CHAPTER ONE

"Where the hell are the angels," the general yelled as he slammed his fist into the table.

No one had an answer for him.

"They always show up when there is a demon army, but we haven't seen any in three days."

For as long as man can remember, when the demons attacked, the angels always came in to help them fight against the demons. Whether it was a small group or a large portion of an army, they always came. But now, the humans have been fighting against a demon army for nearly three days. The only reason that they have been able to hold out so long was because of the demon hunters, humans that were granted special abilities by the angels to help battle the demons that threaten humanity.

"I have no idea why they are not showing up. There is something more going on than what we know, but we can't worry about it at this time," the cloaked man said to the general.

The general looked up at the cloaked figure. This man, calling himself Oran, had shown up the second day of the battle. He was one of the unique demon hunters who because of their constant fighting against the demons and alongside the angels have been saturated with both demonic and angelic power, turning his hair a mixture of white and black streaks, and turning his eyes into multiple rings of black and white. He also kept his face covered except for his eyes. But what impressed the general the most was the aura around him. While not visible, those who have commanded in their time could sense something about this demon hunter that made him an excellent leader.

"I know, but if they were here, this battle would have been long over with."

"Agreed," was all Oran said.

After a couple of calming breaths, the general began to give orders to his officers.

"Alright, now that we have a moment, Oran has pointed out a possible weakness in the demon army tactics. While we all know that the enemy have been using rush tactics to overwhelm our forces, making it difficult for us to regroup and fight back, we now have a chance to fight back. When they next rush, we'll have archers ready to take out as many of the smaller demons as possible, while several catapults will begin sending specially made ammunition that explodes on contact deep into their camp. It is our hope that this will begin to cause the enemy troops to panic, giving us a chance to send groups of our soldiers into their ranks.

Oran will lead a group of demon hunters into the heart of the demon army in an attempt to take out their leader. Meanwhile, the other demon hunters and soldiers will provide cover for the main group and keep the demons preoccupied. As an added bonus, we'll have the clerics use their offensive powers to create even more chaos in the enemy army. If all goes well, the leader will be taken down and it will throw the demon army into disarray, allowing us to push them back, enabling us to finally close that portal once and for all.

However, there is a risk. Should this fail, we will have exhausted many of our defensive capabilities and the enemy army will be able to eventually overrun us. I've already talked to the high priest and he agrees with this plan. It's now or never. Anyone have any questions?"

The room was silent as the officers and priests soaked up the information. For a full thirty seconds, no one spoke.

"Alright, then we have a job to do. The demon army is about to launch its attack against us. Everyone to your positions . . . and may the goddess be with us."

"Goddess be with us," everyone else in the room responded.

Everyone left to head to their designated locations to prepare themselves for what was going to be the biggest battle of their lives. Oran followed the general outside the tent to the staging area.

"A lot rides on this, Oran."

"I know, but it is the best idea anyone has come up with. Something has to be done and soon, otherwise, this army will fall apart and the demons will have their way with the citizens of the city."

The general merely shook his head, knowing full well what will happen if they fail.

"Good luck."

"You too, general."

Oran walked to the staging area and took his place in the lead position of the demon hunter group.

"Are you sure this is going to work," a rather large demon hunter asked.

"Hope so Kyle, otherwise it's the end for this city and us as well."

"Whatever happened to keeping optimistic," a female demon hunter asked the two.

"Hope for the best, Lana, prepare for the worst," Oran said.

"Thanks for the encouragement," Lana replied.

Both Oran and Kyle smirked at the comment.

"Anytime," Kyle responded jokingly.

Lana simply shook her head in annoyance and walked away from the two.

"What did I say," Kyle said as she walked away.

Oran just shook his shoulders as he continued to walk to his destination, Kyle quickly following him.

"Sir," a young demon hunter said as Oran approached, "the demon army is taking position. Looks like they are about to attack."

"Thank you Grady. Alright everyone, take your position. Remember, the people of this city are counting on us to take out their leader. He will be heavily protected. He is our main focus. I know the soldiers are not as well trained in the art of fighting demons, but when the time comes, we must let them do their job. The urge to help them out will be great, but we must remain focused on our target. It will take all of our skill and all of our might to make this happen. It is not a matter of if we can do this, but that we must do this. Believe in yourself. Believe in your teammates. Believe that what we are doing is the right thing. Everything else will fall into place. FOR GLORY! FOR HONOR! FOR HUMANITY!"

