(Authors Note: Seems i have a thing for Red heads? What you learn about yourself as you write. Also i was able to write this chapter thanks to Manclank8 who recommended some music for me, most of this was written listening to Two Steps From Hell - Eternal Sorrow so you can choose to listen to that as you read.)

Tyler POV

I found out from Alexander this morning that there were different types of Knights, and amongst them different levels, it seems that although Alexander is sworn to me he isnt a Knight simply 'My Man'

When i asked him he explained that although he was previously a Knight he wasnt a Knight, it was more of a title from being a part of the millitary troop he was registered to, but the Knights themselves are either of the Crown or the Sword, those of the Crown are mainly Nobility or anyone with a Commanding Title, but those of the Sword are the sort of Knights you'd think would be in a fantasy world, the sort who go looking for trouble and are usually skilled enough to survive it

To become a Knight of the Crown simply requires a Landowner to declare you as a Knight, but to become one of the Sword you must have certain qualities and be Knighted by a Knight of the Sword with people present to bear witness of your oath

Regardless of whether a Knight is of Crown or Sword there are different levels to them, namely the number of times Knighted

For Example, the King before being Crowned would be Knighted by all of the Nobility, it is essentially a Formality but it makes him a Knight Twelve Sworn, twelve being the Number of Noble lands there are in this Kingdom, The King is also the only person who is allowed to being a Knight of Crown with Twelve Oaths. The Knights of Sword require valor for any of their Oaths to be administered, if it is seen that the other party is a Knight it would require completing a much more difficult task of Valor and displaying Nobility of Character for the other party to chose to swear you as such, members of the Kings Guard are all at least Knights Sixth Sworn with every Oath being earned by their own actions

Being a Knight does not however grant any special previlleges aside from it being a position of Minor Nobility which would allow the bearer claim lands for himself the size of which depends on the Number of Oaths he's taken, generally Knights of Crown are granted Lands much larger than those of Sword are allowed to claim for themselves except where the Knight of Crown is set to inherit then he would simply bear the Right to Inherit

So although Alexander is my man, except i become a King or Ruler and Grant Knighthood to him or he goes off on a Journey of Self and Does Acts of Notable valour to be granted the title he wont be a Knight.

By the way, it seems that granting a Sword is actually an act of notable significance to a Knight, even when done casually should they accept your sword then it will be their main blade and they will be sworn to your service without the need for fancy words and ceremonies

Seems like i thoroughly made a fool of myself with that oath stuff i did before.

On the other side, Vali hasnt been going out as much, he said that the Guard left for their Journey to wherever they were headed, Alexander hunted a bunch of Wolves outside the Wall and sold their pelts for a reasonable sum, it seems like the Pack leaders were direwolves, a male and a female who was pregnant, it seems their direwolf pack was dead and they needed somewhere safe for her to put to birth, so they took control of the pack, Alexander hunted them down, i now have a direwolf cloak, so does he, Vali now has a Wolf cloak, so does Ishtar

It bugs me that i'm playing with pups while wearing their parents. They seem to like me more for it though.

“Pale though her eyes,

her lips are scarlet

from drinking of blood,

this child, this harlot

born of the night

and her heart, of darkness,

evil incarnate

to dance so reckless,

dreaming of blood,

her fangs—white—baring,

revealing her lust,

and her eyes, pale, staring ...”

(I didnt write this poem, copied it online.)

The darkness stirred, all around was barren land, rocks, fire, brimstone, and Thunder.

This place was Al-Gozul Movuleth one of the great forbidden lands of the Abyss, a place that was so Evil even Demons aside from the strongest of them dared not enter the place.

But in this forbidden land stood what appeared to be a beautiful woman, light red hair (to be honest just use that picture as her aight?) that appeared raven black in the light of Movuleth, her skin pale and flush with blood in it, she did not struggle to breath in this atmosphere of brimstone and sulphur, and if one looked close enough they would see that she was not breathing at all, but most would fail to notice as they would be drawn into her green eyes, were this not the abyss one would think her just a beautiful girl

But this is the abyss

Nothing here is truly as it seems

This seemingly innocent girl was Henrah, a demon. Last born of the Greater Demon Lillith, her Father is unknown but could be anybody from an Angel Lillith had seduced to a Farmer she took fancy to. With Demons all but forgotten in the Mortal Realms now many do not know her but this Demon in Older times was known, feared and worshipped by many as the Owner of Night, with she and her hordes of blood sucking children rampaging the Lands. But now as all Demons and a Few Gods, she is sealed, but if her Mark is right then she may walk the Lands again very soon.

She had heard the voice of one of the mortals calling out to her in the manner she was used to before the great ritual, and she had answered directing him and manipulating him, giving promises of Immortallity, Wealth, Power, and even Love all to goad him. She had come this far to prevent anyone else from interfereing with her summoning and hitching a ride, she had given him all the information he needed to call her meaning now all she had to do was wait.

