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It's been a little while since I uploaded anything, but that's because I've been working hard on a larger project, been sick, and wuffs are deserving of attention. In my hopes to shore up the gaps a little bit, I'm showing one of those big projects of mine in a small part here. I did it with the first chapter of my Sol novelization, and I'm doing it again here with the first chapter of Incendia.

Incendia follows the Tashik warrior Tierim Incendia, a vulpine swordmaster and pyromancer without compare. When his people become aware of a threat by the demons of the land to engulf it entirely within their shadow, Tierim must face his greatest fears, innermost darkness and pain beyond imagination to fight back the demonic tides. It is set in Renthani, which some of you might be aware of from my other stories here.

I am uploading this in the hopes for critique. I am aware the no-yiff nature of it is bound to limit my responses, but I continue to hope people can look past that for a (hopefully) good story. Thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy Incendia!

• Hydromancer Meridian

Chapter One

Before the dawn of Renthani, life was scattered across Creation. All were drawn together as one, but unity was not enough to hold evil forces at bay. They grew in the hearts of the Chosen tribes, and forever were they banished from our lands. Dark powers and dark pasts haunt them, and to trust one is to sign away your soul.

• Syrina Academy Texts, ‘Tribes'

Tierim released a quiet growl as the demon behind him gave his back a hard shove. The fox spun as he was tossed into the cell, and he shot an angry glare at the abomination as it slammed the massive metal gate shut. It bared its teeth at the fox in horrific imitation of a smile. "Become comfortable, Tashik," it said, voice low and deep as it resonated in the air. "You will remain here quite some time."

"I will remain as long as I choose to," Tierim replied smoothly as he narrowed his eyes. He leaned forward and stared the demon right in the eye. "And once I choose to leave, neither you nor your god will stop me."

The demon chuckled at that before it turned and walked back the way it had come. Tierim watched him go as he strode up to the entrance to his cell. He looked the bars over and smiled inwardly. It would take little effort to break free of the cage, once he had what he needed. Obviously the bars would be warded and protected; alarms would be set off once he broke free. It was no problem for the fox, though. His training more than covered-

"Did it speak truth?"

Tierim spun as he heard the raspy words coming from behind him. His eyes flicked through the dark as his ears perked up and forward in attempt to locate the source of the words. For a moment he held his tongue, before finally he opened his muzzle to reply. "Regarding what?" he asked slowly, cautiously.

There was silence for a long moment before he heard the rustle of fabric, and from the shadows at the rear of the cell slinked a small figure. It took a second for Tierim to identify the feline as a tiger, so covered in dirt and soot was she. "About you," she answered, her voice far rougher and coarser than that of any female he'd ever known. This feline obviously had not needed her voice for quite some time. "About being... Tashik. Did it speak the truth?"

After he regarded her silently for a moment, Tierim turned away and back to the bars of their shared cage. He wrapped his fingers around one of the bars and gave it a firm tug. "I do not see how it matters to you what I am. I am a captive, like you. If fortune and the Four smile upon us, we will all be soon free of this place." She was not Tashik, nor was she Chosen. He could tell from a single glance. Chosen, like the Tashik, could hardly hide themselves from prying eyes. He made no attempt to hide the telling spiral of gold that adorned his tail. Such things were futile, especially in such a prison.

"The Four do not see this place," the tiger protested hoarsely as she crawled closer towards him. "The Four have abandoned all who walk within the Borderlands, captive or soon-to-be. You will remain here, with us... I am sorry, Tashik. Errith embraces us now, and there is no escape."

As he turned, Tierim cast a harsher eye upon the tiger and frowned down at her wretched form. "Errith does not embrace anything, least of all this one. Speak of Errith again and I will scorch your tongue from your mouth without a moment's thought."

The tiger held his gaze evenly, and in those few moments Tierim could tell just how badly she had been treated within this dungeon. Her fur had likely not been washed in months and was matted with dried blood, and her clothes were little more than tattered rags. Her eyes were deadened and her face was lined with age and stress; it would be almost as impossible for her to grasp hope as it would for a demon to grasp ‘mercy'. Demons might not often deign to let their victims survive, but it seemed to Tierim that they well knew how to keep them from trying to rise up.

The Tashik looked down upon her for a moment longer before he turned away, both from her and the bars. He strode slowly to one stone wall and sat back against it, his eyes closed as he set his paws in his lap. "I know it is hard, but have faith. I promise you, here and now, that you will be free of this prison."

She continued to look up at him for a second, before she grunted quietly and turned away to slink back into the shadows. "Faith exists only for demons in this place," the vulpine heard her whisper, and then silence reigned once more within the prison.

It was a few more hours before Tierim heard anything else within the damp confines of the cell. He spent his time in silent meditation and thought, turning his mind to the tigress that had offered him a welcome of sorts. There had been something about her, something that he had sensed. Magic users â€" and Chosen in particular â€" were especially attuned to the energy of magic all around them. In the darkness of the Borderlands, such sources of power were more pronounced and easier to sense. The tigress possessed no spark of the Flame as Tierim did, but the Tashik was certain that there was some power left in her broken body.

The sound that snapped him from his thoughts was that of the clicks of scaled, demonic feet as they touched the obsidian floor. Tierim lifted his head and sat up straighter against the wall. He perked his ears and turned his head towards the dungeon's entrance for a moment; the demon was no more than a few seconds away. He stood up quickly and glanced back to the shadows at the rear of the cell. "Remain silent," he instructed quietly.

There was no response from the old tiger, but Tierim was almost certain his ears caught a quiet whimper or two. With a sigh, he turned his gaze back to the front of his cell and walked over to stand directly in front of it.

From down the hallways that lead to the dungeon, Tierim could see the flickering light of flame that illuminated the dark tone walls. As he watched, that firelight grew brighter and brighter on the walls until finally a demon with a torch rounded a corner and emerged into the vulpine's sight. Tierim straightened his spine and stared coldly up at the creature. "To what do we owe this pleasure?" he asked, voice icy as the demon stopped before his cell.

Before he could react, the demon's free hand shot out and through the bars of the cell to wrap tightly around Tierim's neck. The demon's eyes flared brighter as it growled down at the fox, as Tierim merely stood there and held the demon's stare even as it choked him.

For a moment Tierim was worried that the demon had come merely to choke the life out of him. His fears proved false as the demon drew his hand back and off the fox's throat with a deep snarl. Tierim straightened his spine and inhaled deeply, and he squared his shoulders as he continued to stare up at the demon. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"You are to come with me, Fireborn," the demon growled back, and it withdrew a key from his torch hand and unlocked the cell door. "The overseer wishes to... speak, with you."

Tierim snorted as he watched the door as it swung open, pulled by demonic strength. "The overseer wishes to torture me," he corrected as he tilted his head up, "The overseer wishes to violate my mind, body and spirit, and toss me back in here when he's done."

The demon gave a cruel smile. It reached to its side and withdrew Tierim's confiscated sword. It nodded as it gestured the vulpine forward with the blade. "Then you know what to look forward to, fox. Move."

Tierim strode forward and out of the cell as he narrowed his eyes. He paused alongside the demon, and turned his head to looking up into its eyes. "Be warned, abomination. When I release myself from your little prison, you will be the second to fall. I will pry my sword from your dead fingers, and slay others of your kind with it once again."

