Demons and Dragons

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Sakura excused herself from the table, anxiously running to her room. She was enthralled in the story of the cards but she did not think that it was real. Sakura had the evidence on the paper in front of her but she could not appreciate it because she did not believe that it was true.

Diejed knew that the story was true because he lived in the world they described but he did not have the cards. He did not have what he had wanted so badly but not for lack of trying. Diejed was an angel-demon and his reason for living was to find the cards and make them give him more power. Diejed knew that the cards could also be used to bring others down – they bent to the will of whoever held them. Still, Diejed was not afraid because he had plans.

Diejed knew that only one man could be in power at a time. If more than one man took the throne, then the whole race fought each other in vain. Nothing could happen because the two were fighting each other. The common people would grow restless and exile the king that was left alive. The fact that the ruler was selfish enough to fight for more power while the poor got poorer still told the commoners that the risk of getting exiled themselves was worth getting the man off the throne.

He knew that the only way to keep the common people in check was to rule with fear and in solitude. The people had to know that the punishments would be severe if they made any move against the ruler. Diejed would rule with anger, fear, and war. War kept the nobles, leading generals, and warriors busy. Anyone who could overthrow him with influence would be too busy chasing an unknown enemy. Diejed knew that ruling could not be that easy – if it was, no one would have been exiled. The hardest thing would be finding an "unknown" enemy and Diejed knew just where to find them...

In another dimension, there is a place called Earth and on that planet live mortal humans who delight in conquering new things with strange and powerful weapons. All Diejed would have to do to earn the military's attention would be to show how much destruction and death this one invention caused. The generals would beg to go and protect their families from this new threat. It would be a long war to distract everyone but in the end, Diejed was convinced that the demon kingdom would win. The mortals had weapons of mass destruction but the demons had magic and auroras. Diejed knew that the humans could be beaten and he did not see the humans as a threat. The war was not really about beating them. The Shuna Nature Spirits would come out to save the dying world and Diejed would delight in killing not only the Earthlings but the Shuna as well.

The Shuna Nature Spirits have been a constant bother. They stole the Emperor's Saber centuries ago and almost caused the destruction of the most prosperous empire in the whole demon dimension. The Great Emperor fell when his Saber was stolen and different groups of nobles began to rule.

The idea was that the groups of leaders could have different principals that would lead to a rebirth of the empire. Unfortunately, the different ideas lead to war instead of to prosperity. The king had left specific instructions in the form of the papers but the first new rulers hid the papers, believing that the people could not rise up. The loss of the documents did not stop the demons from exiling the rulers. Now, all the different spirits and demons are at war. Demons even turned on each other.

A vote was taken centuries ago that still affects the lives of all the dimensions today. Most demons were content to watch the nobles take over after the emperor had passed. Others, like Diejed, voted that the demon should take over and that the spirits who started this trouble should face the consequences. The demons separated and any demon that refused to sway from the majority vote began to call the others angel-demons. Diejed detested the new name at first but it became a thing of pride: he was now an angel-demon and soon all the outcasts would raise again and the day that they had dreamed of for centuries would be here sooner still.

All Diejed needed to do was get to the mortal dimension and take the cards from an unknowing mortal human. A young girl had unknowingly called them to her. Diejed did not believe that she could possibly be the one the prophecies of Old spoke of (no mortal could ever hold such power) but still, the cards would not just come to anyone. This girl would have to be handled with delicately.

"What is needed, Master?" Asked a raspy voice from the corner of the room. It was Aspon, Diejed's unabsorbed, humanistic conscience.

"The only thing that I need is your silence! I need to think." Why did Aspon even need to ask? Even though the conscience was unabsorbed, the two of them could still share thoughts.

"Are you going to kill her like you killed all those others?" A note of dread could not be hidden from Aspon's voice.

Diejed ignored most of Aspon's questions but this suggestion was worth considering. The tall demon turned angel-demon sat and thought for a moment (delicacy was not one of Diejed's strong points). The girl could not know about dimensions or the box travel that allowed Diejed to move between them. The best thing to do would be to sneak in and take it without the girl knowing. He could not risk having to kill her – she may become useful in the near future; especially with the impending war with the Shuna Spirits... This human could be quite useful indeed.