The Dragon's Bounty II:Rising Shadow

Chapter 8

Kai was pulled toward the Demogorgon's face, which had plenty of fur and fangs. Kai looked over and noticed he was being threatened by two nearly identical heads. The second one opened its mouth to reveal an orange glow, blasting fire into Kai's face.
Kai made a disgusted face. "You need a breath mint." He said, coughing.
The Demogorgon growled. "How did you survive that? Those were flames I harvested from the deepest depths of Gehenna!" Kai smiled. His own throat began to glow.
"Why don't you try mine!" He blasted fire from his mouth as well. The Demogorgon didn't seem impressed. "So, you're fireproof, huh?" Kai asked with a nervous chuckle. The Demogorgon nodded. Kai turned halfway towards his friends. "Guys, a little help." He said through a clenched smile. Aro notched an arrow and pulled it back, enhancing it.
Alexander drew his sword and pointed it at the Demogorgon. "Put him down, foul beast!" He shouted, his sword wavering a bit.
The Demogorgon smiled at him with one head while continuing to stare Kai down with the other. "You should stay back." He said. Duros held up his arms, wiggling his toes in an attempt to get his feet working right. He extended a few threads and pulled himself over to the Demogorgon, who wrapped another tentacle around him. "You guys are really bad at this." He said.
"Of course, we're stuck with the two most impulsive fighters when dealing with an elite threat." Emma said, still tugging on Heartstorm. But the sword refused to budge.
The Demogorgon looked Kai and Duros over. "No valuables? You guys are boring." His eyes fell to Heartstorm. He lowered Kai and Duros where he could see the sword more clearly. "Now that is something I must have!" He shouted, pounding over towards Emma. Alexander jumped up from behind him and raised his sword, sinking it into the Demogorgon's back. The Demogorgon roared and grabbed him with his tentacle, staring him in the face. His throat began to glow.
"Alex, use the stone!" Kai shouted. Alexander nodded and focused as hard as he could as he closed his eyes and awaited the hellfire to engulf him. As the flames struck him, they spiraled into the stone on his chestplate, making the stone glow orange in contrast to the stone's green color.
The Demogorgon growled at him. "How did you do that?!" He shouted.
Alexander smiled nervously. "Just lucky I guess.
"So you do have something of value to me." He used his fourth and last tentacle to attempt to dislodge the stone from Alexander's armor, but to no avail. A glowing blue arrow entered his face, causing him to wrap his long tail around Aro and pull him upward. "You are bothersome." He said, holding him next to Duros and Kai, who smiled.
"This is going well." He said. Aro nodded as blood rushed to his head and his stomach churned. Emma hid behind a rock and continued to tug with all her might at the sword.
"Come on you stupid thing!" She whisperyelled.
Kai looked around. "Oh no, you've caught us all." He said.
The Demogorgon laughed. "I will not be fooled that easily. I saw that sword, and I want it. I will find your friend who has it."
Kai sighed. "Emma, dear, you might want to run." He said. Emma peeked around the corner at the Demogorgon staring her down.
"Why, hello there." He said.
"I said run!" Kai shouted. Emma jumped and started running, continuing to pull at the sword. The Demogorgon began lumbering after her.
"You cannot escape me." He said, still trying to pull Alexander's stone from his armor.
"I've picked up that you like collectibles." Duros said.
The Demogorgon looked at him. "I do. I love collecting anything of potential value, but if anyone tries to steal it, I steal them." It narrowed its eyes at Duros, who nodded with the sound of two stones rubbing together.
"What if I were to give you a treasure. Would you let us go free?"
The Demogorgon thought for a moment. "What sort of treasure?"
"There are only six of its kind."
The Demogorgon smiled. "I see. This one wouldn't happen to be one?" A gold chain appeared in his tentacle, an orange stone at the end of it.
"Hey, you found my necklace!" Kai shouted. "You just saved us a ton of work."
The Demogorgon laughed. "Now that I know how many of these there are, I simply must have them all. Give it to me."
Duros loudly and slowly shook his head. "We will make a trade. My treasure for that necklace and our freedom."
The Demogorgon laughed. "That is a horrible trade for me. How about I take the sword and your stone in exchange for this stone and your freedom?" He smiled.
Duros shook his head. "No deal." He said. "We might need all of the stones, but I'm willing to give mine up."
The Demogorgon laughed. "You cannot expect me just to let you keep it all can you? I simply cannot do that. It is against my nature."
Duros sighed. "What if you took one of us?"
"Duros, no! We need all hands on deck." Kai shouted. Duros looked over to him.
The Demogorgon thought for a moment. "But what would I do with you if I did keep you?" He asked.
"What do you do with people who steal from you?" Duros asked.
The Demogorgon laughed. "No one has before. Anyone I meet with valuables I take them and if I'm having a bad day, which is most days, I kill them."
Duros nodded. "I have to admit it would be really hard to kill Kai here."
Kai looked over to him with buggy eyes."Well, yeah but it still hurts!" He shouted.
Duros shrugged. "You can handle it."
"Eternal torture? I'm good. And I can't keep it active forever remember?" He said the last part through clenched teeth to attempt to keep the Demogorgon from hearing it.
Duros sighed. "Well then what do you propose?!" He shouted.
Kai thought for a moment. "What if we helped you get more treasure?" Kai asked. "Like from the mortal realm?" The Demogorgon stopped moving and looked at Kai with both heads.
"So you're implying you would work your debt off if I let you live and you got to keep all the stones?"
Kai smiled and nodded. "We will try our best."
The Demogorgon growled at him. "Fine, but it won't be any easy payment. Shall I make you a list?"
Kai nodded. "Just make sure it's nothing completely irrational."
The Demogorgon smiled. "I will be keeping something as ransom, you know."
Kai nodded. "Naturally. I propose Duros's stone."
The Demogorgon frowned. "Pardon? You said you were alright with parting with that. What reason would you have to come back to it?"
"No, I said I will if I must. I would severely rather not part with it actually." Duros said.
The Demogorgon stared into his cold stone eyes. "And why should I believe you?" He asked.
Duros shrugged. "I guess you'll have to trust us." He said.
The Demogorgon chuckled. "I haven't trusted anyone since I deserted The Demon King."
"Hold up, you used to work for The Demon King?" Aro asked, hardly holding in his lunch.
The Demogorgon nodded. "I was a level 3 demon. I guess I still am, but naturally I don't take orders anymore. I was sent here instead of staying in the shadow realm, to keep my riches safe guarded and I have no reason to leave this strange land."
"Can you travel between levels of the void?" Alexander asked.
"Of course. How else would I prey on innocent mortals that wander into my domain?"
"Maybe you could help us find the river Styx?" Kai asked.
"The river Styx is not easily found. It runs differently throughout each level."
"Kai, I thought you said it was the same in every level." Duros said.
Kai shrugged. "So I read the book wrong, my bad."
"I guess I could help you get back to the mortal realm. But only if you shake on the deal." The Demogorgon said with a sly smile. Kai nodded and held out his hand from below the Demogorgon's tentacle's hold. The Demogorgon used his fourth tentacle to shake each of their hands before setting them all down. Duros opened up the chest of his tunic, opening his chest after that, revealing the shiny blue stone inside his torso. The Demogorgon grabbed it and examined it.
"This is exactly the same in properties as the other stone. I suppose it will do for now." The orange stone on a chain appeared in his tentacle and he lowered it down to Kai, who grabbed it and placed it around his neck.
"Finally found you." He smiled, staring down at the jewel.
"Now, follow me to Styx." The Demogorgon said, lumbering away. Everyone obliged and followed close behind him. Once they reached the river, the Demogorgon grabbed a boat from a nearby wreck and placed it into the water. "Just get in and sail down the river." Duros nodded and stepped into the boat, followed by everyone else. As they sailed away, the Demogorgon raised his tentacle. Everyone looked down at their hands to see a strange symbol in their palm.
"The Thieve's Mark." Alexander said. Everyone looked over to him. "This is what we tattoo onto thieves who cannot be sentenced to death." Everyone nodded.
"I'm assuming it will somehow kill us if we don't get everything on this list." Emma said, looking down at the piece of parchment the Demogorgon had given them. "The King's crown?!" She shouted. Everyone's jaws dropped as they looked at the parchment.
"That's impossible!" Alexander shouted. "I could never do something so treasonous!" Everyone agreed.
"That's one of three." Aro said. "We also need the pixie flower and the Triton trident. I'm pretty sure those are equally as important as the crown to their peoples." Everyone nodded.
"Yeah, the king may be in charge of all of Tritanus, but each race has a kingdom of their own inside Tritanus, including the Reapers, who have a scythe as their symbol." Kai said.
"I guess he forgot that one." Aro said.
Kai shrugged. "How are we gonna get these?" Alexander asked. Everyone shrugged.
"Uh, guys?" Everyone looked over to Duros, who was pointing forward. While they talked, they had entered a glittering cave, a waterfall at the end.
"That doesn't look good." Emma said, holding tightly to her sword.
"Everybody hold on!" Kai shouted as the boat tipped off the edge and plummeted downward.

Elliot admired his latest tattoo, the water god's rune he had placed upon his shoulder.
"You guys wanna stick around here? Maybe you could learn some new water tricks." He said. Huey shrugged.
Iris didn't have much of a visual reaction. "I'm quite content with my level of expertise." She said.
Huey nodded. "I'm pretty happy with mine, too. I've been training for 15 years, I don't think I can get much better."
Elliot sighed. "Well running around getting tattoos is boring." He said. "We need to spice it up some."
"How do you propose we do that?" Iris asked.
Elliot shrugged. "I was hoping you guys had some ideas." Both Tritons shook their heads. "You guys are definitely related. Neither of you seem to like traveling, and you both like tactics and smart stuff." Both nodded.
"Travel is enlightening sometimes, but I'd much rather stay home and think of battle strategies." Huey said.
"I, too, enjoy thinking of strategy. Though I assume your strategies include others. I have never been good at that." Iris said. "I only plan new strategy for myself."
Elliot sighed. "Why did I get stuck with the buzzkills?" He asked as he trudged onward. He perked up when he noticed figures in black outfits in every nook and cranny of the village. "Um, guys? We've got company." The figures crept out of the dark and surrounded them.