The air reeked of blood and ashes. Everywhere laid corpses in pieces and bits.
Dishonoured, everything was being dishonoured.
"DEMON SCUM!!!" A slender man screeched while flying high up into the air.
A loud amused laugh echoed throughout the very core of this island.
"Feigling loser, you came here to cower behind another man?" Its shadows laughed multiplying as they began filling their surroundings.
"I see no man stronger than me to hide behind." Feigling grinned, his left hand raising higher and higher.
Above the clouds multiple bows morphed out of beautiful golden light, each beginning to charge up with arrows as black as its very shadows.
"HAVE YOU LEARNT NOTHING!!" A demonic voice roared from inside as each arrow charged at its body, unable to pierce through a single bit of darkness.
"Your mortal weapons don't work on me dear.." It mused, a white smirk spreading across its deep void.
Yet Feigling's confidence didn't waver.
"EVACUATE THE ISLAND!" Voices commanded while many people rushed across the bridge.
Mermen assisted injured swimmers while the creatures capable of flight grabbed whatever little ones they could find to fly off.
"DON'T LEAVE A SINGLE SOUL BEHIND!" Guards yelled while multiple species formed to take away the helpless islanders.
Suddenly a deer walked towards the large crowd, its fawns following close by with shaking legs.
"The animals!" A beastman roared.
"GRAB ANY ANIMAL YOU CAN FIND!" A new set of commands echoed through the air.
"YES SIR!!" Guards boomed simultaneously.
The mirthless laugh of that demonic shadow could be heard clearly despite how great their distance was.
Its shadow grew larger and larger filling up almost a quarter of the now abandoned island. As more animals rushed towards the evacuating people their bodies bumped into one another in a desperate attempt to cross the only bridge as well.
Air squads were quick to snatch up as many animals as they could while creatures stepped out of their boats to fit larger animal families. Their legs dangled limply while held up high by the others.
"This isn't good! Sir Feigling is missing!!" A guard yelled amongst the crowd.
"We know." Their current ruler sighed as it began raining shadow arrows down from a distance.
"ARE WE NOT SUPPORTING HIM!?" Another soldier yelled only to lose his balance and crash into another soldier who barely managed to catch them.
"ANYONE WHO DOES NOT COOPERATE WITH THIS EVACUATION WILL BE TAKEN OUT BY FORCE, FOLLOW OUR PLAN AND FOLLOW WELL!!!"
Looks of uncertainty crossed the crowds; their bodies were quite slim, not able to carry nor help too much.
"EVACUATE!" The ruler roared one last time leaving no more room for argument.
"FIRST IT WILL BE THIS ISLAND, THEN YOUR COUNTRY, THEN THE WORLD!" The black mist roared before shaking the whole island, ensuring to cover as much land as it could.
"Only this island." He corrected, his voice bordering on exhaustion.
Suddenly shadows began charging and lunging at him only to be cut apart by the mortal's hand.
"Ah, you're just like them, aren't you?" It hummed before its shadow began taking over more of their island.
"How do you expect to cut something you don't see?" It laughed as trees began being swallowed beneath by all sorts of mists.
The young prince began slashing apart each shadow that managed to get too close to him, forcing them to temporarily retreat. It seemed nonsensical at first, this clearly had been accomplishing nothing all this time.
All this for a permanent solution after all.
His solution.
My solution.
"Only me." He murmured.
"Temporary, your solutions are temporary." It mused mockingly when suddenly the air surrounding them grew heavy, no, suffocating.
Filling with something soft, something that carries itself so smoothly throughout their surroundings. Caressing each destroyed blade of grass like a soft kiss, blowing away each stumps ashes, finally coming down to rest on his allies former shells.
Finally it felt a strong force pushing back against one of many shadows. The demon's darkness grew aware of a faint struggle to spread any further than they got. Bit by tantalising bit everything slowly forced itself back to retreat to something quite vulnerable, its core.
The demon could not sit idly by yet its body turned stiff, refusing to yield. After what seemed to be hours the island was void of life. Everything was empty and Prince Feigling was as pale as snow, his skin leaking out a golden light.