All of the demon hunters roared. Oran could see the pride and passion the demon hunters possessed. But, on top of that, he could see that the soldiers around them joined in the roar. Soon, it seemed the entire army roared its defiance at the demonic army. Oran looked over at the general. It seems he too had finished his speech, causing his troops to roar in time with the demon hunters. The general looked over at Oran and nodded. Both knew this was going to be the fight of their lives and of those of the people they were fighting with.

The response of the demon army came just as the roar subsided. The first wave began their charge and roared as they began their approach.

"ARCHERS! PREPARE TO FIRE!" echoed throughout the army as bowmen began to pull back their bows, ready to fire.

The demon army continued its wild run towards the human army. Soldiers could see and feel the hatred and malice radiating from the demons. They were coming to annihilate them. They were coming to obliterate those that stood in their way. And, to some, it seemed nothing could stop them.

"CATAPULTS! PREPARE TO FIRE!"

Oran could hear the creaking of wood and the tightening of rope as the catapults were lowered down, then heard the thud of the special ammunition placed in the catapult.

"ARCHERS! FIRE!"

The sound of thousands of bows releasing all at once filled the air. The sky darkened as thousands of arrows flew towards their destination. For a moment, the front line of the demon army slowed as the arrows made their way towards them. Then, thousands of arrows rained down on the front lines of the demon army, striking hundreds of the demons, who screamed out in pain and horror.

"CATAPULTS! FIRE!"

Creaking wood and moving rope drowned out every other sound as they launched their loads into the air. What seemed like a hundred boulder-sized objects flew through the air. Behind the main wave, the demons began to scatter as they saw the large objects head right for them. And, as they landed, they exploded violently, destroying everything in their explosive radius. Many of the soldiers cheered as the fiery explosions wreaked havoc on the demons.

"Alright, it's our turn," Oran said as he drew his sword.

"DEMON HUNTERS! CHARGE!" he roared as he ran forward.

The demon hunters, as well as the soldiers sent to help protect them, rushed forward, roaring as they charged into the demon army. The demons on the front line that survived the initial arrow assault began to panic as a large force of humans rushed into them like crazed animals, swinging into their ranks. Demon trampled over demon as they tried to get out of the way of the humans. Oran and the demon hunters sliced their way through the first wave of the demons as if they were never there.

Making quick work of the front line, they began their assault on the next line of defense, which had taken a beating from the explosives that they had rained down on the demon army. While a bit stronger than the front line, the demon hunters dispatched them with ease. Now, the only thing that stood in their way was the leader's defensive group. For a brief moment, it looked like they could get through this. It looked like they could do it.

"Alright everyone, this is where the tough part begins. These demons will do everything they can to protect their leader. We have to punch through them and kill their leader. When we do, the rest of the army will rush in. They should be so disorganized and confused that they will run back to the portal. Remember; leave the leader to myself and my team. He is extremely powerful and will tear us apart if he can get to us before we are ready."

Everyone nodded as they approached the leader's protection.

"Let's take him down."

Everyone roared as they charged into the demons protecting their leader. At first glance, the sheer number of humans seemed to push back the demons, but that quickly faded. The demons, tougher than most that they had fought against so far, stopped the advance and held their ground. For nearly a minute, neither side budged as they fought, each fighting with everything they had.

"Kyle, Lana, I'm going to make a break through the line. Follow my lead. Everyone else, keep them off us."

Oran finished off the demon he had been fighting and leapt through the hole, closely followed by Lana and Kyle. As he charged to the leader, he looked back at the others. He was concerned about them. He didn't want to leave them behind. There was the very real possibility that many of them would not survive this battle. But he knew that it was the only way to stop this battle.

"Foolish humans," the demon spoke as he lifted up his enormous bastard sword, "you dare try and attack me! Do you know who I am? I am Bilzith, a general of the demon army. You are no match for me.

