Rise like the Phoenix

Chapter 4

A/N Well I'm back and I hope you like this chapter and I guess that's all I have to say so read long and prosper.

Demodius was taking a nap until he went for dinner and he was in a large dark cavern. The place looked very familiar but the darkness made it hard to see. He looked to the ground and saw that it was the purple crystal like last time in his nightmare. He got tense and looked around expecting the dark form to appear and it eventually did right in front of him and it said "You enjoying your boring day, damn I was all like *yawn**snore*" He said.

Demodius said "Maybe not to you but I thought today has gone ok so far" The dark form said "I would think so but I noticed a few things, first Scorch, he totally got you angry when you learned he liked Awan. I have a great idea, since you don't agree with my view right now, you should 'get rid' of Scorch on the hunting trip so there will be no one in your way of having Awan" he said making a plan on the spot testing his counterpart.

Demodius said "What? Why would I, they said Awan couldn't even think of going out with him anyway what competition… if I even liked her" The evil form laughed "Right, that's right you don't like her I totally forgot… or are you just denying it? I can see your thoughts and I've seen some things that point to you having a crush on Awan so why not get rid of any potential enemies because she would never like you anyway, you're just a monster and you can't run from that"

Demodius growled and said "No I've turned away from that life and nothing you can say can stop me spirit!" The spirit looked enraged from that and said "Fool I will have control and I will finish what you master failed to do, that power is still inside you, I will raise the army again and kill everyone you know and care about… especially Cynder" Demodius roared loudly and said "You touch her I'll rip you God damn throat out!"

He jumped forward and smashed his head into an invisible wall and the dark form chuckled "Well then you'll be killing yourself but that won't matter I'm protected in your mind, I've lived here most of your life. You see you were given gifts like Cynder's but much stronger. You were given a dark implant, me, and I was bread to make you survive no matter what but also to take control of you if you… defected. Luckily I like you and I enjoy laying around but I will take control if I have to which is why I'm giving you so many chances to go back"

Demodius snorted and said "I'll never go back not again" the form shook his head and said "Maybe in time you'll see but for now it's dinner time to go on your date" he smirked then everything faded and he woke in his bed. He looked out across the room trying to comprehend everything he had just learned and said "I'll show you"

He got up and stretched then grabbed his cloak this time and walked downstairs to find the dinner rush was in full bloom. He walked through trying not to draw attention and found Torque sitting at the bar with a beer and ribs and had apparently saved a seat for him and he sat down.

"Hey buddy took ya long enough; Awan's been waiting on you for half an hour" Demodius said "She wasn't serious was she?" Torque laughed and said "No she was just joking dude, but has been expecting you" Demodius turned and saw her right in front of him and she said "You're late"

Demodius said shuddering slightly "I was umm… over slept" he said almost like a question trying to see if that was an acceptable answer. She snorted and said "Fine but don't expect hot food" she threatened. Demodius gulped as she left to get his possibly cold food and Torque couldn't help but laugh "You looked just like a punished whelpling dude" he continued laugh and Demodius growled and Awan came back and said "The cook told me that cold foods not allowed to be served so here you go" she said still playing up the fake anger.

Demodius smiled knowing she wasn't actually mad at him now and ate. Torque suddenly said "She owned your ass man, she was all like ROAR! and you were all like *whimper*" Demodius raised his paw bearing his serrated claws and growled threateningly making Torque flinch. "Geez sensitive" he said backing off.

They finished eating and mostly everyone was gone except for the odd few people wanting to stay for a drink and Awan came back and said "Well that's the end of another buys day, can't wait for tomorrow" she said oddly looking at Demodius for the whole sentence. This made Demodius question her motives, from past experiences that type of look made him think someone had a f=plan or was gonna kill you but for some reason he knew the latter option wasn't going to happen so he thought of what she'd be planning.

Unfortunately he couldn't think long since Torque said "Come on let's go to bed, that dinner is making me tired" he was going to follow when he felt someone poke his shoulder and saw it was Awan right behind him now and he jumped not expecting her to be there and said "Man you scared me" She giggled and said "Awesome, hey when we go out tomorrow wanna partner up?" Demodius wanted to say yes to this but said "Sorry I work better alone" he instantly regretted this as she said "Oh, ok I guess that's ok. I guess I'll have to partner up with Scorch" she said his name like it was a bad thing and he face confirmed this.

