The Morning Star

Chapter VIII "Night Star Oh Night Star"

As soon as Ray got back home, he went to his room and took off his jacket while staring at his scars on the mirror. The deep wounds were healing rapidly, the scars would take a few days to disappear, but the pain wouldn't leave him yet. He put on a long sleeve shirt and laid on bed, and before he knew he was fast asleep. The following school days went normal, or that's what Ray convinced himself as he got used to having his vision unrestricted. Demons would only be seen when summoned, yet whenever Ray passed near a Keeper he would hear the chains jingle in his head, that was the sign that allowed them to identify each other. Slowly though, Ray got used to all the sensations and visions, it became a part of his daily routine. His only fear was his definite next interaction with Jengrith, which proved to be an unpleasant task. He decided he wouldn't summon Jengrith before Lilia contact him again, for the safety of himself, and his surroundings.

It was Friday, a peaceful night ended with a morning surprise. Ray could feel his nose being pinched with a giggle. He opened his eyes to see a cheerful pair of blue eyes smiling down at him.

"Surprise surprise."
"Haley... what time is it."
"It's 8 sleepy head!"
"How much should I pray for one more hour..."

Imitating his sleepy voice, Haley mocked him in her reply. "How can you pray while laying on bed? you should be ashamed." Ray sighed and grabbed her cheeks before pulling her over next to him. The two laughed and spent the morning talking about funny events that happened recently, but Ray couldn't open up on anything related to the demons matter. He feared he would endanger her with that knowledge, yet he didn't know if she'd even believe him, so Ray decided to keep her out, at least for now. The couple decided to spent their day in the Cinema, a perfect getaway for some fun time. After a long debate they both agreed on a comedy movie, it was a perfect date with no prior planning, up until Ray heard the chains ringing in the back of his head. Right after the chain sound, he could feel the intense Aura calling him out, a war call as Lilia described it before. The Aura followed him and the sensation felt closer with every step he took with Haley out of the Cinema. "I don't want to be part of such events, especially with Haley here." He told himself as he tried to ignore the feeling and walk away.

The couple started heading back home, until they got interrupted by a male, at least 20 years old. "Why are you walking away on me?" the male asked while Haley clinched Ray's arm and stuck herself to him. "Is he a friend of yours Ray?" she asked as Ray looked at the male and replied. "He is." He then directed his speech to the male and continued. "This isn't the right time, I'll talk to you later." The male laughed and walked closer to them while Haley frowned to his rude behavior. "So you think I'm your friend? If you're scared your girlfriend here would get hurt, then meet me in an hour in the devil's clearing, or I'll hunt all those close to you, got that Keeper?" the male then left, leaving Ray in a big mess.

"Ray... who was that? And what was all that about just now?"
"I don't know, let's get back home."
"No... you said he was your friend didn't you? And what's with this devil clearing thing?"
"Haley please, this isn't the time for all these questions, I'll explain later."
"What are you hiding from me Ray! I won't let you get hurt... Are you dealing with bad people now? Do you think you're protecting me by hiding all this!"
"Haley... please..."
"Fine Ray! Do your thing! I'll call dad to pick me up, goodbye now Ray."

