Ch.10 The Devil's Prophecy

I stared out the window at the storm that pounded on the tree and the ground with rage. Hel stared at my back waiting for my reply. I didn't know how to say it all to him. "There's some things that I think I overheard and wasn't meant to know. It's all so confusing that I can't really piece much of anything together."

Hel remained silent as he listened to me. I turned to him, my eyes boring into his. "I saw father in a meeting. He was with his group and Lones. They were talking about monster spawns that have been massing and attacking villages. Lones was worried that their town would be attacked by someone that they wouldn't speak of. The ogres are working for this man."

I took a breath fighting the urge to cry. "You've been keeping in contact with dad about my progress. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't allowed too," Hel replied with a frown. "What else did you see?"

"Lones was angry with dad for falling in love with mom who was just a tool to create the offspring for the skeletal lords. Dad and Lones got a tad angry with one another for touching the subject of their love lives. I'm some sort of prophecy? Why didn't you explain that to me back at the mansion?"

I clenched my fists shaking. "What else is there that you haven't told me about? What?"

Hel groaned sitting on the floor scratching his head. "Damn it."

"Hel!" I barked at him.

"I'm not obliged to say!" he barked back.

I scoffed at him. "Not obliged."

He watched me leave the room angrily. "Sell. Don't be pissed at me. I'm just doing as your dad ordered me to do."

I whirled around on him. "Ordered? Behind my back? I'm the heir and I'm meant to live on the littlest information you give me? Tell me, if you're obliged, how am I to go through my training and live to adulthood and transform with this little information?"

Hel groaned gripping his hair angrily. "Your dad is the one that's doing this! He's calling the shots! You're the one that has to follow them!"

"Hel, I swear to Notch, I'm about to shred you!" I yelled at him jabbing my finger in his face. "What the hell am I? Why am I so damned special?"

Hel got to his feet towering over me. "You're the Devil's Prophecy. It's what Ananon saw in a vision before she died."

I stared at him as my anger began to fade. "Lady Ananon saw me?"

Hel's shoulders drooped. "All that was said was that a child would be born under the wolf's protection. They would roam and fight all over Notch's creation."

"That explains why everyone has a werewolf," I said turning around. "That doesn't say she saw me though."

"Your father thinks it's you though."

"He can think what he wants. He's always wanted everything."

That explains why he swore on my life. It explained everything that my father and Lones spoke about. I sighed curling up next to the ovens. Hel sat in the other room staring at me through the doorway.

"I'm sorry."

I ignored him hugging my knees. "Explain more. Explain bits and pieces."

Hel pulled his lips taught in a tight line. "No. There's nothing else to say. When the rain lets up I'll be training you."

"Is Lones dad's friend?"

Hel looked at me through the doorway. "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "If he was his friend why would he try to hit dad with his sword?"

I recalled when Lones threw his sword at dad. It came very close to hitting dad.

"They have always been opposites. Ananon was the one that had to keep separating them. With her gone now the two duke it out every other fight they get into." Hel scratched under his chin and stopped.

"What's up?" I asked noticing his behavior.

"Company below."

I raised a brow and walked over the floor to the trunk. Looking down I saw a little girl taking cover from the rain. "Hello there."

She looked up at me with her emerald eyes. She stared up at me surprised that someone had inhabited a tree. "H-Hello."

I smiled and motioned for her to climb up the ladder. "Come on up. You can dry off up here."

She tugged on her animal skin hat tighter down on her head and climbed up the ladder. I noticed that her hair sparkled and resembled fish scales almost.

"What's your name?"

"Serdra."

"Serdra." I repeated and held out my hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sell."

Serdra took my hand and shook it. "You too. Who's that?"

I looked over to see Hel leaning against the doorframe looking at us. "That's my friend, Hel."

The little girls face began to blush. I could tell she had a crush on Hel. I patted her head and smiled. "You're so cute."

She looked at me oddly. "I'm an adult."

I fell out in shock. "Adult?"

Hel and I sat on the other side of Serdra. "I'm twenty-five. I don't have any kids because I can't have any. I'm a guard in the village not too far from here."

