2026-01-15 19:22:01Ashen turned.
Gold eyes cut through the darkness.
They locked onto Corvin and Scott like blades finding flesh.
Both brothers stopped dead.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
No sound. No fire. No wind.
Just the weight of being seen.
“Shit,” Corvin muttered.
His hand tightened around his weapon.
“It’s seen us.”
The demon stretched slowly, as though waking from a pleasant nap.
Fire gathered.
Not rushed.
Not violent.
It pooled in the air around his hands, coiling, breathing.
Scott swore under his breath.
“Move!”
The fire left Ashen’s hands in a sudden violent arc.
Scott didn’t think.
He shoved Corvin sideways with all his strength.
The blast screamed past them and struck the stone wall behind.
The impact shook the street.
Flame crawled up brick and timber, swallowing a shutter whole.
Ashen laughed.
A low, delighted sound that rolled through the smoke.
“Oh, that was close,” he said pleasantly.
Another fireball formed.
Then another.
They came fast now.
Corvin and Scott moved.
They ducked, rolled, vaulted.
Fire scorched the air above Corvin’s head as he slid across stone.
Scott flipped over a cart, flames bursting where he’d been a second earlier.
Ashen didn’t chase.
He stood in the centre of the street, cloaked, unmoving, hurling destruction with lazy flicks of his wrists.
Like a child throwing stones into a pond.
“Having fun?” Scott shouted as he sprinted past Corvin.
Ashen tilted his head.
Impossibly calm.
“Oh,” he replied. “Immensely.”
Another blast.
Corvin ran up a wall, kicked off, twisted mid-air.
Fire exploded where his feet had been.
They kept moving.
Always moving.
Too close to die.
Too far to strike.
Then they leapt back together, skidding to a halt just beyond Ashen’s reach.
The demon stopped.
Fire faded.
Smoke curled lazily around him.
His face remained hidden beneath the hood, darkness swallowing every feature but the faint glint of gold beneath.
Corvin glanced sideways.
Scott was grinning.
Breathless.
Blood on his lip.
“Just like old times?” Scott said.
Corvin smiled back.
A sharp, dangerous thing.
“Just like old times.”
They ran.
Together.
Ashen’s grin widened beneath the hood.
Fire bloomed again.
He hurled it.
They dodged.
Scott vaulted off Corvin’s back, flipping clean over a blast that tore through the street below.
Corvin slid beneath another, blades flashing as he rolled to his feet.
They moved like they’d been born into the same breath.
Scott sprinted ahead, then planted his foot against Corvin’s thigh.
Corvin boosted him upward.
Scott soared.
Shadow wrapped his fist as he descended, eyes locked on the demon’s head.
Ashen looked up.
Too late.
He raised a hand to block—
And Corvin struck.
A brutal upward punch into Ashen’s stomach.
The impact drove the breath from him.
He stumbled back a step.
Then another.
Ashen snarled.
Not in pain.
In irritation.
This body was weak.
Fragile.
In his true form, that blow wouldn’t have registered.
Here, it mattered.
Corvin and Scott landed together.
Weapons came out.
Twin daggers gleamed in Corvin’s hands.
Scott flexed his fingers, shadows coiling around his arms.
Their sigils flared brighter, burning through cloth and skin alike.
They weren’t smiling now.
They knew what he was.
Ashen straightened slowly.
Then smiled.
He beckoned.
“Come on, then.”
They lunged.
Fast.
Relentless.
Steel and shadow cut through the air.
Ashen moved.
Left.
Right.
Back.
Forward.
He let attacks skim past his cloak by inches.
Blocked when necessary.
Dodged when bored.
Never rushed.
Never panicked.
Corvin adjusted.
Scott mirrored.
They pressed him harder.
Faster.
Corvin threw a dagger.
Ashen caught it.
At the same time, Corvin drove in, fist swinging.
Ashen caught his hand too.
Held both effortlessly.
