Chapter 2

“Samantha!” Akira shouted in rage. “You bastard! You’re going to pay for that.” He jumped in front of the Demon King with his sword raised. The Demon met the Holy Blade with his dark crimson sword and turned it away. The clash of the blades rang through the hall as Akira tried to push him back and failed. “Ayasse! Rock! Keep those shadows off Mel.”

Akira knew this was his chance. Sam’s attack and Ayasse’s knife had weakened the King. If he were the one to take down the king of monsters, nothing would be holding him back. His reputation as a Sword Master would be secure and there would be nothing out of his reach. He needed this victory to secure his legacy.

“Is that spell ready yet?” Akira yelled as the Demon continued to counter every move. The king was strong and there were no openings. Akira went in high, switched his attack and drove his sword in low. The Demon King met every thrust and deflected them back.

Watching his battle with Sam, Akira knew he was no match for the King’s strength. In mock battles, Akira could usually hold off Sam. It was her freakish strength that caused him the most grief. She could snap a sword in her bare hands. From the first blow with the Demon King, Akira felt the same feeling with him. The shock travelled up his arms.

To lose in skill too, was humbling. Sam had none. Akira trained under the most brutal of Masters and was confident in his skill, but that wasn’t enough. Gritting his teeth, Akira could feel his dream of becoming a Sword Master moving further away. There was no way he could hold out longer than a few minutes. If only Sam could have done more damage. “That bitch is useless even as a punching bag.”

The Demon King’s brow drew together in confusion.

Mel stopped her chanting. “Move!”

Akira used one of his special stun flashes at his belt to blind the King and quickly jumped out of the way as Mel’s spell hit. There was no way he was going to sacrifice his life for this.

The destructive power of Mel’s lightning spell was mesmerizing. A sphere of destruction surrounded the Demon King as lightning flashed and struck him. The defensive sphere spell was designed to protect the caster from attack. Ussing it this way, to contract, forcing the lightning into a smaller and smaller space making it impossible to escape from. The smell of burnt metal filled the room.

And all it cost was Sam to get the combination spell from that old freak in Sywin.

A small price to pay thought Akira. That woman was always causing trouble. Questioning the order of things. If she was dead, too bad, nothing he would cry over, though. He knew why they needed her. Her strength was useful, but he was the hero.

Sweat gushed down Mel’s forehead as she tried to contain the spell and prevent it from affecting the rest of the party. In the hands of a master like her, it was art in motion and almost evil to watch. She had combined the two separate, incompatible spells into one, beautiful creation.

Akira gulped and turned away as the spell tore through the ground in front of the Demon King, his arms tingling from the charge and the light hurting his eyes. “I’d hate to be on her bad side,” he whispered to his sword as its song invaded his mind. The best he could do now was gather his strength. Rock and Ayasse had taken care of all the shadowy creatures and the Demon King had dropped his sword from the onslaught of the spell. His scream sounded wonderful.

Akira stared at the sphere as it started to get smaller and smaller. Licking his lips, he waited for his chance. He needed to finish the Demon King with his sword to destroy him for good and secure his reputation. It was imbued with enough spells to destroy a soul if he pierced their heart. There would be no coming back after this. Then the killing he did in the cause of bringing peace to the world, would be over.

The spell finished with a pop, leaving stray sparks fluttering away from the ash-blackened body. It was still twitching. Akira smelt the burned flesh, and charred clothing and smiled. The Demon King was finished.

Mel had already collapsed, panting.

“Rock, get a mana potion to her so she can move.”

Akira raised his blade and charged the dread King to run him through and finish him forever. There was a chance something could have survived that onslaught, but this was over.

A hand shot through the ash, sloughing it off as if it was water, and caught the sword.

Stunned, Akira’s jaw fell. “Impossible!” He tried to wrench his sword away, but the Demon King held on to the blade.

The Demon King stood, slowly pushing Akira back.

“What the hell? Why aren’t you burning? The divinity in the weapon should have burned your hand to a crisp.” Stunned, Akira couldn’t move.

The Demon King’s mouth was stuck in a rictus of pain. He was hurt. “Why isn’t he dead?” Akira shouted to Mel. He could see the scorch marks from the spell. “You told me this spell would finish him! Why’s he still standing?”

“How the hell should I know?” Mel yelled, huddled on the ground. “It was the strongest one I had!” She was still panting from magic energy depletion and would need a day to recover from using that much on her own. “Rock! Give me the mana potion, now!”

Arrows hit the Demon King in the back, piercing his armor and knocking him forward, deepening the scowl on his face. He continued to hang on to the sword, pushing Akira backward.

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Rock yelled from the alcove, “I can’t get to you. He’s in the way. Get away from him! I’ll try and get you one.”

From the darkness around the Demon King, a hand reached up and stabbed the monster in the thigh with a black knife. The king grunted from the unexpected pain and reached down, letting go of Akira’s sword.

Akira took the chance to jump back and protect Mel. Holding his sword to the side he moved her off to the side of the room away from the fight and closer to Rock and the potions.

Pulling on the hand around his leg, the king reached into the darkness and yanked a short man covered in black from it. Ayasse held a small dagger in his right hand and tried to slash the king in the face. The King jerked back, out of reach of the strike.

“I was waiting for you to return,” the Demon King roared. “You’ve caused me nothing but trouble, you little pest. Let me return the favor.”

Raising his hand, the king blasted the black-clad man in the chest with a shock and sent him flying across the room. He landed on the pile of debris covering Sam, exposing her arm as he rolled down.

