Ever since that encounter with the vampire Renaku fifteen years ago, Trevant had devoted himself to the path of a holy warrior, seeking out evil and destroying it where he found it. He never thought he'd see the day when he actually cooperated with a demon, much less help it in cleaning up a defiled church. But here he was, helping a vicious evil-minded creature from beyond the nethermost reaches of Hell to gather up pieces of a shattered stained glass window. It didn't help that it seemed for all the world to be a likeable human woman. He mumbled some holy prayers to help in warding off evil and harden his resolve. They didn't seem to do much, adding to his already dour mood. He gathered up the last piece of glass, placed it in the impromptu bucket his breastplate had become, and the two headed outside to place the glass with the rest of the rubbish. Outside, the two saw the woman who had introduced herself as Gyane, Renaku's mother, step out of a building into the street of Izgan. Gyane herself faced the two. They stopped working and all three looked at each other for a moment. "I must talk to her," said Thiesra. "I'll be back shortly." With that, she tossed a ruined candelabrum onto the pile outside the church and started walking towards the woman. A deep-seated instinct told Trevant to not get involved. He turned his back and continued his work. When he next looked, the two had disappeared. He muttered a curse against all demonic creatures and continued on. -------------------------------------------------- VAMPIRE LEGEND R Chapter 12 - The As Yet Unnamed Chapter By Steven Scougall VLR originally created by Ben Overmyer -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ Warning! This is a HORROR story. Supposedly. That means there could be some blood, violence, and extreme trauma ahead. So consider yourself warned. ------------------------------------------------------------ "You wish to speak to me?" asked Gyane. "You say you are Renaku's mother," said Thiesra. "That I am," said the woman, with a nod of her head. "Renaku was born almost sixty years ago, and you don't look a day over thirty," said Thiesra, the accusation plain in her voice. "If you really are his mother you can't be human. What are you?" Gyane smiled sadly. "I am forbidden from telling you." "What? Who by?" "Renaku's father." "Who is he?" "I am forbidden to tell you that as well, Thiesra." Thiesra drew back sharply. Not only did this woman know her name, she had pronounced it perfectly. Most humans missed the subtleties of demonic pronunciation. "You know my name... you pronounced it perfectly, too..." The woman continued on as if Thiesra had said nothing. "I am forbidden to tell you anything, except for what I have already told my son. It is unfortunate, but there is nothing I can do about it." "Just a hint," pleaded Thiesra. "Things are suddenly becoming so confusing..." Gyane smiled at the Otherworldly demon. "What Zeorx tells you is the truth." "You know about that too?" asked Thiesra. "I know much. And now I must go." The woman turned and started walking away from the demon woman. "Wait!" shouted Thiesra. "Can't you even give us a hint?" Gyane turned. "No," she said sadly. "I may have said too much already." She stepped into a nearby alleyway and almost immediately disappeared from Thiesra's awareness. Thiesra ran up to the alley and looked in. Unsurprisingly, there was no trace of the woman or her disappearance. Thiesra walked back to the building that Gyane had walked out of. She could tell, without even concentrating her awareness sense, that Renaku was sleeping in here on the second floor. She looked up and saw that the windows of the second floor window were firmly shut and covered. "Hey, demon! Help me with the fallen masonry, I can't lift it on my own!" With a sigh, Thiesra headed back to the church. The woman had said that Zeorx's tale was true. She thought back to what he had said... * * * * * "No," she said, and shook her head. "I'm not leaving until I free Asgani from what you bastards forced her to become." Zeorx smiled disarmingly at her. "Oh, but you have no choice." And he told her the truth... "...there is no such secret." "You lie, Asgani said there was and implied Makath knew it." "You've fought and killed many of the demons after you, little Thiesra," said Zeorx. "No doubt you've seen the way we die. When the magic that keeps us going is overcome, we collapse into dust, don't we?" Thiesra glared. "We do. So what?" "Makath didn't. He became human as he died. Think about it, little Thiesra. The answer is staring you right in the face." Thiesra