Speed - Galaxy ~~ Grand Re-Opening!

[The Host]

Speed - Galaxy
Enter the World of Deamons
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Author's Note:
This story contains scenes of violence, gore, and mild horror. Read at your own discretion.




All parts of the text in this epic are original ideas created and produced by: Zero Legacy Shadow / Eleanor: Wielder of the Sword / Renegade Phantom / Me. Copying any part of the epic is piracy, and you will suffer the consequences. If you are in any way, shape or form reproducing this Epic without permission from the users listed above(all being ME), then you are illegally copying them, also known as plagarism.

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Table of Contents

Book One : Revival of a Universe
Prologue

Part One; The Fortress
Interlude One
Chapter One; The Female Magician
Interlude Two
Chapter Two; Metawar: Fortress of History
Interlude Three
Chapter Three; The Scripter
Interlude Four
Chapter Four; Death's Face
Interlude Five
Chapter Five; The Rift
Interlude Six
Chapter Six; Seeking the Stars

Part Two: The Altered Prophesy
Interlude seven
Chapter seven; The Female Magician: Part Two
Interlude Eight
Chapter Eight; The King of Deamons
Interlude Nine
Chapter Nine; Explosions
Interlude Ten
Chapter Ten; Craiyo's Secret
Interlude Eleven
Chapter Eleven; Burn in Hell
Interlude Twelve
Chapter Twelve; Exiled / Betrayal
Extapologue; The Final Act

Part Three: The Fog
Chapter Thirteen; Exiled in the Mist

Part Four: Universal War
Interlude Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen; Quest For Ragnon: Part One
Interlude Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen; Rebels
Interlude Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen; Axerion's Finale
Interlude Sixteen

-ZLS / [ R P ]

[The Host]

Prologue
Dreaming of Refuge

 Crioone surveyed the barren landscape which was now littered with fallen trees, crumbled rocks, and the many dead bodies of the weaker deamons. From the cliff upon which she stood, Crioone was able to survey the land for miles, but it didn't change. The whole of the planet's crust outside of the villages and polis' was the same. A wasted ground.
 Her wings, which were still spread out, caught the wind, pulling Crioone up into the air where she was able to escape the land of the dead and coming death. The air was the only place to think to yourself, talk to yourself, or dream for yourself - and the rest of the freeliving deamons...

 Three years ago...
 King Forna, ruler of the deamons, fell hard against the rocky ground of Inchara, his castle grounds. Axerion laughed, leeping back and swinging the large ax down towards Forna.
"Your end is near, king," spat Axerion, "And my beginning is even nearer!"
The ax connected with Forna's upper left arm, causing the king to fall back once more. He was weakening. He knew it, Axerion knew it, Crioone knew, and so did everyone else. Forna stood once more, looking at his adversary with hatred. Axerion gave the same look back to Forna, and began to charge. Forna dodged the initial attack, but had missed the true purpose of Axerion's rush. The ax was swung back as the future king passed by Forna, and made contact with the king's back. Forna fell face first into the rocks, and the crowd gathered at Inchara booed and hissed. Axerion moved in for the final blow, lifting the ax high above his head. Forna's head turned, and he was able to catch a glimpse of the ax swinging down. With all of the energy that remained inside the king, Forna's wings lifted, and the crowd went silent, the world seemingly coming to a slow down. It seemed to take a whole minute for the ax to reach its destination, but in reality, only half a second went by.
 King Forna's wings pushed down, and the ax sliced through the middle of Forna, causing the king to be carried in two directions by the power of his wings. Axerion left the ax where it had come to its final rest, in the middle of Inchara, and leapt into the air. His arms flew out beside him, his clawed hands grabbing hold of the two halves of Forna. Descending back into the crowd, Axerion dropped both halves of Forna into the pit, where they forever remained.
No sooner had the new king landed, Crioone had left the stadium, returning to his polis. Seven powerful looking deamons leapt forth towards the new king, greeting their king with cruel smiles. Axerion's seven warlords carried him into the skies, each one looking down hungrily to the land that they now owned...

Present Day
 Crioone stared down at the very place that the seven Deamon Lords -as they were now called- had surveyed three years ago. Three years ago, though, the scene would have looked much different,. Forna's castle, along with Inchara, had long since been torn down, replaced by a massive castle further to the south, with a much bigger stadium. Seven towers had also been built, one for each Deamon Lord, and the polis' and villages had been reconstructed.
 After Forna's death, other deamons had begun to perish to an unknown source. Many deamons had ventured forth to try to discover the deamon killers, but not one had returned. The deamon hunters were responsible for the death of the dead deamons lying over the planet, and any deamon in their right mind would have suspected the king or one of his seven warlords, but no deamon in their right mind would have dared oppose the eight rulers of the deamon world. It was because of this power that the deamon rulers had, and the fear that they gave to all other deamons that protected them.
 As long as you were in your polis or village before the light faded, you were safe. And that was how it had been for three years, and how -the deamon king hoped- it would be for many years to come...

