My Calling: Night Warriors
Authro: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
MAKAI! Seperates Paragraphs
Chapter 4: Lesson in battle
"Darkstalker?" Nelius had never heard of this term before.
"The name for those who rule the night. A term given to us by the humans." Morrigan outlined the definition.
"Doesn't sound like they get along well with demons around here."
"It can't be helped, really. Though, one thing that interests me is those wings of yours."
"What about them?"
"Yours show to have the exact same ability as mine and most other demons here."
"So they can block attacks, so what? Once they start transforming into other things, then I think I'll be impressed."
"Hmm. If what I'm thinking is correct, your wings may be able to do so."
"You serious?"
"Right this way." Without warning, she lifted upward and began flying. Nelius followed suit. Within a few scant minutes of flying, the two reached the Aensland's Castle. "Wait for me on the roof. I'll be up shortly." As he ascended to the castle roof, Morrigan decided to drop down and head into the castle instead. 'This should be interesting.'
"Another trip to the human world, Lady Aensland? And with Maximoff coming so close.." The endless chatter of several of her servants was silenced with the raising of one of her hands.
"Let's just say I found something.. or rather, someone who could prove to be a valuable asset to us." That sentence alone caught the attention of everyone present. "He managed to hold his own against Maximoff, though his battle form is rather rough. Even more interesting, that soul..."
"Wait a moment. You mean to tell us that some random kid off the streets of the human realm somehow got strong enough to tie off against Maximoff?" An incubus knight, standing about 7 feet tall, decked out in battle armor, couldn't believe such a statement.
"Oh, but he's no human. I ventured off to the human world to investigate that strange power burst I felt. Imagine the surprise when I found out at the center of it all is a young demon child."
"Hmph. And just where is this demon child?"
"Upstairs, on the castle roof." The incubus knight headed for the stairs and ascended through the many levels of the castle.
"Lady Aensland, are you sure about this?"
"Don't worry, that child is something different. He has a calculating look in his eyes, one that I haven't seen since the disappearance of Kreutz."
MAKAI!
Nelius, still waiting on the roof of the castle, had begun to let his mind wander over the recent events.
So far, after finding a weird green gemstone-- it was still in his pocket, by the way-- he was suddenly catapulted across the cosmos to land in an isolated demon world that was going through a tough time with its accompanying human world. He could almost laugh on the irony of it all, as what was happening here was nearly identical to how the netherworlds he knew had first interacted with their respective human worlds. Now, he had to figure out how he was going to travel back to his own side of the cosmos.
He already knew that, even after rejoining with the other half of his soul, he wouldn't be strong enough to directly open a rift from here to his world. Besides, even if he did become powerful enough to open up transportation rifts, traveling to the nearby human world, or even to a neighboring netherworld, required a substantial amount of mana energy to pull off. Trying to create one that would safely get him back to the netherworld he called home would require virtually the same amount, if not more, of mana energy usually needed to construct a netherworld.
'Essentially, I'm screwed for the moment.' Such words couldn't have fitted his situation more perfectly. 'Still, where did that woman, Aensland, run off to?' Feeling bored, he held up a gauntlet-covered hand, and watched as a deep purple bolt of pure mana danced between his fingertips.
Behind you
Nelius, feeling a bit disoriented at hearing another voice within his mind, turned around in time to receive a big fist to the face. He was sent sprawling across the roof, but turned his tumble into a flip and landed on his feet.
"Not bad, for one so young." The fist dissipated into the form of many bats, coming to rest behind a behemoth of a demon as a set of wings. "Normally, most wouldn't be able to recover so quickly."
"And just who the hell are you?" While he wasn't bleeding, that surprise attack did hurt.
"I am Goros, one among the line of Incubi knights who protect the Aensland line. I have to admit, I was surprised, and rather skeptical, to hear of a demon child who could hold off a demon like Maximoff."
"Well, it wasn't too hard to see through his attacks. He pretty much leaves himself open."
"Either way, show me the form that held off Demitri!"
Rushing forward, spear poised, he thrusted it forward, hoping to impale Nelius, who, in turn, jumped backwards a few feet, out of the spear's reach, and charged energy in his right fist. Breaking into a short run, Nelius threw the punch at the incubus, who, stepping to the side of the attack, morphed his wings into a pair of hands and grabbed the younger demon, and flung him off the roof edge.
"That was far too easy. Perhaps Maximoff... what the?" From the eastern side, Nelius, with transformed wings of his own, flung himself back onto the roof, and in one fluid motion delivered a Netherburst-charged headbutt to the incubus, hard enough to place a dent in the helmet. "Agh!" Staggering backwards, he looked up at the younger demon, whose wings had reverted back to their original state. "He too, is an Incubus? Lady Aensland never said anything about this!"
'Wait a second.' Nelius looked to his wings, which had just reverted back to their original state. 'Morrigan said something about my wings being able to change form. Question is, how'd I do that?'
"So, you too possess a power like ours." Goros shook off the dizziness from Nelius' headbutt.
"What good is it if I can't make use of it yet?" To this, the incubus knight began laughing. "What's so humorous?"
"It's a matter of willpower, young demon." Holding out an arm and a wing, he began morphing the wing into several different forms, from a drill arm to a scythe, and inbetween each transformation, bats were released and reformed into each transformed state. "Many denizens of Makai are able to perform this, but very few ever truly learn how to harness it."
"A matter of will, huh?" Nelius' mind was set abuzz.
"The will to live, and battle. Many creatures of Makai live for the sheer thrill of the fight, staking their lives against one another."
"Hehe, guess there's not much difference between Makai and the demon worlds I've come to know." Feeling that icy sensation flow through his wings again, he couldn't help but grin.
"Now that you know, now we battle in earnest!" Again, the two demons charged at one another. The incubus knight was strong, hardened from many years of battle, but it was Nelius' lithe, quick form that helped to gain standing ground against the knight. A mass of limbs and wings clashed and whiffed past one another as the two sought to battle it out, fueling their ever growing thirst for a good battle.
"Now, I begin to see how you managed to hold off Maximoff." The two were in a stalemate, the knight's spear locked in place with Nelius' hardened wings, which had crossed in front of his body to hold the spear in place.
"I could tell he was itching to go another round, but someone else challenged him." Breaking the stalemate, Nelius attempted to use one of his wings as a club to dent the armor of the knight, but it was held off by one of the knight's own wings.
"All right, you two. That's quite enough." Unbeknowest to either combatant, Morrigan had been there, watching the whole battle. "I have to say, you learn quickly, young one. I haven't any doubt in my mind now about the fate of that soul." The two of them released each other from the standoff. "Goros, I wish to speak to this one alone."
"By your leave." Giving a faint bow as a sign of repsect, he made his way down to the castle foyer. With the incubus knight gone, Morrigan turned her attention to Nelius.
"You may just be able to help me with something that's been pulling at the back of my mind for a while now."
"And that would be..."
"In the human world, I've been noticing something odd going on."
"Aside from the numerous machines that seem hellbent on killing anything that moves?"
"About those machines... During a battle I had with Demitri a few days prior, several of those machines began to attack us. Call it coincidence, but those machines may be attracted to powerful souls."
"Right... so, what are you wanting me to do?"
"In the human world may lie the answer as to why these machines have awakened. I happen to have a few leads as to some information on them." She held up a hand, opening up a portal to the human world. "I'll find you once I have the information." Though apprehensive about her intentions, Nelius stepped through the portal.
MAKAI!
Until next chapter,
Cornell Valentine Gainsborough