This morning before sunrise

Castor hated early morning walks with Master. He hated that Master was an early riser and always felt the need to do something– to be active– even if it was five in the morning before the sun even rose. But at the current moment, as he watched Master race through the dark alleys and streets of the city, a murderous gleam in his eye, and Castor, too, following right on his tracks– the entity could only hope for a simple walk around town.

There were four of them, Castor focused, as he quickened his steps and launched towards a brown-colored demon. He landed on it swiftly, twisting its head apart until black blood sputtered out of it and splashed onto Castor’s face. Master raced past him as Castor took a lick of the blood, smiling with satisfaction.

He then dashed towards Master, leaving the headless body to sizzle into black smoke on the floor while taking the head as an on-the-go treat.

To be fair, Castor thought, the morning had started off just as it did the day before. Master was feeling troubled, and he woke up breathless from a dream. When Master was like that, which he always was since awakening, he’d sneak out from the observatory tower and go on a walk. So, that was what they did, Master and entity. They went on a walk.

It just so happened that as they were walking, they got a whiff of a peculiar scent, followed by the overwhelming scent of rusty blood. And when they turned and followed the direction of the scent, they found four demons on top of a woman, devouring her every limb until nothing but a pool of blood remained on the floor.

It was then, Castor found himself out of Master’s body, and when Master ordered him to charge after them, that was when the demons began to escape. Thus, the chase began.

Castor landed his talons on another demon, feasting on its body as his Master followed the remaining two. Master threw his dagger towards the one in the shape of a mutated serpent, pinning its tail against the wall. Master charged towards it, lifted the dagger from its placement on the demon’s flesh, and slit the poor thing’s throat until it no longer trembled under the vicious glare of the Gemini.

Within a second after the demon stilled, Master darted towards the remaining demon, blasting himself with a strong gust of wind for extra momentum and speed. He caught up to the demon quickly and held his hand out. A hard wind spiraled from Master’s palm, striking the demon face-first onto the floor. Master grabbed his dagger and pierced the demon on one of its long, pointed ears. In retaliation, the demon flung its long and heavy tail at Master, striking him many times across his face and body until it was all but blooming bruises and dripping black blood.

To Castor’s surprise, Master managed to grab hold of the demon’s long tail, twisting it until its tip touched the base of the demon’s spine. Then Master plunged his dagger through the tail’s two layers of flesh until he heard the hard tink of the dagger’s metal dig into the concrete. For good measure, Master placed his hand on the demon’s scaly back, emitting a strong wind that pushed the demon against the floor, making the hard surface crack under the Gemini’s force.

Castor tiptoed towards the scene, licking his fingers as he finished up his earlier meal. He peeked behind Master’s shoulder which was stained with black blood. Master was muttering something, words that were meant for Castor to hear– orders he should have listened to– but Castor’s mind was elsewhere. There was something interesting about the demon, an air to it that seemed to separate itself from its three other companions.

“Castor!” Master scowled, grunting as it took a lot of strength to keep this specific demon pinned. “Help me, will you!”

“Master, I have a request.”

Master’s scowl deepened. “Castor, now is not the time–”

“May I rip its head off?”

“What?” Master exclaimed. “No, you cannot. This demon–”

But before Master could finish his sentence, Castor wrapped his claws around the demon and ripped its head off.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Or, at least, tried to.

Castor frowned. The head remained intact as if he had pulled rubber. Despite the wails, Castor tried it once more, using all the strength he had to rip and twist the demon’s head off. But the damn thing just wouldn’t come off.

Castor then began to kick the demon, punch the demon, bang its head on the floor, and even push Master out of the way, lifting the dagger from the demon’s flesh, and began to methodically stab the thing until the entity was sure that the demon was dead.

Only the demon wasn’t, and after about five minutes of it stilling on the ground, the demon began to twitch and groan and try to pull itself onto its feet.

Castor’s suspicions were correct.

No matter what he tried to do, this demon, unlike its other friends, wouldn’t die. That only meant one thing…

Castor crouched down, taking the demon’s chin in his slender fingers.

“You can speak,” Castor said silkily, which terrified the demon. Even for a Talonis creature, entities like Castor terrified it. “I know you can.”

“Castor, what are you doing?” Master narrowed his eyes but allowed the entity to continue with whatever game he was playing.

“Speak, creature,” Castor said gently. When the demon didn’t respond, he said it once more, this time firmer. When the demon still refused to obey, Castor lifted its face so that its lips were just a breath away from Castor’s fangs. And in one gentle, terrifyingly calm voice, Castor repeated, “Speak, you goddamn worthless piece of shit.”

That seemed enough to snap the demon out of its stubbornness.

“Who are you?” It sputtered, voice trembling.

“Ah.” Castor’s smile widened, and he glanced at Master. “See, Master? Castor was right. This creature does speak.” Castor extended his delight to the demon, speaking to it as if it were a dog. “Aren’t you a good creature? Yes, you are. Oh, yes you are!”

