They were due to set off at dawn the next day, so Taurus decided to go for a run to clear his head before the big mission, just before dawn.
He thought about what Sag had said, his own special mission Malus had given him, the fact that they were going to confront Berial after all these years...
He shook his head as he continued on running, trying to keep all the confusing thoughts out of his head..
"Slow down, Taurus!" He turned around to see Scorpio and Sag also doing a morning run. They weren't too far behind, but he could see while Scorpio looked perfectly fine and in her element, Sag was all red and looking ready to fall over.
"You need something?" Taurus asked them as they approached. He scoffed a little as Sag put her hands on her knees and panted.
"Thought you may want some company," Scorpio replied.
"How the hell... are you two... not tired?" Sag panted between breaths.
"That's what happens when you train consistently," Taurus answered in his usual tone of voice. "And as for you," he turned to Scorpio. "I don't need company. But you guys can come if you want."
Taurus then turned and began running again, reaching a nice and steady pace, with the other two soon joining him.
"You seem a little off," Scorpio noted. She was looking pointedly at him, and he scoffed in response.
"Yeah, and who told you that? Tooth fairy? I'm perfectly fine so don't worry about me," Taurus said.
"No need to for the snappy remarks," Scorpio rolled her eyes.
"Yeah... she's just... worried about you," Sag said, taking long, deep breaths between deep few words.
"Nice to know," Taurus smirked.
"What's your smirk supposed to mean? I care for the wellbeing of my comrade, nothing more. If you say nothing's wrong, then I believe you."
"Whatever," Taurus shrugged. He looked over at Sag on his left and sighed softly. "Let's stop for a little while. Sag is going to die at this rate."
"Thanks," she graciously said, putting her hands on her knees and panting heavily. Scorpio handed her a bottle of water which she drank gratefully.
"What did Malus want to talk to you about?" Scorpio asked. "I don't remember you showing off a new weapon last night."
Taurus didn't meet her gaze. He hadn't said anything about what Malus had told him yesterday, apart from the fact that Berial would only be on the Crey Islands for a couple of weeks. As a result, they had decided to board a ship from the Zhance harbour since it would be the fastest way to travel.
"So that's what's bothering you," Sag said, handing the practically empty bottle back to Scorpio. "What did he say? Bad news?"
"You can confide in us. We won't tell the others," Scorpio reassured him. Taurus wanted to, but he knew he couldn't. If he told them about going to the cave in Axin, they would probably end up wanting to go with him, regardless of Malus saying he had to go alone.
"I told you, I'm fine. Why do girls have to make such a big deal about everything?" Taurus scoffed. That seemed to do the trick.
"We aren't making a big deal! We're just trying to look out for you, but sorry, I forgot you're 'Mr Cool' and you don't need anyone!" Sag yelled at him, face full of fury.
Taurus looked in her eyes and realised she was hurt. She wanted to help but it seemed like he didn't trust her, even after what had happened the day before.
"You're right, I don't need anyone. Especially your needy little arse," Taurus said coldly.
Sag looked like she was going to murder him, but Scorpio held her back and the two of them left wordlessly.
Well, that settles that, Taurus thought continuing his jog peacefully.
It was almost dawn by the time he got back and the others had just started waking up, Leo and Virgo the first among them.
"Oh, look, it's Mr Lonely," Leo greeted as Taurus entered the inn. He was currently eating breakfast with a downhearted looking Virgo. By Leo's greeting, Taurus guessed that the girls had told him of their encounter.
"I prefer to be alone," Taurus shrugged, sitting down next to them. "What's up with him?" He motioned at Virgo.
"Libra dumped him," Leo grinned. Virgo remained looking down at his lap, seemingly ignoring Leo.
"I wasn't even aware they were going out. Must have been the shortest relationship ever," Taurus said.
"Not funny you guys," Virgo sighed. "I blew it big time!" He hurried his face in his hands and Leo scoffed.
"C'mon, I'm sure whatever embarrassing thing you did couldn't have been all bad. What did you do?"
"You don't understand..."
Taurus was getting annoyed by Virgo wallowing in his deep sadness. "Just say it, damn it. Or don't, but stop complaining about it," Taurus said.