[The Host]

 Crioone folded her wings in, dropping towards the ground at high speed. When she was only seconds from crashing down to the land, she spread her four legs, landing in a powerful looking stance, her blue and silver hide shining in the remaining light of day.
 I've stayed too long, she thought to herself, I need to get back!
 Crioone's head looked up. In the distance, Extapolis, her home, loomed in shadows, and small shards of remaining daylight. The hunters would be out soon, and Crioone was not sure if she would survive the night for too long. She began to run towards Extapolis, her wings beating to a constant rythm, carrying her further and faster towards her destination.
 The last few rays of light shone on her back, and around her, she thought she spied small beings hiding, but dismissed the thoughts as shadows.
 Shadows, she thought, Shadows weren't good at this time, they meant death for all of those outside of the villages and polis'.
 Extapolis was within fifty feet when the first hunter attacked. Rounded and shaped like an eyeball, the small deamon flew towards her, followed by three others. The four deamons surrounded her, one in front, one behind, and one at each side of her. Crioone pushed her wings down, a cloud of dust and sand giving her momentary cover, and she was soon flying above the four deamons. The eyeballs turned to face her, and out of the darkness, another deamon approached. Black wings, no eyes, and a hole for a mouth, the fifth deamon looked up at her.
 "I am Gor, an Attalna. My eyes have found you, and through them I -we, the Attalna- am able to hunt you." Gor looked up at Crioone, and evil, lopsided smile taking over the 'O' shape of his mouth. A fifth eye appeared behind Gor, and in an instant, the eye was on his forehead, looking around. The smile on Gor's face dissapeared, and was replaced by small teeth growing into his upper and lower lips. The one eye on him blinked, and Gor began to charge, the other eyes drawing in close, the Attalna coming together to form the true mono being.
 The four eyes each took one of Gor's hands as a joining spot, and Gor was soon complete. A sole eye atop his forehead, one eye on each hand, razor sharp teeth, and feet that seemed to ride upon the dark night air.
 Crioone manuevered the sky with expertise, her many days of soaring the open skies had finally paid off. Gor trailed slugishly, but his sheer size and power made up for his slow flight. Crioone veered to the right, and as Gor began to turn, Crioone's wings folded as she dropped, spun around, and then the wings reopened. She flew straight towards the surprised Attalna, the horn atop her head piercing his side.
 Each eyeball opened wide as Gor gasped in pain. The Attalna were not used to being the weaker in a fight, and as Gor dropped, the eyeballs left him. Crioone flew down to where Gor had landed, kicking the fallen deamon many times before judjing him as dead. She flew off towards her home, Extapolis, unaware of the five eyeballs that had returned to Gor's death scene.
 Floating in a circle around their fallen host, the true Attalna began feeding upon the fallen deamon warrior...

[The Host]

 Once at home, in the tall one-story tower-like building made of randomly placed stones and rocks, Crioone flew up to her perch - an overhang carved into the mountainside which her home backed onto- and went back again to her thoughts, shifting her mind away from the present...

Three years ago...

 King Axerion looked out over his kingdom, one of the many planets that deamons inhabited, smiling in a cruel manner. Beside him, three of his warlords stood, awaiting his command, as did three others to his other side. The last one, the unspoken leader of the warlords, walked the way of war. The seventh warlord had already had his command given to him, take control over the small planet nearest them. So far, he was doing a good job.
 The king turned his attention to the lesser deamons working below him. Many of the deamons from the fight in Inchara were among the working deamons, but not all of the deamons working wanted to work. Many times already one of the warlords had gone down to turn the attention of the rebel deamons back to working, and when that didn't work, the deamons were replaced, and thrown to their grave on the surrounding grounds.
But what neither the king nor the warlords noticed were the three deamons fifty-so feet away behind them, tearing down small parts of the fortress that was being built.

 Crioone laughed as Nara shoved a small rock into what was to be a window, and almost blew their cover as Taverna kicked the rock into the room below, causing many deamons to fall back, taking away a few hours of work in only seconds. The three deamons had nothing against the working deamons, no, it was the king and his warlords they had problems with. Axerion and his followers had already taken at least onehundred and twenty deamons' lives, and that was only what the three of them had counted earlier in the week.
 "We should go now," said Taverna, looking ahead at the seven deamon rulers, "Axerion and his warlords have heard of the damage."
 Nara looked at him, then nodded, the red wings upon his back spreading out, ready to leave. Crioone's white wings didn't quite span as far as Nara's, but compared to Taverna's, both were dwarfed. Taverna's emerald wings were huge, spaning at least twenty feet, and the humanoid deamon himself was only about 7'3". Nara, bird-like and powerfully built, was shorter, at about 6'9", while Crioone, silver and blue in colour, stood somewhere in between. Among the rest of the deamons, the three were moderately sized.
Within seconds, the three deamons were in the air, and only moments after their takeoff, one of Axerion's warlords had discovered their previous position.

Present Day

The darkness had engulfed the planet of king Axerion, and the world was black. Crioone's white wings seemed to almost glow, and in the background, the sound of a few deamons could be heard, the terrified screams drowned out by what Crioone now knew were the Attalna...

