Rupture: Rise of the Demon King

by Milo Woods

  “Some people came in here—bandits!” he said. He took a deep breath. “They went through my clothes, but I attacked them with magic. They tied me up and fed me raxanweed.” He pointed to Luxant’s room. “I don’t know what they did to Dad … I didn’t go in his room but I heard shouting and … and …” He began to cry. “Sister! They hurt Parcel! They hurt Daddy!” He hugged her and cried into her leg.

  Mori placed a hand on his small head. “It’s okay, Zach. I’ll go with you to check on Dad. Seeko, you go check on Hannet.”

  With that, the brother and sister headed back down the right hallway. Seeko watched them for a little bit, then looked the opposite direction. Hannet’s door is ajar as well … He moved silently and slowly to the doorway, gulping as he approached. He peered in through the crack.

  Nothing. I can’t see anything. The worn-out hero took a deep breath, and reached for the door handle …

  At that second, the door burst open and a large man stood in the doorframe. Seeko’s heart stopped and he jumped. When his heart began again, he said, “Keith?”

  “Seeko. The bandits have taken Hannet.” His voice was strained and it cracked near the end of the sentence. “I will retrieve her.” Keith walked past him, running into the hero with a shoulder.

  “Wait! We’ll go with you!”

  “You’ll slow me down …” Keith said without stopping. He was at the staircase now.

  Seeko followed behind him. “How do you know where they’re taking her?”

  “Because I know who took her.” He was already at the bottom of the steps.

  Seeko was close behind. “Who?”

  Keith stopped, only for a moment. He glanced back at Seeko, silhouetted in the doorway by a flash of lightning. Then he rushed the front doors and ran into the darkness, using his magic to augment his speed. Within a moment, he was swallowed by darkness.

  “Keith!” Seeko called after. No response. Who took her? Why would bandits take her?

  “She could be useful—she can see the future after all,” Kerodesis chimed in.

  Seeko ignored him, as usual. How would Keith know who took her? Maybe there’s evidence in the room. He headed back to Hannet’s room, shot a tiny flame at the candle on the desk, and examined the room in detail.

  As soon as he’d lit the candle, he wished he hadn’t.

  Lorissa lay on the ground, a wicked cut across her neck. Warm blood pooled beneath her. His gaze locked on her throat, still spilling blood onto the floor. His stomach flipped and he knelt over as his body heaved.

  “Can’t take a little blood?” Kerodesis said.

  He backed a step away from her, slipping on a crumpled piece of bloodstained paper. He reached for the paper and pocketed it.

  He left the room to clear his mind, shutting the door and hiding the horror away from Mori. He slumped down on the floor, back to the door, and began to tear up again.

  Eventually, Seeko unwrinkled the paper he’d pocketed. It had been torn from what Seeko assumed was Lorissa’s journal:

  Seeko,

  Not much time

  the Voices, the awful voices

  He changed me. you know HIM

  Thief in SCARF took Hannet

  The rest of the note was indecipherable. He tried to calm his roiling stomach and think about what happened here. Thief in scarf? Who is that? Keith couldn’t have taken Hannet; I saw him leave.

  Seeko pursed his lips. The other part is more understandable. Yoshino must have somehow changed her into a demon, like me. Hmmm … Why was the Mother wailing in the Voice? Did he turn them all into demons?

  He continued to think in the hallway until Mori and Zach returned. “What’s, uh, what’s up with Luxant?” Seeko asked, watching the floor to hide his sorrow.

  “He was unconscious when we found him. He’s been beat up and has lost some blood. I would have healed him, but I’m spent. Zach and I bandaged him up the best we could and moved him to his bed.” Mori moved closer to Seeko, whispering in an ear, “He doesn’t look too good. He needs a healer.”

  Seeko rose and took a deep breath. Then he relayed what had happened to Hannet, Lorissa, and Keith. He gave the now crying Mori the note.

  She read it and handed it back. “I … I think I know who took the girl."

  “How?”

  “In Irris, they mistook Keith for another bandit leader: Greg. I think that the scarf must have been the way they identified him. So Greg probably took her.”

  “Why would he take her?”

