Ultimate Assassin Saga: Escape

He reached out and pulled open the door. Then, he stepped into the illuminated hallway and shut the door behind him. He stood still and waited until his cobalt blue eyes adjusted to the change of light. Sunlight to torchlight wasn't anything like one another after all and one's eyes took a while to adjust. When his eyes finally did adjust, he walked down the hallway and entered into the open living area. Much to his surprise, his mother was there, and not to his surprise, she didn't look very happy.

Queen Kira was sitting on the large green couch that dominated the room and she was glaring at him. He stopped in the door and he raised his head high, looking at her, taking in the features of his mother. She was tall, over six foot tall, and voluptuous. She had long ink black hair that fell to the small of her back unrestrained and cobalt blue eyes set in a tanned; regal face. She wore a black leather breastplate with silver embroidery on the chest and stomach, a short black leather skirt that fell to the tops of her thighs, knee high black leather boots, and a black leather belt with a ringblade strapped to both of her hips.

"Why have you brought a Demon to the village?" Kira asked, her voice filled with anger. He'd expected this from her if he was honest with himself. For her not to be angry with such an action would've been the thing that would've surprised him. No, she was reacting just how he'd expected her too. He still didn't like it though. She was his mother after all and he'd been taught well by his mother to never be disrespectful to her. He'd learned that lesson well. "You have put our people in danger and for what? What possible reason could you possibly have that justifies bringing that beast of the Abyss to our home?

The Guard Captain didn't immediately answer. He stood there, allowing her to yell and rant. That was the best thing for him to do. Wait until she exhausted her anger and was ready to actually speak calmly, with logic instead of emotion. Right now she was merely frightened and anxious with the possibilities of what could go wrong. She didn't know the facts like he did and he gave her credit for that. Anyone else with her power would've demanded that the Demon be killed and not wait for any explanation. She was different from that however and she was keeping herself in check - mostly.

The Amazon Prince stepped forward towards his mother. He watched as her eyes - the eyes that he had in his own head - snapped up to glare into his face. He was a little taken aback by this, but he didn't show it in his face or in his posture. He continued to walk forward until he was before his Queen and mother. Then, without a word, he sank to his knees in front of her and bowed his head, bowing to his Queen. This was the only way to calm her after all and he knew it. He knew his mother like no one else.

After several minutes, he raised his head and he spoke, explaining himself.

"We were ambushed by those hells blasted creatures and we were losing badly. Then, the Demon appeared and he helped us to strike them down. In fact, he did most of the work and we barely had to do anything. It is because of him that I am here telling you this and that my patrol even returned from duty." Tide answered as honestly as he could. He watched her face change from outrage to interest as he spoke, and when he was done, he continued to stare at her. She seemed...confused by what he'd said. He couldn't really blame her. It was confusing to him also.

What could a Demon get out of helping them against those Hell Beasts?

The Amazon Queen signaled with one hand for him to rise. He bowed his head one last time and he rose slowly to his feet. When he was standing, he looked at his mother and he waited for her to speak. What she was thinking, he had no idea. He had never been able to read her in the past and it would seem that things were yet to change. She was a closed book just as much now as she'd been when he was growing up. In fact, it had been his father that had raised him mostly and had taken care of he and his siblings when they were growing up.

"I will call your sister back home. She will see that we find out what the motives of this Demon's are." Kira said, her voice soft. It seemed that she was speaking more to herself than to him, but he nodded his head anyway. He knew that if there was anyone that could learn of the Demon's true motives, it would be his sister. After all, she was the High Shaman of the Amazons, and thus, the most powerful of the Mages that they had. She would discover his motives and there was no way for him to hide from her magic. "Until she returns, I want the Demon guarded heavily by a dozen of your best and make sure that they all know that if he escapes, that they are to kill him."

"Yes, Mother." Tide replied instantly. He was the Captain of the Guard and he knew to do his duty. He was the most tied to his duty than any other person. Maybe it was because he was the Heir to the Throne or perhaps because he was a real warrior, but it didn't really matter. He was loyal to his mother and he was loyal to the Amazon people. That was all that mattered.