She started to walk away ever so slightly slouched when he groaned "Fine I'll come with you only because I know you'd be hopelessly lost without me and get eaten by a bear" She obviously looked happy from his change of mind but said "Really, I'll show you who can handle themselves" she said and walked away to her room and Demodius followed shortly after to go to bed.

The next morning…

Luckily for him he had no nightmare tonight and woke finally having a proper rest in days and stretched cracking his back. He found his friend Torque just waking up too and Demodius said "You ready to go because I know hunting is better early" Torque stretched and said "You get Awan, I got something I need to do quickly, Scorch will be there probably before I arrive" Demodius was going to ask where he was going when he suddenly left and he shrugged and walked out too and found Awan outside listening to nature like yesterday.

As he approached she said "Hello, Demodius. How was your sleep?" her voice was in a monotone voice and he said "Fine for once, you?" She hummed and looked like she was going to say something different "Entertaining" was all she said in the ended letting out one small chuckle. Demodius didn't get it but said "Torque said he'd meet us at the edge of town so wanna head over?" She took one more breath then said "Yes" and opened her eyes.

They walked over and a few times Demodius could feel Awans scales touch his and pulled away saying it was an accident but for some reason Demodius wasn't fully sold on that idea. They reached the outer fence and Awan noticed that Demodius still had his cloak on and said "Why do you hide behind that stupid thing, are you ashamed of something?" Demodius couldn't help but smirk at her extremely close guess and said "The sun bothers me. Shadow dragon remember?" She nodded accepting the answer and suddenly heard a voice "Hey Awan, and hey… what's your name again?"

They turned to see Scorch who smiled and bowed to Awan but looked to Demodius still expecting a name. Demodius got a twinge in the back of his head that practically made a target appear on his chest but it faded and Demodius used all his effort to say "Demodius, it's hard name to remember I guess" and shook his paw wanting to crush it, he hated when people forgot his name and especially when it was this guy but thought "Hey calm down he's just a friend to her no worries" but that angered huddled in the back of his mind.

Scorch asked where Torque was and they told him he was off doing something and they waited for about ten minutes before h finally showed up with someone all them didn't expect. Beside Torque was Stream who looked a bit nervous of all the people and Torque looked embarrassed for bringing her. Demodius smiled to his friend and he rolled his eyes.

"Hey guys, this is Stream, I asked if she wanted to come along today, that ok with you?" They shrugged ok with it especially Demodius who was actually happy that Torque had finally gone somewhere with his 'girlfriend' and said "Well I guess that's all of us so let's go" They all agreed and they were off.

On the way Demodius turned to Stream and said "So stream how exactly did you end up coming with us?" he knew from the show he saw at the window but wanted to see her opinion and get to know her and she said in a heavily accented voice "Well Torque came to me yesterday and asked if I would like to come. I said yes and here I am" He nodded and said "So have you ever gone a on a hunt like this?"

She thought and said "No I have never been on a real hunt. I have only ever caught fish to feed myself" Demodius said "Well Torque can teach you some tricks if you like" he said doing his friend a favor. Torque smiled reassuringly when she turned her head to ask him and she smiled back in thanks. It suddenly occurred to Demodius that even though Stream was their age she was a few inches shorter and had to look up slightly at everyone to talk to them and understood why she was shy of people.

He looked forward and saw Scorch giving Awan a bit more attention then she would have liked. "So Awan wanna be partners out there, I'll protect you from any bad guys out there" She rolled her eyes and said "Sorry Scorch but Demodius and I decided to be partners last night so you're either alone or with Torque and Stream" Scorch looked at Demodius and he gave him a smirk making him bear his teeth angry with him and Demodius smirked more.

They stopped when they were a mile from the villages outer fence and Demodius said "Alright we'll meet here at lunch" they all nodded and Torque walked away with Stream and Scorch reluctantly walked off by himself and Demodius asked even though he didn't like him "He going to be ok by himself?" Awan said "He's one of the strongest in the village he'll be fine now come let's go"

She walked in another direction at a fairly good pace and Demodius jogged to catch up and asked "You know any 'hotspots' we can go to?" She thought and said "Ya sure, this way"

They walked along a path and Awan said "So what's the biggest thing you've caught?" Demodius smiled and said "Well I took down an adult bear when I was younger" he was telling the truth, the time his master was gone he hunted to keep his skills sharp and the bear was way bigger than normal ones.

