Chapter 35
New Family
On an active volcanic island, the Demon Lord's castle stands carved into the volcano. A fortified town is mainly a military town at the mountain's base. Demon soldiers work moving supplies, and others are being trained. Some demons were relaxing; demons were thought to be a myth. Humans use them in stories to scare their children.
In reality, demons look like elves. They have pointy ears, and their skin color comes in valorous shades; one key feature they have is their horns. Demons have horns on their head; they form differently in each demon. Demons take great care of their horns; they represent their status. Those with broken or no horns are at the bottom.
Inside the castle, Demon Lord Mateo sits on his throne; the room is dark, with only a few touches lighting some parts. He felt distressed. He had gotten reports that his forces were losing battles. In the room, the presence of someone else was felt.
The doors suddenly burst open; a loud voice is heard. They were complaining about some results: dressed in white clothes that resembled a hazmat suit, they walked into the room. Behind them was a female demon. The person approaches the Demon Lord.
"This is a disaster, everything is wrong…...wrong, wrong, wrong!"
A female voice is heard; she tells them to stop. The person in the hazmat suit ignores her; a powerful wave hits them, and they fall on their knees. Lord Mateo puts his hand up; the energy disappears. The person in the hazmat apologies; Lord Mateo tells him to speak.
"My Lord, again, let me apologize for my rudeness. I have come bearing bad news: we have lost most of the new Umbra Caligati…"
Lord Mateo releases a powerful wave of Mana; he stares at the person in the hazmat suit. Lord Mateo calls him professor; he asks him why he was here. The professor tells him he tried to save his work but couldn't.
"The relic was still unstable, which shortened the incubation of the new Caligati; your instability to the relic caused us to lose this batch. After gathering some information, I have also concluded that it caused disruptions in the links."
The female voice shouts in anger; she threatens the professor. Lord Mateo calms her down. He calls her over; a woman in a white sun dress with long black hair that covers her face approaches. The professor stares as the woman approaches the king; she looks like she is gliding above the ground.
"Aurora, how do our forces vary?"
Lady Aurora Ninil, Lord Mateo's left-hand General. She fans over him as she gets close to him. Lady Aurora composes herself; she tells Lord Mateo they have suffered significant losses without the Caligati. Lord Mateo gets angry; it scares everyone in the room. Lady Aurora tries to appease him by saying the new soldiers are coming.
"It is only a matter of time, but the recruits should be here and ready to be sent in."
Lord Mateo said nothing; he then asked what they had available. Lady Aurora tells him they still have around thirty thousand soldiers; the professor tells him he still has over a hundred Umbra boulders. He then said that he needed some to experiment. Lord Mateo stares at him; the professor shuts up.
"What kind of experiments are you working on that require them?"
The professor said he wanted to strengthen the dark troops and improve their usage; he said he could have them use other magic attacks. He wanted his creations to be feared; Lord Mateo thought about it.
"Fine, I expect good results; take half and have the rest sent to the front lines…."
Lady Aurora argued that they would need more if things went wrong; Lord Mateo gets upset with what she said. Lady Aurora apologizes for what she said. Lord Mateo then says to use every available soldier; he wants to hold the humans and dwarfs back. Lady Aurora asks about the children.
"Musashi's students, EH, send them too; let's put his plan into action."
Lord Mateo dismissed the professor; he told Aurora to deal with the plan. Lady Aurora knees and leaves; she is happy to take his order. As the professor leaves, Lady Aurora looks at him; she asks Lord Mateo if he believes he can do it.
"Professor Gwydion hates the elves as much as we do; he will do whatever he can to get revenge. As long as he has someone supporting his research, he will not betray us."
The professor was walking down the hallway; he was excited. He removes his mask to reveal himself; the professor is an elf. Professor Gwydion is what they called him; he is a high elf. Professor Gwydion is tall and wears a hazmat suit; he has long blonde hair and blue eyes.
Like most elves, he was handsome; he was older but still looked young. Professor Gwydion had a strange personality; he was cheery but aggressive. His assistant made sure to note everything. She was a demon with pink hair.
Hollie Topaz is a small demon female with pink puffy hair; her eyes are green, and her skin tone is a shade of red. She had a pair of spiral horns; she wore a suit and lab coat. Hollie was always serious around Professor Gwydion; she respected him.
"HAHAHAHAHA, you heard Hollie, Lord Mateo respects what I do! Once I complete my research, we will face those old wash-up elders, and he will realize who is better. I will show him how wrong he was, HAHAHAHAHA!"
