He bled. She fed. She killed.

The demoness is unleashed and as she targets one of the three mortals in the room, it becomes apparent for the rest what they are actually facing against.

What is it about the inability to see that frightens man so much?

The answer is simple: It is the idea of the unknown, the idea of monsters that hide away in the darkness ready to strike when one is least expecting them. However, it is not the strike that frightens man so much as the inability to see does. A blind man will always have no fear of being unable to see, but take away his touch and sound and he will shiver down like a lost little puppy, subjected only to the horrors of his own unleashed imagination.

Right now Tullos and Frederique were exactly in the same situation. They knew that giant demon had been freed from her eternal prison, but they did not know how and when she was going to strike. Because of this small factor added with the movement of shadows in the dust cloud that robbed them of their sight, the imagination of the two humans sky rocketed and unleashed upon their minds monsters that even they could not begin to comprehend. Every movement they saw was their worst fear, every sound they heard was their worst nightmare, every little pressure they felt on their skin was the skeletal grasp of their demonic hunter. Yet all of them were only overreactions of their unleashed imaginations.

In reality, the demoness barely moved from her spot. She was still remembering the sweet touch of her soul mate, she was still holding dear to that small sensation. The demon cared not for those that were around her shivering in fear. Indeed, she could smell their fear, she could feel them so close to her, ready to have their hearts ripped out of their chest by her, but the demoness did not move. She remained silent and motionless as she relived that single sensation of that light entity so gently touching her cheek and expressing in a single moment more love for her than anyone else could have in a thousand years.

“Master Tullos! Are you alive?” shouted Frederique before the dust had a chance to clear up. The man immediately froze in fear realizing what stupid thing he had just done. Despite his overwhelming fear he did the foolish thing of revealing his location to whatever was out there. Now his imaginary ghouls and monster were going to torture his mind a lot more.

His voice resonated in the entire room. Everyone heard him, including the demoness and this woke her up from her peaceful and relaxed state. The broken body that she was currently possessing started to gather up its remains. Pieces of her body that were dropped on the floor after the huge stone spikes shattered were now being pulled back together. One by one, they remodeled themselves and gathered around the chest, making it full once more. Still, the demoness did not bring the rotting body back to life. She kept it dead in order to increase the horror generated by one's mind upon witnessing it.

During this time, because of the curtain of dust all that Frederique and Tullos could hear were the sounds of crunched bones, skin being ripped apart, and muscles stretching and tensing to their utmost limits. Those sounds together with their limited human sight amplified the psychological effect it had on them. Fear started to form and rise in their hearts until the idea of monsters jumping out of the darkness to kill them did not seem so farfetched anymore. Their minds reached a point where they accepted the impossible as possible. On the other hand Kyros was only now trying to wake up.

When the sounds of the demon's body stopped there was a grave like silence covering the whole area. Their hearts were beating so fast that both of them believed they acted like the loudest beacons one could imagine. Frederique went as far as to believe that his heart was beating faster and louder than the gong of a temple. He was certain that Tullos could also hear his beating heart from all the way where he was standing.

“Ugh...” Kyros groaned and that sound broke the silence that surrounded the whole place. This also reminded both Tullos and Frederique that their hearts weren't actually that loud.

“Kyros. Can you hear me?” Tullos whispered towards the young boy, but his words never reached him, because he spoke in a very low voice and not to mention he was holding his sleeve over his mouth so he would not inhale too much dust.

As the young boy opened his eyes, he took a deep breath. It was then that Kyros broke the silence as he started to cough powerfully. He had a hard time breathing because of the unsettled dust so he covered his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his shirt. The dust was dense, but it was only now starting to settle down. Without any other force capable of keeping it up, the small dust particles gave in to the forces of gravity. The room was starting to clear up.

“Kyros!” Tullos called out to him once more.

“I'm here master Tullos!” said the young lad as he turned around to see the other boy. Tullos was also covered in dust and started to cough a bit.

“Tullos... what happened? Where are we?” Kyros asked.

It was no surprise that Kyros did not remember what had happened with him until now, he was unconscious all of that time. That's why Tullos didn't question him on why he couldn't remember and instead answered his innocent question:

“The last chamber we discovered under the old temple. I think we're stuck here and I don't see Frederique in all of this dust. I think I heard him earlier... but I...” Tullos stopped as the sounds of cracking bones were heard again.

