Into the fields of Summer - 102. Flames of Darkness 1

 

Chris’ POV

“Purple?” I asked, what does Victor mean? I swiftly blinked my eyes to give my boyfriend a closer look.

“Never mind, your eyes are blue again,” he replied, as he helped me get back to my feet. The look of concern on Victor’s face remained, but for now he kept silent about it. Standing, I felt sore, but was healing fast. In a few hours, I reckon I’ll be back to tip top shape.

We were approached by August, who was accompanied by my uncle and three more agents.

“Chris, are you okay?” asked my uncle, he was standing a few feet from me, and concern was written all over his face. Aside from several tears in his clothes, some light cuts and bruises on his face, he looked to be in a much better shape than I was.

“I’m fine,” I replied with a tired voice, dusting myself off as I looked around the surrounding buildings. Yonthar and I clearly did a number on the compound, several walls had collapsed, the concrete floor had numerous cracks and craters everywhere. Some roofs even collapsed on themselves. It was as if a bomb exploded in the compound. “How’s everybody else?” I asked.

“We have several injured from our contingent, but our healers are already doing their job, we’ve also found the other members of last night’s team. We’ve restrained them but we don’t know if we can still help them, they’ve become Anami,” my uncle grimly replied, despair clear in his voice.

“Take me to them, I can help,” I replied.

“Chris, you need to rest,” my uncle said, as he approached me and gave me a closer inspection, “you’ve already overexerted yourself.”

“Don’t mind me, I can recover later, we don’t have much time, I have to help the agents before it’s too late.”

Before I took another step to find the Anami turned agents, I felt the air shift, and I immediately materialized an energy shield around us.

Purple and green flashes of light burst as multiple energy blasts hit my barrier.

“What did you do to our master?!” screamed a male demon.

“Bring him back!” screamed another, “bring him back!”

We found ourselves surrounded by 5 demons, 3 male, 2 female, all of them in dark hooded robes similar to the ones worn by the demons we encountered earlier.

“I can’t feel him, I can’t feel our master, what’s going on?!” said another frantic and panic stricken demon, his demeanor was the most crazed and unpredictable out of the five demons surrounding us.

“I thought we had gotten rid of all of them,” said my uncle. “I did not expect more to be here,” he added.

“Apparently we missed some,” one of our agents said.

The five demons started to form multiple purple and green energy balls on their hands, I could feel that they were gathering more energy for a stronger attack. The air felt vile with their presence, it was as if you can taste and smell, despair and anger, it’s weird to describe emotions in a sensory way, but that’s the only way I know to describe it.

“I don’t have time for this,” I growled. I hardened myself and I willed my chains to loosen themselves, the chains resisted for a moment but gave in anyway. “This is such an inconvenience,” I said in a tone devoid of emotion.

I was tired, I did not have time for such trivial matters like dealing with demons in search of their creator, I was in no mood to entertain them.

I should have been worried about how I acted next, but damn was I in a foul mood.

I raised my left in front of me, and then flicked it, “be gone,” I said, my voice went deep again, and it started to take on an unnatural echo of its own.

It happened so fast that my teammates barely had time to register what was happening, the 5 demons in front of us were engulfed by purple flames and in seconds, their screams of pain stopped, they all turned into dust. Not a single trace of their existence remained except for the charred spots left on the concrete floor from where they once stood.

All of my colleagues, looked at me with a mixture of surprise, disbelief, and maybe even fear.

“Come on,” I said, as I asked them to bring me to the ones that needed some healing. It took them a moment or two to get their wits about them and lead me towards the restrained newborn Anamis.

No further discussion was made of how I easily defeated 5 demons with a flick of my hand. If it had been only that easy earlier. I could feel a surge in power coursing through my veins, something different, foreign, something my body is trying to contain and assimilate into its own.

Outside the compound, we saw several of the newborn Anamis, they were being restrained by powerful spells used by several elves. The Anamis were all doing their best to escape but somehow the magical coils around them held on. I’m sure it wouldn’t have lasted for another 15 minutes or so.