was fast on the uptake. As she'd been forced to live a life on the run, always worrying when and where the next fight to the death would be, she'd had to learn to think fast and leap to conclusions from a standing start. But still, this was an incredible story and difficult to believe. "You're saying he wasn't a regular demon," she said slowly. "But you just said that you saw him become human several times, of course he isn't..." Zeorx sighed. Thiesra was amazed to hear such a human sound coming from the ages-old demon. "Just LOOK at yourself," he said, exasperated. "You're affecting a human female body right now. Look at me. I'm affecting a human male body, perfect to the tiniest detail. Who's to say we aren't human right at this very minute, Thiesra?" "But we're not! We're demons just disguised as - " "If you lost your magic right now you'd be a normal human. That's the secret you've been looking for all these years. It's the only way you could become human." "But Asgani said -" "All she said was that one of us already knew the secret." She didn't like the implication. Asgani had been one of her few friends, and to hear this enemy speak ill of her raised Thiesra's ire. "You accuse her of being a liar?" she asked dangerously. Zeorx sighed, and leaned back against the tree. Something seemed to lift from his face. "No," he said, not in their harsh demon language, but the common human language of the Rylor Mountains. Her eyes widened. "But I do accuse her of being misinformed. She was almost right, but had it backwards. She was, as you thought, thinking of Makath." "Backwards?" "You know the popular story about our origin." She was thrown off balance by the abrupt change of subject. "What does that have to do with anything, Zeorx?" she demanded. "Just play along," he said. And in that one instant he seemed so... human, so different to the cocky and arrogant demon she'd known for the past two centuries. She couldn't sense his usual hostility and arrogance. What was going on? "That aeons ago on our homeworld, mindless blobs of matter animated by their natural magic slowly developed sentience, and learned how to reshape themselves, and so on," she said, unsure and hesitant. "Well, it's almost right. Just missing a couple of details. Let me tell you it again." This was... confusing. Zeorx was nothing like his usual self. He hadn't threatened her once so far, and only called her "little" a couple of times so far. He seemed... almost human. Certainly much less of the demon she'd always thought of him as. Certainly... friendlier. And more likeable. "Zeorx..." she said slowly. "What's with you? You're so much different than usual..." "I have seen much, Thiesra. I've acted and lied and bluffed and threatened and manipulated and generally been the bastard you think I am. But Makath's death will change much." "How do I know you aren't just lying now?" "For what it's worth, I give you my word that for now, I'm telling the truth." He abruptly changed the topic. "So shall I tell you our origin story again?" Unsure, Thiesra nodded. "I suggest you sit down then. So..." Thiesra started in surprise as Zeorx's voice changed timbre slightly, becoming the voice of a storyteller. True, it was barely any effort for a demon of their species but to hear it coming from Zeorx, of all people... This. His friendly manner. His seeming humanity. What was with him today? She took his advice and sat down, listening. "Millennia ago, in a little human village not too far from where the Rylor Mountains are now, there was a human. He was frail and weak and nobody thought he'd amount to much, but when he was still young he stumbled onto the secrets of the magical arts. He was one of the very first humans to do so." She couldn't see how this was relevant. "A lovely story, Zeorx, but -" "Let me finish," he admonished, then resumed the story. "This boy, suddenly able to do whatever he wanted without fear of reprisal, became a spoiled brat and grew up into an evil-minded bastard. His fellow villagers became his slaves and later his followers, and as his power grew so did his ambition. He became, essentially, your standard evil villain type, intent on conquering the world. "The other humans didn't like this, naturally, so they allied themselves together to bring him down. In order to do so, human skill and knowledge was greatly advanced. Things such as magical knowledge, steelwork, building techniques, and so on. "After mighty struggles that boiled the seas and rendered vast amounts of land blasted and uninhabitable, the black magician was eventually overcome. His enemies