The Infinite Cycle

Prologue: The End of an Epic Heralds the Beginning of a Tragedy

Briar was the first to act. It might have been the orc half of his blood, itching for battle. Sure, he was always the first to lose himself in blood frenzy. But this was different, he wanted Ifrtin to focus solely on him and ignore the others.

Briar charged; when he was a few meters in front of Ifrtin, even though he was still a meter short of the strike range of his poleaxe he pulled it back and swung downward.

But before he could put his full power into it Ifrtin brought his hand up and swatted the poleaxe aside with the back of his armored gauntlet. The blade and armor clanged, Briar's hand vibrated as the poleaxe was knocked aside. "Rahh!" Briar yelled, he let his poleaxe fly and continued his charge. He aimed a punch at Ifrtin's face with his right hand and with his left he grabbed his sidearm, a short sword and slashed his stomach.

But Ifrtin was faster than him, and stronger. He evaded Briar's punch and grabbed Briar's blade between his index finger and thumb. While Briar struggled to pull or push the blade Ifrtin took his left hand and punched him in the center of his chest.

Crack. Briar felt several of his ribs break. The force behind it sent him flying backwards. When he hit the ground, his cracked ribs punctured his internal organs. His lungs burned, his chest quickly turned an ugly shade of purple and he started coughing up gobs of blood. Despite his injures he still tried to stand but Ifrtin grinned and pointed at him with his index finger. He used Lightning Strike but emphasised control over form.

'Shit! I can't dodge that!' Briar's mind raced.

Just in time, Strorgroud was there. He threw down his metal shield in front of Briar. Ifrtin launched a straight beam of Lightning from his fingertip toward the shield. Strorgroud's shield was made by himself and one of his best. The handle used rubber to make it more comfortable to grip and insulate the user from electric attacks. Even jamming the shield into the ground dispersed the electricity into the ground. But the steady stream of Lightning heated up the point of contact and it began to melt through the material.

"Nisassu hurry the fuck up! How long does it take to pull a damn string!?! This shield won't last long!" Strorgroud yelled struggling to keep himself and Briar covered.

"Just shut up and stay there!" Nisassu hunter of the dark forest yelled back. She grabbed 10 enchanted arrows from her quiver, held them in her right hand and with one fluid motion fired the first arrow. As soon as it flew she nocked another arrow from the bundle in her hand and repeated. With her strength and agility as a Dark Elf she fired them all in under 2 seconds.

Ifrtin smirked... and deflected Nisassu's arrows with a Wind Blast spell.

Nisassu failed — but it gave the others an opening. Xia the Lycanthrope and Kuài the rabbit Beastkin, reached him at the same time. Kuài daggers in hand stabbed at Ifrtin's only exposed flesh, his face. The poison on his knives made from hydra venom would kill within minutes usually less. Against Ifrtin's regeneration it would not be fatal, but it would slow him.

Again, he deflected and swatted away all Kuài's stabs despite Kuài's enhanced speed, all while keeping his Lightning spell on Briar and Strorgroud's position.

In addition to Kuài's poisonous stabs Xia punched Ifrtin as hard as she could, but each time before she'd connect, he would kick her away. Though he used less force than when he sent Briar, each kick hit harder than the last. Xia started to predict where he would strike, but she couldn't defend or counterattack; stuck on defence with each blow she lost more and more ground. Her magic decreased some of the damage dealt, reducing the force slightly and increased her strength. But the damage was still building faster than she could endure. On the 13th hit her own Beastkin blood rushed to her head. She lost herself in a feral rage and punched Ifrtin with more power than before. The drawback with going feral for a Beastkin is that although their reaction time is faster they think less and on instinct more. But if she wasn't feral she'd have noticed the moment Kuài's dagger was taken from him and backed off.

The dagger stabbed into her stomach moved faster than her eyes could follow. Faster than she could react. The effect of the poison was instantaneous. It burned more intensely than the cut. Xia dropped to her knees and screamed.

Ifrtin punched Xia in her face sending her flying into Kuài, pushing them away.

