Author: I love cliffhangers's, don't you? This will be the last of my pre-written work. You can expect extremely slow updates from now on, perhaps... if you are lucky, one chapter every week or two. Chapter three took me 37 days to complete. Chapter one took me three days. Notice the difference. Also! This is important! As with all my previous and deleted stories, I will not accept any stupid reviews. I would much rather get one constructive review, than twenty stupid ones. If, however. You notice that I have just gotten ten flames in a row, and you are a pretty female human, you may encourage me in a somewhat... foolish... manner, as many often do. (If you do not know if you are pretty or not, consider yourself in the 'not' category.) This may sound cruel to some, but it is all in playful enjoyment that I type this Author's Note. ::: :::

::: Enya Taisho :::

He awoke. He was in a forest. A clearing. A fire. It was all very noticeable to him. He smelled an unknown creature near him. He would investigate this soon. But for now... Something was missing. Something important.

"I see you have readied yourself. Your body heals faster than most, I must say. But it is still all too slow for me. You see, I am a odd creature. Sometimes patient, other times not."

"Who are you? Why am I here? Where is... Midoriko?" He got up stiffly, he positioned his claw so he could easily attack the thing. The thing. It was not a demon. It was not a human.

"I am Kuroki Kumo. The passing cloud. The wandering wind. A ever present shadow. You are in a forest, near the mountain cave which I retrieved you from, Enya. And as for your little priestess, she is gone."

"Gone?! Where is she?!" Enya had been paying close attention at the things he had mentioned, but when he heard of the girl. He jumped up, his blanket fell beneath him, and his eyes were shadowed with urgency.

"... And I would know because? Really, those pathetic demons had left you for the dead. You have potential. Otherwise, you would have died like you were supposed to."

The demon finally regained his composure. His mind working a frantic level. He looked over at the creature. He began to notice more of the creature's form. A skinny human-like thing. He had short black hair. His face was pale; half covered by a contraption that went over his mouth, much like those the demon exterminators used, when using their poisonous smoke. The mechanism was silver and gray, a mask. He was tall, almost as tall as Enya. And his eyes had a dangerous sparkle to them. He wore a large black cloak that covered most of his body; from his neck to his ankles. He was... different.

"What are you? ....Will you help me?"
"I am what you might call... a Lich Demon. And for the latter question, I have yet to find out the answer"

"Let's go! We have to go get Midoriko then, we have no time to waste!"

The Lich walked over to him slowly before smacked him on his head.

"Maybe I have chosen wrong. But are you a complete idiot? You have no idea where your objective is, you have no way of getting to your goal."

"But I have to go get Riko!"

"I understand your sense of urgency... Or perhaps not... But still, you must use a more effective method to reach your goal. We will first go to Senken, capital of the Northern Lands. I know some demons there who always know the latest information, there has to be a specific reason those demons took your priestess, but didn't take you. We will rest here tonight, and early next morning, we will travel for three days east. Then we will be very close to the city, we will rest before we go in, it is best to be in good health prior to a battle."

"A battle?"

"Where many demons go, battles are not a rare occurrence"

'He said...my priestess.
Midoriko is.... my priestess?
Yes. She is mine.'

...

"Are you unable to go faster?"

"Hey, not all of us were born with the speed of wind!"

"I was not born like this..."

"No, stop! I sense a high level of purity in that direction. Probably a bunch of monks, lets just go around them." Enya suddenly shouted, slowing down a little.

"You have just discovered this?"

Enya was unable to see his reaction from behind the mask, but he was sure that Kuroki Kumo was frowning.

"You realize that we're headed right towards them, right?" He said, jumping over another tree.

"Of course, Enya."

Enya stopped, the monks were so close that he could feel them, getting ready. They had probably just felt their Aura. Kuroki Kumo, on the other hand, continued, and as soon as he neared, he was blasted by a combined beam of whiteness.

"Fools... Now you insure your doom." Was the phrase quietly whispered, unheard.

The Lich stopped. Then he took out an empty bottle. He ignored the frightened Monks as they continued blasting him with various sorts of spells.

"Mmm, you are too weak."

Enya watched this from the top of a nearby tree, he couldn't tell what the Lich was doing.

"Get away, Fell beast! Senbai!"

Continued the monks, wasting spell after spell upon the non-scathed form of Kuroki Kumo. Then the Lich raised his arms. A thin white mist was released by magic, and when the men inhaled it, they started coughing.
Enya watched as each monk's skin went inside out, their inner organs revealed. He couldn't believe what Kuroki Kumo was doing to these poor men.
After all the monk's had fallen to their painful death, the Lich then touched each one of them gently with his forefinger, and they all disappeared.
Enya was shivering with fright, after what he had just seen.

"Do you fear me, puppy?"

"No." Lied Enya, regaining his composure somewhat. "Why did you torture these men so wickedly? They were only doing their job!"

"They have done what they have chosen to. And I have done what I have chosen to."

"How could you just kill them like that? Yes, they were trying to kill you, but why did you make them suffer so?"

"There are countless demons who have suffered more at the hands of these monks. Let me explain my philosophy to you. Demons kill humans for food. Monks kill demons on sight for no reason. A demon, will only attack a human if he needs to. Humans are so much more cruel than demons. I am a Lich. It is my destiny to destroy these men. There is no excuse for their actions."

"They were only protecting themselves from you though!" Enya cried, as he jumped off the dark brown branch of the large tree. He landed on the grass, and stood straight. Looking into the dark black eyes of the Lich."

"I went to them. They attacked me. I defended myself." And the Lich stated it in a fashion which holds the hidden meaning that he would no longer like to talk.
And the Lich went on again. Leaving Enya stunned, but he quickly followed.

...

Some humans believed that demons were unorganized. They lived in primitive territories and caves. Some humans were wrong.

Large stone walls surrounded the city, and heavy metal gates were opened as Enya and Kuroki Kumo entered the city of Senken, capital of the Northern Lands.
The Lich slowed his pace, and started walking in a fast pace. And Enya quickly followed.
There were many demons in this city. They all lived in large stone buildings.
First they took a right turn, down a quiet alley, and then they emerged, they continued walking until they reached a armory shop. Then they turned left. It had not been long before the Lich stopped. They were at the entrance of a silent small house.
Kuroki Kumo entered the building without knocking the door.

"Rukia!" He shouted, as he stopped, with Enya almost slamming into him.

The house was a highly decorated one. With a fancy carpet, portraits, and statues adorning the hallway.

A old cat demon walked up towards them.

"Kuroki Kumo... What is it you need?"

"There are reports of a small army of dragon, bird, and tiger demons abducting some of the more powerful priestesses. You will tell me why."

An: No, Kuroki Kumo will not become the main character. Many things I have left vague, and I will continue to do so. I like the first two reviews I've gotten. The one thing I hate is a bad review.
"gud story, update lots!" is an example.
The first two have some input, some examples, and some ideas. I consider the best reviews the ones which have a positive comment, and a 'something you can work on'
Mmm... That's all.
Oh yes, another cliffy. I am 'Teh' evil.