Tarous, стр. 24

It took a lot of magic and resources to open a portal, but a single discharge of spatial energies could disintegrate even a Rask.

The older of the two guards had a beard and a large scar down the left side of his face. The younger had no beard nor scar. Both of my guards had humongous muscles and they both wore bearskin capes and had large battle axes on the left and right side of their belts. The battle axes were different than normal axes, they had larger axe heads and shorter handles. Runes had been carved into the axes. Powerful magic. Monsters were all hypocrites.

Demons were the ones that truly hated magic users. Humans used magic to summon and enslave them. Demons would never forget that. They hated all magic users, and they always would, but they couldn’t wipe out all the magic users by themselves so they too entered the battle known as politics. Many pacts had been made between monsters and demons to wipe out magic users. This was one of the many reasons magic was frowned upon, though both groups found it a necessity at times. Demons hated magic, but it was essential. So they devised their own forms of magic, powerful dark magic often involving sacrifices.

All the nations of humans on this planet had been wiped out. Humans had been reduced to cattle and a new age had begun a thousand years ago.

I had once found an old book in my dad’s personal library, a book on how to summon and enslave a demon. This was a banned book, his demon friends would go crazy if they knew he had the book in his possession. Demons had done their best to destroy every book that even mentioned this type of magic. They also placed huge bounties on the head of anyone who even knew the most basic summoning spells. I had made a point of memorizing every single spell in that book. Knowledge was power and you never knew when you might need an ace up your sleeve. I may not always act like a Rask, but blood doesn’t lie.

The knowledge from the demon summoning book had helped me refine my spell to find the human world. While most seemed to shun magic, I embraced it.

One of my guards, the one with a thick black beard, took the opportunity to step close and whisper into my ear. “Stay close if Lord Flame decides to walk our way. He and your father recently got into an argument and he may be tempted to kill you just to spite him.”

Politics were interesting in the world of monsters and demons. Votes that ended in a deadlock were settled by having each side massacre the other and the side that survived won the vote, even if only one person remained. I had been told stories of how politics in the world of humans were even more brutal and vicious. The thought made me shudder.

“If anything happened to you that would just be so horrible, just so very horrible,” whispered my other guard in a sarcastic voice, his eyes momentarily glowing silver. He was the younger of the two and had no beard.

Though a little on the rough side, the guards were rather good at their jobs and most importantly good at handling nobility. They simply pretended all of the nobles in the room didn’t exist and the nobles returned the favor admirably. These two bodyguards had a particular gruesome reputation, though no witness had ever come forth to point any fingers at them for anything such as, say, unexplained deaths.

A new singer stepped forward wearing a black suit and a black fedora that was pulled down right to the edge of his eyes. He began to sing and it was hypnotic. The music from before had been soft, but this music was different. The talking in the ballroom instantly died down. Even the group my mother had been talking too quieted down.

The unspoken command for everyone to dance was almost overwhelming. In sync, ninety percent of the monsters at the party stepped onto the dance floor. Each moved in perfect rhythm though they had never danced this dance before.

The singer was a rare Encantado. Encantado singers were extremely expensive to hire. Nothing but the best for a Rask ball. The light in the room dimmed as clouds began to gather inside the room. Thunder rumbled and a chill wind blew through the room. The power of it was exhilarating. The air vibrated with dark power. The rumble of thunder at times caused the floor to shake.

It was a special song, a slower song meant for couples. I looked around for any potential dance partners that could be coming my way so I would have time to run in the opposite direction. Despite the power of the song and my lack of monster-ness, I was still my father’s son and the Encantado’s magic held no sway over me.

Luckily, no eligible young lady made her way towards me. In fact as far as these balls went the night had been rather slow. There hadn’t even been a single death, which was highly unusual indeed.

A light tap on my shoulder caused me to jump. I turned to see a young demon girl with long blond hair and two cute little horns that poked out through her bangs. The effect was extremely cute. She was short, petite and her thin face extremely attractive. She pouted her lips as she looked at me.

I didn’t see her approach me because of how tiny she was, barely making it to five feet tall. She was wearing a red dress that was scandalously short, not even making it half way to her knees. If the dress hadn’t looked so sultry I would have sworn it was made for a child.

Though the way she looked was sweet and innocent, the words that came out of her mouth were forceful. “Dance with me now, rich boy,” growled the