  “I don’t know, Seeko. It’s only a guess. Who else would wear a scarf? She wouldn’t have written it down if it wasn’t important.”

  “She wasn’t herself …”

  “This was really personal for Keith. He was first mistaken for Greg, and now Greg has taken Hannet. It seems like this Greg, if that is who it is, really is out for blood.”

  He grabbed her hand. “We need to avenge her death,” Seeko said as thunder rumbled outside.

  “We need to rest. We can grieve tomorrow.”

  Her tears kept coming. Seeko wiped one away.

  “And Keith? What about him?” he asked.

  “Tomorrow, Seeko. My heart can’t take much more right now.”

  Zach looked to Mori with his soft eyes. “Sister, can I sleep with you tonight?” he asked in his most timid voice.

  Mori glanced to Seeko. “Sure, Zach,” she responded. “Tomorrow, we will bury her. I don’t want to leave Zach here alone, so we’ll see if there are any servants and guards left tomorrow and we’ll help them clean up.”

  “Keith will get a large lead on us.” Seeko looked down. “I hate this,” he muttered. “First Kazuma, then Lorissa … Who’s next? I’m putting everyone in danger. The closer I get to finishing, the more people die.”

  Mori hugged him. “Seeko, it’s okay. People knew what they were signing up for when—”

  “Did they? Did they really know a super-powerful demon was out to get me, killing all who oppose him? For what? We don’t even know!”

  “Seeko …” She kissed him but he didn’t return it.

  “I lied. I am going back outside. I have someone to bury. Someone else.”

  Tears welled up in his eyes and he broke the hug. Then he entered Hannet’s room, leaving Mori alone in the hallway.

  / / / / /

  The next day was long for Seeko, Mori, and Zach. Seeko and Mori woke up early in the morning, quickly discovering that two servants had hidden in the house and were now stealing things. At the sight of Mori, the two young servants, one male and one female, dropped the stolen goods. After a quick chastising from Mori, the servants agreed to help Seeko and Mori clean up. The female was actually strong in earth magic, they soon discovered, so she and Seeko buried the dead while Mori and the male aided the wounded Luxant.

  Zach woke after a few hours. By then, the dead were in the ground, and so the five of them went about cleaning the house. The house was presentable by midafternoon. Mori gave the servants a new task of hiring new guards from the town militia while she and Seeko repaired the gate.

  They were still working on the gate when Zach came running to them. “Sister!” he said. “Father is awake. He wants to talk to you.” Zach nodded to Seeko. “He wants to talk to the hero also.”

  Seeko and Mori exchanged glances.

  “The gate is pretty much repaired,” Seeko said. “It’s still fragile, but hopefully people will stay away now that it’s up again.” With that, the three headed back to the manor.

  Luxant’s eyes opened weakly upon hearing the trio enter the room. “Mori …” he said faintly, “the bandits who attacked …”

  “Don’t worry about them, Father. They are gone now, so save your strength. What did you want to talk to us about?”

  “My son tells me that the sun is out for the first time in a long time …” Seeko hadn’t noticed; he had been busy all day.

  “He says that you and the hero have stopped the demons, have stopped the storm caused by them …” He coughed.
“Have stopped the demon portal.” He closed his eyes. “In my foolishness, I have neglected you, Mori.” A tear appeared in one eye. “I have always neglected you. I have never listened to you. I was too proud …”

  Mori moved close and held his hand.

  Luxant looked to Seeko. “And you, hero … You must be something special if my daughter has taken an interest in you. I have underestimated you …” He smiled. “You will pay me back for the lighthouse, right?” He laughed, but it quickly evolved into another coughing spasm.

  “Dad,” Mori said gently. “Get some rest …”

  “Mori …” he said. “The rebels … took the girl. I know where they are heading. My soldiers have followed them before.”

  “Where?” Seeko asked. “One of our friends hunts them now.”

  “They are past the Yedra Mountains, in their hideout … They call it Eclipse. Their leader is Greg, leader of the Shadow of Dawn.”

  “Yes, I have heard about them. How big are they?” Seeko asked.