Back in the Umbridge Kingdom, King John was in the war room. He was talking to some of his Generals and the old guard. King John plans to move against the demon forces; he shows them the map of the continent. The generals and old guard see what territories they have required; a representative from the dwarf kingdom is also in attendance.
"As some of you already know, we have been successful with our strategies and have pushed the enemy back. King Sloan and his forces have been a huge help. I believe it is time to strike."
The generals look at the map and agree with him; the old guard has questions and concerns about his plan. King John said they had already pushed the enemy back to their forts and were defending. He also said he believes they have no reinforcements. The old guard discusses Raul York, asking King John if they have a chance.
"I do not believe; I know we will take them."
The generals smile; the dwarf representative speaks up. He told them that King Sloan was already marching; he would attack the fort in the middle and separate the northern forts from getting supplied. King John added that his forces would take those forts before the enemy could do anything.
The old guard thought about it; they could only agree after much thought. They knew King John was closely watching them. King John said he would host a party soon; the generals and old guard wanted to know the occasion. King John just said he would settle all disputes over his authority.
"On that note, I order Cortez, Arthur, Haddison, and the old guard to move."
Back on the mountain, Fillan practiced archery; he drew his bowstring and aimed at a target hanging from a tree. He releases, and the arrow flies; it hits the target dead center. Fillan readies another arrow; he concentrates; he feels something strange.
Fillan imagines the rock arrow tip getting hard like iron, hardening earth minerals that create iron; it was faint, but Fillan draws Mana. He releases the arrow, and it goes flying; it bursts through the target and keeps going. Fillan was surprised he went to look for it.
Fillan finds the arrow stuck to a tree; there is a great impact where the arrow hits. He looks at his hand; he feels joy over what happened. As soon as he feels happiness, he suddenly feels fear. He feels someone watching him.
Fillan turns around; he tries to sense where it is coming from. The world becomes dark, and he sees a dark figure. He soon recognized it; it was the creature he had seen in his mind. Fillan snaps out of it and returns to his senses; he knows what to do.
It was a spring afternoon; Fillan put his things away and headed to the waterfall. He relaxes and heads behind it; Fillan goes to the cave. He slowly picks up the aromas as he heads in; it starts to affect him. He loses conciseness. Fillan wakes up again in a white room; he is a child again.
"As you can see, they are developing well; all subjects are stable."
Fillan and the other children were working on solving problems. The head scientist was talking to some military generals. After they were done, they were taken to combat training. Their results impressed the generals—a general asked about their emotional behavior.
"We believe leaving their emotions intact helps keep them under control. They continue to act as they did, affecting their thinking. On another note, the hypnosis works fine; they perform better than anticipated…."
Fillan world turns dark again; he sees a light and heads towards it. Before he can reach it, the creature attacks. Fillan sensed it and dodged; this time, it was different. The creature draws Mana and emits electricity. It drew its claws and attacked Fillan blocked.
The creature begins a series of attacks; Fillan blocks and dodges them. He backs up and takes his boxing stance. Fillan was surprised he could do this. The creature stares at him; it powers up and attacks. Fillan dodges and throws a punch; the creature dodges his attack.
Fillan shifts his body and goes for another punch; the creature reacts and dodges. Fillan knew it wouldn't be easy. The beast howls, and thunder strikes; the flash blinds Fillan. Fillan woke up inside the cave; he wondered why the creature attacked.
He found himself deeper in the cave. He noticed light from a water source surrounding this round, almost artificial cave. Fillan was surprised; he didn't know it looked like this. He could smell the aromas, but they weren't as intense as before. After looking around the cave, he went to the middle and sat.
He thought about what to do, but ultimately, he did what he was taught. He clears his mind and breathes in. He tries to remember, and slowly, he begins to drift into his mind. It was dark, and Fillan waited for the creature. Nothing strange, he thought.
Suddenly, his body began to hurt; he could not move, and it was dark. He heard himself moan. He listened to a female's voice; she told him to relax. Fillan felt something cold and wet touch his forehead. He felt relief and fell asleep.
Fillan was confused by his vision; again, he felt pain all over his body. Then he slowly opened his eyes; his eyesight was foggy. He heard children talking; they saw him move and ran out of the room. A few minutes later, he heard the girl's voice.
"OH, you're awake; don't move too much. You are still recovering; relax no one will hurt you here."
Fillan couldn't see her well. She was blurry to him; he exhausted himself and went to sleep again. She heard the girl sing to him as he fell asleep. Fillan felt time go by this time; he woke up and could see. The girl came in and gave him something to drink; he couldn't eat solid food yet.
The girl was a beautiful bunny beast girl; she had long, black, silky hair that matched her bunny ears. Her eyes were light blue, and she had a fair complexion. She wore a tattered dress. Younger children always accompanied her. Her name was Maggie, and she looked to be fifteen or sixteen.