"Yeah I wanna hear how crap... I mean how brilliant this date went!" Gemini joined the conversation with an Aries who had very clearly just woken up.
"Yeah, tell us dude, it can't be that bad. Once, I accidentally called a girl by her sisters name," Aries smiled, rubbing his eyes. He described the memory fondly, even though the girl slapped him in front of the whole restaurant he added.
Taurus couldn't help but scoff. "How did you even mix them up? Were they twins or something?"
Aries nodded. "And I might have slept with her sister the night before..." he said, as Leo and Gemini laughed, with Virgo looking at him in disbelief.
"Well, I may have took a girl dancing, not knowing how to dance, made a complete fool of myself and topped it all off by dropping her and she sprained her ankle," Gemini said. Taurus didn't find that hard to believe. Gemini had probably done numerous embarrassing things and this was probably even low ranked on the embarrassing scale.
"How the hell did you recover from that?" Leo laughed, as Aries looked like he was about to die from hysterics.
"I'm Gemini, I can bounce back from anything. Though, I'm never going dancing again."
"What is wrong with you guys?" Virgo asked, shaking his head as Aquarius appeared from behind Taurus.
"What's wrong with who?" She asked.
"Erm... nobody," Gemini awkwardly responded, looking away.
"No one," Aries shrugged.
Leo simply grinned and shook his head at her.
"What's going on?" Aquarius raised an eyebrow at Taurus. The other four clearly made signs of 'don't say anything' behind her back.
"Do you really think I was paying attention?" Taurus scoffed, shrugging her question off. Aquarius didn't like his response, but didn't make a big deal out of it. She quietly walked away from them and Gemini breathed a sigh of relief.
"Crisis averted. If she found out what we were talking about..."
"We'd be a laughing stock," Aries finished. "So... what about you Leo?" Aries devilishly turned to him.
"What about me? I've rarely had any dates, demons are less of a problem than girls are," he said, throwing some chocolate in the air and catching it with his mouth.
"Cmon dude, you have to say something," Aries said.
"How about I tell an embarrassing demonhunter story?"
"That's fine too," Gemini nodded.
"That's even better!" Aries eye lit up like stars and Taurus rolled his eyes. Aries could be such a child.
"But after me it's Virgo. I wanna know what happened with Libra."
"Fine..." Virgo grumbled, clearly not happy.
"Okay then, basically, I was hunting a demon called an Incubus, basically a male Succubus. They have different powers, so are different types of demons apparently. Anyways, Incubus love feasting on women, specifically virgin women."
"What do you mean, feasting on women?" Taurus asked. He was a little worried about the answer Leo was about to give. Even Aries looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Sucking their blood you idiots," Leo rolled his eyes, and there was collective relief among the others. "Read the books I got you. Anyways, this Incubus had just fed and they get a major power boost from female blood. Bearing in mind, I was a rookie demonhunter, so I had no idea how I would win. By the time his newfound power would run out, he would take the girls somewhere else and feed again. I had to fight him when he was strongest."
"How's this embarrassing?" Aries questioned. "Looks like you're trying to show off."
"Shut up, I'm actually curious as to what happens," Virgo said.
"You shut up, Virgo," Aries muttered.
"Well, Incubus have a... weird weakness. If they're around males they get squeamish, but he got a large power up from the blood he got. Well, so... you kinda have to fight them naked since their power lessens around males for some reason," Leo sheepishly finished.
The roar of laughter from Virgo, Aries and Gemini was so loud, numerous people looked over. Even Taurus grinned.
"Okay, so a demon saw your dong as you were killing it. What else?" Aries cackled.
"Well, the girls were kinda chained up in the same room..."
"You idiot," Taurus smirked, as more laughter came from the other three. "Why in the hell would you tell them?"
Leo shrugged. "I don't mind. It was like 2 years ago and the girls weren't too focused on me, since a demon had just took their blood."
"What's so funny?" Scorpio demanded, face like thunder staring at all of them.
"Nothing..." Gemini squeaked.
"Erm...." Leo struggled to come up with something. Taurus couldn't leave it to Aries to think of an excuse - they would all be screwed, so he took it upon himself.
