Slayers of the Darkness: The Demon Within

[Spark]

Slayers of the Darkness: The Demon Within

By Saria Lunai (a.k.a. Spark)

The Forgotten...

A gentle breeze blew over the serene beach. The palm trees branches moved slightly, whispering many a tale to the ocean. Small waves crashed on the beach, one after another, answering the whispers of the trees. All was peaceful, a raging storm had passed only a few hours before. Debris cluttered the beach here and there. The night before had brought such terrors to the world, all in the one little storm.

A beautiful young girl stood in the sand dunes, a small furry rabbit-like creature sitting on her shoulder. Her red hair was blowing behind her in the slight wind. Silver eyes looked out from her fair face, scanning the beach, looking for something or someone. A tight, brown sleeveless shirt button up her chest and a long red skirt flowed in the wind.

“Leon! Have you found anything yet?” Her calm smooth voice called out to a her older brothe, who was catching up to her.

“Not yet, Fina. It looks like not many survived.” The lad quickly caught up to his sister and stood next to her.

His long, full sleeved shirt waved in the wind as he stood proudly straight. He wore a pair of brown fitted pants, black boots covering them a little past his ankles. Dark brown hair was being messily tosses by the breeze, his ice blue eyes glimmering in the sunlight.

“Fina! Fina! Can I have a biscuit now?” A high-pitched cry came from the furry creature.

“Not now Talon. We’re busy.” Fina started walking ahead, motioning for her brother, Leon, to do the same.

They walked along the beach, calling out to anyone who might need help. For a month now, a dark cloud had loomed over the lands. An evil had been released, causing a few people to be controlled by darkness. No one knew what had caused it. The night before had been the most devastating, taking many lives and destroying many villages. Almost as if the evil was held back until last minute. Now, the darkness was gone, and the sun shone brilliantly in the sky, a great relief to those suffering. For some reason, the evil had disappeared, left them all finally. People who had survived were rejoicing, free of the terror that had swept across the land. It was difficult to explain exactly what it was, because no one knew quite what it was. A few people had gone completely insane, their eyes turning cold and cruel and their expressions were blank. They had gone and heartlessly massacred hundreds, wherever one of them was.

“Leon, do you think it’ll ever come back?” Fina asked, worry in her eyes as she walked alongside her brother.

“I hope not. If it does, someone will find a way to defeat it, I know they will.” Her brother comforted her.

The two continued on, until Fina stopped suddenly. She squinted, trying to see better. Her keen eyes had spotted an object far down the beach.

“Leon.” She tugged on her brother sleeve.

“What? Didya spot someone?” Excitement laced Leon’s carefree and light-hearted voice.

“Over there!” The redhead began to run forward.

She soon came upon the “object,” and found she had been right. A boy, about her brother’s age, was laying face toward the sky. His feet were being washed over by the occasional wave, and sand was covering his clothing. His clothing, if it could be called clothing, was tattered and torn. The boy’s hair was a soft blue, almost of an enchanting hue.

“Leon! Look! A guy is here!” The redhead knelt down beside the unconscious boy, and put her ear to his chest.

“Wait! Fina! This is good!” Came Leon, stumbling to catch up with his quick sister.

“He’s alive! He’s still alive!” Fina exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as she sat straight up. “Pick him up and we’ll take him home.”

“Alright.” Leon scooped the boy up in his strong arms. “And off we go!”

------------

A void of blackness covered his eyes… he couldn’t see anything. Sounds were heard, distant, yet near. He tried to open his eyes, but nothing was there. Still, that nothingness fogged his vision. Slowly, the blackness grew into a gray, then a blurry but visible light could be seen. It became clearer and cleared until he knew where he was: in a small tidy little room, snuggly tucked into a bed.

“You’re awake! You’ve been in bed for three days.” Came a voice to the right side of him.

He looked over, his head starting to pound with a sudden headache.

“We found you on the beach. You were quite a mess. You’re lucky we found you when we did.” He could see who was speaking… a pretty redheaded girl.

“Who-who are you? Where am I?” The blue-haired boy sat up suddenly, fully awake now.