Both children looked towards the curtain of dust that was starting to clear up and waited. Their hearts were beating fast. They sort of feared what they were going to see once it was clear again.

Suddenly a shadow far away in front of them rose up from the ground. Both of them made one step back at the same time. They didn't remembered seeing anyone here except that demoness and they were certain that Frederique wasn't in that direction.

They feared that shadow and the more the dust settled down the more they were able to see that horrific sight before them.

The beating hearts of the mortals resonated in her mind. She felt their blood pulsing and souls shivering from her very presence. The demoness stretched in her ethereal body, letting out a soft purr as she did so, but the gentle sound turned into a horrifying growl as her undead flesh made creepy sounds when it attempted to mimic her. The body she was currently inhabiting as both Tullos and Kyros could now see, was the dead rotting body of an alien. Large pieces of its flesh were missing as it appeared to have rotten completely on some parts. The eyes were missing and the scalp was rotten away, revealing the white bones of her cranium. The muscles on the arms and legs were thin and dried up making every movement appear impossible, however they could indeed move and when they did so they looked as though they were going to snap in any moment. The skin was ripped and bones were showing up everywhere the flash had been thinner like on the knuckles or the back of the vertebrae. She was indeed a horrific sight to behold.

Tullos and Kyrso took one more step back from the corpse. The simple sight of it brought up the fear from deep inside of them, but it wasn't a fear of the heart or soul, no, it was the fear of their bodies, an instinctual fear. Only Frederique felt the fear of the heart and the fear of the soul for the risen corpse under the control of the demon. Maybe because Tullos and Kyros were still children and they could not fathom the true horror they were now witnessing as the middle aged man did. The poor Frederique hid away behind a large piece of debris in the very moment his eyes laid on the risen corpse. He was sitting down with his knees gathered up to his chest. He placed his hands on his head and then he started trembling and whimpering like the coward he was. In his mind he kept on praying to the gods, still hoping or believing in a miracle that was never to come.

“Tullos, we have to run away from that thing.” whispered Kyros as he was backing away slowly as one would from a terrifying beast in the wild.

“I know, but... can we?” Tullos asked as he looked with fearing eyes at the dangerous thing in front of them.

Ever since the dust settled their bodies had been filled with a stunning fear.

With a lazy yawn, the demoness stretched her arms, forcing the body she controlled to make weird creepy sounds once more. Tullos saw the dead rotting body, but Kyros saw something else, he was looking directly at the stunningly beautiful gigantic demoness.

“What is it doing? It's creeping me out...” whispered Tullos as he made another step back.

“Stretching and... yawning.” came the young boy's reply.

Tullos blinked at Kyros, a bit surprised by the answer, but then he turned his head and looked at the dead body once more, this time though he watched it's movements carefully. Indeed, just as Kyros said, Tullos was now able to see the movements that resembled those of someone who had just woken up from a deep sleep.

The demoness opened her eyes at last, those dark eyes, tempting and alluring for every soul in existence, baiting them into a world of complete darkness. Her gaze first fell on the ceiling and as the frightened hearts of the mortals caught her attention she slowly looked down at her prey. It was delicious. She licked the tip of her lips and the seduction in her gaze increased.

Kyros saw the beautiful demoness, as her piercing abyss eyes gazed upon him and Tullos. He blushed a little and felt his pulse rising. To this reaction, the demoness let him see a soft, seductive smile on the tip of her lips. Tullos on the other hand only saw a creepy half rotten body that looked at them with a pair of empty eye sockets and the lack of lips made it impossible for a soft smile to form. Thus only Kyros witnessed it.

A shiver rose on Tullos' back while Kyros blushed and looked down. This pleased the demoness, but what would have pleased her even more would be to see some blood being shed in a form of madness, or some blood to simply drink. The idea to bathe in the blood of innocents also crossed her mind. A blood bath always did wonders for a demon's skin. Maybe an innocent's heart to eat out wouldn't have been all that bad either.

