The Test

A knock at the door drew their attention and Caine called out.

"Come in."

The door opened and Xanthe walked in. She moved to Caine and knelt down on one knee, her head bowed.

"My Lord."

"Looks like it's time for you to go, Gavin. Good luck and remember what I said."

Xanthe stood as he spoke, her eyes looking at Gavin, assessing him. Caine placed the items on the table into a backpack and handed it to Gavin who quickly pulled it on. Without a word Xanthe turned and walked away. Gavin took his que and followed closely behind, grabbing his boots and slipping them on as he went.

He found himself in a large hall with doors randomly spaced out. The further they walked the more he came to realize that they were inside a large castle. At the end of the hall they went down a set of stairs and kept going. Gavin counted two landings with doors before they reached the bottom of the chairs. We were on the third floor? They walked into the open courtyard of the castle. Everywhere he looked castle walls surrounded him.

Within the courtyard demons of various levels moved about. To one side were food stalls and various other vendors. It wasn't anything elaborate but it was all beyond what he had imagined. What really caught his eye was the sky. When he looked up it wasn't cave walls that he saw, it was what appeared to be a magically created sky that included a sun. This is what lit up the area and let everyone know that it was day time.

Xanthe led him to the front of the castle and through the front gates. The world around him looked nothing like a cave, at least not one he knew of. Outside of the castle was open land for miles. In the distance he could see trees and what he assumed was a forest. He was filled with questions that he dare not ask his current companion.

When they were about halfway to the forest Xanthe stopped.

"This is far enough."

Gavin sat the backpack down. Xanthe handed him his sword, she had brought it for him to use though he wasn't certain where she had been carrying it. For the initial fight he would be using his sword as it's the only weapon he knows how to use.

"Ready?"

Gavin utilized the few protective spells he knew and stepped away from the backpack. Last thing he needed was to trip on one of them and get himself killed.

"Ready."

He was not ready in the least bit. The thought of facing his own death for a second time in as many days had his anxiety on overdrive. Xanthe pulled out her sword and moved into her stance, Gavin followed suit and the two of them faced off. For a long time neither of them moved. In the end it was Gavin that made the first move. He stepped forward and swung his sword at Xanthe. She dodged it easily, her movements taking her away from the blade and behind Gavin. He stepped away, refusing to leave his back to her.

He was getting nowhere fast; it was a fight as one sided as it had been with Caine. He remembered what Caine had told him and brought to the forefront of his mind all the things his weakness had messed up. At its most basic his weakness and fears had kept him from living in the world he had been born in. He had hidden away and never put himself out there to make friends or have love interests.

When he came to this world his fears had caused him to follow along with everything that Edicia had told him. He had allowed his fears to stop him from approaching Riley and admitting his feelings. The worst was how his fears and weakness had gotten his friends killed. The anger that he had touched on earlier with Caine resurfaced with avengence. He couldn't sit back and watch the world move forward while he let his fears hold him back. If he wanted to see his family again he had to become stronger.

His fighting spirit renewed, he went after Xanthe again. He knew that, skill wise, he was no match for the demon. So instead of worrying about skills that he didn't have he put all of his strength into every swing of his sword.

Xanthe blocked every hit that he sent her way, but each time the weight of the hit made a loud 'ting' sound as metal connected with metal. He put everything he had into each attack hoping that he could at least wear her down. They had been fighting for what seemed like an eternity when Xanthe finally got the upperhand and Gavin went down.

"Do you surrender?"

"Yes, I surrender."

He was breathing so heavily that he could barely speak and his body was soaked with sweat. Once he had calmed down he looked at Xanthe and found that she was just as worked up as him. He hadn't thought he'd put up that much of a fight.

"I can see why Lord Caine chose you."

She sat down across from him and laid down her sword. He was so exhausted and sore that he stayed in a prone position.

"You have a strong fighting spirit."

"I suppose that means you're not going to kill me?"

Xanthe cocked her head to the side as a look of confusion crossed her face.

"It would be foolish of me to try and do permanent harm to you. You belong to my master after all."

Now it was Gavin's turn to be confused. "But, Caine said that if I didn't fight hard enough you would kill me. He even told me how demons fight to the death for their positions."

He sat up as he spoke, his passive ability to self heal had already started to ease his pain and physical exhaustion.

"I see." Xanthe smiled. "Lord Caine isn't good at saying things in a straightforward manner. Demons do battle for positions in our hierarchy. The higher up you go the less likely these battles are to be to the death. You have the unique position of bearing the Lord's mark. No demon would dare to harm you unless he personally came out and said that you were fair game. Even as high up as I am, I wouldn't dare kill you.

"That's not to say I don't appreciate the affect his words had on you. Your fighting today was better than yesterday and it showed what you're capable of when your mind and body are both in agreement. Your behavior in battle today is what you should bring with you every time.

"I want to see you using the pair of scimitars next. By the end of our time today I want to have an idea of the weapon that suits you the best."

