Author: Vanpolan

Zark got up from the ground, noticing leaves covering the ground everywhere around him. How did he end up in what looked like the woods?

He scratched his head, trying to think about the last thing he had managed to do before ending up here. Then he remembered he got a hard kick right through the elevator and passed out, but how did he end up in the woods?

An open path in the woods makes him hesitant because it always ends in trouble when someone has it served right in front of you. He started to walk a couple of meters off the path but followed it to check where it would lead him. The brown leaves covered the ground everywhere, and it was apparent that wintertime was coming. Easter did always look like this in Sweden.

After walking for a few minutes, he noticed someone on the path. He quickly hid behind the three and monitored to understand better who it was. It was a woman with blue hair playing with the leaves hanging on the trees. Zarks eyes widened because she was the most beautiful woman he had seen in his life, but she was also not freezing in the cold. He quickly went to another tree as he heard the woman speak, curious about what she was saying and with whom she was talking. He saw that the woman had a white-haired girl by her side.

“Why did not someone tell me about this place earlier? There is so much happiness, with the leaves changing colour depending on the season and the weather changing without magic. The Earth’s citizens also behave nicely, smiling, especially the men.” The woman said.

“Oh…Waow Master! You do not think the men are smiling because of how you dress sometimes, Meldan, the cleavage,” The little girl said sarcastically.

“Stop it, Veronica!” Meldan said while laughing.

When he heard the name Veronica he couldn’t believe it, the girl was only a child. What was even more surprising was that she called the woman her Master. He tried hard to remember the name, but nobody came to mind. Someone was yelling from a distance, making Meldan and Victoria move with haste. Zark quickly followed after them, curious about where the Hell he would end up. Meldan and Victoria moved quicker, making Zark fall behind, trying to keep up with them. He knew Victoria was a Witch, which meant Meldan must also be a Witch because she was Victoria’s Master.

After trying to keep up with them for a while, he noticed they had disappeared, and precisely the moment he was going to slow down, he fell on the ground and slid a couple of meters. He looked around and saw a couple of lockers. Was he at the university now? It was not the same type of building. The lockers were different colours and much smaller. He quickly got up from the ground, noticing an open door in the corridor. When he checked quickly, he saw a man in a black costume breaking the legs on the chairs, which he thought was slightly odd.

“Excuse me! Where am I, and what are you doing?” He asked.

The man turned around and surprised Zark because the man was himself. He was slightly different because he had a bit of a beard, and the brown hair looked completely different.

“Are you like the ‘I have a girlfriend now and moved on in my life’ version of me?” He asked.

The man picked up the broken legs, and with a swift, hard chest kick, Zark flew into the lockers. One of the sticks other Zark had created came flying at full speed, and he managed to tilt his head right in the last second as the stick made a big hole in the locker, barely missing his face. Zark coughed from the hard kick and tried to get up from the ground when a roar echoed through the corridor with smoke covering the area and other Zark threw another stick, hitting something in the smoke when suddenly a big creature slid on the floor.

“Wh…What is that?” Zark asked.

The other one looked at him with a surprised look.

“You don’t seem to be with them?” The Other one asked.

Zark quickly got up from the ground, not grasping what was happening.

“I don’t understand anything…Zark, how did I end up here?” Zark asked.

“Never mind that I need you to focus. The stairs behind us. Do not let the enemy go all the way down the stairs.” The Other one told him.

The smoke disappeared, and Zark could not believe his eyes. There were several people there looking exactly like him but wearing different clothes. They approached them quickly, and The Other One prepared himself in a fighting pose when Zark noticed blood dripping down from his blazer. Zark holds his hand in front of The Other One and told him:

“I can’t let you go first. It would hurt my pride. You are injured, so you stay on the back.” Zark told him, which surprised The Other One.

Several versions of Zarks approached quickly, and Zark moved forward, preparing for battle. One of them with a white shirt started to climb the ceiling above with the tie hanging down. Zark quickly jumped and pulled it down hard as it hit the ground. In the same movement, a high right kick came towards him as he lifted his arm to protect his face, and a low kick from the left as Zark quickly lifted his left leg with a low kick missing his leg and he, with a swift move gave a hard kick on the Hawaii version of himself to the right. The version on the ground with baggy pants did scissor kicks, making Zark fall to the ground, and quickly, The Other One made a roundhouse knee kick on the baggy one, making the enemy back away. Zark got up from the ground as both of them got ready to face the enemy again, but several more versions of Zark came forward. But one dressed in black gave nasty vibes and smiled in the back.

“I will go and shield the stairs. Please hold them back.” The Other One told Zark, who got confused because this couldn’t be real.

The black-dressed version of Zark went to the front; its eyes turned red, and it looked like it would have a fun time. Two quick steps forward made a quick fly kick on Zark’s chest, and his reaction time was not even close to the black-dressed version of himself. He tried to get up before a hard right kick hit his cheek, and with full force, he flew towards the stairs with the right side of his hip, taking the first major hit and then hitting his shoulder against the wall with his head, taking damage. A blood pool surrounds his head on the floor as he sees The Other One down on the stairs looking at him.

“I am sorry!” The Other One said and started to run away in the corridor, disappearing from Zark’s sight.

Something sounding like chanting is heard from a distance as Zark pulls himself down the stairs to see what The Other One is trying to protect. Someone grabbed Zark from behind, throwing him down the stairs as he knew it was over for him now. The left eye was swollen and shut, with the other one covered in blood. Slowly, he tried hard to rise from the ground, but his hips on the right side did not function. He managed to get up on the other knee to try looking around and tried hard to wipe off the blood from his right eye. It was blurry, but someone was standing not far from him.

“I can not let you go further to the doors behind me. It will destroy you, Zark!” It said.

The black figure moved closer and bent down, looking at Zark’s only open eye. Because everything was blurry, Zark could only notice two dots that suddenly looked like it was burning red fire. Did he meet a demon?

“Wh…Who are you?” Zark uttered.

It started to laugh at his question.

“We were buddies before, but I became occupied when you fell through the portal so I couldn’t support you properly. I am sorry for that. You should not be this deep in your mind. You can die if you can not handle it.” It explained.

Zark didn’t understand what it meant.

A High kick downwards towards Zark made everything go black.

The Alarm went off in the office as Victoria hurried to the Window with Abella. Zark’s heart had stopped, and several Witches worked on trying to get it beating again with the help of the machines in the room.

“No…no…no! I am here because of him and my Master. He can not give up now. None of this is supposed to happen to him.” Victoria said with a shaky voice, crying with her hands trembling.

Victoria put her hand on her mouth, not trying to make a sound as Jacqueline showed up beside her, looking at Zark.

“Old men always die in the end!” Jacqueline uttered.

She looked at the wall while one of the trainees had his palm pointed towards it.

“Ugh, Come on, Bertil! Squeeze in your asscheeks, and fire.” She told him in an annoying teenage voice.

“I am trying, Jacqueline. Why are you so demanding? Your organization contacted me and explained that I had powers. It is not my fault I can not get anything out of me.” Bertil tried explaining.

“Ugh! Why am I stuck with new Trainees as punishment? It is unfair that Greta was re-assigned after the last failed assignment.” Jacqueline uttered to herself.

Bertil kept making weird movements like he was trying to shoot toward the wall, and for a moment, a little bit of ash in a light blue colour came out from his palm, which was the size of a drop of water. Jacqueline followed it as it slowly swayed to the ground and disappeared in smoke. She looked at Bertil, surprised he couldn’t get any energy on his first day. Weirdly, he was sweating a lot and must have used up a lot of energy to make that puny shot. A little bit worried about his intense sweating and shaky moves he was doing she needed to check if everything was alright with him.

“Uh, you are sweating a lot, Bertil. Are you alright?” She asked.

He turned his head to the left towards her with a distraught look and responded:

“I think I popped in my pants; something big is covering my cheeks.”

She bent to the right to check behind him and noticed his cheeks were not balanced. Luckily, she couldn’t feel the smell at all.

When she quickly glared to the right, she saw her pet behind a container, gesturing with both claws in the air, signalling her to come to it.

“Maybe you should rest today, go home, and fix your…problem in your pants, Bertil!” She tried explaining that the training was over.

He walked away from the road, looking down at the ground, a little bit depressed about pooping his pants.

When the coast was clear, her pet came running to her and jumped up in her arms, looking satisfied to be reunited with her again. Both were smiling like they had been away from each other for a long time, but in reality, it had only been a couple of hours.

“Sjev Sjev!, Se, Sjev Sjeeeeev sjev!” It uttered Jacqueline, who was surprised.

“Are you sure, Kutt?”

“Sjev,” Kutt answered in a nodding matter.

“So, if we try to get on the mission, we can maybe find the Hunting Spear Of Destruction. Are you sure the spear is in Hell?” She asked.

Kutt nodded, smiling with her sharp teeth.

“Sjev sjev sjev?” Kutt Asked.

“We must try to sneak in on the assignment and go there with the investigator. He is a human, so he is weak. We are strong enough to protect humans and then try to find the spears. It can not be that hard, right Kutt?”

“Sjuuuuuuv!” Kutt roared out in the air in happiness.

“We are here now, Mr Zark!” The woman in the front seat said, noticing that Zark had fallen asleep during the one-hour drive back to the office.

He scratched his head and, yawning, gave the Witch a cold look before opening the door and stepping out. He noticed several Witches lined up in one line opposite each other, their heads bowing down to the ground. He opened the door and saw an older lady passing by him in a hurry. Zark slowly went in and noticed the Witches still having their heads bowed to the floor without any sound. When the door behind him closed, a wind blew through him from behind, and he quickly turned around, wondering how the closing of the door could cause that kind of wind when it was good weather outside. He walked between the lines of the still, quiet Witches, and one green-haired one was crying. He scratched his head as he slowly moved toward the elevator, and the Witches started commenting.

“Good luck, Mr. Zark! Please save the organization!” A black-haired Witched commented.

“So many Witches have died for the cause. Please be careful!” Another one with blue hair commented.

“Please save the baby, Mr Zark!” A yellow-haired one commented.

