To Sabnock Sabro, Being demon king had been his life long goal. He had studied, researched, and built the beginnings of a path to walk down. If he could model himself after the previous demon kings then he would accomplish his goal. After all there was nothing more freeing nor cooler than being the epitome of a demon. So of course, when he came to Babyls, he would have to prove himself on all fronts.
First to show his prowess, he had taken on the first teacher he had seen. He didn't know his name or abilities but he knew that if he could take a teacher down then he was well on his way. After all, to prove you are strong it was paramount to take on the strongest of opponents. He had every confidence that he would win. Until he was distracted with a pain in his ear. To be honest it wasn't so sharp or burning that he couldn't ignore it. It was offensive to him that someone would interrupt his duel.
As his yellow eyes looked around for the culprit, he found that he didn't have to look hard as a blue haired tiny demon growled at him. "You big lummox." He stood confidently against him. Despite being so small, it didn't faze the other demon. "How about not making trouble on your first day of school huh?"
Sabro could feel the feral grin stretch his face. How strong was this demon if even he did not intimidate him?
He wanted to fight him and even as the bluette faded away with the new teacher, that desire grew. So fate seemed to smile down on him as the same demon appeared in his classroom. What else could it have been but destiny? This male…or female was destined to be his rival, after all every demon king had one.
The plan had been to challenge Izumi to Kanakiri Valley. After all, true demons only took that path. But he had been thrown off when the teacher had told them they weren't allowed to go that path. What utter nonsense. The way of the demon was hard and who was that demon to tell him to not test himself.
He was already struggling through the harsh winds of Kanakiri Valley when he realized that he had not challenged Izumi. He cursed but continued on. There would be other opportunities, especially when he received a high rank for completing this trek. With high hopes he soldiered on through the canyon.
He should have listened. His body ached and he barely had the energy to stand any longer. The Guardian of Kanakiri Valley was indeed in a foul mood. And Sabro seemed to have just upset the large demon even more. It smacked him to the ground again.
Was it over for him? His weapons did little against the hide of the creature except crumble and while he was heavily injured he had failed to even scratch the guardian's scales. Though he didn't regret coming this way. It was his path in life. He followed what his heart desired. It was a true demon's death.
As the yellow haired demon glared up at the guardian he could only think of one thing. That was a lot of blue…
It took him milliseconds to realize that the blue was hair. No, it was his rival. Though he had no idea when she had shown up or where she came from, she was there. She sttood over his body, an intense look on her face as she leveled her blue eyes upon the large beast. His heart was torn between admiration and horror as the guardian raised a claw to strike them both. Sabro pushed his body as hard as he could, reaching out to push the blue haired girl aside. It was his own doing that put himself in this situation, so he should be the only one to pay the price. His hand shoved at her face, the palm of his hand meeting her cheek when a bright light engulfed the two.
He had no time to think about it as the claws of the guardian stopped mere feet from them. A smaller bird, though still big enough to snatch one of the two students, was cawing in the guardian's face.
It was distracted. He would have the chance to strike it and… his mind wasn't sure of what would happen next and they would never know as Izumi stepped forward patting the outstretched claw. "You baby is fine now. There isn't any need to lash out any longer." She had raised her voice so that it carried through the air even though she didn't yell it.
She was amazing. His hand loosely gripped the ax he was reaching for when she spoke. She was just talking to it as if she were soothing a demoness who had just found her child. He released the ax and stood beside had saved him without raising her fist or chanting any spell. So for now he would follow her example.
As both of them stood there the Guardian moved. Lowering its head, Sabnock found himself in awe that this powerful demon would lower its head in gratitude to her. She gave the warmest smile he had seen as she gave a soft tilt of her head to reply.
He found that she looked every bit the leader that demons were looking for. A worthy mate and rival. The beast made a strange sound and the smaller bird swooped down picking up Izumi. "Oh, are you flying me again? Thank you."
Instead of flying her, the little bird plopped her down on the back of the great beast then came back for him. The bird dropped him on the guardian's back before roosting behind them. The three of them were little more than pests to the beast.