An angry and frustrated Haley left Ray with tears forming in her eyes. She wasn't happy about being out of his equations when she was keeping him in all of hers. Ray was then distressed by all the events; was he ready to summon Jengrith? Did he even want to? How was he going to explain things to Haley? He deeply wished if he could contact Lilia somehow, but he didn't know how, she was the one always contacting him. Finding no other options, Ray went to the clearing where he first summoned Jengrith, the devil's clearing, that was the name Lilia told him, but he didn't know it was a well-known destination for Keepers like himself. Entering the forest he could feel the roars of the male's Aura, each individual had a distinctive sensation to him, and as he walked into the clearing, he saw the Male standing on the other side of it. The male didn't waste any time explaining or asking questions. He began his prayer "Soar through the Heavens, reek fear upon its skies, Ignite, Aooda." The demon appeared as a modified humanoid figure, it had red skin, six big wings that were brushed with black feathers, a sharp long leather tail, and carried a sword in its left hand. Its face was covered with a bird face mask that had a long beak extending at least 15 inches before it's body, a creature only seen in nightmares. Aooda stood obedient behind the male with his wings stretched in a stance of intimidation. Ray gulped and closed his eyes, he took a deep breath and prayed his part. "Corrode all holy to ashes, burn the desires of pride, Rebel, Jengrith." Jengrith slowly formed out of a black Aura, his slender scaly body, the two horns on his shoulders, and the brutal claws that thirsts for blood. The male smirked and raised his hand forward. "Aooda, bring me both of their souls." And without a word, Aooda snapped his wings down launching him to air before bolting towards Jengrith and Ray. Before Ray could react, Jengrith smiled and flickered forward, he met Aooda halfway with his teleportation not leaving the demon any time to react. Jengrith grabbed Aooda's arm and pulled him down crashing him to the ground. The demon rolled on the impact then screeched before getting up, he then used his wings to push him forward to Jengrith slashing his sword forward on offense. Jengrith allowed the blade to hit his scaly palm before grabbing it, barely a skin cut, he then grabbed Aooda's neck with his other arm and held him mid air. Aooda snapped his wings down sending the two meters high before using both of his legs to kick Jengrith down. As the grip of Jengrith slipped from Aooda's neck, his claws sliced flesh wounds on the side of his opponent's neck before crashing to the ground. Aooda didn't react to the pain, instead he pushed himself down as Jengrith crashed, charging his sword to stab Jengrith's heart. The crash sent dirt all over the two covering the scene, slowly as it settled down, the red pair of eyes could be seen on the male's side. Taking a closer look, he could see Aooda pinned to the ground with Jengrith kneeling on him. Jengrith grabbed the two Main wings of Aooda and tore them off as the demon screeched in pain. He then grabbed Aooda's beak, raising his head up before slicing through his neck with his other hand. Aooda's screeching soon turned into sobbing, Jengrith sank his teeth in the base of Aooda's neck, countless needle like teeth ripping off whatever it grabbed before Aooda turned into black mists that Jengrith inhaled through his mouth. Terrified, the male was shivering at the sight of his demon being decapitated and devoured by Jengrith with ease. He lost the fight and now he was about to lose his life. "Jengrith, please that's enough." Ray said in a soft tone, worrying he'd anger Jengrith again. Jengrith turned around to face Ray, talking and whispering at the same time in his two toned voice. "Justice is the last refuge of the weak, if you're truly the Keeper of Hell's Wrath, then you shall find no mercy in your heart for those below you." Ray couldn't help but beg in reply. "I'm still not ready to kill, please let him go." Jengrith didn't seem happy on Ray's decision, yet the demon slowly vaporized into the dark Aura he came from. The male on the other hand took the chance and ran away after losing one of his chains. He was creeped out by how Jengrith brutally killed his demon and was about to kill him.

Ray sighed in relief as this could've been much worse in comparison with his past experience. As he walked out of the clearing he heard the sound of chains ringing again, then he heard clapping. He turned around to see a man leaning on a tree clapping and smiling, the man was dressed in a black leather coat and had gloves on as well, making only the skin of his neck and above visible. "What an amazing show Keeper." The man said in a hyped happy tone. "Your Jengrith seemed to be unhappy about the ending you choose though." Ray clutched his teeth and didn't reply, hoping he'd be able to walk away without another fight. "Oh don't you worry, Keeper of Hell's Wrath, I'm not here to fight. I just happened to stumble upon you two playing around and decided to watch." Ray didn't like the feeling he got from this man, he decided to cut to the point and leave. "It's not what it looked like, don't think I enjoyed what I just did, now if you'd excuse me, I'm heading back home." The man laughed and walked to Ray, pausing in front of him, he then walked passed him and kept going. "It's been nice meeting you Keeper of Hell's Wrath. I'm David, the Keeper of the Night Star." The man vanished within the woods, keeping Ray behind. Ray began walking out as well heading back home, suddenly he heard a familiar voice.

"Ray? Ray! What are you doing here!"
"Lilia? It's a long story..."
"There's no time for this! You need to get out of here now!"
"W-what's wrong?"
"One of the high ranking keepers are here, he owns one of Lucifer's priests, the Keeper of the Night Star."