She was a Demon

She was good as Waiting.

Canon Fodder POV(Author Note: He's gonna die, why name him?)

Inside the Forests of North-Hold

He rummaged through what was left in the bag as he examined the runes he had drawn on the ground. For an ancient demon the materials needed to summon her were quite common place, but maybe as is he theory the materials arent the impetus themselves but simply a symbolic gesture to guide her to this plane.

It had been three years since he came to this other world, he had been a genuis, the Youngest Professor to ever Lecturer at MIT, he had been a guest Lecturer at Havard, Browns, Cal-Tech and other Universities in a diversity of Countries. He spoke Twelve Languages ranging from Ancient Egypt to Korean, he had Eight PhDs, Steven Hawking had once admitted a massive inferiority to his intellect and all of that had been taken away from him suddenly one day when he had tested his Instantaneous Departiculation Transmutation Transition Relocation and Reparticulation Chamber, although his assistant had adviced him to wait and run the numbers and theories by his colleagues he had refused and sacked the incompetent fool on the spot, what could they have to offer that he hadnt already taken into account with his genius? So he proceeded with the experiment and had ended up here, no doubt by the fault of that foolish assistant who would have made a mistake and messed up the precise numberings he had made, he should have known better than to trust the fool's abilities when he returned he would take care not to make use of such fools again, the magic he had learned should help him advance the course of his science and his reputation fairly well, the only thing left was to find a way to halt his aging, and he had, while examining an ancient ruin full of nothing but skeletons he had found a set of magical wardings which he ignored as he identified the conditions to be that nothing born in the world should open it, the maker was obviously foolish he should have set it to simply be that nothing can open it or destroy the item entirely, but since it has advanced his own causes as a man not born on this world he shall halt complaint

With a little study he identified the demon he needed and after taking considerable care even for one of his intellect, he has decided to summon her, the Mother of Vampires and the only being of such power known to carelessly grant such immortality cheaply, as a precaution he was preparing another portal simultaneously, the one that would take him back to Earth.

So what if the books he had consulted had warned against it? So what if it claimed that such practice would cause interception in the Portal? Did they know of the might of his intellect and prowess? If anybody could succeed where othere had failed it was him.

So he continued to prepare, the moment it was complete he would activate it.

Regus, Lord Commander of The King's Guard

We left North-Hold a few weeks ago and proceeded to the mages keep, when we arrived we faced no resistance and found most of the active guardians dead, some of the men activated the magical traps by accident which caused us no small number of casualties, it seems like someone had been through here, someone incredibly skilled or powerful, or maybe both, but fortunately hadnt taken anything, unfortunately there was nothing there which pointed to the queens sickness.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

We recovered anything useful we could take without causing more Deaths amongst us and started the Journey back with whoever had survived. When we reach North-Hold i plan on taking the boy with me, after getting permission from his parents ofcourse, maybe the boy could get Knighted, he's skilled enough an young enough, with some training he could be the first of the Guard to become Knights, our King only believes in Knights of the Sword and wont shame us with a title of Crown, but because we are always by his side we dont have any acts of great nobility under our belt, but the lad is young enough to still be wild and come back to join us as a Knight.

The freezing chill bit against faces as we struggled foward, but even in the dismal weather and with the thoughts in his head, he couldnt help the sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach.

Tyler POV

I now know what the black spots on peoples energy is.

During this week i've been observing them, watching it spread and contaminate their energy even more, and today i saw a man go Mad once he was completely consumed by it, though i saw a smaller spark within him trapped trying to fight its way out but within minutes it was suppressed and unable to fight as it was trapped watching him crush what i think was a baby in his hands, gouge the eyes out of his wife beside him and strangle her, people were able to kill him before he hurt anyone else, but inside him i saw the small spark lose its light in what i think was grief and despair causing the darkness that had consumed him to grow even stronger

I was shocked for a long time at the events and stood staring at his body and saw the darkness bleed back into the ground where it was 'washed' by the energy in the ground until none of it was left

(Although i describe it as blackness, it isnt black it actually looks like a corruption but as i do not know how else to describe it i say black, but think black as emptiness rather than color)

As we stood there i heard something that sounded incredibly familliar, it was a car honk coming from within the forest the only reason i heard it was my enhanced hearing, but even if i hadnt heard it i would have felt it the next minute, it was coming from the direction Ishtar and Vali had wandered to and after a second of my turning my head to its direction had spread out to cover the enitre town, i could see peoples energy which i now believe to be their sould drain from their bodies, i saw the ground drained of its energy as plants died and the ground lost its luster, enchantments faded as walls and items crumbled, my staff protected me from the effects of the drain, terrified i rushed towards the direction, maybe i could save Vali and Ishtar with my staff, but to be honest i'm sure my lack of vision contributed to it because i didnt see that all around me where once stood a Town large enough to be an entire Kingdom on Earth was now nothing but black soil