The room Fillan was in had multiple beds; the children slept there. The children were as old as him and from different races. They wore stitched clothes like he did when he was at the orphanage. Fillan would see them wake up early and head out.
Other children there were older because he sometimes saw them walk by or come to the room. At night, they would return dirty and then go shower. Maggie was the one in charge, so it seemed. She would often yell at the children and tell them what to do.
As bad as it sounded, they all respected her; some children called her sister. There were other girls, too. They would come and clean the room; they, too, were from different races. They looked younger and listened to Maggie. Maggie was the only one to pay attention to him.
More days passed, and Fillan was getting better. Another bunny beast boy began to show up; he would talk to Fillan and get to know him. Fillan would not show any emotions and stare at him. His name was Ray. Ray was a white and brown-haired teen; his ears were white, and he had blue eyes. Ray wore stitched clothes and a cheerful personality; Maggie had a motherly nature, Fillan thought.
Ray would be looking for Maggie all the time; the children would also follow him. Fillan had become reserved and would not speak to anyone; Ray would try to make him laugh, but no response. Maggie would get mad at him and tell him to leave Fillan alone.
One day, Ray walks into the room and tells Fillan not to tell anyone he was there. He began to crawl under his bed; there was yelling outside. Footsteps got closer, and Fillan pretended to be asleep. He feels a presence; he then hears Maggie's voice.
"Ray, I know you are in here; come out, and I will make this as painless as possible!"
Fillan felt scared; Maggie then walked over to him. She looks under the bed and finds Ray. Maggie then began to yell at him for eating a dessert; she told him it was for the younger children. Ray apologized, but Maggie did not care. She drags him out of the room; Ray asks Fillan for help.
Later that night, Maggie brought Fillan some food: soup and a piece of bread. She apologized and told him it was the only thing they had. She places it on his lap. Fillan ate, and Maggie watched him; she asked him if he still felt any pain. Fillan shook his head.
More time passed, and it was getting colder; Maggie had brought him some rags. She apologized for taking so long to give him new clothes. Fillan had bandages and his ripped garments. Fillan had become scared to talk to anyone.
The children would talk to him, but he wouldn't say anything. When something startled him, he would have flashbacks of Harris getting mad at him. He would apologize; Maggie tried to comfort him and tell him he was safe. Fillan fell asleep.
The following day, the children left; Maggie entered the room and gave Fillan his breakfast. He ate soup and bread again. While he ate, Maggie began to clean the room. She spoke while working; she told Fillan that living here was hard.
"I don't know what you've been through, but it will be better; it will be hard, but you'll get used to it. I wasn't trying to hide it, but as you can see, it's not the most luxurious home. We look happy because we make it that way; in reality, we all are slaves."
Maggie told Fillan that she found him lying on the ground; she saw how injured he was and how he looked like he wanted to live. She said she brought him and did what she could; all she could do after was wait and see.
"I was surprised because you were healing; I heard that the wolf beast men have fast healing. I was happy that you survived."
Maggie continued by saying that the children all work for a nobleman named Jason Carter. She said Lord Carter works for Lord Michael; Fillan becomes scared hearing his name. Maggie hugs him and begins to hum; she pats his head, which calms him.
After he calms, Maggie continues; she says the children work as miners. They work in a nearby mountain, harvesting the resources. They work from dawn to dusk and are constantly being watched. Maggie said he would need to work soon; Fillan said nothing. Maggie smiled and said he would be happy in due time. She gets up and leaves the room; she says she needs to do other work.
Another few days passed, and Fillan had healed; He went outside for the first time since he was there. He was taken to the mines where all the other children were working. Fillan saw human guards overlooking the site; some kids were pushing mine carts while others were breaking rocks.
A group of kids saw him and called him; they didn't know his name, so they called him wolf kid. Ray appeared out of nowhere and tried to cheer up Fillan, who was nervous. Ray jokes, but Fillan does not react; Ray looks at him awkwardly. He tries something else; he takes out some colored rocks and begins to juggle them.
Fillan did not look empress; all the other kids clapped. Ray tried something else; he took out a stitched handkerchief. He moves it in a flashy motion and then makes it disappear. Fillan stared at him; Ray looked puzzled.
"HUM, you are hard to empress."
Ray tries one more trick; he covers his face with his hands. He slowly began to show funny faces; the children laughed. Fillan showed no emotions, and it made the other kids angry. Fillan got scared and apologized; Ray told the others to relax.
