As before, he awoke and dressed, all without his will. Alex noticed the barely perceptible ticking of the clock, and saw it was near two in the morning. Finally, he could hear clearly in this strange dream. He moved, not toward the front door as he usually did, but toward the door to the garage. He shut the door behind him, and moved to the motorcycle that had been repaired and delivered today. Without bothering to grab a helmet, his body was soon on the bike and speeding through the streets.

The wind whipped past him, making his hair fly out behind. The roaring machine beneath him always gave him a sense of power, still, not being in control made him frustrated. As Alex’s body drove on he got further and further away from the areas he was familiar with.

It was a long drive, almost to the other side of the city. There were fewer and fewer streetlights and hardly any cars. He moved into an industrial area, with factories and warehouses. His body pulled to a stop in front of a warehouse on a secluded street. It was eerily quiet but he could see a strange reddish glow through the warehouse windows. He stood, putting down the kickstand and shutting off the bike before stepping out to face the building.

Alex couldn't help but wonder what strange person or creature he might face this time.

Alex’s body moved through the opened door. It was a rather large building, with windows along the top to let in a little moonlight. But with all the boxes, crates, packing material and other mess, a person couldn't see much. His eyes grew cloudy, and then closed. When he opened them he could see much clearer, but it was black and white. It reminded him of how it looks in a game he played when you are using night vision goggles. So strange, could his body somehow mimic night vision? If so he couldn’t help feeling it was a cool ability, but then you can do a lot of interesting things in dreams.

With no more time to think, his body was already moving onward through the clutter. It was quiet and felt eerie, the sudden sound of laughter only added to the creepiness. Reluctantly Alex watched as he moved toward the sound, while his every instinct was screaming to run the other way.

His footsteps echoed in the huge space as he moved further in, finally coming to an open area. Alex could see a person silhouetted against a few beams of moonlight that shone through some windows. The person stood roughly in the center of the open area and seemed to be looking off into space. The flicker of a sudden flame burst from thin air around the person, illuminating a tall, slender, male figure. His shadow loomed sharply against the rugged walls of the warehouse. The flames flared larger and brighter around him for a moment, only to die down a few seconds later. The man’s fingers closed, silencing the flames. His mouth twisted into a psychotic grin, revealing the sharp canines his thin lips hid beforehand. Once more, his palm, opened up, burst up in flames, this time far greater and brighter. Their warmth was seeping out, great enough for Alex to feel it across the few feet of space between them.

Alex’s eyes closed at the sudden influx of light and when they opened again, his normal vision was back. The flames seemed to glide along the figure’s body, not hurting him, and not even setting the clothes on fire. The pale skin of the man’s face had a mysteriously alluring quality to it that both attracted Alex and repelled him. The strange amber, cat-like eyes glowed, reflecting the light of the fire and gave Alex an unsettling feeling. The stranger’s smile widened.

“Ah, I love the flames. The ever changing shapes, the heat enveloping me and burning away everything. It’s living art!” The man said, not looking at Alex and it felt like the man was talking to himself, and hadn’t noticed Alex yet.

The flames climbed higher into the air, consuming the precious oxygen around. It was burning so hot, the air around the man simmered. Alex was starting to get more and more nervous and wondered why his “body” hadn’t done or said anything yet. He wanted to get the heck out of the building and away from this crazy pyro.

The man moved as if in a trance. He used the fire like you would juggling balls, or made it form shapes, like he was playing a strange child’s game.

“Everything will burn! Everything! Everything will go up in flames like the fires of hell that comes and consumes it all!” the man said in a sing-song voice.

“Why aren’t I moving?” Alex thought, and then as if hearing him, his body walked forward. Inwardly Alex balked; he wasn't going to walk into that was he. It was strange how the flames didn't immediately consume everything nearby. The flames stayed roughly around the strange man.

"Your fire spree has come to an end, Salamander." Alex's body said in a calm deep voice.

Alex had heard a little about recent cases of arson in the area. “Was this man the cause? And what was a Salamander? Wasn't it just some kind of lizard?” Alex thought.

Despite being so close to the blaze, it seemed only pleasantly warm to Alex. But he wasn't confident about what would happen if he got closer. At least his body seemed to be staying in place, for now.

The man’s head whipped toward Alex and his tilted eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Who are you? Who is foolish enough to intrude on me at this moment? You have some bad luck, for real.”

The man raised his gloved hand to his head, passing through the pale rays of moonlight like a ghost. Sharp teeth, like knives were revealed in his grin. He pulled the leather off his fingers, his skin stark white, sharply contrasting with the blackness of the coat.

"You didn't pick a good moment to walk in," the man repeated, his shaggy black hair swinging as he shook his head.

Observing this from inside, Alex mentally shivered. This guy felt different than the other two creatures his body had fought in his dreams. He felt a strong pressure from him but couldn't identify it.

"And what moment would have been a good moment for you, because I will make you regret that you came to this world and inhabited that body." Alex's body said in an arrogant tone.

Inside Alex was panicking. “What the hell had his body just said? Who even was talking?” He had no idea and wanted to yell at whatever was controlling his body to run away.

"Now, now, I can't do that." the voice said, but only inside his head, talking mentally to Alex.

Out loud the Voice speaking out of Alex’s mouth continued. "You have been having too much fun here in the mortal realm and I am here to add your energy to mine."

Alex was so confused about what the voice was talking about. “This realm? Was this strange person also being controlled somehow?”