Chinatsu screamed, "Xia!" and immediately ran to her, "Alre! Get the Hydra antidote from Kuài's pack and give it me! Aven! Viola! Over here!"

"Don't te—," Even now Aven started to argue.

"NOW!" Chinatsu snarled in a low voice at her. She was in no mood to entertain Aven's elven prejudice. Not when her daughter's life was in danger.

Shocked Aven did as she was told.

As Alre emptied Kuai's pack, numerous weapons, vials and tools were strewn about. Among the vials he grabbed one so small it held only a few drops of a bright silver liquid. He gave the vial to Chinatsu and then ran to Briar and Strorgroud.

As soon as Ifrtin dispatched Xia and Kuài, Liri was the next to approach him. Her wings shimmered with fire and wind propelling her forward. In a split second she transformed her right arm into stone and punched. Ifrtin raised his left hand to block her punch.

Accelerate — Aven cast, in between treating Xia, on Liri. Before Ifrtin could fully raise his arm, Liri hit him in the chest with so much force for the first time it pushed him a few inches back.

Crack. A crack ran all the way up Liri's stone arm. With his left hand he grabbed her by her elbow.

Crack. Snap. Her stone elbow crumbled. Grinning he ripped it right off.

A human might have reacted by screaming, pulled back or panicked. But Liri was an elemental. She didn't slow down or hesitate at all. She let her left arm break off from her shoulder leaving Ifrtin gripping a useless appendage. Before he could reposition himself, she transformed her left arm to stone and pulled her left arm back to strike.

Ifrtin prepared to block with his right hand.

Accelerate once again, Aven used another spell on Liri. She launched at him with the same intense speed and power as her first strike.

Ifrtin had already seen this move and moved pre-emptively. As soon as she thrust forward, he moved his right arm and blocked the blow.

Her fist collided with his forearm perfectly blocking the punch... but there was no impact. Her punch melted into his body. "What?" Ifrtin cried. Shock registered for a second on his face. He quickly looked at the other heroes and saw Chinatsu was no longer treating Xia but chanting something, he couldn't make all of it out from his position. But he read enough of her lips to make out "... light... shadow..." 'The Kitsune!' he thought, 'an illusion!'

"Parlor tricks!" In the distance a volley of arrows headed in his direction, "Too slow!" Ifrtin yelled. Still he jumped back to avoid them and a frontal attack until he saw Liri again. But mid jump a stone fist pummeled into his side. "Gahh!" He yelled as Liri's fist cracked upon contact.

Liri dug her feet into the ground, rotated her whole body and poured more power into her punch upward. Her whole arm crumbled but she powered through knocking Ifrtin in the air. Though Ifrtin flew up a few feet — he landed on his feet. He was shaken, but not enough to bring him to his knees. The Lightning spell keeping Strorgroud and Briar pinned was broken. "Cocky bastar—" He broke off realizing he was now in range of the arrows which should have missed him before.

Slash

Ifrtin finally unsheathed his sword and cut down all of Nisassu's arrows, "I'm done entertaining you pests." Liri rushed at him, her arms reformed and ready to strike. But he slashed in front of her, the blade's path created a black trail of energy that went straight toward her.

Liri jerked to a stop, pulled her wings in front of her and turned up the flames and wind surrounding them along with both her hands to block the assault. The black energy tore through and eroded her wings as it slammed into her fists. Once again, her stone arms cracked. She tried to push forward, but the force against her was too strong. She was thrown off balance and knocked back. Unconscious. The black energy still clung to parts of her body trying to eat away at her.

Slash. Clang.

When Akai struck at Ifrtin, he laughed and parried it with his own sword. "You think you can best me in a clash of blades?"

"Yes," Akai replied smiling. "But this won't be just a clash of blades."

The moment Akai began fighting Ifrtin in close quarters Nisassu ran up to them. She grabbed her longsword and dagger, "Don't forget me!"

Alre reached Strorgroud and Briar. "I've got you." He told Briar. But Briar pushed him and Strorgroud away.