Not wasting time, I cast multiple Magnus Spells one after another to contain the demon taint within them. They immediately lost consciousness as my spells hit them, it took a few minutes for them to revive. As they woke, they started to return to their previous selves, and aside from feeling confused and weak, they all seemed to be healthy. I was confident they were on their way to a full recovery.

“Remarkable,” whispered an elf agent as he witnessed my display of power.

“Wow, that felt powerful,” added a werewolf agent who stood not far from us.

There was little discussion about what happened between me and Yonthar, there was an understanding that this was a conversation for later, we left several agents to do one last sweep of the compound and then we’ll send more in the morning for inspection and information gathering.

—- 

I slept the entire trip from Cleveland back to Greensburg, I don’t remember much of the trip back home. The next time I opened my eyes, I was back in my room with Victor soundly sleeping in my arms.

I looked at the clock only to realize, that I’ve slept through most of the day, it was already 3 in the afternoon.

I gently disentangled myself from Victor, trying to not disturb his peaceful slumber. I took a quick shower, and dressed, looking in the mirror I saw that I barely had a scratch on me. I actually looked better than the day before, if people will indulge me, I would even go as far as to say, that I’m glowing.

I made my way to the kitchen where I found Etalos and my father.

“Chris!” Dad exclaimed as he saw me.

“Your Highness!” said Etalos with relief all over his face. He and my dad were obviously in a deep conversation before I arrived, but their talk was forgotten when they saw me.

“How are you feeling?” Dad asked.

“I’m feeling okay,” I replied. “Where’s Yal, Kalron, Nomir, and my uncle?”

“Slow down tiger,” dad chuckled.

“Yal and Kalron are upstairs, I think they’re reviewing last night’s mission, Nomir is training with Henry and several other agents in our training space, while your uncle, well, he’s sleeping in the guest room, he did take down 2 demons last night,” Etalos explained.

“Oh, I see, do you think I should join Yal and Kalron?”

“I think it would be better if you let them be for now, there will be a conference meeting between the elves, VHC, and WCC at 9pm, I think that’s the one you should join,” Etalos suggested as he handed me a glass of juice while dad started making a sandwich for me.

“I heard you did a number on the demons yourself,” dad said as he took a bite of his own sandwich.

“What else did you hear?” I curiously asked. After what happened last night, I haven’t told anyone about how I defeated Yonthar, I’m not sure how they would take it. To be honest, I’m quite nervous about telling them I absorbed one of the demon generals.

“Not much, I just heard you took down several demons, and defeated their general,” dad replied.

“Seems about right,” I said.

“How did you do it?” Etalos asked. He had a curious look on his face, and I could sense that aside from curiosity, he felt there was something more behind the story.

“Hmm, I’ll tell you next time, it’s a long one, and to be honest, I haven’t wrapped my head around it yet,” I replied.

Etalos nodded in understanding, yet, there was a hint of concern in his expression. I felt for him, but I knew now was not the time to go on babbling about my demon conquest, especially considering I myself don’t fully understand what transpired the night before.

Since waking up, I started to feel a change inside me. I didn’t know it was even possible, but somehow, I felt stronger, but also, it was as if something else was now living inside me, aside from the chains that bound my power. I felt as if a certain patch of darkness was beating inside of me.

After taking a light snack, I went back to my bedroom and found my boyfriend just waking up. He gave me a gentle smile as he scooted up and rested his back on the head board, “good morning sleepy head,” I said.

“Hey, you’re the sleepy head, I just joined you for a nap you know, I was awake most of the day,” he replied.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, you however, well, you were clearly tired.”

“I guess I was, I still feel a bit sore but my cuts and bruises have all healed,” I retorted, as I joined Victor on the bed.

My boyfriend gave me a gentle kiss on the lips, and he cupped my face and slowly caressed me. “You had me worried,” he said.

“Huh? How come?”

“First, you sent me and August packing, while you fought a demon general, and the next thing we know, bright lights and explosions were coming off from where you were fighting. Then a wave of energy enveloped the entire compound, for a second, I felt your presence disappear, I thought I had lost you,” he said as he held back tears.

“Well, I’m here, ain’t I?” I teased as I kissed him back.

