Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with the whithersoever thou goest.
- Joshua 1:9

18

He awoke to purple eyes hovering over him.

Anger flashed through him, red hot and burning as it flowed through his veins. He couldn't help but to recall what those purple eyes had done to him the last time that he had seen them; the laughter that had been dancing through them as their owner completely paralyzed as they fled the area -no, the galaxy- because they had pissed him off.

So, despite everything -the fact that the owner was a female, the fact that they had clearly just resurrected him from a thousand years of solitude as he waited to be reborn, the fact that he owed them now- he felt satisfaction as his knuckles connected with their slim, perfected nose.

Their shriek and black blood that splattered over him was lost to him as he propped himself up on his elbow. Alooc glared at the purple-eyed demon as she danced nearby in pain, hands covering her face as she continued to scream and cry about her nose. Not like it mattered. It would heal back in a few moments.

"What are you doing?" he snarled at her, wiping away some of her blood on his chin.

Mormo. Demon Lordess. She was the fifth of the seven; Mormo was technically the demonic version of a human witch. The Black Plague, yeah, that was her. One wave of her lavender colored hand and she could wipe hundreds of people out, one bat of her eyelashes could cause any man to swoon, one snap of her fingers could ignite an entire half of a planet on fire. It was strange to look at her; from torso up, she was completely human (minus the purple skin, of course) and prided herself immensely on her perfect she was. Her face was as if it had been sculpted by God Himself as the most beautiful woman and her body was even more so. She showed it off every chance she got. At the moment she was nothing but a breastplate that just barely covered her massive breasts; on the armor was designed with demonic symbols and languages. The bottom half of her, however, was not human. That half of her was that of a spider with everything that a spider could possibly ever have, down to the eight legs. Those were probably the scariest part since there was a small tap-tap noise whenever they moved. She was a demon though. Demons were supposed to be scary.

Witches have always been horrifying, portrayed as creatures with dangerous power, magic to be specific, and sometimes seen as beings misunderstood. Creatures that were cursed with strength that they didn't want to have. Mormo wasn't like that. She thrived from the chaos that she could create. With ultimate power, she could do whatever that she wanted and that was what she did every time too. With no equal, Mormo could do whatever that she wanted. Alooc had seen her do almost everything with her magic; create disease, create a human that could last a little while, teleportation, no boundaries. She was cocky and arrogant, knowing that she had seen all and done all.

She was Mormo. A witch. A Demon. A Demon Lordess.

A true bitch.

"Saving your life," she hissed, still covering her perfect little nose behind her small hands to keep it hidden from his view like it actually mattered. "But apparently you're not thankful for me bringing you back from that hellhole!"

Alooc growled, eyes flickering about to see where he was. Same place he had died. The blood splatter from his head being sliced clean from his body was still on the ground, not having had enough time for the soil to absorb it. Bodies of dead Demons laid strewn about across the battleground that hadn't been touched since it had unfolded only hours before when the humans had attacked. The land was completely silent; another danger lurked about besides from the stench of death.

The ground shook as if something was running and Alooc looked out to his left, his lip curling in disgust as he spotted a massive creature striding toward him and Mormo. An awful stench, one that was even worse than death itself, washed over Alooc when a small gust of wind blew over him. He stood as the creature was close enough to hear its bones creaking.

"About time you got here, Coyote," Mormo called out in greeting, throwing a dismissive hand up as the other Demon Lord halted nearby. "Legion only called us together an hour ago."

The beast snarled at her in response. Coyote. Developing from an ancient Indian legend, Coyote was a Demon based almost entirely upon people's fears. The Demon had only just returned from a thousand years of solitude after being killed by a couple of Indians. It was more than disgusting, the creature was; in the shape of a coyote, everything about it was rotted and decayed. Bones stuck from its back, so tough they were like plated armor, fluids that couldn't possibly be blood dripped from its muscles and bones, and an oversized mouth hung limply from its skull, revealing rows of sharp, pointed teeth and a forked, snake-like tongue. Three red eyes stretched across either side of its face, blinking off time to one another. Most of its ribs were intact, though completely visible for all to see, and its waist was so small that it looked extremely painful. Its hipbones jutted out and squishing noises from muscles clenching to work were obvious from a short distance away. Coyote was a Demon that feed off fear. It was fear remade.