“I’m Fina. You’re in our house.” She smiled. “And who might you be.”

“Me? I be?” He looked confused.

“Yeah, you’re name. Where you came from. What happened?” Fina asked, leaning over the bed a little now.

“My name? I’m… I don’t know. Who am I? I don’t remember anything…” The blue-haired stranger began to panic.

“Woah… you don’t know who you are? Wow, I’ve never met someone with amnesia.” Fina got up to walk out of the room, but bumped into her brother.

“Is the-oof.” Leon bumped into his sister. “What where you’re going.”

Fina had a worried look on her face. “Yeah, the guy is awake. But he has amnesia.”

Leon raised an eyebrow, “Oh really?” and he looked toward the bedded “patient.”

“What happened? Why don’t I remember…” The blue-haired lad whispered to himself.

[Spark]

Storming the Fortress...

Clanks and clashes came from the hallways of the enemy base. It was large and very well built. Stone walls rose above a large plain, going about fifty feet or so. The fortress was more of a castle, with its towers and such. Inside, a small group of warriors were fighting the ghunien who were stationed in there. A young woman with fiery red hair and gray eyes was running down the hallways, a small furry little creature clinging to her neck. It was Fina and her pet peitu, Talon. Fina was wearing a sleeveless brown vest that tied up her buxom chest. A pair of red pants tightly fit her shapely hips and black buckle-up boots covered her pants to her knees. Her gray and white sleeveless coat hung down to her ankles, flapping behind her as she ran.

“Talon, stop squeezing! It hurts!” Fina choked as she ran past some ghunien, their needle-like fangs dripping as they tried to reach out and catch her with their long stick-like arms.

“Sorry Fina!” The furry creature replied, holding even tighter, seeing the tall and ugly creatures reaching for them.

Fina quickly turned around, her eyes filled with a passion for fight.

“Sorry guys, but it’s time you go.” She lifted her hand and a bolt of lightning flew from her hands, zapping the five ghunien that were pursuing her. “That takes care of them.” Fina confidently laughed.

“Fina, don’t get to ****y.” A gruff and loud voice came from behind.

“Hiyo Fate.” Fina grinned as she turned around to a short but well built man.

He had long black hair and black eyes. Fate came and stood next to her, only reaching an inch or two more than Fina’s height. His black cape flowed behind him as did his long black hair. The black boots he wore covered his gray pants an inch past his ankles, and he wore a dark gray, long sleeved shirt.

“Where’s Leon and Aeli?” He asked, looking down the hallway with interest.

“Leon’s probably having fun killing as many ghunien as he can. And Aeli. . .well he’s Aeli. Who knows what he’s up to.” Fina gave a chuckle and started running off down the halls.

“You’re probably right.” Fate followed her.

-----------

Leon, a very tall young man with short, dark brown hair and ice blue eyes stood in a hallway with a long, thin sword. He wore a large tan cowboy hat and a long brown trench coat. Under the coat was a dark blue button-up shirt and dark gray fitted pants. His thick brown boot made a thud as he stepped forward, slowly.

“Look what weesss hasss found.” A high-pitched yet tough voice came from behind him.

The young man turned around to see a small group of ghunien, standing there and hissing. Their large black eyes glared challengingly; their long stick-like arms and legs almost dangling. They had no nose and very long hooked ears. About seven feet tall, they were, looking down at Leon.

“Ha! You soulless scoundrels.” Leon grasped his light sword tighter and charged at the monsters.


He suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the group of enemies, leaving them in shock and scratching their brainless heads.

“Over here!” He yelled as he jumped and slashed down on one, cutting it in half, black blood and guts spilling on the ground. “Want some more?” Leon held his hand out to the others, motioning towards himself.

“I won’t bite.” A chuckle came as he stepped back, ready to run at his target again.

“AHH!!! Runsss! He’sss too fassst!” One yelled and started running.

Unfortunately, Leon started chasing after it, leaving the others in the dust. He quickly stabbed it in the side and ran back to the others, slicing through two more, leaving their heads on the ground. The last three left, shrieking in fear. Being cornered, they couldn’t run anywhere, and started hissing and showing their needle-like fangs at being threatened.

Suddenly, they started floating, in mid air. The ghunien started panicking, cursing at Leon. After one second, they all started crying out in pain, their skin becoming even more pale than it had been before. They exploded open, skin, guts, and black blood splattered everywhere. Leon tried his best to shield himself from the mess, and succeeded only in getting his arms covered in blood.

“Aeli, get your big fat butt out of the shadows and stop hiding!” Leon playfully called for his companion.

Aeli jumped from the rafters above, and landed in front of Leon. It was the blue-haired boy they had rescued from the beach so long ago. He was now a young man, tall and handsome. His intense silver eyes seemed to glare at Leon. He was muscular, though his muscles were quite compact. Aeli wore a tight gray zip-up vest and loose black pants. Black boots covered his pants halfway to his knees, and a bow and quiver full of arrows were attached to his back on a strap.

“Well well… I take it you wanted to steal my kills?” The young “cowboy” gave a playful punch to his friend.

“No…” Aeli responded, his voice had a deep and melancholy sound.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. I still think you were stealing my kills.” Leon looked forward. “We’re almost done with this mission. All we hafta do is find the stolen bounty and slay the head ghunien-in-charge.”

“All we have to do?” Aeli raised his eyebrow.

“Yup, all we hafta do. We’ve done lotsa harder stuff before. You know that!” Leon looked back.

“You’re right, but we’ve done missions that were much easier, also.” Aeli folded his arms across his chest, his silver eyes seemed to bore through Leon’s skin.

“You’re such a stiff! Lighten up will you!” Leon laughed and started walking around the corner.

Whack!

Fina had run into Leon, and both were on the floor.

“Ow! Fina watch where you’re going you idiot!” Leon looked around for his hat, which had fallen off in the collision.

“Stupid retard, you should watch where YOU’RE going.” Fina muttered under her breath, Fate appearing from behind and helping her up.

Fina got to her feet, and Talon quickly jumped back onto Fina’s shoulders.

“It’s quiet…” Fate said, noticing the sudden wave of silence. “Too quiet.”

The foursome looked at eachother, then down the hallway, which they hadn’t been yet. Fate fingered the handle of his broadsword, which was still in its holder, strapped to his back. Then, he began cautiously walking down the long, narrow hallway. Fina and Leon followed, Aeli taking up the rear. After a few minutes of walking down the doorless halls, they came upon a large room with a small door at the end. Fate stopped.

“Get down… NOW!” He pulled his sword from it’s sheath and ran forward, slashing down as he did.

A large flying beast appeared out of thin air, it’s right leg now damaged from the critical blow.

“An intani!” Fina gasped.

She was quite shocked, she had never seen the creature rumored to have the powers of invisibility. The intani’s large scaled wings created a huge wind, nearly knocking the woman off her feet. It’s long green body and pointy head were aimed towards Fate now. Aeli took his bow off his back, grabbed an arrow, and shot at the intani’s large red eyes.

Shhoooom!

[Spark]

The arrow whizzed past Leon’s ears and hit the large flying creature in the right eye. It cried out in immense pain and started to spit out dark violet beams.

“Fate!” Fina quickly put a temporary energy shield on Fate, the beam hit it and the shield flickered out as the beam vanished.

The intani rose to the ceilings, about twenty feet above the floor, and prepared to dive at Fina. It flicked it’s long whip-like tail with a challenge.

“Come and get me, if you can.” She grinned, looking toward Fate and then the other side of the room.

Fate nodded in response, getting her plan of action. He crouched, getting ready for a jump. The intani dove at Fina, giving a shrill cry as it sped at her with extreme speed. Fina dove under the beast, aiming for the door at the other side. The intani ran into the wall, confused at what had just happened. Fate leaped onto the winged creature and stabbed it into its neck as Aeli shot another arrow into it’s other eye. It’s breathing became hard, and went limp almost two seconds later.

“Fina, I don’t know how you think of such things on the spot.” Fate pulled his sword out of the winged reptiles thick neck.

“I know… I’m just perfect. Aren’t I?” Fina grinned, getting to her feet.

