Prologue

When did the filthy human race become stronger than us? How could Kalath, the powerful empire of the demons, be beaten by mere humans?

Many years ago, the demons were ruling Aereth. This huge continent was inhabited by many races: Humans, goblins, trolls, orcs, wood-humanoid and the elves. But one time, the demons have found an artifact, allowing them to store part of their soul in exchange of being able to use others energy. A law was passed, which dictated every single demon to store their souls to make sure that the demon race would be superior. With the relic a single, well trained demon would be able to kill one army by himself. They named it:

Enind – the Soul Sharer.

Other unique objects were found, but not as powerful as the Enind. They were wearable object and tools such as clothes, jewelries and weapons. They were called relics. Even though they were found everywhere scattered around Aereth, all of them had something in common: chains. By making researches and experiments, they learned that it could use the energy of the user to generate additional power by connecting the relics with the user’s body through chains. Some of them could even create magic such as elementariness manipulation. Yet, none of them was as powerful as the artifact Enind.

For centuries other races tried to steal the Enind, but they failed. The Elves who possessed a lot of magic relics fought until their race was almost extinct, yet they never succeeded. Orcs and Trolls once made an alliance to get the Enind. They have had no chance. Only the Necromancers put a hand on it. During the year 291, those users of unknown relics came from the other side of the Eefuth, the mountain chain in the south-west. However, the Therom Guardians were able to disperse or kill all of the fiends.

In 392 of the Kalath calendar but, the demons learned that the Enind wasn’t the only artifact.

Chapter 1

‚Captain Auron! A human group just has breached the main gate. A thousand of them! ‘, said a Therom guardian, having a serious expression on his face. I was standing on top of our fortress, having a perfect view over a wide area of Kalath. The sun had just sunk down and dip dyed the last few inches of a town in a deep red. I was being attentive long before the soldier arrived to alert me. The sounds of screaming were unambiguous: War.

I turned around to look the soldier in the eyes.

‚Everybody get ready to battle! ‚, I yelled. ‚You have green light for using your relics. ‚

The Therom Guardians were the elite of the Kalath Empire. Every member of the army was in possession of a relic. The relics we owned and used were those of the elements. With these we were able to control the basic elements: wind, fire, water and earth. Some of us were able to even handle the mighty thunder.

We were in charge of the protection of the Enind, the Soul Sharer – with our very own lives. I was the Captain of this group of soldiers, because I was the best at maintaining the strong element of fire. My relic was a bracelet made out of silver, with a big ruby embedded in it and a chain attached to my upper back. I never had issue in a fight, because my relic was linked to my demonic blood, seething with power.

‚Something’s wrong‘, I thought and started my way from the top of the fortress to the back side of it. How did this happen? Humans never were able to reach so far into our land; nor to overcome all the guarded borders. We must be prepared for anything! And now the weak human flesh breached our main gate?

As I reached the other side, I went to five soldiers, who were looking out from the top of the fortress.

‚You five, follow the vice Captain Sahari and go to the main hall to protect the Enind. Don’t forget the vow of the Therom. It is our duty to protect the Soul Sharer with our lives.‘, I entrusted them with a rigorous voice.

‚We chained our soul, we are the Kalath, the demons of Aereth!‘, they proudly answered and stood still for a second, then they moved forward to Sahari’s side.

‚Let me stay with you Auron‘, said Sahari. ‚We need to fight them with our full strength.‘
Sahari was the vice Captain of the Therom Guardians for over 10 years and a fire mage like me, with a lot of skills and experience in fighting. She wore a little red robe, the hood of it was so big that it almost looked like a scarf around her neck.

She was not too tall, had long orange hair and an eye-patch. She told me she was blind on the hidden eye and since doctors operated it out she didn’t want others to see.

Sahari had two, slightly downwards bent horns on her head showing through her hair. A long, ox-like looking tail grew out of her last vortex, showing through a small hole in her robe. Above her head there were three little clouds. They were dark and if you kept an eye on them you could see them blinking red from time to time. They didn’t had water like normal clouds in them, but fire. You could somehow read her mood from the fire clouds. Right now, they were almost bursting with fire.

Sahari was the one I trusted the most.

‚Listen to my order and go! If something happens to us, we are leaving the Enind without anyone to defend it. Move!‘, I bade her and furrowed my brows.

