| 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒩𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽, 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒟𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃𝓈 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽. |

Three days ago Elliot had told the Elders of what Francis saw in Trident falls. Surprisingly they weren't phased by the news, almost like they expected this to happen one day. They ordered Elliot to train and get a group of fighters ready. Echo and Silver told Elliot that they would be joining in an the attack, once Elliot was told this he knew the situation was dire. After Elliot found a group of common folk and trained them up for three days he was ready.

Ten men stood at the beginning of the bridge, many of them were common folk who had agreed to help with this mission. Leading the charge was Elliot, Francis was close behind and had a little dagger in his hand. Stood on either side were Silver and Echo, armored up and ready for what ever was behind those castle doors. The two elders wore very similar armor with the only difference being color, their weapons however were completely different. Silver had armed himself with a large battle axe, Francis was surprised how the old man could even lift such a weapon. Echo on the other hand wielded a staff, it had nothing special to it, just plain old wood with a fancy design on the top. The doors to the castle were sealed shut, it knew they were there. Echo stepped forth from the crowd and walked forward, stopping in the middle of the bridge. With one swift motion he tapped the bottom of the staff on the ground. Not even a second after he did this all the symbols along the bridge and the castle walls glow a bright green. A scream that lasted a short few seconds came from within the castle, moments after the door slid open, becoming wide enough to fit everyone through. Echo smirked and turned towards everyone else, his attention was mainly on Francis.
"Are you sure you want to come along kid, Elliot told us about how it made you feel." Francis shook his head in denial and held his dagger up high.
"Fair enough." He turned his head back towards the castle then started to walk forward, the group followed, Francis stayed close to Elliot at all times. On the outside Francis seemed like a brave sixteen year old who was finally becoming a man by doing this but in truth he was horrified, the others may not of felt the creatures presence but for him it was the strongest it had ever been.

Once they all entered the castle they all began to feel what Francis was feeling, dread, loneliness and anger. The common folk spun in all directions, they were on high alert. Sliver and Rex walked with confidence towards the empty throne. Elliot could feel the presence just like the others but was able to hide it well, it reassured Francis who was frightened beyond belief. He stayed behind Elliot and followed slowly, his actions mimicked the others, turning in all directions in a panic. Silver was ahead of Echo, once he made it to the throne he waited for something to happen but... nothing. Nothing was on the throne, the presence in the room seemed to vanish in a instant. The rest of the men caught up, they all stood there in confusion, Elliot was the first to break the silence.
"So where is it?" Francis looked around the whole room, nothing had changed since the last time he was there, only the absence of the creature.
"It was here, I could feel it, I swear." He said in a panic.
"Maybe you just imagined it." Elliot responded with. Silver and Echo glances at each other then towards Elliot. Echo spoke in his rough mumble.
"The kid didn't imagine it. Hundreds of years ago our ancestors sealed away a demon, it's power and origin were unknown even back then, all they could do was contain it. After it was sealed it become a soul duty of the Elders to watch over Trident Falls and keep it contained, we were told this as a bed time story as children but if what the kid says is true then we have to contain it once more." During Echos speech no one had noticed the main door slowly shut, locking them inside. Elliot remained confused.
"So if it is real then where is it?" He questioned, he almost seemed annoyed. Echo responded in a quick growl.
"Well I don't know." He turned towards Silver.
"You got any ideas brother?" There was no response from Silver, no movement, his back was the only thing visible, his head faced towards the throne.
"Brother?" Echos voice grew with concern. With movement faster then someone of his age was capable of Silver swung his axe towards Echo. The group fell silent, Echos body fell onto the stone floor below, his head rolled off his body and blood quickly oozed from the body. Silver turned to face the group, the white in his eyes had become a hallow black, where the colour should of been there was instead orange rings. A few of the men at the blood fell onto their knees, praying and vomiting. Francis was completly stunned, unable to process what just happened. The demon wasted no time and imedemly jolted forward. It caught Elliot off guard, he had still been looking at the body. It's cold growing nails dug into his neck, it lifted him into the air with ease. In only seconds Elliots breathy died down as his body became more motionless. Right before it completely killed him it tossed him aside, leaving him unconious. It's attention was now directed towards the group, it ignored Francis completely. Some men were still on their knees while the others had their swords up and were ready for a fight. What was once Silvers face smiled, the strong hearted werewolf was no more, what was left was a cold, blood hungry creature. The grim stayed on its face as it turned it's head towards Francis. The two of them locked eyes for a few moments, it was like Francis could feel it looking into his soul, judging him. A word started to repeat itself in his mind, something he knew came from the demon.
"Sleep"
Unwillingly, the command started to take effect, first his body became limp and paralyzed, moments later his vision became black and a few seconds later... He was asleep.

