Eri, the Monster Sealer

~ Prologue ~

Halls Resided by Demons:

The Cathedral of Lions

~ September, 1286 AD—Kingdom of Leola, Continental Lands of Atrea ~

His infant sister was somewhere inside of that awful place.

A streak of lightning crackled against its decrepit bell loft. This place was a derelict, once a shrine of song and worship among the Royal family of King Viktor Sufocus. But now, it was just a crypt for the dead. A cathedral with halls resided by demons—ruled by a man known these days only as the Black King.

In a time before hell unearthed, these ruins had been part of Prince Jarem Sufocus’s home. He sucked back a sharp breath that felt cold and harsh on gritted teeth. He strode on heavy steps towards the cathedral, his hooded cape whipping in the wind.

But Jarem stopped short before the doors. Despite himself, an invisible obstacle kept him from entering. Fear.

His infant sister was somewhere inside of that awful place.

It was all he could think of.

Terra Leigh Sufocus—born with the power to either influence a world of Restoration or a world of Annihilation. She was now a ruling pawn, wound in a hellish web, that could result in the very destruction of Atrea’s countries and the lands beyond.

Jarem squeezed tight around the handle of his war hammer.

“Terra’s in there.” He turned a slow gaze to the six companions behind him.

“It will be all right, Jarem,” said the psychic healer, Relina Weiss. She offered him a small smile. But Jarem felt the terror she hid behind the gesture.

It wouldn’t be.

“We’re with you every step of the way,” rumbled the mercenary archer, Obiere Laroche, from the other end of the group.

“Tonight this war ends,” assured the group’s sea-faring minstrel, Faran Coyne. “The Black King will pay for what he’s done.”

At Faran’s side stood Princess Arissa Lockhart, the warrior-ruler of Demoria Kingdom. She offered Jarem a quiet nod of agreement.

Despite her silence, Arissa’s steely gaze told him everything.

This was it.

The shrieking razor-sharp gale around Jarem and his Star Warriors echoed this sentiment.

“Prince Jarem, we must make haste.”

Father Eric Lodoss, the Sufocus family priest, pushed his way through the group to address him. The wind licked at the loose ends of Lodoss’ hooded cloak, the bristles of his thick white beard.

Beside Father Lodoss appeared a slender Elf graced with hair like dandelions in the frenzied gale. She gazed at Jarem with concern only for Terra’s fate, and shifted the weight of three Mage Staffs bound against her caped backside.

Jarem hated Lakmir, what she was. But the Mage Staffs she provided tonight—long black rods, each with a single orb fastened to one end—proved her love for his three-month-old sister more than anything else in the world.

With the arcane guidance of Father Lodoss, it was Lakmir’s idea to Seal away the Black King forever – Jarem and Terra’s own father—the maniac responsible for this war between humans and what were known as the Kenah’dai, entities once worshiped like pagan deities. Lakmir’s own kind. Monsters.

But it was also Lakmir’s idea to Seal away the Black King’s brainwashing corruption of the Kenah’dai, into a new world of their very own. So that peace for the humans of Atrea might return.

Jarem and Lakmir kept their gazes locked. Despite his hate of this Elf, there was no denying her devotion. Even if it meant the possibility of exile, or worse. It was a sacrifice, he realized, that proved just how much Lakmir truly loved his baby sister—a messianic force for both sides of the war.

Terra Leigh Sufocus—an infant with eyes the color of red apples. Known by humans as the Child of Destiny. Known by Kenah’dai as the Devil Goddess.

“What exactly is our plan, Father Lodoss?” asked Princess Arissa. She pushed strands of hair out of her eyes.

“Lakmir and I will sneak around the side entrance while the five of you engage the Black King and his minions to provide us a distraction.”

He exchanged nods with the Elf and continued.

“With the Black King distracted from the attack, we will set up the Mage Staffs around the cathedral’s perimeter. As soon as I have cued the ready, the five of you must invoke the incantation to create the rift which will banish King Sufocus and the Kenah’dai forever into a dimensional Void.”

“That’s all Kenah’dai, right?” asked Faran, nervous.

“That’s correct.”

“Won’t Lakmir get caught up with the rest of them?” Obiere balked at this. “She’s a Monster of the earth element!”

Jarem’s stare at the Elf hardened, a leap of excitement in his heart. Lakmir drew her gaze away from his to address the question.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” she declared in a strong voice. “Lady Terra is depending on us now. All of us.”

Relina caressed the Elf’s shoulder, assuredly. “It’ll be all right, Lakmir. We’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

Jarem turned away from his comrades to face the Cathedral of Lions with stronger resolve.

“…Much has been lost over these past few months. I only hope that tonight we may put my father’s tyranny to rest once and for all, and bring back peace to our world. My sister’s soul depends on it.”

Another crack of lightning coursed across the sky. It illuminated sinister shadows over the face of the cathedral.

“For Terra and Atrea,” Jarem murmured.

“For Terra and Atrea,” his companions repeated.

In the deadly shriek of the night’s air, the seven comrades parted ways and journeyed towards the maw of hell.