Page 21

A s soon as Xen was yanked off the branch by the Hellguard, the Shadow’s palms flickered under Evan’s feet.

With a sudden jerk, Evan stumbled to his knees as the Shadow brought his cupped palms close to his chest, trying to protect Evan while his own body was slowly dissolving into black mist. Those two red eyes dimmed.

“What…what’s happening?” Without thinking twice, Evan reached out and touched the Shadow’s chest to soothe the rumble emanating from it. But as soon as his palm felt the translucent Shadow, a current zapped through Evan’s arm.

A blinding white light filled his vision.

Evan froze.

The sounds from his surroundings—the roars of the Hellguard and Xen's low chuckle—all muted into white noise. Flash after flash of broken visions burned through his nerves and assaulted his mind.

A vision of a small hand reaching towards a clawed finger. A figure lounging on a tree branch, long hair cascading down like vines. Fire. Burning houses, screaming faces.

Blood… So much blood.

And then a voice. A whisper overpowering the screams…

“I’ll wait for you.”

Evan clutched his head and collapsed into the trembling palms of the Shadow, his pupils blown wide.

Screams rattled through his skull. The stench of fire and smoke choked his lungs. Hands clawed up his body—tearing through flesh, ripping tendons, crushing his bones.

He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t think. Someone had set his body on fire, and he burned. Turned to ash. Disintegrated.

Stop. Make it stop. Evan gritted his teeth.

Stop. Stop. Stop.

STOP!

Another flash of white blazed. A new vision occupied the dark canvas of his closed lids.

The loud wailings faded, swallowed by an unsettling silence. And in that stillness, the vision unfolded: a butterfly tumbling from the sky, its wings on fire.

Evan’s body stilled like a vice had tightened around him.

The image blurred and refocused on the burning butterfly as it spun and fell lifelessly from the sky. There was something so devastating yet beautiful—almost familiar—about the way it descended. But the closer the image came, the faster Evan’s heart raced.

That body wasn’t that of a butterfly anymore.

Cocooned between the mighty, blazing wings was a human-like body, horns twisted between tangles of dark hair. Bloody, clawed hands reached for the distancing sky almost longingly. As it tumbled, the head turned. From amidst the dark locks of hair, two eyes burned bright.

Two scarlet eyes—

The Shadow’s palms flickered beneath him...then disappeared. With a terrified yelp, Evan tumbled through the empty space.

A scream lodged halfway up his throat as he plummeted, heading fast and straight towards the wall of thorns, its jaws wide open to swallow him whole.

But before he hit the thorns and tore himself to shreds, something struck him sideways. It sent him flying across the area. Then, like a cushion placed just for him, it broke his fall.

With his heart roaring in his ears and lungs threatening to escape through his nostrils, Evan looked beneath him—only to see the massive Shadow’s palm beneath him before it dissolved away.

“No…” Evan shook his head, still disoriented from the flashes of vision. Before he could ponder over what he’d seen or why, a sudden roar tore through the night sky and knocked his unsteady brain back into place.

Evan had fallen several meters away from the temple and the wall of thorns. He stood up on wobbly legs and took off in the direction of that ear-splitting roar.

Boom!

A blast of light erupted into the sky, turning night into day. Evan rounded the thorn walls and came to an abrupt halt near the frozen body of the Hellguard. The demon stood as still as the rock he was made up of, and although he was turned away from Evan, he could tell that white light was bursting through the hole on his head, his core.

What is happening?

Evan couldn’t catch sight of Xen and frantically craned his neck, then dipped to the ground to look between the Hellguard’s feet.

What he saw robbed his lungs of the remaining air.

Sizzling currents—like lightning—struck a red-clad figure square in the chest, his body absorbing them with open arms. Cracks crawled up his neck like veins of fire, buzzing with demonic energy.

Xen stood perfectly still, eyes closed, palms outstretched. A small, satisfied smirk played at the corner of his lips.