"Legion called us?" Alooc asked, standing straighter with a growl. It was different here with the Demon Lords. Authority always had to be established; backstabbing, blackmailing, murdering, anything could happen.

Mormo turned her purple eyes upon him, instantly making him regret ever saying anything. There were only two female Demon Lords, Mormo being the most communicative of the two (depending upon how you looked at it). Granted that if the other Demon Lordess even opened her mouth, men traveled for miles were lured by her musical voice. However, Mormo could be just as seductive. It was something about how she held herself or how she moved that showed how beautiful that she could really be, or manipulative. Magic had all sorts of possibilities.

"Legion has been calling us because you-" here she pointed accusingly at him with a scowl- "allowed something unexplainable to bring you back before your time was right!"

"That wasn't my fault!" Alooc barked. "The stupid ash did it."

The mention of the ash caused Coyote to release a massive snarl, his forked tongue flickering out between his fangs as he growled. Alooc shot the Demon a glare as Mormo reached out to it comfortingly. The animal Demon calmed almost immediately. It wasn't the lowest of the Demon Lords, however, animal instinct caused it to cower to the stronger creature. Mormo's strong influence with magic didn't help.

"What is to be done about the ash?" Alooc said, casting his eyes over the wreckage he was standing in still.

Mormo's silence caused him to turn slightly to look at her, his eyebrow lifting when he found her to be glaring off into the distance. He followed her gaze and internally cringed. A dense fog was creeping up from the distance through the bodies with finger-like reflexes. It rolled over their feet almost seconds later despite that it had looked miles away when he had first looked; Mormo's spider legs danced in disgust as Coyote began to growl, the drool flowing from his jaws like a waterfall. Voices, some old and some young, whispered about them as the fog rose in height. Alooc shifted as the Demon Lordess of desire emerged.

Singular didn't seem right, but plural seemed to be wrong too; there was technically three of them that burst from the fog, though every movement that they did were almost identical. The Demonesses were all matching but different at once. All were beautiful, being sirens of legend with the most gorgeous voices. One glance at them caused men and women alike to follow them blindly in hopes of their greatest desires ever being fulfilled. The one on the far right had skin so dark that the little pieces of glitter that was forever there almost maybe it appear be like a night sky with stars. The left one had red skin with stunning white hair; a smile stayed stretched across her gorgeous face with evil so obvious that it made creatures able to ignore their powerful spell cringe. Finally, the middle one had pale skin with blazing red hair almost like a sun, her face solemn and eyes narrowed. All had glowing eyes of red, yellow, and blue depending upon their mood and wore simple clothes that looked similar to ferns. Delicate features made them even beautiful than they were and Mormo scowled as they took their first step forward as one.

Sirens. Demons of desire. The Greeks were the first to ever truly meet them; they sat on rocks, beckoning the sailors from their boats with their sweet words and beautiful songs. Once on land, they devoured them, growing stronger with every victim they are. They were the only Demon Lord that had a power source, if it could be called that. Everyone had fallen victim to their soft whispering and promises.

"It figures that Alooc would be the one to start all of this mess," spoke the Demonesses on the left, waving a delicate hand through the air carelessly.

"It doesn't matter, Pisinoe." The center siren stepped toward Mormo, a sickening smile on her lips as she approached. Every step had a grace that was almost was inhuman despite their current form. When she smiled, exposing her teeth fully, the sharpen canines in her mouth were revealed. "We all knew that Legion prefers our help when he gets... needy above Mormo's, right Thelxiepi?"

The last siren joined her sisters with a purring sound vibrating through her chest. "Of course, Aglaope. Three is always better than one."

Coyote's massive growl caused Alooc to turn just in time to see the Demon of fear lurching forward like it was about to attack the Sirens. All it took was Mormo's hand being thrown out for the massive Demon to come to a halting stop. The growling, however, continued. Pisinoe, with her dark skin and darker hair, lifted a delicate, tattooed hand to giggle. "If that's not a scene of animal porn, I don't know what is."

"If that's not a true bitch, then I don't know what is," Mormo snapped back, fire flickering from her fingertips.