Oran began the assault, swing his blade towards the demon. In response, the demon blocked his blade, which looked so small compared to the demon's blade. The other two attacked as well, trying to flank the demon and surround him. However, this demon was by far the most skilled they had encountered and easily blocked their attacks, positioning him to prevent them from encircling him.

"Not bad humans," the demon taunted as he blocked their attack. "I'll give you credit, you are a determined lot, but you are ignorant to think you can beat me."

"We have two more incoming," Lana yelled.

"We've got these two, take him out," Kyle yelled as he and Lana moved to attack the two demons heading their way.

"Well, well, human. It seems it's just you and me. With them, you might have stood a chance, but now, you are as good as dead."

The demon leader began his attack on Oran. His swings were powerful. Every block Oran made pushed him back a little bit.

"Do you really think you can will against me little human. I will rip out your heart and feast on your corpse."

"You have always been such a blowhard, Bilzith," Oran said as he slipped out of range of the demon's weapon.

The demon general paused for a moment at the comment.

"You know me, human?"

"Let's just say I know quite a bit about you."

"Then you know your death is near."

The demon launched a vicious assault at the human, annoyed that the puny human claimed to know anything about him. However, unlike the first assault, Oran easily blocked or dodged his assaults.

"Impossible," the demon spoke out loud as Oran easily blocked his blade.

"Such sloppy work. You would think a general of the demon army knew how to swing a sword. I guess not."

The demon roared in anger and assaulted Oran. But no matter how much strength he put into the blow, the human easily blocked and dodged the attacks, almost as if he had fought him before.

"It seems I have underestimated you, little human. You do know how to fight. But let us see if you can take the heat."

The demon's black blade ignited, a black fire radiating from the blade's edges. Oran could see red runes glow along the length of the blade. He knew this was a dangerous sword to fight against.

"The big question is, can you," he said as his white blade ignited in a white fire, golden runes glowing along the blade.

"That blade . . . it can't be . . ."

Before the demon could say anything else, Oran attacked him, swinging his blade in faster than he had before. The demon barely blocked the blade, sending a blast wave out away from the two. Lana and Kyle jumped away from the two demons they were fighting and stared in the direction of Oran and the demon general. For a moment, they stared in awe of the two blades struck one another, one of pure black fire and one of pure white fire. And every time they hit, a blast wave shot out around them in all directions. Instincts save the both of them as the blocked an attack from the demons they were fighting.

"Impossible. You are not powerful enough to use that blade," the demon general bellowed.

"Guess you were wrong," he said as he parried the demon's blade and slashed back at him.

For a good thirty seconds, the two attacked one another, with the other blocking the attack. No matter what one did to try and get past the defenses of the other, it was stopped. And it seemed it would go on forever. But the demon lord made a mistake. He tried to bring his blade around to try and behead Oran, but instead of blocking the attack, he narrowly ducked under the blade, the black fire dancing precariously close to his face. He jabbed his blade towards the demon, stabbing deep into his lower abdomen. The demon general screamed out in pain as the white fire burned into his side. The demon swung down at Oran, forcing him to pull out the blade and block the attack. The demon backed up a few steps, clutching his side.

"I can't be defeated by the likes of you," the demon said in pain as he clutched his side.

"There is always a first time," Oran calmly responded.

The demon lunged at Oran, attempting to skewer him on the blade. Oran leapt into the air, grabbing on the demon's shoulder to help push him over the demon. The moment his feet landed, he pointed his blade behind him and stabbed the demon through the chest. The demon roared in pain and dropped his sword. The white flames that encircled the white blade began to spread across his body.

"Who are you," the demon whispered with his last breath.

The demon's eyes rolled into the back to his head and fell forward, sliding off the white blade and collapsing to the ground. Within a few seconds, his body was engulfed by the white flame. Within moments, the white flames died off, leaving a burnt outline where the demon's body once laid.

As Oran, took a deep breath, the fire on his blade winked out and the golden runes faded. As he looked up and around at the battlefield, he could see that Lana and Kyle had dispatched their opponents. Both were grasping for breath. They looked a bit worn out, but could see no injuries.

"Well done you too," Oran said to them as they looked up at him.

