Several days after the assault on the Shadow Hunter Pack...
The Demon Realm...
Their world is stuck in perpetual darkness. A seemingly barren wasteland of nothingness. It's an environment where a constant sweltering heat exists, while the metallic stench of blood and the pungent aroma of brimstone permeates an air heavily ladened with an abundance of excreted demon miasma. These extremely hellish conditions in the human world would be considered to be, at the very least, virtually unbearable to live in ... perhaps more likely unlivable ... while here, within the Demon Realm, this state is considered the norm.
The Demon Lord's castle ... an imposing, obsidian monstrosity of a structure ... stands before them, off in the distance. Sairya ... one of the Demon Lord's eight generals ... is returning with his troops from the human world, or to be more specific, from a remote region in Romania near the Carpathian Mountain chain.
They have just decimated the Shadow Hunter Pack ... the last known existing Acrilian werewolf pack ... exterminating every last one of them who stood there daring to oppose the Demon Lord's forces. And although the werewolves fought valiantly to no avail; in the end, it wound up being a seemingly one-sided massacre. It was just like Meera had warned Shakira about from what she saw in her prophetic visions; the Demon Lord's forces' numbers were too overwhelming for the pack to handle. They never stood a chance. The mountainous region where they once occupied ... calling their home ... is now nothing more than a horrific site where a merciless, barbaric slaughter had taken place. A truly grotesque scene, pieces of the Shadow Hunter Pack's torn apart body parts remain haphazardly strewn about; leaving the ground blood soaked.
And although this should be considered an auspicious occasion, a time to be celebrated, since the latest assault in the human world can be viewed as a monumental victory for the demons; the Demon Lord himself sees this campaign as an utter failure, being how one of the main objectives behind the assault ... probably the most important one in the Demon Lord's opinion ... was never accomplished. Sairya is well aware of this fact, which is why he is nervously anxious about returning to the castle and standing before the Demon Lord to file his report.
Unfortunately, Sairya also realizes that he can't keep stalling his arrival for much longer, because eventually it's going to be time to face the inevitable ... time to face the Demon Lord. So, he begins plodding forward, leading his troops back to the castle; however, still moving along at a snail's pace. After all, just because he realizes that he can't be avoiding his meeting with the Demon Lord, it doesn't mean that he's fully accepted it yet. When it comes to the adage 'sooner or later' Sairya is still opting for later.
A couple of hours have passed, and they've finally reached the castle. The troops have been officially relieved of their duties and dismissed, granted permission to return to their quarters and get some well-deserved rest as a reward for having defeated the Shadow Hunter Pack. Sairya, on the other hand, wasn't offered such a luxury. He was summoned to an immediate audience with the Demon Lord.
Xyos, the Demon Lord's chief advisor ... essentially his right-hand man ... meets Sairya to escort him to the Great Hall; where the Demon Lord, the other seven generals, and several other high-ranking military officers in the Demon Lord's army are awaiting the returning general.
Sairya receives a showering of lauds and adulations from those they pass by in the castle along the way. As far as the general masses know, the recent campaign was a major victory for demon kind; unlike the actual general, who knows the truth. The same goes for Xyos, who just shakes his head and rolls his eyes, but keeps his mouth shut, every time someone comes up and congratulates the general on a successful mission.
Upon their arrival at the Great Hall, a sudden debilitating surge of trepidation overwhelms Sairya's body; and his feet become seemingly frozen in place. Petrified from fear of the consequences that may be to come, Sairya can no longer move forward.
Across the Great Hall, prominently seated upon a dais, sitting in a throne constructed from the collected bones of those misfortunate souls who happened to have failed or dared to oppose him, the Demon Lord stares at the immobile general. Fed up with waiting, the Demon Lord loses his patience and gruffly calls out to Sairya in an authoritatively commanding tone...
"For crying out loud, don't just stand there like some kind of blithering fool, Sairya; move your ass and get over here. You've kept us waiting long enough." The Demon Lord quickly clarifies, "No ... you've kept me waiting long enough. So, stop your dawdling and come here."