The sirens released a gasp all at the same time before all giggling with their heads near the other. Thelxiepi turned to Alooc after a few seconds, her glowing yellow eyes transfixed upon him with curiosity. The sirens were only a level higher than him with the Demon Lord ranks and Alooc could see the interest that was eating her inside. The Demon of desire was split into three for a reason; Thelxiepi was the desire Demon of knowledge, Aglaope was the desire Demon of hidden lusts of all shapes and forms, and Pisinoe was was the desire Demon of beauty. Combine the three and they were nearly indestructible.

"Why are we here, Alooc, besides the dust?" Thelxiepi asked.

Alooc cringed. He hated the desire Demons. And it wasn't even what they did, it was their damned eyes. They were all without pupils... just a glowing mass of color without emotion whatsoever. Their eyes were different than anyone else's. "Legion, I suppose called us."

"I told you that already," muttered Mormo angrily nearby, a slight hiss in her voice.

All three heads of the sirens turned her way and, all at once, put a hand on their hips, flipped their red, black, and white hair back over their shoulders, and flicked her off graciously.

Before Mormo could react, a steady buzzing noise suddenly grew. Alooc and Coyote both released a mighty growl, Alooc began to pace uneasily as Coyote crouched down low, taking a submissive position. The arguing between the two female Demon Lordesses silenced. The approaching Demon Lord, and the one that always came afterwards, always left Alooc on edge and he paced to calm himself, though the muscles throughout his arms twitched noticeably.

Suddenly, a surge of beetles arrived. The sound of their buzzing wings drowned all other sounds as they swarmed about the Demon Lords already there and waiting. The beetles were mostly a large mass of green, black bodies, and transparent wings; larger than the average size beetle, they were all identical and appeared to be about the same size, shape, and color, though a few were darker or lighter. It took a second or two for every beetle -which was an insane number- to whistle by. The Demon Lords, including Alooc, all turned and bowed their heads as the beetles rose in height, slowly forming a humanoid figure in the air.

Bezzelbub. The Demon Lord of chaos and disorder. Absolutely disgusting in all shapes and forms, he was literally nothing besides from the bunch of bugs that made him. But that didn't mean anything. Even without a mouth (it wasn't like beetles could make one anyway), the Demon Lord still had a major influence over things. He wiggled through everything imaginable; chaos and disorder wasn't hard to achieve if someone knew what they were doing, how to tip the balance just a tad bit in their favor. He was and is everywhere that chaos resided, allowing the beetles to fly off anywhere that they need be. The humanoid shape didn't help and, though he failed at all communications unless one other Demon Lord was there to assist, the creepiest part about him was the fact that he knew. Anything that caused any sense of doubt in a soul, he knew.

Once Bezzelbub was done taking form, the droning of the beetles deafening at that point, Alooc lifted his head expectantly, already predicating the next Demon Lord that was already beginning to emerge from the depths of Hell.

This was the one that everyone should be worried about.

Much like the sirens as they arrived, laughter and noises sounded them as a dark portal that almost looked like smoke appeared from the ground. Instantly demons pulled themselves up from the hole, flinging themselves about as they danced, screamed, and laughed in all shapes and sizes. The Demon Lords all recoiled from the lesser demons as they spread across the area like a disease. A deep, guttural laugh announced the arrival of the actual Demon Lord.

It was the twisted, pitch black wings that first appeared, bent downwards unlike the wings of a bird. Skin stretched across the membranes of the bony structures of the wings and holes stretched across most of it with ripped tears and holes. Then the horns, reaching straight to the air with broken bases and dented decorations to them, led to an impressive, demonic face. Square in shape but humanistic in quality, the cheekbones were high and a beard made of red spikes grew across the demon's squared chin and firm lips. Its skin stretched across its body in a young way, though the scars that littered its countenance promised otherwise. Dark gray in color, even more of that skin was exposed as the Demon pulled itself up from Hell, revealing its muscular, glowing tattooed torso as it stepped up onto the surface of Earth. What things were still alive around its clawed foot died from being near the Demon. Its spiked tail waved back and forth behind it dangerously as it reached down at its waist, grabbing a chain about its waist that contained small vials full of randomly colored liquids. Without greeting any of the others, the Demon Lord uncorked a blood red vial with a hand covered in glowing tattoos and spikes and lifted it up high in the air. With a screech, several red wisp-like beings darted into the air before disappearing.