Zark thought the whole situation was weird because it is usually just a Hi or Hello when coming to the office.

When the doors to the elevator opened up, the green-haired one yelled out:

“YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY FAVORITE OF THE THREE!”

He stared at them with a surprised look when the strong wind he had felt earlier swooshed right through him. He pressed the button that said ten, and exactly when the door shut, he quickly turned around and hit with a right hook behind him. As he hit the mirror, he noticed a head temporarily showing itself before disappearing, and in the tight space, he tried to do a high kick with his left leg when a yellow light stopped the kick midair, and the invincible figure screamed out in the air:

“JACQ…YUK…IT!”

He noticed another yellow light coming towards him from beneath, and he tried to bend his head backwards quickly, but he had no chance with the lightning speed. It hit the jaw as he flew up with full force on the ceiling and fell on the figure as it showed itself looking like a teenage girl. He quickly tried elbowing her head with several blows as she protected herself with her hands, and he managed to get one clean hit on her right cheek when she made a mistake and turned her head a little bit. A light shone behind him as she taped both her feet together, and both of them flew up into the ceiling, with Zark taking the hit while his body protected her, and both fell on the ground. She quickly got up and circled him to keep her distance as he slowly got up near the door with blood-soaked hair. He spit blood on the floor and tried catching his breath as he asked her:

“Who are you?”

The elevator sounded as the doors slowly opened, and the girl’s right leg switched to a darker yellow light. He tried attacking her but to no avail. As time and space had stopped for Zark, he saw her jump in the air and tried to follow the movement, but he was going in slow-motion as she kicked him right on the chest as he flew out from the elevator and slid onto the floor with Veronica and Abella in chock on what was going on.

“My name is Jacqueline Hernandez!” She answered Zark’s question earlier as he was not moving on the ground.

Suddenly, a long red whip got pushed out from Zark’s right hand, which was long and burning in red fire.

“GET DOWN!” Veronica yelled out in the air as a red aura gushed from Zarks body. He slowly got up from the ground when Jacqueline entered the hallway.

“Have you not had enough old man?” She told him.

Zark swung his right arm backwards as the whip burned through the wall, crashing the outer windows and going through Victoria’s office with the blue shield deactivating as the whip, after 180 degrees, hit the ceiling, making a deep line and going through the Window. Zark then pushed his arm with a quick move forward, with Abella quickly kicking her assistant toward Victoria so they hit the coffee table. She quickly rolled to the right as the whip burned through the floor before it went up when Abella chanted quickly:

“Sa na fa pru tan” hit her palm with full force on the floor, and everyone froze.

Abella got up from the ground, as did Victoria, but the assistant froze as she was too weak to handle the immense power of the spell. Jacqueline was in midair with a dropkick coming towards Zarks head as she had grabbed the whip midair, which surprised Abella. Victoria moved closer to Jacqueline as she noticed she was still moving slowly on the frozen spell, which would typically not be possible. She saw something grey sticking out, and she quickly yelled to Abella:

“IT’S A SPENX DRAGON! TAKE COVER!” Victoria yelled to Abella, who tried distancing herself.

An enormous explosion was heard from the 10^Th floor as smoke covered the air, and the Witches down on the ground outside of the building stared up at the building in shock.

Several Witches moved quickly up to the 10^Th floor as the smoke covered the whole floor.

“Look for survivors.” The Pink-haired Witch ordered the others, who were driving Zark, to the office.

They scattered into the smoke as one of them returned quickly, with Victoria supporting herself on her shoulders. Abella came right after as the smoke started to clear the area because of the broken Windows.

“I FOUND ZARK! HE STILL HAS A PULSE BUT IS UNCONSCIOUS.” Someone yelled out.

Veronica chose to stay to see if Jacqueline appeared when the smoke slowly vanished in the area, but she was gone. Besides Zark, the Spenx was in a foster position and was not moving. A Witch quickly hurried, picked it up, and ran towards the nursery in the building.

“GIVE IT A BREATHING TUBE AND PUT SOME LETTUCE BESIDE IT. UPDATE ME EVERY FIVE MINUTES OF THE STATUS!” Veronica screamed to the Witch in the corridor, who had Kutt in her arms.

“Where is the girl?” Abella asked out in the air, shocked by everything that had happened.

“This was the first time I had seen a Spenx. I had only read about them because there was little information about them in Valiant. A scarce breed, the explosion that happened was not the girl. It was the dragon who did the explosion in self-defence. The reason why Jacqueline is gone, from what I found, is that the girl is the shell only. The Spenx holds a part of the girl’s soul in protection. There is no information about these creatures because they often walk around invisible to everyone. They walk by the side of their host. The books say that if the Spenx dies, the soul it carries gets destroyed, even if it only holds a part of it. That is why there is barely much information about it. If a Spenx would sacrifice itself with a soul inside it and would do an explosion to die, it would have killed all of us in the one-kilometre distance, turning everyone to ash. A Spenx is the weakest dragon ever, but it can walk in dark areas, only areas Death itself walks.” Veronica said as everyone went quiet.

Abella and Veronica looked at each other, knowing they were in a complicated situation.

At Victoria’s Office…

The door opened to Victoria’s office, and a black-haired lady who looked much older than Victoria walked in. Her eyes were crystal clear blue but covered in dark grey. It was obvious this woman had not slept, and the facial expression on her face showed grief. The lady sat down on the opposite side of Victoria, and it made her a little uncomfortable because the black-haired woman was a much stronger Witch than her.

“Abella! I am sorry for your loss. It is undoubtedly a very tragic incident.” Victoria told her.

It was silent in the room as the older lady stared at her.

“I have just lost my daughter and son-in-law. Do you know why I am here?” Abella asked.

Victoria couldn’t face Abella and looked down at the desk. Quickly from nowhere, Abella put her hand on the desk, which cracked to get Victoria’s attention so she could look up at her face.

“I have looked, but it will be impossible to get your grandson back, Abella. Samantha has moved her fortress to the Fourth level in Hell. It is impossible for a Witch even to enter because they will die as soon as they enter. One of my Witches opened a portal but could not even take ten steps into Hell without starting to suffocate, and she had to take the steps back to the portal to breathe again. It is not possible to enter. I am sorry!” Victoria tried explaining to Abella.

“What about him?” Abella asked.

“What about who?” Victoria countered.

“When you came to my home with the child and left him in my care for five years, you told me the story about the child. A man in a black suit with mixed blood of humans, demons, and witches entered and managed to rescue the baby and escape.”

“Oh! That was long ago, and there were losses during that battle. The fortress at that time was on the first level in Hell. It is more or less impossible to penetrate it at level four. What do you expect me to do at all? I really can not help you.”

Victoria rolled away from her desk as it broke in half, making her wonder what was wrong with citizens discussing. Both looked at each other as the tension in the room.

“Fine! I will help you. I will send him in to try and rescue your grandson.” Victoria said.

“Good! Otherwise, I would have destroyed the whole Van Polan Organization today and killed everyone associated with the name Van Polan.”

Victoria stared at Abella, surprised by her comment.

“What a dark comment that was, Abella! Are you sure some spell from Hell has not cursed you?” She asked.

Abella went up from the chair and was heading to the door before Victoria commented:

“If he can not walk more than ten steps, the mission gets aborted.”

Abella turned around, staring into Victoria’s eyes:

“He should; at least he has a cleaner soul than you and me. You owe me, and when you owe something, you pay it in full, even if it means that the man in a black suit will die rescuing my grandson.

Somewhere In Paladin Woods…

Zark looked around in the dust-filled hallway and scratched his head. He did remember being here, but this place must have been empty for a long time. A sound came from a room not far away, and Zark hurried there to check what it was when he saw Taz, who had fallen together with a bookshelf on the ground with dust all over him. Zark shook his head because Taz’s training had finished, and he was going to go out in the field alone, but the kid was very clumsy. Zark helped him up and gave him a bitchslap which shocked Taz:

“Why did you do that?”

“There was so much dust on your face, so I had to slap you to see if it was a mummy or you were standing before me,” Zark sarcastically said as he walked out of the room back to the hallway.

Zark sensed Taz’s heavy steps in the back as they walked to the exit. He was probably sad that the training had ended and he had to take on assignments alone from now on. Zark was happy for Taz because his new office would be in Stockholm City, outside Paladin Woods, and Victoria would probably put him on easy assignments. He probably would only run errands in a human environment, so it shouldn’t be that bad. Zark suddenly stopped and turned around, facing Taz, who was kicking the ground and staring at the floor. He noticed his teacher had stopped and turned his head to check what was happening.

“Look, why even the sad face? You will get transferred to the Stockholm City office today, outside of all the monsters. I had to do the same when I was 17, so it is not bad. It is so you can gain experience and become an even better investigator. You have excellent tactical skills and are great with spells; you are the organization’s best trainee.” Zark explained, trying to cheer him up.

Taz kept moving his right foot in a circle like some kindergarten kid getting yelled at by their teacher and staring down again on the floor.

“But…but Berk is better than me,” Taz uttered.

“Look at me, Taz!”

Taz looked up to face him with a sad look on his face.

“Berk had Raw talent, but look what happened to him. He roots in prison now, and the Valdor is dead; the oldest princess had to step in as the new Queen, and they put a curse on Berk. If he had raw talent, you have complete talent in critical areas to ensure you survive. That is what counts with all the training. To even mention him is a loss because he is on death row or even maybe dead.

Taz understood what Zark meant; he was right; all of them are different with skills that they have built themselves.

They both walked outside and saw a black car that had gone through the portal to the village, and a pink-haired Witch was waiting for them by the vehicle.

“Hi!” Zark said in a surprised expression that someone else from the organization was there except for them.

“Hello Mr Zark! Mr Taz! Victoria has requested your immediate audience at her office. We need to leave right away. It is an emergency.” She said.

Zark and Taz were surprised that they were called to the office so quickly after the debacle two days ago, and they did not receive any nice words from Victoria then.

When both of them were going to enter the car, the Witch stopped Taz.

“I am sorry, Mr Taz! Victoria only requested Mr Zark’s audience. Victoria sent a message for you to travel home to prepare for your assignment in Stockholm City.”