“Fate! Don’t encourage her conceit!” Leon gave Fate a glare.

Fate and Leon laughed and Aeli shook his head, slightly smiling.

“What? You just hate me ‘cause I’m perfect.” The redhead gave her brother a childish look.

“Sure… whatever.” Leon put his sword back in it’s hilt. “How come I didn’t get any action? Again, my kill was stolen before my very eyes.” He shook his fists at the three participants in battle.

“You weren’t fast enough.” Fate said, putting his now bloody sword into it’s holder and walking towards the other door.

“Whatever. Next time it’s MY kill, y’all hear?” The brunette gave his companions a bitter glare.

“I think we have more than one big-headed idiot here!” Talon’s joyous high-pitched voice sang from Fina’s shoulders.

“What’s that you retarded little fluff-ball?” Leon yelled at Fina’s “pet.”

“Nothing!” It innocently stated, giggling.

“Hey Talon, what didya mean by ‘more than one?’” Fina gave Talon a look of authority.

“Umm…” Talon’s blue eyes got big and sparkled with a hint of tears. “I’m sorry!”

“Oh hush you fluff-ball. Save it for someone who’ll believe you.” Fate waved it off as he opened the steel door. “Hey! Come on you guys… lemme go first and I’ll call to you if it’s safe, alright?”

Aeli nodded in agreement, his bow strapped to his back again. Fate disappeared in the darkness of the next hallway. It was very black, it was a good thing Fate had night-vision and could see extremely well in the dark.

“Alright. Come on in.” His voice echoed off the walls and back into the chamber in which the other three were waiting patiently.

Fina went first, taking the staff, which had been tied to her back, off and holding it in front of herself.

“Aidu.” She spoke with force and the ball at the end of the staff lit up with a bluish light.

She walked down the hallways, Leon behind her, and Aeli in the back, again. They walked for a moment, then found Fate standing in the middle of the narrow passage. He stood there, listening to something very carefully.

“Do you hear that Aeli?” He asked the blue-haired young man.

“I’ve heard it since the first hallways.” Aeli responded with a serene tone.

Fate sighed shortly and listened harder. The noise was a sort of clanking noise, like chains against a wall, then cries of agony.

“An rock titan.” Aeli whispered under his breath.

The noise had confirmed one of the slayer’s worst fears. Rock titan’s were stone hard, their red eyes seeming to read every move their opponents made.

“THEY HAVE A ROCK TITAN HERE?!?!” Fina started panicking. “I mean… we can’t…I mean…um… this’ll be hard.” He nervously started twisting her hair.

“Maybe we can abandon our mission?” Leon asked hopefully.

“No. I’m your leader and I saw no. We must finish this mission if this realm is to be safe!” Fate’s black eyes gave Leon a cold stare. “You’re a slayer, why the heck would you say something like that?”

“Last minute doubts?” Aeli calmly stated, walking past them all with a bravery the others only awed at.

Aeli wasn’t a very confident guy. He lacked self-esteem and was always in his own little world, thinking. Always thinking. He barely ever spoke and always seemed to have a sort of sorrowful look in his silver eyes. It seemed like the world wasn’t his place. He never really looked anyone in the eyes when speaking, and didn’t talk openly about anything. They all thought he was a strange fellow, but the group were friends, nonetheless.

“Aeli?” Fina gave a surprised yet quiet question.

He looked at her a moment, then kept going, his figure fading as he walked into the shadows of the unlit halls.

[Spark]

The Beginning of the Fateful Fear

Aeli walked almost silently down the hallways, listening to the chains clanking as the noise drew nearer, and nearer. Fate and the siblings had followed closely, wondering what their companion had going on in his mind. Their footsteps pattered behind him, Leon’s thick boots making the most noise. As Aeli got c*****, he began to worry, and Fina got one of her feelings. She started to bite her lips with anxiety.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting’ one of those feelings.” Leon whispered, slightly nudging his sister. “Cuz if you are, then we’re in trouble.”

Everytime the redhead had her feeling, it meant something unexpected was coming. Although none of the party had every seen or heard a rock titan before, they still feel like something was coming that hadn’t seen. Slowly the company made their way down the hall, the blue haired man in the lead. Finally Aeli came upon a thick wall. He stopped so abruptly that Fina bumped into him.

