So I promised you updates. Updates you shall have. I promised nothing about the quality, so you should probably not read a draft if you feel the quality of my updates is severely lacking (I know I do.) Go ahead and give me hints on how to improve it - as long as you don't ask me to edit my chapters heavily, because the NaNoWriMo pace I need to maintain is just too much for that. It's simply not designed to be published right away, and with all the other stuff I gotta do, it's terribly hard to find the time to even punch in the words.

Also, tomorrow mi~ight be a shorter chapter, I really don't hope so, but I have terribly much to do. I'll see if I can get a full chapter up - otherwise I'd just be getting behind and have even more to make up for in the weekend.

If you spot any mistakes, tell me. I don't like mistakes. Especially logical mistakes - I gotta keep those under control. (Grammatical mistakes... Well, I've probably got tons of run on sentences and other flaws... You can point them out if you like I guess.)

Word count

This chapter: 1785 words

Total so far: 3589 words

--------------------------------------------------

“So what can I expect when I meet this demon king?” Aitken asked.

“He might eat you… if you get to him.” Thu’khol’laad answered.

“What do you mean get to him?”

“You have to pass the gatekeeper and scale the volcano.”

“What’s this gatekeeper like?”

“That's me secret.”

“Would you tell me if I gave you a potato?”

“No, me not so easy to bribe!”

“What if I gave you two?”

“Maybe…” Thu’khol’laad rubbed his clawed hands together slowly.

“And if I popped them for you?”

“Then me would tell you something, yes.”

Hah, he is so easy.

Aitken felt a faint tingling feeling.

“You feel that?” Thu’khol’laad asked.

Aitkens eyes widened. “It’s that frequent?”

“Me told you, it’s the greatest adversary of imp-kind.”

“Only imp-kind? Aren’t there other demons?” Aitken asked.

“Yes, like demon king.”

“And what is he?”

“Demon king is… Ohoho, me almost fell for it.”

The eye from above shone its bright beam of light far out in the distance, slowly pulling a chunk of land up together with it.

“It’s really far away...Is that why the tingling was so faint?”

“You are quick to notice this. Me was right about you.”

“Oh, look. A potato… and another one…and a third one...Oh, this one is the size of a head.” Aitken narrowed his eyes and looked over at Thu’khol’laad . “They’re actually quite common, aren’t they?”

“But tasty.” Thu’khol’laad answered.

Pop, Pop!

“There you go.”

Thu’khol’laad happily munched the two popped potatoes.

“And? will you tell me now.”

“Yes, me will tell you something, as promised.”

Aitken clenched his fists, leaned forward and stared intently at Thu’khol’laad.

“Me will tell you... The more apostrophes a name has, the more powerful the demon.”

Aitken frowned. “That’s not about the gatekeeper or demon king.”

“Me never said me would tell you about that.” Thu’khol’laad smirked.

“You little… Imp!”

Thu’khol’laad merely responded with a high pitched laugh, which echoed from the nearby cliffs.

The gate of which Thu’khol’laad became visible in the distance - at the foot of the volcano was a stone wall, as tall as forty-two imps. The wall was pitch black, blending in well - but it clearly covered all the way around the volcano. The gate itself was half the height of the wall, and made of a dark wooden material, decorated with carvings of demons and flames. On top of the gate was a series of gargoyles created from the molten obsidian of the volcano itself.

Aitken grabbed a large ring from the gate, and pushed as hard as he could. The gate slowly crept open with a squeaking sound of metal grinding metal coming from the hinges. Then the smell hit him like a frying pan - a smoked yet metallic smell.

A large round indention in the ground was revealed on the other side of the gate, appearing the size of fifty imps across and five imps tall. In the middle a large - by imp standards anyway - imp was standing with quarterstaff made of the same dark wooden material like the gate.

“Ah, another challenger” The large imp said, as it threw a lifeless imp-body up the side of the indention - just to have it dragged away by a second imp.

Aitken gazed around, then he frown at Thu’khol’laad. “Was this your plan all alo-”

“Welcome, challenger!” The imp in the indention said. “Come, come. Enter my arena!”

Aitken looked back through the gate from which he came, then back at the imp in the arena. He stood motionless for a while.

“You don’t think I’d actually let you leave, right?” The imp said from the indention.

Aitken slowly approached the arena.

“What are the rules and what’s the price/penalty?”

“It’s simple. If you die or get knocked out, you become food for the demon king... But if you win, you get to meet him.”

“So I gotta knock you out?” Aitken asked.

“Exactly. Any more questions?”

“... Do I get a stick?”

The imp made a slight nod and threw the stick at Aitken, before a second one materialized in the hands of the imp.

Aitken grabbed the stick and slid down one of the sandy edges of the makeshift arena.

“I am Sak’on. What is your name challenger?”

“Aitken.”

“Your name is Zagmar, not Aitken.” Thu’khol’laad yelled from the sideline.

I wish this imp would stop following me already

“Prepare yourself, Zagmar.” Sak’on said, as he put his one leg in front of the other and bent the front one a bit. His wings laid close to his body and his tail wrapped itself around his waist.

Aitken imitated this stance, and slowly crept forward.

Sak’on swung his staff downwards. The wind howled as the staff split the air, and it almost seemed to vanish for a brief moment.

Pow

Aitken staggered backwards with a stabbing pain on the side of his right knee.

I could almost see that one… Next time I can block it.

