9 comments/ 4604 views/ 6 favorites Ultimate Assassin Saga: Tundra By: Undersought Greetings to those who may be reading this. I'm genuinely new to this entire writing scene, having only been reading stories on Literotica. Most stories are all the same, so I thought I'd try adding something fresh into the mix. All significant input is invited. Much obliged to you for taking the time to peruse this. In this story, the world and every one of its tenants have all been invoked in my psyche. Any likenesses to any spots or individuals, living or expired, are incidents. That likewise applies to my made up world. In the event that it in any capacity looks like that of whatever other, which is in some other stories you have read, is likewise a happenstance. As always, everyone in this story is eighteen years or older. ***************************** The wind blew across the land, making the grass of the plain sway from side to side. There weren't any animals above ground, but beneath the earth there were moles that burrowed deep under the ground, remaining warm when so close to the frozen land of the Tundra. There was only one person above ground in the plain and he was on his knees, using his magic to dig deeply under the earth to find a mole for his dinner. Acheron worked hard for his meals and this one wasn't going to be any easier than the others. Then again, he was very good at finding food and successfully feeding himself, even though Demons didn't really need any sustenance at all to survive. He could go without, but he couldn't allow his strength to wane at this critical time. The Chaos Demon straightened from his work and looked off in the distance, searching for any enemy, but there was no one anywhere near them. He was huge, well over seven foot tall, and hugely muscled. He had long midnight black hair that fell to the middle of his back in a single, thick braid and emerald green eyes set in a bronzed face. He wore a short sleeve black shirt, black pants, knee high black boots, a black leather breastplate with silver embroidery over the chest area, and a black leather belt with a broadsword sheathed at his left hip. Being a Demon, he was a great warrior and was capable of many things, even surviving death. He had actually died many times and had revived once his body healed. That was all because of his heritage of a Chaos Demon and his ability to survive even death. The way one could kill a Chaos Demon would have to know the way to do it of course. They would have to cut off his head and burn his body. Any less that that would lead to him merely reviving and coming after the one that had attempted to kill him. He'd done it before and he'd died many times because of that. The Command Assassin sat back from the hole that he'd dug to rest and to think back on the past six months. It had all started with his brother, the Emperor of the Demon Empire of Dalkia, ordering him to do target and assassinate the Fallen Angel Queen as well as as the Fallen Angel Prince. He had known the Angel Queen a century before, before she'd been married and before she'd had her son. They'd had an intimate relationship and he'd grown to love her in the short month that they'd spent with one another. Then, she'd disappeared back to Paradise, her Realm and he'd never expected to see her again. Now however he was getting his chance. Acheron had been unable to even consider targeting Trissieal, and in the end, he'd chosen to betray the very Empire that he'd helped to carve out. In lieu of coming out and telling his brother that right then and there inside of the capitol of the Demon Empire, he'd decided to pretend to do the job. He'd gone off to the Wilds where Azrieal had told him that they had been spotted in, and in the process, he'd run across the Amazons. The Wilds was a land of pure anarchy with no centralized government, but there were several different societies within the Wilds that did create small government-like industries. Like the Amazons. The Amazons had been plagued by the Minions which were beings of the Abyss and were only able to be controlled by Upper Flight Demons. He'd only known of them because he'd been born of the Abyss himself and he'd seen many Demons using Minions as front line cannon fodder in the constant wars going on in the fiery realm known as the Abyss. At first, the Amazons hadn't trusted him and he couldn't blame them. After all, Demons were evil beings and a good Demon had never been heard of before. After a battle in which he'd helped greatly to win, the Amazons had grown to trust him and he was even allowed out with the Forest Guard which was their military force. The head of that military force, Tide, had become a good and close friend who he was sure he could call on at any time. It had been Tide who'd been at his side, along with a Wood Elf named Gareth from the Wood Elf village, when they'd gone against and killed the one responsible for the Minions. Much to the Chaos Demon's surprise, the leader of the Minions had actually been a Human who had been near death and had been taken over by a near death Demon. They had taken on a symbiotic relationship, and even though the former High Shaman - or the most powerful Mage of the Amazons - had believed that he could control it, he'd been wrong. The Demon essence had taken him over and used his body to summon the Minions to send them against his former people. Because of Tide, Gareth, and Acheron himself, the Demon hadn't been successful. They'd stopped the man in his tracks and sent the Demon into the void. It would be thousands of more years before that tortured spirit could become a Demon once again and come back to the Mortal Plane, if ever. By then, things would've changed greatly and he probably wouldn't even be around anymore, having fallen in some battle. However, he didn't concern himself with worrying about some Demon from the past coming back from the Abyss and searching for him to have its revenge. No, what he was concerning himself with right now was finding Trissieal and her son so he could protect them. No matter how powerful her son might be, the Command Assassin didn't think he would mind the help in protecting and caring for his mother. Granted, he was someone who loved the boy's mother very much and he might take affront to that, but that didn't really matter. What did matter was protecting Trissieal from all that would try to kill her and the most pressing threat was the Dalkian Empire as well as his older brother, Azrieal. He had to find Trissieal before Azrieal did or it could mean her death. Being the Emperor of a nation, Azrieal had many resources and there was no way that two people could fight that off without being killed or captured. Even Acheron himself wouldn't be able to handle an entire army and come out unscathed if he came out at all. That was why he had to find Trissieal and put into place the plans he needed to form to protect her. The only way that he could think to do that was to gather the races of the Wilds together and unite them in a common cause: to fight back the forces of Dalkia which were certainly to come soon enough, in search of destroying him. Acheron sighed and brought himself from his reverie. Before he did that, he had to find Trissieal and survive all the trials that would come before even that. He would have to meet the other races of the five provinces of the Wilds and be able to befriend them. That was if they were able to be befriend of course. After all, this was a land of anarchy and it was quite possible that rogues from other nations had created societies of their own. In fact, he would bet on that fact. What better way to escape the laws of your country than to come to a country that was without laws and that everyone was too afraid to travel into? Using his senses, the Chaos Demon reached into the hole of where he had the mole cornered. It was all alone and he was glad for that. If it had had a family, he would've left it alone, but it didn't have a family with it and that made it prime for a meal. He already had the necessary gathering of wood piled behind him to make his campfire so he could cook his food. All he had to do was catch the creature, kill it, and cook it so he could eat the animal. The Command Assassin drew magic into his left palm as he dug deeper into the earth using his magic and a razor sharp dagger manifested in his hand. Then, he reached deeper with his other hand and grabbed the warm, thick neck of the mole. The creature squeaked in surprise and fear even as he pulled the creature from its hiding hole. With no hesitation, he plunged the dagger into the mole's stomach and cut widely, silencing its screams. The creature squirmed for a few more moments, and then, it grew still in death. He laid the mole down on the ground and he placed his hand over the mole's face, saying a prayer to the Gods of Nature, asking them to accept the soul of the mole. That done, Acheron set the mole down next to the hole and he walked over to the woodpile that he'd stacked up. He began to work, stacking the wood in a tight circle so he could start a flame and it not catch any of the grass on fire. Then, he stacked some wood in the middle of the circle, being careful to leave one sturdy enough stick free for skewering the mole when he carved it up. That last job done, he got up and walked back over to the hole, grabbing up the mole before walking back over to the yet to be lit fire. Using the knife that he'd used to kill the mole, the Chaos Demon used that same knife to slice first fur from skin and then skin from meat only to carve the meat from the bone as well. Once done, he penetrated the flesh of the mole with a single stick and held it above the fire to cook. He watched orange and yellow flames, lost deep in thought. Lost in the thoughts of his past and thoughts of his future. After Dalkia had grown far enough through military campaigns into other nations, he had retired from being a General and had become the first Command Assassin of Dalkia. Being the Command Assassin was the highest ranked individual in the Empire, next to the Emperor himself. The only person that he had to answer to was the Emperor and many believed that because the Emperor was his brother that he got special treatment and was allowed anything he wanted, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. Azrieal held no special love for him just because they were of the same mother. Both being Upper Flight Demons meant that they'd been born of a mother, but they had different fathers. However, both brothers were Chaos Demons, though both of their conceptions had been different. Azrieal's conception had been a peaceful one through consent between the two parties that would be his mother and father. Acheron's father however had raped his mother, and instead of killing her child in the womb, she'd allowed it to come to full term. It was this that had ended her life and sent her Abysmal soul to the Chaos Gods of the Abyss. The Dalkian Emperor himself was a Mage, and because of that, he didn't use blades, though he did have skills with the blade. He didn't choose to use blades like his brother though, but his magic and his magic alone. Acheron himself was most skilled with his blades, but he was also skilled in magic. He was better with a blade, but he wasn't a total novice with magic. He knew different styles of magic from Nature magic to Necromancer magic which was the ability to animate the dead to use them as your own personal cannon fodder. As the Command Assassin, he was the still most powerful and most feared Demon in all of Dalkia, next to the Emperor himself. Most of the Demons who thought that he didn't deserve his place as Command Assassin were upstarts who'd come to the Mortal Plane long after the war campaigns that had cut out the borders of Dalkia that he had himself had carved out. Each one of them had challenged him and each one of them was proven wrong when they lay on the floor, dead through many different ways. Acheron's thoughts then turned to the future and what he hoped for in the future. Of course, he hoped to be free of his brother, no matter what he had to do to break his chains. He would hope that he would be with Trissieal, but he didn't know that she would even remember him, much less want to be with him as his Mate. Also, there was her son to take into account. He wouldn't be his child and he might try to sabotage his efforts to grow closer to her. However, he would never tell her son to stay out of it because it wasn't his business. No, this was