With a dark growl, the demon lifted the sword and swung the fist that held it. The heavy hilt of the sword slammed firmly into the side of Tierim's head. The harsh blow tumbled the vulpine down into the stone of the floor as the demon turned to him. It swiftly lined the sword up with Tierim's face, and the point hovered perfectly still right between the fox's mismatched eyes. "Were the overseer not so insistent about you, you would be slowly bled of all your fluids for those words." The demon lowered the sword and reluctantly slid it once again between its scaled hips and the simple belt it wore. "Move, now, or I will knock you out and drag you before him."

Wordlessly Tierim stood and brushed his robe down. He reached up slowly to feel where the hilt of the sword had struck his cheek, and he lifted his fingers before his eyes as he felt warm blood smeared across them. He cast a baleful glare at the demon before he strode out and down the hallway, his captor close behind him. As he walked through the underground halls, the fox briefly entertained the thought of killing his escort where he stood, right then and there. Still he refrained, his anger held in check by years of mental training. They knew enough to capture me, whether I allowed it or not, he thought to himself as the demon shoved him down another hall. They will know the moment I escape, and I still have not what I came here for. I will need a plan, and patience.

The dungeon was similar to many others that Tierim had explored in the past. The demons seemed fond of constructing their prisons and the like beneath the ground, and they often left only a few small structures above the surface. The demons became harder to detect, and the strong, dark stone that lined the walls, floor and ceiling were capable of withstanding heavy attack. Tierim knew the Renthani had attempted to bombard demonic underground tunnels with catapults and similar siege weapons, to no effect.

Torches lined the walls to dimly illuminate the ebon stone walls. All through the tunnels, Tierim could see the demon's script across every surface. The carvings etched along their corridors that the Tashik could recognize told of the greatness of Errith, of their god's power and prestige, and prophecy of his return. Blasphemy, the fox thought, Though completely fitting for unholy beasts as these.

Finally, the Tashik found himself stopped before a large steel door. He turned his head back and regarded the demon idly. "I suppose I just knock, do I?" he asked, his tone tinged with a little sarcasm. Patience was one thing. Deliberately causing the demons around him frustration and annoyance was something else entirely, and it was a simple pleasure the vulpine promised himself more of during his incarceration.

It seemed for a moment as if that comment too would have earned Tierim another strike to the face. With a grunt though, the demon ignored the vulpine and reached out to strike the door three times. It opened inwardly, and as Tierim looked inside he felt his heart sink just a little.

Terrible things adorned the room beyond the door. Chairs, with nails sticking through them; crystals charged with dark energies; whips; chains; knives without count. Perhaps most terrifying, many, many more of the implements within the room were completely foreign to Tierim. Each of the myriad forms of torture and execution flickered as torchlight washed over them, and the demonic overseer stood in the center of the room as he stared right at Tierim. The demonic overseer was a taller, more built and scarred version of the creature that held the Tashik's sword, and it smiled wide as it cast its eyes down over the vulpine. "Yes... yes, you will do nicely. It has been far, far too long since I have had the pleasure of one of you in my care."

When Tierim remained silent, the demon behind him roughly pushed him forward into the room. He spun as he stumbled and regained his footing, and he whirled to face the demon that had shoved him in. Instead, Tierim only came face to face with the heavy metal door as it slammed shut and locked into place.

"There is no escape from this prison," came the deep, dark voice from behind Tierim. It was never so much the tone of the demon that made their speech sound so â€" for lack of a better word â€" wrong. It was that resonance, that ripple and shiver in their speech that sent chills up a mortal's spine. "There is only the breaking of spirits, and the gathering of sacrifices. To have one of the Tashik within our dungeons... you will be a fine addition to our rituals."

Tierim turned back around, and he'd fully intended to snap a quick, indignant reply at the demon. His words caught in his throat as he saw the overseer swiftly move towards him, and for a brief moment he saw one of the demon's arms as it moved down hard and fast from above its head. The blow landed on the fox's shoulder, and Tierim cried out as his legs buckled. He crumpled to the ground, his body sprawled out across the obsidian with a thud.

The overseer looked down at the fox as he tried to crawl back up to his feet, and smirked. "I am surprised with your restraint, Tashik," it growled, as it reached down to grasp Tierim by the neck and hoist him up. "I was certain that by now you would have attempted to incinerate me. Why do you not try to escape? Are you already resigned to being my little toy?"

Tierim remained silent, and instead he simply glared back at the demon as it held him. A grunt escaped him as the overseer turned and walked over to a deceptively normal-looking chair, Tierim carried along by the neck. His legs thrashed a little, more through instinct than intent to free himself as he was thrown down into the chair.

Immediately, metal braces snapped themselves around Tierim's throat, wrists and ankles. His ears laid back, the fox growled quietly at the overseer. He never once took his eyes off those of the hateful, evil creature before him. "I will leave when I am ready to leave, demon," the fox finally replied. "You will have me for no sacrifice to your god."

Had the demon eyebrows, Tierim was certain that they would have been raised with amusement. "Oh? And what makes you so sure, little fox?" The overseer reached out and snatched from the wall a single knife, its edge sharp and wickedly curved. "What makes you think that I would allow you your escape, unless it suited me?"

The overseer strode forward slowly, the knife held before the creature as it pointed the blade at Tierim. "You are my prisoner, Fireborn. You belong to Errith. And you will be a focal point in our greatest ritual." As it smiled sadistically, the demon began to lower the knife. "Enjoy these moments of pain, Tashik. Soon, you will enjoy nothing but the cold embrace of oblivion."

It was hours before the demons brought Tierim, blooded and sore, back from the overseer. Barely conscious, Tierim could only make out the face of the demon to return him to his cell before he passed out completely. It had seemed more than pleased to see the Tashik in such pain, and one of the last sounds in Tierim's ears was that of the demon as it laughed at him.

He awoke to the feeling of a cool, damp piece of cloth being rubbed gently over his face. The world around him was dark, perfectly black, and as he attempted to sit up, he felt searing agony shoot up along his legs and spine. Tierim bit back a snarl of pain and sat up slowly anyway, and the darkness around him gave way as he gingerly opened his eyes.

As he turned to look to his side he saw the tigeress there, holding a small piece of tattered fabric in her paws. She backed away as Tierim's eyes began to focus on her, and Tierim smiled softly over at her with a nod. "My thanks to you."

Her retreat from Tierim slowed and stopped finally, and her head bowed as she closed her eyes. "It is my duty, Tashik," she replied quietly, her voice a little softer than the hoarse rasp it had been when he'd first seen her. "I do what I can for those of us trapped. It is not easy work, nor is it a good life... but I ease the suffering of those that live as we do. Even if they have not accepted their fate yet."

Tierim slowly slid himself back and against a wall as he stroking gently over his chest with one paw. The cuts through his clothing, the hot metal as it had pressed against his flesh... the way the overseer had to dig out of his arm the shards of one acid-soaked knife as it broke apart under the twitches of his muscles... "How long have I been returned?" he asked.

"Several hours, I believe." The tiger slowly crept forward; she seemed to want to make sure that Tierim wasn't going to attack her before she touched him again. "You were badly tortured, and for many hours more. I was surprised that you were returned to us at all; many would have been killed in that room. Many have been killed, some Chosen amongst them."

Tierim winced as he leaned up against the wall and sighed quietly. "Tashik are trained to endure much that would break others," the vulpine said quietly. "We strengthen ourselves in mind to overcome the pain of the body, that we might do more good."

He saw the tiger cringe a little at those words, an almost imperceptible recoil that could have been easy to miss. Tierim slowly looked away from her as she reached up to once more wipe that damp piece of cloth over his face. "You fear me." It was not a question.