"Virgo thinks the best blacksmith was Thraldrin, like an amateur," Taurus said, even adding a little grin.
"Huh?" Scorpio asked, as Gemini got the hint and began to chuckle. She glared at him and he apologised.
"It's a boy thing," Leo sheepishly grinned.
"Sounds like it. Well, no time for jokes, we set off in two minutes. Carriages have come, we'll be heading to the port town Rezan, then to Axin and then..."
"Then to the son of a bitch I'm going to kill."
"No, then to another port town and then - " she nodded at Leo, who looked like he was going to burst.
"We kill that son of a bitch and I get my revenge!"
"And we save countless lives," Virgo reminded him the main reason for the mission.
"Yeah, yeah, that too," Leo dismissively waved his hand.
"Well, he's raring to go," Cancer noted, coming towards their table. "C'mon guys, Azula's calling us. Carriages have arrived."
"But we didn't even hear Virgo's story..." Leo grumbled sadly.
"What?" Scorpio turned to him.
"What?" Leo shrugged innocently.
"Nothing," Scorpio seemed to blush, before turning on her heels and hastily leaving the inn.
She gets embarrassed quite easily, Taurus thought as he watched her leave.
***
It had been eleven days, but they finally arrived at Axin. Travelling by sea sucked so much.
They were also exhausted walking from the port town to Axin and that wasn't even their final destination. Getting to the Crey Islands meant they had to go to another port town closer to the south.
But Taurus still smiled as he looked up in his old home. It hadn't been bought by anyone and stood on its lonesome, looking eerie and neglected in the moonlight.
"That's where you used to live?" Aries asked. He didn't seem impressed - not that Taurus cared what he thought. His house was pretty small, and looked more like a dark cabin stationed in the middle of the woods than a home for someone who lived in a large city.
"You want to sleep outside or not?" Taurus asked, as Aries sheepishly laughed.
"Haha, you're not... you're not serious are you?"
"Well, the house doesn't have space for thirteen people, so looks like you gotta make a sacrifice. For the good of the team," Taurus said, watching smirks form on some of the others.
It was like they were all exactly the same.
"You're serious?" Aries groaned, his head dropping. "Fine, but don't expect niceties if you ever end up at my home."
"He's joking... I think. Anyways, just go to an inn," Capricorn said.
"Oh yeah," Aries lightened up.
"Idiot..." Capricorn grumbled.
"How many people can your home fit?" Azula asked.
Taurus shrugged. "Never had this many before. Never really had anyone come over." Apart from one of his friends, Ina, no one else knew where he lived and he had never bothered to ask them to come over. He even didn't want Ina to come over, but she followed him home like a wierd stalker/pervert and then he had no choice but to invite her in for tea and biscuits.
"So, anyways, why don't we all just go to an inn? Do you even have keys to this place?" Virgo asked, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"No, but we can break a window," Taurus replied.
"I like it, just my style," Aries cackled, rubbing his hands together.
"Lets pretend Taurus didn't say that," Scorpio said. She looked around at all of them ready to break into his former home and she sighed. "Seriously, guys, just forget..."
"Fine, we stay at an inn," Taurus shrugged. He didn't feel any sort of nostalgia for his old home - it was just an empty house, nothing else.
"Wasn't it at least nice to see your old home?" Sag asked him.
Taurus shrugged. "Why would it?" He walked past her without a second look, but he noticed her staring at him as he walked away. 'What's her problem? '
"Any good places around here? Any nice services?" Leo asked. He had been strangely quiet on the boat, but had become his normal self as he had stepped onto dried land. Maybe if he ever got too annoying, Taurus would tie him to a mast of a boat and then have that boat set sail...
Yep, that seemed like a perfectly good plan.
"Haven't you been here before?" Scorpio asked, talking about Axin.
Leo thought for a moment as if he was remembering something, but quickly shook his head. "I prefer the East," he said. "I have no idea where to go," he swiftly added.
"Yeah and we'd all like it if you went back East," Gemini smirked.
"And then who'd save your stupid arse?"
"I would," Aquarius stepped in.
Gemini smirked and pointed at her. Leo was taken aback, and looked like he was about to say something, but Taurus quickyl cut him off.