Sahari stood still for a second, flabbergasted through my harsh reaction. But just a moment later, she rallied herself and answered: ‚As you wish…, Captain.‘

She left with the other guardians for the main room.

The Therom Guardians had defended the Enind since it was found.

‚As the fifth Captain‘, I told myself, ‚It is my duty to not let it be harmed by anyone‘. Only a few soldiers were left on the top of the fortress, so I made clear that they needed to hold their positions. After I made decisions I decided to leave the fortress’s top to protect the main hall. I heard my soldiers scream and howl, I already could feel the air bursting around my skin. They would be using thunder quite soon.

Just a second before I entered the main hall the doors exploded into a thousand pieces and human warriors immediately started rushing in. I built up a wall of fire to stop them and then the Therom guardians started to shoot various spells. Human bodies were falling one after another. We were having faith in chances of winning this fight. I felt the fire rushing through my body, the heat of the power of the Enind filled my body with ecstasies. I heard the cracking of my soul-chain, it was loud and aggressive. Even though I put a lot of power into my relics‘ magic, the wall of fire suddenly disappeared.

When I realized that my magic was blocked for a short period, it was already too late: A group of crossbow users became visible after my flames were gone. Too paralyzed to react I hesitated for too long:

A human voice yelled: ‚No prisoners‘, and a wave of bolts ended their race in the Therom Guardians bodies. It was instant death for most of them. As I regained my composure, I and some of the other Therom mages had time to create a shield just in time. It was combined with the relic power of wind and fire and thrust under the ceiling. Our fortress was made out of heavy metals and we could hear the cracking of the melting structure.
Even though the power of elements was combined, our shield broke down and some other guardians were shot. I couldn’t believe what I had to see. Were we losing?

‚Something is wrong!‘, I told myself, ‚Why don’t we feel the Enind anymore? Normally, we sense it’s presence and can use it at will. But now, it feels like it isn’t there anymore. I start to feel weak. Did they get to the main room without us noticing it? No, it’s impossible, Sahari is there guarding it and there is no entrance except this one!‘ My heart was beating, almost trembling. Something definitely went wrong.
‚Keep the position on defense!‘, I ordered with clenching teeth.

‚These demons aren’t half bad‘, a voice behind the crossbowmen sounded, ‚Some of them managed to survive it without the aid of their precious artifact‘. I heard nothing more than the blood rushing in my ears, the cracking of the melting ceiling and an utterly creepy laughing.

‚They are much more manipulable without their vow.‘

I yelled: ‚Show yourself, you rotten man!‘

A man stepped out of the group and took a few steps. He was tall, ripped and well armored. However, he looked quite smart for a human. He was wearing a large golden ring in shape of a snake eating a black gem on the ringfinger of his right hand, with chains going up his arm. ‚These chains…Does he use a relic? That can’t be!‘, I thought and bit my lip.

‚Nobody has taught you the good manners? ‚, he asked. ‚I wonder how could demons become the leader of Aereth. Oh, now I remember! For the same reason me and my fellow humans are here today killing many of your kind. Hand us the Soul Sharer and we might spare your life.‘, the man explained and looked down at me like I was a little boy. I clenched my teeth. Did he not know to who he was talking to?

‚Enind is ours! You have no right to claim it for yourself. Humans can’t even use it and you know this. Your soul isn’t big enough to separate it.‘

‚Who said we wanted to use it? I could take the rest of the day to explain it to you Auron, Captain of the Therom Guardians, but demons are too stupid.‘
I painfully swallowed down an sassy answer and moved myself into a non-defensive position.

Even though I was quite tall, that human was taller than me and his shoulders also looked bigger. I felt – in fact – a bit small.

‚How do you know my name? ‚, I asked quite surprised, ‚It’s a good sign filthy human know my name, though.‘

The human started laughing out loud. He seemed quite confident for the fact he was standing in the middle of the demons empire.

‚Do you really think we would come here unprepared? ‚, he asked. ‚We know everything about this land, this fortress, the Therom Guardians and you, Auron. Clearly, you are asking yourself where we got this information. Why don’t you ask the vice Captain of your little army?‘

He pointed to the other side of the room with a huge smile on his face. I turned around and saw Sahari, with her hands covered in blood, holding a semi-transparent green box and with the Enind in it. My heart stopped for a second. ‚That’s what you get for trusting the weak‘, quickly came to my mind,

‚What is she doing?!‘

She walked past me as if there were not a single human standing in our territory and not one dead body would be laying on the cold ground.

