I was stabbed on the back by Jessica.
"I'm really sorry, I have no other choice, I really have to, I hope you'll forgive me, see you on the other side," Jessica said.
Her voice was shaking. The knife in her hand was still glowing with a faint blue light. I could feel the cold steel stuck between my shoulders, right where my wings would sprout if I transformed.
There's a realm where demons live. It is said that every demon who gets killed here will get another chance of life on the other side. That realm is cold and dark and endless. No human has ever returned from it. Jessica knew that. She thought if she killed me here, I would wake up there and be free from this war.
"Rookie idea Jessica, for what? Power?" I said as I walked towards her from behind. I cloned myself. My cloned body immediately turned to dust.
That was not me she stabbed. I saw it coming. The moment she raised the knife, I left a clone there. My real body was behind her. I have been fighting demons for years, I can sense killing intent one second before it happens. The air around Jessica changed. Her breathing became heavy. I knew she was going to do it.
The clone I left behind looked exactly like me, same clothes, same height, same confused face. When her knife entered its back, the clone looked at her and smiled, then turned to dust and scattered in the wind.
Jessica dropped the knife and stepped back, her hands covering her mouth. Her eyes were full of tears.
"I'm sorry, I have no other choice, I was threatened," Jessica said.
"Threatened by who?" I asked her. My voice was low. I was not angry at first, I was disappointed.
She could not answer. She just kept shaking her head. Behind her, I could feel a dark presence watching us. It was not a demon. It was something bigger.
"See you on the other side," I used dark magic in sending her out of the human's world.
I did not kill her. I opened a small portal with my left hand. The portal was black and purple, spinning slowly. Inside it was the other side, the realm where demons get a second life. I pushed her gently into it. I wanted her to be safe there, away from whatever was threatening her. The portal closed immediately after she entered. I thought it was over.
"Nickolas the devil's gone, I'm with you, I'll always be," I said.
Nickolas was standing on the broken wall, looking down at the battlefield. His white coat was stained with blood, but it was not his blood. His light magic was still glowing around his hands. He has been my brother since we were created in the same pit by our father, the devil. But we chose different paths.
"He's not gone, he's in one of us, he could be anywhere," Nickolas said.
His voice was serious. He never jokes when it comes to our father. He told me our father does not fight with claws or fire. He fights by entering a person's body and controlling them from inside. You will never know who is the devil until it is too late.
Just at that critical moment, I heard the sound of the gate opening and horses charging in at full speed. The ground shook. Dust rose into the sky.
"The main target is the devil itself, we kill it then they all fall," that's what the commander thought, not knowing the full powers of the devil.
The commander of the human army was a brave man. He wore heavy silver armor and held a long sword that was blessed by the priests. He thought if he killed the devil, all the demons would lose their master and run away. He did not know that the devil can never be killed by a sword. He can only be forced out.
"Bloody son of a bitch, I told you all to stay within the walls," Nickolas said. "Now we'll have to also protect the people within the walls."
Nickolas was angry because the plan was to keep the humans safe inside the walls while me and him handled the demons outside. Now the gate was open and the humans were charging into the middle of a demon horde. If a demon bit them, they would turn.
The demons immediately made a mad charge towards the gate. There were hundreds of them, some crawling on four legs, some flying with torn wings, some bigger than horses. They smelled human blood and went crazy.
"Raghaaaa!!! Let's get this done with already, you all are driving me crazy!!!!" I said as I unlocked my full demonic abilities.
I had been holding back for years but I know a time will come where I'll have no other choice than to use it. He said if I unlock my full power, our father will be able to find me easily and possess me. But at that moment, with Jessica gone, with the gate open, with demons running towards innocent people, I could not hold back anymore. I screamed and let all the power inside me explode.
I transformed into a monster. Now I didn't just have horns or fangs, I had almost the same resemblance with the devil. I now had the power to take control of someone's body and possess every single power the devil possesses.
My skin turned dark grey. Black veins ran down my neck and my hands. My horns grew out, sharp and curved. My eyes turned red, glowing like fire. My shoulders got wider and my back straighter. I was about seven feet tall now. My clothes tore slightly because my body grew. My nails turned into black claws. When I breathed out, the air around me turned cold.