"Go, you'll do more good to them... not worth it." Briar coughed out his words.

Strorgroud nodded solemnly and picked up Briar's Poleaxe. "Leaving my shield with you, don't lose it." Strorgroud handed Briar his shield, now warped from Ifrtin's thunder spell.

"Wait! We can't just leave him like this." Alre said while clenching his fists.

"No, but we can't let the others fight that monster while we tend to him. If he's not dead after we take down Ifrtin we can treat him. But if we don't, he dies either way. You're a fighter not a healer Alre, and a damn good one who'd put both elves and humans to shame. Use that mixed blood of yours and do what neither one could on their own. Let's kill this bastard."

Alre nodded then he and Strorgroud sprinted to Akai.

"Aven you and Chinatsu go help Akai, I can finish healing Xia on my own." Viola said.

"But —" Chinatsu protested.

"Go. Your spells are better suited for battle than mine. You heard Strorgroud, we fail here Xia's dead right after this. I'll join once the venom is neutralized."

"Ok, please take care of her." Chinatsu bowed and picked up Aven. "Hold on," she said.

"Wh—" Aven squeaked. Chinatsu used magic to propel herself forward and quickly dashed to Liri's side.

Aven muttered "—at?" The new scenery confused her but then she noticed Liri right in front of her. "Liri! What did he do to you?" she cried. "Hold on, I'm here."

Ifrtin's black energy continued to eat away at Liri.

"This black energy is an extremely powerful curse, I'll tear it off her, you get her back up again." Chinatsu said.

"Wait, but then you'll be the one in danger." Aven said looking at Chinatsu.

"Yeah, but it's a curse, and curses are my speciality remember? I'll figure it out." Chinatsu declared. She placed her hands on top of the black energy as she cast a spell attempting to remove it. "Agrh! I can't dissipate it... but I can... contain it." Chinatsu managed to pull the black energy off Liri... but now it clung to her instead. The energy wrapped around her hands like a black ring of flames.

Free of the black energy Liri got up. "Wha..." She looked around, then at herself and said, "I'll support the others."

"Alright, Chinatsu and I will continue to support." Aven said.

"Got it." Liri said. She dashed forward and added her fists to the fight. When it became five against one.

Akai slashed at Ifrtin, but once again he caught the blade with his left hand. Ifrtin raised his own sword to slash him.

Woosh — 3 arrows came at Ifrtin.

Clang. They hit his armor... but couldn't penetrate it. "Annoying insects, just die already!" Ifrtin yelled, tried to swing his sword to release the same black energy blast he fired before.

"Don't even try it!" Strorgroud yelled. He threw Briar's poleaxe before Ifrtin could build up power for his energy blast. Surprised he slashed down sooner than he intended, toward Akai.

"You're outnumbered!" Alre yelled. He just barely intercepted the downward slash aimed at Akai with his two swords.

Ifrtin released Akai's sword and kicked him in the stomach. He fell back.

Alre was still pinned by Ifrtin's sword. And now Ifrtin drew back his free left hand to punch him.

But before Ifrtin could punch, Strorgroud positioned himself directly in front of Ifrtin and swung his Warhammer toward him. Ifrtin's left fist collided with the hammer and he grabbed it. Nisassu slashed at his back, but he sensed her presence and kicked a gust of wind toward her. The force pushed her away.

Liri flew straight at him. Caught, Ifrtin released the pressure he had on Strorgroud and Alre. He sidestepped away from Liri's charge. Ifrtin was being overwhelmed, they were wearing him down. If the heroes kept this up, they could beat him.

'This is where the fight truly begins.' Briar thought as he saw his friends fight.

---

This was the deciding move of the fight. Ifrtin was in the middle of casting his attack spell Thunder and couldn't cancel it, let alone change his target without suffering damage. Akai had already completed all his preparations for his 'blink' spell and the last thing he needed to do was to decide on the spot he needed to move to. Moments before Ifrtin fired his Thunder spell Akai invoked his 'future sight' to anticipate where it would strike to avoid it or let it hit him without preventing his counterattack from decapitating him.