‚What are you doing Sahari!‘, I snarled at her and doubled my fists.

Without looking back, she replied:

‚I don’t have to explain anything to you. You wouldn’t understand anyway. Your demonic belief has blinded your mind from the day you were born. Farewell, Auron.‘

She gave the box to the tall men and left the building. I wanted to cast my fire, I could feel it in my heart. The heat, the energy, but I couldn’t control it. Nothing happened.

‚Demons will always surprise me‘, the man said, as he set his eyes on me, ‚They can betray their own kind without a doubt, no feelings like shame, mercy or pity. Oh! While we are here, I forgot to introduce myself: my name is Sermons, leader of the army of human realm Llios. But it doesn’t matter anymore, because you’re going to die here in a minute. If you ever manage to survive, let’s take a cup of tea together‘, he jokingly told me and made a depreciate hand movement.

‚What makes you think we’re going to die here?‘, a Therom guardian asked and made a face at Sermons. It was a very young guardian and I felt shame in that moment, because I couldn’t even remember his name.

‚This.‘

Sermons raised his right arm and the gemstone on his ring started glowing. I felt my energy drain out of my body. Humans with spears charged us. I couldn’t move as well, just like the other Therom guardians. I felt one, maybe it were four, spears piercing through my stomach and chest. But there was no pain. All my attention was on Sermons leaving the hall with the Enind, while his minions continued killing us. So he does have a relic! Humans actually found an artifact this powerful and learned how to use it?

How…?

‚No, it can’t be happening‘, I was repetitive telling myself, ‚I can’t let him run away! I can’t let the Enind be taken away by those humans. It is my duty to keep it safe. What would happen to the Kalath if I failed? What would happen to me?‘

I felt the last heat and warmth leaving my body. I felt cold, I didn’t feel my relic, I didn’t feel my soul anymore. It felt like it was stolen. The soul-chain began to hurt, my legs became weak. I felt dizzy due the blood lost. I was about to lose consciousness when I saw some of my companions trying to fight; even though they were powerless. I had to fight as well until the end.

A dark, trembling and echoing voice sounded in my mind, telling me: ‚I am in your blood. I am you. Use me. Show them the real power of a demon!‘

When I woke up I was leaning on my knees, surrounded by fire; and nothing else. Everything was burned down to ashes. I looked up and saw the sky. There was no building anymore. The melting metal flowed down the hill the fortress was once standing on. Everything was gone. As well as the Enind. I failed in my one and only duty.

It was just a question of time when the royal guards arrived and arrested me. The healers tried to heal my wounds, but their relics didn’t react too well. My wounds healed by themselves by the time I arrived at the king’s fortress.

King Rogar ordered a trial. I knew I was doomed. The only end possible for this trial was the death penalty. However, I wasn’t scared. I was ready. I had the most important job in the empire and I failed. Who knew what would happen to the Kalath?

They brought me to the courthouse where a huge crowd was howling insults and threats. Their words weren’t affecting me at all. I kept my head up.

Once in the court, they put me on my knee and attached my chains to the ground. Then, King Rogar entered the court. Everybody got up except me. My soul-chains never felt so heavy on my body. I was breathing slowly, some of my silver hair hung in my face. My demon horns felt wrong on my head, I wanted to tear them out of my skull. I hated myself for my failure.

‚Everybody knows why we are here‘, Rogar began his judgment, ‚We have to decide what to do with Auron Firelyn, fifth Captain of the Therom Guardians. ‚

‚Reason of this trial: Failing in his duty to protect Enind – the Soul Sharer. ‚, said a judge.

‚Just kill him already! He deserves to die‘, said a watcher, ‚He doomed us all! The Enind is GONE. We are LOST!‘

The crowd started screaming names at me. They only wanted my death. ‚Like if another dead body would help you getting the Enind back‘, I told myself. Whatever, it wouldn’t change much if I raised my voice.

‚Silence!‘, the King blared into the court, ‚Let’s listen to Captain Auron’s point of view. ‚

‚I have no excuse, my king‘, I raised my voice, ‚I failed to achieve my mission. I am deeply sorry.‘

‚Now tell me, how could a powerful and proud demon like you be beaten by humans?‘

I lifted my head, my hair fell back, my chain clashed with regret.

