Tenebris Renasci: A World of Magic and Gunpowder

"Let him try!" Zara rebuffed.

The demon chief fell silent, his tail flickered with a hint of curiosity and intrigue. 

A subtle frown crossed his lips as he leaned further forward, leaning his forearms against his legs.

His six eyes focused solely on Zara.

Zara stood her ground, her tail wrapped around Alexander and her fists tightened. 

Alexander meanwhile stood silently between the two demons, lost in his head of self-deprecating thoughts.

"Bold conviction," the demon chief finally said, breaking the tense silence that formed. "But what are those words really?" He asked curiously, his expression still stoic, "a weak defense of a pale conqueror by a mere scavenger, or the words of a young woman who believes what she says with every fiber of her being…"

He then subtly grinned, his sharp teeth reflecting the light that shined down upon him, "…even if that could lead to the death of this child."

Zara's expression barely changed. "The second." She replied, "I know… I know that Alexander is dead if he… if he leaves, village, so I rather die fighting a war beast, the to wind of fate." She said sternly, her message clear despite her thick accent.

The demon chief paused momentarily, his expression becoming thoughtful as he turned his attention towards Alexander. 

He stared at him, slightly tilting his head as he raised a hand to scratch his chin.

"Hmm." The demon chief let out a low, thoughtful grumble, "This boy is young, no older than a young demon beginning their combat training, I doubt he could face a war beast…"

Alexander kept his head lowered as tears blurred his vision, the demon chief's earlier reality check left him lost in a world of self-hatred and despair.

"Young but strong." Zara replied, "Nova blood, just like the other…"

The demon nodded his head. "Even so, a war beast is no trivial matter, one mistake and his fate would be sealed, and children are prone to mistakes."

"You speak as if you care." Zara said, "If he is kicked from the village, fate will be sealed too."

The demon chief let out a deep hum, "I suppose you're right," he said, pointing a finger at Alexander while giving Zara a side-eye, "how about I make things a little more interesting?"

"How?" Zara asked.

"I'll give the boy a fair choice," the demon chief chuckled as he opened his empty palm, "either he can leave the village with enough supplies to last a week, or… he could face a war hound."

(A war hound is about the size of a gray wolf.)

Zara nodded almost immediately, "good, sounds fair, expected nothing less of the chief's wisdom." She replied.

The demon chief grinned as he turned his gaze towards Alexander. "Did you hear my proposal boy?" 

Alexander stood motionlessly. 

He wasn't just afraid anymore but broken.

The demon's chief's harsh words had awoken him to the painful truth he tried so desperately to hide from.

Alexander had practically lost all hope and was now ready to simply take his fate with what little dignity he had left.

"Just… kill me," Alexander said softly, his voice weak and broken, holding back the dam of despair and depression that had built within him. "I don't care anymore, I… I… tried, I tried so hard to find my place in this world, and for a time… I thought it was actually possible."

I don't belong in this world, I never was supposed to…

Alexander gritted his teeth as tears began rolling down his cheeks, "but that was taken from me, my world was taken from me, in an instant…" 

Marcia, my home, my family…

Alexander tightened his fist as snot and tears began to cake his face, "and even then, this world wasn't done with me…" he shook his head as he tightly closed his eyes. "Even after losing everything, some woman felt that I wasn't ready…"

Ready for training I never asked for…

"She ripped my consciousness from me… packed me in a crate… and shipped me to an unknown continent." 

As Alexander began airing out his grievances, he felt something spark deep within the depths of his soul.

"I had to wake up in a dark crate, my wrist and ankles bound," Alexander's broken voice began to solidify, growing stern and louder.

"I was stuck with nothing but a dull knife and a sword I couldn't use!" Alexander shouted S he raised his head, showing his tear-filled eyes to the demon chief to see the pain in his eyes. 

"Do you know what I had to do!?" Alex shouted at the demon chief, spit flying from his mouth, that deep spark within him growing into a small, violent flame of hatred and frustration. 

The demon chief remained silent.

Alexander, with his breath ragged and expression filled with rage, pointed a finger towards the demon chief. "I had to force that dull knife in my leg, slowly cutting through my own flesh just so that I could grab it!"

He then brought that finger to his chest, "blood, sweat in tears, and I still couldn't stop, the pain unbearable, yet I had to keep pushing!"

Alexander then cracked a pained smile as a laugh escaped his depths, the flame growing within him growing larger and larger. "And after an agonizing eternity, I still wasn't done, having to rip that knife from my leg to then spend an hour cutting thick ropes with a dull knife!"

Alexander began to laugh maniacally as his tears continued to fall, "haha haha, and even after getting out of a fucked up situation like that, fate still wasn't done!"

Alexander spread his arms wide as he leaned back to gaze at the ceiling. "Because now here I stand, judged by a demon who is nothing but a self-righteous dick!" 

Raising his hands to his face, Alexander grabbed at his cheeks and began to pull, "But the worst part is… haha haha… the worst part is that it's true!"

Alexander slung himself forward, his hand spread as wide as his wild golden eyes. "I'm a dead man walking, I am!"

Alexander's chest heaved as he shouted, his voice carrying throughout the chambers as the raging flame within him grew to become an all-encompassing inferno of Alexander's hatred, rage, and frustrations. 

His body shook as the small plaster on his face widened, for the first time since the fight with Marcia, Alexander truly lost himself in his raging emotions. 

The demon chief had watched Alexander's outburst quietly, his gaze cold and judgmental. He leaned back in his throne as his eyes began to show a faint glimmer of curiosity. 

His tail slapped against the raised platform as he took in the silence, filled only by Alexander's manic laughter and wheezing. 

Zara, still at Alexander's side, looked at him with her six eyes wide and filled with uncertainty and unease. 

Her tail had tightened around his waist out of fear, she wanted to restrain him from approaching the demon chief, which would certainly seal his fate in an instant.

Breaking the tension was a loud and bellowed laugh. 

But it wasn't Alexander's. 

It was the demon chief, his stoic demeanor crumbling as he grabbed his belly and laughed, filling the chamber with his laughs of amusement. 

"Well, well!" The demon chief said joyously, "Perhaps there is life in you yet, Alexander of Nova!" 

Alexander, whose heart pounded in his ears and chest heaving, was left disoriented by the act. 

Was the demon chief… mocking him?

Or had he somehow gained the demon's respect?

With his exhaustion, Alexander was too drained to find out on his own.

The demon's chief's laughter brought a unique shift to the originally oppressive and tense atmosphere. 

His eyes glistened with amusement as he wiped a tear from one, his laughter slowly dying down to a satisfied chuckle. "Yes," he said with his voice rich in emotion, "now that, that is someone with a purpose."

"Rage, hatred, and despair, all fine motivations that can keep even the weakest of men motivated."  He rose from his throne, towering over Alexander and Zara, "now that I speak with a man, and not a broken child, I ask you again," he said, spreading his arms wide, revealing his massive wingspan.

"You can leave the village with enough supplies to last a week…" he then grinned, "or face a war hound, and earn both my respect and ear."

Alexander blinked in disbelief, the flames of rage that consumed him now monetarily dissipating. 

"W-what?"

"Are you deaf boy?" The demon chief said with a chuckle, "Perhaps I should offer you something… tangible." 

He then turned his attention to one of the various guards who stood within the chamber, who stood quietly and unmoving.

"Bring to me Mimi, and her mother Exulla." 

One of the guards nodded, and quickly disappeared deeper into the "wooden castle".

With the guard gone, the demon chief turned his attention towards Alexander. "It's time I showed you something else that motivates men, something that may even inspire you to fight a war hound." He said with a grin.