"Ah, how I love Earth," rumbled the massive Demon Lord that easily stood another thirty feet taller any of the other Demons as watched the beings fly off to wherever. "There's such easy pickings with the Kingdom of Man. It's like they can't help but to feel the pull of Satan wherever they go..."

He looked up, showing his brilliant colored red eyes for the Demon Lords to see. Alooc was the only one who didn't nod frantically. It didn't go unnoticed by the massive Demon standing before all the others and he gave Alooc a large smile, revealing the sharp, pointed teeth in his mouth. "Alooc, still defiant as ever after being brought back by indestructible ash. Your father would not approve."

"Rasha does not care what I do," Alooc hissed, standing from the bow he had stooped down into. "Some of us cannot be everywhere at once, Legion."

"On the contrary, that is not necessarily true. I have a limited source of demons who possesses others for me. It's just that my ears have ears, who, in return, have ears for themselves that allow my influence to be so far known." Legion paused, gathering his thoughts, before leaning back and looking at Bezzelbub, who's form twitched as the beetles cringed at Legion's gaze. "Go, do as I said earlier."

With a wave of Legion's hand, the beetles dispersed without another motion. They darted everywhere, their buzzing wings disappearing as soon as they had appeared.

"What is the plan, almighty one?" Mormo asked, taking a step forward.

"The exact location and strength of this ash is our first problem," Legion announced as he sniffed the air, nonchalantly reaching for another vial and uncorking it. This time green tinted souls were released before they darted away. "Our second problem are the Archangels."

The sirens hissed at the mention of them. Alooc snorted. While the other Demon Lords held huge grudges against their equals in the Archangel ranks, Alooc could honestly care less, but that could also be because he was paired with the angel Gabriel, who was more concerned with babysit, Michael, the most powerful of the Angels and equal to Legion in strength. Even when the opportunity came for them to fight they normally shrugged their shoulders and went their separate ways.

Legion turned to face the remaining Demon Lords, pulling back his shoulders and standing to his full height. "Go find them. Give them Hell."

They instantly disappeared. Mormo was gone in a puff of yellow smoke with a single snap of her fingers; Coyote released a wild howl as it turned on its heels and starting racing away across the landscape; the sirens summoned their fog before seemingly dissolving into it. Alooc began turning to do the same, silently complaining, when he felt a small pressure in the back of his head. Knowing exactly what it was, he rolled his eyes as he faced Legion once more.

"Not you," the Demon exclaimed. "I have something else I want you to do."

Alooc lifted an eyebrow, sighing. He realized how tired he was as Legion lifted an arm and pointed over the hills that were a distance away.

"Past those is a safe haven made by a daughter of Eve to protect her siblings. Her dream, besides from protecting her brother and sisters was to give the creatures that are awakening on this planet once more a home to live in. To keep them safe, she gathered magic from fellow idealists who shared her belief and created a barrier unbreakable by any creature that means harm to any that live inside." He paused, dropping his arm and turning to look at Alooc with a raised eyebrow. "I want you to get there and prevent it from being consumed by the ash."

"What? How?"

Legion shrugged. "That's your problem."

"I can't protect it without knowing how too! That's stupid! Why the hell aren't you doing it? You're the strongest Demon Lord!"

"And the consequences if I am taken?" roared the other Demon Lord, smashing down a foot. His anger caused more demons to appear from another portal and they swarmed nearby, hissing and screaming and hollering in frustration. Legion trusted a finger in Alooc's face, making the smaller Demon Lord snarl. "If this haven falls, so does Earth. It is the last and only place left purged and cleaned from the End War that remains innocent to the rest of the world around it! If Earth fails, so does the Kingdom of Man!"

Growling, Alooc took a step back, snarling as he began to match away. "It's not that important."

