The ship loomed closer.
Aurelion stood at the water's edge, his sword in his hand, his eyes fixed on the approaching vessel. The demons on its deck were shouting now, their voices harsh and guttural, their claws gleaming in the morning light.
Behind him, Elias was scrambling to prepare the boat. The old fisherman moved with surprising speed, his hands working the ropes, his voice muttering curses under his breath.
"Kade! Get back here! We need to go!"
Aurelion didn't move.
"I'll hold them off," he said. "Get the boat ready."
"You can't fight that many!"
Aurelion didn't answer.
The ship was close enough now. He could see the faces of the demons—their burning eyes, their jagged teeth, their hungry smiles. They were not afraid of him. They did not know who he was.
The first demons came from the sky.
Flying demons—five of them, their leathery wings catching the morning light, their claws extended. They dove toward him like arrows, screeching.
Aurelion didn't move.
He waited until they were almost upon him. Then he moved.
His sword was a blur—a silver flash that carved through the first demon's chest. It fell, its body crashing into the water. The second demon came from his left. He sidestepped, his blade finding its throat. The third from his right. He spun, his sword slicing through its wing. It spiraled into the sea. The fourth and fifth came together. He ducked under their claws, drove his blade through both of them in a single, fluid motion. They fell.
Five seconds. Five demons.
The water churned where they had fallen.
Elias stared, his mouth open, his hands frozen on the ropes.
"Get the boat ready!" Aurelion shouted.
Elias nodded and moved.
The ship was closer now.
The demons on its deck were pouring over the sides, swimming toward the shore. Dozens of them. And behind them, in the water—shapes. Dark, moving shapes.
The water demons.
The same ones he had fought in the depths of Atlantis. Streamlined, predatory, their bodies covered in glistening scales. Their eyes glowed with cold blue light. Their jaws filled with rows of needle-sharp teeth.
They moved through the water like shadows, like nightmares, like things that had been hunting in the deep for millennia.
Aurelion watched them come.
They remember me, he thought. They remember what I did to them.
He raised his sword.
"Then come," he said.
The first water demon burst from the waves, its claws extended, its jaws wide. Aurelion met it head-on. His sword found its chest, driving through its scales, piercing its heart. It fell.
The second came from his left. He spun, his blade opening its throat. It fell.
The third came from belowa massive shape rising from the depths, like a mountain emerging from the sea, its body larger than the others. It was one of the big ones, the same kind he had killed in Atlantis by dropping a cliff on it.
But it was not the same creature.
This one was larger. Stronger. More hungry.
It roared—a sound that shook the earth, that sent the smaller demons scattering, that made Elias stumble back in terror.
Aurelion looked up at it.
He remembered the first time he had faced a creature like this. The fear. The desperation. The knowledge that he was outmatched.
He had barely survived.
Now—
Now he smiled.
"Remember me?" he said.
The big demon didn't answer. It lunged.
The battle was brutal.
The creature was massive, its claws like swords, its jaws like a cavern. It moved with surprising speed, its body crashing through the waves, its roars shaking the sky.
Aurelion met it head-on.
He didn't dodge. He didn't retreat. He stood his ground, his sword raised, his eyes blazing.
The creature's claw came down. He blocked it—the impact sending shockwaves through his arms, his chest, his entire body. He held.
The creature's other claw came down. He sidestepped, drove his blade into its side, and drew black ichor.
The creature screamed.
Aurelion pressed. He drove his sword deeper, twisted, pulled. The creature staggered, its blood pouring into the sea, its roars turning to whimpers.
He didn't stop.
He climbed its body—his claws finding purchase in its scales, his sword carving a path through its flesh. He climbed higher, higher, until he reached its head.
The creature's eyes met his.
He saw fear in them. For the first time, he saw fear.
He drove his sword through its skull.
The creature collapsed, its body crashing into the sea, sending waves crashing against the shore. It lay still, its eyes empty, its blood staining the water black.
The other smaller water demons hesitated, fodder in Aurelion's eyes, really
Aurelion surveyed all of them. "If you've commited this far, might as well finish it."
The water demons came in waves, and Aurelion cut them down. The ground demons from the ship joined them, their claws gleaming, their eyes burning. He killed them too.
The battle was a slaughter.
He didn't stop. He didn't slow. He was a force of nature, a storm of steel and fury, a man who had nothing left to lose and was determined to make that count.
The demons fell before him like wheat before a scythe.