his mother and it most definitely was his business. After all, if they ended up as Mates, he would be the Angel Prince's new father. While he would like to get along with the Angel Prince - he didn't know his name and had never heard it mentioned by anyone ever before - he knew that it probably wasn't likely. After all, he was an Angel, Fallen he might be and Angels all held contempt for Demons. Then again, Trissieal herself hadn't judged him and had trusted him from the beginning. Maybe her son would've learned from her and would accept him as long as she did. Of course, it could be a bad situation if she didn't remember him and even worse if she didn't want him with her anymore. Stuffing those negative thoughts back into the back of his mind, the Chaos Demon sniffed at the meat and he noted that it was done. He took the meat away from the flames and he pulled a chunk of the mole meat off of the stick. Then, he popped the meat into his mouth and he chewed. It tasted good and was quite juicy in fact. He swallowed the chewed meat and popped another piece of meat into his mouth, chewing that one just as fast as the one before that. When he was finished with the meat, the Command Assassin dropped the stick on the ground and he laid down in the grass. The sun had already sunk low below the horizon and the silvery full moon was above him as he stared up at it as well as the twinkling silver stars in the purple night. He laced his fingers behind his head and he decided that now would be a good time to sleep. He would continue his journey north tomorrow morning before the sun came up and he would enter the Tundra of the northern part of the Wilds just as the light of day would begin. That was the plan at least, and with that in his mind, Acheron closed his eyes before he drifted off to sleep, his dreams filled with the Fallen Angel Queen. Azrieal stood outside on the balcony to his room and stared out at the capitol city of his Empire. The black spires of the buildings below were smaller than the palace itself, but they were no small buildings. All of them rose high into the blood red sky which was streaked with black lightning at different times. The night air was dry and without moisture. The Empire of Dalkia was much like the Abyss in the stature of the dry air, save for the actual flames. He enjoyed the atmosphere of what he'd built and what he ruled over, but he knew that rogues such as the Elves or the Human cutthroats had a hard time with the atmosphere. It was harsh after all and not many could stand to live in such conditions, unless they were born of the Abyss, but those that wanted to be a part of the Dalkian Empire had to deal with it. As the Empire had grown, the Emperor had made sure that the Demon Mages continued to spread their sky as they took over each and every village or country. In doing so, he'd created an atmosphere much like his home and he enjoyed it greatly. He knew that other Demons felt the same way because they were stepping out of a Realm of Hell and into hell on the Mortal Plane. It was a comforting thing for Demons and comfort was needed to serve loyally which was what the Emperor needed above all else: the loyalty of his subjects. He was tall, over six foot tall, and slender though not without his muscle. He had long golden blonde hair that fell to the small of his back in a high ponytail and emerald green eyes set in a bronzed face. He wore a long sleeve white tunic with gold fastenings up the front, white pants with a gold stripe up the legs, knee high black leather boots, and a black leather belt. On his right middle finger was a ruby ring with a silver band and that ring was what magnified his magic. The Chaos Demon sighed as he stared down at the marble streets and he saw many of his people walking the streets to and fro. By tomorrow, three out of ten people on the street right now would be found dead and most likely by someone else that was on the street. He smiled at that thought. He fostered and encouraged backstabbing among his people so that his people would always be on edge. If they were always on edge, then they would be prepared for anything, including an invasion from outside forces. That was the one thing that they had never experienced since they'd gotten as large as they were was an invasion and it wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. The Emperor held out the hand with the ruby on it and he manifested a glass in his hand. Inside of the glass was amber liquid that he knew to be fire whiskey. After all, he'd summoned it and of course he would know what it was. Fire whiskey was the only thing that he could drink that would give him even the slightest bit of a buzz because of his high metabolism, but he would have to drink a lot of it to actually get drunk. He brought the glass to his lips and he swallowed some of the whiskey, relishing in the burning sensation that washed through his chest. Azrieal brought the glass from his lips and he sat it down on the railing. Then, he gripped the railing and leaned forward, lost in thought. He had learned only a few weeks ago that his brother had gone rogue after he'd sent him off on a job. The job had been to track down and kill the Fallen Angel Queen and her son. When he'd given his brother the job, he'd noticed something weird about how his brother was acting, and to make sure nothing was wrong, he'd sent an Imp along to spy on his brother without him knowing that it was there. However, the Imp had gotten killed and he'd been forced to send a Shade to do the same. His suspicions had been confirmed when he'd seen through the eyes of the Shade that his brother was willingly working with a Human and a Wood Elf. Of course he knew that the Shade wouldn't be able to take his brother, so instead he'd ordered the Shade to take out the Human and the Elf so the symbiotic Demon could take the battle to his brother. Unfortunately, the other Demon hadn't been strong enough to handle Acheron and had failed to defeat him. Then again, he had expected nothing less from his little brother than resistance and to defeat the symbiotic Demon. It was official now. Acheron had betrayed the Empire and him. The Emperor had been trying to think of a way to deal with his brother, but anything short of war wasn't going to work. Then again, he could undermine what he was obviously doing. His brother was in the Wilds, a land of anarchy, and he'd already made two powerful allies in the Amazons and the Wood Elves of the High Forest. He knew that there were several more races within the Wilds that would come in handy to his brother, and knowing the Command Assassin, he could easily draw them under his wing. He would simply have to disrupt his brother's idea, but who to use? The Chaos Demon knew that his little brother was heading north to the Tundra. The Tundra was a land of snow and ice all around the year. Their summer was a cool twenty degrees, but the inhabitants of the Tundra weren't bothered by that. He knew of only one race of people that lived in the Tundra, but he was certain that there were others. After all, the Tundra was a huge land, and despite its icy exterior, it could foster a lot of life, especially sentient life. The only one's that he knew to live in the Tundra for fact though were the different Barbarian tribes and he knew the tribes were constantly at war with one another for some reason or another. Ultimate Assassin Saga: Tundra If Acheron had his way, he would make allies with one of the Barbarian Tribes, and if he knew his brother, he would somehow manage to draw all of the Barbarian tribes under his wing. He couldn't have that happening because he needed his brother weak enough for him to take out and it was going to be difficult enough as it was without having to worry about a nation of Barbarians. He ran through his thoughts of who to send to disrupt his brother and he smiled as a thought occurred to him. There was one person that would relish in disrupting his brother because he'd always been behind Acheron in rank and he would love to disrupt - if not kill - his brother himself. That sort of rivalry breeded anger and resentment so he was sure that the Demon he had in mind would love to take on the job. After all, if he killed the Command Assassin, that would mean he would go up in rank and replace Acheron as the Command Assassin. Every assassin in Dalkia had their eyes on the Command Assassin office, but because of Acheron's power and the fact that he put down everyone who challenged him with brutality, everyone hesitated before challenging him. It was that, coupled with his own skills, that allowed Acheron to hold the rank as long as he had. However, there was another part that he needed to tie up and he had to make sure that the loose end was tied up effectively. The loose end was that of the Amazons and the Wood Elves. If his brother had alliances within the Wilds, he could use them and he wanted him isolated. The only way for him to do that was to use a single person that would know Acheron well enough to fake being allies with the man and that he'd been sent there at the behest of the Chaos Demon to watch out for them. Of course, the Amazons and Wood Elves weren't fools so they would make sure that he wasn't there to destroy them, but they would fail to figure that out. They were only Humans and Wood Elves after all. The Emperor turned away from the balcony and walked back into his office. The room was well lit and that exposed the furnishings of the room. The floor was covered in a thick dark red carpet that effectively kept the sound from boot steps muffled. There was a book shelf pushed up against one wall and the book shelf was stacked full of different colored books bound in linen, leather, and paper. The huge mahogany desk dominated the room and on top of the desk in the corner was a globe of golden light to illuminate what he was doing. Usually, he was doing paperwork and little else, but as of late, he'd turned away the paperwork so he could deal with the traitor. No one was allowed to betray the Empire, not even one of the two men who'd helped to build it. Acheron had been a General at one time, leading the campaigns to take over the land that was now considered Dalkian. He'd been a powerful warrior and he'd seemed completely loyal to his brother and the Empire they were buildings. Dalkia had started off as a small Kingdom that barely spanned fifty miles, but under the direction of Acheron, the Empire had grown and Azrieal had been the ruler of it all. They had set rules - not laws - in place that everyone had to adhere to and no one was higher than the rules, not even the Emperor himself. Of course, if he wanted to, he could suspend the rules and do whatever he wanted, but he wanted at least the semblance of order to his Empire. Otherwise, it might fall apart. The Chaos Demon walked behind his desk and he pulled back his chair. He sat down in the chair and he leaned forward, putting his forearms on the wood of the desk. He stared into the darkness of the room, noting that anything could be lurking there, but nothing would hurt him. He had a constant spell on himself, armoring his skin against claws and blades alike. The only thing he couldn't block against was spells with his armored skin, but nothing that came after him would be stupid enough to use magic against him. He was a reputed to be a powerful Mage and anyone in the Empire would know that so they wouldn't try to use magic against him. Azrieal knew that he had to summon them and do so quickly. If he didn't get the plan put into place right now, it might not work and he couldn't have that happening. He needed to have this plan go off flawlessly so he could have his brother brought back to him in chains if possible and he would be the one to kill him himself. With that thought in mind, he reached under his tunic and pulled out the crystal amulet, closing his fingers around it. 'I need you here now.' the Emperor said telepathically to the Demon that he'd made contact with and he felt the acquiesces of the other party. Then, he moved on to the next mind and he knew that this one might not be as easy. After all, he was a Clan Lord and he wasn't likely not to blindly accept what he asked for. 'I need your assistance. One of your people.' 'What do you need of one of mine? I barely have enough to spare.' the Clan Lord replied, his voice angry as he'd believed that he would be. It didn't surprise him that Lord Shido of the Blood Demons wanted little to do with his plans. The Blood Demons birthed so very few each generation, but for every ten males that was born, only one female was born which created a huge difference in the birth ratio. It was this reason that they protected their females so strongly and didn't want anyone interfering with their Clan actions. 