‚I can’t guarantee it, but I’m pretty sure the human acquires an artifact. ‚

‚Liar!‘, the watchers nagged. Their voices echoed not only in the hall, but also in my head. It was disturbing.

‚What does make you think human kind could acquire an artifact? For almost 400 years now we’ve searched for a second one like the Enind…and none was found.‘, Rogar asked, much calmer than the rest of the involved people.
‚During the fight, the link between me and the Enind stopped working suddenly. I didn’t understand why, because it was still under our protection. However, the human leader, called Sermons, used a relic to disable our relics, therefore our magic. Normally, we would have used the Soul Sharer to defend ourselves… but we couldn’t. None of us could feel the soul bounding anymore.‘

‚The human possesses relics? How worrying it is… And you found out why the Enind stopped working? Then, speak‘, the judge arrogated answer from me.

I took a deep breath: ‚The vice Captain Sahari betrayed us. She gave information from us to the humans. She was with them from the start! I understoond everything when she gave the Enind to the humans in a strange box. The box had the same kind of symbol as the one on the Soul Sharer. It was also producing a feeling of emptiness. It was quite unpleasant.‘, I told Rogar and lowered my head again. The chain drew my skin. It felt like ripping apart.

‚The same symbol, you say? It is quite troublesome. However, we won’t get further into the subject until we learned more about this new artifact.‘, the King mumbled and swept through his long beard.

‚It is now time to decide the sentence of Auron Firelyn, for failing in his duty as a Therom guardian!‘, said the judge. ‚As it is written in the demonic law of Kalath, failing a mission concerning the Enind, results the death sentence! Is the King agreeing with this sentence?‘, the judge spoke loudly.

‚I do not agree with it‘, said King Rogar, while looking directly in my eyes.

‚What? Why?‘, the crowd went, ‚He just can’t simply live! It will be his fault if more of us die through the hand of humans!‘, one demon shouted.

‚They are right my lord‘, said the judge, ‚He must be punished and he cannot just work or rot in jail. The other demons wouldn’t accept it and it could create uproars.‘, the judge whispered to the King and had an anxious look on his face.

‚Silence!‘, yelled the king, ‚The death sentence shall not be his end, for the only reason that it wasn’t entirely his fault. He fought bravely against an enemy with power beyond our knowledge. However, he cannot live in the Kalath Empire as the law says. I know the perfect sentence for you. Auron Firelyn, by the power of the Kalath entrusting to me, the king, you shall become a banished one for the eternity!‘

Banished? Banished from Kalath. My homeland…all my memories.

People in the court were screeching of happiness and also from discontent, but I couldn’t hear them.

All I heard was the king’s final sentence: Banished from our land for eternity! I didn’t know how to feel like. My life was spared, but it was destroyed in a single sentence.

The king came next to me, bent down to my ear and whispered: ‚Bring us back the Enind and you shall name Kalath home once again.‘

He then left the courthouse with his guards and his consultants. The citizens left right after, leaving me alone in the room, attached to the ground. He gave me a chance. The king believed in me and decided to give me the possibility to correct my mistake.

A demon came in with a short staff with a bright, flaming end. He pressed it on the side of my neck and shoulder. The pain was intense, but not as much as the moment in front of Sermons when I saw Sahari. How could someone I trusted so much make me feel so miserable? Is that what you get by those human feelings? I should have never learned how to feel.

The castigator then left, leaving me alone with the symbol of ‚the Banished One‚ on my body: an ornament, round shaped on the top of my shoulder and neck with a dot in it’s middle, long tribals wandering down my arm. The wound bled and I heard my blood dripping on the cold floor.

I leaned on my knees in the court without moving for an entire day, with my head lowered, thinking about what happened. When the sun rose, two guards came in the court to get me. They brought me to the western border of Kalath. Once there, they gave me my black robe, a leathery brown backpack and left. I felt so small, miserable, unworthy and emasculated. They took everything from me.

Alone… It was quite strange to be the only one around. I was used to live with my friends of the Therom Guardians, which are no more. Even though I didn’t had much to talk about with them and kept silent the most of the time; even when they had their fun.

I had to avenge them! I had to retrieve the Enind and bring it back to Kalath. But first, I needed to find Sermons and kill that rotten human for the reason I have become a Banished One. I will have my revenge. My flame won’t die out. It will catch all the air and will burst to the heights of the sky.

You shall be prepared, weak, human flesh.