tried to burn and break him, but somehow he managed to escape. Thinking that the monsters in the forests and mountains would finish him off, they left him to die. "And that human, Thiesra," finished Zeorx grimly, "was Makath." Thiesra's eyes widened in surprise. If that was true, and considering what Zeorx had said earlier... Her expression changed from surprise to horror. "'No one of us demons can remember a time when Makath wasn't there...'" She repeated the line all the newly spawned demons - children, for want of a better word - were told. "He must have been the first..." "Exactly," said Zeorx, grimly. "He was always there. He was there at the first, because he's the one that created us. Somehow he survived being burnt and having half his bones broken. Somehow he found the Otherworld and took up residence. And there he found what would become us demons - mindless blobs of matter animated by magic. Perhaps that gave him an idea as to what to reform his mangled body into. And he taught the blobs how to think and be like him." This was unbelievable. Thiesra didn't want to believe it. He had to be lying and she sought for flaws in the story. She found one. "You must be lying. How could anyone know? Only those 'blobs', and they'd all be long de -" His answer cut sharply through the air, stopping her short. "Because I was one of them, Thiesra. I can REMEMBER being taught by Makath how to think and assume this form and do all sorts of magic. I can remember him honing my natural magic and boosting it to ever higher levels." There was a heavy pause. "But," Thiesra started weakly, "what about all that stuff about how he learned magic and tried to conquer the world? That was before..." she didn't want to finish that sentence. "How could you know all that?" "Some of it's guesswork, but I've heard ancient human stories about the whole affair. And the first time I came into this world the stories were still fresh. And I've seen Makath assume human form, much like we're doing. And I've seen pictures of 'The Black Magician', which despite being crude likenesses, were remarkably similar. All circumstantial, of course, but it all adds up. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together." There was another pause. Thiesra was glad she'd taken Zeorx's advice and sat down. Zeorx surprised her again by sitting down next to her. "Now you know the origin of our species, Thiesra." She was shocked. She was scared. She was confused. And above all, surprised. "Why tell me all this? Why are you being so... well, so nice?" "I'm the only one who knows. I felt almost overwhelmed with the secret, I suppose, and had to share it with someone." He laughed humourlessly, and looked wryly at his pink human skin. "Now I'M the one becoming human." "Did you tell Asgani?" "Eventually. She didn't believe it at first, of course, and I didn't expect her to. But she eventually believed." A look of sadness flitted across his face. "What's going on, Zeorx? Why are you attacking the humans of the mountains, and then being so damn nice? Threatening us on the one hand and then when I seek you out being so helpful? Allying yourself with the Fumu and then turning on them? You're making no sense at all." He smiled disarmingly at her. "Almost as bad as Makath, hm?" "Don't change the subject. You always do that." Zeorx's smile became more genuine. "As I said, Makath's death will change much. Makath has brainwashed us demons for millennia to think ill of humans. I was still thinking like that when I organised the alliance with the Fumu." "And you've only just come to your senses." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right." "Cliched, but yes. Or something of that nature. I tried to work out why I was doing so. I tried to work out why I was helping the Fumu with their ridiculous plan. And it was only because Makath would have done so. And I'm pretty sure he was driven only by a ridiculous long-out-of-date vendetta of vengeance. I'll never know for sure, though." "The other demons will kill you for thinking like this." "Not if I make all this public." "You couldn't..." "I will. For too long we've been Makath's puppets." "It'll divide us, throw us into civil war! How could you do that?" Zeorx chuckled. "I thought you would have been all for it, Thiesra. Anything to get us off your back. Strange to hear you arguing against it." She smiled, the first time since they'd started talking. It was strange. They weren't exactly friends, there was too much history of bad feeling between them for that, but they were no longer mortal enemies either. Killing each other