'I need you to send Breal to me tomorrow. I have a job for him and he can not refuse. If you do refuse this request, it will become an order, and if you refuse once more, your Clan will be destroyed.' Azrieal answered and it was no idle threat. He cut off his connection with the Blood Demon Lord and he sat back in his chair, smiling widely as the plan was falling nicely into place. Suddenly, the Chaos Demon sensed magic manifesting in his office and he readied a spell just in case. He was sure who it was, but it never hurt to be sure. Letting down your guard earned you one thing and one thing only: a dagger in your back. There was a loud sound like lightning, and suddenly, the creature that he'd summoned appeared in front of him. He knew who the creature was and what his specialty was, but he knew that the creature liked to keep its face a secret. That was why it wore an ankle length black cloak with a high hood to cover his head and a mask to cover his face. There was nothing better than anonymity. The cloaked figure stepped forward, walking fluidly up to his desk and he stood there, staring down at him. His dark Grey eyes glowed out from under the hood and he saw the power in the Demon's eyes. He wasn't intimidated by this like he knew that many others would be and he knew that the other Demon knew that. The other Demon was an Elemental type Demon and those were some of the most feared Demons in the Empire, next to the Chaos Demons. This one was much more powerful than his other counterparts however and that was one of the reasons why he'd summoned the Demon in the first place. "I have a job for you and I believe that it's a job that you will relish in performing." Azrieal told the Elemental Demon with a smile. The other man did nothing, just stood there and continued to stare at him. He smiled wider as he sat back in his chair and he crossed his legs as he looked over the cloaked form in front of him. He did look very imposing and ominous so he could understand how some people would be intimidating by this creature. Then, he began to lay out the plan to the other Demon, and when he was done, the Demon bowed his head low. The creature turned around and disappeared the same way that he'd appeared - suddenly. It had begun. Breal stared up at the blood red sky and watched as lightning struck across the sky. A lesser man would've been afraid, but not he. No, he rather liked the darkness and the macabre sight the sky of Dalkia imposed on its viewers. He knew that many others were afraid of the blood red sky and the black lightning, but they got use to it quickly enough. Maybe it was because he'd grown up under the sky that he was unafraid of it and actually enjoyed it, but he didn't really know. Who knew the mind and feelings of others, especially their selves? He surely didn't know and he didn't know anyone who knew why they felt the way they felt or thought the way they thought. He was about medium height, about five foot ten, and slender. He had nape length blood red hair that fell around his face wildly and blood red eyes set in an alabaster, emotionless face. He wore a short sleeve black shirt, black linen pants, ankle high black leather boots, a black leather belt, and a glossy black knee length cloak with a wide hood that he wore over his head. Even though he wore a cloak, he knew that anyone with Demon blood would be able to sense what he was and would know who he was in an instant. He was highly hated by all other Demons in the Empire and that was because of what he was. He was Half Blood Demon and Half Human. His very existence was something that shouldn't have been possible because of the mandate by the Lord of the Clan himself. The mandate ordered that no one of the Blood Demon Clan take a Mate or even have sex with anyone outside of the Clan. They didn't want a bunch of half breeds running around and shaming them. Blood Demons were all about purity of their race and the Clan Lord was the most vain about keeping the Clan pure. The punishment for breaking this mandate was death for both parents and the child was to die with its mother in the womb. For some reason though, Shido had allowed his mother to live long enough to give birth to Breal and then she'd been killed. Many believed that Breal was nothing more than a slave within the Clan to be used however they saw fit, but all of those rumors came from the outside of the Blood Demon Clan. The actual facts were that he wasn't treated any differently from the rest of the Clan and Lord Shido himself had trained him in battle. To this day the Half Demon didn't understand why the Blood Demon Lord would allow him to live and treat him so well, but he wasn't going to complain. After all, he got to live and he rather enjoyed living. There were those within the Clan that would love to see him dead, but they were too cowardly to do it themselves. It had been told at his birth to the entire Clan that anyone that tried to kill him would meet their end at the end of the Lord's claws. Why he'd made such an announcement, no one knew, but no one had ever attempted to kill him, though there were plenty of threats against his life. Despite his good standing in the Clan and his skills, he wasn't allowed a partner. Because of the difference in the ratio between the genders of the Clan, every male was partnered with another male to release sexual tension. Even when a male found a female Mate, they kept their partner for life and the two males often shared the single female as equal Mates. There wasn't a single male that wanted to partner with him because of his Half Human blood and none of their parents could blame them. So, he had no partner and he would probably never have a Blood Demon either, but that didn't really matter to him at all. Breal wasn't a sexual person and he didn't concern himself with sex. All that mattered to him was survival and he was quite good at staying alive. He carried no blades on him for several reasons, but the main reason was because of what he was. Blood Demons didn't use weapons of any kind. Blood Demons were known for their high speed and their razor sharp claws. Breal was no different when it came to how he killed and that was something that the other Blood Demons couldn't accuse him of was fighting like a Human. While the majority of Demons hated Humans, most were willing to accept them and work beside them as long as they were cutthroats. The same thing could not be said for the Blood Demon Clan. Blood Demons hated Humans wholeheartedly, no matter if they were noble Knights or dark rogues. They believed that Humans were all useless, weak creatures that did nothing except for destroy land and breed. While the breeding was true, he didn't think that Humans were all useless. In fact, he was fairly certain that there were Humans out there who were just as deadly and just as fearless as any Demon Clan Lord. Of course, to say that out loud would be blasphemy and could earn him a death sentence. Then again, just being conceived in his mother's stomach should have been a death sentence, but he'd been allowed to live. The Half Demon shook his head and lowered his eyes to the street, looking at each and every being that passed by him, expecting a knife in the back at any second, but not one of them pulled a dagger. In fact, they all looked scared of him as they scurried past and he nearly frowned. Why would they be scared of the one that they had scorned for so long? It made no sense to him. Six months ago, everywhere he went he had been forced to defend himself from bigots who thought he was weak because of his Human blood. Then, after that fateful day in the pub, he had no longer had to do that and people gave him a wide berth. His thoughts turned to that day and what had happened. The Command Assassin, Acheron, had interfered and then had warned everyone that if they messed with him that they messed with him. Was that why they were afraid of the Half Demon all of a sudden? Because of the threat of the Command Assassin? It was possible of course. Breal knew that the Command Assassin was the second most feared man in the Empire and everyone cowered when he looked upon them. He was a scary individual that was for sure. He was huge and intimidating with his height combined with his muscular frame. It would be one thing if he was simply big, but he wasn't. He was also powerful and skilled with a blade. Also, he was the younger brother of the Emperor and that made him just as feared. He knew the man's reputation and he knew that he was deadly when it came to those who would challenge him. He knew that upstarts believed the Chaos Demon had only gotten his rank because he was the Emperor's brother, but he knew better than that. The Chaos Demon was powerful and skilled, of that he'd seen with his own two eyes. He hadn't gotten where he was because he was the brother of the Emperor, but because of his place in helping to carve out the Empire in the first place with his own blade as the General of the campaigning armies. The Half Demon was drawn from his reverie when he felt a summons in his mind and he knew what that meant. He was to meet with the Lord of the Blood Demon Clan and go over something that was very important. Whatever that was, he knew that Lord Shido would want to tell him right away and he would want him to come to the Blood Demon compound right away. If he was tardy, the Blood Demon Lord wouldn't be very happy and he only existed because of the man. He was loyal to Lord Shido and to his credos, no one else. If the man asked him to assassinate the Emperor, he would do it and not give it a second thought. He turned sharply and he walked down the marble streets back towards the Blood Demon compound. He knew that he walked past many other Demon Clan compounds, but not one of them poked their heads out or tried to stop him. He was the favored son of the Blood Demon Clan, and no matter their hatred for the Human blood that coursed through him, none of them would take a chance of angering the Blood Demon Clan. Next to the Chaos Demons, the Blood Demons were the most feared of all types of Demons and no one would are challenge them because of their abilities. He often relished in having Blood Demon blood coursing through his veins, but at other times, he hated it. It was an ongoing complex that he had and it wasn't likely to change. Breal walked past well armored and armed guards of the other Demon Clan homes without fear. The men and women looked upon him, but they said nothing nor did they act upon their obvious distaste of his presence. It was obvious that they didn't like him, but they feared the Blood Demon Lord more than they hated him and wouldn't dare act on it. He continued to walk, not paying them any attention as he strode straight past them and his cloak whirled around him, presenting him like a whirling, insubstantial creature. It was an eerie sight indeed when coupled with what he was. The Half Demon rounded the next corner and stopped. Not ten feet in front of him was the huge and imposing Blood Demon Clan compound. It was a large, sprawling estate made of black stone with large windows though all of them were magicked to only allow someone to see out, not in. The gates in front of the compound were huge and iron wrought, magicked to keep spells from getting through. There were guards out in front, wearing their cloaks and their razor sharp claws glinting in the low light. Behind the gate, there were other, smaller homes that housed non-noble members of the Blood Demon Clan and they were all the same square shaped black stone build. He started walking again, and when he approached the front gates, he saw the two guards turn their eyes to him. However, neither one of them showed any emotion on their emotions and he had expected little else. The Blood Demons were known for their speed, razor sharp claws, and most especially their lack of emotions. They were deadly and fierce, but one could never read a Blood Demon, not even other Blood Demons. The Blood Demon guards moved aside, one of them reaching back to touch the lock to the gates and they slid open slowly, giving him enough space to slide through, but only barely. He said nothing to the guards as he walked through the gates and into the courtyard. There was a fountain that