"The head guard?" Hel asked leaning on the wall.

She nodded. I looked to Hel and back to her. "What's the village called?"

"Ashland Valley."

"That explains the crest." Serdra and I stared at Hel. "What? I can't be observant?"

"That's fine. I don't mind. You have good eyes." Serdra smiled and brought out a can of some sort of drink from her bag. "Would you two like some? I've got a few more."

"What is it?" I asked looking at the can.

"It's Blorp Cola. Really delicious."

Hel took a can as I did and opened it the same time. We looked at one another before tipping the can back slightly. It was indeed good. I placed the can down and felt odd. I had never had such a drink before. Hel hadn't either it seemed because he smacked his mouth repeatedly.

"You two have never had this stuff?"

We shook our heads. She began giggling. "Where do you two live? Blorps have been populating the land for a good bit now. You've never seen a Blorp before then?"

We shook our heads again. She let her mouth drop. "Good god. You two aren't from around these regions then! You two must be those kids that come from villages and cities to have adventures or something."

I nodded. "Apparently you've met them before?"

"Met them? They live in our village!"

You face werewolves?" Hel asked sitting up.

"We kill them."

I bit the lip of the can to hide a gasp. Hel's face didn't change. "I'm surprised you aren't dead yet. They are quite the ferocious type."

"We have a pack that roams around the woods. Even a boy joined them. I haven't seen the boy though," she said tipping her can side to side as its contents swished around. "He had brown hair and grey hair."

I gasped letting my teeth let go of the can. It clattered on the wood, bouncing about before rolling to a stop. Serdra looked at me leaning back on her arms. "You've seen him?"

"Yea. He had a werewolf to hunt for him."

Hel rose to his feet and stared out the window. "Does he attack people?"

"He watches us in the village from a far hillside. We don't really bother with him." Serdra crushed the can and placed it in her bag. "You two are new. Where did you two come from?"

"A village." Sell replied quickly. "We've been wandering forever, we've sort of forgot our way."

Serdra frowned. "That sucks. Well, you two are allowed to live with us in the village if you want? We have plenty of room."

"Thank you very much," Hel said smiling. "I kind of like this tree though."

Serdra looked around at the six by six room. "It's quite homey. You picked a nice tree to live in."

"I didn't pick it. Sell did."

I smiled. "It was meant to be a quick shelter but it took me by surprise by its beauty."

Serdra smiled with me. "I understand that feeling all too well."

I saw her look at Hel and blush more. Hel didn't seem to notice as he looked out the window. Serdra got to her feet and placed her hat back on. "I must get going. I have duties to get done with at the village."

I stood and watched her head down the ladder. "It was nice to meet you. I hope we get to talk again."

"Same." She sprinted into the rain and never turned back.

Hel watched her go from the window and sighed. A village of werewolf hunters. Just dandy.

"Hel?" I approached him seeing his face. "Is this bad?"

"It can go either way," he replied dryly. "What's important is to get some training into you before we meet anyone else that we don't need."

"The rain isn't slacking off." I went to the other window watching the trees sway in the slight wind that the rain carried.

"It will in a little."

I watched him slide to the floor and curl up. I looked out the window watching the rain falling in sheets heavily. Howls cried out in the distance over the rain. I prayed the wolves wouldn't come here and get us. I saw Hel move slightly listening to the howling.

He finally went completely still which seemed to be a good sign to me. If Hel wasn't worried about the boy and his wolves then neither should I. Or should I?

"Hel? The wolves…"

"Gluttonous bastards." He grumbled. "Nothing to worry about. They aren't hunting us."

I sighed and slid to the floor next to him. "What if they do?"

"They don't stand a chance in hell if they faced me." He opened one eye and looked over to me. "It doesn't matter what type of being is around you. You must never drop your guard. Rule one."

"Rule two?" I hugged my knees wanting to know more.

"Rule two is don't invite strangers into the house without checking them out first."

I was smacked in the forehead by him. I fell back holding my head. "Ow!"

"Don't do it again!" He pointed a finger at me. "Your father had more sense than that."