However, what he saw almost made his blood freeze. In his premonition Ifrtin had turned around and used his Thunder spell on his own throne interrupting the continent destroying attack spell and causing all of its mana to rebound into the room. A suicidal move.

What would happen next was inevitable. If that sheer volume of mana were to flood the room, then everyone and everything without some form of mana protection would be blown away and disintegrated. The entire Castle would disappear. No healing spell or even revival skill would work because there would be no body and the mana would disperse their spirit.

Yes, everyone would die, everyone but Ifrtin since the spell used his blood as one of its ingredients he would be able to resist enough of the rebound to at least survive the fallout until one of his soldiers found him. Ifrtin would lose his castle and forces but those could be rebuilt and the majority of Ifrtin's commanders were not even in the castle to begin with.

With this in mind Akai knew the most effective course of action would be to proceed with the original attack plan. In fact, him turning around willingly meant that his attack using blink had a 100% chance to work. The only way to deviate from the future predicted was to react to his own action but since he turned before he teleported, he would not see his attack.

Teleport to his exposed back and decapitate him right after his attack is fired but before the rebounded spell explodes. Ordinarily he could regenerate even from decapitation and for that his allies were supposed to disrupt and prevent him from doing so but with his own self-destructing tactic he'll end up scattering his own body effectively killing himself for good.

For a moment he wavered. He knew what he had to do, no what he needed to do to stop this madman. But he and all his allies would have to pay the ultimate price. Yet he knew none of them would blame him, they knew this would be a one-way mission and that some of them would die. Even Viola's earlier rousing speech was just a façade meant to motivate the heroes. The fact that no one died till now was proof that Ifrtin was not even taking them seriously until now. Even so he had decided not to take any further risks and go straight for the most effective and devastating attack.

But time would wait no longer and Ifrtin spun around just like in Akai's prediction. As he predicted he fired his Thunder spell from his left palm.

With no more time to think Akai chose his destination for his spell and prepared to execute his attack. Trusting that his friends would understand why he made his decision. And he hoped they would forgive him for his selfishness.

His destination was — right in front of Ifrtin's face!

Akai immediately dropped his sword from his right hand and used it to grab Ifrtin's left hand as he was discharging his spell. With his left he brought his hand as far out as he could, his palm to Ifrtin's face.

Surprise was the first thing that registered on Ifrtin's face, he never expected to see Akai directly in his line of sight let alone less than a foot away.

But that surprise did not last long because he then kicked the weapon Akai dropped upward to his own right hand and grabbed it in a swift, fluid motion.

He then raised it up as high as he could and slashed diagonally toward Akai moving past his outstretched left hand, ignoring it completely and cutting deep across his body. Ifrtin considered severing a limb, but his intention was to end this battle as quickly as possible. Ifrtin's spell continued uninterrupted and Akai was dealt a fatal wound.

Akai screamed. Pain flooded through his body. From the slash and the Thunder spell he stopped with his right hand. Death was certain. But he would not die in vain!

With Akai's right hand which still held on to Ifrtin's he absorbed and redirected as much of the Thunder spell as he could; prioritising redirection over absorption despite the latter being more effective. With the thunder spell he redirected it to his left hand letting it pass through his body. He forced Ifrtin's spell to travel through his arms, across his shoulders to just below the base of his neck and finally down through his left hand toward his palm. This redirection burned those body parts as if molten lava had been poured on them; even so Akai thought it was worth it because now the same spell, weakened though it may be, flew straight into Ifrtin's face!

Ifrtin's face burned after being hit with the force of his own Thunder spell and it was the last thing Akai saw before his own sight began to fade. The next thing he knew was that he felt himself falling while that burning sensation still assaulted him. The pain made mere seconds seem like an eternity. But eventually that pain faded, not because the damage was being healed but because the damage had finally reached his nerves. His spinal cord was irrevocably burnt, even if he hadn't been slashed he wouldn't have been able to get up.

