Ur'ul Thuk

The demon lord Urug sat upon a massive chair, carved from the jagged bones of vanquished challengers.

His towering figure cloaked in a heavy, dark mantle that absorbed the weak light, making him appear as dark as the night itself. His skin was like charred armor, thick and ridged, a deep crimson almost black in the dim light. Two large, curved horns protruded from his forehead, spiraling back over his head, their tips sharp as spears. His eyes glowed a fierce red, burning with hate.

"I take it you have news. I shouldn't remind you how useless you are to me away from the council, Eredin," he snarled as the demon came into his line of sight.

"Apologies, my lord. I have news you'll want to hear. I came as soon as I heard," Eredin stammered, making a conscious effort not to meet Urug's gaze as he spoke.

"My lord, the first warning horn has been sounded," a demon walked in to announce, earning a nod from Urug.

"You better not be wasting my time with this. What is it? Spit it out?" Urug barked at Eredin.

"I think we may have found Ur'ul thuk," Eredin answered, his voice a little less than a whisper.

Urug's gaze hung over the demon for some time before he stood and walked over to where Eredin stood,grabbing him by his collar.

"You think, or you know?"

"The humans brought a scrawny looking lad before the council today. He had the markings, I recognized them. He began to convulse right there in the hall," Eredin croaked as his collar got tighter, restricting his breath.

The information he gave stopped Urug, who let his collar go and walked away.

"What did the humans say about this?" He demanded.

"They want to keep him detained. Have him fight in the blood lake with other low level hunters till they're sure of what he is," Eredin stammered, a hand rubbing his neck to soothe the pain of having his collar so tight against his neck.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Sibith horn sounds soon," Urug thundered, spreading his arms as he spoke.

"Perhaps I'll see this Ur'ul thuk myself. See if he's worth the hype as you fools seem to think."

Eredin hesitated, he didn't want to praise Agashi, but he still needed to give his lord all the information available.

"He killed a sub-level demon, my lord. He's already quite popular among the low level hunters.His name is Agashi."

"My lord, the second warning horn has sounded," a demon entered to announce once more.

Urug walked past Eredin, totally ignoring everything he just heard. He already made the decision to see for himself, and nothing Eredin said would change that.

"Send a message to the bloodlake. I want to see this Agashi for myself," Urug grunted at one of his minions.

***

The hunters huddled close to themselves as the Sibith horn sounded. The fact that many among them would not return to their camps was not lost on them. Only a few among them looked confident of earning credits from this wave, especially after what happened with the sub-level demon.

Agashi held his sword tightly, waiting for the horn to sound, his life as an architect now felt like a dream with each passing moment. He could remember the last meeting he took, how tired he was, and falling asleep. It just didn't feel real anymore.

"Brace yourselves!" The shrill voice he had grown accustomed to screamed just as the Sibith horn sounded and the sound of advancing demons grew.

"You're not scared, are you?" Mathos asked him, a smile playing on his lips.

"Why would I be?" Agashi retorted, trying desperately to maintain his poise.

"I've seen enough scared fighters to know when they lie. Everybody's scared Agashi, some of us hide it better," Mathos chuckled.

The snarls and cries of the demons grew louder as they conversed. Agashi tightened his grip on his sword's hilt, feeling the comfort of the leather-bound handle.

"Here we go" Mathos yelled as the Sibith horn sounded and the demons poured into the arena.

Agashi took one look at his partner and leapt into the fray, his blade slicing in any direction he turned. The first demon barely had time to react before Agashi's sword cleaved through it, its dark ichor spilling onto the ground with a hiss. Without pausing, Agashi spun and delivered a swift strike to the next, its head tumbling from its shoulders in silent horror.

"That's more like it," Mathos yelled as he fought.

Despite their numbers funneled towards Agashi, the demons could not overwhelm him.

As the last of the wave fell, Agashi surveyed the carnage, his gaze lifted from the corpses at his feet.

"What's your friend called?" Daken asked as he came up beside Mathos.

"Agashi. Such a weird name for a low level hunter," Mathos chuckled in response.

"It appears we're not the only ones who're interested in him," Daken observed, his tone growing grave.

There, high above standing on a jagged stone, stood a large demon, his form imposing even at a distance.

"Warn your friend," Daken advised, walking back to his place at the front line. Mathos didn't need to be told twice, and hurried over to Agashi's side

"You know who that is, don't you?" Mathos stammered.

"Who is it?" Agashi snarled, adrenaline still pumping in his veins.

"Look away. That's the demon lord Urug. Every other demon answers to him," Mathos explained, pulling Agashi away.

***

Despite the distance, Urug could sense the unspoken challenge, an arrogance about the human.

"Prepare the Heshni. I want him removed before he gets any ideas," Urug ordered, turning away from the bloodlake.

"But my lord, this is nothing several sub-level demons can't handle," Eredin objected.

"You sit on the council and you understand the treaty we have with the humans. A sub-level demon made it's way into that enclosure at the last bloodlake and you are yet to explain to me how that happened. Now you want to send several of them after a low level human hunter?"

Eredin bowed his head in fear.

"The cycle is almost at a close. I will not let any one of you deny me the power of the orb. You will abide by the rules as much as you can while I make my plans to rid myself of this inconvenience," Urug bellowed, his minions gathering around him as he mounted his beast.

"Send a message to the council. If he is to be their champion, they need to decide quickly. They plan to stall till he is fully in his power. I'm not going to let that happen."

Eredin kept his head bowed as Urug's beast beat it's wings powerfully and flew off.

"Your time will run out soon enough, and maybe our lord will let me hang your head from a pike to punish your incompetence," Hishna snarled, pointing his jagged sword at Eredin.

"And who would you suggest takes my place in the council? You're nothing but a bloodthirsty executioner, you know nothing of politics and you will never sit on the council," Eredin shrieked, glaring at Jarl Hishna, commander of the Heshni forces, a league of assassins loyal only to the demon lord Urug.

Hishna turned away from Eredin, his pride stung by the harsh truth of the politician's words. Right now his task was Agashi, and watching the humans begin to look to his target with hope in their eyes as the second wave of demons prepared to attack annoyed him even further.