Age Of The Red Demons

Protect the King!

"Halt! Halt!"

"Protect the king! Slay the beasts!"

The palace was in chaos! The men of the dark spies had become dark agents of the red king!

They grew fangs and claws, roared like wild beasts and attacked everyone in their way.

It seemed that the warning of the witch mother Marina had truly come late.

Over the sea on the isle of witches, the waters shook and the earth rumbled. The bats flew in unison away towards Meredith, and a wild wind blew all over the isle.

In the prophecy room, the young witches were terrified at the rain that fell and the thunder that struck.

"Mother! Mother! It rains in the room!" They flew in fear to meet their teacher.

The witch mother knew at once that the abominable had occurred.

"If the gods would have it, the royal seat of Meredith shall burn this night!" She uttered bitterly.

"His majesty?" The young witches looked around at each other in despair.

"Prepare the waters!" Marina commanded.

"Do you plan for his burial?" Asked Teresa, the second in authority.

Marina walked forward to the door of the prophecy room which had been closed shut by the young witches.

"We do not mourn in advance", she replied, pushing open the doors and revealing the fearful rain. "We are women of power, we influence the future!"

Her words put a smile on Teresa's face and together with the strong witches, and the weak ones whose hearts were strong, they marched into the prophecy room.

Everywhere they stepped on, the rain bowed.

When they were in the middle of the room, Teresa signalled to the young witch who bore the prepared water. "Kareena!"

She came forward slowly and dropped the pot on the ground which shook violently. Then they all sat around it and the enchantments began.

They say water heals, water is universal, and that through water, the world manages to evolve.

No one else knew the way of the waters anymore than the witches of the isle.

Their eyes shined white, their voices echoed in the sky, and their mother looked into the pot, demanding of the gods an alternative.

"Love! Love shall be removed and his majesty shall live! For a bad destiny to be revoked, a good one must be prevented!"

She repeated her words again, and again, and again till her voice rose higher than the chants of her sisters, and it could heard on the reach of the wizards.

"What is this I hear?" Gaz Zillus spoke, looking high to the sky from the mountains of the reach. "Who dares to do the work of the gods? Who dares to turn the hands of destiny?"

Ul Thera heard it too, and he awoke from his sleep. He was only a few villages to Arnold city now, thus he decided to rest that night in a forest.

As his eyes cleared of slumber and his ears identified the words of the witch mother, he went back to bed praying to the gods that all be well as he fell asleep again.

Back at the palace, the situation had become worse. The wild men grew wilder, and everyone they bit became like them.

The king was asleep in his chamber when the uproar had started, and he didn't awoke until the shouts had been brought to his own door.

The guards came to report the situation. "Your Majesty! It is the dark spies! They have gone crazy!"

Morrys sprang from his rest and led his men. A battle was taking place in the yards of the palace itself. A battle between mortal men and corrupted beasts.

Prince Daerys was already handling things by the time his father showed up.

He had not slept a wink all night, and Sa Tareth's book had been his companion all through the night.

Just as he finished reading the narration of the dead Sa and he returned it to its secret position, the clangs of swords met his ear.

When he rushed to the scenes with his own sword, he realized what had happened.

It was just as Sa Tareth wrote. They never should have left Zathryon at the end of the world.

He only went there to recover from his wounds and gain back his powers.

Zathryon had learnt to use magic from the wizard Ar Atuz in his past life, and with it he could use the power of those waters to conjure every soul that received his bite.

They would become demons like him to be controlled by him.

Daerys himself could feel a slight vagueness trying to take him over but he was not like those men. He could not become like them.

He was a descendant of Arnold whose blood had been made forbidden for Zathryon by the wizard Vur Acticus. Zathryon could only kill him, but could never control him.

So he was able to fight the vagueness, then he gathered the soldiers to trap the wild men. But the guards who were bitten too had turned wild.

Meanwhile, the female quarters of the royal palace was not exempted from the claws of Zathryon.

Princess Daella took charge of the situation in that respect. She gave courage to the women, assuring them of safety, and urging that they remained behind closed doors.

But as she performed her duty, she noticed the absence of her special maid.

"Where is Cynthy?" She asked the guards who stood with her.

They had no idea. Then a person was seen running in their direction.

"Halt!" The guards yelled at what seemed to be another wild person.

"Cynthy! Cynthy!" The figure screamed as a woman came into the lights.

It was Eva. "At the gallows!" She screamed, almost out of breath.

"Why is she at the gallows?"

Daella looked into the tired eyes of Eva. They shaked with extreme fear, and just behind her neck, blood gushed out slowly.

Observing the wound closely, Daella found out that there were two dark spots hiding behind the bloody neck.

"What is this on your neck, Eva?"

As Eva tried to explain, her voice was lost and she could not make a sound. Then her eyes became dark red and her face wrinkled.

Growing sharp fangs and long claws, her transformation was complete to the dismay of Daella and the guards with her.

"She's a red beast! She's one of them!"

The guards drew their swords and came at her while Daella fled away towards the gallows.

She hadn't reached the gallows when she saw Cynthy. A man was after her.

He was Vagus, the dark spy who incurred Morrys' wrath, and he was a wild beast!

Daerys was also there and he protected the maid. But as he fought Vagus, Cynthy cried.

The king was there as well and he was engulfed in the fight.

Vagus charged at Daerys, and the prince tried to cut through him, but he caught his hands midair and stared in his eyes.

Daerys was not intimidated one bit. To prove this, he pushed away the wild man forcefully. As Vagus stumbled to the back, he met his back with king Morrys who was fighting off a different beast.

Before the king could do anything, the fangs had bitten through his neck.

"Father! Stop!" Cried Cynthy to wild Vagus.

In fury, the prince rushed at the wild man and cut through his head from behind.

"Father! No!!" Cynthy rushed to her father. But it was done, she knew that there was no saving him.