didn't seem to be an option anymore, not after Zeorx's revelations, and the way he'd opened up to her. Before he left, she tentatively asked about Asgani. "She often talked of you, with sadness on her face and in her voice. But she honoured her word, and never tried to leave again. But she didn't want to be there and couldn't stop herself from thinking about leaving." He tossed a stone from hand to hand. "It was enough for the Fumu to get to her." "I'll bring her back to her senses," she said confidently. For a split second, there seemed to hope on his face, but it was gone too quickly for her to be sure. "Impossible. It'd be nice, but there is no record of a Fumu being expelled from a host and the host subsequently living." "We're much tougher than the average host." He looked grim. "As I said, it'd be nice, but it'd also be impossible and you'd be playing right into the Fumu's hands. They WANT Renaku to fight them and win." "...what? That makes no sense." "I don't know the details, but it's supposed to tip Renaku over to the dark path of his prophecy. You know, the 'demonic king of the world' option. When I spoke to you before, when you were in Hryulle, I at least spoke the truth on that - I do not want that to happen. He must leave the Rylor Mountains without fighting the Fumu." "Why not?" she asked. "The Balance," he said, and stood up to go. "The what?" He didn't answer, and started walking away from her. "Dammit, Zeorx, don't clam up on me now!" He turned to face her, looking serious and grim. "It's not something I can tell you about, it's something you have to find out about yourself. It is something that took me hundreds of years to properly understand. Unfortunately, you won't have as long." And then he left. * * * * * ...it was an unpleasant revelation. This meant her species was nothing except the tool of a mad human's vengeance. She wondered what she could tell Renaku about this. If she even should. Hopefully Zeorx would be able to lead the Otherworldly demons in a new direction. That had certainly seemed to be his intention. In her daze, she dropped a half-ton brick barely a few inches from Trevant's foot. He yelped, and then was understandably angry. "Hey! Concentrate on what you're doing, demon!" Embarrassed, she banished all thoughts of the matter from her mind and concentrated on the task at hand. * * * * * Night fell, and Renaku awoke from his slumber. He felt refreshed, moreso than usual. He wasn't sure exactly why, perhaps it was because of his mother. She hadn't actually told him much, but somehow that lullaby had advanced him one step closer to understanding what was going on. He tried to remember what it was about. It was in an old language that he'd never heard, but somehow he'd been able to understand it. Now if only he could remember what it had been about... It had something about the moon, didn't it? He'd have to try and remember. It seemed... important. He buckled the last piece of his armour on, picked up his sword and attached it to his belt. He left the building to be greeted by a strange sight - Thiesra and Trevant working together. They were actually cooperating. They seemed to be talking civilly, even. He stepped closer, in order to hear what they were saying. Thiesra looked up at him. "Hi Ren-chan! Had a nice sleep?" "Yes, thank you. What are you two up to?" "Clearing this church of the ruin," said Trevant. "Enjoying yourselves?" he asked. The two looked at each other, as if suddenly reminded that they were supposed to loathe each other's guts. "No," they said simultaneously. "Looked like it to me," said Renaku. Thiesra looked embarrassed, and Trevant's expression was becoming angrier by the second. He looked as if he was about to kill the two right then and there. "Anyway," said Thiesra, "About your mother, Ren-chan, she -" Then suddenly there was a roar of confused sound and light that seemed to fill the night sky, and a shockwave that flung the trio from their feet. Renaku came to his senses shortly after that initial moment of confusion, to find himself amongst the wreckage of a house, with no clear memory of what had happened. As he staggered to his feet, throwing off earth and brick and wood, he noticed sharp pieces of wood all around him, some VERY close. He shivered. He was lucky he hadn't been skewered through the heart by one of them. He tossed the last beam of wood away and emerged from the ruins of the house. Thiesra, he noted, was already up and moving about, easily lifting and tossing huge pieces of debris aside. But where was Trevant? Then he realised that the groaning he was hearing