Even though it was the dead of night, Vonai's royal fortress, located in the heart of Alzor, was teeming with activity. At the centre of it, was a large courtyard, filled with over five hundred elite soldiers, dressed in highly polished, almost ceremonial-looking armour, surrounding a large yellow pentagram engraved into the marble floor.
Conventionally the courtyard was used to greet distinguished nobles and dignitaries from distant lands, however, tonight, it was used to receive the summoned. Those who had already arrived were sitting in a cluster towards the edge of the courtyard.
The thirty younglings, no two the same, were being examined and clothed by a small army of maids and green-robed figures, checking everything from their reflexes to what colour the flame was when their hair was set alight, the results often causing gasps of surprise and discreet whispers.
Apart from the strange noises made from the younglings, and the murmur from those examining them, the courtyard was deathly quiet, only occasionally broken by the metallic clank of armour or the hiss from the torches.
The unnerving silence abruptly ended when the yellow array suddenly glowed, causing the soldiers to spring into action and level their poleaxes towards the magical formation.
An almost inaudible female voice echoed out of a highly decorated helmet, denoting her rank as a commander. "About time. I have been standing here for hours. All this trouble for a few strays."
Due to the secrecy of the summoning, apart from those present at the ritual and key figures, everyone else had been informed that the kingdom had been scouting young talent to nurture and integrate into the army. The official story was so pathetic and full of holes, like why would they use a transportation array, that could only come from one place and cost an incredible fortune or why were the younglings were enslaved, that hardly anyone believed it.
The idea that it was a cover story became an almost indisputable fact when two drakes, the first evolutionary stage of dragons, appeared, but due to the turmoil that had recently plagued Vonai, no one was willing to challenge the story and just rolled their eyes in amusement at the pathetic excuse.
In a blinding flash of light, two robed men shot out from the array causing a few of the knights to flinch as they smashed into the floor. As the mages lay on their stomachs with laboured breaths, the soldiers closest to them stared at the long, claw-like cuts running down the back of their robes, fresh blood gushing forth.
Although prepared, this was not what the soldiers had been expecting, the last six uneventful transfers being groups of younglings, and they immediately closed ranks, locking down the courtyard and prepared for an attack.
Two medics rushed forward to check the status of the injured mages, confirming that they were alive but unconscious and that they had probably been thrown into the array by a third party.
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Another blinding light was released from the array, this time, a black blur flew outwards, crashing into the floor and bouncing a few times before finally coming to a stop. Gasps of horror escape the soldiers as they recognise the figure in front of them. Blood sprayed from a missing arm, and it was immediately clear that the figure has lost his right eye due to the deep gashes running down his face. Held in the remaining arm, a gaunt-looking, extremely pale man, dressed in a blue robe, was mumbling incoherently.
Pushing the mage to the side, Rynheart staggered to his feet. The realisation that it was their General, along with the severity of his injuries, caused the surrounding knights to shiver. Rynheart was a legend, not only in Vonai but also most of the world for his strength and combat prowess and the thought that he could be driven into such a miserable state was, until now, almost unthinkable.
Wobbling slightly, Rynheart clamped his hand around the stub that was once his arm and muttered a weak fire spell to cauterise the wound. As he was doing this, his commanding voice rang outwards. "PREPARE TO ENGAGE THE ENEMY, SOUND THE CITY ALARM, SUMMON THE DEMON HUNTERS AND ENSURE THE KING'S SAFETY IN THE ROYAL CRYPTS.
Grabbing a sword from a nearby knight, Rynheart took a fighting stance, glaring at the transportation array as if Death himself was about to appear. The grim expression on his face, one of a man preparing to make his last stand, sent the soldiers near him into a frenzy of action, surrounding him in a protective manner and issuing orders calling more troops.
A few tense minutes passed in silence before Harken could be heard pushing his way through the crowd. Although he was close to losing his senses in the summoning pit, the moment he arrived in Alzor, the terror diminished significantly, seeming more like a nightmare than something that had really happened. His rush forward was stopped in its tracks when he saw Rynheart. "Ryn... General, what happened?"
Without taking his eyes away from the magical array, Rynheart responded. "You should know... we summoned a fucking monster from the pits of hell. That thing made the demon lords of old look like playful water sprites at a family picnic."
Harken shuddered, a small amount of the fear he had in the pit returning. "What happened to your arm?"
A self-criticizing smile crept upon Rynheart's face. "I got greedy. Tried to grab the demonic goblin as well as my brother... It cost me both my arm and my right eye."
Harken blinked a few times in disbelief before turning to one of the honour guards next to him. "Destroy the Array."
"No we can't, It will take us a day to get there and the creature will be long gone. We need to kill it before it can grow and mature. The only certain way, is to let it come through the portal," growled Rynheart, causing the man that had stepped forward to flinch. "I cannot live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to come seek his vengeance."
A few seconds after he had finished, the array glowed, causing everyone to freeze as a figure appeared, or more precisely, what was left of one. The moment it solidified, the body fell apart, blood spraying everywhere causing a few of the weaker stomached individuals to vomit inside their helmets.
Harken took a few steps back, away from the growing pool of blood that was already a meter and a half in diameter. "What does this mean? Why would a dead body come through?"
"If means that my worst fears are correct. Not only have we blasphemed against the gods and birthed something that should not exist in our world, but that abomination is intelligent. Did you not see its skeletal and muscle structure. That thing is a killing machine and we have taken something precious from it. Even when its memories fade as its body solidifies, I doubt it will let us be. We have made a mortal enemy which we must kill."