"No one cares, just follow me. I know a place we can go!" Taurus led the way, and he felt the eyes following him walking on ahead.
"Taurus being assertive for once," Aries nodded approvingly. Taurus rolled his eyes without looking back. The sooner he got these guys to bed, the sooner he go to that stupid cave for Malus.
***
He was more stressed than usual at entering that stupid cave that Malus had told him about. He needed to wait for the others to go sleep and he had to be back by the time they woke up. And they couldn't know he was gone.
'This is just going to be another pain in my arse,' he bitterly thought, as he stood outside the entrance to the cave and looked into the unwelcoming darkness. The cool, night air made his breath visible and his hair stand on end, but he seemed to get much colder as he neared the inside.
"The hell is this?" He muttered to himself, stopping for a moment and exhaling deeply on his hands and rubbing them together. His breath was so chilly, it made his hands colder. Now he knew something was wrong. Malus had said this part of the quest was optional, so maybe he didn't need to risk going into the damn thing. But something told him this was something he had to do.
With a small grunt, and a heavy heart, he began to walk towards the mouth of the cave.
"Where you going?" A voice called. Taurus froze.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He turned around, his eyes filled with fury, his fists clenched a lot of anger directed towards Pisces, who stood nervously, a few yards away from him.
"I saw you leaving the inn... and I wondered were you were going so...." Pisces trailed off.
"So you decided to follow me? What, you wanna baby me, kid? This doesn't work like that, so get lost!" Taurus didn't know why he was so angry, but he really didn't want to see Pisces in that moment.
"Please, Taurus, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," Pisces said tearfully, looking like he was about to brake down. Taurus was slightly confused - he knew the kid was a little sensitive, but he was never this close to tears. Taurus had thought he had more fight in him, or at the very least, the courage to stand up for himself.
"Whatever," Taurus coldly shrugged. He shouldn't have to be holding his hand at a time like this? Where was his mother when he needed her?
"I'll get stronger, I promise." That was more like Pisces, but it seemed forced.
"Okay."
"Can... can I..."
"Get the hell out of here," Taurus shut him down. "Some of these caves can be lined with comamile." He saw Pisceses confused face and explained. "It's lethal poison that doesn't need to be ingested. Just touching your skin is enough." It was highly unlikely - comamile was pretty rare, but Pisces didn't have to know that.
"Oh, ok, makes sense. I'll go home."
Taurus was definitely confused now. He was sure Pisces would have at least made some sarcastic comeback about him going in there, or at least look sad that he wasn't able to go, but Pisces looked content. Relieved even.
"Yeah, go, get out of here," Taurus grit his teeth, slightly hurt that Pisces didn't put up more of a fight and slowly turned around, looking into the darkness of the cave. He looked over his shoulder and gave a small smile to Pisces, who turned around and walked away.
There was something wrong, but Taurus didn't have the time to investigate.
He took a deep breath and headed inside the cave.
He had brought a lamp so he had a little bit of light as he wandered aimlessly. All he knew was that he had to find some stupid demon - Rhaglius or some crap - and then extract some blood from him. He had no idea if it would be hostile or helpful.
If it was hostile... Taurus put a hand over the hilt of his blade and let out a deep breath. He didn't really care if Malus wanted the demon alive or not, he would take it out if need be.
He wandered through the cave, aimlessly trying to listen for some sort of voice calling towards him, or some sort of sign that would point him in the right direction.
There was nothing.
"Damn, where the hell is that thing?" Taurus muttered, kicking a small stone away.
As if on cue, a stalactite fell from overhead. Taurus didn't even flinch, he formed a large spike coming out of the ground to meet it in a collision.
He was going to continue on, but something else stopped him.
A large, curling roar rang out through the cave and Taurus quickly turned to see where the sound was coming from. And from what.
A large, humanoid demon, burst through the cave knocking away stalactite and stalagmites in it's way and eyeing Taurus with malevolent intent.
"Hmph, bring it," Taurus readied his sword, holding it diagonally across is body. The light wasn't great, but Taurus could make out its shape - it was three, maybe four times larger than an average human, with a gigantic torso and arms that looked like they had hammers, not hands. It was covered head to toe in prickly, brown fur, and even though its legs were skinnier and smaller compared to the rest of its body, they must have been pretty strong to hold up the rest of it.
