The Knights had come intending to kill all who were in the village but only seeing Arwan present, the weak child had to bear their aggression.
And so they kept on stabbing him with their spears, throwing a few mocking laughs in between while looking at Arwan as if he were a masterpiece.
"Your type needs to be eradicated for a better world to be created." A knight said, stabbing his spear into Arwan's back.
Barely feeling pain from the stab, Arwan coughed out blood as his breathing became ragged.
"They left you behind, right? Don't worry we'll send you to your next life." Another knight said, thrusting his spear through Arwan's spine.
Arwan's eyes kept staring at the group of Knights absentmindedly as his vision gradually got darker.
"Uh... He seems to be broken." Seeing that Arwan was unresponsive despite how many times they had stabbed him, the Knights captain decided it was time for them to go.
"He didn't last long."
"That aside, what are we going to tell the king?"
"He said we should take the Holy Spiring after killing them but we don't even know where the Spring is."
"We'll just have to tell him what we saw 'They all disappeared'."
The group of Knights said as they walked away, acting like they hadn't done something terrible.
Staring at the retreating figures of the Knights who had put him in a half-dead state, Arwan's vision darkened as his wounds bleed profusely.
As the cold around them seeped into his body, Arwan's wounds gradually froze which slowly began freezing his blood vessels.
Plagued by the urge to close his eyes and sleep, Arwan's temperature dropped rapidly, and the same with the Hippogriff that lay beside him.
When his blood vessels were barely circulating blood through his body, Arwan felt coldness radiate from the Hippogriff that lay beside him.
Ignorant about what had befallen his friend, Arwan was just about to close his eyes and accept his fate when a malevolent yet majestic voice said in his mind. "You aren't allowed to die yet."
With whatever spoke to him emphasizing the words 'allowed to die', its words traveled through Arwan's mind. Awakening something that had laid dormant in him, the entity's words implanted itself in Arwan's subconscious.
As what seemed to be the tattoo of a Demon's skull lit up on his back, Arwan had an eerie red aura accompanying him.
The deep and life-threatening wounds that littered his body sealed up immediately restoring his bloodied skin to its former hue.
"I'll kill you," Arwan said standing up akin to a puppet, his voice was laced with a malevolent aura as he stared at the Knights' figures.
Arwan's vision took on a crimson pigment as what seemed to be a skeletal figure made from a reddish aura emerged behind him.
It had its upper body sticking out from the blood-soaked ground with its lower body appearing to be missing, atop its head sat two pairs of demonic horns looking like its own unholy crown, and its extremely long spine hunched over as its ethereal form seemed to flicker in and out of existence.
"Let's go." It said through its bony jaws.
Akin to a servant doing its master's bidding, Arwan's body gracefully moved towards the group of Knights like a puppet without strings.
Having the Skeletal Demon float behind him, Arwan's small form blocked the path of the Knights in front of him.
"What the hell? Didn't we just kill this little bastard?"
"The Pope's words about us finding something unique here turned out to be true."
"We'll just have to kill it and hand its heart over to the King."
They said as they looked at the cursed Elven child in front of them.
"We have to fight him seriously. Everything related to curses has to be treated with extreme caution." The Knights Captain said, throwing away the spear he held before pulling his longsword out of its sheath.
"Hahaha hahaha... I see you all are too weak to comprehend my greatness." The Skeletal Demon behind Arwan said before it made the latter raise his head to look at the men before them.
"Jace, find the Priest we'll need his help!" The Knights Captain barked out orders as he kept his eyes locked on Arwan's figure.
Not asking any questions, the Knight named Jace hurriedly ran away from where they were.
"I won't let that happen." The Skeletal Demon said after seeing that Jace was running away.
Whoosh...
Disappearing from where they stood, the figures of the Skeletal Demon and Arwan appeared in front of a surprised Jace.
"No wait-"
Not allowing Jace to speak, the Skeletal Demon stretched its bony hand forward.
"Y'all are going to die." The Skeletal Demon said as if it intended to make them feel at ease.