As she was thinking about those wonderful feelings that she could experience in this mortal realm, she moved her gaze towards Frederique's hiding spot. Mortals always tried to hide from her in various places. It was a fun game at time to bring them out of their hiding spots the same way rabbits are brought out of their small hole by a skilled hunter. She had to admit though, the mortals were feeding her with some really delicious fear. The demoness smirked and in that very moment she decided that Frederique would become her first prey.

You are the first... she said as her voice was followed by the usual demonic screeches that pained the minds of the mortals, but this pain would only last for a few moments. Their guardian angels made sure of that.

“AAA!” screamed Frederique as he heard the demoness inside his head again. No!

Please don't! thought the man as he was more aware of his fate than ever before.

Oh now, don't be a spoilsport! You'll love dying by my hand! And just think about it! You'll have the honor of being my meal! Kukuku! spoke the demoness directly to their minds again, each of her words were accompanied by the usual demonic screeches.

Frederique could not handle it anymore so in desperation and fear he ran out of his hiding spot and headed for the door.

“AAA!” he screamed in fear.

His tears rolled down on his cheeks as fear was the only thing that overcame his senses and drove his actions. He was certain now, the demon was after him and he had to do whatever he could so that he would be free of this nightmare. However, as much as he hoped to escape he was also well aware of his imminent death. And what could he do about it? He was a mortal, a stupid human whose only mistake was to listen to his young master and follow him to this accursed place. What fame? What glory? What riches? What adventure? Foolishness and curiosity were only rewarded with pain and death in this world! This was Frederique's conclusion.

With a wide smirk on her lips, the demoness moved her body in the mortal's direction. As she did so, her gigantic size suddenly shrunk down to the point that it was overlapping the undead body she was currently inhabiting. Even so, she was still bigger than those walking bones.

A strange phenomenon that happened to Kyros in that moment was the fact that the sight of the undead bones vanished, leaving him capable of only seeing the demon's real form, while Tullos and Frederique would have been able to only see the walking pile of alien bones wrapped in rotten flesh. Despite its nature, the two of them could see that the body was moving naturally as it once did when it was still alive. Well, only Tullos saw this, Frederique was too scared to turn his head around and witness it.

Don't think you can escape me little mortal! the demoness warned as her words scratched the minds of all those that heard her.

“Run Frederique! Run!” shouted Tullos despite the mental pain he was feeling.

The man did not hear the young boy because of his fear, but he did what he said either way and ran. He ran away as fast and as far away from that demoness as he could, but the monster would be able to catch up with him soon. For Tullos at least, it was clear that the demoness enjoyed playing with her prey and right now she was far from showing just how mobile she could make that corpse.

There was no way to escape from this enclosed room. The doors were closed shut, the ceiling was covered, and there were no holes in the ground in which he could crawl into. There was no place to run to. This was a perfect cage for a merciless criminal.

“No! Let me go! Somebody help me!” Frederique screamed and shouted as he reached for the closed doors. He struck them with his fist and tried to push them, but the metal doors did not dare to budge, his efforts were useless.

In the park we play and sing! Stupid victims stab and eat! Demons rejoice! Blood of children we love to drink! chanted the demoness as she casually walked closer and closer to her prey. She sang in a weird voice which actually sounded like a mixture of the voices of a choir of innocent children. The song of the demoness had an incredible effect of bringing out the horrors and fears into the hearts of those that listened to it. Even Kyros was afraid now of what she might be able to do.

“AAA!” Frederique screamed after he heard the demoness chant that ominous song in his mind.

Their reactions were so delicious for her. Probably only a bath in the blood of infants could make her feel any better, or maybe a kiss from her beloved soul mate.

With her mind set on killing this fool and snatching that kiss from her beloved afterward, the demoness continued her deadly walk towards her prey.

Numbed by fear and thinking that there was no way out for him, Frederique dropped on his knees, raised his hands in the air and started to pray to the gods for their holy protections against this monstrosity that was getting closer and closer to him.

“Almighty gods that watch over us! I beg of you! I implore you! Please save me from this demon! Please spare my life! I beg of you almighty gods!”

He shouted from the top of his lungs, trembling in that spot like a hare in the fox's paws. He had no more courage to move, he dared not to move. The demoness was real and heading towards him, ready to kill him or take his soul. All that he could do in this situation was pray to his gods.