[The Host]

 Fortress Metawar loomed out into the sky, casting a shadow to fall over the land below. Metawar, Axerion's castle, was the largest fortress the deamons had ever seen, and probably the largest ever. Made of smooth brown-gray stones, with blood-red tint added on in a unique pattern, the fortress itself was about seven hundred thousand feet around, nine thousand feet from floor to point of the cieling, and contained many rooms and an inner core palace. It had taken many deamons lives and three whole years to create, but Metawar was complete.
 Surrounding the fortress, three towers had been erected six thousand feet up, each one surving a purpose- according to the king- although what the purpose of the towers was was still a mistery.
 
 Crioone landed softly upon the top of the unguarded second tower, followed by her companions, Nara and Taverna. The three deamons hated the king and his warlords more than anything in the deamon world, although the world they knew had not had much to hate overall. Nara was the first to speak.
 "So why'd you bring us here Taverna?" she asked, questioning her long time friend with a laughable smile.
 The emerald coloured deamon turned to face Nara, his eyes closed. His wings spread out completely, dropping a small map onto the roof of the tower.
 "This map... it's a detailed route to take inside Metawar. It leads to something, although it could be a trap. Three days ago, you, Crioone, mentioned the Attalna. I didn't want to fight one or more, but my mind slipped, and after completely destroying it, I found the map inside the thing's body..." Taverna stopped, letting the thought slip into his friends' minds.
 Crioone looked at Taverna after a minute of thinking his words over, then said to him:
 "So... when are we gonna go check it out?" Nara turned to face Crioone, a look of shock on her face.
 "You guys are gonna walk right into a trap!?" Nara asked, the shock turning into confusion and then back to shock. Taverna nodded, followed by a nod from Crioone. Nara looked back and forth, then shook her head.
 "You guys are crazy!" She said, but then looked at them seriously, then nodded her head. "I'm coming too."

[The Host]

Part One; The Fortress

Interlude One
Exaltoskull's Story

 A lone deamon stood in the remaining light of day. His gold and black hide was powerful looking, his legs holding him sturdily on the ground. Around him, three Attalna stood, waiting for his the deamon to make his next move. The large deamon spun with agility, taking the three Attalna back.
 "You know who I am, don't you?" The golden-black deamon asked the Attalna, "I'm Exaltoskull, hiding in the shadows, lurking in the darkness. And you three, you call yourself Attalna, but I've seen your true form."
 The Attalna looked at Exaltoskull with hatred and awe. Then the three bodies dropped, and fifteen eyeball like deamons emerged from the hosting bodies. Surrounding Exaltoskull, the Attalna prepared their attack, closing on on the lone deamon. Exaltoskull raised his head, lowered his tail, and his dark wings spread apart from his body, lifting him into the sky. The Attalna followed, but Exaltoskull was a powerful deamon, not easily taken down.
 The dark wings folded in, dropping the golden-black deamon drop, and at the same time his legs flew out, knife-like claws extending well over a foot. The Attalna hit by the claws dropped like stones, hitting the ground, laying in their new graves.
 Exaltoskull landed, but the Attalna had drawn back. The eyeball like deamons kept watch of Exaltoskull from a safe distance, and parted as another deamon approached. A deamon clad in white stepped into the center of the Attalna circle, and began to address Exaltoskull.
 "You are a very persistant deamon, Exaltoskull. One that may be even too persistant. You have been taking the attention of my hunters- my eyes- the Attalna for much too long each night. The purpose of my hunters is... not of your business. Leave them be, and do not take their attention away from... others anymore. You will be taught a lesson if I am called once more." The white coloured deamon stared at Exaltoskull for quite a while, then turned to leave.
 "Who are you...?" asked Exaltoskull, his head raising. The deamon in white almost turned back, but instead decided to stop instead.
 "Who I am, and what I do is none of your business. Staying out of my way is." By the end of his speech, the white deamon was gone, hidden in the darkness, shrouded by a sudden mist. The remaining Attalna turned, their eyes trained upon their leader. Exaltoskull turned and left, hiding in the shadows which he would stay in for the daylight. As soon as he was gone, the Attalna returned, levitating just above the previous hosts. The feast had begun. The Attalna had not succeeded in their hunt, but the feast was still allowed...

[The Host]