Then kicked.
Soft.
Precise.
Corvin flew.
He hit the ground hard and skidded, coughing blood.
“Corvin!” Scott yelled.
He charged.
A flurry of blows.
Shadowed fists slammed into Ashen’s guard.
Ashen blocked every one.
Then punched.
Scott followed Corvin across the street, crashing into stone.
They groaned as they pushed themselves upright.
Blood streaked their mouths.
Their sigils burned brighter still.
“Let’s end this bastard,” Corvin said hoarsely.
Scott wiped his mouth and grinned.
“You read my mind.”
They ran again.
Ashen lifted a hand—
Then froze.
Something shifted inside him.
A pull.
A pressure.
No.
His breath hitched.
Lumi.
Waking up.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” Ashen hissed.
Not now.
Not here.
If they saw the truth—
If they realised—
They’d kill the boy without hesitation.
Ashen blocked Corvin’s blade.
Blocked Scott’s strike.
Then turned.
He ran.
Straight through them.
They reacted instantly.
Both brothers pivoted, caught him mid-stride.
Two kicks slammed into his side.
Ashen crashed back, boots scraping stone.
He snarled.
Enough.
Fire roared.
Not playful now.
Not artistic.
He hurled it at Scott.
The blast struck square.
Scott screamed.
His body hit the wall hard and dropped.
Didn’t move.
Corvin’s heart lurched.
“Scott!”
Ashen didn’t wait.
He turned and ran.
Corvin grabbed his leg.
Fingers digging into fabric.
“This ends here!” Corvin snarled.
Ashen twisted.
Forced himself free.
Pain lanced through him.
He leapt.
Fire exploded beneath his feet.
He took to the air, cloak snapping violently as he vanished into the night.
Silence crashed down.
Corvin stared at his hand.
Black fabric.
Torn.
Clutched tight in his fist.
He spun.
Ran.
Dropped to his knees beside Scott.
Scott groaned weakly.
Smoke curled from his clothes.
His breathing was ragged.
“Did we… get him?” Scott whispered.
Corvin shook his head.
“He got away.”
Samster_xPlease drop a review if you’ve liked the story so far as this will motivate me to post updates faster.
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14
Corvin opened his eyes slowly.The room was dark. Still.Then he saw a shape standing over his bed.Grinning.Corvin jolted upright with a sharp inhale, hand already reaching for the dagger beneath his pillow.“Scott!” he hissed. “What the hell is wrong with you?”Scott didn’t move.Didn’t stop smiling.“Many things,” he said cheerfully. “But who’s counting?”Corvin scrubbed a hand down his face and groaned.“Is it time already? I thought we agreed we’d go tomorrow.”“Time waits for no one,” Scott replied. “Let’s move.”Corvin swung his legs out of bed, already awake now. He grabbed a jacket from the chair, shrugged it on, and tightened the straps around his forearms.“Alright,” he muttered. “Let’s go.”They slipped into the corridor like shadows.The mansion slept, but never deeply. The faint hum of wards lingered in the air, a soft pressure against the skin.Scott led the way.They moved when the light flickered.Paused when footsteps echoed.A pair of hunters passed at the far end
13
The study door shut behind them with a heavy thud.Books lined the walls from floor to ceiling, old leather and older dust. A single lamp burned on the desk, its light catching the sharp angles of their father’s face as he looked up.“What happened,” he said.Not a question.Corvin stood straight.Scott leaned more heavily on his bad leg than he’d admit.“We encountered the demon,” Corvin said. “High-tier. Fire-based. It ambushed us in the city.”Their father’s eyes flicked to Scott.“Injured.”Scott lifted his chin. “Nothing permanent.”“That is not the point,” their father snapped.He rose from his chair.Slowly.Each step deliberate as he came around the desk.“You sensed a high-tier demon,” he said. “Confirmed it. And instead of calling for backup, you engaged.”“We had an opening—” Corvin began.“You had arrogance,” their father cut in. “And luck. That is not a strategy.”He stopped in front of them.“Do you have any idea what could have happened if it had decided to stop playing
