Into the fields of Summer - 116. Demon Slayer

Chapter 115 – Demon Slayer

The “ceremony” that Victor and I went through has put both our minds and hearts at ease. Victor and I enjoyed the rest of the early elvish morning together atop the hill. We cuddled, kissed, and talked as if everything was the same, though deep down we both knew something significant has happened between us. I absolutely enjoyed my morning picnic with my boyfriend.

Deep in our own thoughts, both thinking over what has transpired, we walked in silence back to the car. The air all throughout the capital remained awash with energy despite the songs having ended almost an hour ago. I am sure every citizen in the capital must feel the slight buzz in the air as the lingering marks of my magic slowly dissipated. The drive back to the palace was quick, looking out the car windows, I see that the city has started to awaken, the people seemed more energetic and joyful than usual, some had curious looks on their faces while others had a content expression, it appears that the song of soul has had an effect on the overall mood of the people.

Back in the palace, Victor and I joined Patri, Matra, and Uncle Rehanmir for breakfast. Patri had an amused expression on his face as we joined the family, “So, that display of magic was undoubtedly yours?” Patri said smiling at me.

“Oh, uhm yeah,” I shyly replied.

“Dear, that was the best way to wake up, at first I was confused with the surge of energy, but I let myself bask in its glory, and all I can say is that it put my mind and heart at ease,” Matra added.

“What was that all about?” Uncle Rehanmir asked.

Victor and I exchanged glances, then I replied, “I kind of composed a new song, you know, like the ones from the Book of Songs, and I dedicated it to Victor, and uhm,” I replied while slightly nervously shifting on my seat, then continued, “I kind of tied our souls together,” I said, now blushing, exchanging furtive glances with my boyfriend.

“Oh,” Patri replied. He then took a moment for himself, then looked at Matra then my uncle. They all looked at each other, then warm smiles were directed towards me and Victor.

“Oh my, my dear boy, I am happy for the both of you!” Matra enthusiastically said as she stood and went over to me and my boyfriend to give us a reassuring hug.

“Kalsa, dear, you’re smothering the boys,” Patri cackled as Matra continued to tightly hug me and Victor.

“This is certainly great news, I don’t know what else you did Chris, but I feel something different in the air, it appears that there’s more magic going around, my instincts are telling me that the barrier has even strengthened,” Patri added.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes, whatever you did, was not only good for you and Victor but for the realm as well, such a powerful yet gentle release of energy inside the realm is bound to strengthen it. The realm is a pocket dimension of its own and it appears you’ve added to its pool of energy,” Patri replied.

“Hmm… I did not take that into consideration,” I said as I thought on what other effects my magic will have in the realm.

“What can I say, Chris is a special man,” Victor said as he pulled me in a sideways hug.

“That he is,” Patri agreed.

We spent the next half hour with my family then it was back to Greensburg. It was half past 9 when Victor and I got home, the house was already quiet, with the 12 hour difference, it was already 9:30pm in Virginia.

“What a day huh?” I said to Victor.

“Yeah, what a day indeed,” Victor mused as he had this faraway look.

“What are you thinking of?” I asked.

Victor smiled at me, the pulled me in for a hug, “Just that I am the luckiest vampire in the world. Chris, I have been in this world for more than 260 years and I honestly never thought I would be this happy but you changed all that. I know we have only known each other for less than half a year but now I couldn’t imagine my life without you.”

I got misty eyed hearing Victor’s words and all I could do was pull in tighter into his hug. We both peacefully slept in each other’s arms that night.

--

I woke to Victor gently caressing of my face, “Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning,” I smiled.

“Anything planned for the day?”

“I have some sort of spar with Gramps and Patri in a few hours. Wanna come?”

“Oh my…” Victor startled for a moment. “I wouldn’t miss the chance to see you spar with those two, this is such a rare treat.”

“Come on Victor, you’ve seen elves fight before, you’ve seen me fight with Patri before as well.”

“But Chris, this is the first time you’re taking on the both of them at once.”

“You’re right. Maybe I should invite the others to watch too. You can invite Henry to come as well, that if he’s available,” I replied.

“That would be good.”

“How was last night you love birds?” Etalos teased us as we joined the rest of the household for breakfast. Victor and I only blushed in return.

“It was amazing,” Victor replied.

“Of course it was, it was all over elvish news,” Etalos retorted with a smug expression of his own.

“Huh?” I asked.

“Whatever magic you did affected everyone in the capital and the nearby towns and villages,” Etalos added.

“Did anyone get hurt?” I asked slightly getting worried and also slowly losing appetite.

Etalos grinned, then replied, “Contrary to that, everyone felt better than ever, it lightened everyone’s mood and might even have sped up the healing of those in the healing centers in the capital.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Yes, the sensors in the realm recorded a spike in magic, though instead of an explosion, it was more of a gentle tide of new power filling the realm,” Kalron added.

“Must have been very powerful,” dad spoke out loud to himself.

Hearing dad speak, brought my attention to him. I gave my dad a teasing look then asked, “So, you were gone the entire day, what’s that about? Anything to confess?” Dad started to turn pink but repeatedly deflected my attempts to pry more information from him. I decided to let him be for the time being.

“Anyway, I have a sparring session with Gramps and Patri in an hour, you’re all free to come and watch,” I said.

“Oh boy, I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Nomir said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

“I’d be glad to be a spectator, goodness, King Ethnar, King ZoHal and Prince Christopher trading magical blows is a once in a lifetime event,” Etalos added.

“It’s not that big of a deal guys,” I said.

Everyone looked at me like I was crazy then they all laughed. I guess they found me funny.

--

We were now in a large training arena in the palace complex. The sparring stage that was made of solid rock, circular in shape, 5 feet thick and 600 feet in diameter. In the stands about 50 feet from the edge of the arena stood our spectators. Those watching were Victor, Henry, everyone from my household, the royal family, the High Mage Zenfar, Master Healer Sarad, and Yal.