was spouting silver water into the basin below in the very center. The statue in the middle of the fountain was carved of marble and was done in the features of a deadly transformed Blood Demon tearing apart several Humans that had come against him in armor and carrying weapons. He blinked a couple of times and he walked across the courtyard towards the double doors of the castle. He opened the double mahogany doors of the castle and he stepped into the hallway beyond. The hallway was barely lit, only one burning torch halfway down the hallway that washed a circle of golden light into the hallway and gave one's that walked into the castle a destination to walk to. The carpet was thick and the color of blood as he walked over it, his boots making no noise. On the walls were tapestries and paintings of the many battles the Blood Demon Clan had been through in the beginning of the Empire when it was just a small Kingdom. The Blood Demon Clan had been behind the Command Assassin Acheron and had followed their General closely to create the Empire that they all lived in. It was because of that cooperation among the different Clans and how Acheron had drawn all of them under his wing to lead them that Dalkia was as large and successful as it was. Reaching the end of the hallway, the Half Human stepped out into the audience chamber and heard the sound of his boot steps on what he knew to be blood red marble steps. The room was completely dark, but he could see perfectly as if it was daylight and he walked to the middle of the room, stopping. There wasn't a single window in the room and didn't allow any light in from the outside. Not that there was any light outside anyway due to the blood red sky and the black lightning, but that wasn't the point. Suddenly, a light flared in the middle of the roof and cast golden light all around the audience chamber, illuminating what he had already been able to see in the first place. Twenty feet in front of him was a raised blood red dais of six marble blood red steps and atop the dais was a silver throne. The throne was made of pure silver with thick legs and arms. Embedded in the arms of the throne were rubies, diamonds, emeralds, aquamarines, and topaz stones. However, what he paid the most attention to was the man that was sitting in the silver throne and the power that seemed to radiate from the man. Power should radiate from him considering he was the Lord of the Blood Demon Clan and third most feared Demon in all of Dalkia, Shido. Ultimate Assassin Saga: Tundra Shido sat easily upon his throne, his arms laid on the arms of the chair and he stared down at the audience chamber below. The room was empty save for the two men and he didn't know what exactly that meant. The Half Blood Demon took in the features of the Blood Demon Lord and cataloged it in his mind. He was tall, standing at six foot three, and extremely lanky. He had long lavender hair that fell to the middle of his back in a high ponytail and rounded, golden eyes set in an alabaster, regal face. He wore a long sleeve black silk button-up shirt, tight fitting black pants, knee high black leather boots, and a black leather belt. Normally when meeting with a member of the Clan, the Lord had his partner and his Mate flanking him on either side of his throne. However, there was no one but the two of them in the audience chamber and he had to wonder about the significance of that. He had never heard of anyone meeting with the Blood Demon Lord and not having an audience. That was kind of the point of meeting in the audience chamber, but for some reason, they were they only one's. That made him a little nervous, but he banished that to the back of his mind and remained emotionless as he stared at his Lord. "Our esteemed Emperor has called upon you to perform a task for him. This task will have to do with Acheron, the Command Assassin, but I want you to do the exact opposite. After all, we aren't loyal to the Emperor and the Empire. The Blood Demon Clan is loyal to the former General and will do nothing to harm the man." Shido said in a low, conspiratorial voice and he blinked. This was a complete surprise to him, but he knew that what his Lord said was fact. They were loyal to Acheron and Acheron alone. "The Command Assassin lies within the Wilds and that is where you will find him. However, the Emperor wants you to go into the High Forest and disrupt the alliance between Acheron and the Amazons there. You will do the opposite. You will tie another alliance to the Amazons and the Elves there to our Clan for when we desert the Empire." The Half Demon stared at his Lord in surprise. Desert the Empire? That was something that he never would've believed they would do, but here was his Lord laying it out and calling it not only an option, but the plan. However, he knew that he couldn't argue with his Lord. After all, he was the man that ran the Blood Demon Clan and he was completely loyal to the Lord of the Clan. He drew himself from his reverie and he stared into the golden eyes of the Blood Demon Lord and he bowed his head low to the man before turning away from the throne, walking out of the audience chamber. No better time to get started then right now, Breal supposed. After all, it wasn't every day that one set out to betray and desert the nation that he had always known. He stepped out into the hallway once more and he walked down the hallway towards the front door. As he understood it, he wouldn't be meeting with Acheron and would instead be making alliances with the Amazons and the Wood Elves. Time to get to work. White snow blew across the sky and fell upon the ground, adding inches to the already snow covered ground. Acheron trudged atop the white snow and his boots sunk slightly into the snow covered ground. The swirl of snow brushed past his cheeks and flew past him, not having any affect on him at all. Demons didn't feel the extremes of weather, whether it was blistering heat or freezing cold. Demons could survive in weather that not even nature could survive in and that was one of the things that made them one of the most dangerous races on the Mortal Plane. He looked around, but he could see nothing but snow for miles and miles. There were some husks of what use to be trees, but had long ago been stripped of any semblance of what they use to be. There were some hills and rocky outcroppings, but they were all covered in snow so they were hard to tell exactly what the rocks were suppose to be. They could've been ruins of some ancient city that he was walking over for all he knew or they could've been just rocks sunk in the snow, he didn't know. The Chaos Demon halted in his tracks and he allowed the wind to blow around his skin. It felt rather good on his skin and he rather liked being in such a cool environment. The warm air of Dalkia was long behind him and he didn't want to go anytime soon. This was so different from the High Forest which was a warm and muggy climate while this was pure cold. It didn't seem like anything could live in such a land, but he knew that there were sentient creatures here somewhere and he was going to find them. He needed allies and he needed to find Trissieal so this was the next most likely place for him to look. The Command Assassin walked and he walked fast. He reached out with his aura while he walked, and despite the wind, he was able to reach for miles in all directions, looking for any sentient life. He stopped, frowning when he came across three auras, but there was something wrong there. Two of them had the feeling of power and joy as they stood over the third. The third one had a feeling of fear and it was a heavy emotion that didn't allow for anything inside. They were several miles ahead of him, and from the looks of things, they were behind one of the rocks in the nearby distance. That was what was hiding them from view, but it couldn't hide them from him senses. He touched the hilt of his broadsword and he debated drawing the weapon, but he didn't do so just yet. It might just be a misunderstanding or a criminal having been caught and he didn't want to break any chances he had of being able to make allies in this area. Decision made, he took off at high speed towards the three individuals and the snow covered cliff in the distance. Acheron stopped at the side of the cliff and he peered around the edge, taking in the scene beyond. There were two broad shouldered men a few feet ahead of him wearing brown furs and brown leather armor. They had their swords in hand and were chuckling about something unseen. In front of the men, looking scared out of her mind was a girl wearing black furs, but she didn't have any armor and she didn't have any weapons. It was obvious that the girl wasn't a warrior and these two shouldn't be hassling her, but she was kneeling in the snow, looking up at them with fear in her eyes. She was petite, maybe five foot three or five foot four, and slender. She had long auburn colored hair that fell in a high ponytail to the middle of her back unrestrained and dark blue eyes set in a pale, girlish face. She wore an elbow length black fur top, a black fur skirt that fell to mid thigh, black fur boots that stopped just below her knees, and a black fur cloak that fell to her ankles. The fur cloak was held tight around her to keep out the blistering cold and he could see tears in her eyes, but she was fighting them back so as not to show weakness to the two men holding her hostage. The Chaos Demon didn't know what to do. On the one hand, he knew that he should go around the corner and defend the woman. On the other hand, he didn't know what the woman had done, if anything, and if she were a criminal, defending her would break any possible alliance. He narrowed his eyes on the two men as they looked at her, and as he watched them, he sensed it suddenly. The overwhelming level of lust coming from the two men was unprofessional and he had a feeling that these two weren't any sort of guard or peacekeepers. The Command Assassin made a decision and he stepped out from behind the cliff, staring at the two men intently. He knew that his power and the level of his stare would draw their attention, but neither one of them had looked upon him just yet. However, he noted that the blue eyes of the woman was on him and she was staring at him with wide eyes. A little bit of her fear diminished as she looked at him, but he didn't do anything just yet and he stared at the back of the head of the two men, waiting for them to turn around. He saw the two men shift slightly and they cut their eyes to cast their eyes behind them to see who it was behind them. The two men cursed when they saw him standing there and one of them turned to look at him, straightening his spine as he stared at him. He noted that the Human man held a large battleaxe in his hands and he looked proficient with the weapon. The Chaos Demon stared at the man with eyes devoid of all emotion and he narrowed his eyes on the man, wondering if he would run right then and there, but he didn't move. "Step away from the girl and you will live." Acheron said in a voice devoid of all emotion and he knew that his voice was as chilly as the Tundra around him. The man shifted and the second man turned to face him, obviously no longer worried about the woman fleeing while they were dealing with the man. It was obvious to Acheron that they were worried about who he was and what he was doing here. He continued to stare at the two Humans and he allowed his thumb to tap against the end of the hilt of his broadsword, making the threat - or promise however you looked at it - clear. "This is not your business." the other man said, his voice trembling and filled with fear. His eyes cut over to his friend to see if he was going to flee. The man looked ready to run, but he didn't do so yet and because his friend was staying it seemed that he was going to stay as well. The second man held a long spear with a long shaft and a hook on the side of the spear blade. It looked like a very deadly blade, but he wasn't worried about these men. He could sense that they were only Humans and when he was finally killed it wouldn't be Humans to put him down. "Leave us be and we will leave you with your life." The Chaos Demon stared at the two men, not moving and not going to move. They must've been able to sense that because they shared a look with one another and looked back at him. He reached for the hilt of his broadsword and he drew the weapon. The sound of steel rasping against wood filled the clearing as well as the snow that blew past him and the two men shared another look. He held the blade down by his leg and waited for what the two men would do. They must have reached a decision because they suddenly raised their weapons and faced him down. There was confidence in their stance and they both looked determined. What they were going to do was something that they needed confidence - maybe even a little bit of arrogance - to do. After all, it wasn't every day that Humans attempted to take on a Demon and win, not that either man knew that he was a Demon. They obviously knew that he was dangerous, but they didn't know what he was or the moment he appeared they would've run for their lives. The Human on the left, the wielder of the battleaxe, let loose a battle cry and lifted the weapon over his head before rushing him. The Chaos Demon watched with eyes devoid of all emotion and watched him dart straight at him. He was slowed down by the weight of his weapon and had him a bit off balance as he ran across the snow covered ground. The Human swung his battleaxe in a broad sweeping arc and aimed right for his skull. The battleaxe would never hit its mark. The Command Assassin lifted a hand and caught the battleaxe under the razor sharp, moon shaped blade. The Human stared at him in shock and it was obvious that no one had ever stopped his battleaxe attack before. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he saw the other Human was rushing him with his spear plunging towards his side. He used his grip on the other Human's battleaxe as he side stepped the spear attack and he sliced the other Human's head off with his partner's battle axe. He pushed the only alive Human away and the man stumbled back. The Human stared at the corpse of his partner and he could see tears in the man's eyes, but he was pushing back the tears as he looked at him. The human tightened his grip on the battle axe with both hands and he let loose a cry. Then, he rushed the Chaos Demon and swung his great battleaxe once more towards his neck. He watched the axe flying towards him and he knew that if he didn't block the attack he would lose his head. However, he also knew that this Human wouldn't be the one that would kill him. Acheron lifted his broadsword and blocked the attack of the battleaxe. The Human's eyes widened in surprise as he stared into his eyes and was shocked by the fact that this man could block his attack with such ease. He was holding his broadsword with one hand and was easily holding back the battleaxe. It was at that moment that the Human had to know that he wasn't dealing with an ordinary Human and was in fact dealing with some supernatural being. Emerald eyes burning, the Chaos Demon put forth a little more force and sent the Human flying across the snow. The man skidded over the snow covered ground for several feet, and when they finally stopped skidding, the man was down on one knee. He was holding his great battleaxe, but the razor sharp blade was down in the snow and it seemed impossible that the man could lift it again. The Human stared at him and shook his head, his mouth opening before closing once more. Then, the man rose to his knees once more and took a firm hold on the shaft of his battleaxe, but he didn't lift the blade. "You aren't Human." the fur clad man said, shaking his head. His dark eyes were filled with fear, and now that his partner was dead, it was obvious that he didn't hold the same pride as before. It looked like he was ready to run now. There wasn't a single person on earth who wanted to die at the hands of another and obviously his pride wasn't getting the better of him anymore. When it came to fleeing or dying, this Human was obviously being smart about it. He wanted to flee. "What the hell are you?" "A Demon." Acheron replied even though he knew the question was a rhetorical one. He saw the Human's jaw drop and he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He cut his eyes over and he saw the same expression on the woman's face. She looked just as shocked and horrified by this as the Human man who'd just been giving her problems. She probably believed that she'd escaped from one evil and was now stepping into a whole new evil. Nothing he could do about that now. "A Demon who will cut you to pieces if you ever think to lay a hand on this girl again. Now, leave this place and never return." The Human man stared at him for a couple of seconds, obviously surprised by the option to flee. He had probably expected that all Demons were evil and all Demons thirsted for blood. While it was true that most Demons would destroy a Human without a second thought, he was not one of those Demons. Suddenly, the Human man regained his composure and he released his weapon before turning around to flee. He watched the Human running across the open white plain, sticking out like a sore thumb in his brown furs and he noted that the Human had been so afraid that he'd left his battleaxe in the snow. Seeing that the fur-clad Human wasn't going to be any trouble, the Chaos Demon spun his broadsword in a tight circle and sheathed the weapon. Then, he turned and stared upon the Human girl still kneeling in the snow. If there had been fear in her before, it was outright death fright pouring off of her in waves. Obviously, she was afraid of him because of his admission as a Demon and she shared the same assumptions that all being assumed about Demons. That they were evil and that they didn't do anything good without having ulterior motives. "Who are you and why are you out here?" Acheron asked in a soft voice. She stared at him, her auburn hair blowing behind her in the wind. Her dark blue eyes were wide with fear as she stared at him. However, her eyes were quickly getting back to normal and he could sense the fear in her ratcheting downward. Either she believed that he wasn't going to harm her or she was damn good at hiding her emotions even from herself. He didn't know which it was. "My name is Diana. I am of the Elk Barbarian Tribe." the woman said in a proud voice. She stared at him with determined eyes and she slowly rose to her feet. Even at her full height, the top of her head only reached to about the middle of his stomach, but she stared up at him with defiance in her dark blue eyes. She obviously wasn't going to back down from him, no matter what he was there for. He had to admire that about this woman. "I got left behind on the travels of my Tribe. We are a nomadic people, and because of how much we travel, they didn't even notice that I'd fallen behind." The Chaos Demon stared at the woman, wondering if what she said was true. When he'd been the Command Assassin of Dalkia, he'd heard of the many Barbarian Tribes of the Tundra, but he had never had to go into the Tundra so he'd never actually seen one. However, he'd heard the stories of the warring Tribes over land and power. The Tribes hated one another, each and every one was at war with one another. It was an all out war with no allies between tribes and everyone was an enemy. Or at least that was what he'd heard, but he could be wrong. "I am called Acheron. I'm not going to hurt you if that's what your worried about." the Command Assassin replied in a calm voice. The woman stared up at him, her eyes widening slightly. However, she regained her composure and he noticed that her small hands tightened into small fists at her sides. She was ready to fight if she needed to. That was something that he could appreciate. "If you would allow it, I would like to escort you back to your Tribe. That is, if you know where they are." The Barbarian stared up at him with disbelief in her eyes. He couldn't say that he blamed her. After all, he was a Demon, and from what she probably knew of Demons, they didn't offer anyone assistance. If they did, it was usually a trick and that was probably running through her mind. Then, she regained her composure and stared at him with calm eyes. It was obvious that she didn't fear him, but he couldn't figure out why this tiny woman wouldn't fear him. He could sense no real power emanating from her so it was obvious to him that she didn't think she could defeat him in a fight, but she was still not backing down from him. She was a fiery one that was for sure. "They head west." Diana replied finally. Her voice was calm and carefully devoid of all emotion. She placed her hands on her hips and continued to stare up at him. Then, she turned her gaze away from his face and towards the dead man in the snow. She was obviously running over the fact that he'd so easily killed the man and hadn't had to fight at all to do so. Then, she turned her gaze back to him and her dark blue eyes glowed with no fear in them. "I must warn you that the Elk Tribe might not accept your presence and you could be killed on sight." "Lead on." Acheron told her with a smile. The woman stared at him for a second, and then, she nodded. The Barbarian turned away from him and she pulled her cloak tightly around her. She walked across the snow covered ground, heading west. He watched her for a moment, the snow falling on the ground as she walked and he had to admit that she was a beautiful woman. Then, he started walking after her and his long foot steps were taking him closer to her, but he still stayed behind her so as not to appear to be threatening her to take her to her Tribe. He could only hope things would go well. Diana sat across from the Demon, but she didn't feel any fear when staring at him. She didn't know why she didn't fear him, but she didn't. It was that simple. There was a campfire between the two of them and there were two moles frying over a fire. He had been the one to gather the wood for the fire and hunt the moles for dinner. She hadn't had to do a thing and she found that to be a curious thing also. She was a part of a Barbarian Tribe, and as a Barbarian, she was expected to fight for her own food. Otherwise, she would go hungry. However, it would seem that he didn't hold to that kind of philosophy. Ultimate Assassin Saga: Tundra She turned her gaze to the sky and she saw that it had finally finished snowing. No one knew why, but it always snowed five feet or more of snow. When nightfall came, the snow always stopped and one was able to see the stars and the moon in the sky. Much like right now. The silver of the stars twinkled in the velvet night and there was a large silver moon that hung in the sky, bathing the darkness in silver light. She had always found the beauty of the moon captivating and hypnotizing. She wasn't alone in that however. The Elk Tribe worshiped the moon and all of it's hidden power. No one really knew just how powerful the moon was, but it was the constant light in the darkness. They never saw any golden sunlight except for one night out of the year and that was the reason why they didn't worship the sun. However, they believed in the Goddess of the Moon and they believed in her overwhelming power. To the Elk Tribe, there was nothing more powerful than the moon and its power over the land. The Barbarian's thoughts turned to her brothers and her father. Her oldest brother Darcine wouldn't give a damn that she'd gone missing, and if it were up to him, he wouldn't even send out a search party to find her. He cared little for women at all, other than those he could bed. That was all he believed that women were good for was to warm his bed. That was one of the reasons that their father, Darr, had passed over her brother for the next King of the Elk for the second son, Darville. Darville was the brother who loved with all his heart and cared deeper than he should've. He cared for every man that died in battle and for every woman that died during childbirth. Also, he wept for the children who's father's had died in battle and their mother's lost while giving birth. Others in the Elk might've seen that as a failing of his, but their father saw it as a strength and it was because of his deep compassion for others that he'd been named the heir to the throne of the Elk when their father died. Darr was a good man and an even better leader. He had once had a Queen to rule by his side and everyone had wanted their relationship. They viewed one another as equals, and even though they did argue here and there, theirs was a relationship that was seen as the perfect one. Girls dreamed of finding a man like Darr for their future husband and boys dreamed of finding a woman like Natalie for their future wives. It was just as simple as that. For as good a husband he had been to