was coming from underneath the debris Thiesra was shifting, and that it had to be Trevant under there. He joined in, helping her shift the wood and earth the man was trapped under. "I thought you hated him," said Renaku, grinning at her. She faltered for a moment, then resumed her efforts. "Hate him or not, I'm not letting him die." After only a few short moments, they had Trevant clear from the wreckage. He was covered in cuts and bruises and what promised to be a real shiner of a black eye, but no major damage. It was nothing short of a miracle and Renaku said as much. Trevant's good eye opened and fixed beadily on Renaku. "What's that, vampire? It's a miracle I'm alive?" He wheezed out a laugh. "For me, maybe, definitely not for you." Renaku ignored the man's barbs. "Well, we're all alive, but what was that noise and light?" They didn't have to look far. The forest around the town of Izgan was almost completely gone, and the remaining trees and the ground were burning. Small electric charges could be seen running across the ground, possibly they were the after effects of a huge electrical discharge. Bizarrely, it was also raining, and despite its best efforts the rain was having little effect on the flames. If it weren’t for the paradoxical conjunction of flame and water, it would have looked like any other storm. It seemed to be clearing, though. "What could cause such devastation?" wondered Thiesra. The rain intensified yet further, until it seemed like the very oceans were being dropped on their heads. At such intensity, the rain was finally having an effect on the flames; they withered under the onslaught of the water and eventually died out. And then the rain itself started to clear, the wind changed and the black clouds drifted away, leaving a mostly clear night and a scene of utter devastation. And amongst the devastation the trio could see the blackened, sometimes still smoking, bodies of hundreds of the Fumu. And with the sounds of the storm gone they could hear what sounded like the air being torn in two repeatedly. They looked up. There, above the plain, were four huge dragons. The noise was their wingbeats. "Dragons?" asked Trevant. "Dragons," said Renaku. "Dragons..." He looked closer. There seemed to something strange with the smallest. He looked closer, straining his sight to the limit, and realised what it was. "I don't believe it! I simply can't believe it!" he said. Laughing, he rose from the ground, and took flight towards the dragons, not even bothering to change into a bat. "He... he really is going to go tame some dragons," said Trevant. Renaku heard Trevant's stunned comment, and laughed again as he flew towards the four dragons. All too soon, he was hovering just by them. He contemplated them for just a moment. The largest dragon was easily six times larger than the largest dragon Renaku had ever seen. Not that he'd seen many but he'd had a nasty run-in with a red dragon some time back... He brought himself back to the present and continued regarding the dragon. It was covered in scales that shone like rubies, giving the impression that this mammoth fire dragon was glowing. The second largest dragon could have only been a storm dragon, with its iridescent, grey-blue scales and arcs of electricity sparking over its body. If there was a living embodiment of a lightning storm, this would have to be it. The third dragon was very similar to the storm dragon in colouring and only slightly smaller. Its grey-blue scales shone with a bright metallic sheen, and it lacked the electric arcs running around its body. Renaku was unsure what type it could be, until he remembered stories about the reclusive steel dragons. This must have been one of them. At any other time or place the smallest dragon would have been extremely impressive; instead, next to the other three, it seemed almost drab. This was a frost dragon, about half the size of the fire dragon, and about three times larger than the last frost dragon Renaku saw, two years back. Its breath fogged in the cool night air. And it is was this last dragon, and more specifically the figure standing on its back, that had attracted Renaku's attention. The figure faced Renaku, a smile on his lips and his arms wide in a gesture of greeting. "Renaku! What are you doing here?" "I could you ask you the same thing, Lord Aiger Nova," responded Renaku, smiling back in return. The four dragons, upon hearing the exchange between the two humanoids, turned their massive heads towards Aiger and gave him a shared glance of confusion. He laughed easily and answered their query in the