I was wearing a tight black combat uniform while Gramps wore something similar in white while Patri wore his in red. The tight fit showing off their trim bodies, for someone being a thousand and 500 years old, both of them are clearly in shape. Gramps had his black trident with him while Patri was wearing a circlet made of red and gold metal. Damn, that circlet must be his vessel. Seems like both guys will be fighting at max power and speed, ready to fully unleash their second ascended power at me.

I smiled at Patri then said, “Glad to see your vessel Patri.”

“It’s about time I showed you what else I got to offer,” Patri smiled back.

The arena was then surrounded by a faint energy bubble as the High Mage turned on the protective barrier around us as a precaution to prevent our spells from reaching them, or worse, the city outside the palace complex. Though I doubt the barrier will hold for long from any of our Magnus Spells.

With a blow of a horn our fight began. Gramps and Patri moved so fast I almost lost track of them. They both went towards opposite directions to divide my attention. King Ethnar was now in front of me while Patri took his place behind me, both of them around 60 feet from me. Without any warning they both released powerful spells towards me, gramps launched an earth dragon while Patri released a powerful beam of fire. I clapped my hands together and generated a powerful bubble around me. I saw King Ethnar’s trident glow from the distance and felt him pump more energy into the large dragon made of rocks. From behind me I felt Patri do the same as he fed his fire attack with more energy. There was a loud explosion as both their attacks made contact with my shield. The dragon started to wrap itself around my bubble while Patri’s flames appeared to spread all over the surface of my protective barrier.

My shields held but both attacks continued to pounce outside my bubble of energy. Then I noticed something weird, both Patri’s and Gramps’ attacks as separate spells are supposed to be in conflict with each other due to the difference in their energy signatures but instead of that it appears that their attacks with working in concert with one another to weaken my protective bubble. King Ethnar’s earth dragon appeared to be absorbing Patri’s flames and it started to glow in the edges. “Fuck,” I muttered as I realized my shields won’t hold for long. I had to think of something and quick!

My shields started to buckle under pressure and the moment the bubble broke, I threw an energy ball made of 18 spells towards the dragon. I followed it with a powerful water spell to disperse Patri’s flames. The dragon was not fast enough to escape my attack while Patri’s flames were not strong enough against my water attack. I put my attention towards the older elves and threw multiple water and ice balls against Patri while I sent 5 fire discs towards gramps. Patri dodged my attacks while gramps defended himself by generating a wall of earth in front of him.

Patri was smiling at me then I saw his circlet faintly glow and I realized he was gathering more energy from his vessel. His eyes glowed red for a split second then without missing a beat he sent large waves of flames towards me. I made an earth wall to protect myself but gramps moved from behind me and gave me a powerful punch and kick. That moment of distraction was enough for my earth wall to crumble and I found myself on the receiving end of Patri’s attack. Good thing I was fast enough to cast a protective ice cocoon around myself as protection against the blazing heat of Patri’s attack.

“Don’t lose track of the other,” Gramps said to me.

“Yeah, I know,” I huffed.

Gramps spun his trident around, dredging large chunks of rock off the arena while Patri was creating fire tornadoes of his own. To my surprise gramps directed his rocks towards Patri’s tornadoes and to much added frustration at my end, I realized they have combined their spells, now there were multiple fire tornadoes with glowing boulders inside of them moving towards me. I sent an energy beam to one of the tornadoes but Gramps intercepted my attack and protected the flaming whirlwind. I hurled large ice balls and spikes against the swirling flaming masses to no avail. I was getting more frustrated by the second. Gramps and Patri started a string of incantations and the flaming twisters grew larger as I felt the older elves add more energy to massive twisters.

Groaning in frustration I jumped high in the air and then struck the ground hard sending large wave of earth across the arena to put both men off their feet but despite being in a trance-like state, gramps was lucid enough to shift his feet and stop my attack on its tracks. Realizing that I was outmatched without any vessel, I called upon the Sword of Tarud and Ring of Eyaha. Now holding the sword of the founder of the second elvish royal house, I gathered a large amount of energy around the blade and swung it around. Every swing led to a bright blade made of pure energy flying into the air, each strike of the energy blade into the fire twisters led to powerful explosions, each moment of contact sapped energy from the combined swirling pools of fire and rock. Both Patri and Gramps tried to intercept my attacks to no avail as each swing from the Sword of Tarud was too much for their spells. Several minutes later, the combined fire and rock twisters have been reduced to not more than 12 feet tall and 5 feet across from their previous peak of 30 feet in height and 18 feet in width.

The twisters continued to dance throughout the arena in search of me but now it was way easier for me to dodge them. With Tarud’s Sword in hand I sent several energy blades towards King Ethnar and Patri and now it was their turn to struggle. In a moment of desperation, Patri clapped his hands together and created flaming wings for himself. This allowed him to fly away but I knew such a spell is hard to maintain and it must have further sapped his energy pool. Gramps on the other hand was fairing a bit better than his son but it was now clear his was struggling too.

The spar shifted from magic to more of hand to hand combat, I traded swift and powerful blows with both the older elves, with our aura reinforced hands and feet, each contact created a loud thunderous booms as our auras collided. Some punches and kicks were powerful enough that in contact the ground underneath would buckle and crack under pressure. The arena was filled with magic that I could basically taste the energy in the air. I was more than surprised with the amount of coordination both King Ethnar and Patri had, they worked in tandem like a well-oiled machine and I found it hard to properly defend myself from their perfect synchronization.

“You’re getting distracted Chris,” I heard Patri say as he landed a strong punch against me.

“Fuck,” I grumbled in response.

The fight went one for god knows how long, it was only when Uncle Rehanmir blew the horn that I knew the fight was over and it was declared a tie.

I took a moment to collect my thoughts and steady myself. I looked around the arena and saw that both the older elves were tired and panting as well.

“Seems like we wrecked the arena, huh?” Gramps huffed as he pointed the heavily damaged stage.

“That appears to be the case,” Patri added as he shook his head in a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

“How long were we at it?” I asked.

“If Rehanmir had to end it, it must have been an hour,” Patri replied.

