“You stupid boy. Why did you let a mere Beastkin take such a powerful beast?” Lance stood still with a bowed head and clenched fists as he withstood the verbal lashing of his father. He was lucky his father was in a decent move, or he could be guaranteed some more physical injuries. Right now, he was just grateful that his father’s reprimands remained verbal.
“Get out of my sight!” The red haired man said and waved his hand. He turned to the side and signaled for a servant to bring his drinks for him while Lance simply turned away and returned to his chambers.
Lance’s father was a big figure in the Demon Continent. That much was evident from the lavish rugs and curtains that decorated the halls in his castle. Even the servants had large rooms to themselves. As long as they did his bidding, the man did not care if they lived lavish lives. They were all beneath him after all.
Bam!
The door of Lance’s room slammed shut beside him and he walked over to the massive bed in the center of the room. His room was so large that it would take about thirty seconds or so for him to walk to one side of it from the bed. It was stupendously large, but mostly empty.
Whoosh!
Two dark shadows blurred by the open windows, and Lance’s good friends, Barak and Balak, the twin brothers, landed beside his bed just as he dropped onto it.
“Scolded by the asshole father?” Barak asked with a smirk.
“You should have taken the dragon and killed her.” Balak voiced what Lance’s father, Ashtar, had most likely said with a twisted face.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Lance shook his head and sighed.
“Come on, get a bath. Let’s skip this place. Aren’t you planning on meeting up with your little lover?” Barak kicked Lance off the bed while his brother stifled a laugh.
“Ugh. Fine.” Lance dragged himself up from the ground and began to strip, before walking into the bathroom.
“Look at him. Fed up with his father, but he can’t do much about it.” Barak said in a low tone to his brother.
“That’s what we’re here for. The three of us together can whoop anyone’s butt!” The buff boy with his hair cut low grinned and flexed his biceps before flopping down on Lance’s bed.
A few minutes later, the door to the bathroom swung open, letting out a thick cloud of steam which Lance walked through gracefully. His wet blond hair was packed back, and his body was on display. Although he looked the most human among the three boys, he had some very clear features that allowed him to be identified as a Demon.
First was the trails of red scales than ran down his back side. Second was the thin, red scaled tail that he usually kept wrapped around his waist, and the last were the red wings that he could tuck underneath the scales on his back. The wings were the strangest part of his body, but he accepted them as they were.
(A/N: I had absolutely no idea how to properly describe this part, but I hope you guys get the gist.)
Right now, all he features were on display. His tail swayed slowly behind him while his wings were spread open wide.
The two brothers watched his with silence. They knew why he did not like parading his Demonic aspects. All Demons were proud of their Demonic aspects, as it represented their identities. But Lance was not proud of his because of how much it reminded him of his parents.
His mother’s side was where he got the wings, while he got the tail and the rest of his scales from his father.
Quickly, Lance got dressed before smiling at his friends. But they looked at him strangely. This time, Lance had chosen not to hide his wings. Barak shared a glance with his brother before gesturing at the wings.
“Your wings?”
“Oh, I will leave them out for now. But I will take some extra clothes for when we arrive at the Central Continent. We will also take some Iridescent Crystals.” Lance smiled.
Iridescent Crystals were special crystals that hid one’s true form as long as it interacted with the person’s mana. It was through this that they were going to travel the Central Continent in search of Elena.
Lance walked over to his closet and pulled out a ring. He slipped it onto his finger and turned around.
“Are you two done packing?” He asked his friends.
“Yup!” Balak grinned and raised his hand, showcasing a ring on his finger. Barak did the same thing. All three rings were spatial rings!
“Good, let’s go.” Lance nodded and led them out of his room. After locking the door, the three of them quickly left the castle that belonged to Lance’s family and were greeted by a red sky. A flock of fiery birds cawed as they flew by, but Lance ignored them and made his way around to the side of the castle where a carriage was already waiting for them.
“Young Master.” A black haired man in a black coat bowed slightly and opened the door to the carriage for the three boys.
“Good morning, Nasir. How are you?” Lance smiled. Nasir was Lance’s aide, and had been with him ever since he was born. The middle aged man was a human slave that had been captured just before the Great Shift. He had been an assassin, but was captured when he failed his mission. He had then submitted to Lance’s father, Ashtar, and had been assigned to Lance’s side since he was born. The man was a Low A rank mage.
“I am well, Lance. Are you ready for your trip?” Nasir smiled as he closed the door behind him and sat on the opposite side of the carriage from the three boys.
“Of course, we are.” Balak cheered. He threw his hands up, and his short hair caught fire in his excitement. His hair did not burn off like when Mica breathed fire on him, however.
“That is good.” Nasir smiled and turned to look out of the window. The coachman was already directing the carriage out of the compound. It would take a few hours to reach the port, and then a few days to reach the Central Continent. They were not too far, as the castle was located on the island that had been claimed during the Great Shift. Ashtar was one of the people who had been given the right and power to operate on the island.
The three boys joked around through the trip while Nasir chipped in every now and then. The reason why they were so free around him was because they trusted him. Nasir also held resentment towards Ashtar for the way he was tortured after being caught, but for some reason, he did not hold that same resentment towards Lance. Perhaps he could see that Lance was not fond of his parents, and did not intend to walk that same path, so he had decided to make sure Lance turned out different. Even he did not know why, but he accepted it all the same.
Several hours passed in that comfortable atmosphere, and upon reaching the end of the fourth hour, the group arrived at the harbor where they would depart for the Central Continent. Nasir disembarked first and the boys followed. They had already reserved a place on a massive passenger ship that was disguised as a passenger ship that was operated by humans and other friendly races to those on the Central Continent. Demons were not exactly welcome over there.
The organization that ran the transport company was completely controlled by Ashtar, and would be one of the many forces that would help when the conquest of the Central Continent came into fruition.
As one of Ashtar’s more powerful subordinates, of course Nasir knew about the plans to invade the other territories.
‘Their appetite if more than what they can handle.’ He had thought when he originally heard of the plan, but upon finding out the more intricate details, he realized that he was wrong.
‘I can only pray for those innocent souls on that continent.’ He had told himself in resignation.
“Let us board the ship now, Lance.” He smiled as he watched their carriage be taken to one of the cargo holdings of the ship by the coachman.
“Central Continent, here we come!” Balak exclaimed, but was promptly slapped by his twin.
“Idiot! Keep your voice down!” Barak scolded his brother and walked forward, followed by Lance who shook his head at his friends’ habits. Barak was the last of the three friends as he rubbed his head with a pout, while Nasir shook his head with a small, fond smile.