The Guard Captain bowed his head low to his mother and he turned around, walking away from his mother towards the front door of her home to do what he was bidden to do. He could only hope that his sister learned soon enough what the Demon was doing here and if the man was really a threat to them. His instincts told him that Acheron wasn't an enemy, but they had to be careful with such things. If his instincts were wrong, it could mean the end of his people.

No, Tide wasn't going to take any chances.

Chapter 6

Acheron sat in the corner in complete silence and waited. He had his eyes closed and his chin down on his chest. He'd been crouching in the same corner for two days and he was yet to move. The time had passed by swiftly because of his ability to fall into meditation so easily. He was in no hurry to get out, but if he could get out sooner rather than later, he wasn't going to complain. After all, if he didn't get out soon, his brother might think that he couldn't escape and send Demons to slaughter the Humans. He wouldn't be able to handle that weighing on his conscious so he did want to get out here pretty soon. If not to leave, then to help the Humans with their problems.

He drew himself from his reverie and opened his eyes. His meditation faded away and he rose to his feet. He was able to walk five steps to one wall and five more back. He tried making smaller steps, but it was still five there and five back. He didn't like small, confined areas. They reminded him far too much of his time in the Abyss when he'd been under attack from other Demons. Sometimes he'd found himself in confined spaces and he hated it. He wasn't afraid of confined spaces, he just didn't like them. Hell, who did like them? He couldn't think of a single person, but he supposed that there were people out there that would like small spaces.

The Chaos Demon shook his head and he snorted at his own thoughts. What the hell kind of rambling was that? He was thinking of his hatred for confined spaces while he was locked in a prison cell. Granted, he knew that he shouldn't be in there, but he also knew that he could get out anytime that he wanted. After all, he had the magic do to so and there were no magic dampening runes on the prison cell. It would seem that the Guard Captain trusted that he would stay in the cell and not use his magic to escape.

Thinking of that man, he stopped in the middle of the room. He had to admit that he'd been surprised by Tide and his level head. Then again, he was the commanding officer and he had to have a level head to be able to reach his rank. That was assuming of course that he had earned the rank and hadn't been given it. He didn't seem like that kind of man and he respected him for that. However, that didn't mean that he had to like the man, but for some reason, he found that he did.

Tide was a good man, that much he could tell. As far as everything else went, he didn't know. There was one other thing that he knew as well: he was a great warrior. He'd seen the man fight with his greatsword, and if he hadn't known any better, he would've thought the man was a Demon instead of the Human that he clearly was. He snorted and smiled a little. If the man had been a Demon, his skills and power would've rivaled even Acheron's. As it stood now, the man stood no chance against him and neither did any of the other Amazons. He had no doubt that they were a powerful people, but he was a Demon and Demons were well known for their power.

Well, Upper Flight Demons anyway.

The Lesser and Middle Flight Demons were less powerful. Just as they were less than Human looking, they were of a lower intelligence and of lesser emotions. They thought little and thirsted for blood, much like the Minions that the Upper Flights commanded. Of course, the Lesser Flight Demons were controlled by the Upper Flights of the Clan that they belonged to, but the Upper Flights never cared for the Lesser Flights. No, they were treated as cannon fodder and it didn't matter how many of them died. They could be replaced with one summoning spell that would bring ten more through from the Abyss.

That was the real power behind Dalkia and why they hadn't fallen long ago.

The Mages of Dalkia could summon anywhere from one thousand to one hundred thousand Demons from the Abyss at a time. It all depended on the strength of the Mage and the Flights that they were summoning. Lesser Flights were born of the Abyss every minute of every day by the thousands so they were in abundance to summon. Middle Flights weren't born as often, but their births were still pretty frequent. However, Upper Flights were only born every one hundred years and that made the Upper Flights of the Clans of Dalkia golden. They weren't expendable like the Middle and Lesser Flight Demons.