“Damn, my body hurts,” I groaned.

“As it should, I’m bruised all over. Good thing Sarad and Zenfar are hear, they should be able to patch us a bit with some healing spells,” Gramps replied.

“I’m too old for this,” King Ethnar complained as the three of us made our way towards the healers.

--

After several recovery spells from Sarad and Zenfar, I felt good as new while my grandfather and great grandfather still felt a little bit sore, I guess being young really does have its perks. The entire entourage spent half an hour in the palace for some light snacks then it was back to Greensburg for all of us.

Back at home we were greeted by Leo who seemed lost, as my best friend he was more than free to enter the house anytime, “where have you guys been?” he asked

“We went to the palace. I sparred with Gramps and Patri,” I replied.

“And you did not invite me?!” Leo exclaimed.

“I did, but you were asleep, guess August kept you up all night huh?” I teased. Leo blushed but did not deny my accusation. “So where’s August?” I added.

“Oh, he went back to Baltimore, they’re big move is tomorrow.”

“It’s good that he’ll be close by,” I replied. Leo grinned and agreed.

“Patrick will be flying in from Atlanta this afternoon, as the new Governor of District 4, he’s expected to welcome August’s pack in the district,” Victor chimed in.

“Oh good. I haven’t seen Patrick for a while.”

“He’s been busy,” Victor replied.

“With all that has been happening, I can only imagine.” I retorted as we made our way to the kitchen. “Anyone else going the welcoming party?” I asked.

“Hmm…” Leo started as he rubbed his chin in thought, “August mentioned that several pack leaders from around the area will be there too.”

“Ah I see. I guess it’s gonna get rowdy then?”

“Hopefully not. Actually, I’m really nervous.” Leo somberly replied.

“Why?” I asked as I drew closer to my best friend.

“You know, now that August has moved to Greensburg for me, our relationship is now out there in the open for the entire werewolf community to see.”

I hugged my best friend then whispered to him, “All will be fine Leo. August loves you and that’s all that matters. His pack loves you and we all love you! If anyone has any problem with your relationship with August then they’ll have to go through me!” I pulled back from our hug then added, “I’m pretty good in a fight you know, you’re not half bad yourself,” I teased as I lightly punched his shoulder. “Seriously, don’t worry too much, just be happy. I had the same concerns when I realized how influential Victor was in the vampire community, so I understand and you can always talk to me okay?”

“Thanks, Chris.” Leo appreciatively said.

--

I spent an hour in the afternoon studying the Book of Songs. In the past few days, I have learned a lot from it but every time I read it I learn so much more, its potential is boundless and I am thrilled and afraid at the same time of the power it holds within.

After studying, I asked Etalos to join me in Kalron’s office.

“Any updates on the humans?” I asked Kalron.

“As expected the Canadians and Europeans have endorsed their participation in the alliance,” Kalron replied.

“And the Americans?” I inquired, not exactly hopeful.

“They’re working on it. Congressman Taylor has been replaced by someone more acceptable but the bureaucracy is slowing the process down,” Kalron explained, the frustration with the reluctance on the part of the Americans to join the alliance was not hard to miss in Kalron’s voice.

“And the other nations?” I asked Etalos.

“Reza and Konrad are in touch with their contacts in China, Japan, Australia, and Russia.”

“Hopefully our experience with them will not be as bad as with the Americans,” I huffed.

“It’s there loss if they don’t join. They’ll realize it sooner or later. For now, they might not be that interested as most of the demon threat appears to be in the United States, but there’s nothing stopping the demons from wreaking havoc elsewhere. When that happens… I’m sure the others will be keen to talk to us,” Kalron replied.

“Any updates on the military base in Arizona?” I asked.

Kalron perked up, straightened himself and replied, “Actually, yes. There’s something going on in that base.”

“What do you mean?” Etalos asked.

“The base is new that’s for sure, satellite imagery show that it didn’t exist 6 months ago. What’s even more intriguing is that the sensors and scanners Arnos installed in the base revealed that most of the base’s activity is underground.”

“Huh?” Now it was my turn to be curious.

“It’s a labyrinth underneath. Multiple layers of underground levels. It appears several missiles, planes, and drones, and training area for soldiers are embedded more than a hundred feet underground.”

“Really?” I said as I rubbed my forehead in concern.

“Yes. What worries me is that high level communications to and from the base are highly encrypted, even our systems and best spies are having a hard time decrypting them.” Kalron added.

“Kalron, should we be worried?”

“Not yet, but clearly something is up.”

“What if there are other bases like this all over the country? Other nations could have hidden facilities too.” Etalos added.

“That’s highly probable.” Kalron replied.

--

I dropped by Victor’s place late in the afternoon and the first person I saw was Patrick. “Patrick!” I shouted as I hugged Victor’s oldest progeny.

“You look well Chris,” Patrick replied as he returned my hug.

“Glad to see you.”

“Right back at yah,” Patrick said as he gave me one of his signature smiles. Damn he’s hot.

“No perving on Patrick,” Victor said as he walked in on us. I blushed while Patrick only gave a small laugh.

“I wasn’t perving on him!” I denied.

“Uh huh…” Victor said as he gave me a once over.

“So… a werewolf party tomorrow huh?” I said changing subjects.

“It’s good that August has finally moved here, it was about time.” Victor added.

“Yeah, Leo is excited and anxious about it.” I said as the three of us walked towards Victor’s study.

“I can only imagine,” Patrick mused.

Then for the next hour or so I caught up with Patrick about his experience as District 4’s newest governor. Patrick kept on complaining about how hard it was but deep inside I feel he was having fun and proud that Victor trusted him enough to take over.

--

Victor, Patrick, and Henry were not able to join us for dinner at home as they needed to discuss matters that involved the VHC. Dinner was animated especially when Etalos and Kalron started a conversation about American comedy shows. Dad and I found their antics hilarious while Nomir joined in every now and then and all in all it was fun to enjoy each other’s company. When Leo joined us for dessert things got even livelier as apparently his humor is on the same wavelength as Etalos and Kalron.

