Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [Version Discontinued]

24. Miscalculation

Erebus stood and stared into the space that once had the portal. We was too late... again. A deep anger overwhelmed him. He promised the King and General Halcyon he would find Leo. He finally did, and lost him again. He was probably going to the facility up North, which was a fate worse than death. He needed to move fast.

His anger and anxiety could not be restrained. He turned towards the group, his eyes burning with rage. Nash, Comet, and Claire were fighting fiercely, their eyes fixed to one person dressed as a Shadow Guard.

Erebus glared at the guard. The guard instinctively turned towards the killing intent and faltered when he saw Erebus.

Erebus moved quickly through the shadows and appeared before him. In a blink of an eye, his blade was embedded in the man's chest. The man's pupils started to change and reflect the same as the Djinn from before.

He grit his teeth. "Why?!" He cried out, alerting the others around him.

The Shadow Guards, still under his spell turned towards the sound and saw that a man in black had stabbed their comrade. They lifted their weapons, ready to attack but were surprised when they saw an arrow fly into the man's throat. They turned and saw Nash had fired it with a dark look in his eyes.

The Djinn was still trying to fight back and held a sword in one hand. He lifted it up, intending to strike Erebus, but Comet clamped down on his arm and pulled it out of the socket with a wet ripping sound. The Djinn tried to scream, but only blood bubbled from his throat.

He lifted his other arm, but it was cleanly cut off by Claire's sword.

Erebus' killing intent radiated from him, making the Devils back away.

"You dare ask 'why'?" He growled. "Because I fucking hate Djinns." He twisted the knife until he heard the Djinn's heart shatter. His skin returned to its original blue skin and then he dissipated with the fog.

Erebus wasn't done and his anger wasn't sated. He turned towards the Devils and moved like the wind, slicing open a Devil's throat and moved to the next. This woke up the others and they continued to fight their opponents. Without the interference from the Djinn, cutting them down was easy for the well coordinated group.

One by one, the Devils fell until there were none left. Erebus stood in the middle of the corpses with a heavy breath. He closed his eyes and focused on the tracker he left on Leo and feel it pull North. He already guessed that they would take him to the facility, so at least he knew they would keep him alive. However it was unwise to leave Leo in their hands for too long.

He turned towards the large group and saw that Claire was explaining what happened with the Djinn, while Nash and Comet were checking the wounded. One of the wounded was the giant of a man, Heath. He had a sour look on his face and kept looking back at the space where the portal was. Erebus could relate to his dejection.

Erebus wasn't listening to Claire but regretted that he didn't because two dozen pairs of eyes gazed at him with unwarranted adoration. He looked at Claire helplessly which caused her to giggle. Through her journey with him, she found Erebus to be a man of great mystery and magnificent skills. She vowed to beg the Generals to invite Erebus into Shadowbane immediately and grant him a ranking. The meager title of Hunter was wasted on him.

One of the Shadow Guards coughed a little. "Did you really survive Comet's Lightning Domain?"

Erebus nodded awkwardly. "I moved through the shadows hidden in the domain."

"But, wouldn't it be changing consistently because of the unpredictability of lightning?"

"Yes. I tried to move faster than the lightning." He held up his torn shirt. "Evidently, I was not fast enough."