It was because of that one simple fact that Dalkia had become the power that it had become. Also, the Mages had a habit of summoning the Dark Races from the Realms of Chaos and ensnaring them in slavery. The Crown of Dalkia held over a half million of the Dark Races as slaves and cannon fodder. When one was looking to expend resources to learn something, they used the Dark Races. They did so because the Dark Races were easier to summon and they were infinite in number.

With that sort of power and that lack of morals, Dalkia had risen to become the supreme power of the Center Continent. Unlike the other Kingdoms and Empires, their soldiers were nearly infinite. They could send wave upon wave of soldiers against them, completely destroying every single man, woman, and child within their kingdom. Even if the forces of Dalkia were dealt a heavy blow, as long as the Mages survived - which was very likely because of their magic and their ability to flee conflict - Dalkia would be able to rebuild. That was the real power of Dalkia: their numbers.

Well, that and Acheron himself, but that was irrelevant now.

The Chaos Demon chuckled low under his breath. Even trying to be quiet, the chuckle echoed off of the walls and he knew that there were others within the prison building. His cell was at the very end without one across from his, but he could sense the others. Since he'd been in here, several men had been released from their cells, but he was still here. He was certain that their crimes were minor offenses like burglary or something like that, but his offense was apparently a grave one. He'd dared to assist the Humans in their time of need, and now, he sat in a cell.

He smiled and shook his head. It really amazed him sometimes how far racism could go. Granted, the majority of Demons WERE evil and he wasn't going to lie to say that they weren't. However, he'd assisted the Humans and they'd thought that he was fooling them in some way. He didn't really blame them though. After all, there were Demons who were famous for deceiving people only to get what they wanted, and once they got it, they would sink their blades into their backs. Most Demons had no conscious and only cared about what they could get out of the world.

That wasn't Acheron and it never had been. Even when he'd lived in the Abyss - that blasted Hell Plane - he'd cared for the one's that he'd killed if they didn't deserve the death. The only problem with that was that most of the creatures that he'd killed in the Abyss were other Demons and they'd deserved their death. He hadn't killed anyone unless they came after him or his brother. Since he'd been on the Mortal Plane however, things had changed. There were many people that he'd killed over the years that he felt bad about killing, but it hadn't stopped him from doing so.

After all, it had been for the good of Dalkia or so he'd thought. If it required the deaths of innocent people who'd never done anything to them, then what good was there in those actions? Plain and simple answer, there wasn't any good in it. Because Azrieal had never pushed him too far, he'd never betrayed him and he'd made sure to kill every mark that he wanted dead. That was, until this last mission of course.

The Emperor wanted him to go after Trissieal and her son. However, because of previous contact with Trissieal, he couldn't do that. He couldn't push aside his conscious and kill her. No, there was no way that he could look that woman in the eyes and sink his blade into her heart. It was impossible. So, he'd done the only thing that he could do: he'd fled. There was no way that he could kill someone that he loved and he knew that so he had made the decision right then and there in his brother's office that he would never be going back. He didn't fool himself into thinking that the Emperor wouldn't send forces after him to bring him back to kill him or punish him, but he could deal with that.

He could deal with anything if it meant that Trissieal would be safe and protected.

Acheron's head shot up and he narrowed his eyes as he heard the door to the prison open. He lifted his nose into the air and he took a few experimental sniffs of the air. Being a Demon, his senses were stronger than that of most animals and he would be able to smell whoever it was that had come through the front doors. He would just have to sift through the smells of the prisoners and the prison itself before he could. After several seconds, he found the scent and he nearly smiled. It was a floral; woodsy smell and it was wafting strongly down the corridors of the prison, directly to his nose.

Seconds later, the scent was rounding the corner and the person that the scent belonged to rounded the corner at the same time. He narrowed his eyes and he took in the figure even as it walked towards him. It was a woman, that much was obvious, but due to the low light, he could make out little else. As she moved closer, the floral scent got stronger and he felt his blood rushing south to fill his cock, engorging it which created a large bulge in the front of his black pants. He was yet to see the woman fully yet, but for some reason, he was already reacting to her. Never before had he reacted this way to a woman before without first seeing her.