Though still fearful of what fate awaits him, Sairya somehow manages to come over at least some of that debilitating trepidation and musters up enough courage to gradually inch his way forward towards the dais. Xyos, who can see that the Demon Lord is becoming more and more impatient with his cowering general, takes the initiative and hurries Sairya along by pushing him down the center aisleway from behind.
The others present in the Great Hall witnessing this pathetic display of weakness are finding these antics amusing and begin snickering; but the Demon Lord, who's not amused, rebukingly glares at them with piercing eyes. An uneasy, stifled silence instantly befalls the Great Hall.
Finally arriving before the dais, Sairya immediately drops to his knees and assumes a submissively prone position before the Demon Lord. He begs...
"Please, my Lord, I beseech you; please take pity and forgive me."
A round of muffled chatter begins to emanate within the Great Hall; but it's immediately squashed with another rebuking glare from the Demon Lord.
After silencing the others, the Demon Lord looks back at Sairya. At first, a look of disgust begins to emerge upon his visage; but that quickly dissipates, and an ominously menacing smirk appears in its place.
"So, Sairya; you beseech me now, do you ... asking me to take pity and forgive you?"
Not quite sure how to respond, Sairya stays silent, remaining in that submissively prone position. The Demon Lord continues...
"Well, seeing how much you're willing to humble and belittle yourself ... actually, more like shamefully groveling at my feet ... it's obvious to me that you realize that you've messed up big time and are totally at fault. Clearly your overabundance of guilt has given you away, Sairya. What I see here before me is nothing more than an incompetent failure of a demon who once dared called himself one of my generals. How pathetic."
Xyos, who understands the Demon Lord's frustration ... but can also empathize with and sympathize for the apparently fallen general ... decides to throw caution to the wind and intervene on behalf of the persecuted general's sake, who is nothing more than a shell of a demon at this point.
"If I may, my Lord ... at the risk of sounding impertinent ... which if I do, I ask that you beg my pardon ... but in all fairness, General Sairya had led a successful assault against the Shadow Hunter Pack, defeating the last known Acrilian werewolf pack in existence. Surely that must count for something ... perhaps granting him just a little forbearance?"
When he first decided to take it upon himself to plead the general's case, Xyos didn't realize how difficult it would be to get those words out of his mouth; or was aware of how bad of a taste it would leave in there. But, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Unfortunately, all that effort has been for naught, because the Demon Lord isn't swayed at all.
"A successful assault you say, Xyos?" The Demon Lord intensely stares down upon Sairya; momentarily silent before speaking. "Sairya, get up and look at me."
Sairya slowly raises himself from the submissively prone position and starts to get up on his feet, but is abruptly halted by the Demon Lord, who curtly lashes out...
"No, Sairya; don't you dare get up on your feet! Back down on your knees! I haven't forgiven you yet."
Sairya immediately drops back down on his knees. The Demon Lord continues; a bit more civil in manner this time, but still with an underlying air of passive-aggressiveness in his tone...
"So, Sairya, tell me; Xyos claims that you had successfully defeated the Shadow Hunter Pack. But, in your opinion, is that true; was that assault truly a success in your eyes?"
Sairya sheepishly answers, 'Well ... my Lord ... we did manage to exterminate every last Acrilian werewolf there."
"Oh; I see. So, you managed to exterminate every last Acrilian werewolf there; did you, now?"
Sairya meekly nods his head. The Demon Lord takes in a deep breath in an attempt to compose himself a little before continuing their discussion...
"Fine then; if that's the case ... tell me; Sairya ... what about her?"
Sairya trembles as he nervously replies, "Her, my Lord? I don't quite understand; who is her, my Lord?"
The Demon Lord is becoming increasingly agitated by the general's obviously feigned ignorance...
"'Who's her'? ... 'Who's her'? ... Really; you want to play it out this way, do you? Okay, I'll play along with you. The 'her' I'm talking about is Shakira's infant daughter ... the luna's daughter ... the next in line to become the luna of the Acrilian werewolves ... that 'her'! Where is she?"
