Chapter 36, Darkness despairing

It was silent.

    That was the first thing they noted when sneaking in through one of the many doors found in the inner side of the walls, Hawk in the lead.

 "Think they have deserted it since they needed to focus on the attack against the Holyland?" Lise whispered, frowning as she and her friends silently moved down a dark corridor.

 "No," Kevin whispered, "I feel scent of demon here, too new for leaving for Holyland. Luna say they left last night."

    Hawk thought Kevin's voice sounded a little strange when saying "last night", but it was so faint he brushed it off.

 "Have they just passed through here or are they close by?" he whispered.

 "Not here now, I think," the werewolf replied, "and strange."

 "What is?"

    Kevin shook his head in confusion.

 "Many a little older smells, so hard to tell…" he said, "but think only one fresh demon scent."

 "That's weird…"

    The ninja stopped and made his companions do the same.

 "You know… I can move quicker alone and I know this place," he said, "how about I check around a little on my own? It's just too quiet and what you said about smells makes it even stranger."

 "You might get attacked," Lise protested, "we can't be sure…"

 "I'll be careful, don't worry. I just think that would be faster and safer in the long run."

    Lise and Kevin exchanged glances.

 "Fine, but not too far," the werewolf finally said.

 "Don't worry about it. Wait here."

    And with that Hawk became one with the shadows.

    Lise glanced down the long corridor, trying to see him move. But he was too good at the shadow diving thing.

 "Think he's just showing off?" she said with a faint smile.

 "A bit," Kevin nodded with a low chuckle.

 "You're right."

    She leaned at him a little, the soft fur on his arm gently tickled her cheek without being unpleasant.

 "But he can have it, I see him being anxious about his home…"

 'I think I can fall asleep right here…' she thought and blinked, 'really now, get a grip of yourself!'

    Quickly she straightened up and rubbed her neck with a determined frown.

 "My day rhythm is completely broken," she grunted as an explanation to both herself and Kevin.

 "Same here," he agreed and stretched his arms a little.

 'That's nice to know, then I'm not the only one…' Lise thought with an inner sigh of relief.

    She didn't want to think that Wisp could be right about her starting to be worn out.

 'Not now, I've gone so far already! I haven't broken yet so I won't now either.'

    As she was caught in thought she almost jumped out of her skin when Hawk shot up beside her and hissed:
 "I found some inhabitants, let's spy together!"

 "Alright…" Lise said and pressed her hand against the left side of her armor's chest more or less jocular, "just don't scare me like that!"

    Hawk smirked a little at her dominating joking way and then led the way again, down the corridor.

 "Sounded to me like they're having trooouble," the ninja whispered over his shoulder, maliciously.

 "That good," Kevin said with a faint but still uncharacteristic smirk. 

    And Lise couldn't exactly say anything against it either. Whatever was bad news for the likes of Jagan and his pack was most probably good news for the rest of the world.

    Hawk stopped outside a door slightly bigger than the ones that were common sight the castle. Low sounds could be faintly heard, and they sounded quite exasperated. As the ninja ever so carefully poked the door slightly open the discussion could be clearly heard.

 "… Astrophe!" a cold, hissing voice groaned, "we will not be able to rise again from this for at least a millennia!"

 "Is it really as bad as they claim?" a more growling voice demanded.

 "It's worse!" a hollow whisper cried.

 'A vampire, a demon and a ghost?' Lise mused, listening closely as it got even more interesting.

 "I just received word that master Jagan was killed!" the ghost howled.

    Three eavesdropping intruders stiffened in surprise.

 "What?!" the vampire shouted, "who? How!?"

 "When lady Bigeau realized that all was lost she apparently went mad," the ghost snarled, "she killed both master Jagan and herself!"

 "This is just too good to be true…" Hawk whispered over his shoulder, doubtfully.

    Kevin slowly nodded, but he didn't really doubt it. The despair of the evil creatures stung his nostrils and made him convinced that it was true.

    Though his more violent side gladly would have even enjoyed seeing Jagan die by his own claws, his death was nonetheless a relief and quite contenting anyway.

 "Are we loosing the Dark Palace?" the demon snarled, though he was almost roaring seeming like the calmest of the three.

 "The Dragon Emperor's troops were bigger than we expected," the ghost bitterly reported, "the reinforcements were too late to be of any help, and we lost them too. The palace was severely damaged and those lizards looted all the powers they could suck out from the walls."

 "What about the higher floors?" the demon asked.

 "The magic fire protecting that lasted just long enough to make them give up finding the way around it, as they obviously had other matters to attend to."

 "Then there's still something left," the demon concluded, "we need to assemble all the survivors and get back what we can."

 "Some already went to the crystal desert to kill off as many weaker dragons as they could find," the vampire reported with a sigh just as symbolic as Wisp's deep breaths.

 "Fools!" the demon roared so that the walls almost shook.

 "He seems different from those we've fought," Lise whispered, frowning.

 "Stronger, smarter," Kevin grimly muttered.

 "We've lost too much already!" the beast raged on, "what are they thinking!?"

 "I doubt they're thinking at all," the vampire snarled.

 "Probably."

    The demon snarled something incomprehensive for a few seconds. Then:

 "Get a hold of as many as possible, I don't care how you do it. I'll go cut up the last prisoners in the meantime, less I'll have to kill off some of our idiots when they get here!"

 "Save some meat for us, will you?" the vampire said.

 "Fine, I will. But you better hurry up for it!"

 "Of course, my lord."

 "The dungeons!" Hawk hissed and pointed ahead.

    As fast as they dared without making a sound the three rushed past the door and onwards. The evil servants kept discussing the matter at hand, but it was probably only a matter of minutes before the demon would teleport to the prisoners.

    Silently praying that Hawk was right about the placement of the captives the warriors hurried through the castle and down stairs. After what felt like a never ending labyrinth they stumbled into a surprisingly well lit corridor. The left wall had several bar doors.

 "Anybody home?" Hawk said aloud, too unsure about safety to call.

    At first there was no reply. But after a couple of seconds an old, raspy voice was heard from the closest cell.

 "It can't be… Hawk, is that you?"

    The ninja hurried over to the door and looked inside.

 "Omes!" he smiled, "you alright?"

 "Just a bit shaky and hungry," the old man's voice replied, "why are you here?"

 "To get you all out of course! Hey granny, Sandra!"

    Two voices replied with relief. Others began to call out from cells further down.

 "Calm down a little folks, we're not home safe yet," Hawk warned, "there's a hungry demon on his way, but me and my friends here will fight him for you."

    He quickly looked around and back again.

 "I know this is a bit offhand, but is there a blond little boy here somewhere? We're looking for my friend Lise's brother who was kidnapped."

 "Oh, you mean Elliot?" Omes said.

    Lise could hardly hold back a squeal, but her hope crashed in the mud a second later.

 "He was here for a while, but they took him away somewhere the other day."

 "Yes, I'm sure I heard one of those creeps say something about a prince in some black palace or something like that," a younger woman's voice said from within the cell.

    Lise heavily thumped against the nearest wall, covering her eyes with a hand. But she hardly had time to fall back properly before Kevin's heartbeat gently whispered against her heavy cheek and he helped her stay up.

 "For what, do you know that?" Hawk almost harshly demanded.

 "Something about that prince wanting the kid for something once he regained his power," the woman, Sandra, helplessly said.

 "Hey, wasn't it him that the beasts guarding us groaned about just before they rushed off?" another woman's voice called from a cell further down, "something about their prince being dead?"

 "Yeah, I remember that too!" some older man from the same cell agreed.

 "So Elliot might still be alive…" Lise said, almost in a broken whisper.

    She hardly dared to hope anymore. That just seemed too much to survive after what she'd heard from the ghost, demon and vampire.

 "Providing he's at those higher levels…" Hawk carefully agreed.

 "He alive," Kevin resolutely said, calmingly putting his big hand against the back of Lise's head.

    Lise tried to fight a heavy sigh.

    She didn't have to though, it became drown in a roar.

 "What in the high demon's name!?"

 "No time for that now guys!" Hawk gulped, reaching for his daggers.

    Kevin and Lise broke apart, eying the demon that had appeared in the middle of the corridor. Horrified shuffles were heard from the cells.

    It was bigger than the demons they had fought before, and while those had had somewhat greenish skin this one was darkly red. And those claws weren't pretty.

 "Who are you?" he demanded, showing off the knives on his hands.

    Hawk wasn't complaining much but silently questioning his friend's sanity as Kevin grabbed the ninja's arm and threw him up behind the hairy back together with Lise.

 "Distracting maneuver again?" the princess whispered.

    The only reply was a swift wave of Kevin's fingers.

    Yes.

 "I asked you a question," the demon dangerously growled.

 "Kevin, son of Beast King," the werewolf said, moving into a defensive stance and brandishing his claws.

    The roar could have awakened dead. If there were more monsters in the castle the intruders would soon know it.

 "You!"

 "Quite the popular one, isn't he?" Hawk mumbled from the corner of his lips as Kevin ducked under the claws and tried to kick the demon's legs to bring him off balance.

    The great beast flapped with his wings and remained standing however, his right hand shooting down at the werewolf trying to slide away over a way too uneven floor.

 "Wisp, I call upon you!" Lise shouted while leaping forwards, hoping that the elemental would have power enough to make it down to them.

    With all the evil forces that had taken over and the fact that Salamando couldn't even make it inside, in his own territory, it wasn't exactly guaranteed help.

    So she wasn't surprised when nothing happened and her non-holified spear almost broke when hitting the massive hand. Not to mention her wrists and fingers.

    But Kevin got away with a scratch in his leg.

 "Why you little…" the demon began.

    With a snarl Hawk exploded up behind him, stabbing his daggers into the sides of the demon's neck. Trying to avoid spasms of pain the ninja somersaulted backwards.

    He, Lise, Kevin and the prisoners that could see what was going on were all quite shocked with the fact that the demon laughed.

 "That tickled," he said with amusement, pulling one of the daggers out and letting it fall to the floor.

