Keeper Of Tartarus

I calmed my breath and readied my body, slowly exhaling, for the battle that's about to happen at the end of it. Calling it a battle is insulting the event, I readied myself to wage war believing in myself that my friends around me seems to place on me. Hoping to be surprised of myself, I made my first move and boy am I surprised? I lunged into the first line, knocking a big bull faced demon in middle, the impact staggered him and hunched and he held his belly with a smile. A smile...

I looked around as the evil sneer spread wide on all the ugly and gruesome face. Their razor interlocked canines showing out as if everyone whiffed up the smell of their favorite dish and the reality set in.

They expect a blow to disintegrate a few 100 of their number, but a punch from me made the big guy hunch a bit. The reality smacked me with a serious blow to my gut because the hunched big guy let me feel its fist. I flied high and crash-landed in the tarmac. 'Boy I am in serious trouble!' I looked up at the tall and wide demon, almost a giant of 8 ft. Its animalistic face looking at me with a victory sneer.

It came in, lifting me up and snorted something to his friends. I cannot hear or understand him, as I'm being pummeled in my face by its tree like arm and rock like fist.

Ale flared up intense yellow summoning her core energy and ready to decimate everyone looking down on me. Likewise, Sarah concentrated energy into her rock hammer as the pulsing energy is like thunderbolt from the sky.

[GIRLS] "We are going in to help him"

KHAMAYUTHO asked in a cool and calm manner "Is he the master?"

"How dare you doubt him? Maybe we should kill you first" Brimming with rage, the girls are outraged at Khamayutho's comment ready to cleave his into two.

"It is not me who doubts the master or his ability, it's you two!" he said with a piercing stare

"We... cannot see him get hurt" the girls replied with hurtful eyes

"WAS I NOT THE MASTER'S FAITHFUL SERVANT? WAS I NOT THE ONE WHO CHANNELED HIS SOUL TO THE EARTH REALM DISPITE MY YEARS OF TORTURE AND PUNISHMENT? WAS I NOT SHARE GRIEF IN MASTER'S HURT?" Khamayutho finished with clenched fists, which was dripping blood from the intense physical and mental limitation that he laid on himself, watching his most treasured friend and his reverend master.

"Girls lay back, the master needs to know, who he really is and he needs to find and believe it on his own" said a more composed Khamayutho with a no argument stare.

[ALE] "But he's fighting Shedim an evil deity; he never had been trained and what if the hors.e.m.e.n arrive?"

[SARAH]"yeah, what if death arrives to the battle scene? We stand no chance Khamayutho"

Khamayutho replied with a smile, "Oh yes we do, we have Master. Girls I'll fight and die and sacrifice my life with my full consent and joy for him, but I will not deny his identity! I will not deny his ability! I will not deny his birth right for he is our master and keeper of Tartarus!" the girls nodded in reply ignited and bounded by Khamayutho's speech believing in David.

I feel the warm copper tasting liquid drip away from my face, - ha, it's my blood. I kept receiving blows after blows to my face and I lost the numbers as only the successive blow impact registers me that I am still alive.

The demon's knuckles cut open and as its fists hurting. It threw me down. Being bored with my punishment, I tried to contemplate the happening 'Why am I not dead? Why am I not dying? Why am I still in my full senses? Why had my body not given up? WHO AM I?'

With my mind in whirlwind, the demon decided to finish it. The Shedim borrowed a large long sword and aimed it for my head to kill me by stabbing it into my skull.

The very moment the moment where he decided to thrust the sword in, I have become full alert and responsive, registering everything that is happening around. 'It's slow; I can see it bringing the sword down in a… slow motion? Alternatively, am I fast? Am I really that fast?'

To think and debate all this in the quarter of the time taken for my death blow.' What is happening to me? What should I do?' with me being unable to comprehend the situation. For the spectators around the blade in the demon's hand sunk in with a great impact creating a dust cloud around us.

"DAVID!" the girls screamed in shock

"Girls control yourself, I'm trying to enjoy here" Khamayutho mocked with a smile

As the debris cleared the demon saw me in disbelief. Not expecting the sight of me, staring at him and smiling. Bewildered he looked down to check his skull crush victory, only to be disappointed as the blade sunk into the tarmac, missing me in the middle.

"Why can't anything in my life be simple?" I said aloud with a smile.

As the debris and dust, cleared people saw a shadowed figure standing tall and fine and I came into view. My body and mind act and react faster than I could explain; I saw the slow motion of the Shedim strike and easily tilted my head to the side missing the impact.

The Shedim looking at me standing charged at me with its long sword trying to stab, again I could see the Shedim in slow motion. I pushed a finger at the side of the blade, deflecting the path of the pointed tip and blade away from my body and punched the demon at its gut. Which was followed by a popping sound inside its stomach, I think I blasted an internal organ.

The impact made the demon drop its blade and clutch its stomach, unable to understand and accept its easy win to be a formidable opponent than it cannot handle.

The humiliated demon leapt at me with a series of fist dance, it has a decent technique. Kind of flawless, if I'm trying to anoint an adjective to it. However, as my fight mode vision set in, everything was in slow motion and I sidestepped and dogged its every attack easily.

For me it is was a very slow motion fight, but for the spectators….

[ALE]"I never knew he could move this fast!"

[SARAH]"he's lightning fast with unimaginable control!"

[KHAMAYUTHO]"That's the tip of the glacier, Dominus is just stirring, wait till he fully surfaces"

[ALE]"wow Khamayutho only you can address master by his actual name, now that is an honor. You must have been his very trusted comrade"

[SARAH]"well put Ale. Master never treats Khamayutho as a servant, but has he ever for anyone. Yet, still master and Khamayutho share a well trusted friendship"

[KHAMAYUTHO]'clears-throat',"Ummmm girls? Can we concentrate the life or death battle of David?"

The whole area of demons and my companions are not interested in anything but to keep a keen eye on my parry with the demon as if this will be the deciding battle. We trade fist, which I dodge and he receives.

Like a disciplined boxing match, we are engaged in close hand-to-hand combat with me having the upper arm, in the happening.

Right fist-dodge-left hook-dodge-leap and elbow dunk to the demons head.

My last blow delivered with a devastating force, which surprised even me as I felt the bigger creature's skull crunch and his neck collapsing. My foe kissed the sand, not capable of standing as it is suffocating for its breath.

I took up the half-stabbed long sword that should have taken my life to finish the final moments of my suffering foe. Hold the sword like a spear in two hands with the hilt in one hand and supporting the flat of the sword in other, the wheezing demon look into my eyes.

I backed it with a steely stare and drove the metal into its head and put the sword back buried in the ground underneath the head of my foe, gore and blood splatter across. The whole arena seemed quiet with no whisper or breeze of wind.