The tiger didn't immediately respond, but she didn't stop tending to the cuts on Tierim's face either. "Outside of this prison, I would fear the Tashik," she finally replied, her voice softer than he had yet heard it. "Within these walls, we are not Tashik, or Renthani, or anything. We are prisoners, and we are all stuck together." She gave the fox a weak smile as she drew back from him a little. "And yet, it is still hard to overcome those feelings before you. Apologies, Tashik. I am Lydia."

As he smiled as well, Tierim reached up and gently petted the tiger's shoulder. "And I am Tierim. I thank you for your efforts, I truly do. But you should know that the Tashik harbor no ill-will towards any but demonkind." He closed his eyes as the tiger grasped lightly at his arm. She rolled up his cut and dirtied robe to get at the gashes that lay beneath. "And I hold myself to my promise, as well. You will be free of this cell."

The cloth stung as the tiger wiped slowly over the cuts in the fox's arm. Tierim remembered the blade the overseer had used on him there, and how it had been sheathed in a specially made acid before use; how it had felt when the shards of the broken blade had dug into his muscles... "Do you know why we are here?" the vulpine asked.

"We were all captured different ways," Lydia replied, eyes down as she focused on the cuts. "I was simple healer from Krysia, a Renthani town on the edge of the Borderlands. I was taken during a raid some... two years ago, I think. It is hard to keep track of time in this place." She shivered for a moment before she continued on. "The others here with us are from other towns and villages... most in Renthani, some from beyond my knowledge. There are no Chosen here. At least, there are none besides you that I am aware of."

"But as for why... none of us know. The demons raid us occasionally. They take our people, sometimes weapons and materials... the stories tell of great sacrifices to Errith. They say that he feeds on the souls of those his demons offer him." The tiger shuddered as she released Tierim's arm and sat back. "Some believe they are gathering as many people as they can for a large ritual... something we've never seen before. Most, like the beings here, possess no power. But some â€" a pawful, really â€" are potentials, adepts, or Elementalists." She paused for a moment as she watched Tierim's expression turn to confusion.

A moment later, realization dawned on her. "Oh, of course... you would not know... Elementalists are Renthani's mages; our defense against demonkind. Adepts are those in training to become Elementalists, and potentials are those with the spark of magic within them." One of Lydia's ears twitched as she bowed her head. "I did not complete my studies before I was taken," she added, somewhat abashedly.

Tierim frowned softly as he lowered his arm and scratched idly at one leg. The Tashik was surprised by Lydia's explanation of the hierarchy of the Renthani magic users. The system had not changed in the hundreds of years since the Tashik had been banished from Renthani. Even in those ancient times, the Renthani had used those terms. As did the Tashik, he mused.

However, much more important than that were the stories she had mentioned. Those were the rumors that the Tashik had heard; they were why he was there at all. "The overseer told me that I was to be at the center of some great ritual. It said nothing of what the ritual would entail or what the outcome would be; only that it was of great significance to demonkind." The vulpine gave a quiet growl as he shook his head. "I want no part in it, and whatever it is I hope to see the ritual stopped."

Even as Tierim spoke, he heard quiet murmurs from deep in the cell's shadows. He perked one ear towards the sound and frowned as he glanced over into the darkness. "How big is this cell?" he asked quietly as he turned back to Lydia.

The tiger only smiled at him and turned over to the shadows. "It is alright," she called out quietly. "He doesn't wish harm on me, nor on you. It is perfectly safe to come out." She turned back to Tierim, with that smile still soft on her lips. "The cell is massive, but poorly lit. It is one of only a couple in this encampment... but large enough to hold many of us."

As Lydia finished, Tierim could see several figures move in the dark. They remained at the edge of the shadow for a moment, most obviously afraid to come forward. Finally however a single male wolf stepped tentatively out into the light, followed by another tiger, an otter... and soon, a rag-tag assortment of the different people of the world stood before him and looked him over with curiosity.

One little wolf child â€" he could have been no more than eight seasons old to Tierim's eyes â€" ran up to him quietly and looked him over. "Are you really Tashik?" he asked excitedly as his tail wagged vigorously behind him.

As he smiled warmly down at the little one, Tierim gave a short nod. "I am. And you have nothing to fear from me, I give you my word." He looked up and around the gathered people, and he looked every one of them over. "I have allowed myself to be captured, that I might find answers here. Any of you might hold the key I seek. You all were captured and brought here, as I was. Do any of you know why?"

A few of the older members of the group exchanged glances. Some looked back into the shadows, and more than a few looked a little scared. It was likely that they were made uncomfortable by the thought of someone like Tierim so close to them. Eventually a voice near the back of the group, old and tired, spoke up over the hushed whispers of the others. "Just like any Tashik! Bringing pain and misery to those around, and completely ignorant of your sins!"

Tierim frowned and slowly slid his back up along the wall to brace himself as he rose to his feet. "You speak your mind," Tierim replied evenly, "I admire this. Come forward, please, and explain yourself."

Slowly and from the back of the group came a series of grunts, and the others parted to make way for a bear. He was obviously older than any others within the cell, his black fur flecked with silver while one paw tightly grasped a makeshift wooden cane as he pushed himself forward. "Explain myself?" the bear growled, "I should demand an explanation of you, Tashik! Why do you and your demons want us here?"

At those words Tierim's fur began to stand on end, and his tail twitched as a ripple of anger flicked through him. Still, he held onto civility and respect for the wizened figure before him. "I have no demons, elder," he said quietly, hoping that the title of respect would calm the bear somewhat. "These abominations captured me as well, though by my choice. When the time comes, I will kill them and free myself. You all will be welcome to flee alongside me when that time arrives."

"A plant!" the bear crowed as he waved his arms and cane dramatically. "A demon in disguise! One sent to break us further from within with false hopes! Be you Tashik, demonic executioner or both, you'll not have my soul!"

"That is enough, Ralen!" snapped Lydia quickly, and she stood up straight alongside Tierim. "We are all in this together. Tierim has nothing to gain by deceiving us. He has asked for your knowledge, and offered you nothing to deserve such insult! If you cannot be as polite as the Tashik, then you had best still your tongue entirely!"

That certainly gave the bear pause. His arms stilled as his eyes flicked between the tiger and Tierim, and they finally settled on the fox as he frowned. "You want to know why we're here, Tashik?" It was clear from the way Ralen spat ‘Tashik' that the word was hardly complimentary. "We're here to be used, our souls crushed and broken and sent to Errith. And with that strength, he will spread darkness across all of creation."

As he frowned a little deeper, Tierim cocked his head to the side. He had never heard of any such thing before; indeed, no Tashik had. "How is that even possible?" he asked Ralen. "Errith is bound by the Four themselves. His are chains forged by pure divine force. It should not be possible for him to break from the Underworld."

"I never said he would leave the Underworld, fool!" spat the elderly bear, "Errith is bound to it for eternity!" He frowned himself and looked down. "But when you've been a prisoner for as long as I have, you learn things... you see things. Errith doesn't need to leave the Underworld."

"He has demons to do his work for him," Tierim said, nodding as he started to understand. "His will can still be carried out, and without breaking from his prison, either. He commands the demonic hordes, and they continue his work."

The old bear nodded and snorted. He pointed his cane at Tierim and jabbed it fiercely at the Tashik. "They take our lands," he cried, voice angry. "They round up survivors of their raids, and they execute them on the spot! Innocent blood is spilled in our towns, Tashik! And what happens then?"

Tierim shivered. He knew well what happened then; he had seen the ritualistic killings before. It was that ritual that extended the darkness of the Borderlands, that spread it wider. "But that says nothing of this ritual. What is it? Where is it?"