"LOOK AT YOUR OWN MAGIC DESTROYING YOU!" It roared in its tight confine.
"You can't hold on forever." Its voice was nothing but a pathetic attempt at provocation
Feigling's skin was cracking and breaking, his light began breaking out, his core was vibrating, the trees around them rose faintly, as much as they could.
Flowers grew, green returned to the grass. Every bit of life that was taken returned beneath the prince's body. Like a disease it began spreading towards everything in its radius.
"I don't need forever."
"Sir? What's that light over there?" A curious soldier wondered despite flying away he peeked back.
"Look away, soldier, give a man his honour."
"SIR DON'T TELL ME!"
"SILENCE!" The man interrupted.
"No.." Shadows were forced into one large chunk, its body unable to break out of the invisible light that kept it in place.
"JUST THIS ISLAND IS ENOUGH!!!" With those final words the prince flew high, his arm crumbling apart entirely only to be replaced by a bright light, his very self.
"I AM ENOUGH!!"
His arm morphed into a large blade of gold; its flow seemed so beautiful despite the way it was about to be used.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes despite his advantage.
"I AM."
Everything on the island seemed to glow brighter than ever, winds blew so violently yet swayed everything so gently that wasn't them so gently.
His leg began disintegrating along with his right hand. He didn't have long, at the end it was all the time he needed.
"A FATHER."
His blade grew more and more the higher he flew with one last elegant spin you couldn't tell if he was looking, or bragging. His hair blew gracefully, his cracked body was just another way of asserting himself.
"And this world.."
His voice turned soft despite the deadly look in his eyes. Reminiscent of something, if not someone.
"Is filled with my children."
With one fatal cut he sliced him with all he could, through his own barrier, through his own core, through his own child.
The air was filled with heavy energy, a burst of magic blasting everything on the island with one brutal wave of power leaving everything but an empty grass field with mountains being the only thing of note.
Slowly everything regrew with both an eerie black and a beautiful gold swirling around it. Silver began emerging out of those two beautiful colours fighting for dominance. Like a painful dance of regret, life could only shudder.
His large blade was deeply engraved into the island before it slowly began refueling life into the earth he was soon to be buried in. Their surrounding water was turning silver followed by golden lines fighting black chunks floating through everything.
Every bit of him was fighting whatever tried to escape, whatever he couldn't let live. Anything that would threaten to return.
Just as the last bit of Feigling disintegrated, so did every bit of darkness that flooded many bodies of water.
Everything felt fresh, the earth was finally breathing again, little creatures slowly emerged from the island's soil digging and scratching themselves out.
Reborn.
Each sparkle in the air seemed to glow brighter than any star could for years, leaving only the young prince's body surrounded by a beautiful display of life he both took and returned.
Glowing golden eyes emerged amongst the trees, silver strands of energy flowing towards his limb-less shoulders and empty rags slowly and carefully moving to first conceal his eyes.
"I am…" His voice couldn't even reach himself.
A father.
No one could hear his final words aside from a few strange beings swallowing his helpless form.
—
"That's amazing, so that's how strong you people can get?" Kemal's eyebrow raised with surprise after such a revelation.
"Indeed, to this day no one is quite sure how strong he truly was, or the strength his core held. It was the first ever sighting of a core morphing out of someone's body to turn into a weapon instead of assisting one." Katil explained while carefully climbing down with his human backpack.
I see.. That's extremely impressive.
Kemal kept his eyes peeled while his dragon kept talking.
"No one knew what happened that day. It was quite a frightful event if even the animals evacuated as well, but odd new species were discovered that day."
"Such a strong man, is that why the kingdom was named after him?" His small backpack mumbled when suddenly something caught his eye.
"Down there! Do you see it!" He quickly pointed at the very bottom at a small cave entrance that seemed to be lit up by candles.
"There doesn't seem to be anything." His dragon commented.
There was nothing but rock down there.
"Do you not see that giant hole? Even you could fit in." Kemal's eye twitched but Katil only shook his head.
"Let's go down there." He insisted.
He hesitated a second before descending. His mate carefully guided him downwards, it only got steeper until they finally arrived at the very bottom.