How cute! The mortal asks the deaf gods for salvation! HAHAHA! She laughed, mocking his attempts and the very gods that he prayed to.

She was now standing right behind him. A maniac smile was on her lips. She could not hold herself back from the kill. Frederique trembled and prayed to the gods. He prayed and prayed, but no one answered.

Hm? Pests are trying to stand in my way? You do know that as guardians you two have no power over my mortal form right? She asked with a smirk on her lips.

Tullos did not see them, but judging from her words he guessed that Frederique's guardians tried to step up and protect him in some way. Kyros on the other hand saw everything that was happening.

The guardian demoness unsheathed her claws and attacked the other demoness. The difference in strength between the two of them would be shown quite clearly now as with a single swipe of her hand, the demoness threw the guardian away, far into the distance. She didn't stood a chance as her ethereal body went straight through the debris and walls, landing somewhere outside of Kyros' field of view. It was then that the guardian angel stepped in to defend the man. He raised his angelic shield and unsheathed his sword made of light and angelic magic. The angel then jumped towards the demoness and slashed at her. Before the blade had a chance to strike her, the demoness managed to block it with the help of a weird spell, which she cast in the air. The way the cast took place was similar to the one used by that light being that projected itself from Kyros' body. The demoness drew a pattern in the air with her right hand and then as soon as she pressed on it with her palm, the spell was cast, creating a wall of energy in front of her. This was what blocked the guardian's attack and it was done in less than a second. If Kyros had blinked at that time he would have missed the cast.

The demoness did not stop at that spell. As soon as the attack was blocked she pulled back her hands and started to draw another spell with each of her hands. The symbols and signs were immediately formed in the air and when they were finished, the demoness unleashed them. The spell created two thin tentacles of red and black mixed demonic energy, each one of them sprouting from one of her palms.

When it was done, she used one to parry the angel's next attack, which was too slow to stop the demoness from casting the second spell, and the other tentacle was used at the same time she parried to attack the angel from the side. The angel managed to block the surprise attack just in the nick of time, but the brute force he was struck with sent him flying away through the debris just like the guardian demoness was. Now there was no one to defend Frederique.

While the demoness stepped closer to the mortal, she dispelled her demonic tentacle whips, seeing as there was no need for them now. She stopped behind Frederique and then gently placed her ethereal hand on his shoulder. Her dead body did the same, resting its bony fingers on the man's shoulder. Knowing who was behind him, Frederique flinched. His heart was frozen in fear and his whimpers were silenced.

Up you go! Said the demoness as she then pulled her hand back with inhuman force and thus threw the man back across the room.

“AAA!” Frederique screamed in horror as he saw himself flying through the air. With the land closing up on him fast, he moved his hands in front of him to soften his fall, but even so, he still slammed into the ground quite hard. The sounds of broken bones were heard and his blood sprinkled over the floor.

Tullos and Kyros watched horrified as they witnessed the scene. The poor man had no chance against the demon. Frederique was now laying on the floor in a bloody mess. He was still alive, but both of his hands were broken in several places. He most likely had a few broken ribs and some internal bleeding as well, seeing as how his breathing was interrupted and not to mention spitting out blood each time he coughed.

Hahaha! Laughed the demoness as her bony body made weird horking sounds as a result of the air being forced out of her rotten lungs.

“Frederique!” shouted Tullos as he tried to run over to help him, but Kyros was quick to grab his hand and stop him in his tracks.

“No, Tullos! She'll kill you! There's nothing we can do...” he said.

Tullos looked back at Frederique and realized the horrible truth. If a grown man wasn't able to even lift a single finger against her, then how could they, just two children do anything about it? Tullos looked down at the ground and clenched his fists. Soft tears formed in the corners of his eyes and then rolled down his cheeks. He didn't want to be so weak, so useless as to watch a friend die a horrible death in front of him and yet not be able to do anything about it. It was a horrible feeling that pained his heart as though someone drove a sharp poisonous spear through him.

Oh? You are still alive? asked the demoness as though she was surprised, but it was all just a bluff. She knew that this throw wasn't going to be enough to take his life, but it was enough to put him through a most delightful horrible pain. She smirked like the evil demoness she was and then started to walk towards him.

