Demonbound

3

“Enter.”

The word was barely spoken when the door opened.

Lumi looked up.

The boy from the trial stepped inside.

Pale hair. Dark eyes. That same lazy smile—like everything around him was slightly beneath his attention. The necrotic sigil curled faintly along his forearm, black lines shifting as if alive.

Lumi’s stomach dropped.

His father didn’t react.

“This,” the Calder patriarch said calmly, “is the one who will be taking you to the Blackwell estate.”

Lumi stared. “Him?”

The boy tilted his head, amused. “Miss me?”

Lumi stepped forward. “Father, please—”

“You’ve been reassigned,” his father continued, as if Lumi hadn’t spoken. “You’ll serve the Blackwells effective immediately.”

“I can stay,” Lumi said desperately. “I’ll train harder. I’ll—”

“Pack your things,” his father said.

No anger. No hesitation.

Just finality.

“I’m still your son,” Lumi said, voice breaking. “You can’t just—”

“Silence. I’m not having this conversation anymore.” His father said, turning away.

The boy clapped his hands softly. “Right. That settles that.”

Lumi stood frozen.

“Move,” the boy said lightly. “We’ve got a drive ahead of us.”

---

They left the estate in silence.

Lumi carried a single bag.

No one stopped them.

As they passed through the courtyard, he saw his siblings.

Elvis stood with his arms crossed, gaze fixed ahead. Mireya didn’t bother looking at him. Marcus shifted, uncomfortable, then looked away.

Jonah met his eyes.

For half a second.

Then even that was gone.

The gates opened.

They closed behind him and with that, he said goodbye to the Calder estate and the life he had led all this time.

---

The road stretched long and empty.

No other cars. No light. Just asphalt cutting through fields and low hills, the sky dimming toward evening. The driver didn’t speak. The engine hummed steadily.

The boy lounged in the back seat beside Lumi, one arm draped casually along the door.

“So,” he said. “Welcome to the real world.”

Lumi said nothing.

“Oh, come on,” the boy continued. “You’re quieter than I expected. Thought Calders were all fire and noise.”

“I’m not a Calder anymore,” Lumi muttered.

The boy smirked. “That’s one way to look at it.”

Lumi did not get a chance to reply when the car suddenly jolted.

A heavy thud slammed into the front end.

Metal screamed.

The world flipped.

Glass shattered.

Lumi was thrown sideways as the car spun, rolling once—twice—before slamming onto its side and skidding to a halt.

Silence followed.

Broken only by the ticking of cooling metal.

Lumi groaned, pushing himself upright. His head rang, but nothing felt broken.

“Ouch,” The boy cracked his neck. “Well. That’s inconvenient.”

The driver swore under his breath and kicked the door open.

They stepped out into the road.

Still empty.

Still quiet.

Then Lumi saw it.

A creature stood in the middle of the asphalt.

Tall. Broad. Massive.

Red skin stretched tight over bulging muscle. Thick horns curled back from its skull, cracked and ridged like burnt stone. Its eyes glowed a dull amber, pupils slit and predatory. Black veins pulsed beneath its skin.

Its chest rose and fell slowly.

Patient.

“What… is that?” Lumi whispered.

The boy whistled. “That’s a demon.”

Lumi’s heart hammered. “You’ve… seen these before?”

The boy glanced at him. “You haven’t?”

Then he laughed. “Right. I forgot. Your family never let you follow them on hunts.”

“In the real world,” he continued casually, “we see these a lot. That’s why the Sepulchre Order exists.”

“What’s the Sepulchre Order?” Lumi asked.

The demon roared.

It ripped a light pole from the roadside and hurled it.

“Move!”

The boy shoved Lumi aside.

The pole smashed into the road where Lumi had stood, concrete exploding outward.

The boy rolled to his feet, daggers already in his hands—black blades etched with faint sigils.

“You’ve never heard of the Order?” he said, grinning. “In that case, allow me to teach you what your family never bothered you with because you’re a…”

He crouched.

“…useless, sigil-less son.”

Then he ran.

The demon charged.

The world blurred into motion.

The demon swung another pole. The boy ducked, slid, and vaulted over the arc of metal, boots barely touching the ground. Debris flew as the pole smashed down.

Another throw.

The boy leapt, twisted mid-air, landed in a roll, and sprang up again, laughing.

“Too slow!”

The demon roared and lunged.

A massive fist swung.

The boy twisted aside, the punch missing his head by inches, the shockwave cracking the road behind him. He darted in close and drove a dagger into the demon’s side.

Black blood sprayed.

The demon howled and backhanded him.

The boy flipped backward, barely avoiding the blow, landing hard but upright.

“Lesson one,” he called. “Never let them corner you.”

The demon grabbed a chunk of asphalt and hurled it.

The boy sprinted, leapt, ran up the side of the wrecked car, flipped off the roof, and landed behind the demon.

He slashed.

The blade bit deep.

The demon staggered, swinging wildly.

The boy ducked, spun, slid between its legs, and came up behind it again.

“Lesson two,” he said, breathless but smiling. “They hit hard. Not smart.”

The demon turned too slowly.

The boy leapt.

Both daggers flashed.

He landed behind it.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the demon’s head slid free.

It hit the road and rolled.

The body collapsed.

Black blood pooled and steamed.

Silence returned.

Lumi stood frozen.

The boy wiped his blades on the demon’s hide and sheathed them.

“Lesson three,” he said lightly. “Always go for the head.”

The driver stepped into the fading light, surveyed the wrecked car, and sighed.

The boy grinned.

“Well,” he said, clapping Lumi on the shoulder. “Looks like we’re walking the rest of the way.”

He extended a hand.

“Oh. Name’s Corvin Blackwell.”

Lumi stared at the demon’s corpse.

At the blood.

At the empty road stretching ahead.

Then replied. “Lumi.”