Author's Notes: Hello there! This'll be a loooong, multi-chaptered story, and a bit different than my previous ones:) It's maybe a little darker and less humorous, but I hope you'll still like it. I'd write a decent summary, but unfortunately that would spoil the plot:) BUT if I get reviews I'll be encouraged and I'll surely be able to put up the first chapter in no time! Criticism is also welcome, as long as it's constructive - even the slightest advice helps me a lot, so don't hesitate, tell me what you think about this!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything! *bursts into tears*

EDIT: The mistakes in this have been corrected by my beta, The Toe of Sauron. A thousand thanks! I've no idea what I'd do without you.

Prologue

'And in the deepest abyss of the Sea of Chaos emptiness resides; colder than the coldest ice, darker than the darkest night, endless like the Sea itself. From that emptiness She created her hounds, the seven Urgaloki…'

Xelloss frowned; he'd never heard of this legend. He put the manuscript he was reading down and gazed out of the window, at the azure-blue sea. He was sitting at a table in the huge library of Wolf Pack Island. It was late in the afternoon and the sun outside was dipping towards the horizon, creating a golden reflection on the water and turning the clouds magnificent shades of red and orange. The island was quiet and peaceful, definitely not a place one would imagine as the home of thousands of mazoku.

He yawned and turned back to his work. He had no idea why his Mistress wanted him to study this ancient story but she had said he had to finish it before sunset. That was why he was wasting his precious time there in spite of the many things he would have to do. But she had commanded it and so he wouldn't complain.

He sensed a presence on the Astral Plane and a moment later, an underling appeared in front of him. He raised an eyebrow and opened his eyes. You'd better have a good reason for disturbing me, his gaze said. The lesser demon trembled, fear clearly written on its face. "The Mistress sent me, my Lord" it said in a shaking voice. "She orders you to stop what you're doing and meet her in the main casting chamber."

Xelloss frowned. What could be so urgent?

"Thank you," he said. "You're dismissed." The messenger didn't have to be told twice: it disappeared immediately. A small smile appeared on Xelloss' face; there was only one person in the world —his mistress and the two remaining Retainers aside— who wasn't afraid of him when he looked at her like that.

Perhaps, he mused, I should seek her out when I have some free time.

He stood, leaving the manuscript on the table with his astral signature imprinted on it to keep anyone from disturbing it, and teleported into the corridor outside the main casting chamber (or the Big Sphere, as it was commonly called). The huge gate was wide open and, as he glanced in, he saw that the torches on the walls were already lit. What spell could the Mistress want him to cast?

He stepped into the chamber. It wasn't called a sphere for nothing: it was round, built like a dome. The light of the torches didn't reach the top of it, the curved walls fading into darkness. A large pentagram covered almost the entire floor, but it wasn't active, so he stepped inside, walking into the center of the chamber.

"Mistress?" he called, turning around. There was no one in the room.

Xelloss frowned. If that pathetic little maggot sent me to the wrong place, I—

His thoughts were interrupted by a flash of light as the pentagram around him suddenly lit up. Someone had cast the activating spell. What the…

Before he could move, a spell of immense power hit him on the Astral Plane, enveloping and paralyzing him. Enormous pain ripped through his body and he collapsed with a loud cry in the middle of the glowing pentagram. He felt the chamber spinning around him as the swirling energy captured his astral body, preventing him from escaping. He tried to fight it, but to no avail. It was then that he noticed the woman standing at the gate.

If he'd had a heart, it would have stopped. "Mistress?" he whispered. It couldn't be her… and yet he would have recognized her aura from halfway across the world. "Why?"

Zelas Metallium stepped closer, almost to the edge of the pentagram.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"But…" Xelloss managed to pull himself together. "Is this some kind of punishment?"

"No." The Beastmaster knelt down to be closer to his eye-level. "I just want to protect you. I hope you'll understand in time."

"Protect me? From what?"

Zelas gave him a sad smile. "I have to do something and I'm afraid you'll try to help me if I don't lock you up. As soon as it's over, I'll come and release you."

"But—"

"Sssh. This will hurt a little."

Xelloss screamed as she cut his last connection to the Astral Plane, replacing it with burning pain. The chamber was blurring. Zelas watched sadly as her general-priest's eyes clouded over.

"Wait for me" she whispered. "I'll come back."

But she never did.