“Good moning adras!”

I woke up to tapping at my face. It was Ember’s tiny little hand.

“Good morning, Ember.”

I stretched. Something felt off, like something had changed during my sleep as it did yesterday.

I moved around a little, when I suddenly felt it. I had wings.

I flexed my muscles. Yep, those are wings all right.

Seems my transformation into a dragon has only just begun…

I moved my hands carefully to not disturb the other sleeping hatchlings.

“Ember, do you want to fly with me?”

Ember looked down at me. “Ajju sure? I don think my pajents want me to…”

I moved my hand up to pat the little dragon. “It’s going to be fine, I’ll keep you safe.”

Ember smiled. “Ogayy.”

I got up from the nest. All the other dragons were still asleep.

“Ember, what’s the time?”

Ember looked up at me. “Taim? What dat?”

Heh, okay then. “Eh, don’t worry about it. Let’s go fly. It clears the mind.”

Ember giggled. “Ogay!”

Ember, don’t you ever grow up…

-

I was standing on the peak of the mountain, looking out at the horizon.

I looked down at Ember who was lying in my arms. “Okay, hold on tight then!”

Ember dug his claws into my skin. It didn’t hurt at all though, and there is no way he’ll fall now.

“Okay, let’s go then!”

I unfolded my wings, and flapped them. I shot into the air and was now gliding on the wind.

Ember looked a little scared, but mostly excited.

Okay, where to then? I looked around.

Hmm, maybe we could check out what’s off further north?

Sure, why not.

I did a U-turn, keeping it long for the sake of Ember.

“Wee!”

I snickered a little. I hope I can get to do this with all the kids someday.

“So, Ember, what do you want to see?”

Ember was too busy looking at the ground to answer me.

Heh. I would have been the same if this was the first time I flew.

I flapped my wings some more and gained some altitude. I knew the winds were harsher up here, and thus more exciting.

Ember seemed to be having fun, so I had no plans of slowing down.

“Hey buddy, what do you say about picking up some speed?”

Ember looked up at me with a little fear in his eyes. “Uuh, maby not… is a little scary…”

“Heh, no worries little man. We’ll take it at your pace.”

I slowed down a little, but kept the same altitude. “Is the height good?”

Ember was about to answer me, when I suddenly caught eye of a gigantic bolt flying toward us from the side.

I was too late to react to the attack, and could only shield the child in my custody by wrapping my wings around my chest.

The wooden pole impacted my wings, and harmlessly bounced off.

“Annoying.”

I looked toward where the bolt had come from, and spotted a stone castle.

I kept my wings folded, all until we reached the ground when I spread them out again, slowing our fall to a screeching halt. I landed on the soft grass without as much as a sound.

“Ember, I need to speak with those guys a little bit. Could you do me a favor and stay here a little?”

I put the little hatchling on the floor. “Ogay ucle adras.”

“That’s the spirit. I’ll be right back.”

I launched into the air. Hmm, I’ll need a body.

I looked down into the castle courtyard. It was filled with people, all scrambling and running in fear. Some of them were in the process of cranking back the rope on a ballista, probably in an attempt to shoot me down.

I extended my arms. “Go on then.”

Almost as if the people down there heard me, they shot the arrow at me.

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Now that I was ready for the attack, I positioned myself.

The bolt flew neatly past my waist, and I grabbed it. I did a 180, infusing the bolt with demonic energy before throwing it back down toward the ballista.

The gunner crew were all running for their lives, but it was too little too late. The arrow impacted the ground, causing a gigantic explosion in hellfire.

Tch.

I still need to check for survivors, I guess.

I flew down to the ground, and landed in the crater I had made.

This time I was not as careful upon landing, and my feet made a little tap sound as I landed.

I looked around the courtyard. It was completely wrecked, and what little remained of wood was burning up quickly.

Suddenly I heard soft crying, seemingly coming from inside the castle walls. Curious.

I turned to where the sound was coming from, before ripping out one of the cobblestones of the wall. I looked into the hole.

There were people trapped in here.

My eyes locked with those of a beaten-looking woman. She looked weak and brittle, and she was strung up via chains keeping her in place.

Poor thing…

I kicked the wall lightly, as to not spray the woman with stone fragments. The whole wall fell down.

I shoved aside the broken wall, and locked eyes with the woman again.

“Who… What are you?”

Her voice sounded like she hadn’t drunk anything in days. Who were these people? Why were they keeping this woman imprisoned?

I probably should have kept one of them alive for questioning. Oh well. Too late for that now, I suppose.

“I’m the lord of hell, who else?”

The woman’s face lit up with shock. “A-Andras? I didn’t recognize you! What are you… doing here?”

I extended the claw on one of my fingers and cut the chains keeping her upright. She fell to the floor with a weak thud.

“Well, I don’t take too lightly to being shot at with a ballista bolt. Especially when I’m with my… adoptive children.”

The woman looked up from the ground. “I… I see. Well… thank you for rescuing me. The things they said they’d do to me…”

I cringed at the words she had uttered. Despicable. Keeping women trapped against their will only to… Yeah, I’m no longer regretting leaving no survivors.

“What’s your name, miss?”

She looked up at me. “Ingrid.”

“Well, Ingrid, do you know how to make it back to human civilization from here, or do you need me to bring you there?”

“I… I can make it there myself. Thank you again for everything…”

She picked herself off the floor, before leaving through the hole in the wall I had made.