"Gasp — ghaa—" he tried to say something, but blood filled his mouth. He couldn't tell if he was face up or down. He couldn't feel anything, not even gravity. He tried to inhale but his lungs were filled with fluid; but questioned if they were even working, he couldn't remember the last breath he took. He knew he had been cut deeply; and reasoned it was possible his lungs and other organs were critically damaged. Even his hearing was fading as was the rest of his senses.

Then the falling sensation returned, as he felt himself fall into a deep dark hole, slipping further away from light but from pain as well. It was soothing, after all that pain he almost welcomed it.

Yes, death was certain, for him at least.

But he knew this way his friends could survive. He wasn't sure if he had dealt a fatal blow to Ifrtin, but he had to have at least disabled him for a moment. It wasn't a decapitation like in the original plan, but his attack would leave him blind and defenseless for a moment. But that was all he had to do. He could imagine the rest just as they practiced — Violet would disrupt his healing with her spell and while that happened their 3 strongest and most durable party members would restrain him while the damage dealers unleashed their biggest spells having already given the 3 the maximum amount of protection they could afford beforehand. At this time Violet would begin casting an absolute Dominate spell.

This would last 3 minutes.

Once the first volley was fired their precision team would immediately follow up and let loose their targeted skills while the damage dealers prepared another volley, after that the precision team would fall back when their own skills ran out.

1 minute.

At this time, the damage dealers would fire their last attack upon Ifrtin who would be too focused on healing to move.

Another minute.

After the third assault Violet would have finished her Dominate spell and invoked it on whatever remained of Ifrtin. The spell would bind his soul having been injured in the fight and put him under her thrall. Finally ending this bloody battle while also bringing the madman who caused these events to justice.

It should be a perfect victory, Akai thought. No, it would be a perfect victory — opposed to a certain one had he decapitated Ifrtin's head; only he would not be able to see it.

"I'm sorry — I failed… Sorry — I couldn't do it… Sorry —"

He couldn't see, he didn't even know if he was moving, but he apologized anyway. In that darkness that seemed to last an eternity.

"Violet I'm sorry… I… couldn't keep that promise."

"You liar!" her voice responded to him in his mind.

All he could do was apologise more. "I… I'm so so sorry—"

"You liar! You said you wouldn't die! You promised me! Was that all a lie?!?"

"… Sorry—"

"Stop apologising and come back! I don't want any more apologies! You've lied so much so lie once again! Tell me everything will be all right! Tell me you're going to be alright and then do it… just … just like you always do. Please. Someone. Anyone. Bring him back. I don't care who. A god… or even a devil. Please… I'll do anything."

Silence followed and then a new voice emerged with an icy chill. "Anything?" It was Ifrtin's voice and the last thing the mortal named Akai ever heard.

"No NO! Don't listen to him! Whatever he says is a lie! Silence him and take him to the coalition! I need to go back. I need to do something! Because, because if it were me and there was a sliver of hope…"

"I WOULD DO ANYTHING TOO!"

Is that so?
Then perhaps…
we may be able to come…
to an agreement.

---

Chapter 2: Waking from a Dream into a Nightmare

Beta drifted in and out of dreams, he could not tell if he was awake or dreaming. Images and scenes of his life flashed through his mind. A kind, warm family at the dinner table, friends playing in a field. His body was submerged in water, he tried to swim but barely felt his limbs. He panicked, he wasn't breathing. Suddenly the water began to boil. It burned and scalded his skin, flames surrounded him and a village burned in the distance.

Beta struggled to run — no, swim — toward the village until everything faded away.

He returned to his dreams.

This time he dreamt of a young girl surrounded by vivid purple flowers shining under the moonlight. Beta said to the girl, "See, I told you there was a whole bunch of flowers in this colour."

"Yeah, you were right. Hey, let's take some back, we can make a crown out of it later." She said, her eyes sparkled with the same innocent luster as the flowers.

"Sure." Beta replied. He started gathering the flowers, moving in the opposite direction of the girl.