"I ... I ... I don't know, my Lord. The intelligence we received after the attack stated that a couple of weeks before the assault, the Shadow Hunter Pack handed over all of their children and about half of their breeders to the Holy Guardians of the Realm; and they were taken to Vatican City under their protection."
"Oh, I see so, what you're saying is that all of the Acrilian werewolves weren't exterminated, then. That all of their children, along with half of their breeders ... who are capable of self-reproduction; thus, possibly bringing more Acrilian werewolves into the world by the way ... are safe and sound in Vatican City. Is that what you're saying, Sairya?"
Sairya once again replies in a sheepish manner, "Well ... I suppose so, my Lord."
"You 'suppose so'; is that what you're telling me now; you 'suppose so'?"
"Y-y-yes, my Lord."
"I see. Then I suppose then it's safe to also say that the luna's daughter is there along with them; right?"
There's a brief moment of silence while Sairya tries to build up enough nerve to reluctantly tell the Demon Lord...
"N-no; not exactly my Lord."
"'No'? ... 'Not exactly'? ... What does that mean? Where is the luna's daughter?!"
"I don't know, my Lord. We have no idea where she is. All we know is what intelligence was reported to us ... that the luna's daughter wasn't with the group that was sent away to Vatican City. They have no idea where she is. I'm afraid we lost track of her." Sairya hysterically cries out, "Please ... please, my Lord; please forgive me! It wasn't my fault! She wasn't there! She wasn't there! What was I supposed to do, my Lord; she was already gone by the time we got there! What could I do?! What could I do?! Please, forgive me, my Lord! Forgive me!"
Sairya's eyes swell up as tears stream out and flow down his cheeks. The Demon Lord gets up from his throne and slowly descends the steps of the dais. He walks over to the blubbering general and places his hand under the tear-soaked chin; then gently lifts Sairya's head up and wipes away the tears.
"Shh ... it's going to be alright."
Still sniffling, but starting to feel a false sense of security, Sairya asks...
"Then ... you forgive me, my Lord? Thank you. I swear, I won't fail you ever again."
"Oh, Sairya; Sairya ... of course you won't fail me ever again."
The Demon Lord displays a smile to Sairya. Sairya reciprocates with a smile of his own.
Then suddenly, Sairya can feel the Demon Lord's claws being thrust deep into his throat. His eyes instantly shoot up and blankly stare upon the Demon Lord's countenance, which is still displaying that smile. He soon begins to lose focus, and his eyes roll back to the top of his head.
Sairya violently gasps as his black, tar-like-looking demon blood gurgles up his throat and forcefully spurts out his mouth.
Finally satisfied with the closure between his general and himself, the Demon Lord finishes up by brutally ripping Sairya's throat out; unceremoniously throwing the torn flesh in his hand down on the ground. He then slams the general's lifeless carcass down to the ground as well.
Everyone is in complete and utter shock; totally flabbergasted and trembling in fear .... worried about the safety of their own lives. The Demon Lord has apparently completely lost control of his senses in this enraged state ... and his next orders proves this.
"Listen up, my remaining generals; I want you find out who was gathering the intelligence before the attack on the Shadow Hunter Pack ... because they allowed the luna's daughter to slip away, making them directly responsible for losing track of the daughter. After you get a complete list of everyone involved, see that they're all killed! Each and every one of them! Do I make myself clear?!"
Everyone is so taken aback that no one could utter a word; so, no one could verbally respond. They all just frantically nod their heads in affirmation.
"See to it!" The Demon Lord storms off angrily shouting, "And I want the luna's daughter found and killed before she turns one!! Make sure it's done!!"
Able to speak now, Xyos apprehensively calls out to the Demon Lord...
"My Lord, I understand that you want the luna's daughter dead; but why does it need to be done before she turns one?"
The Demon Lord is almost out of the Great Hall, as he once again shouts out, "Before she's one!!"