The bear coughed and snorted again as he shook his head. "Where is it?" he echoed sharply. "Where do you think it is, Tashik? By the Four, I do not know! The depths of the demonlands, I suppose. Someplace safe from our Elementalists." He looked around at the others and nodded. "Some here have come from so far. The demonlands are extensive... but the beasts must come from somewhere. There, I suppose."

With a nod, Tierim looked down. The source of demonkind â€" the tear in the world between the Underworld and Creation â€" had long been sought by the Tashik. None had ever found it though; none even knew what it looked like. It made sense that the demons would use it as a centerpoint for a great ceremony, especially so if it was the dreaded one that Tierim suspected. "And what do you think the ritual does?" he asked.

Ralen's eyes locked on Tierim's and they narrowed. "You tell me, Tashik," he spat angrily. "They are gathering sacrifices, both magical and not. You tell me, Chosen one, what the demons use those sacrifices for!"

That did it for Tierim. The demons only had one special ritual that anyone knew of. It was the most unholy of rites, and the effects were terrible. "They seek to spread darkness," he answered with a slow nod. "Enough to extend their lands far and wide... perhaps even enough to swallow up all the land." Even before he finished, he could see Ralen nod once sharply. The bear at least believed Tierim to be correct.

Tierim turned back to the door of the prison and reached forward to run a fingertip along one of the bars. "Tell me. Are any here powerful spellcasters? We have to get out of here. We must warn my people; warn the Renthani; warn everyone."

Only a quiet murmur answered the vulpine. He glanced back over his shoulder in time to watch a few of the other prisoners slink back down into the shadows. Ralen hissed and made a shooing gesture at the vulpine, before he too turned away. Confused, Tierim looked to Lydia. "What? What is it?"

Her own eyes seemed to have lost the spark they'd possessed only a few moments ago, and she stared down into the ground. "Talk of escape is dangerous in this place, Tierim," she replied sadly. "Many have attempted it and been taken away. Many have been killed for even discussing it. We dare not even think of it anymore. As I said... escape is impossible."

Tierim stood taller and turned back to the retreating figures. "I can free you from this place!" he called after them. "I can release you from this prison! But I cannot do my best to ensure your lives unless you help me!"

His words seemed to fall on deaf ears though; not one of the other prisoners turned back to heed his words. With a sigh, the fox slowly slumped back against the walls of the cage and slid down to the ground. "What will it take, Lydia? What will make them listen to me?"

"It would take more than anyone here can give," she replied sadly. She no longer even dared to meet Tierim's eyes. "There are wards and alarms on the door to this cell that would instantly alert every demon in the area to our escape. None here â€" not even the spellcasters â€" are capable of holding that many demons off. Moreso... you are Tashik. They do not trust you. I am not sure even if I trust you."

The vulpine's ears perked as she spoke, and his eyes flicked up to her as a smile slowly spread across his lips. "Is the only problem holding the demons off?" he asked. "Would they be willing to attempt this if someone was able to?"

At those words, the tiger turned her head to face him. "You would sacrifice yourself for the rest of us?" she asked, her expression one of surprise. "For what? What use would your death have? We would be reclaimed by the demons, and you will have died for nothing."

Tierim barked a quick laugh and shook his head. "I have no intentions of sacrificing myself for anyone. You would not be reclaimed if I held them long enough. They will not kill me; the overseer here has told me as much. He wants to break me, use me to be a part of this ritual. After all, if I am to be the centerpiece to this demonic ceremony, he would not dare destroy me. Correct?"

Lydia fell silent for a moment as her gaze fell away from the fox and back to the ground. Her paws knotted together before her as she sighed. "I cannot convince you to abandon this course, can I?" she asked.

"I highly doubt it. Lydia, this is too important to sit still and let the demons hold me any longer. Ralen may be old â€" perhaps not entirely sane, either â€" but people must be warned that there is a large offensive coming." Tierim rose to his feet and walked quickly over to the bars of the prison. He wrapped his paws around the bars and squeezed them gently. "The Tashik are prepared, but the other Chosen and the Renthani are not. I can get us out of here, and I can hold the demons off. I can escape them, and I have done it hundreds of times before in worse situations than this one. I need you, and any spellcasters in here, to ensure that everyone else makes it out alive." He looked back over his shoulder at the tiger. "You have to convince them to run. With or without you all, I am leaving this cell. No demonic force will stop me. I can offer you a chance, and my best efforts. I can give nothing more, but if you all work together I can offer you enough."

With a shake of her head, the tiger strode over to the fox's side and laid a hand gently on his shoulder. "Your intentions are noble, Tierim, but your actions would be foolish. The others will not make it far, and even you could not defend all of us. If you run, if you can truly do as you say, then fear not for us." She smiled softly and squeezed the vulpine's shoulder. "Some of the others will refuse to even leave the cell. We are lost, and if your confidence is well-founded then you are not. Tomorrow, when they come for you will be your chance. You should not waste it."

"Do not expect me to make no attempt to free you and the others here," the fox replied quietly. Tierim glanced back at Lydia a moment before he turned his eyes back to the bars. "Were I to do as you suggest, you would not even have a chance. No alarms would be raised for me, but you would be trapped still. There is no honor in leaving my brothers and sisters behind."

Lydia jerked back a little as Tierim spoke, and a blush colored her flesh beneath the fur of her cheeks. "You are Tashik, and we are Renthani... mostly. We are not your brothers and sisters, Tierim. You do not betray us by seeking your freedom."

As he smiled, Tierim turned away from the bars to face Lydia once more. "The Tashik value all that the Four created, including the people of Renthani. Whatever they may think of us, they are our brothers and sisters as well." His eyes flicked to the darkness as a few of the other prisoners started to move forward and towards Tierim. In their eyes the fox could see something that had not been there before; something that shined through the darkness the demons had brought them; something that the demons had sought to smother. He saw hope in their eyes.

"Come. If you will at least allow me a chance, I have some ideas already. We have much to plan, and little time to plan it."

Tierim stood alone at the cell door the next morning when the demon came for him. The abomination seemed surprised at the fox as Tierim silently followed him out of the cell. Even when the fiend flashed the fox's sword at him to taunt him once again with it, Tierim could not be provoked.

Once more the vulpine was lead through the winding passages of the demonic dungeon, this time taking more note of the path he was lead along. He hung his head low and let his eyes lift only to take note of any differences in the path. His eyes drifted every now and again to his sword as it was held at the demon's side. The ruby crafted into the hilt flashed at him in the torchlight. Soon enough, he thought, you will be in my paws again.

At the metal door that lead into the overseer's torture chamber, Tierim was grabbed and slammed against the wall hard by his escort. He grunted and turned his eyes back up to the demon. "Unhand me, you fiend. I'm sure the overseer wishes to break me himself."

"The overseer will not see you yet," the demon replied. It growled as it raised Tierim's sword to run the blade lightly over the fox's throat, just shy of hard enough to cut into the vulpine's flesh. "You will hear me first, Tashik."

Tierim growled quietly as he flicked his eyes down at the blade pressed against him, and he curled his paws into fists against the wall. "You have my undivided attention," he snarled quietly back.

The demon growled back deeper at Tierim, the sword firm and still against the fox's neck. "You need to understand something, Tashik. You are important to our ritual until we procure others of your kind. The other prisoners here are very disposable." It bared its teeth in a dark smile. "If you give us any more trouble, I am to execute other prisoners with your own blade. And if you persist, you will take their lives yourself."

"Completely unlikely." Tierim glanced back down at the blade again. The powerful want to snatch the weapon from the demon's grasp and slice its face open with it rose in him again. Not yet; soon, he thought. "I understand," he replied as he looked back up at the demon. "You won't be killing anyone. I promise you."