The man smiled. "I don't think so," Taeris said brightly with a manic grin. The flames licked further along the floor digging into the wood, though not igniting it completely. A controlled circle of fire surrounded him, framed him. “And it’s not just salamander, it’s Taeris. You should at least know my name before I incinerate you, along with this building.” He snickered at Alex scornfully.

Alex felt his mouth lift in a small smile. Alex started to notice that while he had been standing there, it was starting to feel cooler and cooler. The fire nearest him was waning and being pushed back. He started to see a soft bluish haze radiating out from his body.

“Ok, now what the heck is going on? First, this strange guy is surrounded by flames and doesn't seem to be burning. Also, the fact the fire isn’t spreading any further. And now I’m radiating cold air from my body somehow. Was this some kind of magic? I’m not superstitious or fanciful. I only believe in what can be seen and proven, so why am I dreaming about something like magic?”

His body moved forward and Alex couldn't help wondering what was going to happen next. The previous battles had been so fast, and over soon after they started. It was like his body and this fire person were measuring each other, waiting for the best time to strike.

Before Alex could think further, his body moved fast as lightning as he grabbed at the other man's throat, trying to get a grip on him.

Taeris blocked and pushed off Alex’s arms and blew a fireball out of his mouth, straight at Alex’s face. Alex’s body dodged by squatting down and Taeris paused and looked at him curiously, his hand on his chin.

“I can see the cold magic surrounding you, so why aren’t you using magic to strike at me?”

Alex’s body shrugged and stood, “it uses too much energy.”

Taeris eyes widened and then he started to laugh grabbing his stomach. “I’m a knight ranked demon and you think you can win without using all your energy? Hilarious!”

“Knight rank, hmm, well that is higher than I had guessed you were. But why haven’t you noticed that even though I must also be a demon, you haven’t sensed me?” Alex tilted his head to the side as if calmly observing.

Taeris stepped back, “But that’s impossible! You can’t be a high enough level that I can’t sense you?”

“And why can’t I?” Alex’s body didn’t give Taeris any time for more speculation. He slid first to one side and then the other, throwing a ball of icy water at Taeris.

“What the hell! I thought you didn’t want to use your magic” Taeris yelled, just barely dodging the balls. He returned the favor shooting small balls of fire from both his hands while moving away from Alex’s encroaching form.

“I was getting annoyed at how long this was taking, so decided I wanted to speed it up a bit.” Alex’s body said this and put up a quick ice shield that, though it melted, enabled him to deflect most of the fireballs. One did manage to not only burn the cloth on his shoulder but also singe a bit of his hair, but didn’t cause any other damage.

“Who the hell are you?” Taeris asked angrily, switching from balls of fire to a continuous stream that shot out at Alex’s form.

“Oh, I hadn’t mentioned my name yet?” He said with a carefree attitude, while he ran around in front of the moving stream of fire, somehow managing to always stay ahead of it. “It’s Zeltis, though, I doubt you would recognize it with your low rank.”

With one hand Zeltis shot a huge flow of water that met the stream of fire, causing steam and smoke to billow out and block vision. He seemed to have remembered exactly where Taeris was, and was soon behind the man, who was looking around to try and locate Zeltis. He grabbed Taeris by the head and within moments the glow started and was moving to envelop Taeris. Since Zeltis was behind him, Taeris couldn’t easily target him. Taeris yelled for him to stop, and kept trying to grab Zeltis’ hand, or throw fireballs behind him.

Zeltis easily deflected the fire with his free hand, and the mist started to flow into him. The fire quickly disappeared.

“Noooo! Don’t take my fire away!” Taeris pleaded.

Zeltis didn’t answer, and just continued to watch as the mist flowed, slowing until there was none left. He let the body drop in a heap and turned. Despite all the fire that had been thrown around, there were only a few small fires here and there. But Alex knew that they would grow and spread. Was he dead, and if he wasn’t, was Zeltis just going to leave him there to die?

“His host lives, but it isn’t my problem if he dies or not.” Zeltis answered him out loud as he started to walk back out.

“Can’t you do something?” Alex asked from inside.

“Why do you care, the demon couldn’t have inhabited him if he didn’t have evil in his heart.”

“If you are a demon too, does that mean I have evil in me?” Alex couldn’t help asking.

“It’s not important now,” Zeltis dodged the question.

“I can’t just let someone die. It just doesn’t feel right, even if this is a dream,” Alex finally managed to say, after they were nearly out of the warehouse.

“I suppose I could at least give him a fighting chance, eh?” Zeltis said and took Alex’s cell phone out of his pocket. Alex hadn’t even remembered that Zeltis had grabbed it before they left.

Alex watched and listened as Zeltis called 911 and reported the fire without giving his name. When finished, he ended the call and put it back in his pocket before getting back on the bike. “There now, if the fire trucks get here on time he might survive.” Zeltis said and pushed up the kickstand before turning on the bike.

The tires screeched as Zeltis sped away, back towards Alex’s house. Alex was quiet, not sure what to say or do. There were so many questions he wanted to ask. “Was this really a dream?"

He thought Zeltis might answer his thought like before but Zeltis didn’t say anything, just gave a small laugh as they zoomed through the late night streets.

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Author's note

Sorry it took so long. I wanted to thank Zenith, a online friend for helping a bit with the first part of this chapter. I hope everyone enjoys this. We get to learn a little more about the demon and such.