Master approached the two of them, assessing the demon first then glancing over at Castor and giving him an approving nod. Castor beamed.

“A demon lord,” Master stated. He heard that demons like that existed. As general knowledge, demons from Talonis were essentially like the wild animals of Yelerna. They were creatures with no conscience, no ability to speak and think for themselves, and were only driven by desire and bloodlust. As much as they were a danger to citizens of the other nations, they were much of a threat to other Talonis Creatures, since all they needed was an appetite for blood– be it a gargoyle’s, an ogre’s, or a siren’s– demons would attack them all.

But ever since the Archfiend assumed the title of Emperor of Vice and ruled over Talonis, a new species of Talonis creatures had been born.

The Archfiend’s bloodline of demon lords.

Unlike normal demons, demon lords held a conscience, similar to that of a mortal’s or a deity’s. They didn’t just run on bloodlust but were driven by their own thoughts, desires, and needs. And unlike normal demons that only wielded the powers given to them by their own anatomy– such as super strength from an unusually large and muscular demon— demon lords had mana. They had mana just as a deity had mana, and thus, held powers capable of ensuing chaos to everything and everyone around them.

And this was all because the Archfiend decided to share his power with a few demons.

There were three things that could clearly identify a demon lord out of a group of demons. One being that they wielded powers unnatural to their given physique. Two being that they could speak. And three being they could not die no matter how much damage was done to their bodies– courtesy of the Archfiend who he, himself, was immortal.

It was then that the Master realized that Castor’s intellect and intuition did have a use after all.

But then Master wondered how the demon lord came to Yelerna, on Earth of all places. Demon lords tended to remain in Talonis, close to the Archfiend since, after all, they did possess a small portion of the Archfiend’s powers. Even with their given mana, demon lords were incapable of transporting themselves from the depths of Talonis to Yelerna… unless, of course, someone capable enough from Talonis had done so for them.

Why this demon lord was here was fairly obvious to both Castor and the Gemini. As to who sent it here… well, now that was a question they needed to find the answer to fast.

“Who sent you here?” Master asked firmly.

The demon pursed its lips, clearly terrified of the duo but thinking it better to remain silent instead. Definitely a poor choice on the demon’s part, and this it found out soon when Castor lifted its face to his and repeated Master’s question, adding, “And don’t make this hard for yourself.”

“The…the…” The demon was shaking. “The governor sent us here to look for the girl.”

Master hardened his glare. “The girl being…”

“The Goddess’ Successor.” The demon’s eyes grew wide as it noticed the encroaching darkness around the three. Castor eyed the Gemini as he noticed the black smoke seeping into their space. Master could have sworn he saw the sun beginning to cast its light on the sky, turning it into a pretty landscape of pinks and purples, but now it was all pitch black.

“The governor sent us to look for the Successor,” the demon continued, more frantically this time. “He said that the Archfiend could no longer wait, and since his hands are tied back in Talonis, he needed…”

Then the demon grew silent.

Master took a step forward, glaring viciously at the demon. “Who the hell is the governor?”

Castor felt a weird sensation cross his body, leaving him feeling unsettled. He glanced at Master, and when their eyes met, they instantly knew.

“Castor, return,” Master said quickly, and for once, Castor did not hesitate and entered Master through the palm of his hand.

Kian’s eyes left the demon for only half a second, but when he returned to face it, the demon had vanished. All that was left was darkness and the faint sound of laughter. Kian’s body tensed, keeping his senses alert and pulling his dagger close to him.

There was something lurking in the darkness, and the Gemini knew it.

“You don’t need to be a coward, you know,” the Gemini scoffed, pivoting on his heels, never wanting any part of him to be blind to a surprise attack. “You must come and introduce yourself, Governor, as it is polite to do so.” Kian’s grip on the dagger tightened. “Unless, of course, you don’t wish for this to be a cordial encounter.”

Kian’s words seemed to be enough for whatever was in the shadows since the dark smoke parted a little for the Gemini to get a glimpse of a dark silhouette, dressed lavishly in a long, hooded robe, hovering in the sky.

“Governor,” Kian greeted, but it was nowhere near cordial, and before he could utter another word, he felt quick and unrelenting jabs across his body. He felt a talon slice him, a rough fist punch him, and tried as he did, the attack was too quick for Kian to defend himself. The Gemini fell to his knees, cursing as he felt fresh bruises blossoming on his face and new wounds forming.

“Bastard,” Kian heard the demon hiss.

“Weak,” he heard another voice say, and then in one passing moment, the black smoke lifted, the demon and silhouette disappeared, and Kian was left in a bloody, bruised, and panting state, alone on a barely-lit street.

Castor noticed that the world had grown a little too silent, and as he opened his mouth to speak, Master had beat him to it.

“A flower shop,” Castor heard the Gemini mutter from within him. “We need to go to a flower shop… we need some lilies. She needs lilies.”

And with that, Castor instantly knew what his Master meant.