A Night to Die For
On a very bright and clear evening, a luxurious horse-drawn carriage accompanied by 3 horse-riding guards was seen travelling along a winding countryside road. This late at night - as one could tell by looking at Phobos and Deimos, the two moons in the sky which had already slid past their halfway point - there was no one on the road but them. It was as deserted as could be. Luckily for them, both moons were full tonight, so they did not have to worry about illuminating the way for the most part.
"Arrghhh!" An angry cry of a woman escaped from the carriage. "I am so pissed off! They said it was going to be a meeting of powerful magicians! But only one or two low-classed ones showed up!"
This loud ranting came from a gaudy woman in the carriage. She then angrily swept off her golden hair from her face and pushed off the feathered cloak covering her head, exposing her lofty face.
"What the hell was that about!? Wasn't that false advertising? Or did they really think those crappy magicians were truly powerful? How aggravating!" She was not done yet... Cool air coming in through the open carriage window was not enough to cool her anger down.
"Ahaha... but you still managed to pull off an amazing performance," her plain-looking companion said, trying to calm the woman down. The girl knew it was about time for her employer to blow up after holding it in for so long, so with practiced patience she took her anger in stride. "Everyone who saw it was truly mesmerized by your singing, Miss Selene."
"WHO CARES ABOUT THEM!" Selene grew angrier instead and took it out on the poor girl.
"The Dark Magician, the one person I looked forward to meet, wasn't even there!" She stamped her feet a few times at this, much like a spoiled child having a temper tantrum.
"Why do you think I went through all these troubles, and performed in front of those haughty nobles for..." Selene bit at her handkerchief as she recalled tonight's event... She had sung her heart out on the stage, then sucked up to the nobles even though they looked down on her, and even endured their wild eyes and naughty hands... All for a chance to finally meet the notorious The Dark Magician. But he never even showed up.
"He's so heartless..." Selene teared up.
"Miss Selene..." the assistant, Reya, felt like Selene was going overboard. It's not like Selene made any appointment to meet The Dark Magician tonight. Even the news about him attending tonight's event was just a baseless rumor. She was about to remind Selene to curb her obsession with The Dark Magician, when Selene suddenly recovered from her lament.
"Anyway! Why aren't we home yet?!" Selene was referring to their home city, the capital city of the empire. "Hasn't it been a while since we departed? Are the horses crawling like tortoises or what?!" Her face twisted with anger again.
"Ah..." Reya knew she was in real trouble now. She had been hoping that Selene would not notice since Selene had been so occupied with her thoughts.
"The thing is... our direct way home through Rupen Forest is not safe for now. A Demon Warning for the area has even been issued by the empire... Because.... just a couple of days ago, a carriage passing through the forest had been attacked by a demon and sufferred heavy losses... So, we -"
"What?! You're saying we're going around avoiding Rupen Forest just because of that? How stupid are you? To assume just about anyone using the road would be attacked by a demon...! Someone like me wouldn't be so unlucky!!" Now Selene was truly pissed off out of her mind.
"Miss... Miss Selene..." She is scarrier than a demon when she's like this, a particular assistant thought.
"DON'T YOU GET HOW TIRED I AM RIGHT NOW?!" The woman's irrationality finally reached it's peak and she screamed her heart out. Tonight had been her unluckiest night ever. She wanted the night to end as fast as possible. Poking her head out of the carriage's window, she screamed at the carriage driver too.
"TURN BACK TO RUPEN FOREST ROAD! RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
"Excuse me?!" The hired carriage driver was terrified and confused by the customer's sudden outburst, but he turned the horses around nonetheless.
******************************************
The peaceful and quiet night in Rupen Forest was disturbed by a passing carriage and three horsemen who followed it closely from behind. They could be seen from far away as the moonlit road was fairly straight and well taken care of.
Unbeknownst to them, a figure shrouded in black clothing was furtively observing everything in the forest from the top of a tall tree by the side of the road. The observer was particularly interested in the carriage's progress, as their glowing and intense blue eyes followed it carefully, never leaving the swiftly andvancing entourage. But the observer did not make any move as the carriage and horsemen rode past the tree and left them behind.
As the carriage made its way towards the heart of the forest, Reya noticed that even here they were the only ones on the road. Usually they would pass a few travellers even this late at night. But tonight, besides them, there was no one else. Thus the sound of leaves stirred by gentle wind felt louder in the quiet night. Reya peeked out of the carriage's window worriedly, her heart felt unsettled.
"Miss... Miss Selene... Is it just me... or... don't you think the forest looks more dangerous than usual?" She asked stutteringly.
Selene had had enough of the girl's apprehension. She haughtily answered, "Keep saying stuff like that and I'll throw you out of -"
"NEIGHHHHH!!! Neighhhhh!!"
Some sharp cries from the horses outside interrupted her, followed by a loud clanging sound as the carriage shook hard. Before she could react, the carriage forcefully stopped and she had to hold on for dear life. Both of them who were inside were nearly thrown out of their seats. The horses kept on neighing in fear.
"What... " Selene immediately poked her head out of the carriage and impatiently called out to the carriage's driver. "What is it! What's... going... "
Before she could finish he sentence, her eyes caught on something massive looming in front of the carriage. It was taller than the trees and blocking the whole road. The thing stood on four legs but still towered over them like a massive hill. Since it had a glowing red crystal on its head, Selene could tell right away that it was a demon. The demon was staring at them all with hungry eyes.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone