“Stand back child! We’re being ambushed!”, Derek shouted even though Kronos was right next to him. “Well aren’t you quite perceptive?”, the child remarked sarcastically. His emotions were triggered, fear being absent as usual. A possible reason for that was the fact that he had already accepted his end, being sent to Karvos wasn’t something survivable.


    “Four men”, Derek mumbled softly. The one-handed sword he had drawn from its sheath was slightly trembling. Why aren’t we running? Did his ego grow so big that it overshadowed his commonsense? Kronos didn’t speak his thoughts out loud and stood behind the man, waiting for the enemies to come within range. He didn’t plan on watching things unfold, knowing it would result in his death.


    As the persecutors came closer to the pair, Kronos could notice they wore light armor and all had a yellow pair of wings on their slaughtering attire. “The holy church?! Why are they running charging at us with such killing intend?!”, Derek was panicking, decreasing their odds of winning once more.


    It seemed like he had also noticed who was going for their necks. “Pull your pathetic shit together bastard! What does it matter if its bandits attacking us or paladins? Just make it out alive you stupid coward.”


    The young man looked at the child with wide eyes, the child’s words were laced in frustration and anger, pulling him slightly closer to reality. Kronos sculpted the snow at his feet into a ball of compact ice and hid it behind his back.


    Surely not all four of them would fight against this pathetic moron, after all I’ll be their damn target. Kronos noticed the man adjacent to him murmur a very speedy prayer and sighed. “Which imbecile prays to the god whose knights he is about to fight?”


    They were now within reach and halted, all four of them well built and beaming off confidence. “We hereby declare the execution of the demon named Kronos! The goddess has judged your soul to be tainted, so will your body be!”, the man’s voice was close to robotic, reciting the speech he had chanted hundreds of times before.


    Three of them walked forward and drew their swords, while the one left behind grabbed a scroll and began chanting words in an incomprehensible language. Two out of three swordsmen charged at Derek while the last one walked up to the primary target of their mission.


    “A holy order doing such deeds? Pretty ironic don’t you think? You have a reason to kill me as I killed one of your nuns, but what did that poor man escorting me do? He is a diligent believer in your false god.”


    The man gripped his sword, raising it the same way a farmer would till the earth with a hoe. “Do you feel pity for that man, demon?”, the paladin asked.


    Kronos laughed whilst looking at the sword above him, “No, I surely do not. I do feel pity for you, as you will die a dog’s death.” The man prepared to slash his sword and end the evil organism in front of him. “To die you say, you will not live to see th-”


    Before the paladin could even finish his sentence a snowball hit his forehead, obscuring his vision for a fraction of a second. Kronos knew that the surprise he had created would trigger the man’s trained instinct, which would be to strike down even without seeing his enemy. As speculated, his blade came down crashing the moment ice touched his skin. Kronos stepped to the side and used the situation to counterattack.


    The man who was now bowing down, once again astonished by hitting the frozen soil instead of that child he was aiming for. His vision became clear again as the small particles of ice stuck in his iris were melting to his body heat. Two small, cold hands cupping the sides of his head. The last thing the man ever saw were two thumbs with sharp nails charging right at his soul.


    The nearby one-sided clash between two trained paladins and the clumsy warrior halted as Kronos’ victim screamed in desperation and pain. Even the enemy who had been chanting a spell this entire time lost his concentration and quit the never ending sentences.


    All eight eyes were spread wide open at a cruel scene in front of them. Their friend had been a key figure just like anyone else in the squad, but there he was, down on his knees while the demon they despised was standing before him with a glorious expression.


    Kronos felt the hot blood flow on his hands, it had all been calculated, yet reality parted so far from imagination. The sight made him sick, his fingers inside of the man’s eyelids, yet he felt relieved, happy some would even call it. Taking away this enemy’s vision, making him unable to harm the boy felt comforting.


    The child threw the mangled body away after pushing his nails just a bit further. “Reflection is only possible if I survive”, he mumbled to himself.


    “You wretched thing!”, one of the paladins cried out while charging towards the source of grief. Derek, who wasn’t a complete fool, saw the opportunity and stabbed the man. Led by feelings of desperation he retrieved his short sword. Kronos laughed at how his escort ran up to him and stood besides him, in fear of both enemies and ally.


    The paladin who was stabbed looked at Derek in astonishment and anger, he was tanned which meant his roots probably originated from the south. “You dare to call yourself a warrior?! How filthy!”, the man shouted. His allies prepared to strike again while he himself was struggling to even retain the grip on his sword. A red stain spread across the cloth covering his stomach. “You’re not much better, chasing after a child and third-rate knight with four trained paladins”, Kronos said, looking for an opportunity to be useful in the fight.


    His eyes locked in at that crying thing at his feet, still screaming and huffing in pain. That sword next to me is way too heavy… Using him as a hostage might work but that mage will probably kill me before I can actually execute my threats. I don’t know how any of that works but it seems there is a very long chanting time. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The proclaimed demon watched over the young man next to him, a dagger on his belt grabbed his full attention. His white slender hand covered in blood reached for the cold, metal hilt.


    His escort was wary of Kronos’ movements but refrained from voicing any complaints, knowing that he was their only hope of survival. Wait—this is?! The iron dagger felt familiar, its frozen bloodstains stirring old memories in Kronos’ mind. Flashes of mother Gena and Brutus, why did those memories feel so distant already? They happened that morning after all.


    Focus was regained by everyone present, except for the crying soldier who’s tears were invisible do to the blood flowing out of his eyes. He would die soon, it was a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds. The southerner’s eyes darted everywhere in hesitation, not knowing if he should retreat or move forward.