Chapter One
The Female Magician

 The small pebble glided smoothly through the air, landing with a small splash in the round pond ahead. Small ripples surged away from the spot the stone had landed at, splashing lightly against the shoreline. The small brown dog rushed forwards at the sight of the small green frog leaping into the pond to investigate the disturbance. Stopping at the water's edge to peek at the frog, the dog found itself staring into a now still pond with a shimmering glass top and the reflection of himself. The dog barked, then backed up, timid by nature.
 To the side, a rustling of tall grass attracted the dog's attention, and it went to sniff about. Another stone found its way though the air and into the pond. But this time the stone was flat, without a crack, bump, or crevace. The stone skipped its way across the pond, the glass-like appearence fading, replaced by many small ripples, gathering together at the shores and in the center of the pond. The frog that had been perched atop the lily pad quickly dove for cover, burrying itself in the soft mud below. The dog, now tired with the rustling of the grass, focused his attention once more upon the pond, amused by the small wave-like ripples, the rocking lily pad, and the croaking of frogs and chirping of crikets.
 The dog sat down, panting slightly, it's tongue drooping from its mouth, and smiled as best as it could. A large splash caused the dog to leap up and dart backwards. A blue-green coloured fish poked its head out of the water slightly, then was gone. A large rock- the cause of the splash- sat in the middle of the pond, too big to sink its way to the bottom.
 A girl of about thirteen appeared beside the dog, laughing quietly to herself. Her left hand was just visible beneath the long red coloured sleeve of her shirt, while her right arm protruded further out, due to the torn sleeve of the shirt on the right side. Her feet were tucked inside small shoes, and she wore loose jeans over her legs, and the shirt she wore was faded white. Her hair was tied back in a long braid, and on her right arm she wore a black coloured bracelet with the image of a four legged creature with wings. Hanging from her neck was a necklace with the letter 'D' on it.
 The pond grew quiet, the girl no longer throwing stones into the water. The dog, still panting, lay down, closing his eyes. A drop of water fell on the girl's head, then a second and third followed. The sky was dark, it had been for quite a while, though the girl had no intention of going home. She had waited for this exact time to be at the pond. Pulling her left sleeve up with her right hand, the girl placed her left hand into the glass surface of the pond, and the water spread to the edges, pouring out the sides and soaking into the ground.
 The rain was now pounding down, the girl's clothing soaked, her dog's fur drenched. But the pond, still quiet, remained dry, no water entering the now magical place. A face, shrouded in mist, appeared from the ground of the pond, followed by dark wings and a clawed hand. The being spoke quietly, clearly, and with a sound of authority.
 "Once again you have called me forth, magician of Terra Eterna. Once again, the people of my universe are in jeopardy because I am gone. What do you want."
 The girl stared at the being with no emotion, not even a shard of fear. "I have called you... because the ultimate gate has been sighted..."
 The being stared at her, his face no longer covered by an angry smile, but by a stern and serious expression. "You were right to call me, magician. We shall keep in touch. If the gate is sighted again, make sure I know." The being's face, wings, and hand sank down into the pond's ground, the water returning to the pond.
 The girl reached around, her hand pulling the eleastic from her braid, her wet hair falling around her face, covering the tears that were falling along her face. The dog ran towards his owner, the wet fur squished against her side.
 "I know, Tanner, I know what needs to be done too," the girl said to her dog, "We need to follow him next time..."

[The Host]

In the Deamon World...

Taverna tilted his head up, looking at the small spot on the map marked by a black point. Surrounding it were five lines, probably walls of some sort, but there didn't appear to be any door leading into the black point room.
 
Three days earlier...

Getting into Axerion's fortress hadn't been hard, even the the day's light had been directly above them as they'd gone through the doors. Once inside Metawar, the dark hallways had been easy to navigate, although without a map it would have been near impossible, as the winding corridors had many adjoining hallways leading off into other parts of the fortress. The red line leading to the black point had led the three deamons into a court area, which surrounded the cetral tower of Metawar, where king Axerion himself inhabited. Then the map had led them up a few levels, and then to a long and spiral stairway that went down mnay levels, not stopping off at a landing for any of the other floors. Upon a closer look at the map, this stairway had its own area, not interrupted by any other rooms until it ended.
 Once at the end of the stairway, Taverna lead the two others along the red path, leading up to a large door, bolted shut many times. Working quickly, the three deamons soon had the door open, but they had come across a problem.
 "If any guard deamon or other inhabitant of Metawar comes this way, they're gonna see a wide open door, and if they're down this far, they probably know that it's supposed to be bolted shut," said Crioone, looking at the others. Taverna and Nara nodded.
 "We'll come back here later, when we have a way to close the door behind us, but until then..." Nara's voice was cut off by distant footsteps, and the sound of dragging chain.
 "We need to leave. Now!" hissed Taverna, rolling the map and holding it is his hand. Crioone unfurled her wings, holding them above her head so that the other two could do the same. The footsteps were getting closer, and around the corner the three deamons could see a light approaching.
 "Now!" whispered Crioone, and she lifted off of the ground, hovering near the cieling. Beside her, Nara flew steadily, and behind, Taverna with the map lurked in the shadows. A red coloured deamon turned the corner, his eyes fixed to a small jewel in his hands. Suddenly, the red coloured deamon stopped.
 We left the door open! thought Crioone, and she was sure that the others had realized the same thing. It was now or never.
 Nara sped forwards, just as Crioone dove dove, catching the red hued deamon off guard and knocking him backwards onto the ground. The jewel tumbled through the air, the string holding it catching on one of Crioone's feet. The map flew out of nowhere, falling right infront of Crioone's other foot. Stretching out a claw, she grabbed it, turning just in time to see Taverna tackle the guard deamon back to the ground.
 "Get out of here now!" Shouted Taverna, his powerful hands holding the squirming red deamon down. Crioone didn't need a second shout, she turned, flying away. Only seconds later did Taverna catch up to her.
 Once outside of Metawar, the two deamons stopped, searching the skies for their companion. A rustling sound behind them grabbed their attention, and as they turned, Nara had just enough time to tuck her wings back.