Both weakly smiled at him as they tried to get their breath. Oran continued to look across the battlefield. And, as he predicted, the demon army was falling apart. The main force of the human army made short work of what was left of the front lines and made their way deeper into the demons. Then, as if all at once, the demons began to flee, running back towards the portal, trampling and crushing one another to be first into the portal.

"Come on you too, we're not done yet."

"I am so going to take a bath after this," Lana said as she gathered her strength.

Oran sniffed in her direction.

"Don't say it," she quickly responded.

Both Kyle and Oran chuckled.

"Let's help the army finish this once and for all."

The three made their way towards the portal, taking out as many demons along the way as possible. Though some of the demons tried to fight back, the human army was too powerful to stop. Many more demons fell to the humans' blades before they were able to make it to the portal. Within twenty minutes of their leader's death, the area was clear of demons. The demon hunters quickly surrounded the portal as the priests took positions around the portal and began to chant. Symbols of glowing blue energy came into existence around the portal one at a time. Each time a symbol appeared, a group of demons tried to attack the priests, only to be killed by the demon hunters. As the last symbol appeared, the ground began to shake. The portal began to shrink, the symbols glowing brighter and brighter as the portal got smaller and smaller, until the very end, when the portal was a small speck of light, surrounded by blue energy. Then, with resounded roar, the portal was sealed.

The soldiers all around the portal began to cheer, celebrating their victory over the demon army. The cheering quickly spread through the army, soldiers hugging each other, shaking hands, slapping the backs of their comrades. It was a moment of pride and joy. They, a group of mere humans, were able to defeat an army of demons. It was never heard of before. All the times before, it was the angels that were the ones that defeated the demons, aided by the humans.

While everyone was celebrating, Oran knew what they had sacrificed to make this possible. While it was a victory for the humans, it was not a win. Thousands of human corpses littered the battlefield, while many more were badly injured. It would be a long time before the humans of this city would recover from this. And this thought made his heart sink. Too many had died in this battle. Too many sacrificed their lives to protect their home. And many of those lives could have been saved, but the protectors never came.

Lana and Kyle walked up to Oran, proud of the accomplishment they had achieved. Their joy, however, was cut short as they saw Oran. In his eyes, they saw a great sorrow and an anger they had never seen in him before. They saw his gloved hands clench tightly into fists.

"Oran," Lana softly said.

He looked up at them. He knew they could see how angry he was. He calmed himself down, letting go of the anger.

"Why are you angry? We defeated the demons," she asked.

"No angels," was all Kyle said.

Oran's response was a nod.

"You're right. They never came," she said.

Oran looked around and began to walk towards the location where he had fought the demon general. There, lying on the ground was his massive blade. Oran looked at the blade for a few seconds, and then reached to pick it up.

"That would be a bad idea," the head priest said as he approached.

"I know what I am doing," he replied as he picked up the sword.

The blade responded instantly. A black fire engulfed the blade and down towards the hilt, threatening to burn his hand. But, just before the black fire fully engulfed the handle, it stopped moving. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the black fire extinguished itself and the blade shank to a more usable size.

"You would be wise to let the priests destroy that evil blade. If you intend on using it, the blade will slowly corrupt you and you will be its slave."

"Thank you for the warning, but I'll be fine."

Oran slid the blade on his back as if there was a sheath there. And, just before he finished the gesture, a sheath appeared on his back over the blade.

"You knew it was going to do that, didn't you," the high priest asked.

"The same thing happened with my other blade. I slipped it on my back to see how well it would sit within a sheath and one appeared for it."

The high priest soaked in the information and said nothing further as he headed back to the city.

"Are you sure you should be using that," Kyle asked as he approached.

"Whether or not you believe me, it felt like the right thing to do. And if you are wondering, I wasn't coerced into taking the sword. It was my choice to do so."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. Besides, it fits with your style."

"What do you mean," Oran asked.

"Hair of black and white, eyes of black and white, and now blades of black and white."

Oran thought about it for a moment.

"Hmm, you're right."

Kyle just grinned.

"You know that the priests won't like it that you are using a demon blade."

"Yeah, I know. They will just have to deal with it. Now that that is taken care of, let's get to work and help with the injured. We have a long road of recovery ahead of us."

"You really know how to spoil my good mood, don't you?"

"Yep."