Taz stared at Zark and then looked at the Witch, who was looking down at the ground; he knew something was not right, but he felt hopeless that he was not as experienced as Zark. He would probably only be in the way if it was an assignment that Zark would venture on.

“It’s okay, Taz! Take the car home, rest, and prepare for your adventures in Stockholm City.” He said with a big smile as if it was nothing.

Zark got in the car, and they started to drive away. He saw Taz walking out of the hidden portal to return to the vehicle. His facial expression changed, and he was not smiling anymore or looked happy.

“Victoria sending a Witch who travels with the car through the portal, risking to be seen, and comes to the Orphanage must mean something has happened. She usually calls, but sending a Witch to get me makes me feel like something is extremely urgent.”

“Mr Zark! A last-minute assignment came up, and Victoria requested that you attend in the office immediately for deployment.”

That comment made Zark anxious because this was unusual behaviour he had never seen before from the organization.

“What do you mean deployment?” Zark asked.

“I can not reveal the details of the assignment as it is classified.”

“Either you tell me, or I will do everything I can to stop the car and disappear until Victoria calls me and explains the assignment. I am not stupid; you wouldn’t come to the Orphanage if there were no need for me.” Zark explained as the Witch looked in the back mirror and saw him lift his eyebrows, not joking around.

“Fine! It is a rescue assignment, and you have to rescue a baby. You only have five days to rescue the baby until it will be…skinned alive and all blood emptied.”

Zark looked at the back mirror with a weird expression. A rescue mission to save a baby can’t be that hard…right?

“That doesn’t seem that hard to require my expertise. How many Witches will go with me?” Zark asked.

It was quiet for around 30 seconds before she answered.

“Nobody, Mr Zark, this is a Solo mission. Only two Witches will go through the portal with you and wait by the portal.”

“Uh! Wait a minute! I thought this was a rescue mission; If I go Solo on this, it must mean there are few enemies, right?”

The Witch went quiet for a moment again before answering.

“I do not think so; I think there are more than a few.” She answered.

Zark got slightly confused, but maybe it is an in-and-out assignment that does not require anyone powerful.

“Where is the baby exactly? It would be good to know so I can prepare a map or scout the area.” Zark said with continued silence, which started to annoy him. It was like the Witch was hesitant to tell him anything.

“Well…are you going to answer today or…?” Zark tried again to get answers.

“Wh…Wh…Where you are going, there is no map, and scouting is impossible.”

Zark chuckled at her comment and thought that this rookie Witch probably didn’t have any experience on the field, hence the weird responses.

“Just tell me, It can’t be that bad that it is impossible to scout.”

“Y…Y…You will be entering Hell, Level Four. It is not the fourth level in Valiant on the other side of Hell. Only Spirits and Humans with a soul can enter four levels down in actual Hell. Hence, the mission is Solo. Lucifer is residing in prison on Level Seven. The worst creatures reside in levels Eight, Nine, and Ten.

Taz and Zark were standing in Veronica’s office, waiting for the repercussions that would happen. Veronica hadn’t come to the office yet, and they didn’t want to piss her off by sitting and slacking. The door opened up, and one of Veronica’s assistants came in with a big smile on her face and put the folder on Veronica’s desk:

“You two idiots created a lot of problems for the organization. She is outraged by the problem both of you created.” The Assistant told them and walked back out of the room.

Both of them looked at each other.

“She always told me she would roast me if we made a mistake. I am starting to think she means it for real.” Taz uttered.

Zark smirked because he knew the younger investigators worried too much about getting scolded by Veronica.

“Don’t worry, child, the intel we got was terrible. Nobody told us we were investigating a massive monster. It is not our fault; I thought it was maybe some spirit.”

The door opened to the office, and both stared at the white-haired lady who looked quite angry entering the room. She sat down on the chair behind the desk and stared at them. Nobody said anything, and Taz started to sweat while Zark yawned because he was bored.

“Well, who can explain the damages of 5 million kronor?”

Zark noticed Taz was almost going to crack because of the tension in the room. Right before he said something, Zark pushed him slightly to the side with an elbow movement, so Veronicas focused on Zark.

“I will explain it to you,” Zark uttered before continuing. “So, we were contacted by one of the trainees in the organization about a spirit that may be wandering around in a university. Food had gone missing, and some students had been in accidents for the last three months. So, we cooked up a spirit ‘go to heaven or hell spell’ and brought it with us.”

“How did that go with the spell?”

“Uh…Ahm…how do I say this from a positive angle? The spirit was already gone…in some stomach. Eh…well, we tried to be flexible and found another solution but got interrupted.

“Interrupted by what?”

14 Hours Earlier…

“Did you turn off the alarm, Taz?”

“Yes”

“If the alarm goes off, I will throw you in the swamp we saw earlier.” Zark threatens Taz sarcastically.

The door opened, and they entered the university and quickly moved up the stairs to the 2^nd floor. As it was nighttime, they used their phones as flashlights and started to move on the corridor, looking around.

“Didn’t the rookie tell you anything more than the 2^nd floor?” Zark asked.

“Not really. The last thing that disappeared was in the library on this floor.”

Both of them kept moving and tried to find the library.

After a while, they found the door to the library and entered quietly. There was a gigantic hall with bookshelves everywhere. Zark signed with his hand that they should take each end because the view blocked the whole hall.

Zark walked with the flashlight pointing downwards to not shine up the whole place, and for a moment, he focused on the floor. When he straightened up, something with large teeth stood before him. There were no eyes, ears, or hair, but it didn’t smell nice and was drooling. Zark tried to be sneaky and stepped to the side, but when the thing quickly punched him so hard, he flew to the shelves on the other side, sliding on his back to the other end, bleeding from his mouth with Taz flashing down the light on him confused.

“What happened?” Taz whispered.

“I shouldn’t have used my cheap Rax perfume. I think the smell was too much.” As he slowly got up on his feet.

Taz looked scared; it was the first time he saw a monster. A roar echoed through the library, and both looked at each other because the roar didn’t come from the potato monster. Zark made a sign with his head to Taz to run for it as both started to bolt toward the door. Zark looked back slightly and saw something on four legs approaching them quickly, with the potato head not far behind. Taz opened the door, and Zark shut it behind him, pressing with his foot to block it from opening, but a strong force kept banging toward the door as it wouldn’t hold long. Taz called the rookie, who responded positively, sounding like she had a blast evening. Taz tried to sound upbeat and calm during the call to not upset her.

“Hey! Hi Sanandra!… Eh, we have a slightly different problem here. We need a spell to make something physical disappear, like something that can kill something with an appearance and not a spirit.” Taz tried to explain to her.

It was quiet on the other end of the phone when she asked:

“Why do you need a spell for physical objects? You have already made preparations for the spirit spell?” She asked questions back, and Zark got angry because the door would break at any moment.

“Open the speaker on the phone!” he told Taz as he quickly obliged.

“LISTEN TO ME! ROOKIE INVESTIGATOR. THERE IS A MONSTER SITUATION HERE. WE NEED A SPELL WITHOUT ANY NEED FOR TOOLS WITH ONLY CHANTING…NOW!” Zark screamed as the other side went quiet for a moment.

“Okay, there is one standard spell to destroy objects; I do not know if it will destroy living things, but it is the only thing I know that is also easy to do without any tools,” Sanandra explained.

“Give it to me,” Taz said, walking away from Zark. He then yelled to him, “GIVE ME 30 SECONDS TO SET THE TRAP, LEAD THEM AROUND THE CORNER.”

Zark shook his head as Taz disappeared into the corridor to the left at the end, and the upper side of the door cracked open. He knew there was no time, so he let go of the door and sprinted. The door broke quickly, and the roar echoed in the hallway. He quickly looked back, and the potato head was too slow, but the four-legged monster was fast and closing in fast on him. When he came close to the corner, he slid on the ground as four legs jumped towards him. He saw above him that the underbody of the four legs had a hand pushing towards its stomach. He quickly got up as four legs crashed into the lockers and tried to coordinate to hunt Zark. A green ring shone close to where the trap was. He closed in and jumped through the ring as it roared and jumped towards the ring and stopped midair. Zark got up, and four legs tried to use its claws towards him but could not reach him. They tried to look closer at the creature as it looked like a dinosaur had a baby with a crocodile, but the eyes were red, indicating that it may be something from Hell.

“Why is Croco Dino floating in the air? Why doesn’t the spell send it somewhere or destroy it? “Zark asked with a worried look that the trap maybe wouldn’t hold it.

The potato head came around the corner but stopped keeping its distance. Suddenly, an annoying sound pierced the air as they fell to their knees, covering their ears in pain. Taz had crumbled in a foster position, and Zark tried to keep tabs on potato head because he didn’t have any ears as it slowly moved forward, but for some reason, keeping its distance. Four legs got pushed down on the ground, and the body swelled up and exploded black goo on both, with the green light disappearing. They slowly got up from the ground as the potato head approached them. They tried to prepare themselves for the next round when a white lightning stick pierced through it as it fell to the ground, and something looking human with white wings was staring at both of them with a smirk on its face and uttered:

“If I were a human, I would cover my eyes now!”

“CLOSE YOUR EYES TAZ!” Zark screamed out as he grabbed Taz’s head, covered his eyes with his tie, and quickly covered his eyes with his arm as all windows exploded on the first and second floor, and all lockers started to melt down.

“Do not look until I say so!” Zark uttered to Taz as he knew the situation was even worse than the monsters.

“You can open your eyes now.” The winged man told them.

Zark slowly gazed forward to check if the coast was clear, knowing that the light of an angel could burn out a human’s eyes and even kill the human if they wanted to.

“How can we thank you, dear angel, for your kindness in saving us humans from the monsters?”

The angel laughed at them as Zark tried to ease the situation, but he didn’t know enough about angels to understand how they thought about humans who hunt monsters.

“My name is Kenadriel! One of three Arch angels passed down the line after the Angel Samuel passed during the Valiant War as 100 prisoners escaped from Heaven. I hunt them together with the other two Arch angels here on Earth. What surprised me was seeing two of the Van Polans here; I must say you are not popular in Heaven.” He told them.

