The Demon Lord and his Hero

"I told you to grab it one at a time. It's your own fault for getting hurt." Alka coldly lectured a contrite Magnus. The acidic soldier crabs had put up a tough fight when Magnus had attempted to pick them off in groups.

BOOM! A group of crabs flew into the air. It was Magnus again. This time he caused a small explosion in the water.

"Magnus! Stop! You're going to destroy the lungwurts!" Alka was hysterical. He could never trust his friend not to ruin the harvest.

"I'm aiming for the crabs. Stop worrying so much!"

"If the lungwurts explode, I won't give you your share of Snowberry pudding." It was the ultimate threat that always broke Magnus.

"Slow crab capture it is."

The group spent the morning collecting the ingredients they'd come hunting for. Syryn still hadn't found the bud he needed to heal Lucien's core but it was no matter if they were heading off to Elysium. After two hours of walking out of the forest, they neared Maple Town. Magnus then split away on his own to make a report about the incident in the forest while Alka, Syryn and Lucien made their way to an inn. It had been decided that they would move tomorrow.

"What do you think attracted those creatures to the forest?" Alka questioned Syryn while they ate a late lunch at the inn.

"Not sure, but It's suspicious how nobody noticed so many people were going missing inside there," Syryn replied with a frown. "There's either a complete lack of supervision by the officials at the surrounding towns or a matter that involves something even more malicious."

"Maybe we shouldn't have made a report."

"No," Syryn replied, "Making a report was the wise thing to do. If the infestation was a result of nature taking its course, notifying the mages would have been the correct decision. And if it not, at least we're bringing attention to the matter. It won't stay under wraps for long."

"It can't be natural. Those things were put there on purpose." Alka squeezed his fork tight when he thought about how many innocent people had died. Who and why would someone do that?

"Let it be. They're dead. We've got other things to worry about now." Syryn didn't want to involve himself in the matter anymore.

Syryn and Lucien were the occupants of a cosy room in an expensive inn called the Sky Lantern. The older boy pushed open the door to their room to find a hot tub near a fireplace. The sight of the tub was a welcome one after their jaunt in the forest.

"Time for a hot bath Luci!"

Undressed, the children sat inside the hot tub and enjoyed the steam wafting off the water. Lucien was entertained by the sight of Syryn's dark hair floating on the water.

"You like it? You too can grow your hair long Luci." Syryn smiled at the kid. "You're going to do that anyway when you grow up, aren't you? I always did love your hair."

"Brother likes my hair?" Lucien sunk deeper into the tub while peering up at Syryn. The heat of the water had reddened their cheeks.

"Yes, what's not to like about Luci?" Syryn teased and flicked water in Lucien's face. With a giggle, Lucien smacked the surface of the water and splashed Syryn. A small fight ensued which resulted in a slippery floor covered in water and soap suds.

Thereafter, the kids spent a while scrubbing themselves and then pouring in a new batch of hot water to soak in. During this peaceful interlude, Syryn leaned back against the tub and thought about their journey for tomorrow. Magnus hadn't yet informed him of their method of travel. While Syryn was lost in his worries, Lucien blinked sleepy red eyes at him and suddenly jerked forward having fallen asleep. Syryn had to catch him before the boy sank into the water.

Lucien was a small bundle of warmth and soft skin in Syryn's arms. Once again, he visually traced the sight of healing welts and bruises on Lucien's body. Under his careful ministrations, they were disappearing away. Despite everything, how the child slept all limp and trusting in Syryn's arms had the older boy feeling a stab of pain for what they both had to endure.

A soft knock on the door pulled Syryn out of his thoughts.

"Come in." He had left the door unlatched and was expecting Magnus. When the fire mage entered the room and found the brothers in the tub, he froze at the door, unsure of what to do.

"Don't just stand there. Get inside Magnus."

"I could come back later if you're busy," Magnus replied but he walked in anyway. He gingerly stepped across the floor, avoiding the puddles and soap suds.

Once seated on a corner of the bed, Magnus placed a heart-shaped confection on the bedside table. "For Luci." He explained and then got to the meat of the matter.

"So tomorrow, we're leaving early. I need you two to be ready before sunrise. We'll have a rudimentary breakfast together and take a walk through the Lost path."

"We're taking the path? Who is navigating?" Syryn raised his brows high. The Lost path was a treacherous place that wasn't to be traversed through unless one were to be lead by a professional and experienced navigator.

"Alka has a map."

Syryn would have stood up in outrage if he wasn't butt naked under the water. "Are you serious right now??"

"Dead serious. Alka will be our navigator." Magnus' gaze skirted the edge of the tub and looked away.

"You trust his abilities to lead us through unscathed then?" Syryn did not get a second chance at life so he could get lost inside the path.

"We did lose our way once... but we made it out safe." Magnus honestly informed him.

Syryn turned very slowly and with disbelief, stared at the unconcerned mage on his bed. "Magnus, you're both quite insane. I should just part ways with you two right now."

"Listen, we've made multiple journeys through the path since that one time. I promise Alka knows what he's doing."

Syryn pinched the bridge of his nose and asked himself why he wasn't surprised. They'd accepted his demon self with open arms. This was on the same level of insane. No wonder Magnus didn't make it to adulthood! This was natural selection taking place! And Alka? Syryn had thought him the sensible one. But no, Alka was the leader of their daredevil adventures. Even the forest expedition had been for Alka's herbs!