With the long day I had, I did not have the energy to visit the Tower. I immediately went to sleep when I got to my bedroom.

The following day, Victor, Patrick, Henry together with their human household members, Troy and Mark, joined us for breakfast. The entire group had a lively discussion on the latest news over our morning meal. We then all, broke into smaller groups after breakfast and took the downtime to rest for August’s welcome party.

“They should be moving in now,” Henry thought out loud.

“Can they do it in such a short time?” I asked.

Henry smiled at me then replied, “August is Clan Alpha remember? I’m sure he hired the best werewolves to move his belongings. They’ll be done by noon.”

“What time is the party again?” I asked.

“2pm.” Henry replied.

“So just a light lunch then?”

“Yeah… Werewolves are amazing cooks and definitely meat biased, they’re partial on the bloody side so… I won’t miss out on that.”

“Sigh… you and your fascination for blood,” I teased Henry. The vampire only gave me a sly smile in return.

--

August’s compound was in the outskirts of Greensburg, approximately 5 miles from my house. It was located in a heavily wooded area of town. Houses were far in between. The area was perfect for a pack of werewolves. August’s house was in a 50 acre (20 hectares) plot of land, more than enough room for his pack to roam free should they feel the need to shift and run around. The property was surrounded by a 5 feet dark brick perimeter wall. Near the middle of the property stood a 2 story Georgian mansion. It was a large house with a dark orange brick wall façade and dark gray tiled roof. There were already several cars lined in the parkway, some of which I recognized belonged to August’s pack, some however were unfamiliar, thus I can only assume them to be from werewolves from other packs that decided to pay respect to August’s transfer.

We were greeted in the portico by Arthur, one of the twins in August’s pack. “Welcome! Glad you all could make it! I’m really happy to see all of you again.” He said as he pulled me in for a brotherly hug.

“It’s been so long,” I replied.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of us now,” he grinned at me.

“Of course.”

Arthur invited us inside the warmly decorated house and found the other pack members in lively conversations with unfamiliar looking werewolves. I saw Cage not far away from us and he excused himself from the werewolf he has been talking with.

“Your highness…” He said lightly bowing at me.

“None of that Cage.” I said. Cage smiled at me and then I pulled August’s deputy in for a hug. “You’ve got quite the event going on, I hope we’re not intruding.”

“Of course you aren’t. Leo has been waiting for you, Arnold has been keeping him company but I guess he’s still feeling left out.”

“Oh. Where is he?”

“Outside by the pool.”

“I’ll go get him then.”

As I made my way to find Leo, our group dispersed and made ourselves comfortable in the festivity. It did not take long for me to find Leo in a deep conversation with Arthur’s twin, Arnold.

“Hey!” I said, as I made my presence known.

“Glad you could make it,” Arnold said as he saw me.

“We wouldn’t miss this for the world. I hope we’re not late.”

“Nah, you’re just in time.” Arnold then gave me a brief overview of the property, it had 8 bedrooms, a gym, an underground training area, and outdoor training area, a pool, a library, and a weapons area. As I was talking with Arnold, August approached us with 2 unfamiliar looking men.

“Chris, I’d like you to meet Gerard and Sergei, my other two pack members.”

Gerard was buff and heavily muscular, he had sharp features, a clean shaven head, a well-trimmed beard, piercing blue eyes and stood at 6’5. He was a large man and he had an intimidating aura. Sergei on the other hand had an athletic build, stood 6’3, a buzz cut brown hair, green eyes, and had sharp Slavic features. Both guys looked to be in their mid-thirties and had serious expressions on their faces. I remember August explaining that both men are in-charge dealing on inter-pack squabbles and with their overall demeanor, I can imagine them both being very good at their job. Which entails them to be always away thus why I haven’t had the chance to meet them so far.

“Nice to meet the both of you!” I said as I offered my hand to the both of them. Sergei shook my hand first, followed by Gerard.

“Your highness,” Gerard greeted as he accepted my hand.

“Please, Chris will do, you’re August’s family after all, and any good friend of August is a good friend of mine.”

August loudly laughed and patted both werewolves at the back, “See, no need to be so serious the both of you.” August then smirked at me, “Don’t worry about them Chris, they’re just a bit put off by your aura.”

“Aura?”

“You’re leaking way too much energy…” August replied as he waived his hand in the air as if he expected this conversation to happen.

“Really?” I asked in disbelief.

“You’re a bit dense aren’t you? Haven’t you noticed every other non-pack member of mine in this party has had their eyes on you for the past minute or so?” August said. I then looked around and expanded my senses and realized, August was right, I felt everyone’s attention on me.

“Oops…” I nervously giggled.

“See boys, that’s just Chris, he’s not doing it on purpose, and sometimes he just doesn’t know he’s leaking way too much energy. He’s not doing it to intimidate you. Don’t be nervous around him, you’ll get used to it.” August added as he patted and gave a reassuring squeeze on Sergei and Gerard’s shoulders. So maybe that’s why both werewolves seemed so tense, apparently my aura has been setting alarm bells off.

“Don’t worry, I’m harmless.” I said to Sergei and Gerard as I gave them a reassuring smile.

“Best joke of the century,” Leo giggled from the side.

“Just don’t get on his bad side, and you’ll both be fine,” August added.

“Don’t mind them, I’m nice. Glad to finally meet the both of you,” I said to both men.

“Uhm, thanks… we’re looking forward to settling here in Greensburg.” Sergei nervously replied.

“We’ll gladly help you settle down, you may drop by my place any time,” I said to them.

For the next 15 minutes or so, I exchanged idle conversation with Sergei, Gerard, Arnold, and Leo. August left us to our own devices as he socialized with the other werewolves in the party. Aside from our group of vampires, elves, and humans, there were 12 werewolves not from August’s pack in the party, 8 pack leaders, 4 of which were accompanied by their deputies.