Atop the Guardian Sabro stared in wonder. If he were to guess, this was the first time anyone had ever ridden the beast. "It's so soft." The girl nuzzled her face into the beast fur. She seemed to sober up and she turned her body looking at him. "You're an idiot." She scowled.
He had to do a quick double take to confirm that she was indeed referring to him. "I…"
"You could have died. For what?" She cocked her head to the side. "You want to be the demon king right? How are you going to do that dead? I am not saying by any means that your dreams or goals are ridiculous, but I hope you know that the path of swinging wildly down a straight line is ridiculous." She was speaking more now then he had heard her speak before. "If it were so easy, anyone could be demon king."
He didn't speak and she seemed to be finished with her rant as she turned around. A shiver ran up her spine as the Guardian flew faster towards what they assumed was their destination. Really, they had no way of knowing where the beast would take them. They were just along for the ride. Regardless, the day was drawing to a close and the cold air was becoming colder at this speed.
Sabro sighed and leaned forward, caging her between the warm and soft fur and his warm body. A heat flushed her cheeks as she glanced back at the demon. "What are you doing?" The words were squeaked and she hated that.
"You were cold." He nodded his head. "I presume we are the last ones."
She frowned. She had not thought of the race since she had been abducted by that first demon bird, but yes. It was highly likely that they were last and didn't it burn her up.
She hated to be last, and she hated that she had been almost unable to complete this race. None of this was her own skill and she had had enormous luck to even just not go splat on the ground. It seemed that even Sabro could tell her mood had soured so he hummed. "Still we will be the first to ride the Guardian of Kanakiri Valley so I suppose that is a win."
She gave a slight chuckle. "Showing up in style huh?" She could almost see Alice's tearful face crying that he expected nothing less from her. "At least we are finishing?"
"Yes, a preferred fate than dying at the claws of the Guardian." Sabro nodded.
"Look," She told him. "I can see the finish line."
For some reason the Sabro Sabnock did not like the sound of that.
Alice stared anxiously at the horizon as the light began to fade. He should have gone back, he had been so sure that she would be right behind him. He had seen nothing on the cameras and he was ready to race off to search for his mate.
Kalego growled looking at the roster. He knew that Sabro had deliberately ignored his order so his death would be his own, but he felt uncomfortable at Izumi's disappearance. So far as he could tell, she had not even passed the first demon camera. Which either meant she was still at the beginning of the race or she had gotten lost. The third option was not something he wanted to think about.
"Alright let's wrap this up." The teacher called. If he could rush the students forward, then he could still come back here tonight with Balam to look for her while there was still light. And maybe Sabro. If the Guardian didn't kill him.
"No!" Asmodeus growled. "Lady Izu is still out there. Let us wait just a bit longer."
Kalego looked at the Asmodeus heir with disdain. The more fuss he threw the longer it would take him to get back with Balam. "This is not up for debate. Now…"
A powerful wind kicked up, blowing some of the students back slightly and forcing the dog demon to protect his eyes. As he squinted past the dust the gust had kicked up he could see a creature flying closer.
Was that…it was!
"The Guardian of Kanakiri Valley?" He questioned even though his eyes could clearly see the beast. It was headed straight for them. His eyes looked at the open doorway behind him. Would he have time to get all the students into the doors before it landed? No, it was coming too fast.
The purple haired demon flexed his hand. Well, he would have to take it down then. What a shame but he would not allow the beast to endanger his students, not when they had done nothing, yet, to deserve it. He was a teacher of Babyls and his students came first.
"Hey," A feminine voice called from the beast. His purple eyes focused towards the neck of the creature. It couldn't be. Except he could clearly see the yellow and blue hair that were his two missing students riding the guardian like he was a pet. A frown etched his face but relief was flooding his body. At least, she had made it back. He relaxed some as the guardian began to touch down.
Still, it begged the question. What in the hell had happened and why was he just now finding out about it? As her familiar, shouldn't he have been summoned if she were in any danger?