“Eh! I have not done any sins from what I know of…I think!” Taz uttered, trying to sound innocent.

Zark looked at Taz with widened eyes, indicating he wanted him to shut the Hell up.

“Interesting! You do not seem to have any information about the other two Van Polan. We know there is one rotting in prison named Berk Van Polan. Then there is the rumor of the other two, one only a teenager, but both of their names are not Van Polan, and even your leader, the Witch, does not know where they are. Oh!… We interrogated her and threw a little bit of angel dust on her. When she started to talk, we were surprised by her answers because it was not the witches who protected both of them, we could only see a letter written to her about their protection, but the letter put on her desk, she had no clue which creature or thing picking up the letters. It can even be a Demon, but we know it wasn’t a Witch protecting both of them. Both of you don’t happen to know where the older one is?” Kenadriel asked.

They both shook their heads in denial, worried how the angel would react.

“Well! I sense that neither of you has information about the other two. I have other escapees to catch.” Kenadriel said and just disappeared.

“I think we need to get out of here!” Taz uttered as both of them stared at each other. Black goo covered on them.

“No wonder they make us wear black suits; it mashes with the colors of monster blood,” Taz said sarcastically.

“Remind me never to let you do a trap spell again. We could have died, and it is the rookie’s fault.

Meanwhile, in Stockholm City, Sweden…

The young man was editing his Footube video to upload his latest Paranormal video adventure that he usually was going on. His golden retriever started howling, making him lose focus on his video editing, and his beautiful blond roommate reacted quickly to the dog howling coming into the room.

“Mazden! Is everything all right? Why is Bexo howling?” She asked him, approaching Bexo and guiding him out of the room.

Mazden lost focus and looked at the beauty in front of him. He couldn’t understand how the hottest girl in high school became his roommate three months back, with both being on scholarship.

“Sorry, Melissa! I was editing my video, you know, doing the latest scary ghost video.” Mazden said and laughed, sounding slightly like a pig, chills going through her whole body.

“Oh…Okay! I will check on Baxo. He won’t disturb you until you finish the work.” Melissa said, smiling, backing slowly out of the room, with Mazden just staring at her.

She took the dog to the toilet and locked the door.

“What are you doing, Baxo?” She asked the dog.

“Oh, my Braxon life! I felt an archangel coming down to Earth. The fat boy is in danger. They do not know who is protecting him, but there are risks. The idiot keeps going on these paranormal adventures, that fat ass making me go with him. Do you know how many things I have killed since this boy started his fucking ghost hunt?”

Melissa was a little bit standoffish from the hunts they went on.

“How many?” She whispered, curious about the hunts.

“67, and I meet a Groogal in these 67 hunts. Do you know how it feels to get humped from behind while putting my claws through it? It humps you even harder while it is on its way to die. Do you know how a Braxon feels going through that experience? Don’t remind me of all the porn I have to sit and watch together with him. Do you know he has watched more blond chick’s porn since you moved in? Don’t get me started on the investigations for the paranormal. The guy is so fucking fat, so every time we hunt something, the guy gets out of breath after ten meters, TEN FUCKING METERS. I mean, how much junk can the bastard eat? If you are going to hunt things, you have to be in shape at least. He thinks he is outstanding. Do you know how many porn videos I had to watch with him because I happened to be in the same room?…well let me tell you. There is so much that I lost count, and it is terrible. Why don’t we get rid of him and let him die?

Both of them looked at each other as Melissa couldn’t believe a Groogal had humped Baxo.

“We can not! Both of us are cursed to help him. You know his grandfather cursed your grandfather and my father. Only the blood relative can break the cursed spell, and if he dies without us trying to keep him safe, all our relatives will die as we will see the agony of the results. I have human brothers and sisters. You have the whole Braxon clan, so we must protect him at all costs.” Melissa tried to explain to Baxo.

She couldn’t see any expression from Baxo.

“Do dogs always have the same expression?” Melissa asked.

“I am stuck in a dog suit behaving like a dog with a fat ass pervert with no interest other than ghost hunting and porn. I am crying inside but will let the happy golden retriever give you the expression.”

The whole situation in the toilet became awkward as both stopped looking at each other.

“I think maybe I got an idea, Melissa?”

“Yes, what is it!” she quickly answered.

“Well, you are a halfbreed angel. I mean, you can still feel things like humans can. How you behave as a human is great; you have all the necessary skills.”

“Yes, and what does that have to do with anything.”

“Well, I need you to stop wearing angelic clothing and be like more…a woman.” Baxo tried explaining.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“How do I explain it not in a porn-tastic way? I need you to wear more loose, tighter pants and cleavage clothing. You have a well-grown chest size for a girl looking 17; you are much older, but you need to catch his attention more.”

Melissa was shocked at what Baxo was suggesting to her.

“That is a very unholy way to suggest Baxo. I will not, under any circumstance, yield my pureness to something unholy.”

“Look, you are only going to wear a little bit loose to get his attention, and then you keep asking if he wants to go to the gym with you. Cook some holy dishes for him…or healthy foods, then we can get him in shape. After he is in shape, we can conduct more dangerous ‘investigations’ and train him to protect himself. They will come for him one day. We must ensure he can defend himself because he is the most wanted creature in the universe; being Hunter is just an expression. The teenager can kill whoever he wants, both in Heaven and Hell. Even the likes of Lucifer or Michael would fear him if they knew he was alive and would try hunting them, well maybe not Lucifer, who is locked up in a special prison.”

Both looked at each other, still thinking but realizing it would be hard to motivate a fat teenager who is a horny 17-year-old.

“What are you going to do with him?” Valdor asked.

Victoria smiled and answered:

“Nothing special! I will send him back to the human world.

“What do you mean to send him back? He is the son of a Witch and a Demon. What if something happened outside of Paladin Woods?” Valdor worried about a young man passing through a portal without powers, but he could not trust the Witch if it were true that he did not have any powers.

“His father was half human, so he does have human blood. That is why he does not have any powers.”

Valdor didn’t trust a word coming out of the Witch’s mouth, but he didn’t feel anything coming out of Zark, and he didn’t want any rumors to spread in Paladin Woods about a blood relative to Trissa surviving the massacre that happened a long time ago. He knew how to lure Veronica into a trap to get the truth out of her, so he had to play this smart.

“Let’s go see Zark in the prison cell!” Valdor said and got up, walking towards the door.

Veronica quickly went up from the chair and asked in a worried voice:

“Why can you just not release him?”

Valdor stopped, turned around, and said:

“Why? Are you worried he will speak the truth about something? We are going to the cell, which is the end of the discussion.”

Victoria followed Valdor but looked nervous that something terrible would come out of Zark’s mouth that could imprison both of them.

When they arrived in front of Zarks cell, Valdor signaled the soldier to leave the room.

“Hi Zark! Are you all right?” Veronica asked and grabbed the cell’s bar, trying to look into the cell’s darkness and hoping to show Zark that she was not a robot anymore and had learned how to have feelings.

Valdor was not impressed when, suddenly, two red eyes looked at them in the dark shadows. Valdor became uncomfortable because no powers were gushing out from the young man, but something was in their presence. Veronica stared, shocked that Tristor had survived, but none of Zark’s other powers were showing, and Tristor was suppressing their powers to make them look powerless. Zark emerged from the shadow as Victoria and Valdor backed away from the cell, wary about the red eyes. Zark showed himself, and it was just a normal man with brown eyes showing himself in front of them.

“What do both of you want?” Zark asked.

Valdor planned to reveal that the man in the cell was Zark, Trissa’s son.

“We came here to talk a little bit with you. Veronica told me you are Trissa Van Polans son, a great warrior’s son.”

Zark looked at them, confused.

“Who is Trissa? What are you talking about?” He asked.

Valdor and Veronica looked at each other.

“So, you are not the son of Trissa?” Valdor asked again, but a little bit in a confused state.

“No, I grew up in an Orphanage with my sister Sandra Van Polan,” Zark answered.

“What about when you were just a child?” Veronica asked.
Zark got confused and tried to think for a second.

“I don’t think both of you understand. I was born and raised in an Orphanage with my sister Sandra.” Zark answered, thinking both of these people were idiots.

Valdor noticed that the young man was not lying and telling the truth. Even if something lurked inside the man, he had no grounds to hold him in prison because he had not done anything. He looked at Veronica, who was thoughtfully staring at Zark, and he knew she didn’t know how to react. The best thing was to get the young man out of Paladin Woods.

“I will talk with the guards to release him, and I want him out of Paladin Woods.” He explained to Veronica before he went outside.

When Veronica and Zark went outside the old building with Valdor watching them from a distance, Veronica looked at Zark, worried that his memories may be gone.

After walking for a while, Veronica felt something was not right when she turned to the right, and Zarks hand grabbed her throat and pushed her against a tree as she was slowly suffocating. His eyes were red, and he did not look happy as she tried to get loose, but he had a firm grip. She managed to get her knee up and hit him under the cheek, and she fell on the ground, catching her breath as she distanced herself from Zark. He didn’t go for a second attack as the red eyes kept staring at her.

“Do you think that I am stupid?” He asked with a darker voice.

Veronica gathered herself, supporting her hand on her throat and slowly getting up, knowing that this was not Zark talking.

“Is that you, Tristor? Where is Zark?” She asked.

“I made him slip into darkness for a moment because I needed to get the truth out from you.”

Veronica realized what Tristor had done and was shaking her head in denial.

“Did you block his memories of his family? Do you know what you have done? What if he never gains his powers again?” Victoria asked, frustrated.

“Yes, his childhood and family memories are hidden. I replaced it with the Orphanage and Sandra. I need to find my sister.” Tristor explained.

“YOUR SISTER IS DEAD! DON’T YOU REMEMBER THAT SHE DIED WHEN SHE FOLLOWED BOTH OF YOU INTO THE MANSION OF SAMANTHA.”

Tristor had tears and started to walk back and forth in denial.

“No! I could feel her. Zark was close to finding her before that damn Witch destroyed our lives.”