The demon charged at him, running like a gorilla with its hands grabbing the ground and pushing it forward even faster.
It swung with a left hook at Taurus, who nimbly dodged. He didn't want to block until he saw the extent of its strength.
The left hook intended for Taurus went into the wall and broke it as if it was made of paper. He saw the demon cry out in annoyance, as it tried to get itself out.
Taurus didn't hesitate to capitalise.
"That all?" He cockily asked, as he punched the ground causing a fissure that the demon fell into. It roared in response and Taurus charged at it, sword ready to cut deep.
The demon managed to get its arm out of the wall, and turned to see Taurus running at it.
Taurus noticed its head was that of a bull, and it has a large, golden nose ring. This didn't falter him.
He ducked under another swing and slashed at its torso. The demon howled in agony and caught Taurus in the shoulder with wild, flailing arm. The force of it was so strong that Taurus flew back a few feet and landed in a heap. As he stood, the demon pulled itself out of the ground. Taurus caused the sides of the wall to produce spikes that would skewer the demon, but they barely broke skin.
Damn! Taurus thought.
Taurus knew he couldn't cause an explosion in the cave, he would risk the entire thing collapsing and killing him in the process.
He caused another fissure, but the demon leapt behind Taurus in one great leap. It raised both of its hands and slammed down.
Taurus generated a small earthquake under its feet and it has to catch itself from falling.
"Try again," Taurus bared his teeth and stabbed the demon in the shoulder to another cry of pain.
Its other hand swatted Taurus into the wall, causing the cave to shudder ominously. Taurus fell to one knee, and wiped blood off his mouth.
"Bastard," Taurus growled, sending a row of spikes at the demon, who ran through them as if they weren't there. Taurus put both his palms onto the ground and conjured a wall of earth in front of him, but the demon charged through it easily and pounced onto him, pinning his hands to the ground his face exposed.
He took a hammer fist to the face and and knew he had a broken jaw as excruciating pain ricocheted like lightning through his body. He spat blood onto the demon.
If he was die here, it wasn't as a coward or in fear. He would die as he lived, fearless and proud.
He tried commanding the earth to help him, but without the use of his arms, it was useless. One of its hand was on his entire body, restricting most of his movement.
The blood Taurus spat also didn't do him any favours. The demon roared in his face, a bloodcurling roar that made Taurus's ears ring and his nose crinkle from the horrific smell of dead flesh.
The demon raised another arm, but Taurus was able to move one of his legs and a spike from ground pierced the demon in its underbelly. This time it reared its head back and let out a terrible cry of agony, so much so, it loosened its grip on Taurus.
Without thinking, Taurus retreated a few yards away. His head was still spinning, his breathing was rapid and not calm and the adrenaline didn't allow him to collect his thoughts.
But the demon had recovered.
Its black blood oozed out of a wound just below its navel, on the right. It went on all fours and walked towards him like a gorilla, eyeing him malevolently. Taurus couldn't think about much and he barely had any strength, but as if subconsciously, as if the battlefield was his birthright, he readied his blade.
Might not be as glamorous as Leo's swords or as legendary as Ascalon, but it sure as hell is gonna get the job done! Taurus thought.
As the demon began its charge, a white beam blocked its path, searing the ground in the process. The demon jumped back as a confident looking Pisces entered the battlefield.
"Miss me?" He asked Taurus with an arrogant swagger, signalling upwards.
Taurus saw what he meant.
What is wrong with him today? Taurus thought, as the demon charged towards Pisces who disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared behind it.
As the demon landed in the place Pisces had just been, taurus caused all the stalactite above it to come raining down. He then caused stalagmites to protrude from the ground and pierce the demon in its underbelly, making the tip of each one explode as they entered.
After half a minute of trying to get free, and agonising cries, the demon took one last breath and closed its eyes, slumping its body.
When it was finally dead, Taurus's body allowed himself to fall to the ground.
"Damn," he muttered and then flinched as his jaw exploded in pain.