Then, the floral scented woman stepped into the torchlight and he took in her features. She was tall, about five foot ten, and voluptuous. She had long silver hair that fell to the backs of her thighs unrestrained and amber colored eyes set in a tanned; regal face. She wore a sleeveless white dress with a low cut neckline that fell to mid-thigh and clung to all her curves, a pair of black strapped sandals, and wrapped around both of her slender wrists were bone-white bracelets. Narrowing his eyes, he noted that they weren't just bone white, but actual bone.

Interesting. Very interesting.

"So, you are the Demon that everyone's so worried about." the woman said, her voice smooth and gentle. As she spoke, she took a step towards the cell and he could see her pink lips were spread in a light smile. Was she actually not taking him seriously? To his enemies, that would be a grave mistake and would end in their death. However, he knew that he couldn't kill this woman. Not because he wasn't able to, but because he wanted to show these people that he wasn't evil like other Demons. "You don't look like a bad guy, but then again, those with the faces of Angels can be the cruelest of Devils."

The woman's quip was short and obvious. She giggled at her own words, but he didn't laugh. He didn't so much as smile. No, he didn't care for her jokes and her idle chatter. He wanted to know who the hell she was and why she was here. Before he could ask, she stepped closer and he noticed the way her melon sized breasts were accentuated by the dress that she wore. They were the most beautiful pair of breasts he'd ever seen on a woman. His cock raged even harder in his pants, but when he realized what he was doing, he was drawn from his reverie and he looked up into her eyes. Those golden orbs were glowing with her amusement and it was obvious that she knew what he'd been looking at.

"Who are you?" Acheron asked, his voice carefully blanked of all emotion. He stood there, staring directly into her eyes and not allowing his stare to dip any lower. He'd never been driven by lust before in his many centuries of life, but it seemed that he was getting old. It seemed that this phase of his life, he was going to be driven by sex and desperation to escape. Then again, it could've been the woman in front of him, he didn't know. He straightened his spine. "I can sense that you aren't like the rest of the Humans. You are different. More powerful somehow."

The silver haired woman smiled at him as if he'd said something funny. However, he knew that he hadn't said anything funny. All he'd done was state the facts. She did feel different from the other Humans and there was a certain power about her that he couldn't lay his fingers on. It was magical in essence, but it was immensely different from his own magical skill. He drew his magic from his demonic power, but this woman seemed to draw her's from a cleaner source. Something far more pure. He wanted to know what it was and he wanted to know now, but answers didn't seem to be rushing at him any time soon.

"My name is Twister." the silver haired woman answered easily enough. He could detect no lie in her voice so he assumed that she was telling the truth. Then again, she might've just been a really skilled liar and hid the lie from him. He didn't think that she would lie about her name, but stranger things had happened. As he watched, she produced a brass key from nowhere and she slid it into the cell door lock. As if it wasn't a big deal, she turned the key and she opened the cell door. He managed to keep his composure, but he did blink a couple times while looking at her. "As for who I am, I'm the High Shaman of the Amazon people and I will discover if you mean my people harm or not."

Before the Chaos Demon could say a word, the woman stepped inside and her hands shot out to his face, her fingers digging into the side of his head. Before he could wonder what the hell the woman was doing, he felt a power pulse through him and he gasped in surprise. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. His mouth had gone bone dry, but that wasn't something that was concerning him. No, what he was seeing behind his own eyes was concerning him.

It was his past.

There were flashes of his time in the Abyss, of the Demons and Minions that he'd killed. He saw himself working with his brother as they cut down an extremely powerful Upper Flight Demon. He remembered that as clear as day, but he hadn't thought of that moment in hundreds of years. Then, the memories moved on to when they'd come from the Abyss through a portal and they'd built a stone house right where they'd come through. It was there that they'd begun their conquering of the Mortal Plane and it was in that very spot where the foundation for the Palace of Dalkia resided to this day.