thrudd had never really had a friend before, but if fiona was what they were supposed to be like, then she wasn''t a fan.

that woman was far too invasive in her liking, and she seemed to take great pleasure in thrudd''s embarrassing circumstances.

she would have smited her with divine power if she didn''t already know the girl was going through something.

so just this once, she was willing to be the butt of the joke as a distraction.

as thrudd neared the house, she found her father leaning against the door like he was waiting for them.

true to her suspicions, he met them with a smile and his usual warm voice. "ah. there are my sweet angels."

thrudd smiled.

abaddon walked up to the trio and scratched the beasts under their chins affectionately.

he looked up at thrudd who was riding on the back of bagheera and made a faux surprised look.

"oh. you''re here too?"

thrudd stopped smiling.

"real funny, old man. you should try your hand at stand up." she sneered.

"i should, shouldn''t i?" abaddon chuckled to himself. "it''s too bad i''ve already decided that my next career would be that of a college football coach."

thrudd raised a brow. "i thought that you and grandpa said that the soul of college football was bound to die because of nil?"

abaddon''s face became strangely demonic. "the players just need someone to put the fear of god in them. who better for that than your old man?"

thrudd could honestly say that her dad being a head coach would either be the best or worst thing that could ever happen to college football.

"where''ve you been?" abaddon asked as he helped her get down. "you aren''t usually the sightseeing type."

"i was talking to the girl who''s dad you beat up." thrudd yawned.

it was clear that abaddon wasn''t expecting for that to be the answer.

"is she.."

"she''s okay, yes. just shocked i think is all."

abaddon nodded, but then stared at his daughter as if he were noticing something new.

"...what?" thrudd shuffled her feet.

"since when do you make friends, peanut? i haven''t seen you talk to much of anything in a friendly manner besides your sword and shield."

thrudd punched her father in the side and he pretended to wince.

"yea, well we can''t all be super charismatic and alluring deities now, can we?" she nipped. it was clear this was a mild insecurity of hers.

"you are still my child, no? you can be plenty charming when you feel like it."

thrudd snorted and pushed past her father. everyone thinks dragons are eternally wise and sophisticated, but the truth is there were many like thrudd who just never left that awkward stage.

immortality has the side effect of making individuals set in their ways.

but abaddon wouldn''t change his daughter for anything. despite her awkwardness with those outside the family, she had a heart of gold that not even nubia easily matched.

he started to tell her that he was sorry for teasing her when his body twitched.

thrudd''s hand was on the doorknob to go back inside the house when she suddenly paused too. her pupils flashing a thunderous violet.

she threw up her hands and poured every ounce of her magic into her spell.

but sevasina was an amateur with the gift, and had neither knowledge, or ability to pull off such a protective maneuver quickly.

a fist rained down from above and cracked her directly on the bridge of her nose.

her world immediately went dark, and whatever spell she was about to cast dissipated.

"don''t hurt my mommy!!"

taro picked up a nearby splinter of wood and bravely hurled it at the demon who struck his mother.

it bounced off his skin pathetically. causing even less harm than a fallen leaf.

the demons laughed and mocked him openly. all of these eons later and their humor was still largely the same.

they thrived on the suffering and fear of not just humanity, but mortals as a whole.

taro''s childish mind couldn''t process what was happening in front of him.

either the demons were actually growing larger in real time, or his mind was just tricking them into thinking that they were in order to represent their growing threat.

he was angry, sure. but also mad with fear. it was a miracle that he hadn''t soiled himself or run away already.

he picked up another shard of wood, and prepared to defend himself and his mother with his very last breath.

he set his feet deftly in the ground. locked his arms into position as he''d seen hunters in the village do on spars.

one of the demons finally reacted, and reached for him with a hand twice as large as taro''s own head.

flexing his muscles, he prepared to attack.

a shrill whistle broke through the air.

the demons froze in their tracks and looked off somewhere just out of taro''s point of view.

their dark red faces with diseased looking skin would undoubtedly haunt taro''s memories for the rest of his life.

but at that moment, he found their slack jawed appearances and wide eyes almost comical.

the demons'' pupils trembled like gelatin in bowls.

their mouths ran dry. they lost the ability to speak, or even think for themselves.

they sincerely looked no different from how taro had mere moments ago.

afraid.

albeit to a much grander degree.

they unslung swords from their waists. but their feet did not charge forward.

instead, they tore their eyes away from the horrific sight that taro still couldn''t see and stared at each other.

a moment seemed to be all they needed to come to a unilateral decision.

they both raised their blades in unison, and cleaved off each other''s heads.

their bodies dissolved into twin mounds of ash- and his mother''s body was peppered with their remains. find more chapters on empire

were she awake, she would have been mad enough to spit.

taro still had no idea of what was going on, but he knew that he was somehow safe.

even with the sky overhead turning a deep, dark, red.