"Here," Pisces handed him a few rather large, dark green leaves, almost with a look of contempt. Taurus managed a confused look. "It'll numb your jaw, I'll find some herbs and stuff to help quell the pain too. Stay here, I guess," he shrugged before taking off.
"Thanks," Taurus muttered, before beginning to suck on a leaf. He wondered how Pisces knew about it. Maybe Capricorn had told him - he did spend a lot of time with her.
A few minutes later, Pisces was back. Taurus saw him out of the corner of his eye, as he leaned against a wall, his head drooping.
Pisces had been right, the leaf did numb the pain, he barely felt anything, his mouth felt very weird.
"How are you?" Pisces asked.
"Thanks," Taurus said again. He thought Pisces would be thrilled to have helped him out, or worried about his injury, but the kid wasn't the least bit bothered.
"Yeah, here, drink this," Pisces handed him a pouch full of a liquid Taurus couldn't make out. He drank it, but dropped half of it on the floor. The liquid that he was able to drink was pretty bad - it was thick, and tasted like a mushy broccoli.
"Drink, not spill," Pisces smirked. Taurus narrowed his eyes at him, and like a flip had been switched, Pisces instantly looked much more fearful and scared of his surroundings. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that."
Taurus rolled his eyes.
"How're you feeling?"
"Great, now get out," Taurus deadpanned.
"What?" Pisces asked incredulously, stamping his foot and clenching his fists.
"You were never meant to be here. I don't care if you saved my life, leave now," Taurus turned away from him and began walking. The demon had probably been spooked and maybe left already, but he couldn't risk it if it had stayed. Maybe it was all part of the test.
"Taurus, what's wrong with my hands?" Pisces suddenly asked in a very fearful tone.
Taurus stopped and turned around to see Pisces's hands bright red, and his fingernails actually leaking blood. His blood ran cold.
"No, no, no, no, no, fuck NO!" Taurus yelled running towards Pisces. Pisces was now on the floor, tears streaming down his eyes. He coughed blood and his blue eyed had a tint of green.
"You idiot," Taurus knelt beside him, laying Pisces face up on the ground, opening his shirt to reveal his bare chest. All of his veins were clearly seen prominently from Taurus's lamplight and Taurus couldn't stop tears falling. There was no mistaking what was wrong with Pisces - comamile poison. "Tell me how you got those herbs together."
"They were in a few shrubs around the caves. But, after I made the mixture, I slipped and my hand got caught on a rock and green slime fell on it," Pisces said, his eyes fluttering open and close, his breathing sharp.
"No, no, no!" Taurus yelled with all his rage. Pisces didn't deserve this. He was just a good-hearted kid, who wanted to live an adventure. He was more than a best friend - he was his little brother.
And Taurus let him down.
"Fucking hell!" Taurus screamed, causing a stalagmite near him to explode.
"Can you save... me?" Pisces voice was weak and nearly extinguished. Taurus knew there was no hope - comamile was extremely potent and he would be dead in a few minutes.
He wanted to tell him it would all be alright, that he was at Pisces's side, that he would pull through, but he knew even Pisces was under no delusion. He saw his tears, and Taurus couldn't wipe them all away.
"Taurus?" Pisces asked. "I'm done, right?"
Taurus didn't answer. He couldn't answer. He didn't have the heart or the strength. He was truly a weakling.
"If... if I'm going to die, but suffer, end me now..." Pisces asked without waiting for answer.
Taurus couldn't hide his shock.
"No, no, shut the hell up. You're crazy, I can't."
Pisces body agitated violently for a few second and he coughed more blood. "Do this.. for me..." Pisces pleaded.
Taurus knew he would be ending his suffering. He couldn't let Pisces suffer more than he had to. But could he really be the one to kill him. He strengthened his resolve, exhaled deeply and raised his sword with a heavy heart.
"I don't know what to do," Taurus cried. "Kid, I'm so sorry, I should have watched out for you. I should have been better... I'm... so sorry," Taurus said through tears. Pisces groaned.
"I know..." Pisces said, as Taurus plunged the blade into his chest. Pisces seemed to smile as he closed his eyes and breathed his last.
Taurus felt lifeless, helpless, ready for death.