“How on earth did you defeat Yonthar? Not that I’m doubting your power, you’re the most powerful being I know, but I’m curious. How were you able to end that battle in such a short time?” Victor asked. My boyfriend was now resting his head on my chest and I had no choice but to be honest with him.

“I honestly don’t know, for a moment I was certain he was going to kill me, but something inside me clicked, it’s hard to explain, but I felt like I wasn’t myself when I fought Yonthar in those last few minutes. I felt so powerful Victor, so so powerful, it scared me, yet somehow my body knew what to do.”

“Wow,” Victor softly replied.

“Yeah, and it doesn’t end there,” I said.

Victor scooted from his position and was now sitting beside me, “what else happened?”

“Victor, please don’t be afraid, but,” I said as I eyed my boyfriend, trying to see if there was any hint of any unwanted reaction for what I was about to tell him but instead all I saw was concern and love.

“What is it?” Victor asked as he tightly held my hand.

“Last night I remember you saying my eyes were glowing purple,” I started then took a moment for myself before continuing. “Well, I think I know the reason for that,” I said as I continued to hold onto his hand.

“Chris, what did you do?” Victor furrowed his eyebrows for a moment and then came the realization as he pieced things together. “Wait, did you...”

Silently, I nodded confirming his theory.

“How is that even possible?” He asked.

“I don’t know, but it was the only way,” I replied.

“Chris, this is unprecedented.”

“I know, I’m still trying to get my head around it, shit... Victor, I’m scared”

“I’m here for you Chris, we’re all here for you,” he said as he drew me in for a hug and then gave me another soft kiss on the lips.

“There’s going to be a meeting later, and I’m not sure if I should tell the rest, I’m confused.”

“I think you should talk this over with your grandfather, we have several hours to spare for a trip to the realm,” Victor said.

“Yeah, I suppose that should help.”

 —- 

Victor and I were joined by my uncle for an early dinner at Martin’s cafe. It was nice to see Martin and his brother Matteo after not seeing the two vampires for quite some time. I even took the chance to introduce them to my uncle, and both were absolutely taken by my uncle’s presence and charm.

While we were eating, my uncle started to ask questions about my encounter with Yonthar, “So, what happened?” he asked, my uncle was calmly drinking his coffee but the way he looked at me spoke volumes, it was as if he knew something was up, or that I was hiding something.

“What do you mean?” I said as I feigned ignorance.

“Chris, you asked Kalron to tell us to leave the compound at once, minutes later, we lose any sign of Yonthar’s aura. Believe me, once you started fighting, it was hard to miss his menacing energy, but after several explosions and multiple bursts of energy, we discover that you’ve defeated him,” my uncle paused, and he took a moment to sip his coffee. Victor sat beside me, and watched over my exchange with my uncle. Victor gripped my hand underneath the table giving me comfort and reassurance.

After several awkward seconds, my uncle continued, “I don’t doubt you’re capable of defeating him. If I may be brutally honest, I guess you’re the only one among us to ever have a shot of defeating a demon general one on one, but I sense that you’re hiding something. You’ve changed, and when you easily turned those 5 demons to dust with no effort, I have got to ask again, what happened?” His voice was calm, measured, and somewhat reassuring, though I could sense a hint of anxiety and uncertainty from him, my uncle clearly wanted to know what transpired last night, yet he seemed to be torn as to what to make of Yonthar’s defeat.

With my aura fully enclosing the cafe, I was able to sense that no one was paying attention to us.

I looked straight at my uncle and said, “don’t be shocked,” then I pulled some of Yonthar’s energy to the surface and from the reflection on the window I could see my eyes glow purple for a few seconds.

My uncle visibly gulped, and his muscles tensed, as if he was in a fight or flight situation.

“Don’t be afraid,” I said as I reeled in Yonthar’s powers.

“How... what, what did you do?” My uncle stammered as he tried to compose himself.

“I absorbed him,” I tersely replied.

“Wait, what?”

“As of this moment, I’m assimilating his energy to that of my own. Well, that’s what I think is happening anyway,” I said, as I shrugged then took a bite out of the chocolate cake in front of me.

“Chris, who else knows about this?” My uncle asked.