  “I have no idea,” Mori said. “Regardless of their size, Keith is going to need help to get Hannet free. He can’t take down a whole army.”

  Zach’s eyes lit up. “Oh, can I go with you? I want to help!”

  Mori placed a hand on his head. “You have to stay here and take care of the manor and of Dad. That’s even more important than this.”

  Zach stuck out his lower lip. “That’s no fun! I never get to do anything!”

  Luxant looked to his son. “Son … Mori will not be here … and so you will have to take up my mantle … Maybe sooner than you think.” Another tear rolled down his cheek. “It will take years to recover from this … You will save our family, Zach.” He squeezed Mori’s hand. “And you, my daughter … you will save the world.” His grip loosened and his voice strengthened. “Go, my daughter. Go, hero. Save us! I believe in you! You will always have Luxant behind you!” He rose a shaky arm and pointed at the door. “Don’t come back unless those demons are gone!” With that, his arm collapsed and he instantly fell into a deep sleep.

  Mori smiled. “Still being hard, even at the gates of death. Zach, make sure he has plenty of water, and when the servants return, have them replace his bandages.” She grabbed Seeko’s hand. “You heard the man. Let’s go, hero. We have a world to save!”

  27: Coercion

  4 Seek, 112 AV: Day 193

  Before Seeko and Mori left the following morning to pursue Keith, they paid a visit to Lorissa’s grave. The windy autumn morning blew the few remaining clouds out of the azure sky and brought the sun fully to Merina for the first time in weeks.

  Seeko’s eyes scanned the stone tombstone they had made for her. He vowed to avenge the poor girl. Seeko remembered the agony of becoming a demon, the pain Yoshino put him (and now her) through, and a tear came to his eye.

  He looked to the ruins of the lighthouse. If he hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have died. If he had left any other night … she wouldn’t have died. He would have protected her from … from this.

  “Lorissa was nobody’s enemy,” Seeko began after wiping a tear away. “She was nothing but helpful and kind and sweet …” Seeko choked up and couldn’t continue.

  “She had a hard life,” Mori continued. “It wasn’t fair that it ended so harshly. We all will mourn her, but Nyeri has her in her loving embrace. She will be safe from harm now.”

  Silence settled on the duo, silence that cut deep. The quiet reminded Seeko that there was no one else now, no one but Mori and he, and he retreated into his mind.

  Only he couldn’t stay there, either, for someone was waiting for him: “It was Keith,” Kerodesis said. “Keith killed her. Kill him for this!”

  Seeko looked back to the grave. “Yoshino killed her.” But that wasn’t true. When Seeko had been transformed into a demon, he was still “alive.” The tears came again, knowing that her fate was worse than death, that she had been trapped in the confines of her mind until someone put her out of her misery.

  Seeko reached out to the Mother through the Voice, but knew that connection was severed as well. The only one who could have saved her was dead now.

  “Do you think Keith killed her?” Seeko asked Mori. He couldn’t believe that he was letting Kerodesis get to him.

  “Greg killed her.”

  Seeko shook his head. “No. I killed her. I couldn’t protect her. Or Hannet. Now Keith is gone too. We could have saved her if we had waited. None of this would have happened if we had just waited!”

  “Seeko,” Mori said, placing an arm around his waist, “you had no idea that this would happen—”

  “Hannet would have known! Ahhh … that’s even worse! If I had killed Vishoni the first time, then she wouldn’t have been wounded and everything would be fine!”

  Seeko let loose an orange fireball into the sky, roaring for a fate not fair. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mori was crying. Was it because of Lorissa? Him? He didn’t care. He moved to her and held her close, not letting her see his own tears.

  Eventually, the duo composed themselves and readied themselves to catch Keith. They stood at the edge of Port Merina, Seeko holding his resupplied bag by its strap, Mori at his side, watching a light wind brush the grass like waves in a green sea.

  “Just us again,” Seeko said distantly. He swung his bag onto his back and placed his hand on the hilt of his new sword.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get Keith and Hannet,” Mori said, new rapier on her belt.

  “I hope so.” Images of a still Kazuma flooded his mind, followed by Lorissa’s cold, lifeless body. “They have to be alive. Keith deserves a piece when I tear Yoshino to shreds.”