The knights that were charging in on horses stopped. Their horses were scared and moving back. The horses were crying and kicking, refusing to move forward. The knights pulled their reins but the horses would not listen.
"What is that thing?" the commander shouted. He raised his blessed sword towards me, thinking I was the devil.
"Bloody son of a bitch, I told you all to stay within the walls," Nickolas shouted at them. He jumped down from the wall and landed in front of the horses, creating a wall of light to stop the demons from reaching them.
I ignored them. I was angry because Jessica betrayed me. She was the reason I wanted to protect the walls, but now she stabbed me. I thought she believed in me. I thought she was the only human who saw me as Tadashi, not as a demon. That betrayal burned inside my chest more than any knife.
I looked at the walls that protect humans. Those walls have stood for a hundred years. Humans built them with magic stones. I once promised Jessica I would protect those walls with my life. But now, with anger controlling me, I wanted to destroy them.
I placed my hands together leaving a little space in-between and created a powerful beam heading straight for the walls. The beam was black and red, spinning fast, making a loud sound like thunder. The ground under me cracked from its power.
"TADASHI NO! Don't do it!" Nickolas shouted. He has been my demonic brother for many years. He has been telling me not to do it. He knew that if I destroyed the walls, I would become just like our father.
He ran in front of the wall and blocked my beam with his light magic. His light magic formed a huge golden shield. My beam hit his shield and exploded. The explosion was so bright that everyone had to close their eyes. The wind from it blew away some of the smaller demons.
"She betrayed me!" I shouted at him. My voice was now two voices at once, mine and the devil's. The devil's voice was inside my voice because I unlocked his blood.
"She was threatened! Don't let anger control you! That's how papa enters!" Nickolas shouted back. He was breathing heavily. Blocking my beam took a lot of his power. "If you let anger take over, papa will enter your body and you will never come back!"
The demons stopped and bowed when they felt that presence. They all fell to their knees, even the big ones. They felt the blood of their king inside me.
I looked at the commander on his horse. His eyes flickered red for one second. It was very fast, but I saw it because of my new power. My new eyes could see the soul inside a body. I knew it. With my new power to take control of someone's body, I could see where the devil was hiding.
He was in one of us. He could be anywhere. And he was inside the commander. The commander was shaking slightly, trying to fight it.
I pointed my finger at him. "Come out, papa."
My finger glowed black. A chain of dark magic shot from my finger and wrapped around the commander's body.
The commander fell off his horse, shaking violently. Black smoke came out of his mouth, his eyes, his nose. He screamed in pain. The knights around him jumped back, scared.
"Finally, you found me, my son," the devil said with the commander's mouth, but in his own voice. "For how many years I have waited for you to unlock your full demonic abilities." His voice was deep and made the ground shake.
The smoke left the commander's body and formed into a tall shape with red eyes. The smoke was thick and moved like it was alive. It had horns bigger than mine and wings that covered the sky. The commander's body dropped dead on the ground, lifeless.
Nickolas stepped beside me. He created a light sword in his hand. "So you finally came out of hiding," he said. His face was calm but I could see his hand shaking.
The devil looked at both of us, his two sons. His red eyes glowed brighter. "Two sons of mine. One wants to destroy the wall, one wants to protect it. Fight each other and I will take the winner's body." He laughed, and his laugh sounded like many voices at once.
"You want the wall or you want me?" I said to him. I raised my claws, ready to fight.
I dashed towards the smoke to fight him, and Nickolas dashed with me. We both moved so fast that the humans could not see us. The air exploded where we ran.
But before we could reach him, the small portal where I sent Jessica to the other side started to glow behind us. I thought I had closed it, but it was opening wider on its own. The purple light became brighter and bigger, almost as tall as me now.
And from inside it, I heard Jessica's voice. She was crying and screaming.
"Tadashi... help me... it's not what you think... he is here too..."
We both turned around. The wind from the portal was pulling small stones inside.
The portal was opening on its own. And something else was coming out with her.