As the party went on, things got livelier, the werewolves engaged in games, most of which were tests of strength and agility. Like weightlifting contests and obstacle races. At some point Patrick, Henry, and Nomir joined in. Later on, I was coaxed into joining a 300 meter obstacle course, I caved under pressure and joined. The course required players to crawl, climb, jump, and swing around, there were even harmless booby traps all over the course designed to impede one’s progress.

In the course, I was joined by Cage, Fred, Sergei, three other pack alphas, Nomir, and Henry. With a blow of a whistle, the race started and I got in the zone. All my focus was on the obstacle course ahead of me. I was so focused that it was only when I finished the race that my senses returned. I looked around and everyone was in shock. I finished the course in under 2 minutes. Cage who finished second, took 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

August broke the ice by saying, “I guess we should leave such contests for us mere mortals.” That statement made everyone laugh and it was back to a merriment for the rest of us.

At some point in the party, some pack leaders approached me and told me they were big fans of mine. Apparently my reputation has leaked into the werewolf community as well. If I was known as the ‘Platinum Prince’ among the elves, with the werewolves, I am known as the ‘demon slayer’. I don’t know what to make of it but that title does have a nice ring to it.

When Jeffrey and Mike, two pack leaders left. August joined me and said, “That took some guts for them to approach you.” He said.

“What do you mean?”

“Gosh, Chris, you should work on sensing the emotions of people around you, it took all their courage to approach you, it seems the chance to speak with the ‘demon slayer’ was too good of a chance for them to pass on.”

“I can’t be that intimidating,” I retorted after taking a bite from a hotdog on stick.

“You keep on telling that to yourself,” August smirked at me.

“Enough about me… How’s the move? I hope you’ll like it here.”

“Changing topics eh? Anyway… of course I’d love it here, Leo’s here after all,” August replied giving me a wink. Then he added, “It also doesn’t hurt that a VHC Councilor and the Elvish Ambassador is in town. Makes it easier for our communities to work together.”

Dad, Etalos, Kalron, and I left the party at 11pm but the following day, Victor told me it ended at around 2am or something, apparently werewolves could still get drunk if you give them enough alcohol.

--

I slept in the following day and woke up just before noon. I was in the kitchen drinking juice when Dad walked in on me. “How’s it going sport?” Dad asked.

“Just tired from yesterday dad. How about you?”

“Yeah, quite the party, those werewolves are quite the rowdy bunch eh?”

“You can say that again,” I chortled.

“With August’s pack being in town, seems like my job as the state’s liaison officer just became a bit more interesting.”

“Hah! Yeah, you’ve got an elf prince, vampire councilor and werewolf councilor to deal with now,” I teased dad.

“Good thing they’re all close friends though, and one of them is my son!” Dad snickered.

While I joined dad in cooking lunch, I felt a tingle at the back of head, some sort of itch but not quite, I let it go and focused my attention to cooking bacon and eggs.

At around 1pm, everyone in the house was awake and helping in the preparing lunch. As we were about to start eating, I started feeling faint, like a wave of uneasiness hit me and I lost my balance. Good thing I regained my strength and caught myself against the wall. Etalos and Kalron saw me, and my assistant asked, “Is everything alright Chris?”

“Yeah, just feeling under the weather,” I replied with a weaker than normal voice. “Do elves get sick?” I asked.

“Yes, but not that often,” Kalron replied.

“I must have caught a bug or something then.”

Etalos gave me an appraising look, “Something doesn’t feel right, your aura is way off.” He exchanged a nervous look with Kalron and asked Nomir to join us. “Nomir, tell me if you feel anything wrong with Chris’ aura,” Etalos said to our household bodyguard.

Nomir looked at me and when our auras touched, his eyes went wide then he said, “He’s not well, it’s not a physical illness, there’s a hint of malevolent energy in his aura, something’s not right.”

“I’ll be right back,” Etalos said as he ran off.

“Where are you going?” I asked, my vision slightly blurring as I slowly felt my strength leave my body.

“You’re sick, I’m calling for the Master Zenfar and Sarad,” Etalos quipped then disappeared.

“Come here, let me help you,” Nomir said as he and Kalron assisted me back to my room.

The moment I settled on my bed, I immediately went to sleep. However my slumber was restless filled with confusing dreams of garbled and distorted imagery. I couldn’t exactly remember the dreams I had but I am certain they weren’t good. I woke in the palace’s medical bay, Victor sitting not far away from my bed, Master Healer Sarad was going over my body with a miniature scanner of some sort.

“Good, you are awake,” Sarad said to me with a wan smile.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice was hoarse and my throat felt dry.

“We’re not yet sure,” The healer said to me.

Victor approached, gave me a worried look, kissed my forehead, “You had us worried,” he said.

“It took me and 12 other gold level healers to stabilize you,” Sarad added.

“Huh?”

“Though we’re not exactly sure what happened to you, we are at least sure you were having some sort of episode involving malevolent energy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your aura was way off when I got to you. We immediately rushed you here and our scanners showed an increase in demon taint in your aura.”

“Could this have been triggered by a demon general being active? When Azarahel started attacking Fort Smith, I had some sort of episode as well.”

“Maybe, but this one seems a bit different. It’s taking longer than usual for your scan results to be analyzed, but it should be ready in a few hours.”

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“As you said, you had a similar episode when Azarahel attacked, Kalron brought the matter up and the rest have gone into their search for the next demon general. Kalron, Prince Rehanmir, and Yal are back in Greensburg monitoring the scanners on Earth, The King is in a meeting with several senior members of Akros, The Royal Guard, and Civil Guard,” Sarad explained.

Sarad and Victor then spent another 15 minutes to explain the situation to me, after which I got tired and went back to sleep.

When I woke again, Patri, High Mage Zenfar and Yal were in the room. Patri gave me a light smile when he saw me stir and open my eyes. “How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Better”

“Good”

“Any updates?” I asked. The moment I asked that question, gloom took over Patri’s expression. “What’s the matter?” I asked again.

I straightened myself from the bed and sat upright while the rest sat in stools near me, Patri then cleared his throat and said, “Our initial suspicions were correct. Your episode has been caused by demon activity.”

