the world. And he did all these because of one man. That man visited the Nymphs Forest once. He wanted to see that man again. His admiration grew into something more dangerous until he had already fallen so deep into his own darkness and sucked other people inside.

Boom!

Something hit the light above them and made a hole. Rain and wind lashed down on them. Kheera peeked at her sister who was crouching from pain.

"You were never from the South Kingdom? You were lying to us? Why?" Kareem realized what Kheera said. The booming thunder added an ominous effect on them as they stared at Biel.

"I never lied. I was banished too…but from the Nymphs Forest. The Banished Village simply provided me information about that man. And I am near to finding that powerful man." Biel's eyes shined with admiration. He held his flute on his chest as if it were that man that he has been trying to find. They were now drenched from the rain and the arena now smelled of rain and blood mixed together.

"You are the enchanter?" A man draped in wet golden robes jumped from above them. Blood was dripping from his lips and his blue and silver staff was smudged with some black liquid. "I was going to meet you later, but I guess we'd have to clear things up now." There was an unusual calmness in that man's voice, but his tone was domineering. Kheera and Yllana narrowed their eyes as they stepped back a little.

"Greetings, I'm the South Kingdom's emperor, Darion Anavel." Biel's eyes focused on the emperor's purple ones. He raised his hand slowly as his lips quivered. But before he could speak…

Thwack!

A gaping hole appeared in the middle of Biel's chest. Beside him, a tall black figure with long slender arms was standing. Blood was dripping from its fingers and being washed away by the drops of rain. Kareem and Kheera stepped back a few feet. Demons have not reached the South Kingdom yet, but they could easily guess what one looks like based on the stories and rumors.

"I guess I never had to kill the one who was spying on me. Thank you. Since there are only three of you left, a fight to the death would be appropriate to declare the winner of the book of spells." His cold tone sounded indifferent. He eyed the monster beside Biel's fallen body. "You can join in if you want to." But the monster's red eyes just stared at Yllana's.

"I concede," Kareem and Kheera declared at the same time. Their guards are still up because of the demon in front of them but there is one odd thing they noticed. It had eyes! Based on the stories of the wars against demons, they have no eyes. But this one has. Is he really a demon? "And I'm taking back my sister," added Kheera. The emperor just waved his hand and did not answer anymore.

The rain started to let up. Since the two conceded defeat, the emperor stopped asking and took out the book of spells from his space ring. He gave it to Yllana and left, not caring if the demon was behind him or not. 'Demons only reach a rank above Honors. But this one has reached that rank a long time ago and still progressing. This is interesting.' The emperor thought to himself, amused at what he found out. 'And it seems he is trying to protect that girl, who is she anyway?'

When Kareem, Kheera, and Yllana got a little distracted from the emperor's sudden words, they did not notice that the demon was already gone. "He wasn't here to kill anyone, I suppose," Kheera uttered, her fears disappeared especially that she did not feel the rank of the demon that means that it was far stronger than her. She looked at Yllanaa, "We have to talk,"

The emperor ordered soldiers to deliver them home. Once they were out of the palace, Kareem went back to the Banished Village to deliver the news. Yllana and Kheera went to the inn with Imari in Kheera's arms.