The Demon King lowered his hand to Brother Han’s head. There was a sound like a thousand souls shrieking, and then…

The Demon King raised his middle finger, pointed it at Brother Han, and laughed.

The laughter echoed through the hall, and all the blacksmiths joined in and put down their tools to watch. Even the ones killed by Brother Han’s lightning attack got up and slapped each other across the back.

The blazing red light around the Demon King disappeared, and in its place stood a beautiful young woman dressed in a coat of shimmering black and silver armour.

The woman kept laughing as Brother Han’s eyes opened wide.

‘Sh – sh – Sherry?’

Sherry took a bow. ‘Well done Han, you like my new castle?’

Han stared around at the hundreds of chuckling blacksmiths. A couple of demons had appeared to fix the broken tiles.

‘This is yours? But the Demon King…’

‘…is dead.’ Sherry explained, ‘I killed him one day when he came to visit us in his cells.’ A band of women had appeared and were discussing a piece of armour with the blacksmiths.

‘But how?’ Brother Han said, ‘Hundreds… thousands of heroes went up against the Demon King.’

Sherry shrugged, ‘Both you and the Demon King are too full of yourselves. He didn’t even bother checking to see if I could cultivate. I just snuck up behind him, plunged my hands through his chest and sent him to the Demon Underworld.’

‘The Demon Underworld?’

She gave a sigh, ‘You know, the place where demons go when they die here. He was quite glad to start fresh I think. He laughed until he died.’

Young Sparrow, still frozen, had a mind full of questions, but couldn’t ask a single one as Sherry’s spell kept him immobile.

‘Anyway… That’s about all the time I have for you,’ Sherry said, gesturing to the now-suited up group of women, ‘Me and the other wives and lovers are going for a raid on the heavens.’

‘But… but… I came here to save you.’ Brother Han said.

‘And I thank you very much.’ Sherry said, ‘What would I have done without you?’

She clicked her fingers and suddenly Sparrow was able to move again. He fell to the ground, and then looked up at Brother Han, ‘So much for love.’

Sherry laughed as Sparrow turned to her, ‘You know what I told him? I said adventurers like me have no time for falling in love, we’ve got to experience the world.’

Sherry nodded, ‘The boy speaks the truth.’

She held out a hand and two of the women sauntered over, ‘Throw the fool and his boy out of my kingdom. She reached out and touched Sparrow’s shoulder. He jumped back as a burning sensation splintered its way across his skin.

‘I’ve marked you,’ Sherry said, ‘I would very much like to see you again Sparrow. But only when you’re older and wiser and can pick better company.’ She pointed to the small red death symbol that had appeared on the skin of his chest. ‘When you’re ready, you touch that mark and you think of me. It’ll take you here.’

She looked at Brother Han who sat defeated on the tiles, ‘You are a fool Han, but you’re a fool for the right reasons. Go back, live your life. Learn some more about how the world works. Women aren’t always waiting to be rescued.’

And with that The Demon Queen’s two warriors grabbed Brother Han and Sparrow and threw them through a portal to the Human World.

Then grabbing their weapons they formed ranks of glowing armour and marched three deep behind Sherry to begin a war with the gods.

****

Brother Han and Sparrow sat in silence. Their brains were trying to comprehend what had just happened.

They’d been tossed into the middle of the desert somewhere. Red and yellow dunes covered the landscape – apart from a single large mountain that stood, blue and hazy in the distance.

Sparrow was the first to stir from his shock. He peered underneath his shirt to make sure it wasn’t just a dream. A small red skull peered back at him from his skin.

‘Well…’ Sparrow said, ‘I certainly learnt a lot from that.’

He was met by silence. Brother Han’s eyes stared off into nothingness, his mouth hung open in surprise.

Sparrow cupped his hands around one eye – and stared at the mountain in the distance, ‘That looks like our best bet.’

Brother Han didn’t move an inch. Sparrow waved a hand in front of his mouth – the man wasn’t even breathing. Sparrow groaned, grabbed Brother Han’s shirt, and began to drag him, inch by inch, toward the mountains.