“Scans of the magical field on Earth show demon energy distortion,” Yal added.

“Shit,” I replied.

Patri snorted at my choice of words then carried on, “That’s not all, and it appears the demons are active in multiple locations.”

“Huh?” I asked.

“The scans showed faint distortions in 3 areas,” Yal answered.

“So three demon generals then?” I asked as the gravity of the situation slowly hit me.

“That’s the worst case scenario, however it could also be possible that a single demon general has split his cohorts in the three concerned areas.” Patri replied.

“Where?” I asked.

“Tobruk in Libya, Ibb in Yemen, and Chennai in India.” Patri said with a serious look. His demeanor told me how critical the situation is.

“I should start with my air magic training then, I have to ascend to the fourth level as soon as possible.” I insisted.

“I agree, but you have to rest,” Patri retorted as he gave my left hand a reassuring pat followed by a squeeze.

“I can recover in the Hall of Maktar, we can save time there,” I said with an urgent tone.

“I warn against that,” Zenfar interjected.

“Why?” I asked, confused with the High Mage’s words.

“You’re at a weakened state now and your aura is still a bit off, we don’t know how time dilation will affect you,” he warned. Then he added, “You are healthy enough to return to Greensburg in a few hours but Sarad and I suggest that you rest tomorrow.”

“But…” I started to protest.

“Chris, no buts, we need you strong and healthy. Yes, the situation is urgent but we’re still in the dark with how things are in the ground anyway. We will spend the next few hours assessing the situation. There’s no point rushing blindly into a situation we know nothing about,” Patri said.

After taking a nap for an hour, Victor and Etalos escorted me back to my room in Greensburg. It was already almost midnight back on earth when I got home. Victor snuggled with me on my bed then said, “I know you’re stressed and worried, we all are, but you have to rest.”

“I can’t help it Victor, this might be worse than before,” I mumbled as I pulled him closer for a hug.

“Just sleep for now, we will have more information in the morning,” Victor said.

I was restless the entire night but at least I got a few hours’ worth of shut eye. The sun was barely up when I rose and made my way to kitchen to get breakfast. The house was eerily quiet as I prepared myself as sandwich.

“There you are,” dad said as he walked into the room. “Feeling better?” He asked with a tinge of concern in his voice.

“Yes, whatever those healers did…worked, though I have been ordered to rest for the entire day,” I replied with a hint of annoyance in my tone.

“I suggest you follow their orders, Chris, don’t overexert yourself,” Dad remarked. Of course he’d say that. Dad always looked out for me.

Kalron and Etalos were not able to join us for breakfast. Kalron was in his study, busy coordinating the elvish intelligence gathering effort. Etalos on the other hand was in the realm, making arrangements with various security officers regarding a possible elvish military response to the threat back here on earth.

Victor left the house before lunch as he had an urgent meeting with the VHC. The meeting was called for by Reza and Victor did not have a clue what the meeting was all about. All Victor said was it appeared the meeting had something to do with the demons.

--

It was already mid-afternoon when Kalron left his study and knocked on my door. I was in the middle of reading some spell books when I heard Kalron’s knock.

“Come in,” I said.

“Chris, do you have a moment?” Kalron asked.

“Of course Kalron, what is it?” Giving Kalron a discreet once over, I could see he barely had any sleep. He looked tired and paler than usual.

“It’s about the demon situation. I have some news. It’s not much but my network has gathered a bit of information.”

“Kalron, please sit.” I said, asking him to sit close to me. “What is it?” I asked the moment Kalron took his seat.

“We have verified that the distortions are indeed demonic in nature, all in three different countries, and in the past 24 hours or so, there have been several developments that might be linked to demons. As you already know, there’s a civil war going in both Libya and Yemen so bloodshed and chaos has been the norm there for several years now, initially it was hard for us to isolate events or behavior that might be out of character since there is no overt displays of demon magic involved unlike what happened in Fort Smith. However, using predictive behavior modeling and running various algorithms, my team found that an uptick in bombings and clashes in Tobruk in Libya and Ibb in Yemen yesterday can’t be traced to the movements of any previously existing militia or rebel group in the conflict, it appears new factions have instigated the rise in violence yesterday.”

“Okay, at least we’re getting somewhere. So no obvious demon bubble huh?” I asked again.

“Yes, it appears that the demons involved are trying to use the civil war to conceal their presence.”

“It’s a smart move on their part, those areas have weak governments and multiple warring sides, they could basically hide in plain sight if they wanted to.” I added then I thought for moment then asked, “How about India? Isn’t there a distortion in Chennai as well? There’s no civil war in India.”

“Hmm… that’s another curious case, Chris.” Kalron replied, he paused then continued, “Initially my team found nothing amiss in the city, then the deeper we dug, we started uncovering something suspicious.”

“What is it?”

“Several of my agents came across news reports from local media of an unknown disease spreading in the slums of Chennai. It appears to be something new and unheard of but the local government has put it under wraps, even the WHO has not yet been alerted of this new disease. Initial data shows around 150 people have already caught the disease and more than thirty have already died.”

“So are you suggesting that this disease must be connected to the demon distortion?”

“That’s a possibility, I conferred with Master Yalekin and Master Sarad, our records show that more than a thousand years ago, one of the demon generals was known to be proficient in the use of plagues as a tool of spreading darkness and chaos in the world. The resulting grief and disorder from large scale pestilence increases the negative energy in the flow.”

“We have to do something about this Kalron, have the others been notified?”

“I have already sent a memo to the VHC and the WCC. The King and his senior advisers have also been notified as well.”

“Good job Kalron. Thank you for your hard work. However, I see that you are tired, please rest, even for a moment, we need you at full strength.” I said.

Kalron gave me an appreciative smile and nodded before he excused himself to rest.

“Fuuuck…” I groaned out loud in frustration. I felt helpless doing nothing at this point. Hopefully Patri would agree that I can start my training with air magic by tomorrow.