“Dang it Aeli, you gotta warn us when you stop in tight quarters like these.” She hissed at him, annoyance and anxiety showing.

“Sorry Fina.” Aeli replied, putting his hand against the wall.

He felt around it for a moment, the sounds coming from right behind the wall. Fina was still biting her lip and Leon was getting nervous. Fate just stood there, awaiting the next trial. However, a secret nervousness was growing inside of the short ebony-haired leader.

“Aeli, what the heck are you doing?” Leon gave a hoarse whisper, coming up right next to his friend.

“I think there’s a crack here somewhere. If there is then I can use that weakness to my advantage.” Aeli replied.

A moment later, he crouched down. Running his hand over that portion of the wall, he found a small crack. He ran his fingers over the length of the crack, then stood up.

“What Aeli, didya find something?” Fina asked excitedly, Talon climbed down in the darkness and hid behind Fate’s long black cape.

“Eep! I don’t want to see a titan!” Talon squeaked in fear.

“Don’t worry Talon, you can stay here and we’ll fight the titan.” Fate gave reassurance to the little creature.

They all felt Aeli glaring at them. “Stand back.” He instructed, turning back around facing the wall.

The company backed up, save Aeli, giving him about six feet of space. He closed his eyes for a moment and drew a deep breath. After an instant of silence, the wall started trembling, shaking with force. Leon drew his sword as did Fate, and Fina jumped back even farther. Finally, the wall exploded, rock and dirt debris showered over the group. A bright ray shone upon them, almost blinding them with the sudden light.

“What…” Fina peeked out the huge whole with no fear.

She became a ghostly white and started shaking with fear.

“F-Fina? You alright?” Leon asked her very worriedly as his sister turned around, slowly.

“There… there’s a really weird thing… in…there.” She managed the hoarsely whisper.

Fate walked up next to her and looked into the room. It was rather large. The walls were of pure dark gray stone and the room was in a circular shape. There was no roof to the chamber and the sun shone in brilliantly. However, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Fina.” Fate shook his head. “There’s nothing in here.” He looked back into the dark hallway at the others.

A rock had the size of a boulder reached in behind Fate and attempted to grab the short man.

“Aaaaaah!” Fina screamed. “It’s the thing!!!!”

Fate jumped aside quickly and grabbed his sword from it’ll holder, yet again. Leon ran out into the middle of the room. From there the thing was visible. It was crawling on the wall, it’s light gray, thin arms and legs sprawled out against the wall.

“Come ‘ere you ugly rock titan!” Leon shouted, half with stupidity and half with courage.

The rock titan looked around, it’s beady eyes were a crimson red, glaring at the young warrior. It suddenly lunged with immense speed and agility towards Leon, landing a few feet away. Standing up straight it was about nine feet tall. The pointed head gave a furious glare at Leon for disturbing him. It’s thin body and arms were moving perpetually, giving an energized air about him.

“What the hell are you doing?!?” Fina screamed at her brother as she pointed her staff towards the slim, giant rock.

A bolt of electricity shot from the staff straight towards the monster, only to bounce off and shoot back towards Fina. Fina quickly dodged, slamming to the ground, as she saw her magic hadn’t worked. The titan turned around towards Fina and ran at her with immense speed. It slammed its fist down towards Fina, who rolled out of the way just before the fist hit the ground with a thud. A huge crater was left in the ground where the titan had thrown its fist. Fate quickly ran behind the titan and attempted to jump on top of it’s shoulders, but f ailed miserably as it turned around and kicked Fate in the stomach, sending the man flying into the wall, his sword flying a few feet from him.

“Fate!” Leon called, running to his friend’s side as Fina tried a water element on the titan.

A burst of water came from the titan, but that hadn’t done anything apparently as it faced Leon and Fate.

“Retarded monster.” Fina muttered as she pointed her staff towards the monster yet again.