[The Host]

Terra Eterna / Forever Earth

 The female magician raised her arms, lifting herself off of the ground. Beside her, her  brother- Patrick- stood watching in amazement. A minute ago, Patrick would have never believed that his sister could levitate, even fly, but now, watching it all only inches away, his jaw was dropped, his eyes wide in shock and amazement.
 Her arms waving back and forth, the female magician called the dog- Tanner- up from his perch on the bed and into her arms. The dog was startled, and began to bark, but Patrick calmed him immediately. The hood that the magician wore fell backwards, revieling her long auburn hair, tied back in a  braid, her small ears, and a small smile across her lips.
 Renee- the magician- laughed as the dog licked her face, but the laugh was cut short.
"I need to leave Earth, it's too dangerous for me here," she said, her pale face now holding a sad smile.
 Patrick looked up at her, wondering what the heck she meant by leaving earth. Where else could she go. Patrick stood, his power arms and legs flexing.
 "Where?" he asked, replying to her previous statement. Renee looked at him, not catching onto the fact that he was replying to her.
 "Oh... where away from earth..." she said, catching on after several seconds, "To the land of magic. I can't stay on earth, the place of no magic, I must go to... the land of monstrous beings..."
 Patrick looked at her as if she was crazy, then got up, looking at her in a new way.
 "They always said this would come, that someone would be born as evil..." his sentence trailed off as Renee's eyes began to tear up.
 "You think I'm eveil!?" she asked him, turning away. Patrick walked around her, facing her directly, and nodding.
 The blade came fast, the shining metal of a knife flashing across Renee's arm. Red liquid poured out of her, the blood dripping fast. Again the knife moved across through the air, blood pouring out from the gash on Renee's leg. Tanner yelped, then barked loudly, baring his fangs at Patrick- who simply shrugged- kicking his foot out, and the dog flew across the room. Renee had gotten back to her feet, tears streaming out of her eyes, her vision blurred.
 The blade moved forwards again, though this time it did not make it to Renee. A hand burst through the floor of the room, Patrick falling back. The hand was followed by an arm, and then the body of a beast. The floor began to crumble underneath the huge weight, and soon Patrick, Renee, Tanner and the beast collapsed on the ground floor.
 The beast picked up Renee and began to run. Ptarick, not far behind them, flashed the knife in the sun's rays, the gleam pointed directly at Renee's assailant. The knife tore through the air, striking the hide of the beast, but nothing more. Patrick collapsed, his eyes rolling back in his head as the dog bit down hard on his leg. Then everything went black...

 ...Renee's eyes opened, and the sight of the beast from the pond gave her the energy to sit up.
 "The magician of Terra Eterna needs help, and so do my people. Come with me, and all shall be well..."

[The Host]

In the Deamon World...

 The white coloured deamon walked into the cave to the east of Metawar. A small fire burned in the middle of the cave, giving a dull glow and a feeble warmth to the rocky crevice. Around the white deamon, four Attalna floated in the air, the eyeball like deamons twisting and turning, taking in the surroundings before their hunt.
 "Now!" The white deamon said, his voice quiet but stern at the same time. The Attalna floated towards the hunt leader, floating and unmoving. The hunt leader raised his left hand, his right hand bracing the left. A sudden wind formed in the cave, the small tower of smoke billowed further into the cave, the cape on the white deamon pulled tight against him. The leader of the night moved further into the dark cave, extinguishing the light of flames as he walked past.
 "The deamon in here has lived their last day... the nighttime shall forever hold him in my grasp... go forth my deamon hunters... go forth to the feast..." The deamon in white turned away, walking out of the cave as his hunters advanced on their prey. The screams of terror echoed throughout the cave, but the hunting leader of darkness was gone before the cave deamon was dead...

***

 Crioone stood in the village of Extapolis, her wings catching the light, turning the normally white wings into a shining silver. Raising her head to the sky, she beat her wings down, taking to the air, her four metallic blue coloured legs carried through the night sky towards the sound of a hunt. To the south, an eerie green being was on the watch, and advanced towards Crioone. From the north came the crimson red being known as Nara.
 The castle raid had begun, and as Nara and Taverna approached Crioone, the towering fortress of Metawar loomed ever closer to the three deamons...

[The Host]

Terra Eterna / Forever Earth

 The fog began to clear as Patrick stumbled into an upright position, rubbing his sore ankle and cursing the dog for having fangs. Walking back towards his home, Patrick couldn't help but wonder what had become of his sister, the female magician. Turning his thoughts back to the encounter with the fact that his sister was magical, he struggled to remember why he had attacked her in the first place. Was he jealous, angry, scared, or just afraid of being lonely? He shook his head.
 "No way!" he said to himself softly, "No way am I gonna forget this. I'll learn from it. I'll grow stronger, and take out my enemies one by one. I won't stop!"
 By now, he had reached his home, and as soon as he entered, he knew something was wrong. Lying on the floor ahead of him was his dog- Tanner- a pool of blood lying around him, and a picture of his sister thrown to the side, the glass frmae cracked and shattered in certain parts.
 Someone was here while I was gone... Someone- or something- wants me to stay away... But I won't. "I won't!" He shouted, but his words were meaningless, and he knew it. He would stay away from magic. He would stay away for a lifetime...

