While Alex was trying to fall asleep, Zeltis was thinking. It was too odd that Alex was still so self-aware. Based on what he had heard from other demons, it didn’t take long before the human was under the demon’s control. Some said that they had complete control of the host after just absorbing one demon. Of course there were others that said it took longer but that was because they didn’t hunt demons but instead used the safer method of tempting humans, including their host. Even then, it didn’t take long before the host was under control. Alex, though was showing no sign of his soul weakening. Instead it felt like Alex was becoming stronger.

From the first time Zeltis had sensed Alex’s soul, it had felt different than most. He had felt a pull towards it and it had put off an aura that was somewhat familiar. The more he heard about Alex though, the more suspicious he became. The boy had power and didn’t even know it. He was sure of it after the incident at school the other day. He had thought it was odd that the girls obsessed over him as much as they did but that often could happen with an attractive male. But when those girls turned and left the moment he told them to, was just too unnatural.

He pushed the thoughts aside when he sensed Alex had finally drifted off and he was able to take over and sat up. It wasn’t long before he felt Alex awaken inside. Zeltis slipped on the shoes laid out for him and put on the ski mask. He put on a windbreaker, pulling up the hood and stepped in front of the mirror. He looked like he was about to go out and rob a bank or something, and felt somewhat ridiculous. He hated having to wear the mask but if it really would cause trouble, then he wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

“Wow, we really do look odd. If we get a different mask I don’t know if that will be better or worse.” Alex commented internally.

Zeltis just scoffed and left to get the bike. The weak presence he had sensed wasn’t far but it would be much faster to ride rather than walk.

Instead of downtown, they were headed toward the suburbs of the city. More and more the houses looked less and less fancy until they were practically shacks on small little half acre lots. This was known as the slum area of the city.

Zeltis could tell that Alex felt uncomfortable, the boy had probably never been here before or seen such ramshackle housing either.

They pulled up in front of the worst house by far. It was small and overgrown with weeds. There weren’t any lights on but Zeltis knew the demon was inside.

“Um are you sure…” Alex started to say internally but Zeltis cut him off.

“Please no interruptions this time, boy. Even if he only feels like a low soldier level demon, I don’t want to be complacent.” Really he just hated the boys incessant questions. He didn’t really think he needed to worry about this demon.

He strode up and grabbed at the door. It was locked but with just a little force, Zeltis was easily able to push it open.

The moonlight shining in through the window gave enough light that he could make out a crouched figure in the corner of the main room. The man was filthy, wearing only rags. His long scraggly hair and beard hid most of his face. His dark beady eyes shone slightly as the man looked up at Zeltis. He had the carcass of a small animal that he must have been eating in his hands. The smell too was almost overwhelming. It reminded Zeltis of something rotting and he grimaced in distaste.

Zeltis felt disgusted, but he had seen and smelled worse things before. Alex though, felt like he wanted to throw up, but of course since he didn’t have control at the moment he could only try to avoid seeing it somehow. Zeltis laughed lightly at Alex’s discomfort.

A skittering sound interrupted the moment and Zeltis turned as the man moved with amazing speed, dropping the carcass. Rats came out from the piles of trash in the room and surrounded Zeltis. The strange man reached into his ratty clothes and pulled out a small flute and started to play. The tune didn’t have any melody or harmony and gave off a dark foreboding feeling.

Zeltis covered his ears for a moment and noticed that the rats eyes were now red, as was the man’s. The rats started to grow bigger and the man was beginning to look more rat-like as well. He now had the ears and even a tail and whiskers and red eyes and big teeth.

“This is looking to be more difficult than I thought.” Zeltis growled out and started gathering his mana.

He first tried to shoot ice spears at the rat man but the rats simply would jump in front to take the hit. There were so many of them that he knew he wouldn’t be able to get a shot in any time soon. The rats started to run at him, trying to scratch and bite him.

He dodged and kicked at them sending a few far enough to slam into the wall. They were between one to two feet tall now so though they were bigger, it also made them a bit slower and it was harder for them to swarm him. He made two ice blades in his hands and used them to slice at the rats that were now encircling him. With so many around him, even using a frost shield couldn’t prevent him from getting hit more times that he thought he would. He would start to bleed, then heal, only to get bitten again. It was starting to take a toll on him despite his high regeneration.

“What are you going to do? They are wearing you down.” Alex said with obvious panic in his voice that resounded a little in Zeltis’ head.

He had already noticed that he needed a different strategy and had been preparing it so was a little annoyed at Alex’s interruption. “I told you to be quiet. I’m trying to do a spell.”

Finally he spoke the words to enact the spell and a frosty mist spread out obscuring the room. When it cleared up the floor was covered in ice and a few of the rats had frozen as well. Not as many as he had hoped but now it was much harder for the rats to move. They slid and had to move slower. Zeltis though had created sharp cleat like pieces of ice on his shoes so he could move around easily.

With that he was able to start slicing through the rats a lot faster, moving toward the rat man who was still playing his flute in the corner of the room. The growing look of fear on the man’s face brought a smile to Zeltis.

Despite his new speed, it still took more than an hour to work his way closer to the rat man. The rats were more and more desperate to stop him but he forced his way through. With a fierce slash, Zeltis managed to knock the flute out of the rat man’s hands. It flew off into the shadows and the rat’s started to shrink back to normal size, and ran off back into hiding.

Zeltis grabbed the man’s neck with both hands and started to squeeze. The mist that was the demon’s life force started to flow out of the rat man and enter Zeltis. He started to feel stronger as he watched the demon become weaker. The man passed out before long and his rat-like features went away. The last of the mist was gone and Zeltis let the ragged man fall to the ground, again not caring if the man was alive or dead.

As he left Zeltis could almost feel Alex’s silence. He couldn’t tell if he was just shocked or if he was angry and didn’t care to ask. He just left the house and got on the motorcycle, letting the roar of the engine starting fill the uncomfortable silence. It didn’t take long to get home and the first thing Zeltis took off was the itchy mask. He kicked off the shoes and even changed clothes. He didn’t usually bother but he was feeling a little odd because of Alex’s silence. He lay down and let his control slip as they drifted into normal sleep.

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Author's note

Ok I decided to do a chapter exclusively from Zeltis' POV since til now it was only from Alex's. I think this will give us some insight on what Zeltis is thinking and his character. It feels a little short so any opinions or ideas about what I could add would be helpful. I love hearing what people think of the story so don't hesitate to share your thoughts.

http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=8525