Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction / Devil May Cry - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Knights of the Realms ❯ Ch 9 - Some Kind of Monster ( Chapter 9 )

KNIGHTS OF THE REALMS

 

 

Some Kind Of Monster

 

 

 

 

The merchant ship Tiamat was the fastest in all of Babylon, with three sails and over one hundred oar slaves. Solidly built, but built for speed, the merchant ship was the Prince's choice of vessel for his return trip to the Island of Time.

 

The unexpected return of Farah's amulet began to once again play with the Prince's sense of reality. The Sands were supposed to have been removed from this world, along with any relic of the Sands, but the Amulet was still here. There was no denying the relationship between the Amulet and the Sands, and that made the Prince wonder just what else he had misunderstood when Kaileena left with the sands.

 

“You seem troubled, My King. Is everything all right?”

 

The shipmaster's voice pulled the Prince back from his wonderings. “I am sorry, Mordecai, I didn't realize you were there.”

 

“No matter, Your Highness, but are you well?”

 

The Prince nodded. “Quite. It's a rare opportunity one gets to sail with such a fine crew as yours, Shipmaster Mordecai. My thoughts were…else where.” He turned his head to look back over the expanse of endless expanse of water.

 

“Then I'll leave you to your thoughts, My King.”

 

“Thank you,” said the Prince, turning his attention fully to the water, black with night. He remembered how black the water had turned during the Dahaka's demise. The Dahaka…the Prince still had nightmares about that beast. The tendrils that writhed and stretched, seeking to strangle. The enraged roar when confronted by its weakness, water. The eyes, the haunting, yellow eyes, that held no trace of exhaustion, no trace of mercy. The Guardian of the Timeline, intent on erasing the Prince from existence.

 

He looked up, trying to shake off the memories, but something caught his eye. Out in the distance, there was a light. There should have been no other ships in these

waters, so close to the Island of Time, yet…it was moving too fast, and in their direction. Fire, the Prince saw soon. Whatever it was, it was wreathed in fire, and didn't touch the water. Almost as if it were flying…

 

“All hands to deck!” The cry came from the crow's nest, and Mordecai's men stirred themselves with amazing alacrity, no questions asked until they were all on deck. Not that any were needed, for the flaming…thing was just a league off the starboard side by then.

 

“In Anu's* name…”

 

At least twelve feet tall, with a wingspan twice that much, the thing was covered in red scales, with thick mats of hair in places. Its head was apelike in shape, but with features that were more dog like. Thick, corded muscles rippled under its skin, and sharp claws extended from its fingers.

 

It stopped mere feet from the ships railing, its black, pupil-less eyes pierced the flames that surrounded its body to leer at the assembled crew.

“What is it?” a nervous voice asked.

 

“What am I?” Its voice was harsh, gravelly, and guttural. “I'll try my best to explain a being of my greatness to you…humans. Ah…perhaps a visual aid.” Without warning, one of its arms shot forward and grabbed a crew member. It pulled him screaming, over the edge and into an infernal embrace. Its other hand reached towards the unfortunate mans face, and the screaming intensified. “These are the eyes that can't see me.” It threw the mans eyes at the feet of those still on deck. They rolled grotesquely before coming to a rest, one eye gazing sightlessly up at the crew. Then came his hands. His feet.

 

With every tear of flesh, every crack of bone, the demon grew more excited, drool running freely from its mouth to sizzle when it hit the water beneath it. It licked its muzzle grotesquely. “This is the tongue that speaks on the inside,” it continued, before lunging for the ship.

 

The crew scattered as the demon landed among them, the flames spreading to the deck. As the Tiamat began to smoke,the demon began leisurely picking up crew members. With every action came a statement, sadistically mocking the crew.

 

“These are the legs that in circles run,” it said as he ripped a man almost in half by the legs, the rip in his body stopping mid chest, but the man was dead all the same. The demon pondered the disfigured corpse for a moment before lifting it up and punching it so hard as to send it over board. “This is the beating you'll never know.”