I puffed up at him. "Shut up! I don't know how to check people out! You know how apparently!"

He opened his other eye and leaned towards me. "Smell them."

"Huh?" He had completely thrown me off by that reply. "Smell them?"

"Try it once the rain stops. I have the feeling we'll be meeting the werewolf boy." Hel said angling his head towards the window.

My memory went back to the time when we were in the mansion just finishing up eating when his body went stiff. He had known something was going to happen then. His hearing was better than mine. Sense told me to follow his advice whenever he gave it. As I leaned against the wall I thought back to earlier in the day when I first saw the werewolf that protected the boy.

I turned to Hel watching him rest. "How do I tell you apart from the other werewolves? You all almost blend with one another."

His left hand yanked his shirt down to reveal several scars that he had obtained from fighting.

"If a werewolf is injured more than likely the injury will turn into a scar and the fur won't grow on a scar when we transform. The injury, if severe enough, damages the cells and root system making it unable to produce fur."

"I see." I scratched my head as I thought about things. "How come the ogre is working with werewolves? Isn't that taboo?"

Hel's eyes snapped open and gave me a look that I couldn't read. It was a mixture of many different questions or something like that. "What?"

"You don't have a clue about skeletal lords and the like but when it comes to monsters and their cooperation patterns you ask interesting questions." We stared at one another for a bit after this until he broke the silence once more. "The rain is finishing up. Get your gear and let's get outside. All you need is your sword."

I went to my bag that I had placed in the corner of the room and brought out my sword. When I turned around Hel was out of the room and at the base of the tree waiting for me. I slid down the ladder and followed him through the woods not knowing where we were going. Apparently he knew because his body was angled like it had a destination. He spun around on me so suddenly I almost tripped.

"Are you doing as I told you to do?"

I sniffled my nose smelling only rain, trees, and grass. "What am I looking for exactly? All I smell is the woods and rain."

He turned around and kept walking without saying a thing back to me. We continued on our way somewhere getting deeper and deeper in the woods. Sense told me that I was being lured for some other reason. My feet stopped moving. Hel stopped and turned around to me.

"Why did you stop?"

"Where are you taking me?"

Hel didn't reply right away. I stared at him as my right hand gripped the handle of the sword. I slowly pulled it out of my bag and held it out in front of me. Hel's blue eyes stared at his reflection in the blade. He smiled and leapt away.

"Hmm, very good."

I knew it. He had lured me out here to intentionally see the boy and the werewolves! I looked around for anyone but only saw that we were alone. I looked at him raising a brow. "What the hell are we doing?"

"What does it look like?" He straightened up putting his hands on his hips. "Training. You got your sword out. Why?"

I looked at him and then at my sword. "Because of my instinct. I got a feeling that you were luring me somewhere."

Suddenly I was face to face with Hel who had a grin on his face. Damn he's fast! Hel cupped my face with a hand. "What else?"

Was there supposed to be something else? I tried thinking back. "I checked around us for the werewolves and the boy. We seem to be alone. I think."

"Assumptions do not work when trying to survive!"

His bark made me jump slightly. Of course he caught that. He let go of my face and leapt away back to where he had been seconds ago. I bent over my sword as if it weighed a lot. It actually weighed as much as my bag did when it was loaded down with supplies.

"Your stance is all wrong. If you run at me like that you'll end up tripping and stabbing yourself through. Straighten up." Hel's eyes studied me hard. I slowly stood and let my sword hit the ground.

I felt something behind me that had intentions that I disliked very much. It happened so fast that I didn't comprehend my movements. I just struck out of defense. I felt weight on my sword as if I struck something and the smell of blood was very noticeable. Opening my eyes I saw what I had hit.

A werewolf had skewered its self on my sword. Right through its heart. Hel was still standing where he was slightly taken aback by what had happened. None of us had been expecting a sudden attack.

"Sell." He snapped back to reality and came to my side. "Are you ok?"

He grabbed the limp werewolf and flung it off my blade and into the forest. I stared at my bloodied sword and looked at him. He grimaced as he watched me throw up at his feet. Hel put a hand across his eyes and groaned. "Much work is to be done. As for the sudden attack I couldn't have asked to see better results."