“Just you and Victor.”

“We should tell father, and King Ethnar as well,” My uncle replied. I observed him to be calmer now than a few seconds ago, though I could still sense he was to some extent afraid of me and my abilities.

“I agree, we should leave for the realm soon, we have a few hours before the conference,” I replied.

—- 

Victor, Prince Rehanmir, Yal, Etalos and Kalron joined me in returning to the realm. Nomir and Jetan were left behind to monitor our operations, as well as to guard my father and my best friend.

Crossing into the realm, we found ourselves in my study. With better control of my powers, I was now able to specify where in the realm to materialize.

“You’re really getting the hang of this,” Etalos remarked.

“Well, I’ve been doing it for some time, I guess I was bound to figure it out,” I said as I chuckled.

We were just about to leave the room, when we heard alarms going off all over the palace.

“What the hell is that noise?” Victor said as he cupped his hands over ears, from the deafening alarm.

“Shit,” my uncle remarked.

“What is it?” I asked, getting annoyed with the noise.

“Remember we have energy scanners all over the realm?” My uncle asked.

“Yes, what does that have to do with us?”

Victor then closed the distance between us, still visibly uncomfortable from the noise,

“I think he means you, Chris.”

“What? What do you mean?” I asked, the blaring of the alarms continued to bother me, and I couldn’t help myself, I snapped. “Someone shut that thing off, now!” I growled and a wave of energy escaped my control, everyone in the room visibly flinched as they felt my energy wash over them, the lights flickered, and then silence.

“Chris...” Yal said in a hushed tone as he composed himself from my outburst. “What was that?” He continued.

“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” I apologetically said, as I eyed everyone’s reaction with what transpired.

“Well, that certainly shut off the alarms,” my uncle nervously chuckled. He then pulled out his phone and spoke to some officers in the palace, “There’s no demon intrusion, call off Akros, and the Royal and Civil Guards, there’s no demon incursion.”

Before he could end his phone call, the doors to my study swung open. Several elvish guards entered clad in full dark battle gear, some had magically enhanced guns while others had their magic staffs.

“Hold it!” My uncle exclaimed.

The guards were clearly confused, with what they found. It was apparent they were expecting to be in combat, instead they were aiming their guns and staffs, at royalty and senior government officials.

“Prince Rehanmir?” A Guard asked.

“The one and only,” my uncle chuckled as he raised his hands in the air.

“But, the alarms, and the scanners,” the guard continued.

“We know what the alarms were for, but by all means, scan us,” Yal confidently piped in.

A female elf emerged from the group of nervous guards, she held a tablet like device, she approached and scanned us one by one.

The scanner she held is a modified, compact version of what Sarad and Zenfar had in their labs. The scanners in the facilities gave a more detailed reading of one’s abilities and energy signature.

The guard was about to scan me but my uncle stopped her. “I think that would be enough,” he said with his charming smile.

“But...” she softly protested.

“I think we’ve already established that our contingent is clear, do you really need to find out the power and energy readings of the platinum prince?” my uncle intoned.

Yal gave my uncle an inquisitive look, but supported him anyway. “Prince Christopher’s power is a state secret, it’s the king’s order.”

The guard nodded her head in recognition and so did the rest of her crew. They gave us a light bow and left us to ourselves.

As soon as the guards closed the door, Yal spoke with my uncle. “Your highness, if I may ask, why didn’t you let them scan Chris?”

“I believe you have a miniature version of the scanner with you?” My uncle replied.

“Yes, I do, but this one is still in trial,” Yal replied, as he fished out a phone sized version of the scanner.

“Chris?” My uncle said, as he shot me a look, as if to ask for permission for Yal to scan me.

I nodded my head in agreement, but Victor felt protective of me and stood in between Yal and me. “Chris, you don’t have to do this,” Victor said, as he tried to keep me away from Yal.

“It’s fine Victor, they’ll find out sooner or later.”

“What’s this about?” Yal asked.

“Just scan me,” I commanded.

“Fine,” Yal said as he shrugged his shoulders and pointed the small device at me.

There was an audible ping from the scanner, its screen went bright white, then short circuited. Yal threw the device away as it was consumed by sparks and the crackling noise of shorted out wires.

