Rhodney clocked the giant imp looking over at them from up atop his rock. His look was one of anger and a brewing. He looked over their bodies like a hunter deciding how they would approach a kill. Even with his lack of eyebrows, Flame's perpetual frustration was evident. The boy's eyes still managed to narrow, as his brow knit together fiercely. Rhodney watched him closely.

Childish.

That was the word Rhodney gave him.

In a way, all of his friends were childish. They were children after all. Even Rhodney was only thirteen when he had died. But they weren’t childish in the way that Flame was.

No.

Flame was that kind of childish that gave you concern. That chilling childish mindset one only had from lack of age. The kind where there were no social or parental factors stopping you. The kind of childish that could burn the legs off an ant with a magnifying glass, and the kind that could do just the same to his enemies. The kind of childish cruelty that one could even call a talent in itself.

Whenever the boy had talked to someone out of his inner circle, Rhodney watched with slight concern as the conversation went on. Sweat beat down his face just because of that odd unpredictability the boy had. With a huge emphasis on odd. His personality could switch in ways that even Rhodney couldn’t predict.

Happy and laughing one second, to beating someone down with his superior size the next.

Rhodney had to remember that he was in a room full of monsters. Many of whom definitely had the capacity to kill like it was another Tuesday, and pillage like it was a Friday.

He'd seen enough of how they moved in here to realize that.

Even misty ‘Who got the name for her constant crying’ had seen looking at the red imp. Not with disgust, not annoyance, and not even anger.

But with a curious glint in her eye.

The lust.

The envy.

Instead of looking to the victim with feelings of empathy, she wholly forgot them in favor of looking at the aggressor, Flame, with dreams of power. Characteristic of everyone else in The Cradle, her eyes too were alight with a hope to one day be at the top.

He’d have to keep an eye on his people. They had no parents so he would have to be responsible for their development. He didn’t want to end up in a den with a bunch of villains.

He motioned to Navy to look behind him and the imp immediately did so. Clocking Flame staring them down like a lion.

In all honesty, he hadn’t expected the imp to do anything about it. He knew Navy was an intelligent person, even if he didn’t talk that much. Navy would probably understand why Rhodney motioned, and then try to draft up a plan.

“Hey,” Navy’s voice interrupted Rhodney’s thoughts, his high, but serious, voice cracking through the room like a whip. The sounds of chewing and talking died down as they realized Navy, a weak, pink one, had actually addressed the unspoken leader of this place. “What are you looking at?”

Rhodney’s face paled as he watched Flames face go from thinking intently,

To a demonic grin that truly would make his race proud.

Immediately, Flame hopped off his rock and started to walk towards the two of them.

Rhodney felt security thinking that at least they had the numbers. They had Rusty. They had Smokey. And he hadn’t seen Misty show proficiency in much, but protection wise Tor–

He looked over and saw that Rusty and the other children had gone to the other side of the room.

Oh no.

They were smiling and laughing, handing out food to the rest of the imps who smiled gratefully. Having a grand ol' time with their good ol’ pal Rusty!

Fantastic!

Great!

Nah, that’s just peachy!

The dark red imp walked up to Navy and got chest to chest with the boy. He was much taller than him, and Navy’s small horns above his eyebrows didn’t do much to make him more intimidating. “What did you say?” Flame smiled with an excited malice. But Navy looked completely unperturbed.

He stared down the taller imp and didn’t waver. “I said, who. Are. You. Looking. At? Do I have to sound it out too?” Rhodney didn’t know where the kid was getting the courage from.

Smoke came out of Flames nose as he looked down onto the lesser Imp. His hand glowed a harsh yellow and was heavily clenched in an open palm position. His veins were almost glowing yellow as he was on a hair's breath from slamming Navy with golden fire.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“You got guts,” Flame said. “I’ll give it to you, no one here has had the confidence to challenge me like you did.”

“...” Navy said nothing, staring at Flame.

Waiting.

But just because Navy was physically still, it did not mean that his best friend was not readying to fight. His friend's aura coalesced into the air, a slight blue which matched the color of his namesake. It gently floated around Navy, his hands already balled in fists, ready to swing at a moment's notice, augmented by the power of his aura.

The smoke coming from Flame’s nose slowly stopped coming. And suddenly, a hand was on Navy’s shoulder. “How would you like to sit with me?” Flame said, his mood immediately changing. Was he… happy?

“I like you. We should be friends.” He said, keeping his hand on Navy’s shoulder. “No thanks,” Navy Immediately declined, but this only seemed to make the bigger imp more excited. He clapped his hands loudly and almost squealed with delight. Denying the prospect seemed to make him like the glowing imp even more.

“That’s why I like you, you’re strong!” Flame didn’t seem like the best judge of character, but in this way he and Rhodney agreed. “Why not? Am I too weak for you?” He asked the question jokingly but Rhodney caught the slight twitch of his eyes.

