Russel sat in a run down house at the edge of the ruins, seated at a table across from the man who had called out to him. The man wore half destroyed brown robes that covered his face and body. He had introduced himself to Russel as Omar.
Russel shot a glance sideways to Oliver, who was still unconscious and had been put next to a fire. Since being put by the fire his condition had seemed to improve and the ice in his chest had started to thaw and was wrapped in cloth to stop the bleeding that would ensue once it had. Though Russel was still very worried about the chances of Oliver's survival, he was more optimistic than he was earlier.
He sighed and returned his gaze to the mysterious man in front of him, who had been sitting silently for the past half hour since he brought Russel and Oliver inside. Omar sat still, almost as if he were sleeping. At this point Russel was sick of the silence and chose to break it himself.
"So what is this place?" Russel asked.
"I thought that would be rather obvious. This is my home." Omar answered.
"I meant all the ruins." Russel corrected himself.
"Then I believe the correct question to ask would be what was this place." Omar corrected him.
Russel started to grind his teeth in frustration, clutching his fist to keep him from snapping.
"Can you please just answer my question?" Russel pleaded.
"Very well. This was once the hidden demon city of Dublios. The last refuge for mid and high ranking demons who had not gone feral after the fall of Satan. We lived here for some thirty years… Before the Order Of The Dove attacked and killed everyone they saw." Omar explained.
"We? So are you…" Russel trailed off.
"Yes. I am a mid ranking demon, I was once the elder of this town since I was the oldest of the living mid rank demons at the time and the high ranking demons like your mother had no desire to run the town." Omar told him.
"What happened here?" Russel asked.
"Straight to the point like both you mother and father I see… But that is a story for another time, and one I do not feel like retelling to begin with." Omar spoke. "What I wish to know is why you have returned and what you seek here."
"I wish… No. I need to learn how to use my abilities and not lose control of it. A man that appears in my dreams, taking the form of purple fire said to seek this place out. And when fleeing that forest I ended up here." Russel revealed.
"I see. You already lost control once… And your father's ghost is guiding you. That's a steady, and reliable hand to be guided by. Though knowing him, he is urging you to give up on any goals you have for yourself in this situation. His brother coming back into being was his biggest fear by far. And you have the potential to bring him back if you die." Omar mused.
"My father… So does that mean the other one… The woman made of purple flames is…" Russel trailed off in thought.
"No doubt that is your mother. Aliyah was the kindest, most beautiful woman that I have ever had the pleasure of coming across. And her power was unrivaled, even among high ranking demons. She is no doubt encouraging you to go after what you want." Omar mused once more.
"So that was her name." Russel smiled softly. "So the two of them are the ones appearing to me. Though I don't know why they wouldn't just say they were my mother and father."
"Most likely it's because their identity is the last of your concerns." Omar explained. "The path that you must walk is one that no soul would walk willingly. And I imagine that different things are being encouraged by both. But tell me boy, what is it you want." Omar asked.
"I want to find my beloved. An angel by the name of Arthur took her, he also claimed to be the one to kill my parents." Russel told him.
"A selfish goal." Omar observed.
Russel hung his head at the mans remarks. He remained silent as he could not deny it was a selfish wish. But Kathleen's embrace was all he longed for in the world. Nothing else mattered to him.
"That may be. But it's what I want to do." Russel stated.
"Do not let my observation weigh on you. That would be the wish of any man who is deeply in love. Regardless of your goal, Arthur is not one to be taken lightly. Since you stand before me, I know that you fought him and at least forced him to retreat. How often after your powers awakened was this?" Omar asked.
"Five days at most." Russel answered.
"The first week after any demon, fallen angel or not, is the strongest week they shall have for a long while. Thus, your victory is not something you would be able to repeat this quickly. Your power as it is now is borderline uncontrollable, and is weaker than the first week. And once you become in control of the power you will have access to even less of it. Only with time will you be able to surpass your initial strength and still be in control." Omar told him, standing up and turning his back to Russel as he looked out a window.
Russel cursed and pounded his fist into the table in frustration. To control the power he had he would have to be weaker, and he wasn't patient enough to grow in power steadily.
"You will have to be patient whether you like it or not." Omar spoke almost as if he was reading Russel's exact thoughts.
"I understand that… Yet another skill I must learn." Russel sighed. "There was an instance on which my body burst aflame and I gained more power… Is there any way to replicate that?"
Omar quickly turned around, causing the hood to fall off his head revealing his aged face, bald head and large white beard. He sat back down and looked seriously at Russel.
"You mean to say that you are already coming into your flames?" Omar questioned.
"What do you mean my flames?" Russel asked.
"When a high ranking demon, or in your case fallen angel reaches a certain point they will come into their flames. An innate power hidden within each demon that causes their body to go aflame and allows them to control the flames. It is the most difficult thing for a demon to control. Though most would come into their flames around your age… Though you just gained your power so it is surprising. All this time we thought it was after a certain time of being in control…" Omar began to ramble.
"So… How do I control them and not black out from using that power?" He asked.
"As you are now, that is impossible." Omar answered, recomposing himself. "You must first have perfect control of your most basic powers like the energy you can create and release. And as a fallen angel you must also be able to control your wings, claws and the transformation process. All of which are grueling trials on their own, but together are even more difficult."
"So I have a long while yet…" He sighed.