He thought about it and bitterly replied. "Okay, I hope I don't regret it." In for a silver, in for a crown.

"Great. I'll see you in the morning then." And Magnus left the room before Syryn could change his mind about their special journey.

___________

The next morning, Syryn was a ball of anxiety. The Lost path was a hands-off, no man's zone, and very little literature had been available on the creatures of this dimension. If one followed the rules, the chances of death were less than 5%. It still did not assure him of safety, not with Lucien in tow. It was ridiculous how much danger the kid was being put through because of Syryn dragging him off to places he shouldn't be at.

"Here we are." Alka stared at the gap between two sturdy trees that looked like they were at least a few thousand years old.

"Check your knots again," Alka advised. He also studiously examined the knots on the single length of rope that connected their wrists. When he was satisfied, Alka lifted his palm to the air and accessed the rift that existed in that gap.

A long slit appeared in the air. It parted and sucked in the air around them, causing a strong wind to blow in the direction of the rift. Alka stepped into the widening gap, followed by Magnus, then Syryn and Lucien.

"Syryn, Lucien, please come closer," Alka instructed politely.

They were now inside the lost path, an expanse of endless grey fog and dark misshapen silhouettes that travellers had to stay away from. How navigators knew which direction to go towards stumped Syryn. There was no road, no marked path, no signs or even landmarks to give the most basic of directions to the travellers. It terrified him to be surrounded by so much nothingness.

"This way," A gentle tug at his arm lead Syryn towards the direction that Alka wanted them to move. At times, through the thick fog, Syryn felt he could see the glowing white eyes of a hunchbacked creature, its deformed arms dragging on the ground behind it.

Syryn definitely wasn't imagining things. It was following them.

"Don't look," Magnus warned him when Syryn focused on it. He had almost forgotten the first rule of the path, never acknowledge their existence.

"Why did we decide to come through the path?"

"Because it would take us more than a month if we went by normal channels. Admissions start soon." Alka whispered to Syryn. The absurdness of it all.

"Big brother... There's something over there." Lucien gripped Syryn's hand tightly and whispered. The older boy was feeling a sense of deja vu. This was the last time he would follow Alka and Magnus anywhere!

"Shhh, Luci doesn't look at it," Syryn whispered but his heart wept. How could they pretend it wasn't there when the thing that Lucien had been staring at was the height of a small mountain. The eyes were like giant lamps that scanned the open field of fog. Syryn was thankful for how thick the fog was. It blanketed them in a protective covering that the creature couldn't see through.

"Stop. We're here.." Alka was so close to Syryn that he could felt the mage's breath on his cheek. "When I count to 3, jump immediately."

"1," Alka raised his palm to the fog-laden air.

"2," A rift appeared and the brilliant sunlight that came through it caught the attention of everything in the fog that was near their location.

"3," The garbled high pitched call of the giant with the lamp like eyes followed their jump through the open rift.

Syryn felt like he had shed 50 years of his lifespan inside there. As a half-demon, he ought to have more self-respect but it was the unknown that most terrified him.

The group tumbled out into the sunshine and breathed in sweet relief.

"Welcome to Elysium." Alka smiled at the siblings. Credit had to be given where it was due, Alka had the courage of a dragon.

Syryn hadn't been inside Elysium since his imprisonment but he could still recognise where they stood. They were at the outskirts of the city, near the east dock. The salty tang of the ocean brought with it the noises that accompanied a busy shipyard.

"Is that the ocean?" Lucien's eyes were focused on the horizon where the sky met water. A gust of strong wind blew and it lifted his soft hair, bringing a delighted smile to Lucien's face. "S-Syryn, can we visit the dock later?"

"Syryn? That's what you want to call me?" The older boy asked with some surprise. Lucien nodded, his expression so earnest that Syryn wanted to pinch his cheeks. It was an interesting development and Syryn was happy about Lucien finally opening up and growing into his confidence.

"What have we here?" A raspy voice snatched their attentions away from the excitement at hand. They turned as one and found a woman wearing the acolyte robes of Sapho, a minor goddess that was worshipped by those from Northern Sigil. Her sightless eyes were trained on Lucien whose smile had disappeared.

"Oh... Oh..child, fated to be his bride! Rejoice... Rejoice... You are chosen... " She knelt on the ground and approached the boy.

Syryn's blood had run cold. He stood protectively in front of Lucien and inquired coldly.

"Whose bride?"

The acolyte's white eyes looked through Syryn. "His name I know not. My eyes behold the kingdom of demons. Demons... So strong... He will claim his bride and you cannot stop him!"

The kingdom of demons, she had said. Traxdart was the undisputed Emperor of demons, the most powerful of them. Traxdart would have to rip Lucien out of Syryn's cold dead hands if he wanted the boy. "I reject your prophecy. I will change his fate." Syryn sneered.

As if she had heard the funniest of jokes, the woman laughed at Syryn's declaration. "Some fates are set in stone by the gods and cannot be changed by even those gods themselves. This child's beloved has already found him. You should accept it for it is an honour of the highest order!"

Syryn would have killed her if it wasn't for the presence of the other two mages.