Natalie, he was an even better father to his three children and they all knew that they were loved equally. Under their father's rule, women were allowed to be trained and participate in combat with other tribes. As he put it, they needed to utilize every potential warrior they had and women were an untapped resource. Men had more strength, that was true, but women tended to be more agile and quicker than their male counterparts. It was because of this that the Elk had become a feared tribe over the last thirty years and other tribes tended to stay away from them. However, in the past year, the attacks from other tribes on the Elk were coming quicker and with more numbers. There was nothing to stem the flow of enemies against the Elk and not one of the Barbarians truly wanted the enemy to stop. Barbarians were most alive when doing battle and it was the opinion of every Barbarian that the only glorious death for them was death in battle. That was what all Barbarians - male and female - sought. Outsiders might've called them insane for this, but they didn't care. Barbarians were warriors and they fought. That was all they were about. Without battle, they weren't Barbarians, but mere gypsies moving from place to place. Diana drew herself from her reverie and she lowered her eyes from the velvet sky. She stared into the orange and yellow flames of their campfire. It was a beautiful thing that the Elk Tribe rarely used, except to eat their food. Heat wasn't something that Barbarians were use to because there was very little wood in the Tundra and using it as a campfire was a waste. However, this man - no, this Demon, she had to remind herself - had merely manifested the wood and built the fire. It had been an amazing sight to see with him appearing stick by stick out of thin air, an when there was enough for a campfire, he'd merely touched the wood before it sprouted flames. Magic was a rarity among the Barbarian Tribes of the Tundra, though not completely unheard of. However, there wasn't a single Barbarian that could perform magic. Most Barbarians thought that magic was a sure sign of evil, but the Elk didn't believe that. Her Tribe didn't have any sort of magic within their ranks and the only magic they'd ever seen was from the Dark Races that came every now and again to the Tundra. Raids from the Dark Races were rare, only happening every year or two, but they too had been increasing in the last year. It lead her father and the rest of the Barbarian Tribe to wonder if the two might be connected. Barbarians weren't the best investigators however. In fact, they weren't well known for using their minds at all. They were best known for charging into battle and killing everything in sight. It was a minor miracle that the Barbarian King had tied the increase in Barbarian raids and the raids from the Dark Races together in the first place. However, there was no proof and that was the problem. Without proof, they couldn't do much of anything to combat it, not that there was really anything that they could've done in the first place. They weren't a war party and they couldn't mobilize all of the Barbarian Tribes throughout the Tundra to drive back the Dark Races. They were a single band of over ten thousand Barbarians doing all that they could to survive the harsh environment that they chose to live in. Now, there was this most recent development. Diana raised her dark blue eyes to the face of the Demon in front of her. He was busy staring into the flames and paying attention to their dinner. He didn't notice her looking at him and she was glad for that. It would be embarrassing for him to catch her staring at him and she didn't want to explain what she was thinking. It would be embarrassing for her to have to admit that she found him very attractive, despite the blood that flowed through his veins. The Barbarian knew that Demon's were capable of camouflaging themselves as Humans to blend in, but that didn't seem to matter to her at all. In fact, it seemed to turn her on even more that she knew there was a monster buried underneath all of that Human appearance. She had been warned by her father and both her brothers that if she ever come across a Demon, she should run. They'd told her that running would mean very little because a Human couldn't hope to outrun a Demon, but it was better to go down running for your life than to stand there and allow the Demon an easy kill. However, she was breaking what they'd told her to do right now. She was sitting here after a day of travel and waiting for the dinner to be finished. Not just that, she was actually allowing him to cook her dinner and she trusted him not to poison her meal. There wasn't a single cell in her entire body that told her that he couldn't be trusted and she couldn't understand that. She had been attacked by two members of a rival Tribe of Barbarians and it had been clear that they intended to rape her before killing her, but fortunately for her, Acheron had come around when he had. He'd killed one and run the other one off with little effort, saving her life in the process. Maybe that was why she trusted him so easily. Suddenly, the Chaos Demon raised his eyes and his emerald green gaze met her's. She gasped in surprise and quickly looked down, but the damage was done. She knew that he'd seen her looking and there was nothing for her to do about that. There was no way for her to turn back the clock and look away before he caught her starting at him. She felt her cheeks heating and her heart was beating hard in her chest, making it feel like she was going to explode. "Food is ready." Acheron suddenly said, startling her. She visibly jumped, and when she looked up into his eyes, she saw that he had a single black brow lifted in askance. However, he said nothing and instead handed one of the cooked moles to her. She hesitated for a moment before she reached out and took the mole from him. She pulled her hand back and she swallowed the knot in her throat. All she wanted to do was run away and hide from this man, but she knew that she couldn't. So, she was just going to have to sit here and eat her meal. The Barbarian slid the flesh of the mole off of the stick and she popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly to savor the meal. Taste exploded in her mouth and she was barely able to hold back the moan of pleasure. This was far better than any meal of the Elk. Any meat the Barbarians fixed was cooked one way and one way only: overdone. If you didn't like it, you didn't have to eat it. That was just how it went and there was no one who would challenge that. However, this meal was cooked well and was really juicy. It was quite possibly the best meal she'd ever had. She looked across the fire and she saw the Chaos Demon eating as well. He was looking around at the open snow covered ground, but she knew that he wouldn't see anything. The Elk Tribe were fast travelers and she knew that they would be several miles from here. They would've set up camp when night fell, but if they weren't far enough away from the last camp, they would pick up again to leave. She could only hope that they were far enough away or they might never come back across the Elk Tribe. A search party might be sent out, but not until they set up camp in their new land and got it organized. Diana was no fool. She knew that she meant little to anyone in the Tribe, save for her older brother and her father. She had no friends and she had no prospective husbands. In fact, most men were afraid of her because she refused to show weakness. That was something that wasn't common among Barbarian women. While the women of the barbarians could hold their own in many things, most women welcomed the attention from their male counterparts. However, she did not and that was well known. She knew that there were whispers that she wasn't attracted to men, but to women. There was no truth to any of those rumors, but she never stood up and denied it. To do so could give credence to the rumors and that was the last thing she wanted to do. If she did and even her father believed the rumors, she would have to live like a lesbian. She would be forced to cut her hair short and start training to be a soldier. After all, it was mostly lesbian women who were the soldiers in the barbarian tribes and they rather liked their jobs. They were among their peers and the men didn't have to worry about offending anyone when talking about women. After all, the only women the warrior men were around and drinking with were the lesbians. The Barbarian wasn't about to cut her hair. She liked all of her long hair and no one would get her to cut it off. However, if she declared herself a lesbian - which she would never do because she wasn't a lesbian - she would be forced to cut off all her hair. She wasn't going to do that and she wasn't going to train to be a soldier. She wasn't capable of being a warrior and dealing with the death that would come at her hands. It simply wasn't in her to be able to kill another living thing, even if it meant her harm. She simply wasn't that person. "You should get some rest." Acheron said suddenly, breaking her from her reverie once more. She looked up from him, the last bit of her meal in her fingers and she was just about to eat it when he spoke. He was done with his mole and he was staring at her intently, her emerald green eyes glowing in the darkness. Despite the darkness of the sky, the snow still created a strange bright tableaux that could mess with one's mind. "We will start again in the morning. I will get you back to your people. I promise you that and I never break a promise if I can help it. This time I can help it." The Barbarian stared at him, curious as to what that meant, but she knew that he had the best in mind for her. She didn't know how the Demon had the best intentions when it came to her, but she did. She nodded her head, and finishing off the last of the mole, she lay down in the snow, her cloak pulled tightly around her. She pulled up the fur lined hood and laid her head on the hood on top of the snow. She could still feel the cold all around her, but it didn't bother her much, especially not with a fire nearby warming her. She closed her eyes, and before she knew it, she was falling into a deep slumber. Breal stopped in the middle of the open plain and stared up into the sky. He was on the border between Dalkia and the Wilds. It was because of this that he could see the blood red sky of Dalkia behind him and the dark blue of the morning ahead of him. It was an amazing sight really. It let him know that Dalkia was a unique place in the world and there wasn't any other nation on the planet like Dalkia. That made him feel proud of where he came from and who he served. The harshness of Dalkia was what had made him the warrior that he was and he would never turn his back on that. However, that didn't include the Emperor himself. Emperor Azrieal wasn't a man that he knew well and he had never seen before yesterday. He had lived like a regular Demon underling, never meeting the top tier of the Empire and serving well. However, his real loyalties lie with the Clan Lord and Lord Shido knew that. That was probably why Lord Shido had told him what he'd told him and felt confident that he wouldn't betray him. He was certain that the Clan Lord had known that the Half Demon was loyal to the Blood Demon Clan and no one else. Whatever the Clan Lord wanted, he would carry out and do so without hesitation. The Half Demon lowered his eyes and looked forward at the thick trees ahead of him. He knew that this was the High Forest and that he would find who he had been ordered to find within. However, he hadn't been sent there to disrupt any tenuous alliance that Acheron had made with the people of the High Forest. That was what the Emperor wanted, but his Clan Lord had told him otherwise. The Blood Demon Clan was loyal to Acheron and Acheron alone. Now that the brothers had had a falling out, it was time the Blood Demon Clan split away from the Empire and joined him. The Command Assassin inspired people to his side, lethal he may be. However, he made for a damn good ally and he knew that from first hand experience. If it wasn't for the Command Assassin's interference, he would've had the regular fights every single day in every single place he went. However, because of his staking his claim, no one wanted to take the chance that he would stand by it and they had stayed away from the Half Human for fear of angering the Command Assassin. Breal