“What was that all about?” Etalos asked, from the side.

“There’s a reason for his powers being a state secret, and I believe he’s just gotten stronger,” my uncle remarked.

“Before it went haywire, it gave me an error reading on Chris’ energy signature,” Yal retorted in disbelief.

“What did it say?” Kalron asked.

“That his energy signature was unidentifiable.”

“Must be an error, you did say that the device is still in trial phase ,” Victor piped in, trying to deflect more scrutiny from the nature of my power.

I gave my boyfriend an appreciative smile but nodded my head sideways. “I appreciate you coming to my defense Victor, but I think they should know.”

“What do you mean?” Yal asked.

I then raised my left hand and opened my palm and conjured a bright purple flame.

Etalos gave out an audible gasp, while Kalron and Yal both stood in awe. The three of them were in a mix of complete shock and fascination with the purple flame’s beauty.

Yal took a moment to inspect the flame, he looked at me then at my uncle, then set his gaze back on the flame. “Does this mean what I think it does?” He asked, as he rubbed his chin while giving my flames a closer look.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“Chris, we have to subject you to more tests and scans, what you’ve achieved is unheard of, and borderline impossible. King ZoHal and Kung Ethnar, will be highly surprised with this development.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Etalos asked, his brows were furrowed, and the young elf was clearly not aware of what we are talking about.”

“Etalos, well, to put things bluntly, I absorbed Yonthar’s powers. To be more accurate, I absorbed him,” I said, as I put my hands on his shoulders. My assistant’s jaws dropped, as the thought of me having a demon general’s magic inside me sunk in.

“This isn’t a joke, right?”. His voice, barely above a whisper as he squeaked in surprise.

“I am not, and I also agree with Yal, I think I should be scanned. My outburst earlier, clearly showed that I’m not in full control of my powers, nor that of my emotions.”

“First we have to talk to your grandfather,” Victor said.

“Let’s go,” replied my uncle.

—-

Etalos and Kalron went their own ways within the palace complex, while the four of us headed towards Patri’s office.

I was surprised to find King Ethnar with Patri.

“Didn’t expect to see me here, did you?” My great grandfather teased.

“Uhm, no, sorry, I thought you were in back in Ashtelon,” I meekly replied.

“So, congratulations on the success of your mission,” Patri beamed with pride.

King Ethnar gave me an appraising look from the side then said, “You’ve changed.”

“What do you mean?”

“ZoHal, do you sense the shift in Chris’ powers?” My great grandfather said to Patri as he ignored my question.

Patri paused for a moment and I felt his aura touch mine as he scanned me. My grandfather’s face turned pale as he realized what I had done.

“Is that how you defeated Yonthar?” Patri asked.

“You’re certainly full of surprises young prince,” King Ethnar added.

“Just like that and you know?” Victor piped in from the side.

King Ethnar gave out a light chuckle then replied, “Us elves are more familiar with demon magic than the other races. It doesn’t mean that it’s something that’s easy to spot, being old and platinum level certainly helps.”

“I assume that the VHC and WCC aren’t aware of what you’ve done?” Patri asked.

“There will be a conference in a few hours, we decided to discuss this with you before we talked to them,” I replied.

“So, that was you that triggered the palace alarms?” Patri asked.

“I think so.”

“Most definitely, it’s him. I could sense Yonthar in him. It’s been centuries since I fought that demon, but I will never forget his presence,” King Ethnar said.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked.

“It isn’t, far from it actually but you’re leaking way more energy than you usually do, and some of the energy that’s leaking from you doesn’t have your energy signature,” King Ethnar calmly retorted.

“I think, I should be scanned by Zenfar and Sarad again,” I replied.

“That’s the wisest thing to do right now. We need to know what we’re dealing with,” Patri said.

“But before we do that, I have to ask, how?” King Ethnar asked me.

“Huh?”

“I’ve faced Yonthar before and defeating him is no easy task, I barely escaped with my life, and you, well, you look like you just went to the spa.” My great grandfather laughed in slight disbelief.

“Remember the chains form my ascension?”

“Yes, who wouldn’t?”

“Well, for a moment I kind of broke loose from them, or to be more exact, I think it’s the other way around, it was as if I wasn’t myself in the last moments of my battle with Yonthar. I felt this power course through me like never before, and it was as if I wasn’t myself, like I was an observer to what my body was doing.”

Everyone in the room had worried expressions on their faces as they heard my reply.

“Is this the first time this has happened?” Prince Rehanmir asked.

“I think so,” I replied.

“You think so?” Patri asked.

“Well, up until recently I think I’ve been pretty much in control of my body and behavior, except for the parts where I felt restrained.”

“Restrained?” Patri asked.

“Remember those times I sparred with other elves, and with King Ethnar as well?”

“I definitely remember,” King Ethnar piped in before Patri was able to answer me.

“Well, ever since the Ascension those chains, well, I’ve felt them restraining my powers, like I was functioning at a fraction of what I could do. Remember how we thought they stopped my power surges?”

“Yes, you haven’t had any Kumhaktas have you?” Patri replied.

“When I battled Yonthar, I felt I was having one but in a controlled manner, I just felt unstoppable.”

“With that power you could have easily defeated him. So why did you have to absorb him?” Yal asked from behind Victor.

“Yonthar revealed something to me, if I were to kill him, his essence would return to the energy flow of the demons and will just strengthen the other demon generals.”

“That could be a trap for all we know, he could have lied and used it to his advantage,” Patri said as he exchanged looks with his father.

“We have to look further into this, but I doubt we’ll find anything of help. Chris, I think you should visit the tower again.” Patri ordered.

I nodded in agreement and we walked in silence towards the palace’s testing center. I felt Victor’s mind brush up against mine and I opened my shields for him.

“Hey, can you hear me?” Victor asked, as he directly spoke into my mind. Although we’re both able to read minds, we haven’t really explored trying to talk to each other before. We’ve both, mainly used our mind reading abilities to read thoughts and extract information from enemies.

“Yes, I can” I replied into his head.

“This is weird,” he said with a hint of amusement.

“It is, but I kind of like it.”

“Don’t worry about what’s happening, I’m sure we’ll come out stronger after this.” His voice was reassuring, and I felt Victor’s love with every word he said.

“I sure hope so,” I replied.

“Hey, believe me. We got this.”

—-

Victor’s POV

The High Mage Zenfar, was already waiting for us when we arrived in the laboratory. To be honest, I didn’t like them taking such precautions when it came to Chris, but I guess it can’t be helped.

Chris was already powerful to begin with, and when his ascension came, he just became stronger, and now having Yonthar’s power inside him, who knows how powerful he has become.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Zenfar said to me as we waited for Sarad, the Master Healer to arrive.

“What do you think the results will be?” I asked.

“I don’t know. When it comes to Chris, I’ve realized it’s better to come in with no expectations at all, because he’s bound to throw us a curve ball one way or another,” Zenfar said, as he took a deep breath. Clearly the High Mage was anxious, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

“So, no other assistants to join us?” I asked, as I looked at the nearly empty space.

“It’s just us, can’t risk gossip about Chris’ powers leaking prematurely to the media”

“Fair enough, but I wonder how long you can hide such things from the public,” I pensively replied.

“I believe it’s something the PR team is working on. There’s a lot to consider given Chris’ stature, and the circumstances we’re dealing with.”

“You mean, how he’s clearly more powerful than everyone in the royal family?” I whispered to him.

Zenfar paused and gave me a subtle nod of agreement. “Exactly,” he muttered.

Sarad joined us a few minutes later. “I’m sorry, I’m late,” he said.

“It’s alright, I know we called for you and Zenfar on such short notice,” King ZoHal replied.

“So, another test for the young prince?” Sarad asked, oblivious to what Chris was hiding behind his calm facade.

Chris went inside the glass tube of the scanner, Sarad and Zenfar started booting up the machine.

“We upgraded this machine a few days ago, it’s power capacity is higher and it has an improved capability in reading energy signatures,” Zenfar explained.