  They moved along the dirt road. “One thing at a time, Seeko,” Mori said. “We have to close the portals first. The Mother said so.”

  Seeko kicked a rock. “She deserved to be there too.”

  He trudged ahead silently. Who was he to control the fate of a world? He was just a nobody from another planet. Even if he was actually from here, Earth was his home. He thought back on his vision of Yoshino arguing with that man. Yoshino couldn’t remember his past, but it did happen. And he was both the cause and the solution. He watched Mori walk alongside him.

  I’m here now; that’s all that matters. And my priority is to protect my friends. Again he thought of the friends he had already lost. And I will do better this time.

  / / / / /

  Keith stood high above Eclipse, a large village of criminals, hidden within the trees of the Yedra mountainside. Bandits conversed by fires around the houses, and a stable holding kitsean mounts stood on the edge of the village, next to the path up the mountain.

  He scanned the wooden buildings for one man: Greg. His search rewarded him and his eyes eventually landed on Greg’s light blue scarf. Greg spoke with some of the other bandits before heading toward what Keith assumed was Greg’s house. It was larger than the others and had the rebel flag, red with a black half-circle, hanging above the entrance.

  When I get ahold of you Greg, Keith thought as he propelled himself down the mountain, there will be no escape.

  He used bushes as cover and his wind magic to keep him upright on the steep slopes. The dirt shifted beneath his feet as he came to a stop at the bottom. He scanned his surroundings once more before dashing for the stable.

  Keith opened the gate and pushed the kitseans into an uproar with a burst of wind. The creatures cried and burst out the open gate, rampaging into the village. Keith jumped onto one, riding it into the bandit camp.

  The rebels fled as the herd of kitseans trampled through the town. Keith jumped off the beast, landing in front of Greg’s house. Rebels grabbed their weapons and came running toward him, but Keith ignored them and rushed inside.

  Greg stood opposite of a large table from Keith. He wore almost the same clothes as Keith, except nicer, with a brown trim. He had the same short golden hair but an older face.

  “Ah, hello again, Keith,” Greg said with a grin. “Always have to
enter dramatically, I see,” Greg added, watching the kitseans rumble past his window.

  Keith looked around at the other people standing in the lowly lit room with their weapons drawn. “Where’s Hannet?” he said.

  “Oh.” Greg smiled and pointed to a door. It opened and there stood a bandit, holding a struggling Hannet. “You mean her?” Greg asked.

  Hannet resisted, trying to squirm out of his grasp. “Keith!” she cried.

  “So … you want her, do you?” Greg said. “Then get me what I want.”

  Keith pulled out his sword. “Give her to me—now!”

  Greg smirked. “I wouldn’t do that, Keith.”

  Hannet’s holder pressed a dagger to her neck. Keith looked at her before lowering his weapon.

  “That’s better,” Greg said.

  “What do you want, then?” Keith asked. “What have I done to deserve this?”

  Greg tapped on his chin, pretending to think. “Well, you were with those filthy Irenics … and after they burned down our town, you joined them. Reports have you marching to fight your own country.”

  “I am not allied to the Irenic Empire. I only travel with the ones who saved my life.”

  Greg spat at his feet. “So one good deed trumps all other loyalties—including family? Including your own brother?”

  Keith lowered his head. “The kid I travel with is not a true Irenic; he is the Hero of Endetia.”

  Greg turned away from him. “That’s what I had heard, and that is why I need you.” Greg walked up to the table, placing his hand on the map placed atop it. “I heard that he holds some necklaces, and they control demons.”

  “That’s not true. They open a portal to the demons, but they don’t obey anyone.”

  A grin spread across Greg’s face. “If the Halcyon can harness their power, so can we. And once we have that power, we can defeat the wretched Irenic once and for all.”

  “So you want me to steal the necklaces from Seeko? No,” Keith said. “You have no idea what damage those demons can do. They’re too dangerous.”

  “You will get me those necklaces or your girl here will die.” Greg pointed to Hannet, who now had a dagger flush against her neck. “The necklaces hold power within them. I will use them to control these monsters.”