Unbreakable Love

The Demon Realm:

A stifling hot air filled the throne room, cast off from the twelve stone firepits each lining the centre aisle.

Their flames burned brightly, flickering madly as the marching soldiers passed them by, one by one.

Their leader, the mighty Demon King Valknar was seated upon his throne as several badly beaten Elven soldiers were marched down the aisle and then forced onto their knees before him in shackles.

Enemies of the realm.

Traitors.

In actual fact they were assassins sent to kill the king of demons in his sleep.

But their attempt to do so had been thwarted due to the king’s tremendous fearlessness and obvious skill.

Valknar was not afraid of anything or anyone.

Least of all, enemy Elf assassins.

“My Lord, the assassins have been interrogated, as requested.” General Greven proclaimed aloud for his king to hear.

“Speak dogs! Do you deny your crimes?”

Both Elves kept their heads bowed down low, far too afraid to do anything different than that given their situation.

“I said, SPEAK!” the General demanded loudly, his voice echoing throughout the room.

One Elf shuddered while the other lifted his head with a panicked look in his eyes.

“W…we did it. We are guilty… please, don’t harm us.” he announced in a terrified tone of voice.

The second frowned, using his shoulder to charge into his accomplice in anger.

“Shut up you idiot!” he demanded.

“Keep your mouth shut if you know what’s good for you!”

General Greven chuckled to himself for a moment while King Valknar sat watching over the scene down below.

“You’ve heard it from their own mouths.” the General declared.

“Guilty as charged-”

“-Nonsense!” the second Elf shouted.

“The Demon King must die! He mu-”

‘Slash!’

Before he was able to finish his sentence the second Elf’s neck was suddenly sliced wide open, blood gushing out all over the stone floor beneath him as the General sheathed his blood-soaked sword.

Horrified, the first Elf’s eyes were wide like saucers as he watched his companion executed before his very eyes, flopping lifelessly to the floor.

“No! Please, don’t kill me!” he began begging helplessly.

“Those who are treasonous to our King must die.” the General declared, looking up to his King for permission to proceed.

“Shall I execute the criminal, my lord?”

King Valknar sat in silence for a moment, as if contemplating his answer.

Instead, he merely gave a simple nod.

A gesture to say yes.

And with said permission, General Greven unsheathed his sword and positioned himself for a fatal strike.

“No, no, no, I’m begging you, spare my life.” the Elf cried out, tears rolling down either cheek.

“We were merely following orders-”

‘Slash!’

A single motion downward and General Greven had ended the life of the first Elf.

He crumpled to the floor beside his fallen comrade in a pool of his own blood.

Sheathing his sword for a second time the General then turned all attention towards his seated King.

“Their sentence has been carried out, sire.” he proclaimed.

“Guards, take them away!”

Within seconds four guards moved in and began removing the bodily remains of the two vanquished enemies from the throne room as the General carried on with his evening report.

“My lord, if the Elves are being brazen enough to attempt an assassination, I recommend we retaliate immediately. The sooner the better.” he declared.

The sorcerer Kronus on the other hand had other ideas as he chose this as his moment to speak up from where he stood beside the throne.

“If I may, your highness, what we should continue focusing on is increasing numbers in our army. Going to war with the Elves now would not only put us at a disadvantage but it would also create more trepidations for you, my lord.” the sorcerer explained his logic.

“Increasing our army’s numbers would give us stability. We can always go after the Elves at a later date. One mistake and we lose everything.”

“Enough!” King Valknar finally spoke up with his deep, smooth toned voice.

“Arguing amongst ourselves will do us no good. I agree with Kronus on this issue, focusing on increasing our numbers is of utmost importance. We will continue to do so for the time being. Is that understood?”

General Greven bowed his head, slamming his fisted hand up against his chest in a respectful salute.

“As you command, my liege.” he proclaimed.

Kronus smirked.

In truth his idea was indeed the most fundamental of the two.

If they were to go to war with anyone in the near future they would need larger numbers added to their still growing army.

It was a known fact that King Valknar alone could wipe out an entire army all on his own, but it would also expel the majority of his mystical energy, which would put him at risk.

The almighty King would need his grand army.

And one way or the other, he would have it.

“Also, sire. A report just arrived from the captain’s squadron. Good news, they are scheduled to return within the next couple of days with over a hundred new recruits for the army.” the General continued with his report.

Valknar’s expression didn’t change as he took this new information on board.

“That is far less than we anticipated.” Kronus commented.

“We will need to send out another squadron soon afterward to gather more men. We must reach ten thousand by the end of the month if we are to remain on schedule.”

“Understood.” the General replied, nodding his head.

“I will arrange for this to take place upon their arrival.”

“Then I will leave that task with you, General.” King Valknar announced.

“I wish to be informed immediately upon their return to the palace.”

“Understood.” the General agreed.

The Human Realm:

The entire city of Manis was under siege, with countless men seized and taken in to add to the Demon King’s army.

Women and children ran in all directions to get as far away as they could from the demonic squadron of lethal killers who had stormed into the city in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately, visits from demonic soldiers were happening more and more frequently now with King Valknar rumoured to be growing his army.

Men would be stolen away against their will.

And on rare occasions, some women of the right age and appearances would also be taken captive and introduced into the Demon King’s royal harem as gifts of war.

At that very moment two young women were running for their very lives from invading demon soldiers who were at that moment hot on their heels.

It seemed that they had been spotted and targeted for the King’s harem.

Not that either one of the women would willingly agree to such a horrific life.

“Come on Lucy, keep up!” Sapphira called out behind her as the two darted around a street corner and down a dark alleyway.

The streets were in disarray as chaos ensued.

But Sapphira knew her way around the city streets and was confident that she could outrun these demonic fools.

Lucy on the other hand wasn’t as slim as Sapphira and struggled to keep up with her best friend as the chase progressed.

“There they are, don’t let them get away!” one of the soldiers cried out, pointing directly at them.

“Get them!” another added.

“Sapphira, I can’t outrun them... I just can’t…” Lucy proclaimed as she started to fall behind her friend’s rapid pace.

“Sapphira skidded to a halt, turning with a panicked expression just in time to watch her good friend suddenly trip over a piece of fallen rubbish and land hard on the dirt covered ground.

“Aah!”

‘Thump!’

“Lucy!” Sapphira cried out, darting back in her friend’s direction to assist her in any way that she could.

Crouching down to grasp Lucy by her upper arms, she pulled her up onto her feet just in time to be surrounded by a small group of demonic soldiers.

They had no way out.

“I’m so sorry, Sapphira.” Lucy announced sadly as the two women spun around, peering at the masked soldiers surrounding them.

“This is all my fault.”

“Lucy, stop.” Sapphira interjected.

“This is no one’s fault.”

“You there, both of you. You’re coming with us.” one of the soldiers commanded pointing at them.

“We’re not going anywhere with you!” Sapphira declared defiantly, forcing her friend in behind herself protectively.

“Yeah, you’ll have to kill us instead!” Lucy chimed in from where she stood.

Sapphira frowned, turning to glance at her best friend for a moment in shock.

“Uh, not helping here, Lucy.” she pointed out.

Lucy grimaced.

“Oops, sorry.”

“By command of the Demon King Valknar, you are hereby ordered to accompany us to the Demon Realm.” that same soldier barked.

“Resist and we will use force.”

“Go to hell!” Sapphira declared in a defensive stance.

“Take them!” the soldier commanded, signalling for his men to proceed.

Lucy screamed as she was grabbed first by one of the soldiers closest to her.

“Ah, no! Let me go!”