Kemal got off first and carefully approached, keeping his hand stretched out to ensure he's not walking into anything.
The black dragon suddenly perked up when he watched Kemal phase through a wall. He was about to pounce after him only to bump into the wall with a loud thud.
"Ah!?" Taken aback the smaller man watched Katil bump into an invisible wall and rub his head in frustration.
A soft chuckle could be heard, his head immediately snapped up to look at his mate who quickly turned away with a barely concealed grin.
"Let's try this again." Kemal smiled while extending his hand.
Katil grabbed his hand and attempted to step in one more time. This time the illusion cleared revealing a cave entrance that could fit two.
"You were right.." He growled.
"Were!? I am right." The other immediately spoke up with a scoff.
Carefully guiding him aside they were now following a candle lit path with Kemal practically storming ahead.
—
"Wow, you're pretty fast aren't you?" Mikel praised while rubbing the fire wolf's head.
Instead of moving away he leaned into his approving touch with a content sizzle.
"You fire shifters aren't weak to water, are you?" He hummed while leading their way on foot.
His furry companion followed close by.
"No." His voices responded back.
Shortly after they arrived at a beautiful pond that seemed to practically glow inside this dim forest.
"Oh wow.." Azul swished past Mikel to immediately paw at the water. "It's so see through! How'd you find this place?"
Mikel crouched down beside him and dipped his fingers in.
"Spa day." He joked while looking through.
"I'm pretty sure there is a pathway, but I'm not sure if it's fully filled with water or if there are air pockets." He explained slowly.
"I can go in and check, I don't need air as urgently as other creatures." Azul's tail wagged ready.
"Despite being made of fire?" The thief doubted.
"I am fire, not made of it. I burn no matter how little space there is for me to spread." He scoffed and pounced in head first.
Mikel watched his flames burn under water and vanish into the depths.
Well, he is right.. I do need my oxygen.
After a few minutes a cloud of flame resurfaced carrying a bracelet in his jaw.
"What's this?" He took the accessory and eyed it up and down.
It feels so familiar, although looking at this for too long makes my head ring..
"I saw a few air pockets! And a cave! But it looked very dangerous." Azul shook his entire body, water splashing both trees and Mikel.
"I'm going in." Mikel declared since he was already wet after all.
Because both of them would have too!
"You coming!" He pocketed their freshly acquired item while Azul nodded without a word.
The both of them jumped into the pond and swam to the bottom. Despite Mikel's blurry vision he could still see ahead almost perfectly. After three air pockets of taking fresh breaths they finally arrived at an empty pocket of air that led towards a rocky entrance.
A faint blow of wind kept sending chills down Mikel's back.
"Wind in a cave?" Mikel immediately grew suspicious despite his current discomfort.
"That's why I said it's dangerous. There's no wind in caves!" Azul shook his body dry and burst his flames up.
The other man immediately stepped aside only to shudder from all this cool air. He took a quick step back towards Azul's warmth and tilted his head away pretending to be in thought.
"Let me dry off first.."
"Okay!"
After a few minutes of being surrounded by a circle of fire they both finally decided to keep going. Well, Mikel at least.
"Let's go! Uhhh, Azul right?" Mikel smiled.
"Yup!" The fire shifter beamed while walking ahead.
"My name is Mikel." He nodded.
"What?" Azul tilted his head without turning back.
"Mikel." He repeated.
The fire shifter's ear twitched but he still couldn't understand.
"Arlon." Mikel suddenly hummed.
"Nice to meet you Arlon!" Azul wagged but his fire began blowing back.
The wind picked up…
He stepped aside making sure to stand a little closer to his companions' side. Light was glowing at the end of the curve now that the walls were closing in on them.
"Hey Azul.." The man called.
"Yeah?"
"If something happens, just yank me with you. Don't worry about where you're grabbing me from. Just get me out of here alive." He sighed, visibly displeased while walking ahead once more.
"Okay!" The fire wolf cheered while following close by, his fiery teeth bit onto the man's shirt while forming another head to look past him.
"Make a third head…" Mikel suddenly spoke.
Azul considered it for a second and formed a third wolf head of fire.