This time a wall of flames appeared around the monster, but it just walked right through them. Fina was now really irritated. A rock formed, and dropped on the titan’s head. Nothing happened. Then she made a small earthquake. Nothing happened. The titan just stood there, unharmed by anything she threw at him. Leon got up and ran at the titan, which, in turn, dodged the blow as if he were as fast as lightning. The tall warrior slashed again and again at the titan, which dodged every attack that came his way. Finally Fate got up, rubbing his bleeding head. He drew picked his broadsword up and slashed at the titan from behind. The sword broke with a clank, pieces scattered all over the floor.

“How… did it break.” Fate stuttered with surprise written all over his face.

The rock titan shook its pointed head. “Foolish people. I am a wind rock titan. My speed is incredible and my defense cannot be broken.” Its low and powerful voice shook the room.

Fine stared with disbelief as Talon clung to her neck. Leon charged the rock titan again, only to be thrown across the room by the titan’s arm sweep. Aeli finally walked out of hiding, observing the whole thing.

“Where have you been coward?!? I can’t believe you just let your friends get hurt like that.” Fina grumbled as he walks past her.

Aeli shook his head and stopped in front of the tall titan.

“Who dares challenge me this time?” It laughed with confidence.

“Why does it matter? You won’t have a reason to know if you’re gone.” Aeli’s intense silver eyes glared at the titan.

“HA! You think you’ll win?” Laughed the titan.

Aeli closed his eyes, focusing his mind and energy on the heart of the giant rock. An instant later, the titan was trembling.

“Wh-what’s happening?” The titan was shaking violently now. “What have you done!” And it exploded into pieces.

A shower of rocks rained down on the company. Talon hid in Fina’s sleeveless coat as she tried to cover herself with her arms. Leon got hit in the head with one before he realized what had just happened, then he ran out of the way. After the rock had done falling, Fate was still standing in the middle of the room, staring with deep thought. How could the titan’s outer layer have broken his sword? It was, afterall, one of the strongest swords in the eastern realms. The man held his sword up to his eyes, examining the broken blade carefully. It had broken on the halfway point. Jagged edges told him it was definitely not a clean break. He sighed with relief, it had only been pressure that had broken the sword.

“Good job Aeli. It would’ve been nice it you had helped out a little earlier though.” After putting his broken blade back into its holder, Fate turned to the blue-haired man, who nodded in acknowledgement.

“Yeah! Ya big retard. Why didn’t you come earlier. It wouldn’t have this big cut on my head if you’d done that earlier!” Leon tackled his friend.

“Ah! Leon!” Aeli fell to the ground as the cowboy playfully hit him in the head.

Fina sighed and scrambled to her feet, brushing the dirt and rocks off of her clothing.

“Sorry about your sword Fate.” Fina patted their leader on the back. “You can get a new one when we’re through.”

“I know. But still, that’s never happened before.” Smiling, he shook his head. His long black hair fell into his face, sticking from the perspiration.

The headstrong mage just chuckled and turned around to see what she needed to do next. Nothing caught her eye and she went and stood over Leon who was still giving Aeli a butt-kicking. She rolled her eyes and pointed her staff towards her brother’s behind. A blast of icy water hit him in the rear-end, causing a yelp of surprise. Aeli gave a smile and Fate started laughing.

“What did you go and do that for?” Leon asked rubbing his buttocks.

“No playing around. We have a mission.” Fina stated, walking past her brother with a grin playing her lips.

Leon gave a grumble and sheathed his sword quickly, following with a very unpleasant expression upon his face. Fate caught up with Leon quickly, the two walked side by side after Fina. Aeli looked around at the chamber and the damage done. The crater in the ground was quite large. Never had they faced something like that. It certainly wasn’t going to get any easier, either.

[Spark]

A young man with burgundy-red hair stood facing a large fortress. It was nicely sized and a cold stone gray. It stood there on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a vast area of land. A forest grew around the castle, evergreens and other lush trees and shrubbery gave the fortress a strange feel. The man’s harsh violet eyes stared at the site. He was no stranger to this area, but for some reason something about it intrigued him so.