Each step she took was carefully watched by the two children. Kyros saw the actual demon, while Tullos saw just a bunch of walking bones. The pain and fear of Tullos and Frederique brought her an utmost joy, but the fear and hurt that Kyros was feeling brought her a bitter taste. She did not like what Kyros was feeling, but she ignored it for now.

“P-please... help... me...” said Frederique as he looked towards Tullos. His face was twisted by the pain and horror of his imminent death. He had no more hope, nothing he could do to get away from her.

Tullos couldn't handle it much longer, to see the demoness take Frederique's life wasn't something an adventurer or hero would do. They would jump in and attempt to save the life of an innocent! This being said though, could he? Tullos' feet were trembling and his heart was hurting from his current feelings. His mind was struggling between reason and madness. He couldn't move...

Little kitty... don't think you can get away from me! The demoness said with a soft tone in her voice as she stopped right behind Frederique.

“N-no... please...” said the man, but his begging and pain only brought the demon more pleasure.

Very well... she said and then took a step back. For a moment Frederique thought that he was spared, and a wave of relief overcame him. However, that was going to soon change as a sharp pain that started from his chest pulsed out throughout his body.

“AAAA!” he screamed in pain.

Just kidding! Said the demoness with a soft smile on her lips.

She used her tail's tip to stab Frederique through the chest and then lift him up like a ragged doll. She was careful where she stabbed him. It had to be a point right between his ribs, touching the bones, but not the arteries. It had to be painful but not very bloody. She didn't want the man to die right away.

“AAA! It... hurts!” screamed Frederique as he saw himself being lifted up the ground.

The tip of the bony tail that was coming out of his chest horrified him. Still, something was weird. Why didn't Frederique faint already from the pain and shock?

The demoness was to blame for his inability to faint. When she had placed her hand on his shoulder she let out a bit of her demonic energy which had the only purpose of keeping him awake throughout his torment.

“No!” screamed Frederique again.

Tullos and Kyros were frozen in fear as they saw the man dangling up in the air stabbed through the chest. All thoughts and emotions were replaced with pure horror. A feeling which nurtured the demoness, gave her strength and power.

Ah! Delightful! She said with a soft smile on her lips, but then her eyes fell on Kyros and suddenly she flinched. Again, the young boy's emotions affected her differently, the other way around. She suffered a bit because of his emotions, because Kyros was looking now at a mericless demon that was killing Frederique and preparing to kill them as well.

I think it is time to finish this... said the demoness as she placed her bony hand over the man's right shoulder. The bones then dug deep into his skin, piercing his flesh and drawing out blood. Frederique once more screamed from the pain. She enjoyed that sound so much that she wanted to hear more of it, so she pulled down. The sheer force applied on the mortal's hand was unmatched and in no time at all the two children witnessed the horrible sight of Frederique's arm being torn off. The blood spilled out and the man's screams stopped as he had no more strength left inside of him. All that pain, fear, and horror simply paralyzed his mind.

Time to eat! She said and then she bit his throat.

Frederique's whole body tensed in that instant and while Kyros was seeing the demoness drinking from the man's throat like a vampire, Tullos was seeing how his blood was being drawn out of his wound, mouth, eyes, and ears. Drop by drop the blood was added to the rotten body and filled out on the inside. The hollowed rotten organs were filled with the warm blood and kept there, while the human was robbed completely of the precious life giving fluid.

When she was done, there was no more blood in Frederique. The man's life had ended in a most horrible way, as meal for a demon.

Tullos and Kyros watched horrified as the lifeless body was dropped on the ground in front of them.

That... was delightful! The demoness said and then looking down at Tullos, right in his eyes, she allowed him to see.

Now, for the first time, he saw the demoness just as Kyros did. The beautiful woman with a taste for blood and death, the horrible entity which struck fear in the hearts of those that heard her and saw her. The demon Sky'Akella'Rkash.

So? She asked as she tilted her head to the left. Who's next? A soft, yet dangerous smile was formed on the tip of her lips.

Author's Note

I would really like to know from those that have red this chapter if they believe that the maturity and audience should be a mature one, rather than teen and mature.