The captain growled at his men who didn't notice the massive amount of Dragon soldiers standing behind them, donning in heavy armours. Their armours shone with pride and authority as the reptile on their crest confirmed who they were. Captain Roover's eyes slowly washed over them with distasteful glances then it moved slowly toward the little Prince and saw his smile had widened. It seemed the Prince could read his thoughts and enjoying it. Who the devil was he?
He must have come with preparation. But how come he did all of the arrangements in just one day? Or did he plan all these before?
They were underestimating him. The captain of the Dark Maiden ship. For twenty years nobody could even touch his hair and now this little twat was trying to get his hands on him! Captain Roover's chest swelled with pride and anger as fury burnt his stomach. He was the one who had come back alive from the place of death where no one would come back alive, yet he had. He even achieved a power where no one would dare to think of it. How this child could treat him like that.
"You have lost the battle, Captain Roover." The young Prince said with a smug look on his face which made the captain grit his uneven teeth. He stood there with his face darkening by the seconds as his rage reached his ears. He had never thought he would have to use the terrifying power that he had been surpassing this long but it seemed he had to. He had to show this twat that some powers shouldn't be messed with. He shouldn't be messed with.
He laughed, making Demian a little wary as he said, "Oh, I haven't lost yet, have I?" He could feel power surging through his veins as it reached his left eye where it had been hidden.
A few guards of Demian reached Captain Roover and were about to capture him when he pulled down his eye patch. A glinting white stone stayed there instead of his eyeball, shimmering with light as Demian's brows ceased together.
"This is the eye of a Devil and it snatches away every soul I want it to," he laughed as Demian shouted, "Capture him!"
His three guards were about to capture the captain when the captain moved his eyes to them and instantly the guards fell on the ground, unmoving. As if something had put them to sleep but their chest didn't move. Their bodies turned white as if they had been sleeping in ice.
Seraphina gasped at the sight of the poor guards losing their lives instantly. She had been feeling unusual for quite a while when coming to the port. At first, she thought it was the wizards but now she was clear, it was this stone that gave her the unsettling feelings. What a terrifying power! It snatched the souls as if some hungry stone went out to fill its stomach.
When the captain mentioned the stone, The eye of the devil. She felt like she had heard it somewhere but had no idea where.
Now that she remembered, Merlene had told her about it. There were three stones which were very powerful and no one in this world should mess up with them. The white stone was the Eye of The Devil, the bloody red stone was the Kiss of the Devil and the black stone which no one had ever seen was the Death stone, the Death of the Devil.
Seraphina had only heard about it and never thought she would ever get to see one. All three stones had hunger for death and destruction. How could the captain get it? The stones should not fall on the wrong hands.
She tightened her grip on Demian's hand as Demian looked at her, questioningly. Seeing her a bit rigid and tense, he caressed her hand with his thumb. "Don't worry, Seraphina, it is just another stone."
"But, it's not a good stone. I feel like I've heard somewhere about it."
Demian cast her a smile of reassurance that everything would be fine and Seraphina could feel her tension lifting away but still she could not understand the knot in her belly. Her conscience screamed that the stone should not be here.
"Don't worry," Demian said as his eyes moved toward the captain and Seraphina could see the corners of his lips curling up as he added, "I have come here not just to capture the pirates."
"Then why have you come here?" She asked curiously.
"You'll see." His answer didn't soothe her screaming conscience and now, it blared with caution as Seraphina's legs trembled. He hadn't come here for the captain nor for his wizards and from the evil intent in his eyes she could tell that Demian certainly hadn't come to settle the slave trading. Did he know about the stone?
Seraphina could not stop herself from asking, "Did you-did you come here for the ...stones?" She bit her lips as the question left her, she was scared if he wouldn't tell her but she was more scared what if he told her.
Demian didn't look at her, instead his ice cold eyes stayed on the captain as he said, "What if I tell you that I want the stones for myself, Seraphina?"
Her heart banged against her ribcage as to why would he need the deadliest stones? He already had the power of the Dragon nation. Why would he want them? She could not answer him as she didn't know what to tell him.
The captain laughed hysterically, making her snapped out of her reveries, "Your soldiers can't capture me now. They are just so useless."
"And next it will be you." He added as his eyes intensified at Demian and Seraphina's heart thumped loudly as she recalled the stone sapped life and it was a very rare stone. And only a wizard could use its full potentialities from afar. If he wanted, he could sap Demian's life from a distance.
Seraphina could never let him do that to her husband as she tried to come before Demian. But Demian held her hand tightly to refrain her from covering his body from Roover's view. He hissed, "What do you think you are doing?"
"But the stone-"
"I know that very well what the stone can do. Just stay behind me." His voice held an authority which Seraphina could not disobey.
Seraphina muttered in a grumpy manner, "No! Why would I have to listen to you?"
Demian's brows twitched vigorously at his wife as he hissed through his gritted teeth, "Just stay behind me and for once let me protect you."
Seraphina looked at him with a pair of wide jade eyes and with heated cheeks, she grumbled but stepped back as her eyes fell on the captain who seemed to be losing his mind. It was unusual how the captain was acting. He seemed composed a while ago but now...
Was it a side effect of using a deadly stone?
"You are next!" The captain shouted as he, in a lighting speed, came near Demian. Seraphina's heart was about to come out of her chest as she brought out her sword unconsciously and as he reached, her sword collided against him. But he held it with his one hand which had a hook. She didn't think he would come for Demian instantly. Just how much her husband liked to make enemies?
She tried to lose her sword but the hook wrapped it in a dangerous twist. The sword could break into two if put more pressure yet she tried her wits end to get herself free from his hook.