"Do you think Tori will like it? She's gonna be so jeal—"

"What did you say?" Beta turned around and saw a large shadowy figure grab the girl.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Beta yelled. He ran after the girl, but the shadow moved quickly. Then more shadowy figures crept into view. They grabbed him and slammed him into the ground.

His head smacked a rock on the ground. It burned as blood trickled down. Still he strained his body to stand and called out with his fading strength, "Vio… la…"

His consciousness faded.

Before Beta stood a broken, burning shack. The structures were obliterated. The land was burned, poisoned, or cursed. Any livestock were slaughtered or succumbed to diseases. He dove inside the smoke-filled building calling out, "Mom! Dad! Guntur! Harith!" The smoke burned his eyes and lungs as he coughed violently. Moments after entering the building he found them. He vomited uncontrollably.

3 corpses lay carelessly strewn on the floor. Blood seeped into the wooden floors. His mother and father were both lying on their backs, their eyes open. Sticking out of his mother's body was a kitchen knife and a cutlass in his father's. Their assailant had no intention of dirtying their own weapons, so they used the family's tools instead. His older brother's corpse was different, but still very much dead.

Harith's right leg was impaled into the floor with a knife, preventing his lower body from moving. He was lying flat on the ground, his upper body facing straight ahead. Both arms extended reaching toward a room, his right hand open, his left hand closed. As if he was struggling with all his strength to move. It didn't even look like he attempted to press together his bisected lower half. Something ahead was so important he didn't even try to.

Once Beta stopped throwing up he inhaled as best he could in spite of all the smoke. He made his way to the room ahead. He didn't even bother checking his other family members' bodies. Sweat poured out of his body, but not from the heat. His stomach tightened with each step, and his heartbeat raced louder and louder. The room ahead belonged to his little brother, Guntur.

The door was broken and when he moved through, heat radiated from the room.

In the room he saw a broken burning bed. It was broken from the middle, someone had applied a great amount of force to the top of it shattering the frame. "Guntur! Guntur! If you're here say something! Anything!"

Beta looked around the room but the flames and smoke obscured his vision. Then he remembered his older brother's words, "If anything happens take Guntur and hide under the bed."

Beta's heartbeat was deafening. His knees felt weak as he bent down to look under the scorched bed. Under it was a burning corpse, its facial features were too burnt to identify but on its right hand, where the flames weren't as strong, was a flower bracelet which unmistakably belonged to Guntur.

Beta hurled again. Choking. Coughing. Crying. Spinning.

The thick smoke robbed him of oxygen as he struggled to leave. His legs wouldn't work so he dragged himself away. Dizzy, sick, he struggled to get out. He tripped and fell beside Harith.

Beta couldn't look at his brother's face but noticed something glitter in his clenched hand. He prised it out.

The moment Beta made it outside he collapsed on the ground as the building behind him did the same. In one night he lost everything. His family, his friends, his home, his life — all gone. He cried as much as his exhaustion would let him, clenching his hands tightly.

A dull pain pricked his hand. Beta opened it and saw that it was a small bloody insignia. Harith must have taken it from one of his assailants.

Beta's face grew hot, his blood pressure surged, and heartbeat rose. What he had in his hand wouldn't magically lead him to the one responsible for his loss, but it was a clue.

He screamed as the flames engulfed his village, "I'll find you! All of you! And I'll make every demon pay! No matter what it takes!"

The dream faded.

Then Beta remembered dying and having a conversation with god. A deal was struck but it ended with betrayal.

Rage and fury filled him. Until darkness enveloped even those emotions.

Another dream — he tried moving his body but couldn't. He wanted to breathe but soon noticed that he didn't need to. His consciousness faded. Vibrations jostled his body but there was nothing he could do. He tried moving again. It worked, he felt himself meeting resistance but there was something. He moved about as best he could but soon exhausted himself. He slept.

He woke and tried moving again, but wore himself out and fell asleep.

It seemed futile, but he wouldn't give up. He woke and tried to move, but something different happened. Sounds and vibrations came after his movement. It was soothing, calming and gentle. He found himself enamored by it and slept.

This would repeat — he'd wake, try to move, wear himself out and sleep.

Time passed, and his senses expanded. Water flowed around him and a drum was beating constantly. The tempo increased and decreased without warning, but never stopped. He blinked and strained his eyes in the dark liquid around him. For a long time there was only darkness. But eventually a soft red glow made its way to his eyes and stirred him from sleep. Once more he tried to move again. His arms and legs were stronger than before. He flailed about as much as he could but he was trapped in a bag filled with water. Soon the soothing rhythm came again, and once again he slept.

Beta woke to something tightening around him. The fluid he was submerged in was gone. The bag around him constricted. Beta thrashed about to escape the crushing walls.

A bright light seared his eyes.

Screams in his ears.

Something had him by his back and neck, was lifting him up. He tried moving his arms and legs, tried to stand up, to move, to get away — nothing! He had no strength. He tried to speak. Futile! All he heard was one wild wail.

"Waa!"

In the sudden influx of light, he saw a wooden ceiling. It swayed — no, he was being swayed. Whatever supported him was moving, back and forth rhythmically. He moved his head as much as he could, it wasn't much but he managed to make out a face. A face...

A demon's face!

'What the hell? Shit I need to move! I need to escape! This demon is going to kill me!' He tried to move, to run and escape. But his limbs were pinned in the demon's grip. He struggled with all his strength for as long as possible. The demon showed no obvious signs of aggression, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't. Soon he exhausted his remaining strength. He was being lulled to sleep and it was working.

When he woke up the first thing he saw was the demon woman's huge face inches away from his own face. He screamed.

She grinned at him.

'I don't know who you are, but you don't scare me.' He stretched his cheeks back and made the most convincing smile that he could.

The demon smiled and laughed in response.

'She's not aggressive?' he thought.

His stomach growled. All his struggling had made him hungry. The demon smiled and moved away.

'This is my chance. Move!' he thought. He tried to stand up, but it felt like there were weights strapped to his body. 'Huh? What the hell?' His body was too heavy, and his neck strained the most trying to lift his head. 'Did that demon put some sort of weight on me?'

The demon returned. In her hands was a giant bowl and a spoon to match. She took the spoon and picked up some sort of white mush and brought it to Beta's face. 'I'm not eating that. No telling what it is or what's in it.' he thought.

The demon kept pushing it toward his mouth while clearly opening and closing her own mouth. She even took a bite herself as if to show it was safe.

'Yeah well just because you can eat it doesn't mean its safe for me,' Beta thought.

His hunger started getting worse and the demon would not give up trying to feed him. He opened his mouth to tell her to stop. "St—"

But when she saw him do that she quickly pushed the spoon into his mouth.

He spat out as much of the mush as he could, coughing in the process.

The demon frowned then wiped the substance from his face. Beta tried to push her huge hands away. No chance!

Then he tasted the mush. To his surprise it was good.

'Agh this hunger is killing me, fine I'll eat it.' He opened his mouth and the demon shoved the spoon in. He swallowed the mush. 'Yeah that doesn't taste bad. It's almost like milk or something.'

He continued to eat until another spoonful came his way and he bit down to get everything off the spoon. The spoon pressed against his gums as he swallowed everything.

'Wait… Gums? What happened to my teeth?' He took his fingers and put them in his mouth trying to feel for teeth, but there were none, only gums. 'Where the hell are my teeth? Did this thing pull out my teeth?!? What the hell else did she do to me?' Beta tried to say but instead what escaped his mouth was "wah haa ah mah dah tha pah mah tah!"

'What? I can't even speak!'

He started to flail about. But then the giant demon picked him up and began rocking him.

'Put me down! Give me back my teeth! Let go of me!' he tried to scream. But the demon ignored his cries and continued to sway him.

As the demon rocked him she walked around giving Beta a small glimpse of his surroundings. Everything was the demon's size: huge.

'What are you doing! Stop! Put me… down….' His thoughts began to slow down. He was falling asleep.

'I must be… in a giant… demon village…' Were his last thoughts.

The next day. Beta groaned. The demon was carrying him around the house. Beta's eyes darted around taking in everything that he saw, building a mental map of his surroundings. Then the demon stopped in front of a mirror.

Noooooo!

What stared back was the same demon... but in her arms was a baby.

Everything made sense now. Lack of stamina, gumless mouth, high-pitched gurgles and everything around him considerably bigger. 'I'm a baby. A demon's child.' Memories rocked him — of childhood, growing up, Viola in the field of flowers, a great fire, friends, family, their deaths, training, fighting monsters, his new family and friends, his death and the deal he made.

The happy memories gave way to pain, sorrow, rage. Until it returned to joy for a short time but ended with —

Tears fell from his eyes. He cried uncontrollably, long gasping sobs.

He — Beta — was dead. All he could do now was cry.

He struggled to move, to run away from the demon. With the strength of an infant he got nowhere.

The demon said nothing, she just held him tightly and rocked him. As she swayed him she sang a simple melody, one Beta recognized from the time he was smothered in a warm soothing darkness. This melody along with the gentle rocking gradually soothed him until he slowly drifted off to sleep.

---

Chapter 3: A Nightmare Called Reality

"My name is Rita. My brother Rito and my father Thane left our village about 2 weeks ago on a journey to find Chena. We've been travelling through the forest since then but..." Rita paused, "Yesterday these huge wolves ambushed us. We fought them off, but they kept coming. Eventually we had to abandon our supplies and escape. The wolves didn't give up, but they attacked sporadically. As we were running and fighting them off, a wolf... snuck up behind me."

Rita's voice got lower. "It lunged at me before I could react." He looked down as he continued. "But Rito saw it before I could and pushed me out of the way. The wolf attacked him and they both fell into a ditch. My father saw what happened and told me to get out of the forest. He said he would make sure nothing would happen to Rito, but I needed to find help."

Rita clenched his fists. "I told him I could fight. That I could help, but he screamed at me and told me I'd just hold him back, that I was already holding him back because he had to protect us both."

Rita unclenched his fists. "So, I ran. I ran as fast as I could. But a wolf broke off from the pack and attacked me. It clawed my stomach then bit my leg. I kicked it off and kept running. After a while it stopped chasing me and eventually the trees thinned, and I saw this house in the distance. I made my way here as fast as I could. I remember getting to the door and yelling but I lost my voice, then the burning pain in my stomach became unbearable. The next thing I remember is waking up here."

"So, your family is still in the forest then?" Beta asked. "You don't think they could have found a way out? Perhaps they found another route out."

"I don't know! Look I've answered all your questions! Just be a good kid and undo these ropes! And tell me where the person who treated me is! They might be able to help." Rita exclaimed.

Beta unfolded his arms and dropped his head. He let out a sigh. "Look, just take a deep breath and calm down. The person you're looking for is right here."

Rita paused for a moment. He scanned the room another time.

"It's just you and me in this room." Beta said.

"That's... wait, are you saying you did all this?" Rita stared at his bandaged injuries. "But you're just a kid, you're younger than me aren't you?"

"How old I look doesn't matter." Beta deflected the question. "Right now I'm the only person who can help you so how about you heed my advice and calm down."

"Heed my advice? You do talk strange for how old you look," Rita said. "Ok ok... The map we used only had one traversable route. The other paths went through the territories of more dangerous beasts or were unknown. I followed the route written on the map as best I could, that's the only reason I even made it here."

"Do you have that map on you?" Beta asked.

Rita looked down and shook his head. "No... I lost it when the wolf attacked me."

"Hmn, well I do have one here."

Rita looked up and stared right at Beta. His eyes shone with hope. "You have a map of the forest here? If I had one I might be able to figure out where we split up."

"Slow down. I didn't say I'd help. We need to talk about what I'll get out of this."

And so began a negotiation that would set in motion the next chapter of Beta's second life.