Bahamut

As the essence flowing into Mike's body began to settle, his aura dimmed and the pressure against the veil slowly eased. Scales melted away. The heat radiating from his skin faded as he returned to his human form. His breath came in a ragged, controlled rhythm.

The wind moved ash across the scorched hilltop like soft black snow.

Mike walked across the field of charred ruin and stood at what remained of the cabin's stone foundation. The ground beneath his bare feet was warm, crumbling, and fragile. Remnants of cobblestone peeked through the soot, silent, scorched rocks of a place that once felt peaceful.

He knelt.

Lowered one hand, palm flat against the blackened earth and stone.

Eyes closed. Heart still.

"I'm sorry, Hunter," he said, barely above a whisper. "Thank you for being my friend."

His voice cracked. But he didn't stop.

"I'll come back. When Kelsey's free. I'll bring her here, and I'll tell her about you. About what you did for me. Who you were."

He stood slowly. His fists clenched at his sides, burning with quiet fury.

Then came a noise, footsteps. Crunching ash. A slow, exaggerated pace.

Hamza's ears perked first. His flames flickered.

Down the hill, a shadow poked its head up like a rat from a sewer grate.

"Henry," Hamza said flatly. "Why are you here?"

Henry, ever smug, ever composed, trudged through the charred remains with his usual grin. His robes were stained with smoke and soot, his cane tapping gently against burned stone.

"Oh, I just came to check on the situation," he said, his tone slick with mockery. "The temple was in an uproar about something here. Thought I would come see what that idiot Hunter screwed up this time."

Mike didn't speak.

He walked toward Henry.

"Wha—" Henry started to reply.

Mike's hand shot forward mid-stride and closed around his throat. Lifting him off the ground.

Henry's eyes widened as panic washed over him.

Mike squeezed.

The vertebrae cracked like dried twigs. Henry's head twisted at an unnatural angle.

And then snap.

The body fell in a heap. The head rolled down the hill, Mike continued walking.

Hamza stared for a moment, then shook his head. "Hunter would've loved that."

Mike gave a faint smirk continuing toward the edge of the hill.

Hamza pauses observing a commotion from across the veil, occurring due to Henry's death. He calls out to Mike: "As great as that was, the council will not appreciate it."

Hamza looks at Mike. His own face was tight, not with sorrow, but with resolve. "I will go get your parents and take them to where my king Maymun resides. That will keep them safe from your growing list of enemies."

"Thank you for helping with my parents. I am going to New Mexico," he said, his eyes never leaving the horizon. "I'll burn out the demons. And then find Hecate."

"Where do I meet you after I have killed the demons?"

With a growl, he transformed, massive wings unfurling with a rush of wind and embers.

Hamza shook his head with a small smile. "I will come find you when I have them settled. With your essence it won't be difficult to locate you."

With a small nod, Mike took flight, leaving the ashes behind him swirling like ghosts.

He soared southeast, the red sun at his back. New Mexico sprawled beneath him like a dry, cracked parchment.

Mike could sense the demons, corruption clinging to the wind like burnt rubber and bile.

He landed near the ruins of an abandoned military checkpoint just past the Texas border. The road was blocked with rusted cars and scorched tanks, overgrown and half-sunk into sand. Symbols, demonic glyphs were painted in blood across the sides of the vehicles.

"There's something here," Mike muttered, as he looked around. He could feel the demons presence. His experience of taking in too much essence had enhanced his ability to feel essence of other beings nearby.

Mike lowered his body to the ground and placed a clawed hand into dirt.

He could feel it. The foul dark essence coming from underneath the desert soil.

Dozens of demons in the cavern below.

Without a word, Mike slammed his claws into the earth. The shockwave cracked the road like glass. The dirt trembled. Cries erupted below and the ground shattered.

Demons came pouring out of the hidden lair, shrieking and gnashing. Their armor clattered, eyes glowing, claws already dripping with blood.

Mike lunged forward letting out a roar.

His claws sweeping through the demons.

Red aura trailed behind his every movement. He struck with precision heads, throats, spines. Blood sprayed the air.

He didn't stop.

Each time Mike consumed a group of demons, the next wave came stronger, larger, more coordinated.

But not smarter.

For days Mike hunted, clearing nests from broken cities and forgotten ghost towns. The names of the towns and cities no longer mattered. All that mattered was the eradication of demons. Mike had noticed a small wild dog living among the remains of the cities. Following him from town to town. At first, he did not think much of it.

Mike didn't sleep. Only consumed. Burned. Moved forward. Until they found it.

A large canyon scarred by fire and bones of people who appeared to have been sacrificed. The ground pulsed with demonic glyphs that shimmered in green and black. The very air shimmered with essence.

The mouth of the canyon was shaped like a screaming maw. Bones lined the walls like murals. As Mike approached the canyon he noticed the dog again. He began to wonder if the dog had connection to Henry's god.

Mike lunges forward grabbing the dog and holding it up by the neck. "Who are you?" He growled.

"My name is Binayi! I am a hinn! I serve king Maymun! Same as Hamza!" The dog yelped as Mike loosened his grasp. "I am a scout. I was asked to track you, so Hamza can return quickly."

"That took you too long to notice. Be more observant." Bahamut echoed calmly in his mind.

"Fine." Mike turned back to the canyon with a growl.

Standing at the canyon's center was a creature twice Mike's height even in dragon form.

Crowned in twisted obsidian horns, with armor made from flayed souls and molten stone, stood the next Duke of Hell.

Its eyes glowed violet. Six arms. Two massive wings. A jaw that split open from the middle like a beast wearing a man's skin.

It spoke in a voice that sounded like cracking bone and blood bubbling.

"You are Bahamut's Chosen."

Mike stepped forward, his eyes glowing red. "And you're going to tell me where Hecate is located."

The creature growled. "I am Valac, Thirty-Ninth Duke of the Infernal Rings. You are nothing."

"No," Mike said calmly. "I'm the reason you demons are disappearing."

He launched forward before the creature could move. The red aura burst from his skin. His wings tore through the sky. Claws gleamed.

Valac roared and charged.

The canyon walls trembled.

The battle had begun.