    He didn't even bleed.

 "This isn't good," Lise concluded, nervously changing stance to a ready-to-duck one.

    She exchanged glances with Kevin who now had gotten to his feet. Stretching out her pointing finger from the spear she moved it in a quick circle. He blinked, not quite following at first. Then he nodded.

 "Try," he whispered.

    Still with one dagger stuck in his neck the demon looked around.

 "Interesting…" he said with a smirk showing off several rows of fangs.

 "What is?" Lise cautiously asked while edging away from Kevin, hoping to stalk a little.

 "All these spirited youngsters, of course."

    Only instincts made the vanadis leap backwards in time; she never saw the claws coming for her.

    Kevin was thrown down half the corridor in one more careful, clawless sweep, he was too slow as he was trying to focus.

 "Stand still, little amazon," the demon mocked, forcing her further backwards.

    There was no room in the corridor to move in any other direction than back. Lise clenched her teeth, for the moment having no other option than to be led to where the demon wanted her.

    Hawk suddenly dashed forwards, slamming a shoulder into the beast's back. Or more precisely, one of his wings.

    It took a lot of force but something went cra-ack and the demon snarled in pain.

 "You'll pay dearly for that, human," he growled and spun at Hawk, catching him by the throat with one hand.

    Even though he was a ninja, the great beast moved too quickly for the young warrior. If his enemy hadn't held him with his long fingers instead of the claws Hawk would already been dead. The situation wasn't exactly good in any case.

    Between Hawk's desperately kicking legs and the foe's arm Lise saw Kevin's arms twitch as if he was trying to hold back something.

 'Oh damn…'

    He couldn't get a clear shot with Hawk in the way!

 "Hey you!" the vanadis shouted, with all her might slamming her spear against the exposed bones on the broken wing, "weren't you dancing with me?!"

    The demon snarled in pain but smirked as he spun around. Lightly numb after the forceful slam Lise hadn't time to move away and her feet also left the ground.

    Fighting to breathe she dropped her spear and fumbled for the thick red wrist.

 'Kevin, hurry!'

 "Let go!" the half blood roared almost before she had finished the silent plea.

 "You wait for your… argh!"

    The demon roared in pain and dropped the two warriors as a massive ball of light hit his back. It went straight through him but missed Lise and Hawk as they were on the floor gasping for air. The power orb continued to the stair where it burnt the steps badly but dissolved.

    Lise's breath almost got stuck in her throat again as the demon grunted and began to fall towards her and Hawk. She scrambled out of the way, grabbing the ninjas arm and barely managing to get both him and herself out of danger.

    Their foe dissolved into eerie smoke which quickly disappeared.

    There was a moment of silence before the prisoners began cheering, all realizing what had happened.

 "You okay, Hawk?" Lise gasped, still out of breath.

 "Yeah, but that was creepy!" he said, getting up into a sitting position against the wall.

 "Creepy?" the princess repeated, a little amused by the understatement.

    Kevin almost crashed before her, lightly gasping after the use of the energy ball.

 "Alright?" he asked, looking at the two humans before him.

 "Yeah, we're fine," Hawk replied with a small smile, "what the heck was that, anyway?"

 "Power of God hand," Kevin said, shaking his head, "works, but takes power."

 "Heh…"

    Hawk stood and walked over to the nearest cell, revealing a small dirk from some hidden pocket.

 "Now let's get you guys out of here," he said.

 "I'm amazed the place isn't swarming with guards already…" Lise said with a frown, getting to her feet.

 "That was the first one of them I saw since yesterday," Sandra reported, "in the middle of the night there was a great commotion above and then quiet."

 "Palace under attack," Kevin slowly concluded, "send troops to help, leave scouts to wait for Jagan to return."

 "Then where is this… Dark Palace?" Lise wondered, rubbing her forehead.

    Would there ever be an end… but now she was almost fearful about it. If Elliot was in a castle that had been under heavy siege…

    She bit her tongue, trying not to think about it.

 "I think I've heard stories about it," the old lady Hawk had called granny thoughtfully said, "far to the north northeast, it would go faster to head south from here."

 "To the Dark Palace then, guys?" Hawk said, focusing on the lock.

 "Yes, we're going there then," Lise said, forcing herself to straighten up.

    Kevin watched her, worriedly frowning. It wasn't hard to tell that this last disappointment and new wave of fear had hit her hard, but he knew she wouldn't admit it. Even though he worried that she'd move away he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. Lise looked up and pressed forth a smile that almost cut his eyes.

 "Lise…"

 '… You can't go on like this, you need to let go. Please be reasonable, let me and Hawk go without you. I'm afraid you'll break down if we don't find him this time either. You're weakening, can't you see?! I don't demand of you to go on, no one does! I'm tired too, but you're in a much worse condition! You're not weak, Lise! But you've been inhumanly worried and fighting at the same time for too long…'

    But seeing a flicker of panic in her eyes and knowing she feared that he'd say just something like that, he couldn't.

 "… it… will be alright."

    She slowly nodded, almost managing to smile a little more natural.