Xanthe stood and walked over to the backpack. She took out both scimitars and motioned for him to come over. Gavin stood and stiffly made his way to Xanthe. He had healed enough that he no longer had any bruises or cuts, but he was still stiff and his muscles ached. He took the twin blades from her and she instructed him on how to hold them then drew her own blade.

They did a few practice attacks that were done slowly so that he could get used to using more than one blade. He had to admit that they were much lighter than his sword. He felt like his range of movement was different, not better or worse. The sword required a lot more strength behind it when he swung and more times than not he was forced to swing it two handed. The speed of their sparing increased and Xanthe continued the sparing until she was satisfied with his use of the two swords.

"Not bad. How proficient are you with your off hand?"

It took Gavin a moment to realize what she meant and ended up staring at her blankly for far too long before answering.

"I used to practice writing with my left hand. I can almost use both hands interchangeably, though my right hand is still better at most things."

Xanthe took the blades from him and gave him the staff.

"It is possible to use a staff to fight with. It's not recommended since your opponent will typically have a bladed weapon."

She walked him through the stances and attack forms. This time while sparring she used the dull side of her sword. Xanthe's goal today was to find his strong points and his weak points so that she knew how to train him moving forward. Tomorrow was when the real training would begin.

Next she had him use the different spells that he knew. She was disappointed to learn that he only knew basic light spells; a spell to shield the body and a healing spell. None of them were strong enough to be used in battle and make a difference. She had to wonder how he had managed to survive this long. She could tell that he had potential, the initial sparring match had proven he could improve in a short time.

They took a pause for lunch. Xanthe had brought dried meat and water. Gavin happily sat down and took the offered food.

"It's amazing out here. I thought that the demons lived within a cave, but now I'm not sure."

"We do, but do not at the same time. A thousand years ago when humans drove us from the surface our Lord at the time brought us to the cave and created this space for us with his magic. It's what is called a pocket dimension. We are safe from humans so long as we are within it."

"Have humans tried to enter?"

Xanthe smiled, her eyes glimmered with what could be described as humor.

"They have, many have tried, not just the humans. The Lord that created this space made it so that only a demon of the highest order can open the door. There are traps within the weaving of the magic when it was created so that if someone were able to get far enough to try and unweave the magic they would be met with a horrific fate."

"So, then my meeting with the two of you was planned?"

"Yes, Lord Caine chose to set up the upper levels of the cave in order to trap you. He enjoys his theatrics."

Gavin felt sick to his stomach. Caine had planned out everything. What game is he playing?

"What was Lord Caine like when he came here?"

"Personality wise he hasn't changed much. I was the Lord at the time he was summoned. We chose to do a summoning because one of our oracles had predicted that if we didn't we would be completely destroyed within fifty years. I would rather be pushed down to the lowest rank than see our species become extinct.

"He came to us as a young man who had already seen and done a lot in his world. We learned that he was the head of a criminal organization, had served time in your military and had experience in killing other humans. I was the one who trained him and, when the time came, I gladly gave up my title to him."

Her face softened at the memory. Gavin could tell that she had a lot of respect for Caine. If he thought about it, he would probably feel the same if he were a demon. If he had been told that the human race would become extinct in a short time if he didn't do something drastic he would have done the same thing. He hated to interrupt her happy memory but he had to know more.

"Why are the humans seeking to destroy demons?"

He had been told by Princess Joelle that demons went around causing chaos and killing humans for fun. If that's true, why were they hiding so deeply? While traveling the only time he had come across a demon was within the cave. Most villages had tales of how evil and cruel demons were, but none of them had a record of an attack for hundreds of years.

"We used to live on the surface and were neighbors with Edicia. We were mostly peaceful, back then we looked human, it was our use of dark magic that set us apart. Edicia was growing faster than we were and desired our lands. I'm not sure the exact methods they used, most of what I know are stories that have been handed down from parent to child. They spread rumors that we would use dark magic to steal souls and take away the will of a person.

"Before my people knew what was going on Edicia and the surrounding kingdoms had declared war on us. We were a scholarly race and as such fell easily under the armies of our neighbors. That's when we drew away from the surface."

Xanthe let out a sigh and looked at Gavin. He regretted asking when he saw the sadness in her eyes.

"The price of living here for so long is what you see before you. The magics within this dimension warped our appearance and filled us with a lust for fighting. Dark magic was used so much here that it's in the very air we breathe and lives deep within all demon kind."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. If you're going to be fighting with us you should know who you're fighting with. We aren't the same people we were when they drove us out. In a week's time they will learn how monstrous we've become."

"What happens in a week?"

"We return to the surface and begin our war on the humans and their allies."

Fuck, so soon. Gavin hadn't realized that war was so close. Xanthe stands up and motions for him to follow.

"We've rested enough. I've been tasked with getting you ready for when we move out. We can't afford to take it slow."

Xanthe pulled out a line up of weapons he's only ever heard of. While taking out the weapons she explained that they were stored in a pocket dimension similar to what they live in. This particular one is smaller and used to carry large amounts of items without over encumbering yourself.

He worked with each weapon until the sky began to darken. It was only then that they packed up and returned to the castle.