His long brownish-red cape flapped in the wind. Under than he wore a simple brown tunic over a long sleeved white shirt. Dark brown fitted pants were about his legs and thick black boots he wore on his feet. A silver stud was in her right ear and a scar slashed across his forehead. For minutes he just stood there, gazing at the fortress and all of it’s strange splendor.

Soon, a lovely young woman joined him, coming from behind. Her burgundy hair went a couple inches past her ears. Emerald green eyes were placed beautifully on her creamy fair skin. Her lips were naturally a rose pink, as were her cheeks. She wore a white shirt, the sleeves were full and pleated, and she wore fitted forest green pants. Over that she wore a sleeveless chestnut brown tunic that tied up her chest from her stomach. A pleasant and peaceful look was about her face.

“Akari, is this the place?” Her sweet, smooth voice asked.

“Yes, Mae.” He looked back at the girl, the edges of his lips curling up, ever so slightly.

“Mmm. Looks really nice.” Mae murmured, ready to call a new place “home.”

Mae and Akari were brother and sister. They had been traveling all their lives, ever since that when they’d been homeless. Their village had been destroyed in a massacre. A demon had taken over the mind of a unsuspecting body. That body had destroyed their village and taken many lives with no regret. Akari still remembered the day. It was so long ago, yet it felt so near. That completely evil darkness that had taken the land so easily and quickly, then disappeared without a trace. What if it appeared again? No one could explain quite what it was.

Now, during that time, monsters were popping up everywhere. Just like the days of ancient times ghunien, vampires, dragons, and many other sorts of evil creatures were roaming the lands again. People were suffering and sickening left and right. Trade and business that once flourished was now on the path to declination. Everyone was in fear and mercenaries and assassins were being hired left and right. Prices for hire had raised. That’s what had drawn Akari to be a mercenary. Him and his sister had needed the money, and Akari was a skilled swords-man. Mae was a fairly skilled mage and a wonderful informant and tactician. Working for the nobles and goverments of the eastern realms, they had managed to stock-pile a nice amount of money. Akari wanted to take a ship to the western realms, however, and didn’t have enough money for it. That’s when he had applied for this job: to be a Slayer.

“Come on Akari! Before too long!” Mae playfully tugged at her brother, dragging him up the small hill to the fortress. “We’ve got to go through the interview and test first!”

“I know.” Came the young man’s simple reply as he allowed his sister to tug him.

The two made their way to the stone fortress, walked up to a small window-like opening next to the huge draw-bridge door. A man was waiting on the inside, sitting at a small table behind it.

“Name.” He asked.

“Akari Takana.”

“Alright, you may enter.” The man sitting at the table didn’t sound very amused.

The huge drawbridge door lowered itself slowly, clanking and clunking as the chains holding it up let the door down. When it was down Akari and Mae entered, looking around curiously as they passed through the gate. A couple men and woman hurried down the hallways, seeming to have something on their minds.

“Ah the two new recruits!” A gruff and somewhat fast voice called from somewhere down the hallway.

Akari looked up to see a man dressed in all black, staring at him and his sister. He had platinum blonde hair and poison green eyes, and looked like he was in his early thirties. The man walked quickly over the sibling duo, a stack of papers in his arms.

“The captain is out at this moment. He’s dealing with an assignment.” He told Akari, who in return gave him a stare. “Captain Yukien will be back soon, hopefully. Come this way.” The blond man ordered the two, motioning to a room right down the hall.

“A leader who does some of the work himself. I like that.” Akari muttered, nodding in approval.

Leaders willing to do work themselves were worthy of praise, or so went Akari’s opinion. Mae smiled at the man and followed the direction he was pointing towards. Her brother followed suit, the man in the lead.
They went into the room, which was decorated with weapons and maps, and sat down in front of a desk.

“I’m Mr. Rae Tenor. I will be leading the fortress until our Captain returns. I take it you, my good boy, are learned in the ways of swordsman-ship?” He asked, eying Akari’s sword that was put away.

“Correct.” The red-head stated with an almost unnerving coolness.

“That’s good. My young lady, you’re the mage, am I right?” Mr. Tenor asked the pretty girl.

“Yes sir.” She gave a warm smile back.

“Well then. I will test you then interview. Shall we begin?”