A piercing pain grew when he felt Legion take ahold of his mind. It wasn't the same as when the ash did it; this was like Legion was taking every finger he had and jamming it into his brain. As Alooc crumpled down to his knees, howling in pain as he clutched at his head, Legion approached him. So Alooc could hear him better, the Demon Lord loosened his hold on Alooc's mind just a tad bit by twisting his hand a tad bit to the side, causing Alooc to whimper out in pain. He had forgotten; while Legion contained most of the many souls he used to possess beings, he was still a powerhouse himself -one flick of his head and he could overtake an entire population and control them. Demons and Angels alike were easy prey for him.

"You will listen to me." Alooc cringed away when he felt Legion's fingers brush his chin and managed to growl softly when the other Demon Lord grasped his face in his massive hand. "Open your damned eyes and look at me, weakling."

By the time that Alooc pried them open, he was face-to-face with the forty-five foot demon and dangling in the air by a single hand. Half terrified, he grasped the Demon's hand even though Legion had him by the neck now and clearly wasn't going to release him. The Demon Lord always did this to him; Alooc's father, Rasha, was a position higher than Legion -literally the seat underneath satan himself- and the Demon was always jealous of that one little fact. Either way, it didn't really matter. Alooc had managed to piss the Demon Lord off really bad somehow.

"When the Kingdom Man dies, then so will," he spat. "The more Man grows, then the more we will. The second Man dies, Heaven will rise and there will be no no more Hell. The End War brings more than just the End of Man."

Legion tossed him aside then like he was a rag doll. Alooc landed on a pile of dead, decomposing demons and he rolled off, somehow landing on his feet to snarl at Legion. The much larger Demon Lord hardly appeared unnerved by him as he busied himself by examining another vial in his hands almost carefully. Without a care in the world, the Demon Lord began explaining again.

"You will become a human and join a small, rebellious group that struggles near the base of those mountains. You will find that they were the ones who attacked you and these puny Demons earlier, and you will bond with them. The brother of the woman who started the haven lives there. Once you have become friends with him, have him lead you to the haven, and we will do the rest. But remember, the ash must not reach that haven. Earth will die. Once the ash this world, nothing will be able to stop it."

Alooc stood there for a few more moments, glaring at the Demon Lord as he began moving through the dead Demons laying across the group and examining them almost cautiously as he grasped a vial close to his chest. Legion's minions followed him in his shadow, whispering and dancing about him as they poked and played with the bodies. "And if I fail?"

The Demon Lord paused. At first Alooc thought that it had been because of the question that he had asked, but then the other Demon was driving into a pile of bodies, holding the vial up high while his other arm searched through. The minions surged forward to help, ripping bodies apart and tossing limbs about carelessly. Alooc continued to watch in disgust until Legion withdrew, holding a body delicately in his hand and placing it gently upon the ground. He leaned over it slowly, whispering a few words as he bit off the cork to his vial and spat the lid away, ignoring how several demons scrabbled after it like a bunch of animals. Still mumbling under his breath, a couple of drops were dripped into his wide hand. Slowly, he tilted his hand to the side and the droplets rolled off slowly. The other demons frantically began flinging themselves about as Legion finally looked after a moment, absentmindedly taking the cork from whatever demon that had brought it to him, and motioned for Alooc to come closer.

Curiosity caused Alooc to step forward slowly, leaning forward to see what Legion had done as his minions danced about him, making it almost impossible to see. When he was close enough, Legion unwrapped his tail from what he was hiding, hissing softly with accomplishment. Laying on the ground was a large human. He must have been one of the few to die, Alooc realized when he saw the man's closed eyes and death grip on a pair of chains. The man had dark skin and his hair was braided firmly into dreadlocks and pulled back into a thick ponytail.

"What's this?" Alooc asked, gesturing at the dead human.

"The human you will change into," Legion proclaimed. "He's still dead, but I was able to bring just enough of his soul back for you to able to steal his shape. It should be easier to be accepted into the group of you are one of them."

Nodding, Alooc bent down by the human's side as Legion stood. As Alooc studied the man, wandering how he had died, he heard Legion's vials stop clinking as the Demon Lord halted in walking away. "One more thing," he called out, making Alooc look up. "If you do fail, I will make sure that you are the first die. Your death will be slow and agonizingly painful."

And then Legion and his minions were gone in a blink of an eye, leaving Alooc crouching beside a dead human.