"Best that I do not have to, Tashik," the creature growled once again, before it pulled the blade back and away from Tierim's neck. It stepped back to allow the fox room to move as the metal door swung slowly open. "And all the better that you do not have to take their lives yourself. Now, inside. The overseer will have you now."

Tierim glared at the demon for a moment before he walked slowly into the room. Once more the door behind him slammed shut, and the sound echoed throughout the torture chamber. The fox's eyes locked on the demon in the center of the room; the overseer stood with its hands clasped behind his back and its eyes focused on Tierim. "And so my plaything returns. I hope you are well-rested for today, Tashik," it said. The creature strode slowly forward with a pair of tight manacles in his grasp.

The fox allowed himself a tight lipped smile as he watched the overseer approach. He turned away from the demon and pressed his paws together behind his back in offer to the demon. To not allow the overseer to have its way with him before his escape would only earn Tierim fresh injuries that the fox could not afford. "As rested as I can be in this place," Tierim replied quietly as the manacles snapped down around his wrists. His lips curled into a vicious smile as he felt himself bound. He was ready. "Tell me, though. Have you ever truly known a Tashik's fury before?"

Before the demon could answer, Tierim spun around quickly and launched a powerful kick into the creature's side. The abomination swayed and stumbled off to the left, and it growled in surprise and anger as the vulpine followed up with another quick kick up to its chin.

As the demon fell back Tierim gave a quick jump, and he swung his arms up and under his tucked legs to bring his paws back in front of him. His hands began to glow with repressed energy as the fox turned his mind inwards. The manacles too began to glow, first a faint yellow, then red, then white... and with a resounding crack the metal shattered under the Tashik's heat. Tierim pulled his freed paws apart and glanced down.

He looked over as the overseer rose to its feet with a snarl. The demon charged forward, and one arm swung down towards the fox's head. Tierim raised one paw and curled his fingers into a fist before he flicked those fingers at the creature. From the fox's palm burst an intense ball of flame, and the orb of heat struck the overseer in the chest hard enough to blast it back through the air. It landed amidst its pile of knives, and it roared in pain as some of them broke through its scales.

Tierim spun as he heard the door to the torture chamber open, and there was no doubt in his mind that it was the demon with his sword. His suspicions were confirmed as the demon charged into the room, the vulpine's sword held up in its grasp. The fox reached out his hand and his mind, and his awareness wrapped the sword pulled it towards him.

The mad rush of the demon stalled out as the blade in its hand pulled free with bone-jarring force. It spun over through the air and landed solidly in Tierim's paw. As it snarled again, the demon reached to its other side and withdrew a shorter blade of its own, one curved sharply and as black as the demon's scales.

Tierim moved swiftly forward. He twirled about and sliced down at the demon's side, and his blade met the demon's as the creature brought his weapon up to block. The fox punched back over his shoulder to slam his fist up into the demon's face as he spun back around, and he swept his sword up in an arc as he slashed up and along the demon's left leg.

With a roar of pain pain, the demon stumbled backwards a couple of steps and leaned against the wall. The cut Tierim had made sizzled and bubbled the demon's black blood as it spilled out, and its flesh glowed faintly with residual heat from the enchanted Tashik blade. It glanced up and snarled again as Tierim raised his empty hand. A ball of flame flickered and seethed in the Tashik's grip, and it cast a bright light over the injured demon. The abomination watched that ball of flame grow and roared as it burst forth from Tierim's paw. The roar was silenced as the fireball slammed into its neck.

The force of the fireball sent it almost completely through the demon's throat. It gurgled as it dropped its sword, and both hands rushed to its melted neck as it sank to its knees. It thrashed for a moment as it tried to keep its head attached to its body, before it shuddered and fell still at Tierim's feet.

The fox raised his own blade high, and the ruby in the hilt flashed brightly in the torchlight as he brought it down hard. He drove the point into the demon's skull and pushed harder down, with enough force to jab right through its broken head. "I told you that you would be the second to fall once I escaped," the vulpine growled, before he yanked his blade free. He glanced around for a moment, before he darted quickly down the corridor.

It took Tierim a couple of wrong turns before he found himself back at his cell. He wiped his blade clean of the black demon blood and sheathed it once more within his robes, as he peered through the shadows of the cell. "Lydia!" he called, "The overseer is defeated. The time to move is now!"

The tiger swiftly strode forward to the cell's door and turned back to look into the shadows. "Tierim is going to head our charge out of here!" she said, her voice firmer and stronger than the fox could remember. "He will open our way, and he will hold the demons back from us. Now is the time for us to leave! Come with us; leave with us if you wish to live!"

Tierim nodded to her as she turned back to him, and the vulpine reached forward to grasp two of the metal bars of the cell. He focused his mind on those bars and willed them hotter than flame, and that they spread that molten heat through their fellows. Under the force of the fox's will the metal obeyed his commands. First the bars in his paws shimmered with heat, and quickly the rest of the door started to melt down into a silvery puddle on the floor.

As the puddle settled into the ground a dull, echoing roar began to sound throughout the dungeon. Just as Lydia had predicted and he had suspected, the bars had been alarmed against magic. As he muttered a curse under his breath, Tierim drew his sword once more and darted back towards the prison room's entrance. "Get them out of here!" he called back at Lydia, before the tigeress was lost to his view as he charged down the hallway.

Tierim just kept moving as a surprised demon rounded a corner ahead of him; the fox twirled himself in a tight spin and slashed his blade hard and fast up through the chest of the creature. It cried out and fell back, and the gash across its chest sizzled hotly as Tierim sprinted right past. He could not afford to stop or wait for long.

The fox rounded another corner, and paused briefly in his tracks. There, ahead of him, he could actually see light far brighter than the torches of the dark tunnels. Between him and that light was a single demon, and the dark creature had already raised a massive war hammer and begun to charge down the corridor at Tierim. It bellowed an unintelligible battle cry as it closed, and its massive arms brought the hammer down at the fox.

Tierim ducked and leaned back, and the heavy hammer slammed into the side of the corridor hard enough to dent the stone. The fox kicked out hard with one leg and firmly batted the demon's arm away from its weapon. He quickly brought his sword down in a powerful overhead slice and severed the creature's arm clear from its body.

The demon didn't even react to its limb as it dropped to the ground. It curled its remaining hand into a fist and lashed out with lightning speed, and the punch drove Tierim back through the air and left him a winded heap in the middle of the hallway. With a grunt, the demon grasped the war hammer and pried it from the wall before he advanced slowly on the downed fox.

As he sat up slowly, Tierim glanced up at the demon just in time to see it raise the hammer. Quickly Tierim rolled to the side, able to dodge the blow by a fraction of a second. He kicked forward at the knee of the demon with all his strength, and was rewarded with the crack of broken bone on his impact.

The demon toppled backwards as Tierim jumped back up to his feet, and darted quickly past the downed creature. He trailed his sword back down behind him, and he grasped the hilt with both paws as he drove it into the demon's chest. The blade punctured its scales, and Tierim pulled it right up through the demon's throat and head as he ran.

Tierim didn't miss a beat; held his blade back behind him as he continued towards the light beyond the tunnel. He quickly broke up and into the open air, and immediately countless pairs of eyes turned towards him. Tierim paused and smiled darkly to himself as he slowly brought his blooded blade around and forward again. He lowered himself into a defensive crouch and tilted his chin up in challenge.