The Demon King stepped forward and picked up his crimson sword.

“Ayasse! Blast! I’m going to send you back to the hell you came from, you bastard!” Akira dropped Mel, gripped his sword with both hands again, and rushed the demon. He could see the Demon King was swaying. This was Akira’s last chance. Mel and Ayasse had weakened the king. Sam’s attacks would have also caused some damage, and if Rock could get a potion to Mel, they may have a chance.

“You’ve destroyed our land, killed our women!” Akira yelled as their swords clashed. “You’ve tried to poison our skies, all in your vain attempt to expand your power. This is where we will end you.”

The Demon King responded in a deep guttural voice, “Me? It was your kind who started this. We were happy to live in our land, free of human pests. How dare you put this war on us.”

The Demon King raised his sword and forced Akira back towards Mel while Rock’s arrows continued to pelt him from behind. The Demon King’s shadow minions prevented them from causing more damage.

Mel was still on the ground.

“Rock! Where are you? She needs that mana potion now to get even a basic spell off,” Akira shouted. He swatted a few of the shadow minions, causing them to disappear.

He got silence back.

“Just get out of my castle!” roared the king.

The Demon King raised both hands and released a wind spell that blew Mel and Akira back against the wall several body lengths from Ayasse.

Akira’s sword flew backward and embedded itself in the wall behind the rubble where Sam was. Another piece fell off and hit the pile exposing her head. Akira saw her move.

“This isn’t over. There will be others after us. Rock! Get us out of here!” Akira said as he lay on the floor, his eyes moving to his sword. There was no way he would leave that here. Pain racked his body. When he landed, he heard a snap. He must have broken his leg.

The king laughed, “Your archer has already left. My shadowy ghosts have already told me he was captured trying to get back to the entrance. They are bringing him here. It’s over. Your party has been defeated.” He stood over the three remaining members of Akira’s group and reached out a hand, palm up. “I’ll give you a choice. Work with me. With your power, we can drive the other humans back and make this a peaceful land once again.”

Akira couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Betray his country, his people, his friends? There was no way he would ever do that. What would they say about him? His name would be reviled as the greatest of traitors.

“What is the other choice?” He needed to know his options first. Death was final.

The King clenched his fist. “Then I will send your head back to the human lands with an offer that will make them think twice before invading our lands again.”

Akira grimaced. Both were terrible. “Dammit!” He hit the rubble next to him and started to raise his hand.

A rumble to the right of the downed heroes stopped Akira from taking the King’s hand.

The Demon King turned to face this new threat. “Not now!” he groaned.

Akira heard the strain in his voice. He saw the Demon King blink. This was it. If he could get his sword, they had him.

Sam burst out of the pile of rubble and stumbled backward into the wall. The blocks covering her tumbled away. She was bleeding from hundreds of small cuts and there was a large black bruise spreading around her arms where the shield had shattered. Her armour was gone, her chain mail was in shreds, and what was left of her shield, was on the other side of the Demon King. She staggered along the destroyed wall, using it to hold her up, and stopped next to the Holy Sword.

With her strength, she still stood a chance. She couldn’t use a sword to hit a tree even if it was in front of her, but if she could distract the king long enough, he could still take him down. “My sword, Sam!”

She stared at him, blinking her eyes, then swung her gaze slowly to the Demon King and back to the wall where the Holy Sword was. Akira could see the blank look in her eyes and grunted in frustration. She was as dim as always.

“Get my sword, woman! It’s right in front of you.” Akira pointed. “It’s the only weapon left that can deal with this monster.”

“Why won’t you die?” said The Demon King, raising his hands to chant a spell, but Akira could see it was slower than before.

“Hurry!”

Sam yanked the sword from the wall, paused, and grabbed her head. She started screaming and stumbled forward, dropping to her knees.

“Don’t listen to the song,” Akira yelled. “It’s mine!” The first time it invaded his thoughts, gave him peace, a purpose. “There’s no time! Throw it here!” He refused to share it with anyone.

Sam clenched her eyes shut and staggered. The Demon King turned away from Akira and raised his hands to cast, his chant finished.

Sam flipped the sword, held it by the pommel, and raised it high into the air. She jammed it through the stone floor, twisting it to one side and snapping the blade in two with a reverberating twang that echoed throughout the silent throne room.

The Demon King’s spell missed and blasted the wall behind her with fire.

“What the f..!” Akira’s shout broke the tense silence as tears streamed from his eyes. His sword, his Holy Sword. “What the hell did you just do? We were winning!”

He drew back when he saw her stare. This was not the same woman who’d said she loved him. Her eyes were dead. That stare was one only given to those who kicked dogs or scoured the gutters for food. She turned to the Demon King and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Kale,” the Demon King said. “What is happening here? Are you joining me?” He lowered his hands and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Sam ignored the question. “Kale, why did you start attacking the human lands?”

“I didn’t. Your kingdom started attacking us. They want this land and our people. Your people don’t care who they hurt. We were only defending ourselves.”

“I thought so.” Sam sighed. “We give up. You win. We’ve lost and it’s time to get out of here. What are your terms?”

“What are you saying,” Akira shouted from where he was kneeling. He glared at Sam, his voice rising. He clenched his hands and pounded the ground in front of him. How could she betray them? “You traitor!”

“I finally remember everything that happened to me. I know where I came from and what you did. Be thankful I don’t kill you here and now. I so want to.” She turned to the Demon King. “Don’t worry Kale, I’ll see to it that that piece of trash hangs for his crimes.”