--

Early in the evening, an emergency meeting was called between the VHC, WCC, and the Elves. The gravity of the situation further sunk in as when the screens lit, I realized for the first time ever, the Vampire High Council and Werewolf Crescent Council are in complete attendance. Uncle Rehanmir, Yal, Etalos, and Jetan joined me as part of the elvish delegation.

For the next three hours we drafted multiple courses of action for possible scenarios. We all deliberated the complexity of the situation especially since multiple nations are involved. Things are even more problematic since the civil wars in Libya and Yemen involved other countries too. Not only do we have to deal with the almost nonexistent governments in Libya and Yemen but we have to talk to the other countries that have vested interests in the civil wars, apparently the conflicts in Yemen and Libya has become a proxy war for multiple regional alliances of countries grappling for influence in the Middle East. India on the other hand poses another problem of its own, ever since the nationalist and right wing government took over, the VHC and WCC’s relationship with the Indian government has been strained at best.

In the meantime it was decided that the three races will heighten security measures, increase surveillance in the concerned countries, and start a military buildup for a possible intervention. The elvish government has decided to use the portals in New York, London, and Rome to funnel troops into earth. For the meantime we opted to not yet use the portal in Guangzhou, China as the Chinese Jade Brigade is not yet privy to the existence and return of the elves, that’s an entirely different matter that we have to sort out soon.

--

I spent the rest of the night in Tower, researching on more information about the demons, however one scroll after another I ended up with passages on Soul Magic or the Tashik Method instead. So, huffing in frustration I studied the lost elvish art of soul energy manipulation rather than learning on the nature of demons and dark magic.

The following day, Patri and the Master Healer gave me the green light to start my training on Air Magic. I immediately went to the Hall of Maktar and was greeted by a middle aged lady and a younger looking male elf. The older lady is Master Anisa, the same mage that represented the element of air in my Ascension. She was joined by Pebor, her assistant.

Master Anisa, is a powerful Air Mage, having the seat of the element of Air in the Mage council. She is a small lady of 5’2 with a slim build, light brown hair, brown eyes, and Italian features. Pebor is slightly taller at 5’5, also in a slim build, dark curly hair, dark brown eyes, and had Italian facial characteristics too, it was easy for me to spot them as members of the Sokodeya tribe, people from the Southern province just like Yal.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, your highness,” Anisa said as she gave me a light bow.

I returned her bow, and replied, “The pleasure is mine.”

“I wish this training was under a different circumstance. To my understanding, this is urgent in nature, am I correct?” she asked.

“Yes, indeed. Trouble is brewing back on Earth.”

“I see. Then let us begin.”

Master Anisa despite looking like someone who is in her early forties is actually 322 years old, Pebor on the other hand who looked like someone not more than 27 or 28 years old is actually 135. The Master is a Platinum Level Air Mage while Pebor has recently reached gold. In order to accommodate Pebor’s lower tolerance for time dilation we decided on a 1:5 ratio. I was to spend 2 days in the chamber thus 10 days in training.

The first 3 days in the Hall of Maktar were spent learning Air magic theories. It is slightly similar to Water magic but quite different as well. The key difference however was the mass of Air and how temperature changes made air magic spells more volatile and unpredictable.

On my fourth day, I was able to finally cast a low level air spell and generated light gust of wind on my own. I was ecstatic with my progress but I also knew I had to learn so much more and do better in the coming days. On the fifth day, I was happy to generate stronger gusts of wind, and even simultaneously hold small air balls in my hand for more than 5 minutes at any given time. What was frustrating though was the moment I threw the ball across the room, it almost dissipated immediately. The 6^th and 7^th days were spent strengthening the form and resilience of my air spells, making sure my air balls and wind blades lasted for more than several seconds at any given time. The 8^th day was spent on the magical theories of advanced air magic.

Everything felt rushed but I had no choice, I had to master or at least be proficient in air magic as soon as possible. However, what bothered me at the back of my head was that I didn’t know what level of magical proficiency I needed to have to unlock the next level of ascension. I needed to master all four elements to unlock the next key but how good should I be?

On the 9^th day, I started to learn more advanced spells, Anisa and Pebor were very patient with me and even showed surprise with my progress. At one point, Master Anisa mentioned how I was learning faster than expected. On my 9^thday, she noted that I was already as proficient in air magic as a low level silver air mage. She sounded proud when she said that but it was not enough for me. I needed to be stronger. That evening, I drew strength from the Ring of Eyaha and tapped energy from the Chains of Haldruin, I practiced all night, went over the scrolls and books as Anisa and Pebor slept in the resting quarters of the Hall of Maktar.

On the tenth day, the morning was spent learning more advanced spells. Much to both Anisa and Pebor’s surprise my skills improved substantially overnight. In the afternoon, and as my last lesson, I had to best Pebor in a spar. I was restricted only to air magic, no energy spells, no other elements, and no vessels, to even the playing field. I would have to admit that it was a struggle to attack Pebor and dodge his attacks, I found my skills lacking but in the end, I bested him and got him to surrender after more than 45 minutes of fighting.

“Marvelous!” Anisa exclaimed as I bested her apprentice, “Chris, you’ve certainly exceeded our expectations. You truly live up to your reputation.” She beamed.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I said as I scratched the back of my head in humility.

“Well… this is all we can teach you for the time being.” She said as she hugged me. Over the last 10 days in the Hall, I got close to both Master Anisa and Pebor. At one point I promised to visit their school in the Southern province and engage the other students of Air Magic under her tutelage.

--

Leaving the Hall of Maktar, I felt invigorated but I still did not feel any sort of ‘click’ that might have signified my passing into the 4^th level of ascension.

“So how was it?” Patri asked as I entered his study.

“Good… but I don’t feel any different. I’m not even sure if I unlocked the 4^th key.”

Patri gave me a once over then smirked, “All in good time, patience by boy. What is important now is that you’ve learned what you can and is now at least reasonably proficient in the ways of the wind.”

“It’s been two days Patri… any updates on the demons?”

Patri’s overall demeanor became serious then beckoned me to sit with him. He took a deep breath then started, “It hasn’t been good, things deteriorated so quickly.”

