The Demonlord Chronicles

Chapter III – The Darkness of Light
17.
A burst of white light radiated from from Ardan’s right claw, runes, imprinted onto the scales, starting to glow and shift, circling around and burning themselves into the skin of Enitey’s foreleg. Then a huge blast erupted, sending the demon stumbling off Ardan, who dropped to the ground, barely catching himself on feet.
Staggering slightly around, before standing firm again, Ardan quickly recalled and spelled a specific formula and the wounds on his chest and arms quickly started to grow back together. He smiled lowly. “Even for an immortal, useful ability... thanks Grave...”
Then he directed his eyes forward again. Something similar to chains, made of white glow, now connected his right hand with Enitey’s left foreleg. The demon waved the blade-arm, tried to cut through the bond with the other hand, but it simply went through the immaterial bond. “What the hell is this?!” the demon sweared.
“How about we call it...” Ardan started.
“...the gift of a long forgotten love...” a strange, distorted and female voice finished the sentence, as the light of Ardan’s claw intensified, glowing stronger and stronger, until a figure started to form from it.
“This... This isn’t necromancy!” the mantis exclaimed, still trying to get rid of the strange thing connected to his foreleg.
“Enitey...” the voice appeared more solid now and the demonlord turned his head to face Ardan again. “Enitey... do you... remember me?” The glowing figure started to become more contrasted, taking on a solid shape... of a female Wolven.
The mantis stared at the figure. “Wait a second... I... I remember your face... you...”
“Oh, you better do... After all you made me suffer for nearly two dozen years!” The Wolven’s voice became more aggressive and she took a step forward, the bond between her and the demon flaring up for a second, causing him to hiss in pain.
Looking at his right claw, Ardan saw how the imprinted runes dissolved and he could feel her presence entirely fading from his body.
“What... what is this. You... you died! Long ago! You...”
Another angry snarl, whilst the ghostly figure stepped forward. “You! You made me suffer, year over year, turning my body into a heap of illness and pain! You made me waste everything I had, every single second of my coming life, WHOLE YEARS... for this...” The chains flared up another time, a slight buzzing audible for a moment, a sligh trace of smoke raising from Enitey’s foreleg as the demon again hissed in pain.
“Your name... it was...” The mantis took a step back. “U... Uno...”
“I’m Unimozehi, the Wolven who once dared to save your life and was rewarded by pestilence and decay!” Srazih’s sister gestured at the demon with her left hand and nother chain of light shot forward, quickly wrapping itself around the demons right leg, causing it to emit smoke as well.
“No! You!” Enitey yelled his free blade arm striking down upon the Wolven... and running throw her glowing shape, burying into the ground. Instead of harming her in the slighestest, however, another chain erupted from her back, quickly entwining with that arm as well. The demon quickly tried to back off, or pull his arm free, but the chains pulled taut, restraining him. “How... how... is that even possible?!”
“Two dozen years... spend in agony and constant pain... I’ve not lived through that hell for nothing. I’ve spent my time wisely... I devoted every single free second to this... the ultimate sealing spell.” Another gesture and a chain bound his second leg, as well, whilst Unimozehi kept walking towards the demon, her figure starting to glow brighter by the second.
“NO! I will not... lose to a mortal!” Enitey yelled, again starting to try pulling his limbs free, as well as starting to cast spells... to no effect.
“You can’t escape anymore, Enitey... This spell, this seal, the Seal of the Soul Maiden... it’s this powerful because I’ve created it solely for one purpouse... for sealing you and your powers. I’ve devoted my whole life and in the end my soul itself into this purpouse... Do you think your immortality can keep up with that devotion?” More chains burst from her figure, laying themselves around Enitey’s whole body, as well chaining the other two arms agains his chest.
Starting to hover off the ground, the chains following her, Unimozehi started to rise, until she was at level with the demon’s head. “In the end... you reap what you sow... Enitey... bringer of pestilence and death...” She turned around, stretching out her arms and closing her eyes and with another intensified glow, the chains pulled tighter, restraining the demonic mantis even more. “Thank you... Ardan... Now my revenge can finally be complete...”
Without further words, Ardan nodded, and reached for something attached to his belt: A small leather sheath. He opened it, pulling forth a small dagger, made of a white material. “Seraphim... lend me your strength!” Ardan said, throwing the bone dagger into the air. It whirled around, starting to emit a shadowly glow, before suddenly changing in size, elongating...