They stood around him, at least two dozen strong and more than enough to slaughter any ordinary warrior unprepared for their strength. Tierim remained in the center of a small clearing lit by a great number of arcane torches. The torches shed their light across a handful of small buildings and unholy shrines. Beyond the buildings lay the shadowy forests that both his people and the Renthani called the Demonic Borderlands. Once grand trees were curled and twisted by the darkness. Their trunks possessed the same luster of demon scales, and their leaves were sharp and barbed and reddened, by evil energy of the Borderlands.

The first demon to move forward against the fox was smaller than the others; a younger, less experienced fighter. Its spines were shorter than the rest, and the barbs on its tail were not yet fully developed. It roared and charged straight at Tierim, and it unslung a broadsword from its back as it approached.

Calmly Tierim raised his left paw and extended it forward. Sparks briefly played about his fingers, before a searing ball of flame shot from his grasp and blasted the demon backwards. The Tashik quickly moved forward on the downed demon, and he watched it thrash on the ground as it attempted to douse the arcane fire. With a quick jump, Tierim twisted his sword in his paws and brought it down tip first into the chest of the alight demon.

As the demon's body stilled, Tierim yanked his sword back up and out of its body. He grinned cheekily and waved at the other demons scattered around. Finally Tierim turned his back to the majority of them and darted off towards the edge of the outpost, and his flight elicited a roar of outrage from the creatures. As one the demons charged angrily after the lone fox.

While the demons themselves were formidable enemies, Tierim was far more concerned about their pets; beasts his people called hunters. They were like four-legged versions of the larger demons, considerably smaller but faster by far. They possessed no eyes however, and many believed that the hunters used unknown dark energies to locate their prey.

As he spared a glance behind him as he vanished into the trees, Tierim saw several hunters as they were lead out of the outpost by other demons. With a growl and a flick of his paw back behind him, Tierim launched a quick fireball towards the hunters and the demonic keepers that lead them. As he turned his eyes forward again, he heard the impact of his fireball as it slammed into something behind him. Moments later the sound of crackling flames were mixed with the satisfyingly chaotic shrieks of several hunters; if a pack of trained hunters lost their keeper, the hunters went wild. Whether he'd struck the keeper or exploded the hut behind it, Tierim's fireball had done its job.

Thunder cracked over the Tashik's head as the vulpine drove himself deeper into the forest, and he briefly lifted his gaze to the ebon sky above. A brief flash of lightning shot through the night, and the blue bolt scorched the air as it lit up the forest for a single brief moment. As the roll of the thunder faded, the fox could hear heavy thuds behind him. The were demonic footsteps, and there were many of them.

Tierim frowned as he quickly darted behind a large tree, and he reached up and dug finger and claw into the thick, hard trunk. He hauled himself up and into the tree's twisted branches with practiced ease, and the vulpine slipped along one of the thicker branches. He paused and stilled his breaths as he looked out and back towards the outpost.

While the demons still there likely couldn't see him, Tierim could see them quite clearly. His keen eyes focused on the flames that licked about the building the hunters had been led out of; obviously the fireball had mostly destroyed the hut. A slight hiss of frustration escaped him though as he saw another and another hunter leap out and over the bodies of their charred fellows. A handful of demons gathered them together, and the groups began to fan out rapidly in the direction that Tierim had fled.

A flicker of movement at the corner of his focus caught the vulpine's eye though, and Tierim found his lips curl in a tight smile as he spotted Lydia as she peeked out of the passage that lead down to the dungeon. Silently he urged her to leave quickly, before the demons could return and recapture them. He released a quick sigh of relief as he saw her usher the other prisoners out and into the forest, and he watched as they headed in the opposite direction to the one Tierim had fled in.

The Tashik had spent many hours in the Borderlands, and felt sure he knew where he was. The lands of his people lay to the west, but the Renthani border rested south of the demonic encampment. If he was correct, Lydia and the others had just fled south and back towards their homelands. The fox nodded to himself and looked down to the ground beneath him as a quick gust of wind whipped against him. He grasped tighter at the tree's trunk and smiled. Perhaps they would make it, after all.

His smile turned grim as he glanced down. Beneath him, he could make out the dark, shadowy figures of three demons. As best he could tell there were no hunters with them; the hunters and their keepers were trained for speed in their searches, and so it was more likely that those were some of the first demons that had pursued him. The hunters would already be moving out beyond them, before they would fold their search back in towards the outpost in an effort to catch Tierim from both sides. Such flanking maneuvers were common tactics by the demons and their hunters.

It was unlikely the demon beneath the tree had seen the attack from above that killed him, but Tierim knew that it had certainly heard it. The creature had looked up as it heard the sound; that of claws as they ground against thick, sturdy wood and grew closer. It had seen Tierim briefly; the fox's hindpaws planted firmly against the tree and claws leaving gashes in the trunk as he slid down towards the ground, sword unsheathed and raised high above his head.

The demon roared as Tierim kicked himself off the tree, and the fox raised his sword higher as he tucked his legs up against himself. Tierim brought the sword down silently but with great force, and he drove the tip into the center of the demon's upturned face. Black blood erupted from the point of impact as the force of Tierim's downward motion sent the blade right down to the hilt. He impaled the abomination on the weapon; head, neck, chest and all.

Tierim released his sword and rolled forward as he hit the ground. He moved up into a crouch as he kicked forward and against the leg of another demon. As the creature toppled forwards and towards him, Tierim punched up against its chin. His other paw reached out quickly and snatched the demon's sword from its side. The Tashik spun as he stood, and he slashed the ebony blade up and across its owner's exposed throat. The first demon Tierim had killed toppled to the ground as the second started to fall, and the third charged at the fox from the other side of the tree. A hefty war hammer as big as Tierim was clutched tightly in its armored hands.

Tierim ducked and rolled back as the mighty weapon was swung at him, and the head of the hammer whirled barely an inch from the fox's muzzle. It slammed into the trunk with a shattering crack, and the massive tree toppled down towards the ground.

Before it could even land, Tierim rolled back up to his feet. He raised the demonic sword he'd taken and focused on it, and his eyes flashed for a moment as he willed the weapon to melt down and heat up. In his grasp, the sword's blade began to crack even as the demon raised its war hammer for another swing. Before it could strike however, Tierim's stolen weapon erupted in a thousand fiery fragments. Each one of those burning shards streamed out at high speed and exploded into the face of the final demon.

Its death scream was short lived, as the burning fragments that lodged themselves in its brain killed it even before it had hit the ground. Its cry however was interrupted, overwhelmed by a chilling howl that echoed throughout the dark forest. Tierim's head turned quickly to the side as he heard the call repeated, and again, and again. The sound was of hunters suddenly alerted to his presence, and coordinating.

As he cursed under his breath, Tierim ran over to the side of the demon impaled on his sword. He swiftly yanked the blade free with a sickening schlorp. Black blood stained the weapon and hid its once-perfect shine from sight, though Tierim knew that he had no time to sheath the sword, let alone clean it. As he grasped it at the ready with his right paw, the fox laid his ears back and headed in the one direction the howls of the hunters hadn't come from.

His footpaws thudded heavily against the soft grass as he ran, and air rushed past his head and through his fur. The breeze chilled him through his tattered robes as a strong gust of wind tore at his fur. His eyes darted from side to side as his body deftly dove between the trunks of the twisted old trees; natural grace lent Tashik greater speed through the tricky terrain than most of the demons that resided within it. Even that advantage wouldn't be enough for long; Tierim knew it was only a matter of time before the hunters were able to catch up to him. If the demons were brutish, thuggish warriors, then their hunters were the perfect predator. Their agility was unrivalled; the best a Tashik could hope for was to outrun them long enough to make them widen their search. From there, it was possible to escape the beasts.