Francis woke to the sound of a familiar voice, it reminded him the of home and gave him the feeling of safety.
"Rise and shine Francis." Opening his eyes revealed his mother, her appearance had unchanged since the last time saw her.
"Mum, how are you here... How am I here." His uttered in a panic. The more he thought of his surroundings the more it frightened him, how could he be in his room and more importantly how was Tamara alive. She smiled and ran her hand through his fluffy brown hair.
"That isn't important, all that matters is that your here with me." These kind-hearted words would of normally put Francis to sleep but something was different this time, he couldn't shake the feeling of this wasn't meant to be.
"No really I want to know." His voice became more worried. Tamara looked down at him, her face changed from a kind hearted smile to a look of anger.
"Please Francis let mother help."
"Help what, what is this place." He rolled off the side of the bed and onto his feet, after standing for a few moments he noticed how the room started to change. The stone walls cracked and fall apart into little flakes, the once natural lighting changed to a red  glow and his mother was no longer the same. What was once Tamara had changed, it's face lacked any features, it was just skin.  It sat cross legged in the middle of the bed, face turned away from him. It's hands rested to it's side, they were freakishly large and deformed. Out of instinct he tried to scream but nothing came Out, the only sound in the room was a high pitched humming. Before the creature on the bed could try anything he ran for the bedroom door and kicked it open, normally he wouldn't have the strength to but for some reason he did. Once he passed through to the other side of the door things changed, the stone walls were now gone, in their place were large tree trunks. The landscape around him was unknown yet peaceful. In front of him was a large pond, the grass around the edges was a light blue and slightly glowed. Across the other side of the pond was a figure in all blue, it was hard to make out any features but Francis could defiantly tell that it was a bearded man. Once again he tried using his voice but nothing came out. Quick thinking he grabbed a rock and threw it into the water, trying to make any sort of sound. The second the rock touched the water it dissolved into a cloud of dust.
"Ok now what the hell." He thought to himself. The Man on the other side tilted his head up, it seemed he could hear his thoughts. Before Francis had any time to do anything else a long, mutated hand reached around and grabbed his face. In the blink of an eye everything became dark again. After a few seconds of deep thinking he soon realized what that was, a strange nightmare which the demon caused. But who was the man and blue and why was his mum a monster, before he could think to deeply on it he woke.