Haha, mini cerberus.
"Thank you." He nodded as the wind blowing against them picked up more and more.
Mikel took one step forth only to feel himself get blown right back.
"That's one strong wind!" When turning back he saw Azul's flame fully blown like fur back which almost made the man snort.
He looks so funny, no wonder Kemal likes him!
Deciding to press on he went down on all fours to have less area to push against and moved forward as much as he could.
His fingers dug into nearby rocks when something caught his squinting eyes.
Glasses?
"FUCK!" Mikel suddenly got pushed back a huge chunk only for Azul to catch him at the end.
Near a bright light was a little rock clung onto by some thin black glasses.
"A Portal?" Azul wagged.
"There's a portal too!?" He burst out at the revelation yet he couldn't even tell what that light was. "Let's go back a bit."
Once the both were hidden behind a corner Mikel suddenly pointed.
"We need those glasses." He explained.
"Do we need the portal too?"
"No.. I don't think we need a portal that leads to who knows where." He dismissed.
"It leads to the demon realm." Azul tilted his head. "You don't know that?"
Demons!? There's demons!?
"What's with the wind?" Mikel pried.
"Perhaps to keep out people who are attempting to break its seal." The fire shifter explained but that only seemed to confuse him further.
"Why would anyone wanna release a bunch of demons?"
"Not sure, it took a lot to banish them, the seal would open in a few hundred years once more anyway." Azul tilted his head, his empty eyes searching for approval.
"You're really smart." The other man quickly caught on and smirked. "But why would it open again?"
"Because demons have the same rights as us, at the end of the day they're still alive, perhaps not all of their species, but most of them." Azul peeked his fiery head past the corner only to have wind blow his flames back.
"The glasses are pretty close to the portal, I think I can get us close enough.. Maybe we could throw ourselves behind that rock over there once we take them."
"You're a real smart one! Well done!" Mikel scratched behind his ears.
"GO!"
They immediately lunged forward, their steps quick and calculated. Azul created a large barrier of flames to lessen the impact of the wind which unsurprisingly worked wonders.
They are so close!
Azul opened his jaw in an attempt to grab them, only for the wind force to keep him just out of reach.
"Watch out!" Mikel warned when he threw his entire body against Azul's.
With one final powerful push his jaw clutched around the sensitive glass. With a twist of their bodies both of them ducked behind a boulder that seemed to not be as affected by the current.
"Good job!" Mikel praised instantly while carefully retrieving the glasses.
He raised them to eye level checking for any visual difference.
I see a little darker…
Once folded shut Mikel carefully put them inside his bag.
"Do you need a minute?" He asked Azul who did most of their work.
He only nodded before turning back into his normal form and laying down with sprawled apart limbs.
Minutes turned into a full hour, now that they were laying with lidded eyes, one held the glasses tightly in his bag while another was resting on his lap with a half asleep look.
The powerful soothing cave cry was now a requirement for them to feel some semblance of safety. Azul suddenly perked up, his lazy expression turning focused.
Seeing his companion perk up so attentively Mikel shook off his drowsiness as well.
He couldn't hear anything outside of the usual strong gust but not long after he could finally hear faint murmuring and whispering carried away before they could reach anyone else.
Who the hell would come here other than us!
Their voices sounded rather unfamiliar so they couldn't have been his friends.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Would it even work." A voice finally could be heard more clearly.
Once a group of masked men emerged, Mikel could finally understand how they walked in so effortlessly. One man at the front held up a strong barrier through a gem, while another behind them completed their formation with his own magic.
This world sucks! Where's my powerful magic!
Mikel quickly snapped out of his surge of jealousy when a familiar voice spoke again.
"I still don't think that's a good idea, but whatever boss wants"
Sun!!
Mikel fell silent, his memory refreshing quickly.
No one knows about my ability of course!
I can unlock anything that I want.
A seal, the masked men, Lynn? They're trying to open this seal!
"Azul.." He whispered, unsure if his voice would be carried as well.
"Yes?"
"Do you trust me?" He grinned.
"Definitely."
You should've never exposed yourself to someone like me, Sun.