A/N- Damn, I've been a lazy updater. Ok, so there seems to be a lot of questions about Kal's fellow raven, so I'll use a lot of him in this chapter. I like him, anyways. Kind of concerned, but not bordering on the edges of annoying-ness. Awesome birds, ravens. Alright, I'm babbling.

KrazyKutie- I don't know any Latin, sadly. I made a language up, for the raven demons, and I use that. When Kal swears and stuff, he's using the language I made. I also use the same language to curse during school, so I don't get in shit from the teachers. Muaha.

Ain't I the evil genius?

Ok, moving on with the chapter….

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Everybody got Punjabed by the Phantom. The End.

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Alright, SERIOUSLY staring the chapter. I had a bit too much coffee.

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Jessica looked up sharply at the familiar sound of flapping wings. Standing up from the log she had been sitting on, Jessica waved her hand to one of her soldiers in greeting. "Well?"

The soldier landed in front of her, pale-faced and looking rather nauseous. "I…we…Kalendrakk.." he stammered, then stood up straighter. "The attack did not succeed, my Lady. Kalendrakk proved too powerful."

"And the others?" she asked curtly, hiding her anger and disappointment behind a blank face, as she had learned to do in the army of her clan.

The soldier, whose name was Marcus, hung his head. "Killed, my Lady. I am the only survivor."

"Joshua? Darren? Nicholas? Roger?"

"All dead, my Lady. Joshua injured him, but it wasn't life-threatening. And Kalendrakk said…that you would join Michael if you did not stop the attacks." Marcus stood perfectly still, awaiting a reprimand or punishment of sorts. As infuriated as Jessica was by the message, she noted that he arm was broken, perhaps beyond the magic of the healers.

"Very well, Marcus. See to it that your arm is set."

"My Lady?"

"That was a dismissal."

Marcus bowed deeply and flew away in the direction of the make-shirt camp they had constructed.

Jessica ran a hand through her hair. Still, that abomination lives! Growling, she flew in the same direction Marcus had.

It was time for a meeting with the second-in-command, Alexander.

Her dear brother.

Soon she landed in the center of their campsite. Around her were roughly a dozen of roughly-made tents. The largest was a few paces away, and bore the symbol of the royal family, her family. The few remaining soldiers that were present (and alive) stood clear of her path. Jessica was not cruel to her underlings, but she had been know to loose her temper horribly ever so often.

"Alex!" she shouted as she stormed into the tent, the flap closing after her. The person in question was sitting on the edge of his bedroll, and apparently conversing with a large lack bird.

"Ah, sister. How nice of you to show up." Alex smiled briefly at her, then re-directed his attention to the bird. He was the same height as Jessica, though with a stockier build.His hair was a few shades darker, as was his skin. A deep scar passed over one eye, forcing it shut. The remaining eye was the same golden-yellow color as his sisters. Alexander had a few hundred years seniority to Jessica, which made him around two-thousand two-hundred and nine years old.

"Why in all the hells are you talking to that crow?" she yelled. "Are you not aware that we lost four of our best soldiers?"

"Yes, yes, Death's Flyer here was just telling me about that. Sit down, won't you?"

Jessica glared at her brother and sat down on the bedroll across his. The raven glanced nervously at her, then looked back at Alex. She recognized the white feather on his head before she remembered the name. "Aren't you Kalendrakk's consort? What the hell are you doing here, raven? Spying?" Before he could answer, she turned on Alex. "And you, brother? Are you assisting the damned crow? Why? You wish for Kalendrakk to kill more of our clan?"

"Calm yourself, Jessica! The raven is merely here to negotiate a truce."

"No, I will not calm myself, Alex! A truce? How can you expect me to believe that that creature is offering a--!"

Please, Lady Jessica, stop your ranting.

Jessica bristled at the raven's voice in her head. "I am not RANTING!" Outside, she could see a few shadows of the soldiers against the canvas wall of the tent. "Go somewhere else, you USELESS pigeons!"

"Yes, milady!" The called in chorus, then flew off quickly.

As I was going to say, Death's Flyer continued, Both Kal and you army would benefit greatly if a truce was formed. You can no longer afford to lose your best soldiers, and it is becoming a quickly tiring position for Kal to be in.

"Like hell it is!" Jessica growled. "It's terrible for him, I imagine, to slaughter our elite fighters!"

"You did set them up against Kalendrakk," Alex pointed out. Jessica favored him with a glare that would have burned though steel.

"Oh? Are you accusing me for their deaths?"

"All I'm saying is that you may have acted a little rash."

"Rash?"

"You did know about his almost-undefeated status in battle."

"Exactly. Almost. There's still a chance! All we need to do is have our remaining forces weaken him enough for the Princess to kill him…!"

The raven ruffled his feathers. That's what I--we, we--wish to prevent, actually. You see, Mlle. Jessica, Kal has taken the Princess on as his charge.

"WHAT?" she shrieked. Alex flinched, and edged backwards slightly.

Furthermore, the Princess agreed to it first, and she considers Kal as a friend. That was why he survived the your first attack, after all.

"You're lying! That…that monster, has no feelings! He can't possibly--!"

Actually, he can only feel certain emotions, meaning that he is not completely devoid of--

"Quiet, you insolent bird!"

"Jessica--"

"I WILL NOT agree to a truce with that creature!" Jessica yelled, then exited the tent.

"I apologize for her reaction, " Alex said to Death. "As you know, she still harbors a painful grudge against Kalendrakk."

Completely understandable, Lord Alexander. After what occurred during his stay…He trailed off and sighed.

"Yes…poor Jessica."

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Death flapped his wings faster, trying to gain more speed. The muscles burned and screamed, exhausted to the point of collapsing. He had been flying nearly all day, over the Atlantic ocean and into America. He was only an average raven, after all, and did not posses the strength nor stamina of the avian demons.

It was nearly nightfall as he landed in the clearing of pine trees. Luckily, the person he had flown cross-country to negotiate with was in that clearing, kneeling down on a bed of dry needles. In front of the person lay a slab of marble, with a small bouquet of wild flowers.

Lady Jessica? he asked hesitantly. He wondered f she would be angered that he had followed her all the way to America to discuss the most-hated person the she knew.

"Leave me alone, crow," she snapped. Her voice was raw and tired. "Just go."

But Lady Jessica…

She ignored him and looked down at the grave stone. "You remember whose grave this is?"

Yes, but-

"You remember how he died? When he died?"

Yes, Mademoiselle. I remember.

And Death remembered quite clearly. The memory was a vivid one.

It happened on Kal's seventeenth birthday, July the thirteenth, 1969.

Jessica ran up to Death's Flyer, grinning ecstatically. She was never particularly fond of the raven, but she was always polite. Today, thought, she seemed in an strangely (for herself) good mood.

"Death! Death's Flyer!"

Yes, Jessica?

"It's Michael! He asked me to marry him!"

Death tilted his head. By Michael, she meant the dark-haired man from a neighboring village, her human lover.

That's wonderful, Jessica.

"I know! I've never been so happy in my life!"

Death cawed, in substitution for laughter. Really? All one-thousand nine hundred and six years of it?

Jessica giggled, an extremely rare thing for her. "Yes! Oh, I'm going to be married!"

Where is the unfortunate man? Death joked.

Jessica smiled. "Oh, he's gone to tell Kal." Like Death, Kal wasn't one of their friends, exactly, but they were kind enough to him. They almost pretended they didn't know about his yearly slaughtering rampages.

Death froze. It being Kal's birthday, and the loss of self he experienced…Maybe it wouldn't happen, this time. Maybe Kal would finally be able to accept the Eagle demons as friends and control his murderous instincts…

Ever since Jessica's people had aided Kal when he was a child, they had treated him with a distant sort of respect. They gave him a secluded house on a cliff, far away from everyone else, where he could stay when he wished. The Royal Family, being Jessica and her older brother, Alex, and their mother and father, would occasionally visit him, more as common curtsey than anything else. Often, they would end up talking to Death instead of Kal, who never was social.

I'm sure Kal will congratulate you as well, Jessica, Death said, not voicing his fears. When will you be having the ceremony?

"Two months from now, I believe. Miranda said she'll be my bridesmaid; one of Michael's friends'll be the best man, I think. You and Kal are invited, of course."

My thanks, Jessica. He winked. I'll try to convince Kal to act civilized.

"Ah, a task that borders on impossible! But I really would like it if you two would come."

We will. Death cocked his head at some sound in the distance, coming from the direction of the main village. What's that?

Being a demon, Jessica had much sharper hearing than he. "It sounds like…screaming, almost."

Oh God no! death hurried into the air, flapping his wings frantically. The main village wasn't far--there still could be time… Oh no, no, no!

Jessica was soon flying above him. "What's the matter? It's not…"

His birthday! It's his birthday! The anniversary of his people's annihilation!

"What?" she yelled. "You don't think…oh gods, Michael!" Jessica overtook him, beating him to the main village, built into the steep side of a mountain. Unlike just a few moments ago, it was completely silent.

Deathly silent, one might say.

When the two landed, Jessica on the street, Death on a rooftop, only one person remained standing amid the bloody corpses and gore-covered ground.

Kalendrakk, eyes blazing the as red as the blood he had spilt, black skin glinting in the sun.

A few feet away lay Michael's body. The carnage had also been joined with the now-former Lord and Lady, Jessica's parents.

"Then why do such details escape your small head so quickly? If you remember what happened, then why are you so eager for peace? What Kalendrakk deserves is worse than death! He murdered my parents, my fiancé, and a good deal of my people, when all we did was aid him! So, Death's Flyer, give me a single good reason not to rid this world of that abomination."

I… Death struggled to put his thoughts into a sentence she would accept. If he lives, he can change, Jessica. If we only give him a chance, a reprieve from being hunted down, there may be a chance that some of the coldness in his soul might go away. Perhaps all he needs is another chance, just to prove he can be--

"Another chance? You wish for him to have another chance?"

Death winced inwardly; he should have expected this reaction. Yes, he said timidly.

"He had his chance to reform when we saved him as a child. He's had his chance when we offered friendship. He slaughtered the people who wanted to give him a chance in return. And you expect me to believe that this time will be different? No, Death, he's used up his chances. It's time for him to pay his due in blood. And besides," she clenched her fist so tight that Death could see little rivulets of blood running out through her fingers, "he's much better suited to Hell than this world."