I looked up at him from staring at the now discolored grass. "What results?"

He smiled taking his hand away. "You have shown me something that your father would be proud of. Lones too."

I narrowed my eyes trying to understand what he meant or was trying to say.

"You will have the makings of a Lady when we're done. You will surpass your father when the time comes." Hel bent over to smile at me. "Ananon said so."

I balled up my fist and felt it connect with his jawline. "I won't follow in dad's footsteps! How many times have I told you that?"

If any person from the village that Serdra had come from they would've been sure I was out of our minds. I, chasing around Hel with a stone sword, was yelling at him with incoherent and incomplete sentences about things that made no sense. Hel, running from me and making fun of me, was actually smiling.

"You can't catch me!"

"Like hell I can't! Stay still you bounding bastard!"

"Look at your legs! They move so slow! Turtle!"

"Hel!"

The Devil's Prophecy was something that Lady Ananon had foreseen before her death while facing Him. A being that was shrouded in mystery and darkness to the other Lords and heirs. No one knew who he was and had never seen his face except for Lady Ananon herself. Wouldn't you know she would die with the secret and the identity that he carried? Sucks for us, the ones that are still alive and questioning her every motive for facing him alone.

Every Lord knew to never go to a fight alone. Have your army behind you to take on his army. Autopsy reported that Lady Ananon hadn't died from a whole army attacking her. It had only been one person. That was none other than the one that was causing Lord Lones and Lord Rien trouble.

The way a Skeletal Lord worked was to keep the peace among the living so that they wouldn't ask questions about the afterlife. Of course there had been a book written by Him before a Minecraftian found it somehow. This Minecraftian learned of the Skeletal race and became one reading the part where the book told how too. This did not make Him happy. The Minecraftian came to Him wanting to be taught the ways of this race.

The Minecraftian struck a deal with Him and made it where the Lord couldn't disregard such an offer. The Lord taught the Minecraftian the way of the race and slowly began to take control over Minecraft. Of course a man called Herobrine, the right hand of Notch, comes to stop the evil. Before the skeletal Lord could be vanquished from the lands of Minecraft he got away and hid the book. Without telling the Lord of what he had done behind his back he entrusted the book to his followers that he had made secretly. The six great leaders of the group vowed to their Lord that the book would stay safe and would not stray to other hands.

Nor would it return to the Lord himself that dwelled in the darkness below. After the death of the leader his teachings went on through the years to every new follower that would take the place of the previous leaders. Each leader would have at least three students to test. From out of the lineage came Rien, Ananon, and Lones who upheld the law among the group when the law system that the group ran by was deceived. The Lord from the darkness below had sent spies to destroy them.

Lones, Ananon, and Rien fought the evil single handedly and won. Their followers and students fought without stopping. It was after that that the Lord of the darkness had decided to rage war upon the group. They were the ones destroying his hordes and rescuing the living Minecraftians. The Lord of the darkness was furious at them, at his first follower that had gone behind his back and created them for the sole purpose of protecting the innocents!

Ananon had also done what the Lord of the darkness had done and gone to the other side, spying on him. Before her mission could be successful she was killed in a battle that had been recorded by the Lord of the darkness himself. This had been sent to the three leaders by messengers in the late of night. Ananon's body had been staked onto an ornately wood carving of Nether's protectors, the fire ogre brothers, Osiroz and Zelan. It was a sign of hatred towards them.

Before her burial Lones and Rien learned from autopsy that Ananon had burned a foreseen vision on her body. "A child born under the wolf's paw, its protection knowing no bounds. Guided by pure hearts the darkness will fade and the light will shine eternally."Ananon was buried on a high mountain top that over looked all of Minecraft and its Minecraftians. Today, the laws of the Skeletal race have changed slightly. Their past mistakes learned, they continue to pave the way for the new race that they have created.

All in the name of justice and peace. They wait the day that the one that had been foreseen by Lady Ananon would step into the light and take down the Lord of the darkness.