Francis sat on the throne, no matter how much he struggled he couldn't move, he knew straight away that it was the demons doing. The view ahead was littered with the bodies of the group, some were gutted and some were limbless. The first thing he looked for was Elliot's body, there was no sign of it. A familiar feeling of dread fell over him, the sound of heavy footsteps approached from the right, he wasn't able to turn his head to look, all he could do was look ahead towards the bodies.
"Whatever you are make it quick." He closed his eyes and prepared for what was to come. The voice that responded was a mix between Echo's aged voice and the demons sinister tone.
"I don't want you dead, I just want a friend." Silver walked around him so they were face to face, the demons dark heartless eyes glared into his soul. Francis spat in his face and turned his head away.
"Go to hell." He held the anger back but some slipped through his voice.
"I've been there, a dark place that I would rather not see again. After all, I like this world." He licked his lips and waited for a response. Francis sat in silence, head turmed away so their eyes weren't locked.
"Going to stay silent huh, I like it better when they scream." Silver lent in and placed both his cold hands on Francis' face. His nails were unnaturally long, after a few seconds they grew even more. The fear quickly over took him but he was able to hide it on the outside, not giving it the satisfaction of seeing him cry. Silver frowned and stepped back, he looked down with disappointment and sighed.
"Guess I'll try my other tactic." He smiled and quickly raised his razor sharp nails to his own neck, in a split second he slit his own throat and fell to the ground like a doll. Francis was unable to look down, he could only hear Silver chocking on his own blood.

Moments later the familiar red mist crept up his legs and began to overtake him. The few seconds he was touched by it seemed like years to him, he could feel the demon take over his mind and send him back to the dream. Without warning the mist left which caused him to snap back to reality. He watched as the mist tracked back down his body then floating out of sight to the left. Sounds of cracking and shuffling came from the left, with all the strength he had within he tried to turn his head but he was unsuccessful. The sounds stopped, the throne room fell silent, Francis became more worried and called out.
"Who are you... How are you doing this." Footsteps returned, the sound lingered around, just out of sight. Something he had forgotten about quickly hit him as he heard the demons new voice.
"This is my home, as long as I'm here I can do whatever I like." The Demons voice was a mix of it's own and his uncle's. The demon stepped into view, it broke his heart to see his uncle in that state. Elliots neck was badly damaged, a dark purple that looked almost unbearable painful. His eyes were the same black and orange that had over taken Silver.
"You know what, this body actually feels alright, think I might keep it." His voice was sinister and brought Francis to tears, after everything he saw that was his breaking point.
"Now I'll ask this one more time Francis, do you want to be my friend." The voice that left it's mouth sounded like Elliot the most but it was easy to tell it was the demons twisted words.
"Go away, GO AWAY!" He screamed as loud and as long as he could, his voice cracked and wheezed towards the end of it. The Demon smiled using Elliots face.
"Whatever you say, friend." The large doors flew open with incredible force, without hesitation the Demon left the castle and slowly disappeared into the white light. Francis gave up on trying to move, he knew there was no way he could. He sat there covered in blood and tears, a broken mess with no one left.

Hours passed as he watched the view in front, the brightness of the day had faded into shadow. Without warning his body slumped down into the throne, it felt like he just sat down after days of running. Slowly he moved his legs to make sure that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. Once he knew for sure that it wasn't some kind of trick he threw himself off the throne, his body tingled with every little movement he did. Slowly crawled back onto his feet, every little step he took out of the castle sent waves and pain through his legs. The cold night's air sent a shiver down his back and made the hairs on his arms stand, he knew he couldn't stay out in the cold for long. After he walked through the Trident Fall Ruins he made it to the edge of the mountain. What he saw over the cliff broke him more then he already was. The once ancient kingdom was no more, buildings turned to rubble. Fire consumed what was left of the kingdom, great clouds of smoke ascended into the sky, a haunting sight to see. Francis collapsed onto the ground, he had nothing, no family, no home, all he could do was let the winter consume him.

Around an hour had passed and he could feel the grip of death slowly take him, the cold no longer had effect on his body. As he waited for death he started to faintly hear the rustling of a saddle coming from behind him. Being face down was a great disadvantage, he couldn't tell if this was friend or foe. The sound of heavy foot prints in the snow quickly approached and not be long his body was flipped over. A vampire with light grey skin and dark flowing hair is what he saw. The vampire placed the back of his hand on his forehead, he could feel the little heat coming from his body.
"This one's alive boys" He picked up Francis and swung him over his shoulder. Soon after his vision slowly faded, he could feel death slowly approaching.