As a red blob of energy forced its way out of Jace's mouth, the Skeletal Demon grabbed hold of it before placing it in its bony jaws.
"Yuk." The Skeletal Demon said in disgust. If it still had its facial muscles, its face would've currently looked like it had eaten something that was considered an abomination.
Thump...
With Jace's body lifelessly falling on the cold ground, the Skeletal Demon turned to look at the rest before saying. "I'll give you all a swift death."
If it had the choice, the Skeletal Demon would've chosen to give them all a slow painful death but because its options were limited, it could only settle for extracting their souls.
Whoosh...
Appearing in front of the group before they had a chance to speak, the Skeletal Demon consumed all their souls in a single move.
Thump, thump...
"Now to hunt the bastards that came along with these bastards." The Skeletal Demon said after seeing the body of the last Knight drop lifelessly to the ground.
About to make Arwan take another step, it felt as if some strange force was trying to suppress the Skeletal Demon.
"Blergh..."
Looking at the child beneath him, the Skeletal Demon said after seeing Arwan vomit blood. "He's still too weak."
The Skeletal Demon took its eyes off Arwan before looking into the sky and saying. "I guess there's still some time before our agreement is fulfilled."
The Skeletal Demon turned to look at the dead Hippogriff before he continued. "For now, you need to be alive until then."
Making what seemed to be a red collar around the Hippogriff's neck, the Skeletal Demon slowly retreated into Arwan's body.
As the Demonic Skull tattoo on Arwan slowly deemed, the Skeletal Demon said. "The curse of the Undead Guardian shall rest for now."
With the last wisp of the Skeletal Demon entering into Arawn, the malevolent aura that had covered the place dissipated as Arwan's body limply fell to the floor.
"These memories of yours shall be sealed until they're meant to awaken." The Skeletal Demon's voice said in Arwan's mind before falling into another deep slumber.
Around Arwan, the figures of the dead Knights lay —each having an expression like they had come face to face with something demonic.
****
Back to the present...
Nand whose real name was Arwan could be seen clutching his head as foreign memories flooded his mind.
In the distance, Theo along with his group could be seen looking at Arwan like the latter was a lunatic.
"Are you sure he's alright, he just suddenly fell after charging at us." One of Theo's men whispered as they kept on at staring Arwan.
"You're quite foolish, didn't we plan to kill him?" Another of Theo's men said.
"It doesn't matter whether or not he's alright. I'm going to kill him." Having the shadowy tendrils that danced on his lower right arm increase, Theo took calm steps toward the crouching Arwan.
Humm...
The air buzzed as the Demonic Skull tattoo on Arwan's back glowed in a malevolent light, and red wisps were gradually released from his body.
Still looking at Arwan coldly, Theo didn't bother to think about the strange aura the Elf was releasing.
"Sigh... It still isn't time." A malevolent yet majestic voice said as the outline of a skeleton with two pairs of horns formed behind Arwan.
As its structure gradually took shape, time seemed to flow slowly as the malevolent form of the Skeletal Demon took shape.
Turning its skull to look at the dead Buck, it said. "Dead again." The Skeletal Demon looked at Arwan and continued. "Well he would be able to use thirty percent of my power now but the question is how long would he last."
After it looked at Theo, the Skeletal Demon said. "A worthy opponent, let's see what he can do."
With time flow returning to how it once was, Arwan lifted his head as his right eye glowed in a crimson light.
"I'll kill you," Arwan muttered as the Skeletal Demon behind him covered his body in its crimson aura —tainting the former's aura while also increasing his strength.
Not waiting for Arwan to finish his transformation, Theo clicked his tongue in irritation before disappearing from where he stood.
Appearing behind Arwan, Theo's eyes narrowed as he stabbed his pitch-black dagger toward where he guessed Arwan's neck would be.
Puchi...
"I knew it was all for show," Theo said with a stoic face as he watched Arwan's blood make a beautiful red arc in the air.
....
Author's note- Take the flashback as happening in about a few minutes.
....