A light buzzing sound could be heard as the machine did its job. The look on Sarad and Zenfar’s faces as the data streamed in was unreadable. It was clear that both men did their best to keep their thoughts and emotions to themselves at least until they had the full results.

After a few minutes, the machine powered down and Chris slowly exited the glass encasing.

“So, what does it say?” King ZoHal asked.

Sarad took a deep breath and exchanged looks with Zenfar. The High Mage gave Sarad a small nod, then Sarad gave us a highly concerned expression.

“What is it?” Yal demanded.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Sarad replied.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Not in the normal sense, Chris is healthy,” Zenfar replied.

“What do you mean by that?” Chris asked.

“Well, your current power level, as expected has improved, its grown by 18% since your last measurement,” Sarad replied.

“Okay, 18%, that’s good right?” Chris asked, with a hint of expectation in his voice.

“Chris, 18% of your previous baseline is already equivalent to that of a strong Platinum, basically you’ve gained the power equal to that of another platinum,” Sarad stated, as he flicked through the tablet he had.

“And that’s not all,” Zenfar chimed in.

“What else?” King Ethnar asked.

“His upper limit, well, the machine can’t seem to measure it. We all know that he has a very high upper limit but can’t reach it due to the magical chains restraining his power, but something is interfering with the readings,” Zenfar replied.

“What is that supposed to mean?” King ZoHal asked.

“Does this mean he has unlimited power?” Prince Rehanmir added.

“Not exactly, it just means the machine does not recognize Chris’ energy signature to that of any race.”

“It seems Chris’ energy signature is interfering with the machine, we’ll have to make adjustments to it for a more accurate reading,” Sarad said as he continued to flick through the vast amount of data they’ve acquired.

“Can you calibrate the machine to include demon energy?” Chris asked.

“Why?” Sarad curiously asked.

“We don’t even know where to get demon energy samples to use as baseline,” Zenfar added.

“If I can provide a sample, will you be able to do it?” Chris pushed on.

“I think we can,” Sarad replied.

“Where do I put the demon energy sample?” Chris asked.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked my boyfriend.

“We have to find out, we’re totally in the dark here, maybe we’ll even find out more stuff about the demons because of this,” he replied.

Sarad pulled out a glass orb and handed it to Chris. “The machine has orbs like this to serve as samples for the energy signatures of the other races, we have a sample for all races, except for the demon race.”

“Okay,” Chris replied.

All of us looked at Chris and anticipated his next move. Chris closed his eyes for a few seconds and then the moment he opened his eyes, we all saw it glow bright purple.

I felt a malevolent sensation waft through the air as Chris pumped bits of demon energy into the orb.

“There, I believe that’s enough,” Chris said to Sarad as he handed the awestruck elf the orb.

“Uhm, ah, okay, thanks,” Sarad stammered as he warily held onto the orb and then carefully inserted it into the machine.

Chris then re-entered the glass capsule, data streamed into Sarad and Zenfar’s screens as soon as the scanner was turned on, this time their previously tight lipped expressions gave way, to that of sheer amazement and surprise.

I looked around the room, and could see King ZoHal and King Ethnar warily eye the High Mage and Master Healer.

“So, are the readings better now?” King Ethnar asked.

“Absolutely,” Sarad replied.

“What can you say?”

“It’s different, but one thing is for sure, Chris has changed, and there’s more data we need to sift through, this has never happened before, these readings are so different, multiple energy signatures popping in and out of the scans,” Zenfar replied.

“What has Chris gotten himself into this time?” King ZoHal mused.

“He was just starting to control his previous powers, now he has to reel this in as well, and he hasn’t even learned Air and Earth magic yet,” King Ethnar added as he rubbed his forehead as if trying to think of a plan on how to move forward.

“I guess we should move forward with introducing him to the public, ease into the people’s mind that Chris is special,” King ZoHal mused.

“Yes, we can’t just throw all of this at the public at once,” Prince Rehanmir added.

“My ministry will start looking into public image and perception about Prince Christopher, so the PR team will know how to proceed,” Yal added.

Chris was still inside the tube, as the elders discussed his future place in the realm. My boyfriend was oblivious to it, but he’s in for one hell of a ride and I will be with him every step of the way.