“Stop it, Tristor! Sandra is dead.”

Tristor kept denying it for himself.

“Okay! Okay! Listen to me. I will look for her and send someone to investigate Valiant. You need to release Zark and let him have back his childhood. It is already too much for him; he is younger, lost his wife, and has had a miserable life. You are only hurting him more.”

“He has noticed I blocked him from seeing what happened. He is weak and only has my powers, so you need to prepare him yourself.” Tristor said, and Zark’s eyes turned back to brown.

Zark looked around and was surprised that they had gone into the woods. He looked with a weird expression at Victoria.

“I am not interested; I just wanted you to know that, and I promise I did not look at your chest right now!”

Veronica realized she already had an idiot 13-year-old boy, a seven-year-old boy, and a seven-year-old girl at home. Now she has to care for one more idiot 18-year-old man.

Ten years later…

“Get out of the car!” The man from the police told the two men in a black suit.

They exited the car, and the police escorted them through the entrance, where a lady was sitting to register them as they had gotten arrested earlier. The younger one approached the bench and tried to explain himself to the older lady:

“Hi! Hey! Miss! Can you please contact our organization, the Van Polan organization? Just inform them that two of their investigators are at this police station.” The young man tried to explain.

The old lady was not impressed with his trying to get away with property damage.

“First name?” She asked the young one.

“Eh…Taz!”

“Last Name?”

“Van Polan”

“Age?”

“Eh…18,” Taz answered as the old lady took off her glasses and looked at him.

“Should you not be in school?” She asked.

Taz looked around to see if the question was to him as she stared at him.

“I finished gymnasium 3 months ago. Why are you asking?”

The lady put on her glasses without responding.

“It is a serious crime to vandalize a university. Were you upset that your application got rejected by the university, and you decided to take revenge on them by vandalizing the whole 2^nd floor?”

The older man in a suit chuckled at her question. The lady gave him the stare as she thought he should have been the responsible one of the two.

“Shouldn’t you, as his brother, keep this young man away from trouble?” She asked the one behind Taz.

“WE ARE NOT BROTHERS,” Both responded.

One of the police officers pushed the older man in the suit in front of the bench as the lady had her attention now on him.

“First Name?”

He looked unfazed by the question and didn’t answer.

“FIRST NAME?” She asked again with a louder voice.

“Zark!” He said, and the lady calmed down again.

“Last Name?”

“Van Polan”

“Age?”

“28!”

“Occupation?”

“Private investigator for the Van Polan organization.”

It was complete silence in the room as Veronica smiled and looked around. She noticed they had implemented a mirror in the room, but in reality, it was another room on the other side. Did they think she was stupid? They also replicated what humans do on Earth when interrogating someone. She looked up at something small on the corner of the ceiling and waved her hands, smiling. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening and slamming shut, and then the door in the room opened as a young man, fuming, slammed the door behind him.

“Veronica…Van Polan! The myth, the legend, the owner of the Van Polan empire controlling most of the bounty hunting at Paladin Woods. A Witch like you piss me off thinking that she can do whatever she wants.” The young man told her.

Veronica just smiled with her sensual look and voluptuous body figure as she bent forward, and her cleavage was noticeably visible now as the man stared down at her chest instead of looking at her face.

“So! What gives the honor of the Tandertike’s grandson Jay Tantertike to visit me? Does your grandfather know you are holding a Van Polan member in custody? He was a great general during the war, wasn’t he? He lost his son and now pays attention to the grandson, who has not inherited any of the tremendous super-strength power of the Tantertike family. The grandson is just a pebble in a cogging wheel going round and round with human powers and comes here to play prosecutor with me…A creator of the Van Polan organization.” Veronica explained and leaned back on her chair, laughing at Jay when he suddenly, out of anger, hit his knuckle down at the table. Veronica simultaneously pushed herself away from the table and got crushed on the floor.

She was not smiling anymore, but she did get the confirmation of the rumors that had been going around that Jay had inherited his grandfather’s powers but was just a late bloomer.

“Well, did you not eat breakfast today?” Veronica asked and smiled towards Jay as the door opened. In came Valdor Von Volden, the king of the Valiant kingdom. Jay stood up and bowed to the king, and Valdor did everything in his power to try to calm the young man down, who was nervous that he had come personally there.

“Jay, can you leave us alone and shut off the camera? Everyone has to leave the room. I need to have a private conversation with Miss Veronica here.”

“But my king…”Jay got interrupted as Valdor lifted his hand.

“Please, just do as I say!” Valdor explained nicely to Jay as he closed the door and entered the other room.

Victoria monitored the camera on the ceiling as the tiny red dot got turned off, and there was commotion from outside as people were leaving the other room until it finally became silent. Valdor sat down on the chair to prepare his talk when suddenly Veronica lifted her left hand and said:

“It is Mrs Veronica Van Polan, not Miss!” She explained and showed off her ring on the finger.

Valdor got caught off guard because he thought she was not the type to engage in a partner.

“Who is this lucky man?” Valdor asked out of curiosity, suspecting that the young man they got in the woods might be her husband.

“Nobody! We do not keep in touch anymore!” Veronica explained with a nonchalant expression.

Valdor knew it was probably someone weak; it must be why she did not tell who it could be.

“Can you get me out of here and return the young man to me, please?” Veronica asked.

“Do you even know why you are here?” Valdor countered with a question.

Veronica shook her shoulder, playing dumb.

“No! I do not.” She answered.

Valdor’s facial expression changed as he would not play nice with her. Veronica knew that if they both got in a fight now, it could split Paladin Woods into different parts that could have significant consequences for everyone.

“I will tell you, Veronica! The rumors go like this: A young girl with white hair showed up ten years ago with white hair. She had a boy by her side, whom many saw in Paladin but nobody recognized. This teenage girl and the boy disappeared into the woods, and nobody saw them for several years until the white-haired girl returned. Today, she is a grown woman because ten years have passed and she has built up a very rich company that works here in Paladin and the human world. Now, all is good with her, and she does her job. The boy she came to that day has to be a grown teenager by now, around maybe the same age as my daughter. The funny thing is that the rumor goes that the boy knows about Paladin Woods but lives in the human world. All this made me curious: why would a Witch suddenly enter Paladin woods with a boy and then leave the boy in the human world? I sent out two investigators to gather all the information, and suddenly, a Witch who had been missing for ten years showed up in Valiant. She had not aged a day, but more surprising was that she even looked younger. She had been de-aged, but the most unexpected part of everything happening there was that she was pregnant. I had Valiant civilians follow up on her, and she was cast out and disowned by her sister. Also, everything happening around her was a young woman scarred and confused about what was happening around her as the whole world came crashing down on her head. All this happened five days ago, so I monitored the white-haired Witch because I was curious how the Witch in Valiant showed up pregnant and ten years younger than she should be today.”

Veronicas said nothing as they looked each other in the eyes, and tension slowly mounted in the room.

“You do not have to give me that look; we monitored all strong Witches who could maybe be behind something absurd I only heard when I was a child.”

“Ok! What was that?” Veronica asked with a stern voice.

Valdor smiled and continued:

“When I was a child, in the children’s books, the stories went on to scare us that a Dark Book made by a Witch who passed away after finishing the book. It’s been told through history that the book had a spell to turn back time for specific individuals if made right, making it possible for them to travel back in time. History tells us that the book was lost, but some witches still knew how to use the spell. One of them was named Meldan. You waited in the woods because the one who did the spell would know when everyone had landed through the portal. Our investigators saw Witches following Meldan, who was not from Samantha’s kingdom, and now we catch you red-handed in the woods. What makes me wonder is that something must have gone wrong. While Meldan and the young man look younger, you arrived ten years ago with the boy, but Meldan arrived five days ago, and today, this Zark individual also arrived, but here in Paladin Woods. Something must have gone wrong with the spell if they did not end up in the same timeline as you, but instead, they got ten years younger and ended up close to the same time as you did the spell. Did something go wrong when doing the spell?” Valdor asked.

Veronica stared him right into his eyes as silence had taken over the room.

“I am alive, and The boy is alive. I murdered both Meldan and Zark.

The answer startled Valdor, and he was very confused.

“What do you mean murdered?”

“I killed both of them; the man you are holding in your prison cell is named Zark Van Polan. That explains why the boy and I carry the name Van Polan. Zark Van Polan is the son of Trissa Van Polan, one of the greatest warriors hailing from the war and a demon father with mixed blood with the humans.”

Valdor shook his head in denial as he could not believe the story.

“That can’t be true! Aldor would have sent troops to kill him. He would have been the biggest threat to the whole world of Valiant. Everyone knew the boy without powers was dead, and that is how the story goes when Samantha and several strong individuals attacked their cabin here in Paladin. This person who arrived here in prison is weak. I can not sense any powers coming from him. Even if he had inherited a little of Trissa’s powers, I would have sensed it; the person in prison is human and completely powerless. You must be wrong; he can not be the child of Trissa. That is impossible.” Valdor tried explaining to Veronica as they sat silently, looking at each other.

The man threw his sword and shield on the table, exhausted from another day of battle against the annoying woman who didn’t give up. They had battled for over 100 days, and sometimes, they would even rest in the woods, making a fire while the big battles outside continued. The man was a half-demon, half-human, with his home in Paladin Woods, located on Earth. He joined the war to aid the demons in protecting their people. Meanwhile, the Witch betrayed the Queen of Witches to fight alongside the angels, civilians, and humans who had come to help prevent a demon invasion of Earth. She was giving a hand to Valiant because she had so much empathy for others; she didn’t like to hurt or kill other civilians. For a Witch who has betrayed the Queen Of Witches who ruled one of the kingdoms, she was banned and taken in by the king of Valiant to fight against Hell, which had spread like fire everywhere in Valiant with demons lurking in every corner.

The Man and the Woman had fought against each other daily, with the Witch always trying to keep her distance and using her staff as a weapon. At the same time, the man, with his sword and shield, had gotten quite a reputation for being able to withstand a Witch who was so powerful. The fight seemed like it would never have an ending because it had been ongoing for the longest time in the war. Everything, though, would change in the blink of an eye.