"Oh! This woman knows how to draw out a sword," the captain smiled with his unhealthy set of teeth as anyone would have vomited at the sight of it, "I shall make her mine after I kill you."
"In your dreams, you bastard!" Seraphina growled as the captain's eyes grew rebellious at Demian and Seraphina's blood pumped through her veins as she tried to pull out her sword but with failed attempts. She had to do it now otherwise she would lose Demian. Her heart felt a pang at the thought as she pulled it with all the power she could muster.
However, she felt a darkness suddenly sipped out from his stone as it glinted with a blinding glow. She closed her eyes and prayed in her head 'please, don't take Demian from me'. Her heart twisted in a way that it hurt and she prayed more, 'Please, not Demian'. She felt her body was swaying in the air as if she had lost her weight all of a sudden and suddenly she wasn't there anymore. She could not see clearly but what she saw, she had no words to describe it.
The whole surrounding had turned white with the intensive glow of the stone and she felt a presence of an unknown entirely where the stone was. The monochrome grey shadow stood where the captain should be but she knew it wasn't the captain as the shadow was larger. Who was it?
She felt her body was transferred to another place and all the worries and troubles she had slowly evaporated from her mind. She felt at peace. Did the stone take her instead of Demian? Was she dead now? She almost scoffed at the thought as it was rather pitiful to have a death by the stone.
However, she was glad if it did take her since that way she wouldn't have to witness Demian's motionless body. She could never imagine him dead.
A chuckle came her way and it seemed it was a male voice. As she opened her eyes she was back to where she was-entangled in the grip of the hook. She blinked. What was that? Was she dreaming?
As the shimmering of the stone went off, her mind immediately reminded her of the present situation and her breath hitched. She felt scared to look back. What if... No! That can't be happening! Her lips trembled and she took deep breaths before looking back.
And as she tilted her head, her eyes came out of its sockets. Demian was still standing on his ground. It wasn't only Seraphina who was shocked, the notorious captain was shocked as well.
He stammered, "Why-why it's not working on you?"
Demian grinned evilly as if the little body of him turned somehow large. He was still a foot shorter than both of them yet, the way he gave off a dangerous vibe, it made both the captain and Seraphina shiver in their place. Demian stood there as if the stone solely belonged to him thus it had no effect on him.
Demian said in a low voice, "Some things don't work on me, Roover, especially when I'm the same as this stone."
"Wha- what do you mean?"
"You will know what I mean..." Demian said and ordered, "General Mifaso, Reginald, this is our chance."
Before Captain Roover could move his head, two swords came from both sides of his neck and with a slash, his head went flying to the ground. His hold on Seraphina's sword loosened as his body tumbled down on the floor, before Demian's feet.
Demian looked down at the body as he mumbled, "This is where you belong, under my feet."
Seraphina looked at him for a moment. She could not decipher what she was feeling. Was she scared of him? Was she relieved? Was she shocked? All in all, she felt everything at once and only Demian could make her feel this way.
After seeing their Captain defeated, the crew members stopped resisting and surrendered themselves. Seraphina's eyes were still on her dear husband with a wide mouth. Feeling her gaze at him, Demian asked, "What is it?"
"Wh-why didn't the stone work on you?" She asked clearly she had felt its power but she could never tell him that.
"Why? You would have liked it if it worked on me?" Demian asked matter-of-factly which made Seraphina irked.
"Of course not!" She exclaimed, "the stone was supposed to work but I was wondering why it didn't."
She recalled his statement as she asked again, "And what did you mean by you are the same as this stone?"
Demian looked at her for a moment and said, "Because I'm cursed already."
A gap formed on Seraphina's mouth as she had almost forgotten about his curse and she asked, "How did you know it wouldn't work?"
"I didn't."
Seraphina blinked, "What?"
"I wanted to know if the stone would work on me as I had learnt that it only takes the souls which are pure."
"Pure?" Seraphina moved his eyes toward the captain. How could a man like him have a pure soul?
"Pure as in not cursed." Demian answered her thoughts as he let out a dry scoff, bitterness visible on it. "At least I get to know that my soul isn't pure."
There was a distaste in his voice and it somehow told Seraphina that he had never liked himself. Her heart felt a pang as her eyes stayed on him as he was leaving and ordering his men to do the tasks.
"Take the stone from his eyes, be sure not to touch it with your skin." He said as Seraphina followed him and said, "It's not true."
Demian looked behind, "What?"
"It's not true that your soul isn't pure, if it wasn't, I would have never fallen-"
"Your Highness," Reginald came before she could finish her sentence and as they engaged in a conversation, Seraphina felt her cheeks and ears heated. What was she going to tell him? Her heart thumped loudly as she was afraid Demian might hear it.
"What were you saying?" He asked as the knight went away and Seraphina shook her head, "N-nothing."
"You were saying something..." Demian gave her a look which she avoided and went ahead as Demian said, "Speaking of which, we need to talk about something."
Seraphina felt the coldness on Demian's voice as she turned back and saw her dear husband was glaring at her.
"Err... What is it?" She could not recall what he would talk about as she ran her thoughts.
"You coming with Casian." Demian said with a cold tone that anyone in the vicinity would freeze in his voice.
Seraphina chuckled nervously as she said, "I- I had no choice..."
"Is that so?" A crooked grin formed on Demian's mouth as Seraphina gulped.
Seraphina pushed Demian from behind as she said, "It's alright, he didn't do anything except for holding me toward him." She said the last few words in a low tone in which Demian asked, "What? He did something to you, didn't he?"
Demian gritted his teeth as Seraphina said, "No. No. I was telling you that Alonzo might be very worried. Let's go."
As the couple went to their carriage still grumbling on what Seraphina had done, there was another chapter that was about to begin in their lives. The chapter which Chaos would ensue and burn everything in its wake.