12
Ashen tore through the night sky.Wind screamed past his ears, cloak snapping violently behind him as the city shrank below. Fires still burned where he’d left them, small angry stars scattered across stone and slate.He didn’t look back.He couldn’t.The pull inside him grew stronger with every heartbeat.Lumi was waking.Too soon.Ashen bared his teeth and pushed harder, fire flaring beneath his feet as he cut through the darkness like a falling star.The estate rose ahead.Tall.Silent.Too close for comfort.“Move,” he growled, more to himself than the world.He angled sharply, diving.The window came up fast.Ashen smashed through it in a burst of glass and cold air and hit the floor hard, rolling once before slamming into the side of the bed.He lay there for a second, chest heaving.Then forced himself upright.No time.He climbed onto the bed and lay flat, staring at the ceiling as dawn’s first light began to creep through the broken window.A controlled breath in.Another out
11
Ashen turned.Gold eyes cut through the darkness.They locked onto Corvin and Scott like blades finding flesh.Both brothers stopped dead.For a heartbeat, no one moved.No sound. No fire. No wind.Just the weight of being seen.“Shit,” Corvin muttered.His hand tightened around his weapon.“It’s seen us.”The demon stretched slowly, as though waking from a pleasant nap.Fire gathered.Not rushed.Not violent.It pooled in the air around his hands, coiling, breathing.Scott swore under his breath.“Move!”The fire left Ashen’s hands in a sudden violent arc.Scott didn’t think.He shoved Corvin sideways with all his strength.The blast screamed past them and struck the stone wall behind.The impact shook the street.Flame crawled up brick and timber, swallowing a shutter whole.Ashen laughed.A low, delighted sound that rolled through the smoke.“Oh, that was close,” he said pleasantly.Another fireball formed.Then another.They came fast now.Corvin and Scott moved.They ducked, roll
10
Ashen stared at his reflection.The mirror in Lumi’s room was tall and narrow, framed in dark wood, its surface slightly warped with age. Candlelight flickered across it, bending the image just enough to make it feel unreal.He tilted his head.So this was it.A human body.Largely intact.Largely disappointing.He lifted a hand and studied it closely. Pale skin. Long fingers. The nails had darkened slightly, tapering into sharper points than Lumi’s ever had, but nothing dramatic. No claws. No scales. No exposed infernal markings.“Tch.”His eyes were the only immediate giveaway.Dark gold.Not glowing. Not flaring.Just… wrong.Predatory.Ancient.Horns curved from his temples, smooth and black, arcing backward along his skull. Not massive. Not regal. Smaller than his true form.But serviceable.Ashen leaned closer to the mirror and grinned.The grin didn’t belong to Lumi.It was too sharp. Too knowing.“Well,” he murmured, his thicker voice rolling comfortably off borrowed vocal cor
9
Smoke rose in thick, curling plumes ahead of them. Corvin noticed it first. He slowed, brow furrowing, eyes lifting toward the dark smear staining the sky. “I told you not to follow me,” Scott said, glancing sideways. “You were hurt badly.” “I’m perfectly fine,” Corvin replied, not breaking stride. “Oh really?” Scott said. He stepped closer and drove a playful fist straight into Corvin’s stomach. The impact sent a sharp, blinding jolt through Corvin’s ribs. Pain exploded. Corvin doubled over with a hiss. “You—” he snarled. Scott was already running. Laughing. Corvin straightened with a growl and took off after him, boots pounding against the dirt road as they chased each other like children instead of hunters. “Get back here!” Corvin snapped. Scott glanced over his shoulder, grin wide— And stopped dead. So did Corvin. The air changed. Heat rolled toward them in suffocating waves. The scent hit next. Burnt grass. Char. Smoke thick enough to sting the eyes. They turn
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