 

The Prince had been the only one that hadn't panicked. “To me! Rally to me!” The remaining crew did finally listen, and took strength from their King. Here was the man who had defeated an entire invading army, one that was corrupted by the very essence of Time. If anyone of them could win this battle, it was their King.

 

The demon was amused at the turn around the crew had made, and was even more amused when they drew their weapons. It slowly walked towards them as the mainsail crashed behind it. “These are the lips that taste no freedom.” A many headed whip of fire appeared in its left hand. “This is the feel that's not so safe.” A sword of lightning appeared in its right hand. “This is the face you'll never change. This is the god that is not pure. This is—“

 

“—the biggest damn cur I've ever seen!” Yelled the Prince.

 

That took the demon back a step. The look in that human's eyes, it was…familiar. To think that a human could be that feral! It was going to enjoy this…

 

The whip lashed out in an instant, and the Prince spun to the side, the whip instead hitting the crew man behind him. His screams of agony were cut short when it pulled the whip back, the sword skewering and electrocuting the man all at once. With the demons hands occupied for that one second, the Prince rushed it.

 

But the demon was no novice to combat. Sensing the rush, it thrust upward with a

powerful sweep of its wings.

 

Not slowing, the Prince buried one of his two swords in the burning mainmast and used it as a springboard, launching himself upward. He caught a rope that had burned through and swung himself around to the rope work on the side of the ship. He no sooner grabbed the rope than the demon swooped by, the whip blazing a trail through the air towards him. The Prince let go with his hand and fell backward, still gripping the rope with this legs as the whip cracked where his head had been. He instantly swung himself back up and quickly climbed until he got to the crows nest. His feet once again planted firmly on wood, the Prince was able to duck the demons sword swing and dodge the following thrust; He didn't want to know what would happen if their swords collided.

 

The whip lashed out at him again, wrapping itself around the Prince's sword. Smiling, the demon pulled back, bringing the Prince with it, and spinning in a wide arc to send him off into the darkness.

 

As the Prince felt the whip begin to unravel on his sword, he put all of his strength into turning his sword in the opposite direction, keeping a tentative hold. The demon kept turning, trying to throw the Prince off, and when the turn was completed, the Prince had his feet back on the wood of the crows nest. Wasting no time, he moved to the other side and yanked sharply on his sword, using the fiery whip to sheer through the top of the mast that protruded through the crows nest. Caught unawares by the Prince's maneuver,

the demon failed to react in time, and the falling mast tip hit him squarely on the head.

 

The demon came crashing down to the cheers of the remaining crew men, and the Prince allowed himself to breath. But he didn't rest long. He wanted more.

 

He dove off the crows nest and stuck his sword in the remaining sail, cutting it as he slid down, and landed on the deck.

 

The demon was now thoroughly angry. Nobody embarrassed him like that, even if it was to mere humans! He let out a roar, and surged upward to land in front of the Prince. Now was the time to end it.

 

“These are the claws that scratch these wounds!” A crewman fell dead, his body shorn by the demon's claws. “This is the pain that never leaves!” Another was thrown into the inferno of the mainsail as his comrade was impaled on the sword. “This is the tongue that whips you down!” The last man's head split open under the force of the whip lash. Now it turned its attention back to the Prince.

 

“This is the burden of every man!” The Prince had no time to react to the sudden speed with which the demon struck. His left arm was shorn off by the whip, the fire cauterizing the wound, but doing nothing to stop the pain. “These are the screams that pierce your flesh!” The sword entered the Prince's stomach, and came out his back. The demon had called off the lightning, instead letting him writhe on the blade.

 

“..s…s-some ki..n..o-of…m…mmm..mo-ons…mons…” The Prince could feel his life slipping away.

 

“This is the voice of silence no more!” the demon yelled before crushing the

Prince's head in between it's jaws.

 

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*Anu was an ancient Babylonian god. He was husband to Nintu, and the son of Ahshar and Kishar, father of Ea. In Sumerian mythology, he was the god of the sky, and the father and ruler of all gods.