She said "Impressive well maybe you can do it again today" she said as they reached a small water fall and pond and she said "Animals enjoy coming here for the fresh water" Demodius saw the logic on this and said "So is there a place you wanna stake out, in a tree so the animals don't see us?" Awan giggled at something but nodded once again confusing Demodius but he followed and they climbed in a tree with good leaf cover but were easy enough to see through.

She said "So what do you think we should try to get because my brother always tries to make a competition out of this" Demodius thought and said "Well I'd say a deer but we'll take what we can get, if we kill something early the smell of blood and death will drive the animals away for at least a day" She nodded and said "Alright so a moose or a bear" she said excitedly and Demodius sat in a comfortable position ready for a long wait.

Torque and Stream…

Torque had been walking with Stream for about half an hour and was really nervous to say anything around her but finally she broke the silence "So are we going somewhere in particular?" He said nervously "Ummm kinda" She gave him a questioning look "Kinda? What does that mean?"

Torque said "Umm it's an area, not a place" he said covering his mistake and she nodded understanding. After another long silence she said "So what will I have to do when we find something?" Torque said "Well I guess we should work together and take it down" he said. She said "Alright, but is there a way I could take something myself?"

Torque said "Well of course but I suggest a much smaller animal for a start" She thought and said "I don't know what to do" she obviously felt unsure of herself and she started swinging her tail and suddenly chopped a plant down a size will her fin tail and Torque said "Wow I didn't know how sharp that was"

She looked back and said "Oh… actually I did not know that either" she curved her tail in between them and Torque touched the edge, the fin part wasn't sharp at all but the small spines that connected the fins together were like sharp spikes and the outer part of the fin was like a small blade. Torque said "Oww, that's sharp" shaking his paw from being poked by it.

Stream said "I had no idea my fin was like this but 'cool" she said saying cool not fully sure if that word was appropriate since English wasn't her first language. Torque said "Very, so I think once you get something in your sights, it will be dead meat" he encouraged which obviously worked as she smiled excitedly.

Torque couldn't help but chuckle and they continued walking as Torque gave her some helpful tips suddenly feeling more confident.

Back with Demodius and Awan…

The two dragons had been sitting on a tree branch for over two hours and Awan had fallen asking Demodius to wake her if something came. She had lain down lengthwise along the branch and her front left leg was hanging off the side. Demodius wasn't going to give up easily and waited without moving at all listening for any sign of a decent animal coming nearby but for some reason no reasonable animals had come and he didn't know why.

He was about to give up and get a drink from the pond when suddenly a figure appeared from the bushes. It was Scorch who looked like he hadn't done much either since they started and took a drink from the pond. Demodius knew why and saw his paws covered in dried up mud meaning he had been hiding in the bushes for the whole hour but because of his bright scales no animal was fooled.

Demodius slouched frustrated at the fact he had had his time wasted by Scorch when suddenly he heard a voice "Kill him… he there for the taking, kill him and he'll be out of the way" the voice whispered and Demodius' eyes blurred slightly as he felt his muscles start moving on their own. Everything went into focus in the small part in the distance where Scorch stood and his body suddenly lunged toward him very quickly snarling and heard scream… his vision turned to a red blob and he gasped.

He flashed back to where he was really standing and saw his claws already unsheathed from his paws and was shaking remembering the idea his evil spirit gave him and what he nearly did. Demodius clenched his claws in to fists in front of him and took a deep breath to calm himself but still shuddered from what he saw. He placed one paw on his head in a futile attempt to make his brain focus again since the edges of his vision were still blurred and he saw Scorch walked away.

Demodius clutched his chest scales feeling his heart pounding and thought "I can't do this much longer"

Cool chapter if I do say so myself, Demodius is battling against his old self that has a grudge against Scorch. Will he be able to hold back? Well you'll have to find out. As for Torque, will he make the next step and reveal his feelings. Well same answer as before. These may be answered in the next chapter, find out!

Admiralkirk