***

 Riding on the back of the beast, Renee's hand gripped the coarse hairs that were positioned on the back of the beast's neck. The clouds seemed to part as the two magical beings flew past, but it was only an effect of the speed they were going that caused wind to split. The two of them had passed through three storms already, and Renee had questioned him about why they didn't just go through a gate of some sort to get away from earth, but the beast's reply was only, 'remember our first encounter'. At first Renee could not decide what that meant, but after a while, the memories began to pour in, and she began to remember...

2 weeks ago...

 The  beast slipped past the walls around it, entering the room of a girl around the age of thirteen. The girl looked up at him, and for a minute, he thought his presence would be unmasked, that the rest of her family would draw near to the screams of their daughter/brother. But the girl simply stared at him for a minute, then asked simply, 'who are you?' The beast stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.
 "That's not important. What's important is that you know something that has been locked away in your mind for many years now," the beast said, looking at the girl with no emotion on his face. The girl looked back at him with a look of equal status, then shrugged her shoulders, her face giving off the impression of, 'what do I need to know'.
 "You are a being of magic, born into the world of technology and simple sciences incapable of using your powers. You are the female magician that has been prophesized for many decades now, and you have finally arrived. I will leave my universe now, but only you can allow me to leave. As a being not familiar to earth, I can only enter or leave with my own powers. Since I came, you must send me back- you must create a gate for me- to my own world. For your powers to be confirmed, you must send me back to my world, then call me here again. If you do not succeed, then my world and people will need to wait. You cannot fail."
 Then the beast was gone...

 Present time

 If the beast had come on it's own, and hadn't been called, then Renee would have to open the gate herself. But she was unsure if she could at the altitude they were at, and if her magic was not at its strongest, opening a gate would be impossible. So that's why we haven't returned. My magic is too weak, and he's stuck here until someone with magic can get him back...
 "Where are we going?" asked Renee, craning her neck to get a better view of the world below.
 "To a place of magic, so that we can leave this place... but I still need to find one, which is hard at this hight, and if we drop down lower, then we're gonna be spotted. I'm hoping we can find a magic area in the skies..." The beast didn't look hopeful, and if he wasn't how could Renee be hopeful too.
 Just then the beast took a dive, swooping down ten feet and calling Renee's name. She had felt it too: magic! The moisture in the air began to dispate, and the oxygen amounts became thin. What looked like a hole in the middle of nowhere appeared, and began to grow. Renee's eyes were closed, but the female magician could still feel the gate growing, and could almost 'see' it.
 Then the gate was complete, and Terra Eterna slowly slipped away, only to be replaced by a completely different world. The world of true magic...

[The Host]

Land of the Lost

 Searing hot flames engulfed the female magician and her companion as the two collapsed to the ground in the land of the unknown. Somehow, something had gone wrong with the portal gate, and the two magical beings had not ended up where they were supposed to be. Instead, wickedly hot flames surrounded them, licking closer and closer to Renee's skin, and edging around the giant body of the beast next to her.

 From a peak high above the monstrosity of the flames, another being watched the two of them being devoured by the intense fire. This third being, wearing a blue hat and a dark black cape showed no emotion upon her face, yet behind the facade, the true female magician was laughing at the pitiful attempts of freedom by the weaklings below...

[The Host]

Interlude Two
Exaltoskull's Story

 Exaltoskull was being attacked, and yet, he could not find or sense the source of power from his assailant- whom he could also not find- and was now nearing the point of exaustion and death. The gold and black coloured eamon's eyes search the area around him, even as more powerful blows were being delt out. It was then that Exaltoskull noticed the fog, and as his vision began to adjust, many eye-like deamons appeared in a circle around him. The Attalna were on the hunt.
 The only problem with the Attalna theory was that they weren't near enough to Exaltoskull to hit him, nevermind dish out attacks like the ones he was recieving. A sudden blow to the neck brought the fierce deamon warrior to the ground, and his attacker finally faded into view.
 A dog-like deamon approached Exaltoskull, the moonlight gleaming and shining on the deamon's bared fangs. A long chain rattled against the ground as the dog-deamon moved towards Exaltoskull, but the other end of the steel chain was engulfed in the fog and mist in the background. The dog eyed Exaltoskull, then leapt towards the fallen deamon with incredible speed. Exaltoskull could only dodge enough as to recive a slight gash along his side from the dog-deamon, and even then, the dog-deamon was on its way back for a second attack. Exaltoskull's mind instructed him to get up and fight back, but deep down, the gold and black coloured deamon knew that without help soon, he was in grave danger.
 The dog-deamon stood still behind Exaltoskull, and for a minute, Exaltoskull thought the deamon had lost interest. But his idea was ut of his mind as soon as it had entered. The dog-deamon leapt over Exaltoskull, the chain hitting the deamon warrior as it went passed. Out of the fog, the Attalna began to regroup around the dog-deamon, slowly seeping into him.
 When all but one Attalna had entered the dog-deamon, Exaltoskull stood up, getting ready to attack as soon as every last Attalna was inside. But he never got the chance. One more deamon was present at the hunt, and the hunt leader never let his dog die. Never...

[The Host]

Chapter Two
Metawar : Fortress of History

 ...Metawar... the ultimate war fortress... and the towering pinnacle of doom...