dragon tongue, then turned his attention back to Renaku. "Much has changed since you left, Renaku. But first, introductions are in order." He indicated the fire dragon. "This is Plascore, Son of Inferno the leader of the fire dragons, and their chosen representative." He motioned to the storm dragon, "This is Dynaag, Second Son of Arc. He is the representative from the Storm Dragons." He gestured next to steel dragon. "This is Manganese, Fourth Son of Steel. He represents the Steel Dragons." He finally came to the dragon carrying him. "This is Drake, father of my father, Second Son of Haline. He represents the Frost dragons." Renaku bowed to each in turn as Aiger introduced them. In response, they nodded their heads briefly at him. Now it was Renaku's turn to be introduced. "Dragons, this is Renaku, a vampire knight. I made his acquaintance two years ago." Drake spoke, in a voice remarkably clear of the expected serpentine hissing. "The one who helped you against your father?" "Yes, Lord Drake." "Interesting," was the massive dragon's response. "So what are you doing here, Renaku?" asked Aiger. "Escaping from the Fumu," said Renaku, and shrugged. "On the way I got the feeling that coming to Izgan was important." A half-smile came to his lips. "It was." Aiger waited for further explanation, but none came. After a short moment he shrugged. "Indeed. Well, according to the Representative Dragons, they were told by Lord Gai of Earth that the Fumu of the Rylor Mountains were massing and starting to make suspicious noises, and that they should go and investigate. I was to go along as a sort of representative to speak to humans along the way. We found hundreds of the creatures massing around Izgan, and, well," he shrugged, "you can see what happened." "The dragons dislike the Fumu?" "Intensely," rumbled Plascore. "We dragons did nothing ten thousand years ago when the Fumu first appeared. We will NOT make the same mistake again." Aiger was peering intently over Renaku's shoulder. Renaku turned and faced the direction Aiger was looking - it was directly at Thiesra and Trevant. "Consorting with a demon and a human?" said Aiger. "I have known the demon for several years. She's a good friend," said Renaku. "The human showed up as we were attempting to attack the Fumu." A look of distaste came across his face as he remembered the first meeting with Trevant. "I encountered him fifteen years back. It was not pleasant then, and it wasn't now either." "They're coming now," said Aiger. Startled, Renaku turned to look at Thiesra and Trevant. True to Aiger's word, they were walking along the ravaged earth to underneath where the dragons hovered. "I suppose we should land," said Renaku, but hesitantly, as he was uncertain of how the dragons would take the suggestion. Aiger grinned at him. "Can't fly for very long?" "It does get tiring after a while," agreed Renaku. Aiger gave him a conspiratorial wink. "Imagine how tiring it would be to fly here all the way from Mesa." "Very," rumbled Dynaag, sounding almost as if he was grumbling. "Let us land." They landed a short distance from Thiesra and Trevant. "So you did tame some dragons after all," said Thiesra with a giggle, as she approached. Renaku looked embarrassed. "So who's your lady-friend?" asked Aiger with a smile. The comment and Aiger's pointed smile made Renaku even more embarassed. He fumbled through an introduction. "Aiger, this is Rogue Demon Thiesra, who has been a friend for the past several years. Thiesra, this is Lord Aiger Nova. I helped him with some trouble he was having a couple of years ago." "You make it sound like it was easy," complained Aiger. Renaku explained further. "Specifically, a large frost dragon and most of his half-breed family, and it wasn't THAT easy." Thiesra's eyes flickered to the frost dragon Aiger had been riding. "Um..." "That upstart needed killing," said Drake. "He was a bit funny in the head towards the end." * * * * * Aiger and Renaku had walked a short distance from the rest of the group, in order to get some private time for catching up on past events. And incidentally letting the dragons, demon and human get acquainted. "Has it been a good couple of years for you, Renaku?" "Reasonably good," said Renaku. He thought for a moment and decided to tell Aiger about the prophecy. "Though... there has been something..." "Go ahead, what is it?" "I've been told a few times by various goddesses that I'm the subject of a certain prophecy. It is a disturbing one, apparently I shall either become Saviour of humanity or the Dark Master of the demons of the world." "You never