That was replaced with unbridled rage and fury. He would kill this demon, no matter what. He would kill Malus, Berial, all those who ever hurt Pisces.
He also realised how much the others had also meant to him in such a short amount of time. So he made himself a promise, sat alone, in the dark cave, beside Pisces.
I'll kill every demon for Pisces, every speck of evil in this world. But I won't let anymore of my friends, no matter what. Even if it's as the cost of my own!
He took his blade out of Pisces chest and encompassed it with earth. When he got out of this hellish place he would summon the earth to the surface and give him a proper burial.
He delved deeper into the cave and before long, the cave opened up and Taurus entered a chamber with eerie green lamps on the walls, going all around it. In the middle, was a large throne made of green stone, stylised with three blades protruding from the top of the seat. In the middle, an eight foot, humanoid demon sat and watched him with six eyes. Only ite figure resembled a humans - it possessed six bright yellow eyed with no iris and eye sockets that looked like slits, with skin like charcoal and one horn curving upwards on its forehead. Taurus saw no mouth, each of its elbows having a sword protruding from them and a green gem in the middle of its chest.
"You have arrived," it noted in boredom. It had no mouth, but it rang around the entire chamber, clear as day.
"I'm here for Malus."
"Your friend?" The demon ignored him.
Taurus sent a small meteor towards it. The meteor moved away from it as of it didn't want to go near it. It exploded in the side of the chamber.
"Give me your blood or die," Taurus threatened.
"Very well. Just cut my arm and take a pouch full. Then leave my sight."
Taurus did as he was told. He wasn't worried about being attacked. He was ready to fight. But ni fight or restiance came. The demon stuck its arm out and allowed Taurus to cut it. Black blood of the demon oozed out of its arm and into a black pouch with golden embroidery Malus had given him.
Taurus wanted to see what the throne was made of so he touched an armrest.
"Don't touch my throne," it warned.
"What's it made of?" Taurus asked.
"Something indestructible, the ore coming from a volcano in the demon realm."
The way it spoke, the way it looked at Taurus... it knew.
It knows I've been there? I wasn't even thinking about it... can it see my memories? Taurus thought. That's when Taurus realised.
"Whatever," he replied.
Taurus turned around and walked away silently, daring the demon to test him in his head.
"I thought you wanted to kill me," the demon said, in what seemed a sneer. Taurus turned to see its eyes flicker with excitement.
"You killed my friend."
The demon cackled, its eyes filled with excitement. "No, you did."
Taurus drew his sword and charged.
The sword couldn't connect with Rhaglius - every swing was somehow a miss and the demon hadn't moved from its throne.
"You're misguided. Your friend isn't actually dead," Rhaglius tried to explain, its eyes seeming to smirk. Taurus was through with words. He didn't care what the demon had to say.
Besides, he already knew.
"I know," Taurus grunted, repeatedly slashing and using his black earth manipulation.
"Then why attack me?" Rhalgius asked, calmly sat in the throne, not moving an inch.
"Because you're a piece of shit!" Taurus leapt back, and caused two meteors to form and hurled them both at throne.
"You can't hurt me!" Rhaglius cackled, as the meteors did nothing to the throne or it. It had caused to craters either side of the throne and Taurus grinned.
"Shut up and get the hell over here!"
He caused the earth under the throne to rise and lurch forward throwing Rhaglius to his feet and the throne skidding away.
"What can I not do?" Taurus asked.
"I told you, you're friend isn't dead!" Rhaglius yelled, its body shivering and shaking, eyes flicking around everywhere.
"I told you, I know. You manipulate memories to create a clone of something someone knows. That's why Pisces was acting so weird. And I don't care why you did it. You did it, so you'll die."
"And Malus?" The demon gulped, trying to find some way out of its predicament, before stabbing at Taurus. Taurus expected it somewhat, but it still got a fang into its shoulder.
Taurus grunted and cut its arm off, causing Rhaglius to cry out. It fell to its knees, clutching its arm stump, looking at him with utter hatred.
"If Malus has a problem, he takes it up with me. See you in hell," Taurus stabbed the demon between its eyes and the demon breathed its last.
He pulled his sword out and Rhaglius fell limp to the floor.
Taurus turned and walked away, not looking back.