As a new morning approached in Valiant, the man went to the table and grabbed his sword and shield, ready for another day of fighting. While he looked human and surrounded by monsters, nobody was messing with him, especially other demons. Two demons bigger than him approached, intending to help him end the battle with the Witch.

“Lark! Why don’t we come with you, and we will hide behind bushes and shoot an arrow to kill the Witch?” One of them asked.

“No!” Lark answered.

“Why not?” The other one asked.

“Because this is a fight between us, nobody is to interfere in the battle. That is why we moved it into the woods for a fair fight until one of us dies!” Lark explained to them.

The two Demons felt he was disrespectful for not even looking at them when answering their questions, as if all he cared about was the battle with the Witch. They didn’t want to disturb him, so they walked away from the table, unhappy with Lark.

He walked into the woods and followed a path he had inadvertently created by repeatedly walking back and forth every day. The area where they constantly battled had no grass left from all the fighting and movement. The woman was waiting on the field with closed eyes, smiling for herself, knowing that she didn’t have to struggle as much as Lark during the fights.

“Welcome to the battle, Lark!” she said. Lark couldn’t help but smile at her arrogance and confidence.

“The question is not. If I am ready, Trissa, the question is, have you woken up realizing the battle will be over this morning?” He countered back, making Trissa smirk as he saw her beautiful, dark blue eyes staring at him.

Both of them went into position for battle, with Trissa’s staff glowing up in light blue and Lark quickly putting up his shield in a protective position.

Trissa leaped toward Lark as her staff’s edge created a light blue ball. She plunged it towards him, screaming out in the air, hoping he would be distracted by the scream and it would hit his head, but Lark quickly put his shield up to protect himself, and he’s both feet slid a little bit backward because of the amount of energy put on the hit by Trissa. Lark tried to respond quickly by swinging his sword toward Trissa, who purposely and rapidly fell to the ground as she had learned his tricks. With a sudden move with both her feet, she kicked Lark in the chest, so he lost a bit of his stance as he tried to go back into protective mode quickly.

Trissa laughed at Lark because he never had any tactic before coming to the battles. He was more like a grunt who showed up and tried to finish the job when she already knew what he would do. Even with all this knowledge, she was still surprised by his willingness never to give up. She knew they had gone so far and a long time that she was a little bit hesitant if she would kill him at all when the day arrived, and he would lose the battle, and she would end all this.

They prepared to go another round until Trissa saw Lark’s facial expression ultimately change. Instead of putting the shield up to wait for her attack, he leaped towards her. By surprise, she put the light blue end of the staff in front of her, believing that it would kill him instantly to protect herself. Lark quickly grabbed and hugged her while turning around as something hit him from the back. He fell on his knees and quickly turned around as the two demons emerged from the bushes. Seeing the sword’s speed was almost impossible as it hit one of the demons right through the head. Trissa hurried and hit the edge of the staff right into the stomach of the other one as the Demon started to squeal while burning up. She noticed the arrow that had gone through his back, but not entirely through, and she was afraid that it maybe was too close to his heart. She caught him in the air before he was going to fall to the ground, and she felt something inside that she had not felt in a long time. Her heart was beating very fast, and she felt unease with fear catching up. She knew that acting fast now was of the essence; she knew that she needed to save his life, but nobody would take her in from Valiant army because he was a Demon.

Trissa approached a cabin, Lark leaning against her shoulder, as she saw smoke coming from the chimney. She approached the door and knocked, and an older man with a very long hat on his head featuring various shapes appeared by the door.

“You brought a demon here?” He asked, surprised.

“I had nowhere to go; they would kill him if I took him back to the camp,” Trissa uttered with tears in her eyes.

He let them in, and as he saw the arrow on the man’s back, he quickly pulled it out, but he got no reaction from Lark. Trissa put him on his stomach on the table and ripped apart his shirt as the older man with a green light coming out from his palm tried to hold it towards the injured area. Trissa walked back and forth in the room worriedly, waiting for Lark to heal.

After a moment, the older man stopped and realized something was wrong.

“Why did you stop? What is wrong, Dendarven?” Trissa asked him.

Dendarven looked at her, surprised that she had brought the enemy to his cabin.

“You know that I can not treat this man. He is not a full-blooded Demon. No power in Valiant can treat this man except for his people.” Dendarven explained to Trissa.

“What does that mean? Do I have to take Lark back to Hell to get him treated?” She uttered, even more worried now than she was a moment before.

Dandarven smiled and shook his head in denial before he responded:

“This man is half human, with human blood flowing through his body. He needs to get treated by a human on Earth with their tools from Earth. If I remember correctly, those who heal humans are called doctors. Only the Doctors on Earth can heal Lark.” Dandarven explained.

“What can I do about that? How do I keep him alive and safe?” Trissa asked, feeling utterly hopeless about saving Lark as she couldn’t stop her tears.

Dendarven understood this; the Witch had no clue she had feelings for Lark.

“How about I give you a cloak, and you take him back to Earth so he can get healed? But it will be hard to return to Valiant because the door is only one-way. You will be wanted and hunted as a breach of the rules in Valiant because you escaped, but you will be able to save Lark. They will hunt both of you. Wanted posters of you both will cover the walls in Valiant, and a bounty will be placed on your heads from both sides. Are you willing to do this? If so, I will send you to a protected area called Paladin Woods, where civilians from both sides can live in a safe environment on Earth. Though shielded from humans, you must keep yourself hidden because nobody knows who will travel through the doors to Earth. I will prepare a human expert called a doctor who is a friend of Valiant, and I will make sure that you are protected if you decide to leave the war.” Dendarven explained to Trissa.

Trissa walked around the room, trying to think of something, but couldn’t come up with anything. She started to cry loudly, and Dendarven found it annoying because she usually had a cold personality.

“How am I going to train my next apprentice while being gone? She will end up in Samantha’s grasp if I disappear. Poor child!” She uttered.

“You need to make a decision now, Trissa!” Dendarven said.

Trissa walked to the table as Lark was still bleeding from his wound, and right this moment, she took the decision that would change the future of many individuals.

“Yes! We will leave Valiant.” She uttered.

While Lark leaned on Trissa’s shoulder as they walked in complete darkness, something that looked like a door opened before them. Several humans were waiting for them, and a lot of noise was coming from the other side. Lark was quickly taken away from Trissa and placed in a box that began to roll away; this confused her as she struggled to grasp what was happening. In the crowd of people, a blue-haired woman showed up with a very revealing outfit in black, and she reached out her hand towards Trissa and said:

“Welcome to Paladin Woods! I am Lady Feffe, the caretaker of this hidden place on Earth. We protect and keep citizens from all worlds safe from demise and suffering. You will be safe here, Trissa Van Polan!” Fefe said with a lowered voice.

Victoria made sure Berk was behind her while she slowly moved by the wall, trying to keep her distance from Meldan or the monster that she now was.

“Does he know?” Victoria asked Meldan to keep her occupied by monologing while they slowly switched sides in the corridor.

“Of course not! She has kept me hidden all these years, but she gave up and let me come forth when her mind shattered to pieces.”

Victoria kept her focus on the door, but it was too far away for her to run, also little Berk, who was vulnerable to any strike that could come from Meldan.

“Meldan, please fight back!” Victoria told her.

Her head started to twitch as she was approaching them, but she suddenly turned her back towards Victoria and Berk.

“P…Pl…Please go, p…p…prepare the Dark Zen ah Ruh spell.” She started to walk away without facing them because she only wanted to get her husband to safety and put all hope on Victoria.

The Hellhounds were lurking behind several copies of Zark, but he had only one metal weapon left. They approached, laughing at him.

“This will be fun!” One of them said in snowboard shorts and an open Hawaiian shirt.

Zark backed a few steps back as they approached and instantly regretted throwing three metal sticks. One Zark in a purple suit attacked from the right with a high kick, but he leaned backward quickly as it missed. A low kick came as Zark hit the floor hard on his side and rolled away, and they kept following him. He had to find a tight space and move quickly from the duplicates as he noticed the stairs were very tight. He went down to the middle of the stairs as they followed, and the kicks started to come in sequences after each other, but the Hawaii one came too close. Zark grabbed its legs and pulled it towards himself so it hit the head on the stairway, and he quickly, with a swift move, pierced the metal stick right through the head of the surfer Zark. Purple suit kicked him in the chest as he fell down the stairs and lost the stick. He slowly got up, and the Purple followed up by grabbing his throat and trying to choke him towards the wall. Zark tries to get loose as one other duplicate tries to pass through to go down where his family is. Quickly, he breaks loose from the grip and puts his foot against the rail, stopping a baggy pants copy of himself as the Purple keeps punching him in the stomach. Zark manages to get loose from Purple and gives a hard kick towards the baggy version and gets at the same time a punch from a copy dressed in a black suit as he usually wears as he hits the wall and keeps moving his body down the stairs as they follow him with the pain he has in his stomach. He tries to pull his hands together to create a thread, but all is in vain, and he has no weapon. Someone punches him from behind on his right side, and he flies right into a school locker that bends inwards. He is bleeding from his head, and the baggy one attacks him with a knife right in the stomach. Zark slowly slides down on the ground while trying to push the gushing blood back. He looks up and sees four Zarks with red eyes looking down towards him and laughing, with the one in a black suit having an immense blood thirst.

“It is time to say goodbye, Zark!” The black suit says.

As several lockers flew through the corridor towards Zark copies, the ground started to shake. They tried to evade it but failed. Meldan quickly approached her husband, pulled him up, and took his arm around her shoulder as both tried to move toward the double door where Victoria was waiting.

“SEAL THE DOOR AND DO IT NOW!” Meldan screams at Victoria, who shakes her head in denial.

Meldan throws Zark down the floor and turns around with more lockers, flying in from left and right, crushing a Hellhound just meters from Meldans face as she watches it pass away. She quickly moves to the side as a flying sword pierces her through the right shoulder. Samantha realized the sword hit her sister instead of Zark, and just for a moment, she stared as Meldan took out the sword and threw it to the ground.