Ray takes Fillan and shows him around; he explains what he will do. There were older kids, and they worked harder. Younger children worked alongside them; they worked in groups. Ray said Fillan would be inside the mine picking ore. There was a group that needed someone new.
"You won't start today, but most of the time, we just work. You can goof around if the guards don't see you, HAHAHAHA."
Ray gets serious; he tells Fillan that they only survive if they help each other. They are a family, he said; he pointed at the older kids and said that the only way to leave is to get sold. Ray said the older kids get sold to other owners if they are good enough.
"This job is dangerous, and kids have died; it's not fun, but we manage. Pay attention and follow orders; the guards will leave alone for the most part."
Ray finished by saying he was glad he still lived. Ray returned to work, and Fillan returned to the house; Maggie was outside hanging clothes to dry. The other girls were helping. Once all the clothes were up, she told Fillan to follow her; she would show him around.
They enter the front door of a two-story building. Maggie told Fillan that the ground floor was the eating area; the kitchen and storage area were right behind it. To the left of the eating area were the girl's rooms; upstairs was the boy's area and baths.
She said they had a baby room; she showed him what she meant. Fillan followed Maggie upstairs to a room. Maggie opened the door, and inside, there were other younger girls taking care of some babies. Maggie said they were not the mother but only looking after them.
After showing him around, she had Fillan help her prepare dinner; she took him to the storage room. There were only vegetables in the storage room; some were expired. Maggie said they were lucky to have them. Maggie took some and headed to the kitchen.
The girls were all working; they had some bread, which they cut using rusty knives. Maggie told Fillan to follow her again; they headed outside to the back, where there was a well. Maggie showed Fillan how to get water; they took buckets back inside and prepared the soup.
At dusk, the children returned from work. Maggie told them to clean themselves up; once they were clean, they were fed. Fillan was still not comfortable, and he sat alone. Maggie saw him from behind the kitchen; she felt sad.
Ray walked up to her and stared at Fillan sitting alone; he told Maggie to let him have some time. He said he would eventually fit in; Maggie smiled and thanked him. It was pretty loud inside the house. Ray went over and sat next to Fillan.
"Hey, wolf boy, you can relax; the guards don't usually come here. They go back to town when we finish for the day. So, what do you think? Do you want the job or not?"
Fillan is confused; Ray laughs and explains to him his joke. Fillan did not react; Ray said he would make him laugh one day. Fillan stares at him. He finishes eating and excuses himself. More of the younger children also head to bed. Ray and the older boys stay awake and talk.
It was late, and everyone was already sleeping; Fillan had awakened because he could not sleep. He looked at the ceiling; he then heard talking. He gets up and walks to the door. He goes out of the room and walks over to the window. Fillan notices the girls leaving.
He sees Maggie dressed in pretty clothes; the girls all were dressed nicely. They began to walk; Fillan then noticed a town. He realized he was still in the western-looking old city. He sees a reflection of himself, and then he sees a hazy vision.
Fillan was mad; all he could see was red. He heard the crying of children; in the distance, he heard Lord Michael. It suddenly became dark, and he was breathing heavily. Flashes of light passed, and he was standing over something.
His vision focused, and he was staring at a lifeless body. Ray's face woke Fillan from his meditation. His chest started to hurt, and his heart beat faster; he was in a state of panic. Mana swelled around him, and he emitted lighting. Fillan got up and ran out of the cave.
He collapsed close to his camp. The following morning, he had woken up and had forgotten what he had seen. He was eating and trying to remember anything about his vision. He touches his chest; he feels something is amiss. Fillan then feels he is going in the right direction.
Summer was close approaching, and his time was almost up. Fillan went and practiced his swordsmanship; he wanted to rest his mind. He felt he needed to be in the right mind; he wondered what Master Musashi was doing. He then thought of Barret and Shia.
Master Musashi was standing over a cliff, staring out at the world. He looked like he was enjoying the cold breeze. A messenger bird arrived and landed on his shoulder. Master Musashi took the message and read it; Mana leaked from within. The wildlife felt danger, and they fled.
"What were you thinking, Lord Mateo? You played into their hands. Azar, what are you doing?"
His body glowed, and he calmed. He leaves and returns to the cabin. A few days later, he received terrible news: five forts had fallen, and his experimental force had been wiped out. Master Musashi showed no expression; he grabbed a sword and headed out.
Fillan was reading to head back into the cave. He suddenly felt a scary and chilling aura; he looked around to figure out where it came from. After some time, he focused on what he needed to do; he figured it must be Master Musashi practicing.
In another part of the mountain, a large piece was cut off. The dusk was settling, and Master Musashi stood with a broken sword; his body was glowing. A magic circle had formed under him, and chains were holding him.
"I will break…."