"Indeed. And if what you say is true and you have started to come into your flames, you can't leave until you at least have basic powers under control. You will become a danger to yourself more than anything." Omar insisted.
"How long will that take?" Russel asked.
"Truthfully, I'm not sure." Omar explained. "But do you agree?"
Russel mulled over his options. He could leave now and begin searching for Kathleen with powers he couldn't control, or he could stay at least until Oliver recovers and be able to control himself.
"I'll stay." Russel agreed.
"Wonderful. Now then we should get you and your friend set up in your own living area. Follow me." Omar encouraged him.
Russel followed the man who led him to a solid wall. Russel gave him a confused look, and the man smiled walking straight through the wall. Russel widened his eyes in surprise at the sight.
"It is a simple illusion spell." He heard Omar call out.
Russel followed the man through the wall and found himself on a wooden staircase that led to a door. Omar gestured to Russel and began to chant some words to the door, which then swung open. Russel walked down the stairs and looked around the room. It was rather spacious and had many bunk beds along its walls, along with two sofas in the middle. He looked to the side and saw another door frame that led into a large storage area.
"This will serve as your home while you are here. It should suit your needs perfectly." Omar assured him.
"Thank you." Russel said honestly to the man.
"You may as well get some sleep. I can tell you could use it." Omar suggested.
"I think that I'll take a small walk before I do that." Russel told him.
"Very well. Do not wander far off from the ruins though. Else the wards I have placed around the perimeter to keep monsters or feral demons out of the area will be infective." Omar told him.
"Thank you for the information." Russel smiled.
"It's my pleasure." The old man smiled back.
Russel walked back up the stairs and walked across the small house to the front door. He looked back at Oliver who had finally regained full color to his skin. He walked out the front door and was enveloped by the midday sun. Omar's home stood on the edge of the town near a small overlook of a lake the lay below. Russel was shocked they had reached Dublios so quickly. From a map that Omar had shown him when he first went into the house it should have been at least a week's ride from where they were. Instead it took less than a day. Russel sighed, perplexed by the mystery.
He sat down and got comfortable on the cliffside. He found it almost unreal. Below him lay a beautiful lake surrounded by pristine forest, while next to him lay the city of innocents that the Order Of The Dove torched. His whole life he had practically grown up in an Order Of The Dove monatery, where the Father of the church served as his father since Russel's was dead. To think that someone as kind as the man who raised him was a part of the kind of organization that would kill people just because they were demons… But Russel knew that Father Edward had been a good man, whatever other atrocities the Order Of The Dove had committed was perpetrated by people like Arthur.
Russel stood up and started walking through the ruins. While most were reduced to rubble, some still stood in decrepit condition. He walked inside of a few of these homes and found all kinds of things. Some had mementos of sorts, jewelry and burnt books, others had charred furniture and skeletons. What Russel found most disturbing was coming across beds with small skeletons inside of them. Russel clenched his fists as he started to compare the echoes of horror that were present here with that of what likely was the condition of Eastcliff. It wasn't until Russel came across another sight in a separate house he couldn't take it anymore.
The thing that put Russel over the edge was a group of skeletons that made it easy to tell what had transpired. Two adult skeletons were huddled over two smaller skeletons, which another adult skeleton laid horribly disfigured across the room. Russel looked sadly at this display and walked out, not wanting to see the family of skeletons any longer than he already had.
'What did they do to deserve this? Because of the damn holy war which the angels had already won? They had defeated Satan. What was the point of hunting innocent people?' Russel thought angrily.
As he was lost in thought rain started to fall. Russel ignored it as best he could for a while, but eventually his gambeson soaked through and he started to shiver. He started sprinting back towards Omar's home where he knew there was a warm fireplace waiting. He quickly ran in and closed the door behind him before tearing off his clothes and boots until he was just in an undershirt and his underwear. He sat down by the fire and hung his clothes nearby. As he warmed himself up by the fire he looked over at his clothing. Despite bloodstains and holes in the back from his wings, the short gambeson and trousers showed little sign of all the battles they had already been through. The only shame was that he had lost the additional armor along the way.
"Russel, take these." He heard Omar say.
Russel looked over and managed to catched the clothes that Omar was throwing at him. He had been given a new black undershirt, a black gambeson with some basic chainmail and leather reinforcements built in, and a pair of solid black trousers with new black boots that were of very high quality. Russel inspected the clothes and found that they had flaps in the back of the chest pieces that seemed to allow for Russel's wings when they were active.
"Thank you." Russel smiled.
"This is the last of the warriors' armor that our race traditionally made. Luckily it seems to be a perfect size for you." Omar explained.
Russel nodded and quickly put on the clothes. They were quite cozy and fit perfectly. Russel started to dance around the room like he was in a battle and found that he could move very easily in them. He kept moving his limbs, impressed at how the armor adapted to his movements.
"This is amazing!" Russel cheered as he did a few mock sword motions.
"It very much is. Our best crafters were in charge of making that kind of armor." Omar informed him. "I thought I should also inform you that your training starts tomorrow at dawn."
Russel turned and looked at the man who gave him a stern look. Russel huffed as he walked through the wall and down the stairs, back to the room with all the bunks. He lay down on one of them and was surprised at how nice the bed was.
"Dawn is way too early…" He muttered as he drifted off to sleep.