I reached the nexus of the explosion and found Vali's energy on the ground struggling while massive amounts of Darkness tried to consume him pouring inside his eyes, nose and mouth, in his hand i saw the Sword i had given him clutched tightly even as it dug into his skin in the frostbite that appeard once the enchanted walls of North-Hold had fallen, standing next to him was a female figure that seemed to be crushing something in her hands, she glanced at me as soon as i appeared and charged me with blinding speed before i could even process the information of Vali being on the ground

My staff reacted, even though i was too shocked to react on my own, it set up a barrier around me which blocked off her initial charge, suprised she charged again with more force and pressed against the barrier which soon began to strain under the effort, it tried to collect energy from the world around but i was out of luck as the initial drain had claimed everything to be claimed, without energy to back up its power the barrier soon shattered breaking my staff which transformed back into energy and flowed back in me, it was now far less than what i had used to create it and what it contained before, but it was energy i had access to, my rod flew in front of me as the barrier broke, it had flown towards me out of the rubble from the moment my staff had created a barrier and had just arrived in the nick of time to try and counter the charge with an attack of its own, the attack failed as the female figure put more force into her hand and the rod shattered back into energy which flowed back into me, but before i could draw on it to defend myself she had her arms around me and bit into my neck, i felt a slight drain as i lost blood and a large amount of my soul energy but i felt my energy flare up as my energy vision cut off to supply more power, i felt my energy instinctive rush into her crumbling her defenses and rip her own soul, energy and essence into me to fill up the exact amount which she had drained even as it bolstered the parts of me she had claimed inside her, i felt her stiffen even as she pushed me away to stop the drain but it was already done, i had half of her in me, and she had eaten half of me

Then Came the Pain

Whenever i had been in pain before it was simply of the body, and no matter how excrutiating it had been it wasnt even close to what i was feeling now which came from the depths of my soul, i felt it being attacked and eroded by hers but my energy flared up again and started diluting both souls until it started to mix together at which point i felt a connection outside my body which felt as much me as i felt to myself but wasnt me, i felt pain, anger, frustration, rage, hate, and fear coming from it, the strongest feeling being fear

For some reason i couldnt help but ignore my own pain when i felt that fear, so i ignored my pain as best i could and reached out through the connection as best i could to comfort the connection that everything was going to be okay, i was already in too much pain to think but my actions were more of instinct than choice, like how you can't help but ask if everything is okay when you see a sad person

From the connection i felt shock, then anger flared up and it was closed to me, but my reaching out having been instinctive i still kept on pushing reassurance through and soon the connection opened up again, it was at this point i passed out.

I woke up at sunset to an itching all over my body, I opened my eyes and jumped up to look around me as the events preceeding my fainting came to me, I was shocked when i realized i could see again, and was still shocked again when i saw the extent of devastation that had wrecked the town, gone was the proud structures of memory, all that remained was black earth, a few steps away from me stood Ishtar looking older that i remembered her from before i was blind, where she was once a young girl in her teens now she was a woman in her twenties(without the freckles), i looked around and saw that she sat next to an emaciated figure whose neck was crushed while i was close to Vali where i had been before i passed out, he was still on the ground struggling with the shadows but his grip on the sword had weakened

She spoke to me once i moved drawing my attention back to her at which point i realised she was the one who had attacked me

“I sense you care for the boy, he will die. There is nothing but to be consumed by the darkness.”

Her voice was unlike what i remembered of Ishtar's, but before i could ask she preempted me

“I am not the girl, she was dead and her form was the most suitable nearby, she was probably an incarnation of a mortal aspect of me, as we are now bound you may call me Henrah.”

I heard her words without feeling the impact as i rushed to Vali's side, but then her words hit and i realised what they meant for him, once again i tried to draw on the familiar energy but found it spread out in my body out of my control, with the other half of it disappearing along the connection i had been ignoring

Realising there was nothing i could do to help i turned to this Henrah for help, she shook her head at me and along our connection i could feel confusion, curiosity, and somewhere deep and slight there was honesty

I held him in my arms as she spoke up again

“He is strong but the darkness is stronger, It will soon consume him and there will be nothing left, neither body nor soul, if he is consumed then there will be no soul to fade.”

Within the words she offered and by our connection i understood what she meant, I could feel that by offering that she was trying to be helpful but what she had said caused more pain than relief and help

I stayed with him trying to somfort him for hours, she stayed watching an observing me for hours, i was hoping for a miracle, but her words burned like salt and ice against me

“He cannot hold much longer, What will you do?”

If i left him the darkness would consume him, but if i didnt then i would have to............

Reaching into a part of me i wasnt sure i had, i felt a coldness similar to what Henrah felt like fill me, i felt it suffuse me stopping the worry and giving me strength to do what was needed, i felt my heart go cold and only then did i notice it wasnt beating but i ignored that and focused on what i had to do, I reached down and whispered into his ears assuring him everything was going to be okay, i held his head in my hands and kissed his forhead.

Then i snapped his neck.