He was testing Navy. His hand still glowed a flickering yellow, and his other hand on his shoulder was gripped tightly on Navy’s shoulder.

If the wrong word left Navy’s mouth, he was going to get slammed with fire.

Rhodney opened his mouth to say something, but them immediately clasped his hands over his mouth. Navy hadn’t noticed and if Rhodney said something, the chances of his friend getting hurt would skyrocket. The glowing imp was pretty fireproof that night… But Rhodney wasn’t going to push his luck.

That flame tattoo had to be indicative of something.

He had to trust Navy.

“My friend here is strong, but struggles to keep his feet on the ground. I’m raising my teammates right now, so I don’t have time to hang out with you.” Navy said matter of factually.

“Raise..?”

“It means to bring up the people near you. Don’t you raise your friends?”

Flame looked over to his possess of imps and had an immediate realization. He hadn’t done that. Flame was so busy tormenting people and trying to have fun that he didn’t think about that. The Imp was clearly intelligent, but lacked wisdom.

“You should get on that,” Navy said. Then, out of Rhodney’s earshot, he heard his fellow lesser whisper to the giant imp.

His eyes widened and he looked over at Navy with shock. Navy just nodded.

“...So you should probably get going.”

Rhodney watched the fire expel from Flame’s hand. He then immediately ran over to his group, telling them something important. Pointing back at him and Navy. “What did you say to him?” Rhodney asked with confusion.

Navy looked down at him with a slight smirk on his face. Then put his hand down. Rhodney took it, and he was lifted onto the ground.

“Let’s get you walking.” Navy said.

“S-s-so yo-you’re ju-st not g-gonna, WhoaAaa, Tell me??” Rhodney could barely talk as he wobbled and stumbled across the floor. It was worse than ice skating. His legs hurt the very same. Navy didn’t reply. He just watched him fumble around.

‘Great friend.’ Rhodney thought, fully sarcastic.

At least he had the prospect of seeing without his eyes to motivate him. That’d be interesting.

They practiced for at least an hour more. By the end of it Rusty had said his goodbyes. Saying he had important adult business to work on.

Rhodney had managed to ‘barely’ walk around the entire perimeter.

At the very least, he could shakily walk, which was still leagues better than what he had been doing for the past week.

That just would have to do for now.

…

Flame paced across the floor. He looked over at the pink imps who were laughing and smiling. With Rusty giving that grimy grin he always had.

Dammit.

Damn.

Damn!

Time passed and he continued to think as Rusty closed the door.

“What’s wrong boss?” One of his mooks said. Flame hasn't responded. His panic was affecting them. There was a high probability that the pink imp was lying. How could Flame know? He had no skills that told him that. Nothing intuitive like the tattoo.

It was ridiculous. He looked down at his hands, yellow fire moving in his hands. A gift from being kissed by flames.

Yeah, really useful.

If Navy was right, there were problems ahead, and his abilities wouldn't be useful for them.

It was scary, if that imp could truly have heard or seen all that…

He would need him. The situation would require people that could help him stand high. Flame looked grimly at his companions. They were at least physically capable, but he didn’t see that fire in their eyes like he’d seen in Navy.

How could he get him?

Hmm.

Flame rubbed his hands. His plan only worked if the little imp was telling the truth. But he had no reason to believe Navy was lying. The Imps eyes seemed intelligent, wise, the perfect person to one day bring on his council. And as he had that thought, suddenly, the door slowly started to lower.

The next feeder would’ve been coming in five hours,

why..?

Then, they heard it.

Boom…Boom…Boom!

Giant footsteps. A titan that moved with the clinks of chains. The sheer weight of the man could be seen from his shadow that swallowed a huge portion of the center.

His giant callused hand grabbed onto the side of the door as he had to duck to get into the room. Giant horns. He could’ve brought one of them up to his face and used them as a ruler. And a large goat face. Tribal necklaces, chains, and skulls hung from his neck. Trophy’s he’d gained. Traditions he was apart of.

Tons of gold symbols and writing along his body, with a few black one’s littered on his large open chest.

The man was old.

A long gray mane went down from the back of his head and swung behind him. His legs pulsed with muscle. His upper body was also beefy, covered in scars and wear. And in a show of power, the man breathed in a huge breath. Flame could swear he felt the air get thinner in the room.

Then, fire burst forth from his mouth, exploding onto the ceiling, glaringly close to burning the tree's roots on accident.

“HELLO CHILDREN!!! SO, WHICH ONE OF YOU THINKS YOU’RE STRONG??” His voice bellowed through the room. Some people immediately ran to the area with the lessers. Leaving behind social pretense and heading for safety. Flame’s eyes glowed as they landed on the man.

So it begins.