The castle hall, stained with the blood and corpses of the attacking Succubus assassins and castle guards, shook with a raging war. Axes and swords stained permanent red lines swung, cracking walls and cutting bones. all the while the silent daggers, traced their way into the neck and arms of their targets.
While the war in the castle halls continued to rage on, the bubbling black lines hidden through the halls bubbled out the black oozing hands of Zorbians puppets, who quietly emerged. One after another, they came out in all form and sizes with arms formed into blades and clubs, ready to kill.
A storm of footsteps quickly drew the newborn puppets attentions. They watched as a guard with several elder demons ran past their hall, completely missing them.
"
Behind him, the seven elder council members followed with swords and axes at the ready.
Suddenly, A giant dark puppet emerged in their path from the bubbling black lines. It grabbed the guard by the head and crushing his skull in its hands.
Biltrix sneered. "Tch!"
The bald demon, Krason, lunged with his giant axe, cutting the beast in half with ease. He then glared back, annoyed, watching as it regenerated its two halves together.
Pellock, along with another of the elder's, followed up, bombarding the dark puppet with a flurry of wind blades, slicing the creature to cubes and destroying it. "
"
"
"
Pellock raised his hands, conjuring a new wave of wind blades to slice the puppets. But to his shock, a strange barrier formed around the approaching group. Other elders joined in and sent attack after attack in an attempt to break through the ancient ward.
Steam soon filled the room, and the dark puppets continued their march through like walking walls of death.
From behind another wave of dark puppets emerged, filling the walls and cornering the members.
"
Biltrix Eyed the only chamber available. "
Seeing no other way out, they grimaced and glanced at each other with a growing seriousness.
"
********
Donovan ran through the streets, steeling himself as he passed corpse after corpse, with each display being even bloodier and gruesome than the last. The sound of clashing iron and agonizing screams filled the air with battles unseen by him. it was as if the entire city was being raided.
A massive fire suddenly blazed before him like a fire-breathing monster. Undeterred he hugged the corner of the building, then peeked down. He watched as several guards fought using their magic. Blades of water ripple across the streets, striking black humanoid monsters and buildings alike, all the while, balls of fire were shot into alleys in a utter panic.
The sound of slushing soon rose. Curious, Donovan glanced towards the sound, discovering one of the many black creatures, conjured by Zorbian.
It raised its sword-shaped arm and slashed at Donovan. It scratched the wall, nearly hitting Donovan.
"What the hell are you!?" He tightened his grip on his pipe. "Is this another of those illusions? No. That's not possible."
Left with no choice, Donovan shot a blaze of fire at the puppet, destroying it.
"Definitely not an illusion," Donovan remarked. "This isn't because of Kalika…. Is it?" Growing more determined Donovan dashed ahead. "Well, if anything, those things are all the more reason that I have to find her fast!"
He rushed down alleyways and roads, dashing past and through the chaos on the streets as flashes of magic erupted from corner to corner of the battle between guards and monsters. Turning the corner, a guard caught sight of Donovan.
"
Blades of air and water shot at Donovan, forcing him behind the corner. "HEY!! I'M NOT ONE OF THOSE THINGS!!"
The guards rushed to the corner, swords at the ready. "
"
Agonizing screams erupted from the two guards.
Uninterested in staying, Donovan sprinted past the two burning demons. "Don't take this personally! But I don't have time to waste on you two!"
Donovan's breathing started to strain, heaving from the growing exhaustion he was feeling. "I'm not far now!" He quickly broke into the castle plaza, discovering an all-out war between the dark puppets and city guards. The scene was bloodied and red and black across the buildings and plaza with corpses, head and limbs of the guards sprawled around like liter to street.
Even more fire flashed, and the sound of wars was so inescapable that he could practically taste the iron. He looked at the armor guards battling the puppets, suddenly feeling vulnerable at the edge of the chaos.
Unexpectedly, a guard's body crashed into the stone building beside him. Another larger dark puppet, responsible for the guards demise, leered at Donovan with its white eyes. it approached with a limped and with a blood-curdling groan, raised its club-like arm ready to strike.
"Shit!" Donovan raised his pipe and poured as much magic into it as possible. The flame quickly engulfed the monster, shocking even Donovan as it eventually evaporated into nothing.
He quickly eyed the dead guard. "I need to suit up and fast!"
Staying out of sight, he quickly dragged the guard's corpse into the deserted building.
Alone, Donovan steadied his breathing, still in subtle shock. "How is any of this possible?" He ripped the helm off the dead guard. "This is a literal invasion... Kalika's must be held up in that castle. So I need to find a way to push past all those monsters and demons without having them kill me!"
Donovan's gaze turned towards the horns on the demons. He slowly felt his face and sighed. "If only I had my mask. And without my blood blade I…" His eyes quickly lit up. He pulled from his pocket a glowing white crystal. "Or maybe I don't…"
With the crystal in hand, he pointed it at the demon's horns. "That journal I read at Cyrus's house… It said if you flatten it… L-like your squeezing with your... hands? Aannddd..." In an instant, a wind blade shot out, cutting one of the two horns. Donovan widened, pleasantly surprised. "It looks like that journal wasn't all smoke after all… I'll have to remember to read more from it later."