A quick glance back though confirmed the worst of his fears. Even as he fled deeper still into the dark forest, he could make out the flickering green-blue light of arcane torches as they shined in the dark behind him. The light kept moving closer and closer to him. The demons knew exactly where he was; their search would not be widened enough for him to slip free. He would need to fight.

As he turned his eyes forwards again, a sudden unholy roar sounded from somewhere to the vulpine's left. Tierim tried to duck but the attack just came far too fast, as a hunter threw itself bodily into the fox's side. The fox cried out with a mixture of surprise and frustration, even as he gave thanks that the beast hadn't seen fit to bite or claw him.

He tumbled to the ground in a heap under the force of the blow, and the heavy landing almost winded him as his sword slid from his grasp. The hunter fell off Tierim's body before it could bite at him, and the creature snarled as it regained its footing enough to hurl itself once more at the fox.

The second time though Tierim was fast enough to swing up with his arm, and he smashed his fist into the side of the beast's face before it could hit him. The force of Tierim's impact was enough to send the hunter off to the side and against a tree. It is not trying to kill me, Tierim thought in a moment of realization. It could have poisoned me with either blow. It is trying to distract me; to slow me for the others!

With that realization, Tierim threw caution to the wind. As he uncurled his fist, Tierim summoned a bright ball of flame to his grasp. Before the hunter could even raise itself for another assault on the fox, Tierim hurled the fireball with all his might into the demon spawn.

The fireball struck the hunter, Tierim was sure of that much at least. The sounds of its agonized howls told him of his attack's success even as he turned away from the doomed creature and pulled himself back up to his footpaws to continue his flight. He wasted no time and broke back into a run the moment his footpaws had found enough support with the ground beneath him to propel him forwards.

Even as he leapt forward once again with one paw extended to snatch his weapon from the grass, he heard the familiar howls of the other hunters as they pursued him. As Tierim had suspected, his use of his abilities had alerted the other hunters to his location. With a quiet sigh he pressed forward, and the Tashik ducked under a particularly thick branch as he slipped his blade back beneath his robes.

As he ran on though, the other hunters and their packs showed no signs of silencing. The howls echoed constantly back and forth through the forest, and Tierim laid his ears flat in an attempt to quiet them a little. If nothing else, the sounds told him that they were closing in on him.

A fresh set of howls suddenly sounded from in front of him. In surprise, Tierim planted his footpaws hard in the dirt and skidded to a quick halt. He scanned forward and back as he cursed himself silently. Another pack must have cut ahead of me, he thought, mind racing. They'll close in on me here, or further down the line, and...

For the first time since his flight from the demon prison had commenced, Tierim allowed himself a broad smile. He turned his gaze upwards and to the branches of the trees above him. Certainly he had never been in that particular part of the Borderlands before, but if there was one thing the Borderlands flora was known to be, it was sturdy. As he remembered his earlier aerial attack on the demons that had chased him, Tierim looked around for the strongest tree near him.

He scaled the nearest one and swiftly pulled himself up into the lowest branches. The twisted plants had grown together, and their limbs had entwined with each other above the ground. It was along those branches that Tierim quietly pulled himself, both paws on the boughs as the other squeezed gently at the hilt of his sword. As he spared one last glance at the ground around him, the vulpine closed his eyes and turned his mind inward. Tierim steadied himself against the branches as he gripped his sword's hilt tightly with one paw.

Even as he began to focus his mind, he heard greater fervor enter the howls of the hunters. The sounds grew closer, and had Tierim's eyes been open he would have been able to see the light of the demonic torches as they drew closer still. Finally, with concerted battle cries, five different groups of hunters and their keepers leapt forward to the base of the tree Tierim had climbed. They paused, confused, as the vulpine opened his eyes and smiled coldly.

Every hair on the fox's body stood straight on end as he roared, and the green and blue of his eyes were suddenly behind a deep flash of red. The gold trail along his tail and leg transmuted, and the curling mark became an undulating, almost living line of scarlet. Tierim threw himself down and out of the tree branches, and his sword swept in an arc through the air. The metal itself ignited in the inky blackness and cast a bright, red light down over the demons beneath it.

Right in the middle of the demonic formations, Tierim drove his sword down to the hilt in the ground. A ring of flame exploded out from the point of impact, and the sound echoed the roar Tierim had released just moments earlier. All around the fox, demon and hunter alike were hurled back with the force of his attack. The wall of flame expanded around him and tossed the massive creatures away as if they were mere rag dolls. The wave of arcane fire continued outwards and ignited the trees all around Tierim as he pulled his sword up out of the earth. He quickly darted towards the nearest demon to him, his sword held high.

The keeper was on the ground, and it screamed a high-pitched cry of pain and anger as its scales bubbled and melted upon its chest. Without pause, Tierim dipped his sword down for a low slash and ran the blade through the demon's body from crotch to crown. Black blood erupted from the mighty gash, but Tierim had already moved well beyond the doomed abomination before it had even begun to fall still.

Ahead of him, one of the hunters rose to its feet. It howled at Tierim as the fox approached, and the flames licked over the dark creature's burned form even as it hurled itself forwards with jaws bared. Tierim planted one foot in front of the other and halted his movement completely as he flicked his sword up and stabbed forward. The hunter, unable to change its aerial momentum, drove itself forward and into the tip of the vulpine's blade. The tip lodged in its throat and was driven back down into its chest, and the blow killed it instantly.

As he pulled his sword back, Tierim ducked and lifted his blade as he heard the crackling of another burning hunter as it moved up and towards him. The creature sailed over the fox's head as it pounced, and it slammed itself into the hunter still impaled upon Tierim's sword. As it dropped to the ground, Tierim gave it a firm kick and stood tall once again. He swiftly swung his sword flat and low before him.

The hunter upon his blade slid back and off, and the burning body of the creature struck the face of one of the keepers. The demon stumbled back and fell, and it cried out as it hit the ground. It raised one of its hands, and the great sword in its grasp shook before the demon threw it forwards at Tierim.

The fox merely extended his free hand as the heavy weapon spun towards him, and his eyes flashed brighter as he extended his mind towards it. Caught in the invisible grip of the vulpine's will, the great sword stopped as if it had hit a wall. It paused and hung in mid air for a moment before Tierim sent it back the way it had come. The blow struck true, and the blade sliced down into the face of the keeper that had hurled it.

Tierim turned and cast a quick eye over the carnage he'd caused. Several of the keepers and their hunters lay dead, mostly those who had been at the epicenter of his initial attack. The fox hefted his sword as he saw movement at the edges of the flames that still raged around him. The movement â€" another keeper â€" moved closer to the edge of the flames before it leaped forward and charged at Tierim.

With a snarl, the Tashik summoned his energy and concentrated it in the center of his free paw. Fire licked along his fingers and seethed as the fox extended his paw forward. The energy elongated and extended into a long tongue of flame; a blazing whip that lit up the darkness.

The whip lashed out as Tierim flicked his wrist, sending the flaming weapon through the air to snap across the demon's chest. It roared in agony as the energy opened up a deep gash, and its scales began to glow a bright white with the heat of the impact. It managed another step forward before the whip struck again, and the strike against the demon's muzzle sent sparks through the air as it slashed deep into its head.

The demon fell forward and collapsed against the ground. The whip of flame pulled back and curled up and along Tierim's arm as he glanced around with his burning eyes for any more survivors. And as those eyes found the one that was left, they widened slightly in surprise.

