• Chapter Three

    tab The Dark One sat on his throne in the dark and solemn room. He was lost in thought, contemplating which town he would take more souls from. The castle in which he lived in loomed over all of Canae. It's menacing towers and eerie statues struck fear into the hearts of anyone who would look at it. It had been that way ever since he took over Canae.
    tab A terrified scream somewhere deep in the castle broke the silence, echoing across the stone walls. The Dark One's concentration was not broken, for he found these ocassional shrieks of terror quite soothing. The pain that the mortals suffer as they transform into his demonic servants was the only thing that he truely enjoyed. He felt no remorse as he watched their bodies deteriorate. He was a heartless killer who wasn't human, but not fully demonic.
    tab Just then one of his guards materialized out of thin air in front of him, it's blank, soulless eyes staring into nothingness. It opened its mouth and let out a shrill cry that could've made a human deaf. Only The Dark One could understand it.
    tab "They have chosen," it had said. The Dark One felt uneasy. He knew what would happen if the mortal the gods had chosen was not eliminated. He would be overthrown and destroyed.
    tab "Who is it?" he demanded.
    tab "An eighteen-year-old living in Slynia with her brother," the demon answered. "Her name," it continued, "is Kialla."


    tab I awoke the next morning, still dazed from the dream. It was almost time for work. I got dressed and quickly checked the mirror to see if i was presentable. Besides the fact that my jet black hair, which hung down to my waist, needed combing, I looked tidy enough to be seen outside. Then I noticed an unusual mark on my neck in the shape of a star. It wasn't there last night. I decided to disregard it since I was going to be late for work.
    tab Cobi and I started heading to the shop to start the day. But as soon as we walked out the door, I almost got run over by a stampede of people. Luckily, Cobi stopped me before I got hurt. He pulled me back into the house and shut the door. His expression was grim as he literally dragged me out the back door.
    tab "What are you doing? And what are all those people running away from?" I asked, struggling to break free from his grip. We heard a shrill cry and terrified screaming. Fear took over as I realized what was happening. It was just like that nightmare ten years ago. I stopped resisting and ran faster as we made our way through the back alley.
    tab More cries and screams could be heard as we ran as fast as we could. I tried to fight back the tears welling up in my eyes. How long would we have to keep running before the killing would stop? How long was The Dark One planning to take innocent souls to serve as his army? How long before the chaos would finally stop?
    tab We were almost out of the city now. I could see the wall that bordered the city, and the raised wrought-iron gate that let the terrified civilians through. I was sure that we were going to make it. Just then, a large shadow fell over me and I was knocked down. I tried to get up, but the demon held me down. It bared its teeth at me as it lunged at my head. But before it could kill me, Cobi sliced it in half with a sword he was carrying. As I stood up, three more demons materialized. Cobi raised his sword in a defensive position. The demon closest to him let out a deafening sound. The sword shattered into a million pieces before my eyes.
    tab Defenseless, we backed away from them, trying to get as far away as possible. They were too quick for us though. The closest one lunged for me and the others followed. I thought for sure that I was going to die. I closed my eyes, waiting for them to kill me.
    tab I then heard what sounded like three gunshots. I opened my eyes and saw the three demons lying on the ground dead. I stood there staring at how easily they were killed. While I stared like an idiot, something silver caught my eye.
    tab "Ryuu!" I shouted as I realized who had saved my life, again.
    tab "You have knack for getting into trouble," he said with a cocky smile.
    tab "Save the chit chat for later," said Cobi. I'd completely forgotten he was there.
    tab "Right," Ryuu agreed, "We need to get out of the city."
    tab With that we hurried towards the gate. It was starting to close now. If we didn't make it in time we would be trapped in a city full of demons. I ran as fast as I could, my legs burning from exhaustion. The gate was almost closed now. Just a little further. I ran faster and faster, growing more tired by the second. But it was too late. The gate had completely closed and I crashed into the iron bars. I ached all over, my head spinning as I tried to stand up. There was no way out now. We were trapped in a city full of demons.