Jonathan ran up the steep steps of a mountain, two at a time. He heard clashing and hissing noises above him, and for a mere second saw an orange light flash out of the mouth of the cave he was heading to. He grit his teeth as he tripped, but continued upwards, gripping his sword with his freshly scratched hands.
He finally barged in through the cave, and stopped to catch a breath. But he was also frozen with shock. His two friends were circling each other. One of them was holding an enchanted circular shield and a sword, their brown hair ruffled up as he stared down his opponent. Brian...
Brian lunged at the other person, shouting in fury. The other person cackled with enjoyment and also lunged at Brian. The other friend was almost unrecognizable, that Jonathan had to focus on his face to understand who he was. He had heard the stories from his friends who witnessed this horrific transformation, but he wasn't ever able to imagine this. The other person had a distorted brown owl face, that had sharp teeth inside its beak. The body itself was humane, but it pulsed with amber energy.
"No", whispered Jonathan in horror, "Evan".
Even though Jonathan said his name very quietly, Evan looked up at him, and for a very brief moment something flashed across his face. Sorrow? Bitterness? Pain? But Jonathan was not able to identify it as Brian took hold of the moment and swiped his sword at him. Evan hissed and blasted Brian away with fury. Brian grunted as he crashed into the cave wall and blood ran down his forehead.
"Brian!", cried Jonathan and sprinted towards him, placing his body defensively in front of his friend. He stared down at Evan, disbelief all over his face. He studied Evan further, taking in his transformation. He then took in his face. It was full of...
"Like what you are seeing, Jonathan?", Evan boomed, stretching his bare arms out and slowly approaching him. Madness. It was full of madness.
"You are not Evan", Jonathan bitterly concluded, feeling suddenly empty, "You already killed my friend".
He wished he was wrong. He hoped he was wrong. He has studied for several nights, ever since the disappearance of Evan and spreading stories of a devil Shimira. He read that Shimira possesses the body of a warrior that is in despair, and kills the spirit of warrior, using his body to create chaos.
But the way Evan's face changed at his statement made Jonathan doubt all his studies. "Jonathan, no", Evan started, his brown eyes suddenly becoming more recognizable, "I am not..."
Evan scrunched up his face, as though somebody stabbed him from the inside and straightened his face back to the previous maddened expression. "Now now, I don't have tissues to comfort your crying", he jeered, but then froze as Jonathan unsheathed his sword. The sword pulsed with light blue energy, white swirling patterns shimmering in the blade. Jonathan spent a whole nearly sleepless week making this sword, enchanting it without a mistake. Jonathan created an ultimate weapon that was able to defeat the devil once and for all.
"I will avenge my friend", Jonathan vowed dangerously, feeling the tingling of the sword he mastered, "I will make sure you will stay as a myth forever".
"There is no thing as 'forever'", 'Evan' smirked, "And would you really kill your own friend? He is still alive after all". The devil (well, Evan) patted his chest, indicating there is something (or somebody) inside him.
Jonathan shook with anger and with a yell lunged at the devil. 'Evan' took a step back and his eyes turned glowing amber as he muttered enchantments. From behind him, spirit owls flew at Jonathan with screeches, but Jonathan flipped in the air and with one swipe of the blade, the owls disappeared. Shimira gaped.
"What? How?", the devil gasped, stepping back.
Jonathan used this opportunity and thrust his blade into the torso of the devil. Shimira yowled in an inhuman voice, and clouds of orange swirled around him as Jonathan felt searing heat around him. His eyes teared from the steam, and fell to his knees. He closed his eyes, to blot out all the red dust.
He stayed like that for a while, until a hand patted his shoulder.
"Jonathan?", Brian asked in worry, "Are you there pal?"
Jonathan blinked his eyes open, breathing rapidly as he looked up at his friend. He then looked down, and cried as he saw his blade inside Evan's body.
"It is okay, it is okay", Brian soothed him, as Jonathan sobbed dryly into the blood soaked ground, "That was not Evan, but Shimira. You actually killed the cursed devil. You avenged Evan".
Jonathan closed his eyes, trying to even his breathing out.
"No, Evan was alive all this time. He was one of the strong ones that managed to share a body with a devil", he throat was as dry as a desert, and it hurt him. He gingerly groped for the sword, and took it out of Evan's body. He swiftly turned away and stood at the mouth of the cave.
"But, there was no way to save him, was there?", Brian asked confused. Jonathan turned his head towards Brian, shaking his head.
"No".
"Then why are you upset? Evan would've wanted this. He would've understood", Brian assured him, making a step closer to Jonathan.
Jonathan looked away from Brian, hiding his tearing eyes. He ignored the rest of Brian's words. He killed his best friend. And that's that.