“Huh?!” I asked in surprise. I took a deep breath of my own then asked “What do you mean?”

“The skirmishes in Tobruk in Libya drew the attention of several countries, it forced Turkey and Egypt to send opposing ground forces in the area. Both countries are on the verge of open conflict. The situation worsened in Ibb in Yemen as well, the Saudis sent more than 10,000 troops over the border several hours ago to stabilize the situation. The Iranians are unhappy with Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen and they are now threatening war with Saudi Arabia.”

“What the…” I huffed in disbelief.

“That’s not all…”

“How could it get any worse?” I asked.

“Early this morning, the WHO announced the discovery of a new disease originating in Chennai, India. The WHO has uncovered a massive cover-up by the Indian Government and what even makes it even worse is that the virus has spread internationally, 4 hours ago, Dubai confirmed its first case of the virus. People are calling it the Blood Pox.”

“The Blood Pox?” I asked curious of the virus’ name.

“It causes high fever and flu like symptoms in the first few days of the disease, then after a week the person would appear to have recovered but two days later blisters and lesions would start forming all over the body, a day after the blisters appear, the victim starts vomiting blood, and bleeding out from the blisters, It has a 30% mortality rate, most die from severe blood loss. It’s highly contagious too, the cover-up in India is even worse than what we initially thought. 5,000 people from across Chennai and its surrounding towns and villages have already caught the disease, more than 1,500 people have already died.”

“Why didn’t you pull me out of the Hall of Maktar?” I asked in frustration, I did not like how things went while I was out.

“Your training takes precedence Chris. I know the news is upsetting but at this point we are not really in the position to intervene anyway. We haven’t located the demon general or generals for that matter. All we know is dark magic is being used to aggravate the situation but there have been no sightings of demons and even anamis. Whoever is behind this is one sneaky general.” Patri calmly said.

“Any major decision or movement from the alliance?” I asked.

“The alliance has gathered a strike force of 5,000 in New York, 3,000 in London, and 3,000 in Rome. Talks with the Canadians and Europeans have progressed as well, I am sure Etalos will further brief you once you return to Greensburg.” Patri then gave out an amused huff and added “That Chief of Staff of yours is one feisty and skilled elf, he basically stared down a member of the European delegation when one of them tried to stall further progress of the talks. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, he’s like his boss after all.” Patri smirked at me.

--

I returned to Greensburg in haste and was greeted by Etalos and Nomir as I got out of the portal room.

“Chris!” they exclaimed at the same time. Etalos hugged me with urgency, the tension clear with the way he hugged me.

I returned his hug and said “I talked with Patri, I guess I missed out on a lot of stuff huh?”

“It’s been bad, Chris… but now at least you are back.” He smiled at me as he pulled away from our hug.

“So care to get me up to speed?” I asked.

Etalos smiled at me then proudly replied, “I have prepared a dossier for your reference. Don’t worry, I have highlighted the key points.”

“You’re the best, Etalos!”

“Come on now mister, you have 400 pages to read and the next alliance meeting is in 3 hours!” Etalos said as he pulled me towards my study.

--

The alliance meeting lasted for more than 5 hours, the mood in the meeting clearly had an edge to it, everyone seemed to be in anxious state as the situation across the three countries have deteriorated rapidly in the last 48 hours.

One piece of good news though was that the Canadian Prime Minister and European Union Commission are both expected to approve their entry to the alliance within the next 36 hours. American participation, however is still under review by the bicameral congressional committee on non-human relations.

It was already 2am when the meeting ended, I found myself in deep thought, alone in the backyard. I had a lot of things to ponder on, so much has happened while I was gone and my thoughts were racing in lightning speed. Patri was right, it is too early for us to intervene, and there is so much we don’t know about the enemy. Rushing into a fight with the demons at this point will be suicidal.

While I was mulling things over, I felt a heavy shift in the air, no, not just the air but the flow itself. Then I felt a powerful presence join me. I looked straight ahead and saw a faint distortion in the moonlight. Then in a flash of bright light, the silhouette of a shining individual made itself known. For a brief moment images and instructions flooded my head. It was clear that this person or being was the same entity that pointed me towards the 4^th key while I was in the Planes of Ascension.

The moment I was able to collect my thoughts, I was alone again. I was sure of what happened but it happened so fast that it could have easily all occurred in a split second. Despite being slightly confused and overwhelmed by what had just transpired, I knew what I needed to do to unlock the fourth key.

I tapped into the ocean of energy deep within me and transported myself to the Planes of Ascension. I found myself in the middle of a field of purple grass. Bright sunshine warming the air around me. I centered myself, took deep breaths, and entered a trancelike state. I cast a powerful Fire based Magnus spell and formed a fire ball with it. Then encased the fire ball with a Magnus based Earth spell, followed by water, then air. I struggled casting an Air based Magnus spell but was able to pull it off. I then pumped more energy in the elemental ball of Magnus energy in front of me and fused the four Magnus spells into one. Keeping the form of the highly energetic ball was difficult but I held on and prevented the spell from destabilizing, slowly I pulled the ball of elemental energy into myself and pushed it into my chest.

I groaned as waves of power flooded my body. I felt my body’s temperature fluctuate, I also felt waves of pressure consume my form. I didn’t know how long it took but after a period of agony and deep pain, the moment I opened my eyes, I found myself flowing in the colors of the four elements, bright veins of red, blue, yellow, and green crisscrossed my body.

I examined myself, feeling something has shifted within me, I felt more powerful than ever before. To test my theory out, I flicked finger across the field and instantly a wall of flame traced the direction of my finger. I blew air from my mouth and generated a powerful whirlwind. I stomped my feet on the ground and sent a deep gash across the field. I clapped both hands together and made all the grass within a hundred feet freeze. I willed the elements to stop and released a pulse of energy from my body, and just like that whatever damage I may have caused were all instantly repaired.

I looked at my hands and saw tremendous potential with the powers I have unlocked within myself. I could only hope this is enough for what is to come.