feared no Demon or cutthroat and he knew that he could take any one of them on. Then again, he was glad that he didn't have to. It got really old really fast He'd been defending himself from grown Demons from his childhood, and if it weren't for his training with the Clan Lord, he would have died many years ago. Because of his training, he was still here and that was all that mattered. He owed the Clan Lord and he wasn't about to let him down. The Half Demon had done his research about the races that were known to live in the High Forest. There were only two that were known to live in the forest, but there were people that believed there was a third race somewhere within the forest. Other than a few shells of pottery and an arrowhead that had been found, there was no evidence that there was a third. The Half Demon believed that there could be a third and possibly even a forth. The High Forest could be teeming with life and no one would know it. The High Forest covered a lot of land and there was just no way of actually telling what all lived within the bounds of the forest. One of the races that lived in the forest were the Wood Elves. They were nowhere near being the most dangerous or the most powerful of races, but they were a challenging lot. They were skilled in spying, assassination, and guerrilla warfare. Dalkian forces had attempted to take the High Forest before and they had been driven back by the Wood Elves who had at the time been allied with the other race within the High Forest, the Amazons. The Amazons were just Humans, and because of this, they weren't viewed as a huge threat. However, the Amazons had something that no Demon used when they fought: a heart. The Humans fought with heart and they fought for their homes every single day. With the incentive of losing your home, you would fight much harder and that was clearly evident in how the Amazons had deal with the last attack on the High Forest. That had been centuries ago now and they could be weaker now, but he didn't believe that. The Emperor must not have believed that either because he was yet to attack the High Forest and attempt to bring that into the Dalkian borders. The Half Human reached up and gripped the hood of his cloak. He pulled it down, revealing his face and his blood red eyes stared around the area. There was no one around ready to pounce on him and kill him because he was betraying the Empire. However, he didn't fool himself into believing that the Emperor didn't have a spy somewhere watching him. He would have to find that spy, and once that was done, he could kill the creature. It could be seen as an act of betrayal or it could be seen as an accident, he didn't really know. All he really knew was that he had to find that spy and he had to get rid of it. He wasn't going to be the one responsible for leading Dalkian forces to where the Amazons made their home. The Emperor had charged him with the task of finding the Amazons and disrupting their alliance with Acheron. Even for someone that was actually going to do the job, that would be something that was hard to sell, even to Humans. After all, they would have to find the Amazons and let them know that they were friends of Acheron's and that Acheron was betraying them. If Humans had come to trust the Command Assassin, he didn't believe that that would be possible to do. After all, if a village full of Humans could come to trust Acheron, then they weren't likely to believe such a story. Running a hand through his hair for a brief moment, Breal gripped the collar of his cloak and he closed his eyes. This item of clothing represented his hiding from the rest of the full blooded Demons in the Empire and to take it off would be to signify that he was no longer hiding. He'd never wanted to hide from the full blooded Demons, but Lord Shido had insisted upon it. He'd said that if to many full bloods saw his face, he would become a well known target and he would be killed easier. Never mind the fact that every Demon could sense his aura and would know that he was only a half blood from the very moment they saw him. The Half Demon gripped the collar of the cloak tighter and he opened his eyes. Then, he tore it free of his body and cast it to the wind. He watched the cloak float away, and when the fabric of the cloak touched the ground, he turned back to the High Forest. Taking a deep breath, he began to walk, and in less than five minutes, he found himself at the eastern most edge of the forest, staring at the huge trees that towered high into the air, but they were so close together that it prevented creating a path through the untouched land. Even to a Half Demon, the nature of the High Forest and the pure majesty of it was a beautiful thing. Breal had never been outside of Dalkia so he'd never seen the beauty of nature. Dalkia had no true nature, only twisted magic and cities. Compared to the look of the High Forest, Dalkia paled in comparison to it and he didn't know that he would ever go back now. He didn't think that he would be able to leave such beauty for the ugliness that was the Empire. Of course, if Lord Shido ordered him back, he would come back, no questions asked, but he wouldn't like it. Nature was a beautiful thing and he didn't want to leave it now that he'd gotten his first taste of it. Ultimate Assassin Saga: Tundra The Blood Demon stepped past the treeline and into the High Forest. In only a few minutes, he found himself deep within the High Forest and he couldn't get over just how beautiful this whole place was. He'd never seen anything like it, and despite the darkness because of how close together the trees were, it was still a majestic sight. He stopped and leaned up against a tree, looking around, but he could feel himself growing hungry. He was Half Human so he did need food unlike full blooded Demons who didn't have to eat at all. He was sure that the High Forest would be teeming with wildlife and he reached out with his senses to search the surrounding area. The Half Demon waited for several seconds, checking for several feet and he felt his aura brush across another aura. Holding tight to that, he determined that it was a rabbit, and even though that would be but a small meal, he knew that he could deal with it. Determining exactly where the rabbit was, he could sense that the creature was fifteen feet ahead of him and it was all alone. Good, then he wouldn't have to kill small rabbits that wouldn't do him any good in nourishment. Breal shot forward towards the foliage where he sensed the rabbit hopping through it. He reached one hand into the dense foliage and closed his hand around the plump flesh of the rabbit. Then, he pulled it back through the bushes and he stared into the frightened eyes of the rabbit. He opened his mouth and hissed as his incisors lengthened into long, razor sharp fangs. He heard the rabbit's squeal of pure fear just before he sank his fangs into the rabbit's neck and began to guzzle down its blood. The coppery taste of the rabbit's blood made him feel better, stronger. He felt the heartbeat of the little creature stop, but he didn't stop feeding. There was still plenty of blood within the creature and he needed it for his mission. Several minutes later, he had drained the rabbit of all of its precious fluids and he pulled his mouth from the creature. He smacked his lips and he licked the spare blood from his lips. He stared down at the lifeless body of the rabbit in his hand and he shook his head, sorry that he had to do such a thing, but it was necessary for his survival. Blood Demons could only sustain themselves through drinking the blood of others. It gave them strength and power. It didn't matter if it was animal blood or the blood of a sentient being, as long as it was blood. They couldn't drink water or eat any regular foods. For some reason though, he could drink liquor and it wouldn't harm him. He accredited that to his half Human heritage and he'd never thought that he would be glad for his Human heritage. It made him hated by the full bloods, but at least he could drink liquor and forget about the lives he'd been forced to take so he could survive. Breal sat the body of the rabbit down on the forest floor and he knew that it wouldn't last long. This was a forest and there was bound to be predators or scavengers somewhere around. They would make use of the rabbit's corpse and not let it go to waste. That was all that he could really hope for and forget about it completely if he could. Red eyes glowing in the darkness, he rose to his feet once again and he looked around, but he sensed nothing sentient around him. He was going to have a hard time finding the Amazons so he figured that he should just start now and try not to drain every animal that he came across. He could only hope that the Amazons accepted him and trusted him when they did find him. If they didn't, it was going to be a serious problem and it would mess up the plan. If they never trusted him, then the Blood Demon Clan would become a target for the Emperor and he couldn't have that happen. He wasn't well loved by those of his own Clan, but he didn't want any of them dead. No, he was loyal and he wanted them to survive. He just had to find the Amazons and ensure that they did survive. Acheron had already awoken many hours earlier, but he was yet to move. Instead, he watched the woman sleep and he felt a stirring in his chest. For some reason that was unknown to him, he felt protective over this woman. It made no sense to him, but he found himself thinking of her as a younger sister or maybe even a daughter. If he were this girl's father, he would never let her out of his sight and would protect her with his last breath. Of course, her actual father might actually be like that and she could be rebelling against him, but he didn't guess that really mattered. Everyone had their issues with family he supposed. He was the perfect example of that. He loved his brother, but not enough to sacrifice himself for his older brother. Azrieal had taught him many things when they lived in the Abyss and he was growing up. Azrieal had saved his life more than once, but that didn't mean he owed his brother anything. Any favor that might've been owed was cancelled out by the amount of times that he'd saved his brother from death and he figured that he'd actually saved his brother more than Azrieal had saved him. Also, there was the whole leading the Dalkian army to carve out the Empire that leaned more in his favor. The two brothers were both independent and powerful individuals. The majority of those that came across either one of them feared or respected them. He would suppose that more Dalkians feared him than the Emperor though. After all, he was out among the population and defending his rank as Command Assassin much more than anyone saw the Emperor. At least, he had been before he'd betrayed the Empire and gone rogue. Now, he was sure that there were hunters being sent after him and any one of them would relish in destroying him. Any Demon or cutthroat would loved to knock him from his pedestal and have the rights to say that they killed the Command Assassin. The Chaos Demon shook his head, banishing those thoughts. It wouldn't do to keep dragging his mind through the past when he had a job to do. He had to find Trissieal, and while he searched, it wouldn't hurt to make allies. Maybe the Elk Barbarian Tribe would be a powerful and useful ally. He had to reach them first and become closely acquainted with them though. That was the only way he was going to make an alliance with the Elk was to actually meet them and establish a rapport with them. He didn't think that just because he'd saved one girl from the Tribe that he would be accepted and they would believe that he wanted an alliance. No, he fully accepted for the Barbarians to be suspicious and outright hostile to him. He was a Demon after all and prejudices went deep. It would be hard for the Barbarians to look at him and judge him on his deeds alone. They would remember all the stories they'd been told as a child about Demons and they would find it hard to believe that they'd been wrong all along. He would just have to make sure that they knew that their conceptions weren't wrong, but he was the exception to most Demons. He knew better than anyone that Demons were mostly backstabbing and looking for ways to get ahead, but he wasn't like that. He merely wanted to get away from his brother and find the woman that he loved. The Command Assassin noted that the flames of