struck me as the sort that would go for leading demons like that." "I'm not, but one day I'll face a choice that will lead me on one path and I might not even know it. I might have even faced that choice already. It's very..." "Disturbing?" asked Aiger. "Very," agreed Renaku. Aiger looked pensive. Renaku got the idea that telling him might have been a bad idea after all. "Is there something wrong?" asked Renaku. "The Representative Dragons told me something about Lord Gai. Something that could be worrying, in light of what you've just said," said Aiger. "Lord Gai being the God of Earth?" "Yes. Lord Gai believes in something called a 'Balance of Good and Evil'. I'm just thinking that this prophecy could lead you to tip the balance either way. If it's all true Lord Gai may not be pleased." This sounded strange. "How could being *Saviour* of humanity be bad?" "I don't know," said Aiger. "But it would tip such a balance towards good, wouldn't it? In any case, it may be the best thing to not talk to the dragons about this just yet." Renaku agreed. They were suddenly almost blown off their feet by a draconic roar. "That was Plascore!" shouted Aiger, and started running back to the main group. Renaku ran after and caught up with the half dragon crossbreed. "The fire dragon?" "Yes... he says they're under attack by a single yet extraordinarily powerful Fumu!" All that in just one roar? Never mind. Renaku shook his head briefly, as if to shake that silly thought from his head and thought upon the dragon's words. A single yet extraordinarily powerful Fumu... Renaku got a sense of foreboding. This Fumu could be the 'Asgani' that Thiesra and Zeorx had mentioned... "Prepare for a very difficult battle, old friend," said Renaku. "If the Fumu is what I think it is..." They arrived back at the camp. The four dragons were in disarray and circling wildly about in the air, looking down at the ground where there was - Trevant, sensibly staying well back, cowering behind some trees, watching - Thiesra, and what Renaku had feared. An Otherworldly Demon in the shape of a woman, its eyes glowing madly and its red skin mottled by stone - the sign of Fumu possession. The Fumu was attacking Thiesra for all it was worth. Thiesra, on the other hand, wasn't fighting back at all, instead shouting for Asgani to come to her senses. And Thiesra was barely staying clear of the other demon's strikes. This was not good. If the Fumu possession had given Asgani much more power than normal, then she could kill Thiesra easily. She would be even harder to defeat than Makath had been. As Renaku ran to the battle, he drew his sword, hoping he'd get there in time. But as he watched, the creature that had been Asgani dealt Thiesra a stunning blow to the head, and Thiesra stumbled back. The possessed demon lifted its hands, forming them into the familiar triangle, pointed directly at Thiesra... A huge gout of flame suddenly blasted down from the sky, centred dead on the Fumu-demon. It seemed to last forever, and then just as abruptly disappeared, leaving the ground on fire. All that was left was smoke dissipating into the air. Thiesra approached the burning ground, tears on her face. "Asgani," she whispered. "Oh my god, Asgani, why you..." Renaku looked over at Thiesra. The demon was standing there by the burning ground and dissipating smoke, tears falling from her eyes. The smoke caught Renaku's attention. There seemed to be something wrong and worrying about it. He looked closer; it didn't seem to dissipating properly. Instead, if you looked at it right, it only *looked* like it was dissipating. If you looked harder, it was in the shape of a woman. A woman drawing her arm back ready for a punch... The sense of foreboding came back. He started running towards Thiesra. "Thiesra!" he yelled. "Get back!" "Huh?" she said. She turned and took a step towards Renaku. "But..." The smoke suddenly twisted in on itself and in barely a moment had become the possessed Asgani again, lashing out at Thiesra with a bloodcurdling yell and glowing hands. Thiesra twisted away at the moment and just escaped being torn in two. The dragons roared in confusion. "What is this?" shouted Aiger. "Nothing has ever survived a fire dragon's breath before!" Renaku was almost there now. "Fight back!" shouted Renaku. "But... but... it's Asgani! I can't!" she wailed. Renaku growled. He remembered when Thiesra's old teacher had been sent to kill her. She had held back in that fight, too. Only that demon hadn't been possessed by a Fumu and nigh indestructible. And then he arrived. He leapt at Asgani, sword flashing. He expected the possessed demon to dodge easily. He wasn't expecting it to smile evilly and step *into* the stroke. His slash faltered slightly, but there was still enough force for it to go through an arm and halfway through the demon's chest. Behind him, Thiesra screamed. He felt the sword start to draw on the demon's life energy, and then speed up, instead of slow down as he was expecting. Too surprised to do anything, he could only watch in dumbstruck confusion as the demon reached over with its remaining hand and forced the sword through the rest of its body. The demon stood there for a moment, the stone mottling fading from the skin. Then the upper part of the body fell, the lower part almost instantly becoming a fine red mist of dust that blew away in the wind. Screaming Asgani's name, Thiesra rushed to and knelt over what was left of the demon, tears pouring from her eyes and dousing the body. "Oh my god... Asgani..." Thiesra's sobs became a scream of "WHY?" Why indeed, thought Renaku in a semi-detached sort of way. He remained standing there, looking nervously at his sword. It had drawn the life energy of the possessed demon, slowly at first and then so quickly it was if the demon wasn't bothering to resist. He could feel the sheer amount of the life energy thrumming away inside the sword. Ordinarily he would have drawn the energy into himself instantly, but tonight he stalled. He had felt many things as a demon hunter. But tonight was one of the few times he felt scared. He heard a new voice. He looked down and was surprised anew to see what was left of Asgani reaching her remaining arm to Thiesra. "Thiesra..." Asgani whispered through tears. "I'm... so sorry..." Thiesra reached over and clasped Asgani's hand in hers, then went a step further, picked Asgani up and hugged her. "Regenerate, Asgani! There's enough left of you!" Asgani's body started to lose definition around the edges. Renaku thought he could see a fine red dust spiralling away. The sense of foreboding was back. Asgani smiled back at Thiesra. "But... not enough... magic... Quoth... the Fumu... gave it all... away..." "Quick, Ren-chan, the sword, it has her magic, give it back!" Hoping he was in time, Renaku had the sword pointed at Asgani and sending her energy back to her before Thiesra had finished speaking. He could see instantly that it wouldn't be enough. Asgani's body was losing definition just as quickly as before - he increased the speed of the transfer as much as possible, to no apparent effect. "It's not enough!" he yelled. "No!" shouted Thiesra, and in a last ditch effort to save her friend poured as much of her own magic as she could into Asgani's body, but she was too late. With a final smile and "Goodbye", Asgani discorporated into a fine red dust, blowing away in the wind, leaving Thiesra holding nothing but air. Thiesra sat there stunned, looking at the spot Asgani had been, her eyes wide and horrified. And then she screamed. Her scream spoke of all the loneliness she'd felt since Asgani had left with Zeorx, of the pain she felt, of the loss of one of her few friends in the entire world. It rent through the night air and chilled to the bone. Renaku, Aiger, the dragons, even Trevant, they all bowed their heads in a respectful silence. "The Fumu will die for this," said Aiger grimly. "And all their other atrocities," agreed Plascore. Before she left, Thiesra made a crude makeshift grave marker to mark the spot where Asgani died. Amazingly, Trevant didn't argue with her about it once. (TO BE CONTINUED) Author's Notes: There are a couple of points to address about this story. First is that it's a bit short. I had a large exam on the Thursday this was due and so couldn't spend as much time on this as I would have liked to. Yes, I do know of such things as extensions but I was going away over the weekend, too. Truly RL is getting in the way of this chapter. ^_^ The other is the depressing ending - there were all sorts of ideas I had, such as Asgani repelling the Fumu during the battle, Asgani being revived by Renaku and Thiesra's last ditch effort, but it all seemed a bit too cliched. My one concession to popular cliche was Asgani being free of the Fumu at the end, and staying alive for long enough to give a final farewell. I liked Asgani enough to let that slip through. And besides, there are always ways to bring back dead characters. I can think of one already. ^_^ Whether such an action would fit in a serious story such as VLR or not is debateable. Thanks must go to Aaron Peori (Epsilon) and Aaron Bradley (Coyote) for prereading and a few ideas.