The water turned black with their blood.
The shore was littered with their bodies.
When the last demon fell, Aurelion stood in the middle of the carnage, his sword dripping, his body aching, his breath steady.
He had won.
Aurelion stood on its head, his sword raised, his body covered in ichor.
He was not tired.
He was not wounded.
He was triumphant.
He leaped down and landed on the beach.
The remaining demons had scattered, their courage broken, their will shattered. The ship was drifting away, its crew dead, its mission failed.
Aurelion walked through the carnage, his boots crunching on the bodies of the fallen. He counted them as he passed—dozens of demons, their forms twisted and broken.
He stopped at the water's edge.
The sea was still, the waves gentle. The bodies of the water demons floated in the shallows, their eyes still open, their mouths still frozen in silent screams.
He had killed them all.
He had dominated them.
He had become what they feared.
Elias stood at the edge of the beach, his face pale, his hands shaking.
"Hey, uh sir..." His voice was barely a whisper. "what... what are you?"
Aurelion turned to look at him.
His body was covered in ichor. His sword was still dripping. His eyes were still burning.
He had been seen.
He had been seen, and now there was no going back.
"I'm the man who's going to save this world," he said. "Whether it wants to be saved or not."
Elias stared at him for a long moment.
Then he nodded slowly.
"Get in the boat," he said.
The boat pushed away from the shore.
Aurelion sat in the bow, his sword strapped across his back, his eyes fixed on the horizon. The village shrank behind them, its buildings growing smaller, its lights fading into the distance. The sea stretched before them, gray and endless, its waves rocking the boat gently.
Elias worked the sails, his hands steady, his face pale. He hadn't spoken since they left. He kept glancing at Aurelion, then looking away, as if he couldn't decide whether to be afraid or grateful.
Aurelion watched him.
"You have questions," he said.
Elias was silent for a moment. Then: "What are you?"
Aurelion looked at the sea.
"I don't know anymore," he said. "I thought I was human. I thought I was just a hunter. But I've become something else."
"Something else?"
"Something that shouldn't exist."
Elias was quiet for a long moment. The wind filled the sails, carrying them farther from the shore.
"The demon I saw you kill," he said. "The big one. I've heard stories about creatures like that. They're supposed to be unstoppable."
"They are."
"But you stopped it."
Aurelion yawned and replied. "I've faced tougher opponents."
Elias decided he wasn't getting anywhere with these questions and decided to shut up.
The sea was calm.
The waves were gentle, the sky clear. The boat cut through the water, its hull creaking softly, its sails billowing in the wind.
Aurelion sat in the bow, his eyes scanning the horizon. The shards inside him pulsed, warm and steady.
I'm getting closer, he thought. I can feel it.
He touched his chest, feeling the shards beneath his skin.
Hold on, he thought. I'm coming.
The day passed slowly.
Elias worked the sails, his hands steady, his eyes fixed on the horizon. He didn't ask any more questions. He didn't seem to want to know.
Aurelion was grateful for the silence.
He spent the day watching the sea, thinking about what lay ahead. The Eurospan. The coast. Valley's Watch.
I'll find them, he thought. I always do.
As the sun began to set, Elias spoke again.
"There's an island ahead," he said. "We can stop there for the night. Rest. Resupply."
Aurelion looked where he was pointing. A small island rose from the sea, its shores rocky, its interior covered in trees.
"Are there demons there?"
"Not anymore. There was a battle there, some time ago. The demons were driven out. Now it's just... empty."
Aurelion nodded. "We'll stop."
The island was quiet.
They beached the boat and made camp on the shore. Elias built a fire, his hands steady, his face tired. Aurelion sat apart, his sword across his knees, his eyes scanning the darkness beyond the firelight.
"You don't sleep much," Elias said.
"Sleep is a luxury."
"Not a luxury. A necessity." He poked the fire. "You can't keep going forever. Eventually, you have to rest."
Aurelion was silent for a moment. Then: "I know."
"Then why don't you?"
Aurelion looked at the fire. At the flames dancing in the darkness.
"Because if I stop, I might never start again."
Elias studied him for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly.
"I understand," he said.
The night was quiet.
Aurelion sat by the fire, his eyes fixed on the flames. The shards inside him pulsed, warm and steady. He thought about Valley's Watch. About Ami. About Corrin. About Kael.
I'm coming, he thought. I'm coming for you.
He closed his eyes.