“You need to get up, Zark. You need to help me help you. I have difficulty moving freely with the injury,” Meldan whispered to Zark.

Zarks face was slowly getting pale as he forced himself to get up from the blood pool around him, and both slowly walked towards the door as the sword flew back into Samanthas’ hand. She aimed again, and when she threw it towards him, Meldan could not block it this time, and Victoria went into the corridor when everything stopped around Zark. The Hellhounds in the air had stopped, the black and red light was burning around them, and the sword was in the same state. He dragged Meldan to the door as Victoria was also frozen. He pushed Meldan inside the door and realized they were in the swimming pool area. Looking at Berk, noticing his eyes were shining bright red. He quickly pulled Victoria inside and locked the door when half the sword pierced through, missing his head only a couple of centimeters away. Victoria looked around and speedily pushed both her hands toward one of the doors and quickly chanted:

“ Tu Ru Kuh Mu Uh Ta Ma Sa Ra Ka Pa Ah Buh Ra Fra Ka TUUUUUUUH!” Both the doors turned into pink and black fire, covering the entrance as something smashed toward the door, but the spell held it steady.

Meldan got up, and both of them dragged Zark to the middle, where Berk was crying. They leaned him toward the wall, and Victoria put her hand on his stomach to soak her hand bloody. She made a ring with his blood at the edge of the pool with a couple of signs inside the ring and started to chant:

“Fan Ta Stic Oh Fan Jav La Skit Far Tar Kar AH SO TRAT PAT.” The swimming pool started to swirl around as they dragged Zark, and the ring turned into black fire. They put his hand in the fire, and a big circle mark got burned on his wrist. He screamed out loud as he saw his hand turning black. Victoria pulled out a knife from her back and slit through Zarks wrist to make him die faster. He slowly passed away above the ring, and they threw him into the swimming pool as it turned to black color. The entrance door smashed in the end, and Samantha looked down at the black pool and started to move quickly towards Meldan, but she was smart and smeared her blood towards the wall and made a ring within it as it caught blue fire, blocking Samantha and her followers to reach them.

“I know what you are doing, Meldan; I warn you not to dwell in black magic. It can affect the whole world we live in.” Samantha tried to explain to Meldan.

It was pointless, Meldan had already decided, and Victoria put her hand in the black burning circle of fire as she also screamed out, making Berks cry; something inside her felt…worried for the first time in her life. Victoria made a swift cut on her wrist as Meldan started to lose a lot of blood. She stood by the edge of the pool, looked back to Samantha, and said:

“I will never forgive you!”

Victoria was on her way to pierce the knife in Meldans stomach; as she held her hand up, she approached and whispered in Victoria’s ear:

“Not the stomach; I am pregnant!”

“KA PE SA TUH! Veronica whispered and held her hand on Meldans stomach and pierced the knife through her neck. With the extra spell put on Meldan, the baby will be protected and untouched throughout the journey until her mother wakes up before the pregnancy can continue.

Victoria’s eyes widened as she got her first tear in her right eye. She pushed Meldan into the pool, who started to swirl around together with Zark there.

Victoria hurried quickly and grabbed Berk and went to the edge of the pool, and sat down with him as he was crying out loud while he tried to get loose from Victoria’s grip because she had hurt him earlier. She drew a circle on Berks’s wrist with a different sign, and she made the same one on her wrist. She put both their bloody wrists together and pushed it hard as Berk was screaming out in the air.

“YOU ARE CHANGING THE PAST; IT WILL ONLY HAVE CONSEQUENCES, I WILL HUNT YOU ALL DOWN AGAIN!”

Victoria looked at Samantha as the blue fire slowly was going out and answered:

“But we are not dying. We are going alive back to the past, Samantha. The only consequence that will happen is that I will make sure Hell rains over your head” And she jumped into the pool together with Berk.

Victoria woke up and looked after Berk, who was by her side. She was happy. The spell must have worked, as both of them looked the same. While she tried to gather herself, she could not feel that Meldan or Zark had reached their destinations. They have not come through the portal. It made her think that if she, by mistake, had botched the spell, she should have felt both of them arriving at their destination. She grabbed his hand as they started to walk toward a small village that was further away from other Villages in Paladin Woods; Victoria had managed to go back in time ten years, which means she was in the year 2003. Berk was not even born at this time, which should have destroyed the complete timeline for Meldan and Zark even meeting or Victoria ever being in contact with Meldan. Does it change Sandra’s destiny also?

What worried Victoria the most was that Zark and Meldan never landed at any destination and could be stuck in darkness. The only individual who would know if everyone would have landed at their destinations would be Victoria, as she was the one who did the spell, but there was nothing in her thoughts that indicated that the couple had landed in different locations.

Ten years later…

Victoria was waiting in the woods with an umbrella in the rainy weather. She had a weird feeling. Meldan had landed a couple of days earlier in Valiant, with a big announcement of her disappearance ten years ago. The news hit everyone around like a big explosion because Meldan looked Ten years younger instead of Ten years older, which confused a lot of citizens as it was a big difference between coming back to Valiant as a 16-year-old instead of 26 when she disappeared or 36 as she should be in reality. Rumors started to go around of her being sick and puking all the time. Meldan must have sought medical attention for her sickness and realized the baby was not 100 percent Witch, which probably explains why she left the clan of Witches to find shelter somewhere else before the baby was born. Meldan had arrived in 2013 instead of 2003, was de-aged, and became ten years younger with a alive baby in her stomach. Victoria knew that Zark could come at any moment, and she was curious if he would look like he was 15 years old.

A portal opened as black water flushed down, and a teenager in a ripped shirt fell on the ground. If Victoria were right in her calculations, he would be 15-year-old Zark, meaning he has never met any of them and only knows about his sister Sandra.

Zark slowly rose from the ground and looked at the white-haired beauty standing before him. He tried to remember what he had done the last time, but his memory was all black. He struggled to think about the Orphanage but had no earlier recollection. He knew he had a blond sister, Sandra, but did she pass away?

“W…w…where is Sandra?” Zark asked as his first words.

Victoria took a deep breath. She was worried that she didn’t erase his mind correctly, but because he asked for Sandra, it meant Meldan was not in the picture and not Berk either. Victoria smiled at him and answered:

“I do not understand who this Sandra you are referring to. When did you last see her?”

Zark tried to think when he saw Sandra the last time it hit him; it was in the Orphanage, but he found clues about her survival. Was she alive? Or was she dead? He was confused.

“Where is my sister?” Zark asked with a firmer tone this time.

Victoria was surprised; the old Zark knew he also had a sister named Madeline, but he didn’t seem to understand. Did Victoria mess up the spell too much?

Victoria dropped the umbrella and put her hands behind her head as her shining white hair mesmerized Zark, who was staring at her, thinking what the Hell she was doing.

“HANDS IN THE AIR! THE GUARDIANS OF THE VALIANT PALACE. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR TAMPERING WITH DARK MAGIC AND AFFECTING THE TIME. DO NOT MOVE ZARK VAN POLAN!” Someone was screaming.

Zark was shocked and looked around as soldiers circled them. He put his hand behind his head and stared at Victoria, who was smiling.

“Where am I? What happened to me? You know, lady, otherwise YOU WOULDN’T BE HERE. WHERE AM I? WHERE IS SANDRA?” Zark yelled at Victoria as both got taken away.

The child walked up to Zark, who was unconscious on his stomach. Zarks shirt was ripped apart, with several cut wounds on his back.

“I am sorry!” The child said as the red eyes disappeared, and all that was left for the little one was sobbing after seeing his brother bleeding on the ground.

Meldan ran up to the entrance to check when she heard the cries and could see her husband on the ground with Berk crying over his body. She quickly hurried in and saw all the wounds on his back. She couldn’t hold back her tears as she turned him around and tried to wake him up. He coughed and opened his eyes, seeing both of them being okay. The pain in his body was nothing compared to what Berk had gone through.

“We need to get out of the cave,” Zark said with a lowered voice.

“You scared me!” Meldan said as she helped him up and grabbed Berk from the ground while trying to give Zark support with her other hand.

When they came out, loud howling from a distance echoed in the air, making Zark react with a worried expression.

“I recognize the howling,” Zark said.

“I know also that howling.” Meldan followed up.

Both looked at each other and responded at the same time:

“Samantha!”

Victoria showed up distraughtly as everyone knew how bad the situation was now.

“Your sister is here, and she brought a small army for the boy. They will pick up the boy’s scent any moment.” Victoria said.

Zark knew that everything was pointless and the Witch would never give up. If they had any chance, it would be to keep going deeper into the woods because they were on the outskirts and would enter the human world where monsters cannot just prowl around unnoticed. They hurried through the woods, trying to escape, but where would they go when Samantha would not give up even though two years had passed?

They reached a field outside Paladin Woods’s zone and saw a big sign on a large building. Quickly, they moved towards the building in the dark as Zark had difficulty keeping up with the rest. Meldan looked back to make sure her husband was still following them. Victoria noticed something strange when Berk’s eyes changed color between brown and red as she was running behind Meldan. She knew something must have happened to Berk because she never felt any powers coming from him, but now was different. Thin red smoke was gushing out from Berk with his body covered in blood, and this worried Victoria.

The sign said ‘Fredrikarons sports gymnasium,’ which indicated it was school as they quickly hurried to the entrance. Zark caught up with them, jogged slowly, and kicked the door in on the entrance.

“What are you doing, Zark?” Meldan asked.

“I hope any alarm went off and someone is coming.” He responded, thinking it would be wise for humans to show up at the school. They entered the school, and Zark looked back towards the woods and noticed hellhounds on the field with several men following them.

While they walked through the corridor, Zark knew it was not enough time for them to try and hide, and with the Hellhounds there, it would be hard to keep them away from smelling Berk or Meldan. He stopped suddenly, and when Meldan looked back, she knew what her husband would do and shook her head in denial.

“No, Zark! We keep together as a family.” She uttered to him, upset.

“Take them to safety, Meldan! I will buy us some time.”

“NO! WE KEEP TOGETHER AS A FAMILY.” She screamed at him, crying.

Zark shook his head in denial.

“Victoria, take them to safety!” Zark told her sternly.

It was the first time Victoria had seen Zark with that facial expression; it made her wonder if love meant to feel something for someone else.

Victoria pulled Meldan’s shirt as they slowly started to move, knowing how dangerous the situation would be for Zark.

They disappeared down some stairs. Zark knew it was the last time he was seeing his family again. He tried to fix his shirt and tie to make it look like he was a businessman ready for work, but all the blood on his shirt didn’t give him confidence in the upcoming battle. When he held out his hands and tried to create a fire, all that happened was just a puny black smoke gushing out from his hands. He was powerless. He quickly opened a door leading to a classroom, grabbed a chair, and kicked hard to break the metal legs on the chair. He grabbed all four legs and returned to the corridor again as he noticed that Tristor was there, but he was weak. The only thing working for Zark was how he could change his eyes to red color. At least it gave him a little bit of help with moving faster. His powers were gone; the curse must be blocking it; maybe it was gone completely. A loud-sounding boom came from the entrance as the ceiling fell with a lot of smoke covering Zarks vision to see the enemy. He aimed one of his metal sticks and threw it with full power into the smoke, and a Hellhound fell on the ground, sliding a couple of meters; the metal hit it in the forehead, turning to black dust immediately. When the smoke calmed down, two Hellhounds were growling toward Zark, but what was standing behind them was shocking for him: several men looked like himself. Was he going to fight against himself?

Meldan ended up together with Berk and Victoria down at the swimming pool. She couldn’t hold back tears as Victoria got suspicious because she had never seen Meldan in this state. It looked like she had given up as she fell on the floor, staring down without moving.

“What is wrong? You are not acting in a controlling matter?” Victoria asked with a stern voice.

Meldan had let Berk loose from her grasp as she hit the ground with her knuckle cracking it.

“Tell me what is wrong?” Victoria kept pushing Meldan.

When Meldan lifted her head to face Victoria, her eyes had turned yellow. Victoria, with a swift move, pulled Berk towards herself. Meldan had, in the same movement as Victoria just tried hitting Berk’s head but hit the wall instead with her fist and half the arm was inside the wall.

Victoria protected Berk behind her body as she noticed the person in front of her was not Meldan; it was the killer everyone had talked about in the earlier days, the monster inside Meldan that comes out in disastrous moments and takes over to protect itself, the monster who killed her family, the monster who was responsible for the destruction of her clan, her Village destroyed in just a moment. Meldan was the one responsible for Victoria’s miserable life.

“Why are you looking so sad? Meldan made sure I would remember your mother as I pierced her heart with this right hand. It went so fast; In the last moment before her death, she was looking for her daughter. You are a lucky girl to be alive, so give me the boy so I can kill it.” Meldan uttered in a dark, muffled voice.

Victoria didn’t react to the monster’s attempt to rattle her.

“Do you think Meldan would kill the boy? She would protect the boy.” Victoria answered.

Meldan laughed out loud and answered:

“That! Little girl, that is where you are wrong.”

Zark sat on the terrace and watched Berk and a girl not much older than him play on the field; inside, he felt enjoyment of seeing him smile and laugh. Everything he has seen in life and all the people he has lost. He felt even more empathy for Berk, who had lost everyone; the children who escaped from the Village vanished. He had a feeling that the children survived, though, because there had not been any news about them for two years since they disappeared. He reminded himself that he needed to tell Berk his roots and which Village he came from. Even if they were a very isolated clan that did not have any dispute with anyone until the boy was born from two parents, the mother was human, and the father was only half Demon, there was nothing special about them. That made Zark thinking if the Witch had made a wrong choice, maybe Berk was a child of nothing, and the news about the powerful child may be accurate, but perhaps it was another child. Meldan came into the field and laughed with the children, with her apprentice walking by her side. Zark wondered if something was wrong with her apprentice; she never smiled, showed no feelings, and always had this weird robotic voice. Berk and the other child walked into the woods with Zark worried and yelling after them:

“DON’T GO TO FAR!”

“NO, WE WON’T!” The girl yelled back.

Meldan sat down on the terrace with Zark as Victoria entered the cabin. A man came from what looked like a neighbor with a tight t-shirt; the blond man was huge with crystal clear light blue eyes, which made Zark slightly jealous that he wasn’t in as great shape as the man. The man was laughing and told Zark:

“Where are the kids? It was my turn to come get her this time!”

Zark was slightly surprised by the happy face as Meldan took two steps down the stairs to better understand who it was. Instantly, Meldan fell on her knees, bowing down, and said:

” I am sorry, my king! I did not recognize you!”

Zark looked at his wife, wondering what she was talking about; maybe she had eaten the mystic mushrooms in the woods by mistake again. Victoria and Feidan came out on the terrace, and both went down on their knees instantly and bowed towards the man.

“Welcome to our humble home, my king!” Feidan said.

Zark looked closely at the man, who looked back, smiling. He was curious about the blond man who made the woman around him bow down.

“So, are you like some guy who can charm all women?”

He laughed at Zark’s curious question.

“No, I am the king of Valiant.”

Zark just nodded as if all this was a prank or something. Meldan hurried up and tried pressing down Zarks head as he dodged her attempts.

“You do not have to do that; we are meeting for the first time. I came by because I wanted to meet the savior of the boy my daughter was playing with; his reputation clashed with the Witch Samantha, and he survived it, then wooing her sister and making her his wife. Thus, I had to see who the man was responsible for the split within the Creust family.

“Well, nice to meet you, hail our king!” Zark said with a sarcastic tone.

“You can call me Valdor!” The man told Zark.

“I am so sorry, my king; he will call you only by my lord or my king and nothing else. We do not accept his ungrateful behavior toward you. I promise to find a proper punishment when we will arrive home.” Meldan said, trembling in her voice because Zark did not bow or use the right words when speaking with the king.

“Well, nice to meet you, Valdo! If you do not mind, I will get the children so we can come home before dinner.” Zark said, nonchalantly bowing down slightly when Meldan made an under kick so he fell on his back, and she kept her head now on the ground, touching it and repeating:

“I am so sorry, my king, that I have a disrespectful husband who does not know the life of a Valiantian. Please forgive us! I will make sure he does not disrespect you next time. I will punish him so he never behaves this way. Zark felt a bit of back pain as he slowly got up from the ground and laughed at the king, who smiled with closed eyes. As he entered the woods, the little girl who was earlier with Berk was walking towards them, covered in blood all over. She was in a chock, and Zark hurried to her as Meldan removed her jacket and helped her.

“What happened, Isabella? Where is Berk?” Zark asked, distressed.

Isabella pointed toward a big rock, and Zark took off and ran as fast as he could. When the road ended, he jumped over the small bushes and noticed a small entrance to what looked like a cave. There was blood everywhere, and Zark feared the worst had happened here. Did some animal attack them? A strong wind came out from the entrance, and more blood ran out of the entrance, which made Zark unsure because the children didn’t even have this much blood inside them.

“Do you think I can not feel your presence, young man!” A murky voice uttered inside the cave.

Zark slowly showed himself in front of the entrance, and all he could see was two red eyes following every small move he made.

“I can feel inside the child that you are important to him. Are you the father?” The voice asked.

Zark tried to step forward as the red eyes followed his feet, blood splattered on them from the darkness.

“DO YOU NOT CARE OF THE CHILDS LIFE? ANSWER WHEN I HAVE SPOKEN!” The voice raised its tone toward Zark, who realized he couldn’t risk going further into the cave.

“I am his big brother; where is the child?” Zark asked.

The voice was laughing as it could feel the fear dwelling inside Zark.

“I am the boy; if you come closer, I will kill it and then kill you for taking a step inside the cave!”

Zark tried to figure out if Isabella had even entered the cave, but she must have tried grabbing him before he disappeared because she was in a drench of blood when they saw her walking back.

“What do you want? Why did you take the boy?” Zark asked in a murkier tone.

“I follow one of the important principles of living, and one of them is to grab what is in front of you; the girl was lucky she was behind the boy. I wish you to open the chest and transfer the curse from us to you. I can sense from you, who has mixed blood, that you are not powerful enough to break the curse, but you can take over the curse so we can leave this cave!”

“Who are we? Are there several of you?” Zark asked.

“It is me and my nine lieutenants of the 100TH demon army. You should know of us; we feel excited to return to war and protect all civilians.”

“I have not heard of you, but the war ended many years ago. It is over, so can you return the boy to me?” Zark tried to ask it calmly.

It was quiet for a moment, and then the voice responded:

“I did not learn that information, young man. That is even better. We can return home and drink all day.”

Zark got a little bit stressed as he needed to get Berk out of there, but the red eyes monitored him closely.

“Fine! I will transfer the curse over to me.” Zark told it.

“Move slowly forward!” The voice told Zark, and his eyes followed every step he took forward.

It was aligning and keeping its distance from Zark; suddenly, his feet hit an object on the ground. He quickly went down to feel what it was as he could feel the chest. He opened his chest as red light shone up, and he could see Berk with red eyes keeping his distance from him, but luckily it didn’t look like he was hurt.

“Read the letter inside,” The voice in Berk told him.

Zark opened the letter and read in the cave’s red light.

“I, worthy…” “STOP,” the voice interrupted Zark.

“Start the letter by saying I and then your name.” The voice told Zark.

“I, Zark Van Polan, worthy of the curse, will take it over to me from the 100Th demon army and suffer the effects of Hell that it will bring upon me.”

“Good, now read out the spell!” The voice said.

“Fan ta ru wer su kah tu ah rha ich liebe dich ach tuh!” Zark read out, and a strong wind flew right through the cave.

Meldan hurried to the rocks after leaving Isabella by the cabin, and what looked like a strong wind blew in the direction of the cave. When she came right outside of the entrance, an enormous flood of blood just splashed through the cave entrance, covering all the leaves on the ground soaked in red.

“ZARK!…BERK! She screamed out toward the cave entrance.

The silence had Melan surrounded in fear of her husband and Berk. She tried to look inside the pitch-black darkness, but silence had taken over the cave.