Huh. Whose to say Demons don’t commit good deeds every once in a while.

-

“Hey Ember… Thank you for not going anywhere.”

I squatted down and pet the little dragon on his head. “Uncle just needed to take care of some things.”

Ember looked up at me. “I’m not stupid, old man. I know you killed them.”

Eh?

“Did you just speak… coherent English?”

“Yeah dumbass. I’m tired of pretending I’m something I’m not. I was a human, just like you, about two years ago.”

Uh… Is this some silly prank?

“Excuse me? You’re barely three days old, little man. What do you mean two years ago?”

“Well, I drank this neat can of energy drink, and turns out it was filled with dragon blood. I then got forced into the claustrophobic egg which I hatched from three days ago.”

The little dragon scuffed a little. “And… Turns out I’m a dude now. As If waiting two years to become a dragon wasn’t bad enough, I now need to have these annoying balls dangle around between my legs.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Hang on a moment. Are you saying you were a female human… Before you became a dragon. After drinking a can of energy drink…”

Ember looked up at me. “Yeah. It’s just as confusing for me as it is for you, pal. It’s been so long; I’ve even forgotten my human name…”

Okay, okay. Time out.

First off, there is… Well, was, a rouge gang of humans who apparently shot down everything that flew around their area without my knowledge. Second of all, and much more surprising, Ember is a human who got reincarnated as a dragon.

Jesus, already a day’s worth of content in one day…

“Well, Ember, if it’s even appropriate to still call you that, what do you say about going home again? I’ve seen enough for one day…”

Ember nodded. “Yeah, Ember is more or less my new name at this point. You can keep calling me Ember.”

Fair enough. Let’s get flying again then, I guess.

-

I was not able to bring myself to say anything during our flight. The mood was just too tense, and it made me uncomfortable.

The “child” in my hands was a fully grown adult…

Oh well… I’ve seen weirder, I suppose.

It does also explain how Ember was the first to learn English out of all the kids.

“Ember… Do you consider your brother and sisters to be your siblings?”

Ember looked up at me. “Yeah, I’d say I do. I was a only child in my past life, but I’ve always wanted siblings.”

“So… We can still be a family…?

Ember laughed a little. “I’m sorry if I gave you a wrong impression. I might have had a past life, but I’ve accepted this new one as my own. When I called you my uncle, I did mean it. You guys are my family.”

I smiled a little. “Well, that’s good.”

I looked forward, and saw we had reached the mountain.

“Looks like it’s your stop. I need to go back to my castle for now, but I’ll be back. As always.”

Ember looked at the mountain. “Ogay, ucle adras.”

Heh.

-

Ember quickly rushed off into the cave, and I began flying south.

Hmm. I hope that either Olaf or Adrian are done with their assignments. Olaf’s was particularly easy, and I expect him to have finished by now.

I arrived at my castle. I didn’t expect that either of them would be there waiting for me, as it would go against their orders.

Sure enough, none of them were there. Good.

All I can do now is wait. Preferably away from anyone else, so that when God inevitably summons me I’ll be facing him alone. The war will happen, but not yet.

As soon as I finished this thought, a beam of brilliant white-yellow surrounded me.

Well, here we go I guess.

I shot up into the sky. Heaven’s summoning has always been so flashy.

It was certainly not fast though.

I’ve been floating here for a good ten minutes by now.

Then suddenly the beam dissipated, and I was standing on what looked like a cloud.

“Well, hello there, Demon Lord. It seems my dad has requested your presence.”

Jesus himself was standing outside the gates to heaven to greet me.

“Oh, I know. It’s about the living realm, isn’t it?”

Jesus nodded and motioned a hand toward the gates. “He’ll be waiting.”

I nodded back and stepped through the gates. I was then transported to what looked like a courtroom.

I looked around the room. There was nobody but me and the judge here.

The judge? Well, that was God.

“Andras, Demon Lord of Hell. You have been accused of breaking the order of balance by abusing your powers as Demon, with accusations such as uniting all of living realm under one rule, denying souls the coinflip, offsetting the balance of souls, and generally being a mischievous little bugger.

What do you have to say in your defense?”

Oh boy. Here we go.

“Your honor.”

“First of all, I want to explain my reasoning behind uniting the living realm. Honestly, I only wish the best for the humans. I thought that if all the different factions united into one, there would be no more conflict and thus no more war, and no more suffering. I believe I’ve made a decision which will greatly benefit all parties involved.”

God nodded. “Your reasoning is sound. How about denying souls their fair coinflip heaven/hell passing?”

I cleared my throat. “Nowhere in the order of balance is there specifically stated that Demons are not allowed to claim souls for their own. Hell, it’s practically encouraged. I might have done it a little more than I should, but that’s all forgivable, right?”

God furrowed his brow a little. “Well… I like you Andras. I think the things you have done as demon lord are excellent uses of your power. A little… slip like this won’t warrant you to face any serious consequences. Unfortunately for both you and me, The rules specifically state that I now need to keep a close eye on both you and your subordinates for a month forward in time.”

“I’m sure you understand.”

Oh, you stupid fool… In a months’ time you won’t have eyes left to keep an eye on things with.

“I understand.”

God nodded. “Then, I deem this meeting as concluded. It’s been lovely talking to you, Andras.”

He hit his hammer on the little plate-thing, and I found myself in one of the heaven-beams again.

God damn it.