This demon wasn't one of the keepers, nor was it one of their escorts. It was taller and broader than the others, and that one wore a thick, heavy breastplate. Despite that plate, Tierim could see the signs of a fireball impact against its chest. The scorch marks on its few exposed chest scales were more than enough to confirm to the vulpine that the beast before him was the outpost's overseer.

As his eyes flared brighter and with renewed vigor, Tierim lowered himself slowly into a crouch. He held his sword to the side, the blade still and steady as the fox himself as he kept his eyes locked on the overseer. "Do you intend to stop me?" Tierim asked. His voice was low and even, and it betrayed no sign of fatigue from his earlier battle.

"I have no need to stop you, Tashik," the overseer replied with a snarl. The abomination reached to its back and slowly unsheathed a black pair of short swords. "You serve us now, even more than you know. If I fall here, victory is still mine." The creature bared its teeth at Tierim in one of those cold, demonic smiles. "You would be wise to return yourself to my care, now."

Tierim's response came as a flick of his wrist and a roar. The coiled length of flame around his arm swept out across the distance between them to strike at the overseer's throat. His eyes widened however, when the blow failed to land.

The overseer caught the blow on his wrist as he raised his arm. As the fire whip slammed against the demon, a dark bracer on its wrist flashed with a shadowy blue light. The tip of the whip flashed and shot back, and it sizzled as the flames went out with a puff of steam. The flames vanished as the steam puff worked back along the whip's length, and it finally stifled the flames in Tierim's paw.

The fox didn't even pause; his footpaws kicked up a cloud of dirt as he propelled himself forward. His sword flashed in the dark, illuminated by a brief flash of lightning as it sliced towards the overseer's arm. The strike was parried with one of the demon's short swords, and Tierim turned his head away just as the demon's other fist crashed down against the side of his face.

As he tumbled off to the side, Tierim's body was made limp in an instant from the force of the blow. He came to rest at the base of a tree, and he grunted as his body slid up against it. Tierim growled as he stood, and he quickly brought his sword up to block a fast, hard swing from the overseer. He ducked immediately after as the demon's second sword whipped through the air at the fox's face. The blow narrowly missed Tierim's head, and the blade embedded itself in the trunk of the tree.

Tierim quickly spun his sword up through the air and brought his weapon down on the base of the demon's trapped weapon. The enchanted blade shimmered and flashed with the strike, and it cleaved cleanly through the hilt of the demon's weapon. In one fluid movement, the vulpine let the momentum of his powerful blow carry his whole body, and he lifted his legs from the ground as he launched into an aerial cartwheel. The overseer, its body pulled forward in an attempt to keep a grip on its sword, was lined up perfectly with Tierim's body as it spun through the air. Both of the fox's legs stretched out as they crashed down atop the overseer's head, and the twin blows beat the demon down into the dirt.

Tierim brought himself quickly into a crouch, and he leaped back from the overseer as the demon whipped out an arm to viciously swipe at the vulpine's legs. Those claws came within a hair of Tierim's feet, and the fox barely managed to jump clear. Quickly the fox stabbed forward with his sword and drove the tip of the blade right through the back of the demon's hand. He rammed the blade in deep, and the Tashik buried half its length into the ground to keep the demon's hand firmly stuck.

The overseer roared in pain, and its eyes flashed with hatred as it swung its other arm up at Tierim. The fox parried the blow with his own arm, and deflected the strike up and away from his body. He grasped the demon's forearm tightly with one paw and reached back to its elbow, before he slammed it with an open-palm strike inwards. The overseer roared again, but not before Tierim heard the ever-satisfying sound of broken demonic bones.

The fox straddled the chest of the demon. One paw swiftly wrapped around the overseer's throat as the other moved to its crotch, and Tierim's palm pressed flatly at the point where its black legs met its foul body. With a twitch of the vulpine's mind, a spark of flame ignited in his paw and unleashed a veritable wave of flame from his fingers. The intense heat melted the demon's scales instantly, and it scorched the overseer's legs entirely free of its body. Those limbs twitched and thrashed lifelessly on the ground beneath the demon, and they flailed back and forth for a few seconds before they fell silent.

Tierim never took his burning eyes off the red orbs of the overseer. The paw around the demon's throat began to spark with repressed energy, but the Tashik restrained himself a moment as he heard the demon make the last sound in the world he would have expected it to make. The overseer actually laughed.

It raised its head under the force of Tierim's arm, and it choked itself harder against the fox's fingers. "Run... all you like..." the creature rasped, the words barely more than a whisper with how tightly Tierim gripped its throat. "Flee as... far as you can. Take my life... if you wish. You already... serve Him. You... serve... Errith!"

Despite the anger that boiled up inside the fox, Tierim simply smiled coldly down at the doomed demon. "Deliver this message to your god, unholy one," the vulpine said, and his voice dripped with hatred. "Tell your master that if his servants attempt to capture me again, that Tierim Incendia will come for him, himself. You tell him this, and you can tell him now."

With those words, Tierim released all of his anger and hatred for the demon beneath him in a single, explosive blast of flame. Had the fire been concentrated only at the overseer's neck, the force would have easily cleaved the demon's head clear off. Tierim however spread the force of the blast right through the fallen creature's body, and he set the demon's entire body alight from within. The arcane fire pulsed through its veins, and it washed away the evil being's insides with flames hotter than those of the finest forges.

The body of the demon melted away beneath Tierim as he stood, and the fox looked down. A puddle of white burned into the ground, and copious amounts of steam rose from the spot where the overseer had once lain. Tierim closed his eyes a moment and took a breath, and he reopened them as their normal blue and green once more. As the flame flickered and vanished from his eyes, so too did the trail along his tail and leg fade back to gold, calm down once more. The fox reached out and yanked his sword free from the ground and the demon's molten remains. Soil and demonic blood burned away from the silvery blade with a twitch of his mind and a quick scouring flame, and the weapon was once more as pristine as the day he'd forged it.

A howl in the distance reminded him that he was still not alone in the dark forest. As he pulled himself fully erect, Tierim sheathed his blade back beneath his robe again and tilted his head to the sky. Even starless, sealed away behind the foreboding stormclouds of the Borderlands, the swirling, shifting clouds told him exactly where to go. The tortured winds of the demonic lands always swirled and writhed in seemingly unpredictable ways, but looking on them long enough always showed that they pushed towards a certain point deep within demon territory; perhaps their source. None had survived a trip towards that central point though, to confirm the theory. Still, they were as trusty a navigational source as the stars themselves, if one was trained to read their patterns.

As he steeled himself, Tierim checked his directions one last time. Finally he turned his back on the remains of the demonic overseer as they rapidly cooled, and resumed his flight. His footpaws thudded heavily on the ground as he ran, and he darted out and through the endless night of the Borderlands. The Tashik was headed home.

He never saw nor felt the presence watching him, observing from a distance. It trailed him, and closely followed his escape. Two red eyes were locked on his back, and they followed him all the way through the Borderlands. He never saw the observer's lips curled in a smile, and he never heard their footsteps behind him.

He was headed home, but not unseen.

And there it is, the first chapter of Incendia (in its current form, at least). There's a lot of work on it to be done, but I felt it was good enough to warrant a public view for critique and criticism. Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought; the words of anyone who reads this will be carefully considered as I go into the next round of editing.

Thank you again for your time, and I also urge any up and coming writers who are reading this to check out my OBLIGATORY LINK WITH CAPSLOCK! On the other side of that link is my journal, a space I've used for writer-assistance articles. You might be able to take something away from my scribbling, like how to beat writer's block or how to manage your time better. Hope it helps!

Thanks for reading!