He grit his teeth and proceeded forwards once more.

Clack

Yes! now for the counter

Smock!

Aitken received a swift staff to the face. As he staggered backwards, Sak’on rushed forward sending a flurry of blows at Aitken.

Aitken fell to the ground, blocking a blow intended to crush his skull.

I can’t win like this! I just.. gotta improvise!

“Look! there’s a naked she-imp!” Aitken pointed wildly into the distance.

“You do realize we are gender-less, right?”

“Well… A succubus then?”

“You really thought that would work now, didn’t you?”

Yet, It was enough that Aitken could break the momentum. Aitken clenched a fistful of the dark dust from the ground and sent it flying towards Sak’on. At the same time Aitken’s tail whipped towards Sak’ons hand.

Splosh.

Drops of neon orange blood flew through the air, and a faint smell of smoke and iron spread.

Sak’on winced and rubbed his eyes, as Aitken rolled a few imp-lengths away and jumped to his feet.

Sak’on wrinkled his nose. “You dishonourable imp!”

Aitken grinned, as he dashed towards the edge of the arena.

“You come back here!”

Aitken climbed up the steep, sandy edge of the arena, and ran for the top of the volcano. After climbing higher than even the wall, he looked over his shoulder. Sak’on was gaining ground at an incredible pace. Aitken turned around, and flapped his wings once.

I guess it’s truly time for flight or fight.

Woosh!

Like a bald-eagle diving for its prey, Aitken glided at great speed towards Sak’on, staff ready to strike.

Twok-Twok!

Both of the two imps tumbled down the edge of the volcano, bleeding bright orange from their pointy noses.

Aitken’s mouth filled with sand and his nosebleed got clogged as he tumbled down flapping desperately.

His trajectory suddenly changed, and he felt the wind under his wings as he was gently carried towards the wall from which he came.

Aitken flapped a few times, but only managed to lose height from his attempts to fly. A rough landing on the top of the wall ensued, as he flew into a gargoyle statue. The statue promptly fell down the wall and broke in two halves.

A few grunts echoed from the wall. Aitken looked down the wall, and saw Sak’on already climbing the smooth stone wall.

What do I do, what do I do? Another fly-by? No…

Aitken’s eyes narrowed. He went over to a nearby statue and pulled it rigorously, to no avail.

It won’t budge. Darn.

He took a glance at the staff in his hands.

Of course.

The staff was quickly jammed under the gargoyle statue. Aitken quickly climbed the statue and leapt down at the staff.

A popping sound was heard as the statue was forced loose.

grunt grunt.

loud grunts? He’s near!

Aitken dashed to the side and noticed Sak’on just a few imp-lengths down.

Aitken hurried back and pulled in the statue with all his might, but it barely budged. His eyes darted around the place, looking for any clue he could make this. He finally went to the wall, and lifted his staff, sending a powerful stab towards Sak’on. Aitken felt resistance in the staff, but when he tried to pull, it was stuck.

Below, Sak’on was grinning with his tail wrapped around the staff. “Now I’ve got you. I’ll tear your dishonourable skull from your neck!”

Aitken grit his teeth, and attempted to shake Sak’on off from the wall, to no avail.

Darn. So close, but I’m out of tricks.

Sak'on grinned as he slowly gained ground. "Hehehe, die for me."

Wosh Wosh wosh wosh.

Like a boomerang, a familiar black staff with a skull mounted on top flew towards the wall.

Slam!

With surprising force, Sak’on was stuck and tumbled several imp-lengths down.

Now, it’s a race! Thanks, Cho’co’late!

Aitken dashed to the statue and put in every inch of force he could, pulling the statue towards the wall.

The panting from Sak’on grew louder.

More... more… a bit faster!

A scaly three-fingered hand grabbed the edge of the wall.

Now!

Aitken threw in the last remaining bit of his force, and the statue fell on the hand, crushing the fingers with a grim sound.

“GRAAAA” Sak’on screamed.

With a final kick, the statue finally lost balance and fell, dragging Sak’on down with it.

Klonk. Klonk.

A crunchy snapping sound echoed as the statue hit the sand, leaving a splatter of neon orange in the bottom.

Aitken sighed in relief and fell on his back. He swallowed up air as if he had been holding his breath for the entire fight.

“You going to lay there all day? Let’s go, to the demon king!” a familiar voice yelled from below.

Aitken took a final deep breath, and got up. He placed himself on the edge and glided down towards the volcano, landing near Thu’khol’laad.

Aitken stared a bit at Thu’khol’laad. “Say, Chocolate… Why did you save me?”

“... Me am not Chocolate, me am Thu’khol’laad… and me saved you because that’s what grandfathers do.”

“But you didn’t even flinch when you saw the hatchling getting dragged away to become food.”

“You are special, me can feel it… Have you come from beyond the eye?”

Aitken frowned. “I don’t know. I have come from somewhere… different, but I don’t know what lays beyond the eye.”

“As me thought. You are truly a returned imp.” Thu’khol’laad nodded solemnly.

The rest of the way to the top of the volcano was relatively quiet and problem free. Apart from the occasional potato here and there, it was completely barren and still covered in black sand - albeit the ground became coarser and coarser the further up the two went. The ground leveled when they reached the top, and the floor was made from shiny black obsidian.

“I see you have finally reached me, king of imps.” A deep dark voice echoed from a silhouette in the distance.

--------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading.