From the Dark Depths Into the Light

The people of the plane of Kylem have always prided themselves on their home and its many wonderous and sometimes even dangerous ecosystems. Despite the dangers that many of them faced almost on a daily basis, there are not many who would say that they didn't love their forests or the mountains. However, there were places that no one dared to traverse – places that were viewed as unhallowed ground or cursed.

One such place was known as the Swamp of the Sinful. It was a place where all the trees looked gnarled and gangly, where odd lights would come out of nowhere and the fog would seek to lead you astray. There was a legend that the swamp was home to all the souls of those who had been cast out of their villages in the past for being too corrupt to be Redeemed by the angels of the three flights that Kylem had. But the truth of the matter was, the Swamp was home to a creature altogether, perhaps, more dark.

At the very heart of the Swamp, on an islet was a hovel. This rustic, isolated place was the home of a demon by the name of Krav. As with all things, there had to be balance – the Creator of Kylem knew this. When the angels were Made, they needed a counterpart; a reason to perform their function. Thus, from the very depths of the blackest mana on the plane spawned twelve entities that became known as demons.

Where the angels would be the Redeemers in the Creator's plan, the demons were the Corruptors. They were the darkness in the world that every mortal being was taught to fear and never contemplate to speak to. Some were meant to bring some kind of chaos. Not that some of the mortals would listen, especially the Azra, who believed their demonic ancestry gave them some kind of special relation to the twelve. Indeed, many tried to resist, but some of the twelve did have quite the silvery tongue for a reason.

Krav was the youngest; demon number twelve. He was a demon with black, indigo and white skin, had a humanoid build, a set of impressive black horns and eyes redder than rubies. Krav was often seen as the baby of the twelve and thus treated like one most of the time – it was also because the other eleven knew that it bothered him, thus it made it a lot more funny. There was also another reason Krav was their favourite target to tease.

He was the only one out of the twelve never to have made a pact with a mortal or Corrupted a mortal.

The demon didn't care about the weaknesses in mortals or the vanity in the elves who saw themselves as the superior race on Kylem. He also didn't care about the stupidity of the goblins or the greed of the Azra. No, the only thing that Krav had on his mind, was to achieve something none of his demonic brothers had.

Eternal glory.

Krav had no interest in becoming the Great Deceiver or the Great Seductor or the Bane of Kylem, like his older brothers did. He was only interested in one thing: combat, and beating his opponent in the arena. The only time mortals counted for him, was when they were chanting his name in victory.

None of the other eleven demons knew how to handle this; they rarely saw each other anyway but they definitely tried to stay as far away from Krav and his peculiarity as possible. That was fine with him.

Well, there was an exception amongst them.

As was usual, Krav spent most of his days honing his powers and his skills with his fighting staffs, axes and battle scythes, taking apart illusions he made for the purpose or trees who had the misfortune of having grown in the demon's way. Krav's blood red eyes glowed menacingly as he raised his battle scythe and send a blade of black and red energy at a tree, severing the ancient plant neatly in half.

As it fell back into the murky waters around the islet, Krav heard the sound of clapping.

"Bravo! I must say that was not too shabbily done, little brother. Now, only imagine what you would be able to do if you had a soul or two to draw from."

Krav's jaw clenched automatically and his hand tightened further around his weapon, his black-indigo knuckles actually turning slightly white with the effort. "Xyro," he growled as he turned around, glaring at the intruder. "What did I say about visiting without an invitation?"

The demon had a faux-expression of surprise on his countenance. "Did you say something about me needing an invitation?" he gasped dramatically. "Oh dear … must have completely slipped my mind! After all I have been rather … busy."

Xyro smirked at this; Krav rolled his eyes. Xyro was demon number ten and had a penchant for luring young men into … compromising situations, especially if it was known to the demon that these men were engaged. He was also one of the three demons who were also Made with red mana; as a result, his hair was as blood red as Krav's eyes as were parts of his purple skin. The tenth eldest demon was the direct ancestor of every Azra, which Xyro was extremely proud of. Krav and the others, not so much. But, something that Krav had been envious of was the fact Xyro was Made with a pair of wings.

"Well, then, I suggest you get back to luring the next sorry sod away from his lady and to your bed and leave me in peace," Krav responded dismissively as he sharpened his favourite battle scythe. "I have better things to do?"

"Ooooo, like what?" Xyro asked giddily as he flew from the tree he was nestled in to the stump of the tree Krav had just executed. The demon giggled. "It's not about this up and coming doubles battle at Valor's Reach I have been hearing about, is it?"

Krav regarded his older brother coldly. "And what if it is?" he demanded. "I don't see how this concerns you."

"Because it concerns you, baby brother," Xyro's smirk grew. "You are a demon with no pact, a total of zero Corruptions under that gladiator belt of yours and you want to go to a stadium full of delectably corruptible mortals …" he pulled a face, "… in order to impress them! Have you any idea what the others will think?"

"Yes," Krav answered bluntly. "Issue is, Xyro, I don't care. You can steal as many of their souls as you want, but I will achieve martial immortality, which as you know, brother, is worth more to those pathetic flash bags than their own souls." He laughed coldly. "The reason why Bazagor is positively bathed in souls, is because they are only too happy to sell it for the only thing that matters on Kylem. Glory, or glory for their favourites. They forget his name immediately; they will not forget mine if I have anything to say about it."

Xyro smacked his lips. "Yeeeaaaah, there is just one incy-wincey-tiny-major detail you are forgetting, baby brother. It is a DOUBLES battle! You are going to have to share your precious glory." The demon started cackling maniacally. "We both know you don't share anything!"

Krav's jaw clenched momentarily. "Don't worry, brother. I will keep my eyes out for any sucker who looks like they could put some kind of fight, but not by much. Even if they … fall … I am pretty sure that whatever reputation I garner by that point will ensure I have partners lining up to join me."

He smirked at that prospect.

"Ah! You are still a demon. Good! I thought for a moment that you might be an Azra."

Krav looked absolutely disgusted at this point. "Shut up."

"I would rather not, unless something is put there," Xyro cackled, causing Krav to pull a face. "Anyway, I hate to ruin your mood-"

"-you love ruining a mood," Krav scowled.

"-but, you have your little demonic immortality to also contend with," his older brother giggled. "Demons don't die! You are never going to enter the mortals' beloved Vault of Champions – ever. Plus, should your partner die you are going to have to make a show of visiting their grave and blah-dy-blah-dy-blah."

Krav sighed in exhaustion at this point and then started chuckling. "What is the point of earning eternal glory if there is no eternal life to enjoy it?" he shot back, eyes blazing. "I will do what I need to in order to get what I want. I will feed you fat, indulgent troglodytes-"

Xyro looked dramatically affronted at this point.

"-whatever soul you need in order to shut you up," Krav snarled. "And I will not let anyone – mortal or otherwise – stand in my way!"

By this point, his older brother recovered from his partial and covert indignation at being essentially called a 'caveman' and had a sly smile on his face again, those onyx eyes glinting with something Krav could not read.

"Well, I hope for your sake that you even get there," Xyro told him with a smirk. "I saw two angels battling yesterday – I think they were from Lucariel's flight – and we both know how angels feel about demons near their precious humans. Let us hope they don't catch on the way and try and kick you from Cloudspire City."

Krav snorted and rolled his eyes. "Those pesky do-gooders hold no fear for me. After all, if they really did care as much as they claimed they do, they would have performed far more coitus interruptus on you than they have done!"

Xyro scowled deeply at this point. "It is just so not cool to interrupt someone when they are busy like that. I still owe Zareal for literally kicking me out of the window a total of fifteen times! I could not sit for over a week the last time because I ended up in a freaking prickle bush!"

Krav laughed nastily. "Be glad that is all she did! Had it been Lucariel, you would have lost your wings and your round tables to boot."

Xyro sneered but didn't disagree.

"So, just leave those buzzards to me and worry more about whether or not you're going to get beaten up before or after you finish with your next … partner," Krav suggested with a look of distaste.

The jubilant expression was soon back onto the older demon's face. "One of these days, little brother, you are going to know the pleasures that can be achieved if you just simply put your mind to it."

"No, thanks. I will pass."

Xyro pouted. "Why are you such a prude? You are worse than Eligdras!"

Krav snorted. "How am I worse? He never comes out of his potter's field and I have left my Swamp over one hundred times."

"Yes, to go to a stadium – not to fish."

"You will never convince me to … go down your path. When are you going to give up? You do remember you can't Corrupt your own brothers right?" Krav asked wryly.

"Unfortunately," Xyro huffed. "Otherwise I would not be embarrassed by your lack of-"

"Yes, thank you, Xyro," Krav was very tempted to throw his axe at his brother. "Now, if you don't mind, I have actually important things to get back to."

"Yes, your first Corruption," Xyro smirked. "Have fun, baby brother! I will pop in now and again to see how you fare. Stay away from angels!"

And in almost a blink of an eye, Krav's older brother disappeared, leaving Krav a little bit annoyed and also a little bit drained. Xyro really was just too much to handle on a good day. But the demon gladiator pushed his brother's visit from his mind very quickly as he prepared to leave for Valor's Reach in the morning, once more willingly heading into the light.

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I thought it would be fun to also give Krav's perspective on the situation for the second chapter before I have the two paths meet. I admit, I did have a lot of fun getting into the mind of these arrogant demons. Xyro was especially weird, creepy and fun in a weird way – he kind of wrote himself.

As usual, none of these characters or the world are mine; they are created by Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro. I am just having some fun here.

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