the fire were winding down and they would soon be out. He was really waiting for the flames of the campfire to go out, and once they were out, he would awaken the girl. She'd called herself Diana, and even though he didn't know the girl, he believed that she'd given him her real name. After her initial discomfort with his being a Demon, she hadn't treated him any different than she would another Human and he found himself amazed by that. Was she the exception of her people or were they all like her? He could only hope that they would all be like her because that would make things easier for him, but he didn't really expect that. Then again, he hadn't really thought he would make any leeway with the Amazons either, but he had their alliance. He also had the alliance of the Wood Elves and he was fairly certain that if he needed them, even the Wolfians would come to his aid as well. Even though he'd only met one of them - Fenris his name was - he fully believed that they would come to his aid if he needed it, though why he felt like that he didn't know. If he played this just right, he could have the Elk Barbarian Tribe joining him in alliance as well and that would make for a wonderful start, but he didn't expect it to be that easy. Nothing was ever that easy. While he waited for the flames to die down, Acheron turned his eyes to the sky. It was still dark and the stars were still out, but as the seconds went by, more of the stars were disappearing as the sun was getting closer to rising. To him, it really was a beautiful sight. He'd only seen this sort of nature for the past six months, and even though he'd seen it before, that had been centuries ago before Dalkia became the power that it was. He'd actually had to journey outside of Dalkia at that time and cut out the Empire's borders, but after they'd spread far enough, he'd rarely left the country. Most of the threats to the Emperor were all in Dalkia and he didn't have to step out from under the blood red skies. He was glad that he was out now though. The clouds in the sky were turning a myriad of colors as the sun grew closer and its beams of light were hitting the clouds, making them turn colors. There were beautiful golds, pinks, purples, and even an orange or two in there. He'd never seen anything like this in all of his time on the Mortal Plane and he took that moment to sit in awe of the beauty of nature. It was enough to make him feel small and that wasn't something that he often felt. After all, he was well over seven foot tall and hugely muscled. He was a big guy, but something about the way nature so effortlessly exuded its might made him feel much smaller and much less significant to the grander scheme of the world. In short, it was humbling. As the sun rose over the Tundra, large drops of snow began to fall from the sky. The day had officially begun and it was probably going to be a long one. He turned his attention to the fire and he noted that it was nothing more than flickering embers. Sighing, the Chaos Demon uncrossed his legs and rose to his feet. Then, he walked around the fire and knelt down beside her. He reached out, placing his hand on her slender shoulder and began to shake her awake. Diana came awake immediately and the first thing she did was swing a fist for his face. He was slightly surprised by her reaction, but not caught off guard. The Command Assassin grabbed her wrist, halting her punch. He moved her hand to the side and stared into her eyes. She blinked a couple of times and stared up at him, her dark blue eyes still foggy with sleep. It appeared that waking up with a punch was an instinct of her's and one she wasn't likely to break anytime soon. In his mind, that was a good thing because it meant she knew how to survive. "It is daylight." Acheron informed her in a soft voice. He released her hand and he got to his feet. She continued to lay there for a moment, looking up at him in obvious wonder. He raised a single black brow and he smiled a little, but he did attempt to hide his amusement. She sat up from her place and she pulled her cloak tightly around her to combat the driving wind that allowed the snow to fall. "We need to go. If we ever intend to catch up with your people, we will have to go and go now." The Barbarian looked up at him, obviously searching for his lie. He wasn't lying so he stared right back at her and waited. After several more minutes, she nodded her head and she got to her feet. Despite being at her full height, she still only came up to about his stomach and she had to crane her head far back to look into his eyes. He waited for what she had to say because he could tell by the way she was holding herself that she had something to say. "My people won't take very well to you. I've been missing for a day and I'm going to show up with a Demon. They're going to think you orchestrated the whole thing so you could come out the hero and I would trust you. I know I can trust you, but my father and brothers will think I'm being a foolish little girl." Diana answered him in a worried voice. She gnawed on her bottom lip and she stared straight into his face, almost as if she was pleading with him not to go, to leave right here and now. The Chaos Demon shook his head and continued to stare at her. He wasn't going to go anywhere, no matter what she said. However, he knew that she wanted him to leave to protect him and she obviously believed that he would be in trouble with her people. She was probably right and he expected that, but he wasn't all that worried about it. After all, the Barbarians were just Humans and Humans couldn't kill him. They wouldn't even know how to go about doing such a thing. "We will deal with that when we come to it. First, we have to find your people." Acheron replied in a soft voice. She released her lip from between her teeth and she stared at him in shock. Apparently, she'd never run across someone who didn't avoid danger and who in fact feared nothing. He found that surprising considering she lived among the Barbarians and Barbarians were synonymous with fearless warriors. "We need to get going now, Diana." He saw the girl shift, obviously uncomfortable with his using her name. However, he wasn't going to apologize for being polite and he merely smiled. Then, he turned away from her, staring out over the widespread white of the western Tundra and the Tundra all around. There was some black dotting the white in front of him and he knew that those were rocks buried underneath the bright white snow. Without looking back at her, he began to walk and he felt his boots sinking within the snow as he walked. The Command Assassin could only hope that the Elk Tribe would accept him soon enough and come to trust him. He knew that they wouldn't trust him right off the bat and he would be treated as a suspicious character right from the beginning, but he believed that he could get them to trust him. After all, he wasn't there to harm them and he hoped that they could see that, but it might not be possible. They were Humans and Humans were well known for being stubborn in their beliefs, especially when it came to prejudices. He would just have to make them see and maybe, just maybe, he would have a fourth people allied under him. Acheron had to believe that. Shido lay in bed with his Mate Leanna and he held her close. She was sleeping soundly and he was glad for that. If she knew what was going on, she wouldn't have been sleeping so easily. Her mind would be whirling and she would be up all night just like him. He always made it a point to tell his Mate everything and never keep anything from her, but this time he couldn't do that. He had to keep this secret from her to spare her the worry and the eventual pain of having to leave her home. He had put her through so much over the years and he couldn't help but wonder how much more she would be able to take before she gave up on him. He wasn't the perfect Mate and he knew that. Hell, he didn't even try to pretend that he was. He was an imperfect being as they all were. The only difference was that he was the Clan Lord and he had to have at least the appearance of being perfect. He had to be emotionless and unflappable, no matter what was going on. He was finding that hard to do in this situation however. He found himself doubting his plan and wondering if he was going to get his Clan destroyed. He continued to worry that the Emperor would bust down the doors of his compound and destroy every last one of them, but it was yet to happen. The Blood Demon sighed softly and he pulled his hands back from her. Then, he carefully sat up, and when Leanna didn't move, he got off of the bed. He walked naked across the room towards the table and picked up a lavender silk robe from the back of one of the chairs. He slid his arms into the sleeves and pulled it closed, tying the sash so it would stay closed. He stared into the darkness at his Mate and he sighed. All he wanted was to do what was right for his Mate and he believed this to be the right thing, but what he worried about was whether or not she would think it was the right thing. What he was doing was dangerous and he knew it. Only he and Breal knew about it. Otherwise, the entire Clan would probably be in an uproar, and before you knew it, the Emperor would know about it. That was the main reason he was keeping it a secret. It wasn't because he was worried what his people would think, but because they would stir up so much that the Emperor would catch wind of it and they couldn't afford that. Whether or not he respected the Emperor, he knew the man was powerful and could destroy every one of them without breaking a sweat. That was why this had to stay a secret for now. Hell, he couldn't even tell his Mate. The Clan Lord walked around the bed slowly, being careful to be absolutely silent. Odd things woke Leanna up and he would never be able to explain why he was so worried without telling her. He trusted his Mate, but he didn't want to worry her. It was times like this he wished his partner, Mal, was still alive, but he knew he was hoping against hope. Mal had sacrificed himself for his Lord and lover many decades ago, leaving the Clan Lord alone with his Mate. It wasn't that he minded having his Mate all to himself, but he did miss the man that had been like a brother to him and the way that he could tell Mal anything without having to worry about him turning on him. It really wasn't that Mal had seen him as infallible and was completely loyal to him. No, it was more like he loved and feared Shido at the same time. They had grown up together, they had agreed to become partners. He could still remember his first time with Mal and how sweet it had been, despite both of their fears. The two men had been together for fifty years with just one another to satisfy, but then, Shido had come across Leanna and he knew that he had to have her. Once the Blood Demon had taken his Mate, he'd been forced to split his time between the two and they both understood. After all, it was the Blood Demon way to share partners and Mates. They had no choice unless they wanted to go their whole lives without sex and that would drive any man or woman insane. Sex was an integral part of the Blood Demon ways. It was in many of their rituals, rights, and prayers. There was no avoiding it, not that many of them wanted to. In fact, he could only think of one Blood Demon who had vowed chastity until his death and he had held tightly to it before finally dying after two hundred years. The Clan Lord opened the glass doors that lead outside and he stepped out onto the balcony. Then, he walked across and closed his hands around the railing and he stared out at the compound below. He'd done his best to get his people to carve out the best compound that they could, but he knew that it had its weaknesses. Then again, every compound of power had its weaknesses and there was nothing anyone could do about it. It was just a fact of life. His thoughts turned to Breal and he sighed. The Half Demon had no idea of his true heritage and he was glad for that. It was true that he'd been forced to execute the boy's father when his mother was still pregnant, but he hadn't been able to kill the mother and unborn child. It had simply been to hard for him to do, and so, he'd allowed them to live. Well, he'd allowed the mother to live until she gave birth and then she was executed as well. She was just a Human after all and Humans couldn't make it in the halls of the Blood Demon compound. They were simply too weak.