His eyes peeled open, two pools of molten lava, no irises or whites. As if beckoning something to come to him, his fingers curled, and several more currents struck his open palms. Although he seemed to be enjoying whatever was happening, his furiously fluttering robe didn’t share the feeling.

As Xen absorbed more and more energy from the Hellguard's core, his robes blazed red. Intricate patterns of gold erupted across the shoulders and sleeves until they smoked and caught fire.

Evan gasped as the robe burnt through like paper, falling off of Xen’s upper body in ashy bits. It was chilling yet strangely mesmerizing.

In the middle of the night, the clearing around the Old Temple lit up like a summer morning, blindingly bright. And in the midst of it stood Xen, in just his dark pants and boots, long hair blowing wildly around his body laced with the same fiery cracks.

Evan stared at him like he was seeing him for the first time, eyes trailing down Xen’s body, and—was that a tattoo?

Below his left clavicle, just over his heart, a golden pattern covered almost half of his chest, nothing peculiar in particular. It almost looked like golden ink was haphazardly splashed on that spot, and it dripped a little before drying.

After what seemed like hours but was only three minutes, the currents erupting from the Hellguard’s core dimmed and faded away.

Xen stood still, face twisted into a look of wicked satisfaction. Demonic energy oozed from his form, overwhelming. Menacing. So strong that the trees around shriveled, thick barks snapping from the middle like twigs.

For the first time since emerging from the containment mirror, Xen looked every inch the demon that he was.

Yet, as Evan stared at him, amidst all the emotions whacking his system, the most prominent one was…concern.

He took a cautious step forward, the Hellguard's body still standing between them. “Xen…?”

Xen’s focused stare wavered. He blinked, blinked again, and then some more. The fire parted from the middle of his eyes, revealing those dark irises. His brows relaxed before shifting his gaze to Evan from between the Hellguard’s feet.

A tilt of his head, a little smile, and he was back to the annoying demon Evan recognized, all malice evaporating from his body. His lips moved, but his words were overpowered by the sound of a sudden rumble from above.

A tiny stone tumbled to Evan’s feet.

He stared at it, then slowly trailed his eyes up. The breath that was just beginning to steady in his lungs hitched up his throat.

The Hellguard’s body swayed, then tilted backward, heading for a crash into the ground...right where Evan stood frozen.

“Holy shi—”

A flash of red whipped past him. Warm. Familiar.

Between one blink and the next, Evan found himself standing several meters away from the spot where he’d been just a second ago. Where now, the Hellguard’s body collided into the ground, the sound akin to that of a mountain exploding, blowing up dust and dry leaves and pieces of rocks everywhere.

Evan reflexively stepped away, arms raised to guard his head from the flying debris, when he bumped into something.

Or someone.

Even in the dim moonlight, Evan could see it was Xen, standing unruffled behind him, back in his red suit and short hair. He clasped his hands behind his back as he regarded the clouds of dust rolling ahead with a mask of indifference.

After staring at him like he was a ghost, Evan poked at his arm to make sure he wasn’t. Xen glanced down and quirked a smile. “Hi.”

For reasons unknown, that smile infuriated Evan, and then with the same finger he had poked Xen with, he jabbed it into his ribs, hard.

“Hi, my ass. What the fuck was that just now?!” he angrily pointed at the direction where the Hellguard had exploded. “Why the fuck did you set yourself on fire? Did you have a death wish? I could’ve helped you with that.”

Xen stared at the finger jabbed at his ribs, then slowly wrapped his fingers around that hand’s wrist, bringing it up to his lips. “Evan, that hurt.”

His lips grazed Evan’s wrist, over his thundering pulse. He inhaled deeply, as if trying to engrave his scent into his senses. Evan wanted to pull his hand away, but that touch was so warm, and without his coat, he was unnervingly cold. So, only for the sake of his own benefit and not because Xen’s touch felt particularly good, Evan let him sniff his hand like it was his dose of drugs.

When his clothes had burnt down, Evan had felt a rush of nervousness and…and something he couldn’t decipher. Like he wanted to rush forward and put himself between the two demons, who knows why. Now that he thought about it, it was probably just his impulsive thoughts.

“Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again,” Evan muttered, jaws clenched.

Xen smiled against his knuckles. That was enough of an answer. He was going to pull such stunts in the future.

“Give me your word,” Evan demanded.

Dark eyes crinkled before Xen tugged on the hand he was holding, pulling Evan into him. “You sound concerned, Evan.”

Evan’s fingers curled into fists, trying to ignore the soothing scent of damp earth and the warmth of Xen’s skin against his. With much effort, he gritted, “You wish.”

Xen leaned down, nuzzling his temple. “Oh, I do.”

Before Evan could act on his impulse and do something he’d regret. Like punching a demon in the face…

“My lord.”

Evan jumped, bumping into Xen and staying glued there. His fists raised in a defensive stance as he stared at the black-clad individual who’d…materialized from the cloud of dust?

“Who the fu…” Evan paused, noticing the absence of the Hellguard’s body. Then looked back at the youth standing before them. “You…”

Green eyes, pale complexion, and a black robe that vaguely resembled Xen’s but plainer. His long hair was fastened at the nape of his neck, some loose strands gathered around his blank face. His body structure was similar to Evan’s, just a bit scrawny.

The youth pressed a palm to his chest and dropped to one knee in the dust, bowing his head deeply. “Forgive me, My Lord, I’ve failed as your servant. I will accept any punishment My Lord deems fit.”

Evan blinked down at the youth, confused. Wasn’t this the Hellguard in his normal skin? It had to be. But why was he calling Evan his Lord? Since when did Evan have a demonic servant?

Evan opened and closed his mouth several times. The black-clad man remained kneeling on the ground, waiting. The tense air slowly shifted to an awkward silence before a voice finally tore through it.

“Haven’t you had enough dragging yourself through dirt for three centuries? Stand up.”

Two pairs of eyes turned to Xen’s stoic face. All playfulness from earlier had fled his demeanor.

Heeding the order, the black-clad youth quickly straightened. Although his facial expressions didn’t change, his already pale face turned ashen. “I beg My Lord for forgiveness. I shall gladly accept any—”

“If you don’t shut your mouth, I just might punish you right here.”

The youth dropped his head lower.

Evan’s wide eyes bounced between the two demons, brows dipping and relaxing every other second in confusion. Why was this dude calling Xen his Lord? Why was Xen responding like he was actually his master?

Although the explanation was clear and right before his eyes, Evan looked away, refusing to acknowledge it. It couldn’t be what he was thinking it was. There had to be a more sensible, more Evan-friendly explanation to this.

He slowly removed himself from Xen’s side and stepped back till there was an equal distance from him to the two demons. Rubbing a hand across his temple, Evan blew out a breath. Then shifted his focus to Xen. “Explain.”

Xen stared at him with an unreadable expression, eyebrows slightly lowered, but otherwise remained silent.

“You,” Evan shifted his eyes to the youth, jaws clenching. “Who are you?”

The youth looked at Evan as if he was only just noticing another presence other than Xen’s. His eyes slightly widened as he met Evan’s hostile gaze, then dropped to one knee again, this time bowing more deeply.

“I am Zeev, a humble servant of my master,” his eyes darted sideways to Xen’s feet before returning to the ground.

Evan’s attention, however, was fixated on Xen, a look of disbelief and barely withheld shock flashing across his face. His fingers twitched before curling into fists.

There was no need to ask. Yet…

“Who…is your master?”

A glint shone in Zeev’s dead eyes. His chest inflated ever so slightly. “The one whose unparalleled powers rival forces of all realms, he who commands fear and respect in the hearts of every dark being, whose name is whispered in reverence and terror by ones who have witnessed his wrath,” Zeev shifted, his head now bowed to the red-clad figure looming over him. “The King of Demons, youngest of the Abyssal Trinity. The Eternal—Xen’areth.”