Some time ago in the demon world

Zeltis sped over the cracked and desolate landscape of the demon world; the wind spell keeping him aloft and moving him at supersonic speed.

He had received a summons to see his mother in the capital. He hadn’t wanted to go, and had thought it was strange, since he hadn’t seen her in so long. Reluctantly he had gone, and once he saw how tense and distracted she was, his alarm bells rang. He couldn’t help feeling more and more anxious as his sixth sense was telling him something was wrong. His mother discussed nothing of importance, but when he tried to leave, she made up excuses to keep him there.

He had finally lost his patience, and left without letting her stop him again. He couldn’t pinpoint what was making him anxious, but he just felt he had to hurry. The rocky, brown, and scrubby land flew by underneath him. He almost ran into a couple small mountains in his hurry, and scraped his cheek on the branch of a tree, but he didn’t care.

Then he saw the smoke in the distance and cried out. He used a burst of magic to force him to go even faster. The crumbling ruins of his once comfortable home came into view. He screamed in fear and rage as he rushed into the house. The dead bodies of his few servants were strewn in horrifying positions that spoke of wanton destruction. He was frantic as he landed and searched one body after another, throwing the rubble out of his way in his haste. He searched for one precious person and gasped in hope when he heard a groan from under a pile of stone, that once had been part of the living room wall.

Zeltis moved quickly, throwing off the chunks of wall and bits of broken furniture to get to the person beneath. The bloody, battered form of his head servant was finally revealed. Zeltis couldn’t help biting his lip in disappointment, but hurried to heal the man. He wasn’t great at healing magic and the wounds were bad. Still, after taking his time and concentrating for several minutes, Zeltis managed to bring the man back to a more stable condition. The man opened his eyes and blinked before his gaze finally locked on Zeltis.

“M…master, I…I’m so sorry…” He weakly gasped out and groaned in pain.

“Please, I need to know what happened!” Zeltis said grasping the man’s shoulders a little hard, his eyes wild and desperate.

The man flinched and looked like he might pass out so Zeltis lightened his hold, but couldn’t stop his intense gaze. “The Demon lord and Arch demon Mephisto attacked. We were never given a reason, they just slaughtered everyone soon after you left.”

“My uncle and father?!” That explained the sadistic way some of the people had been killed. Mephisto loved battle and was a bloodthirsty bastard. He wouldn’t have been surprised to be attacked by him, but why would his father bother with him? Stil,l he had more important things on his mind other than explanations. “What about Ashrana? Did they take her? Where is she?!” He yelled the last bit and the weak servant winced.

“She tried to run, and they chased her. It looked like they were headed toward the city west of here. Perhaps she was trying to find help.”

Without wasting a moment, Zeltis jumped up and raced out again. He used the wind magic again to fly as fast as he could toward the west. Before even halfway to the city, he caught sight of two figures looking down into a deep ravine. They turned as they saw Zeltis coming towards them.

His father, Lucifer, stood tall and imposing, his dark aura causing Zeltis to slow down and shake in fear. He was well over seven foot tall with a muscular build. His long dark hair and goatee-beard complemented his angular face and blood red eyes. Two large horned curved from his temples and out and back. Even without his powerful aura he was an imposing figure. Beside him, Mephisto showed a sardonic grin. Mephisto had a slightly smaller build with orange eyes and was about half a foot shorter. He had a short haircut and beard and a more square shaped face, but otherwise they looked much alike. They both didn’t look worried despite Zeltis’ obvious rage that was flowing out toward them in killing intent.

“Where is She!?” He yelled as soon as he was close enough. It took everything he had to just stand in front of his father but he forced himself because of her.

His father didn’t answer but Mephisto laughed. “Who do you think he mean’s lord?” Zeltis asked with a sarcastic tone towards the demon lord with a mocking glance toward Zeltis.

“Ashrana, I know you two chased her. Where is she?” He asked again.

“I don’t know why you were so attached to that woman. There are others if you need a lover.” His father said coldly calm and indifferent.

The word ‘were’ was a knife through his heart, and Mephisto’s next words jabbed it in even more.

“She fell off the cliff and is certainly dead.”

“Noooooooo! Why, why would you do this?” Zeltis cried out, tears trailing down his cheeks as he tried to move closer, but his father’s aura kept him at a distance.

“I don’t see any reason to explain myself. Just know that the weak die and the strong live.” The demon lord said, and huge black wings sprouted out of his broad back, as he lifted off the ground.

“Don’t leave! I will kill you!” Zeltis yelled waving his fist at his departing father, who didn’t bother to turn around.

“Ha, ha, you are so pitiful, nephew. Maybe now, instead of reading books and playing house you will train and grow stronger. You have been a grave disappointment so far. Maybe this mishap will goad you forward.” Mehpisto taunted as he too grew wings, but his were made of red feathers.

Zeltis turned to him, his eyes bloodshot and teeth bared. “You will regret you messed with the people I care about. I will grow stronger and you will die, right before I take out the still-beating heart of my father. You will both suffer before I am done with you. This I vow!”

Mephisto laughed again. “You’re welcome to try, pipsqueak.” He turned, and with a pump of his large wings was soon gone from sight.

Zeltis turned to the ravine and blew a kiss. “Goodbye my love. I promise I will avenge you no matter what it takes.”

Back in the present…

“Your father is the demon lord?!” Alex asked, his voice raised, shaking Zeltis out of his memories.

“Enough, I don’t wish to speak of this anymore. I sense two commoner level demons close by. So get to sleep so I can take over.” Zeltis’ inner voice was a little curt, but he couldn’t help it after remembering that.

He had loved Ashrana, and had intended to marry her. Then his father and uncle had killed her and the others. Even after trying to investigate and asking his siblings, he hadn’t found anything. Of course, they weren’t thrilled to see him and all of them had hurried to send him on his way without saying much. Zeltis continued thinking, ignoring the obvious questions floating around Alex’s mind while the boy laid down to sleep.

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Author's note- So after editing the first chapter just a bit I realized I just don't have any idea what to add to make things any better at this point. So I will just continue as I have been and simply release the chapters as I write them. I would still love to have someone give me some in depth feedback on any ways I can improve though. Anyway I hope this is ok, it isn't quite a battle chapter but I think it gives us some good insight. I hope everyone enjoys it.