Donovan, with a growing curiosity, picked the horn from the side of the demon's head. "But I wonder… Will this work with fire, too?"
********
Donovan, fitted in a new suit of armor, melted away into the helm. Fusing the demon's horn and grey metal helmet. "This'll be the first time I've armor in a while. And it still feels as suffocating as I remember."
With the horns fused into the helmet, Donovan conjured water, cooling the helmet down. "And here we are." With the helmet finished, he placed it on his head. "Alright! Now to get through that Plaza!"
Donovan, with his pipe in hand, scurried to the entrance of the building and peered out. The smell of smoldering ash smacked his face.
By observing, Donovan could tell that the guards were slowly getting surrounded by the plethora of dark puppets. Magic shot and fired across the Plaza seemed to become inefficient as strange barriers protected the black goo monster.
Peering over the chaos to the castle, it seemed like it would be hours before we could reach the castle. Donovan clenched the side of the door, deep in thought. "There has to be a way to get there fast."
His eyes drew to the roof, but he quickly shook off the idea. "The last thing I need is to be flattened." Donovan immediately stood, his heart pounding a million miles as he prepared himself. "So there really is only one way that I can get there."
With a shaky hand, he mustered out his soldiers' hearts and charged in with a war cry, charging at the first unsuspecting dark puppet.
********
Donovan, young, brash, and dressed in cheap leather armor, was pushed into a warm mud. Soldiers in his platoon laughed in the warmth of the sun.
"Gah! No fair. That was a dirty trick, General!" Donovan exclaimed.
"And neither is war, Donovan." The General turned his attention to the men watching. "Remember! In war, no one plays fair! It's not a game of Honor and integrity! It's a matter of life and death! So don't play by their rules and expect your enemies to play by their own! Dismissed!"
The general glanced back at Donovan. "And Donovan, get yourself cleaned., We'll be running laps in an hour."
"Tch!" Donovan scoffed inwardly. "Like I don't know this already." He muttered,
Suddenly, another ginger-haired comrade offered a hand to Donovan. "That, take it personally, General Howard was peeved that someone stole his whetstone."
Donovan was pulled up and watched as the General kicked over a rack of swords.
"No doubt that Trevor's behind this," Donovan sighed.
"Hey, Donovan. If you don't mind me asking, why'd you join the military? You never really said anything at the first gathering, so everyone's been throwing out rumors, saying you had an affair with a family member or something."
Donovan turned away, growing silent.
"S-sorry. I probably said too much-"
"It's alright." Donovan glanced around, seeing everyone else wandering and doing their own thing. "I guess I might as well say something about it. Firstly, it has nothing to do with any affairs, although I'm sure that's what my stepmother and sisters would like to have everyone believe."
"Then why?"
"Because my father disowned me. Told me I was unworthy to inherit anything from him. My uncle tries to convince my father otherwise, but he… well, He's with Cassell now."
"I'm sorry to hear."
"Yeah. Well, after that, I didn't have much choice other than to join the army. Since my father can't completely disown me, they're hoping I die on the frontlines. Like I'd let that happen."
"That sounds rough." Donovan's soldier friend scratched the side of his cheeks, almost unsure. "Isn't there at least someone you can return to? Someone you like or even care about? Maybe a village girl?"
Donovan, with an unreadable expression, looked to the sky, admiring the clouds. He chuckled, amused by the useless attempt at comfort.
********
Donovan clenched his teeth, with the thought of his old friend's question still ringing in his head. With both hands, he channeled his magic into his pipe and smashed it into the first of the dark puppets.
In an instant, the monster disintegrated, but its death quickly drew the attention of the other dark puppets, who glued their eyes onto Donovan. "Back then, I don't think I would've cared about facing off a thousand men. H-hell even when the King of demons attack with his zombie army I was ready to die….
Dark puppets all around attack Donovan at once.
"S-so why am I so scared!?"
Acting fast, he released a burst of fire from his pipe. "S-stay away!" in an instant, the fire flattened into a blade with infinite reach, and using the chance, Donovan slashed into the army of dark puppets, burning through half its forces.
A fountain of blood erupted from his mouth, then his eyes. The fire that sliced the army around him dissipated, leaving a trail of smoke.
His head felt as though it would explode, and he found himself falling to his knees. His breathing shook as he tried to regain control of his shaking body.
As he gazed back up, he saw a group of guards staring at him with all of them on their stomachs.
Donovan toppled over, and his vision fogged as a tingling sensation rippled across his body. "Crap. No! Wh…Why can't I move mys-s-ss-s-s-" His mind blanked out. Losing all awareness o his surroundings as he was let to the mercy to the war around him.
********
Charla woke, dazed, confused, and bound. Frightened, she glanced around her surroundings, finding herself in the side of the room filled with colorful textiles and other Succubi.
"D-Donovan?' D-Donovan!!?"
"
Charla's eyes quickly darted to Kalu, who sat at the side of the room, smirking.
"
"K…Kalu?"
Kalu stood and approached Charla with a hint of elegance before grabbing Charla by the chin. "