The Tainted Forest had gnarled roots everywhere with the smell of rotten eggs and eerie fog that covered the surroundings.

  Kaelen, the old mage and the elf stayed silent and carefully moved through the forest until the elf couldn’t hold it in any longer and asked, “How do you know Lord Valewind, human?”

  The old mage stayed silent and kept following her.

  Watching him, the elf clicked her tongue in frustration and said, “Hmph! Whatever! Keep silent as long as you want, human!”

  Kaelen cleared his throat and asked, “How are you related to this.. Lord Valewind?”

  The elf shot him a glare and asked as she got offended, “You don’t know Lord Valewind?!”

  Kaelen awkwardly scratched his head and replied, “No..”

  “Brainless beast!”, The elf muttered under her breath, shot him a look of disgust and replied proudly, “I am Sylra Valewind! The grand daughter of Lord Valewind! The most important member of the High Council of Restoveria!”

  “Woah”, Kaelen faked his reaction as he thought, ‘I have no idea what she just said. But judging by how proudly she was, it must be something grand.’

  “I am Kaelen.”, He said politely.

  Slyra ignored him and began, “Lord Valewind had been informed of demonic activity in the Tainted Forest and he sent me to investigate the veracity of the sources.”

  She shot Kaelen another look and continued, “Maybe those sources are true after all.”

  Suddenly, the old mage coughed which made Sylra stiffen and bite her lip in frustration.

  “Hmph!”, Sylra turned away and asked softly, “Who exactly are you, human?”

  Finally, the old mage replied, “An old man.”

  “Huh!”, Sylra scoffed and replied, “That’s not an answer.”

  “It’s the only one you will get.”, The old mage replied to her.

  Kaelen walked behind them and listening to her, he realized, ‘Wait! I have to admit, I have been wondering the same thing. The old man has never told me much about him. Even after living him for six years, he has never revealed more than he wished.’

  However, Sylra wasn’t deterred and kept asking, “Which magical academy did you graduate from? Are you from the Supreme Magic School? The Academy of the New Dawn? Maybe even the Ancient Runic Institute?”

  The old mage remained silent.

  Kaelen frowned and thought, ‘What… What is she talking about? Supreme Magic School? New Dawn Academy? What are these? I have never heard of these places before.’

  He glanced at Sylra and thought, ‘The way she speaks, it means that they are very important. Yet, I have no clue about them.’

  Sighing heavily, he thought, ‘I know nothing about this world…’

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Sylra wasn’t done and kept on asking, “Or perhaps you belong to one of the great families? The Aurelians, the Vaelmonts, or maybe—” she glanced back at the old mage, narrowing her eyes, “the Eldric Order?”

  Nothing. The old mage’s expression didn’t shift.

  Kaelen clenched his fists and thought, ‘I hate how I feel. These are names that mean something. These names are names of power. And I am utterly clueless about them. Why am I below the old man and Sylra? Why can’t I be in the same realm as them?’

  Gazing upon the old mage, Slyra sighed and said, “You’re frustratingly tight-lipped, you know that?”

  Finally, the old mage sighed and looked at her, saying, “Quiet down, little girl.”

  Sylra stopped in her tracks and turned around with an offensive look on her face, saying, “Excuse me? Who do you think you are calling a little girl?”

  “I’m two hundred years too old for you to call me that!” She shouted in anger.

  Kaelen blinked and thought with a smile on his face, ‘Woah! I like where this is going.’

  The old mage smirked and amusingly revealed, “I’m actually older than you, elven girl.”

  Sylra scoffed as she folded her hands on her chest and said, “Impossible.”

  “These wrinkles aren’t mere decorations,” The old mage said smoothly. “They are proof of my years. And unlike many, I don’t chase beauty after living so long in this world. I’ve seen too much to care for such shallow things.”

  Both Sylra and Kaelen stared at him in shock.

  Kaelen, more so as his foot caught on a stray root and he fell on the dirt with a loud thud which echoed through the silence.

  Suddenly, everything became silent. Too silent. Until, suddenly, a sound came from the right.

  “GROWL!”

  Kaelen’s head snapped up, spitting out dirt as he turned toward the noise. Sylra already had an arrow nocked, her bowstring pulled taut. The old mage’s eyes narrowed, his fingers tightening around his staff.

  Kaelen scrambled to his feet, his heart hammering in his chest as he thought, ‘What was that?’

  Kaelen could feel the ground beneath his feet rumbling as several growls and roars came in his direction.

  “What the f-?”, Kaelen said as three figures suddenly lunged at him from the shadows of trees. Their eyes gleamed and their bodies were twisted and monstrous with horns on their foreheads. Two of the figures bore a humanoid form and jagged claws whereas several others emerged from the shadows crawling on all fours.

  Before the figures could reach him, Kaelen jumped backward avoiding their attacks.

  “What are they?”, He shouted as he gazed upon several more emerging with different bodies and shapes.

  “A demon horde!”, Sylra shouted as she let loose an arrow which cleanly pierced one of the demon’s forehead, killing it instantly.

  “Demons?”, Kaelen repeated as he gazed at them.

  Suddenly, he felt a strange rush of excitation throughout his body but before he could dwell on it, a demon lunged at him, aiming it’s spear at his heart.

  Kaelen dodged as he twisted his body in time and retaliated with a punch aiming at the demon’s chest.

  His fist tore through the demon’s armor and crashed against it’s chest with such a forced that it was sent flying back.

  “Trio-Thunder!”

  Beside him, Sylra chanted a spell and shot an arrow toward the sky. The arrow burst apart into three thunderous strikes which struck the demon horde killing several of them instantly.

  However, several more replaced the ones who died almost instantly.

  The old mage raised his staff, murmuring an incantation.

  “Fire Vortex!”

  The air hummed as the air before him twisted until a fire vortex appeared and burned several demons.

  But, they kept coming.

  “Bang!”

  Kaelen blocked another strike on his legs.

  He targeted the demon’s hand and grabbed it. Twisting it behind it’s back, he kicked it forward.

  Before he could have a second to breath, several more demons lunged at him.

  Although his movements were precise but they lacked experience. The demons were fast, feral and relentless.

  While fighting back, Kaelen turned and saw a demon goblin lunging at him with a dagger.

  He reacted and instantly threw a powerful punch.

  A bit too powerful as his fist drove through the demon goblin’s chest like a spear.

  For a moment, the world froze around him as he felt something warm on his hand.

  The demon goblin’s red eyes bulged as black blood gushed from the wound and splattering across his face.

  Some of it seeped past his lips—bitter, burning—before he could stop it.

  And then—

  Something awoke inside him.

  A presence.

  A voice.

  A laugh.

  It wasn’t human. It came from the depths of his soul. From the abyss that lurked within him.

  “DEVOUR, CHILD!”