Devil's End

The Encounter

"Wait a minute! Get back here!" the voice rang out. The owner began chasing after the one he spoke to. Being three quarters of his size, it took him a good jog to catch up with his target. "Just listen to me for a minute!"

"Not interested," they replied. He continued at his fast pace, ignoring the boy trying to stop him.

"Aw come on Marrow!" the smaller boy said reaching out to grab him. The taller boy grabbed his wrist and flung him through the air over him. "For the last time that's not my name!" they shouted. The smaller boy came crashing to the ground, groaning from the landing.

"I wish you'd stop doing that," he mumbled. "Well Arin, if you stopped calling me that then I wouldn't have to in the first place, now would I?!" the boy snapped.

"Shh! My name is Daggs! They can't know my real name!" Arin squealed.

"Does it really matter anymore?" Marrow asked. "It's not like we're gonna be at this school much longer," he sighed.

It really wasn't a bad place, the school. It was located in a fairly nice town with many nice residents. Despite his and Arin's pathetic excuses for gothic disguises, they had nearly welcomed them in open arms.

How foolish they'd feel if they knew the truth about us. Marrow thought.

He and Arin weren't like the other children their age. Or what they looked; seventeen at the oldest, fifteen at the youngest. In fact, they weren't like humans of any age at all. They were demons. Marrow served the King of the Underworld as his faithful prodigy. Under his guidance, he had become one of the most skilled assassins for the High King. He himself was a humanoid, like Arin.

Arin was a lower-classed demon. Though fairly strong for his class, he was still nowhere near as strong as Marrow. His job was to serve as a guide for him, an aid who could teleport and obtain reinforcements for Marrow in times of need. Not that Marrow ever needed any help though.

"Look I'm just saying that-"Arin froze. His face paled and his eyes grew wide. "D-Did you feel..." he stammered.

Marrow grinned. "Yeah, I felt it too. They're getting close."

They had been sent to the town on a special assignment. They were to track down an enemy to the Underworld; a mysterious figure appearing to be about their age. All they knew was that the target had resided in the small town for protection from the demons. Sadly though, their luck had run out.

"Come on," Marrow said as he walked back to the wall he had stormed from. School hadn't been released yet, so there wouldn't be casualties. Better yet, there wouldn't be witnesses. He flexed his hands in preparation for the attack. All he had to do was drag them out of sight and then he'd cast the enchantment to kill them. Arin, trembling viciously, followed him.

"Are you sure about this? They're not like the others!"

"That's what I'm counting on." Marrow smirked. "This will be fun."

He pretended to rest at the corner as they grew near. He could hear their footsteps on the pavement now, as his hearing was more advanced than humans'. Arin cringed as he heard them too. Then, just as they reached the corner, Marrow spun around the corner to ambush them. To his surprise, he was facing a teenage girl.

His hands hit the collective books in her arms and, as they fell, he ran into her. Faking the running into, he fell to the wall for support. The girl however, had yelped in surprise and fell onto the ground. She stared wide-eyed at him, as he did her.

For all intents and purposes, she looked like just a regular girl. She was slim, her height passing Arin's but falling short of Marrow's by inches. She wore a navy blue skirt along with a light gray buttoned blouse with white stockings and black flats. She had long brown hair that ran halfway down her back with sun-kissed skin and striking green eyes. Was this girl the one? It couldn't be! It just couldn't. She seemed practically harmless.