Ardan darted forwards, picking the bone-spear out of air right after it completed forming, dashing over to the bound mantis. Using it’s right forearm, which was still stuck in the ground, as a step, Ardan propelled himself directly towards Enitey’s head, raising the spear above his head.
He flew right through Unimozehi’s ghostly shape, into Enitey’s head, the spear striking down, piercing through the demon’s spin, his skull, his brain and down his neck until only the handle remained visible.
In an instant, Unimozehi’s figure disappeared, as did the chains. The mantis simply dropped backwards, as Ardan pulled the spear from Enitey’s head and jumped off, landing on the ground behind the corpse.
And then, darkness struck.

Ardan blinked in surprise. He knew this feeling. This utter cold... and silence... the smell of death in the air... but why...
“You!” Ardan spun around, hearing Enitey’s voice. The mantis wasn’t standing far off him, just a few metres, though the demonlords size had dramatically decreased, his form barely having the same height as Ardan, both of them being on eyelevel with each other. “You... you really...” The mantis appeared sort of stunned, yet not exactly surprised as Ardan was.
“What... why are we here?” Ardan could feel ground at his feet and quickly turned towards...
Seraphim curiously eyes him and the mantis. “This is interesting... How long has it been, Enitey... four hundred years? Five hundred?”
The mantis stepped forth, past Ardan, bowing his head in front of the goddess of death. Ardan was still in the dark: Why was he here? And why was Enitey here, as well?! He stopped forth, side to side with the demonlord. “Seraphim... did you call us?”
The reaper shook her head. “It’s his doing. It’s a Death Stake.”
“A... what?” Ardan asked.
The mantis chuckled, a constantly clicking accompanying the loud. “The Death Stake... is a secret necromantic spell... a safety measure... I’m the only one who ever mastered it... It’s actually simple... instead of dying... I place stake’s agains those of the person who killed me. It continues until one person cannot claim any higher stake anymore. That person dies, the other one lives.”
Ardan blinked in disbelief. “But... that’s... I mean, what...”
“He says the truth. Ardan: What is your first stake?” Seraphim asked.
“Uhm...” This has never been in any book and Grave never mentioned suchlike, either... He quickly considered what he could possibly say. “I think, my first stake would be Enitey. After all I just killed him.”
The mantis chuckled. “Actually not entirely, as you see... but if you offer my head... I offer yours and the two demons who now claim the throne of Xoreyi. After I absorbed your strength, it shouldn’t pose a problem to take those two down.”
Ardan understood. “So... you can as well offer up the lives of those you didn’t yet kill...”
Seraphim nodded. “I see you understand quickly. What is your next stake? I’m curious to see how far you’re willing to go.”
“Hmmm... I offer the live of every single immortal I’ll kill in future.”
Enitey didn’t seem to agree. “Wait, that doesn’t make sense! If you loose this stake, you won’t kill anymore immortals, which means your stake effectively consists of nothing!”
“No.” Seraphim interrupted. “Because if he wins this stake, I predict he will kill more then just three immortals... which is more then your offer. Enitey, your stake?”
“Gah... I will... I will...”
Ardan smiled assuredly. “You can’t say you will kill every immortal, can you? Because you are not able to do that... and you can’t repeat my stake either, because it wouldn’t be higher. So, I think you’re out of...”
“Mortals.” Enitey suddenly said, a devillish sparkle in his eyes. “I offer up the life of ALL mortals.”
Ardan’s eyes went wide and Seraphim chuckled. “So you pledge yourself to travel to the mortal realm and kill every single of it’s inhabitants? Well, that’s quite a high stake... But a valid one...” She turned her head to Ardan again. “Ardan... your next stake?”
Ardan swallowed, realizing Enitey got him. It was possible for him to place higher stakes... but those would require to include killing all mortals as well... Srazih... Hemlat... Myra... he couldn’t do that... he simply couldn’t!
“See, Ardan... you would never have become a good necromancer...” Enitey stated. “You lack the coldness and have too much heart.”
Ardan took one step back, but he knew there was no escape... when he couldn’t find something... a stake... more valuable then the life of all mortals... what was above the life of all mortals? The life of everything? But he couldn’t kill EVERY other being... that would be...
An idea rose in Ardan’s mind. ‘Kill everything’... ‘the life of everything’... The war between light and darkness...
“I...” he started, carefully assembling his words. “I offer...
to restore the balance to this world.”