    “Watch out kid, that mage has put his sealing scroll away”, Derek said, resulting in a puzzled look on the criminal’s face. “They tried take your soul as a prize, kid. That’s how the church deals with evil spirits. What it means is that he’s going to cast offensive spells from now on, I think. Depending on his way of magic it could be everything.” He sighed, knowing none of it made sense to Kronos, “Just be careful.”


    Kronos nodded, satisfied by the ability to communicate about possible dangers with his escort. So he can think rationally after all. The small child leaped forward, nature favoring him as he was standing on a higher ground.


    He passed the southerner who was in a state that prohibited him from reacting to such a small target traveling at high speed. His ally understood the sign and charged right behind him, his short sword readied for a piercing attack.


    The mage hadn’t expected the both of them to attack him. Normally this shouldn’t even be possible as he had three guards who specialized in close combat. His only hope laid with the final paladin, if he could just manage to give him ten seconds he could cast a spell to stop the attack. “Olan, stop them!”, the mage ordered.


    Haunted, yes that fit him, the man called Olan had a haunted expression. Two of his dearest friends’ future had just been crumbled like a man would do to bread when feeding the ducks, not leaving even a single crumb behind. His eyes lusted for revenge on both of the demon child and the warrior escorting him. He began sprinting like he had never done before, wanting to save his final friend, his final chance.


    “Derek!”, Kronos said while getting near the range of close combat with the mage. Derek gave him an affirmative sound, not even a word and got ready to confront the remaining paladin. Like a bull the enemy crashed into Derek, making both of them roll down the hill while trying to kill one another with their bare hands.


    Kronos was about to hit the very flesh he was aiming for when the mage’s mouth began moving, yet no sound came out. Light shined through his cloth as if a tattoo was glowing.


    Half a second later an unexpected force pulled the dagger out of the child’s hand. The force wasn’t strong, a mere trick that would only work when your opponent had severely led his guard down or when he was incredible weak, like a child. A creepy smile spread across the grown man’s face when he saw that his plan was successful.


    Fuck! I have to avoid impact! The young criminal had built up so much speed and momentum from running down the hill, but everything was pointless without that dagger. It would be like a small bird crashing into a window. He jumped to the side and slowed down, panting from the intense action he had just performed.


    “Come on kid, you didn’t expect me to just let myself be killed. Unlike my friend who got his eyes pierced by you, I’m not letting my guard down.” The voice let Kronos to step back a bit, this man in front of him was far from physically respectable like his friends, but he was still an adult facing a child.


    “What’s this? Are you scared? You act just like an animal, maybe that’s what you get from spending your free time with a bird. Do you want to hear something funny before you die kid? When we got our instructions they spoke about a delusional child who killed a nun because of an ugly bird. My superior also instructed us to demolish that stupid grave you made for it, saying that there might be an evil spirit inside. The words carved inside that ugly bird quite fit you I’d say.”


    The child looked at him, hesitance turning into confusion which then turned into anger. How does he know what was carved in Oliver’s body? They- They destroyed Oliver’s grave?!


    There was no more time to be wasted, the child leaped forwards like a machine fueled by rage. Oliver’s death was already a lot to bare, but destroying the final rest place of someone or something was the most offensive thing there was to be done.


    A fist showed him no mercy, crashing into his abdomen. Kronos gasped for air, his bloody hands trying to kill his opponent. The mage lashed out again, now aiming for the child’s head. Kronos let his body fall backwards to evade while kicking his right feet into the man’s crouch with the momentum. The boy hit the snow hard and scrambled backward, desperate to escape.


    “I’ll end you!”, the man huffed out. The man lunged, but Kronos rolled away, dodging most of the impact. One of the man’s arms still managed to wrap around his waist and hold him. An unavoidable hit would come next, one that would send Kronos off to sleep.


    With no other way out the boy jumped up instead of trying to get away. The man who had been balding his fist ready to kill the little one was startled when he saw the boy move towards his face with his mouth open.


    A soft touch between teeth and skin was reacted harshly upon. Kronos impaled the man’s big Adam’s apple and tore it out. It felt disgusting as he ripped skin and muscle out of the man. In complete pain the man began hitting on the child with full force at the core of his fragile body.


    Kronos spit it out and devoured the man once again. Just a bit more, a little deeper. Don’t go unconscious now Kronos, you’ve gotten this far. They call me a demon, then it is only fair for me to act like one. His teeth entered deeper, and reached the artery, cutting it open. Blood drenched his hair and face, almost leaving no room for oxygen.


    While the mage who hadn’t even gotten the chance to cast a proper spell would die any second now, his fists continued to break bones. When a few seconds had passed the energy left his attacks and the man’s grip loosened.


    Kronos got up with a few broken ribs and ginormous bruises. Down the hill Derek and Olan were fighting with swords instead of hands now. Tens of deep wounds were marked on Derek while his opponent only had his calves cut by the sword short.


    I have to run, it’s my only possible way of survival. Even if I survive this fight and Derek does as well, he’ll still send me to my death in Karvos. The awful taste of raw human meat hadn’t left his taste buds, just like how the blood was still gluing onto his teeth.


    With a quick scavenge of the man’s lifeless form Kronos left. He had grabbed all the food and water plus the warm coat the mage wore and wrapped it around himself.


    On his way up the hill he picked up that knife which hadn’t been used this fight and the backpack Derek had put aside for this fight. Once the little demon had collected everything he sprinted off, not even giving his escort a final glance before his death.


    That man will have to give up on chasing me with those wounds on his calves. I just need to find a cave or abandoned house where I can stay the night.


    Kronos escaped unscathed, but something inside him felt irreparably shattered. As the adrenaline of the life or death situation began to run out, both his physical and mental state crashed downwards. I did everything that had to be done… So why do I feel so unfulfilled, I should feel happy shouldn’t I?&