 Taverna took his hand away from the stone wall and the words scarred into the smooth bricks, re-reading the sentence in his head. To his left, Crioone's wings were spread far apart, catching the wind and protecting the three of them from falling rocks or a short sandstorm. To Taverna's right, Nara held the map on her back, her wings tucked in and her hands at work shifting the order of stones quickly in order to create a small doorway. Taverna moved his hand over the smooth stone tablet, trying to better read the words on the wall, but he could get nothing more of them. Nara nodded slightly, catching the attention of both Crioone and Taverna, and as they looked over, they saw that the doorway was complete. Nara slid in, folowed closely by Taverna and Crioone.
 Once inside the fortress, the three deamons crouched low, searching the large hallway they had come into for guards of any sort. They couldn't see any, but that didn't mean there were no guards. Creeping close to the ground, the three deamons moved silently forwards, their eyes searching the close vicinity, but there was nothing to be seen.
 Once they had crossed the hallway, Nara took the map, pointing to the red line. Crioone silently memorized the directions in her head, and as soon as Nara had rolled the map up, Taverna took the parchment, shoving it inbetween his shoulder blades, then took the lead...

[The Host]

 The three deamons headed towards the stairway they had previously visited upon their last raid on the castle, moving from shadow to shadow, staying hidden from any guards that happened to be on the look out. But no guards came- in fact, the three deamons didn't spot a single guardian of Metawar- and after about an hour of darting back and forth across hallways and corridors, Crioone and her companions reached the stairwell. Climbing up the stairs as fast as possible while still staying silent, they soon came to the top of the stairs, where they then began to go down. Suddenly Taverna stopped them, pointing downwards with his right hand. The stories below them, a large door stood open- one that hadn't even been there the previous time.
 "Did we come the wrong way? I mean, the stairway looks the same, but maybe there's more than one like this..." Nara let her sentence trail off, knowing that her words were only trying to calm herself and the others down, they were surely in the right spot.
 Taverna's eyes darted back and forth, searching for a way down. His eyes fixed on an overhanging light only feet away from him, and he smiled. Calling Crioone and Nara to his side, he stretched his wings out, hitting the light with enough force to overturn a small house. The light shattered, the stairway becoming dark, the sound of glass hitting rocky ground echoing throughout the towering stairwell. Below, the door still stood open, nothing had changed, no deamons had come rushing out of the mysterious room. The three deamons continued down the stairway, their movements slow and silent as they passed the doorway.
 Crioone took to the air, her wings spread out just enough to carry her, but not enough to hit the side walls of the stairway. Taverna and Nara followed her lead, the three deamons coming to a stop at the bottom of the stairway. Ahead of them lay the long stretch of bare walls and floors, all leading to the bolted door, and behind it? Crioone did not have a clue...

[The Host]

 Working with both speed and silence, Crioone, Taverna and Nara had the olted door open in only a few minutes. Swinging the door open, the three deamons peered inside, trying in vain to locate a source of light or anything of interest. They found none.
 "Now what?" asked Taverna, obviously not aware of the light Crioone had brought.
 Crioone held the gem from their previous embarkment into Metawar infront of her, the purple-blue jewel glowing dimly, giving off a faint light. Taverna and Nara smiled, and the three deamons entered the room. From a bag hanging around her neck, Nara pulled a piece of folded metal out, handing it to Taverna, who slid it under the door, swinging it shut on them. Many clicks- and hushed cursing from Taverna- later the door was finally bolted shut properly, and the three deamons were locked in.
 Crioone lifted the jewel up, the dim light illuminating the room just enough for them to see that they were surrounded by smooth square shaped stones, as well as oddly defined statues and clay pots. Taverna pulled out the map, holding it below the light so he could read it.
 "We're getting closer to the mark on the map... we're about an eigth of the way there now..." he said, a smirk coming across his face.
 Crioone and Nara looked at him, then the map, then Crioone nodded. The three deamons continued onwards, further down into the fortress, and further down into a world unknown...

***

 The door slamed shut as a deamon walked out of the sideroom, his feet stepping onto a long winding stairway. Black eyes and a grey hide, the deamon was about as dark the the light further below. The grey deamon grunted, and from the bag he dragged behind him, a red deamon scurried out, no jewel in his hands this time.
 "Don't mess around this time, if you see the deamon intruders, kill them. If not, the jewel won't be the only thing unaccounted for," the deamon with black eyes said. And as he began to walk down the stairs at a slow pace, the red coloured deamon could only hope that his jewel and its highjackers could be defeated easily...

[The Host]

 The smooth stones slipped away into the darkness as Crioone and her companions began their journey further into the fortress of mysteries. Led by the dim light of the glowing gem, the three deamons crept forwards at a slow pace, keeping silent and hiding in the darkness as much as possible. As they went further into the long winding and twisting tunnels of the fortress, and temperature began to drop slowly, and the levels of breathable air began evermore scarce. Soon enough, the three deamons came to a stop, the tunnel they were in leading off in two directions. Taverna's hand reached back to his shoulder, grabbing and unfolding the map, allowing Crioone to hold the gem at an appropriate distance so that he could read the map and still have enough light to see. Nara spread her wings out behind her, casting the three deamons into shadow, hiding them from any watchful eyes.
 "The map shows us here," said Taverna, pointing to a spot in about the middle of the map, "But the line that we've been following stops here, only to re-appear way over here, nowhere nere where we are now..." his voice trailing off, Taverna lay the map on the ground, allowing Crioone and Nara to get a better look at it.
 Suddenly Crioone cried out, her head no longer facing the map, but the wall to its side. etched deeply into the stones, words could be faintly seen, their true meaning hidden behind many years of erosion and fierce winds before being placed into the castle. Taverna ran his hands along the stone wall, his fingers slipping in and out of each groove. Nara's eyes glimmered as they moved back and forth, taking in everything she could. Meanwhile, Crioone's eyes were closed, her sixth sence taking the words in for her. And then, all at once, the three deamons spoke what they could understand:

"...joined together...and vanquish their... The great one... into the fog... demise... destrought... destroyed...
When the... rose up once... conquered... the fog is only... are banished..."

   

[The Host]

 The sound of a crumbling wall caught the attention of Taverna first, and as the first red fist emerged from the clouds of dust and rubble, Taverna's wings opened wide, the joints bracing for impact. The fist hit his wing, both deamons crying out in pain. Taverna fell back as Nara surged forwards, her wings beating furiously, her hands doling out quick blows to the red coloured deamon. Crioone, now completely aware of the deamon intruder, took to her four powerful legs, the claws in her feet cracking th ground, her wings ripping through the walls of the small tunnel in which they were in. Scooping up the glowing gem with her closest foot, Crioone tucked the shining stone away for safe keeping, moving forwards to aid Nara and Taverna, both of whom were fighting off the red deamon.
 As Crioone neared the fight, the wall to her right exploded as shards of stone flew out, hitting Crioone and knocking her to the side. A gray coloured deamon emerged from the smoke, carrying a mace in his left hand and a club in his right. Nara leapt backwards, her hand grabbing a dagger as she passed by the grey deamon. Crioone's wings moved backwards, propelling her forwards, knocking a startled red deamon aside as she and Taverna began to fly to safety.
 Nara, still trapped in the tunnel, extended her arm, holding the dagger as close as she could to the gray coloured deamon, while still staying out of reach. Then, after allowing her decoy fake-out work, she flew to the side, just as Taverna hurled the red deamon at his master. Both attacking deamons fell to the side, and the tunnel began to collapse, Nara's body crushed beneath a boulder, unable to free herself.

[The Host]

 A cry of pain came from the pile of rubble and dust where a tunnel had previously stood. Crioone's feet touched down to the ground first as she ran towards the rocks to aid Nara. Taverna's body landed on the other side of the rocks, his hands moving quickly throwing boulders away. Crioones claws dug into the rocks, and as the tightened her claws, the rocks shattered, the small shards of stone falling away harmlessly.
 Suddenly Taverna's shout was heard by Crioone, and as Crioone looked up hopefully, she was quickly shocked and full of hate. The red coloured deamon had his bloodred hand grasping Taverna's arm, the claws digging in quickly. Taverna's un-attacked hand dole out quick and powerful punches to the deamon, but they seemed to tak no effect. Crioone leapt over the rocks, taking the red deamon by surprise, and ended his life with a quick cut to the neck.
 Taverna dropped to the ground, his arm now completely useless. Crioone lowered her head, looking at Taverna with sadness in her eyes.
 "Go back to... saving Nara," said Taverna, his voice quiet. Crioone nodded, turning back slowly, then working quickly.
 As the last few rocks slowly dissappeared, Nara's body could be seen, crushed and crippled. Crioone pulled her out quickly, but the damage had been done.
 Crioone dragged her companions into the shadows, staying their for quite a while, trying to recover.

 But they were being watched the whole time by the dark black eyes of the still quite alive gray coloured deamon. The countdown to death was on.

[The Host]

 The gray deamon's eyes flashed as Crioone turned her back to him. His claws extended, his legs bent, his hand holding a small sharp piece of brown stone, the deamon was prepared to strike at any moment. There was only one thing that could go wrong at this point, but the gray coloured deamon had put this thought away long ago. If only he hadn't, his life would not be in certain danger.
 It was the gray deamon who thought he had the edge of surprise, but it was he who would end up shocked and crushed in death...

***

 History of a Kingdom...Part One

The deamons- more commonly known as beasts of the otherworld, or beasts of the night- originally came into being in the early years of the universe, residing in a place they called Terra Eterna. Living in the shadow of the larger planet in front of them, the deamons became used to not having light, and their forms and being became as dark as the land surrounding them.
 Then one day, a few centuries into the creation of the universe, other sapient beings came to live on Terra Eterna, but calling it Earth. The deamons were at first willing to share the land, but as time passed, the deamons colonies slowly had less and less land, all of it going to the beings which called themselves by many names, but the most common being 'Human'. Then came the rebellion.
 The deamons struck back at the humans, but their weapons were at a far disadvantage to those of human kind, and the deamons were forced back. And it was at this point that the larger planet infront of Terra Eterna broke apart, explosion into a shower of cloud and dust. The light shone upon Terra Eterna, and the deamons were never seen again until-

...