“I won’t give you Osiria, nor the dragon. They’re mine…” He pushed his hand against Osiria’s chest. His eye met hers, but there was not a single ounce of sanity to be found within him. “Inima….”

“I love you, Rhen.”

Rhenakos sat in the dark of the cave, his eyes closed. Why here?

“Why not here,” her voice echoed in his mind. “Is this not where I was created? Where we got our start?” The cruelty in her voice. It was everything.

“Not here…” Rhenakos said as he tried to stand up.

“Yes. Here.”

—

“Why would he come here, of all places?” Rex asked as they entered the city of Baltil. The massive entryway was a sight to behold, and on any other day Rex would be in awe at the size of the gears shifting and turning, revealing the intricate inner workings of the city. Perhaps on a different day. Perhaps, with Rhenakos.

They entered the city proper, and gazed across the cliff edge. “This city is massive,” Rex commented, sound dejected. “Where do we even start?”

“Aye, what brings ye?” a rather drunk looking dwarf said as he waltzed up to the group. “Ye remind me of someone…a rather large fellow. Saw him some odd years ago. Rude fella…” The dwarf hiccuped. “Cute lass with him though. Funny guy…looked mad at the world…”

Rex scoffed, “And here I thought you were going to be a convenient lead.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

“Ah, it’s all right lad,” the dwarf said. “How ‘bout we head to the tavern for a nice drink? We can laugh it all ‘way!”

“It’s…not the worst idea,” Izzy said. That earned her a look from Rex. “What. We can ask around and see if anyone else has spotted him.” She smirked. “Auntie Toya lets me drink. Not much though…she says it’s bad for my growth.”

Hazel listened to the dwarf and what he said actually caught her ears, “Wait. Can you tell me what they looked like?”

“Well the man looked just like that kid and the girl had that one’s features,” the dwarf responded to Hazel.

“…Do you know where they were headed? These are their kids and their dad went missing.”

“Oh ho! So they did get busy… They talked about going to the dragon’s hoard. Tried to convince them not to because it’s dangerous but they had a job. Something about a demon. The man came back by himself though.”

“Thank you,” Hazel ordered a few drinks for them and sat down. “Looks like Rhenakos went back to where it all started. It really does want to torment him…” Once she saw the look from Rex she explained. “It’s using Osiria against him. He loves Osiria almost more than he loves Izzy and Reva. So much he wasn’t even going to let a demon think about having her to the point he killed her when he was crazed. If I had to say… I wonder if it is using her to beat and wear him down. It’s not like Rhenakos to just give in though… It might be Reva and Izzy that are breaking that.”

Rex was hesitant to sit down. They had some kind of information, and he wanted to rush straight to the dragon’s horde in order to look for clues. But, the way Hazel was acting meant that it was a bad idea and that they should at least form a plan. Izzy was restless too, leaning into Rex as she tried to avoid fidgeting.

“None for you,” Rex said as the drinks hit the table. Izzy pouted. “I don’t care if Toya lets you have any. I’m not Toya….”

“Okay, spoilsport…” Izzy said with a rude tone. She was trying her best to hide the fact that she was just as impatient as Rex.

“So, is there anything we need to know about the horde, then?” Rex asked. “Or can we head straight there? Do we need to talk to someone?” He sighed, taking a sip of the drink. Ever since he had changed into a lycanthrope, things were hitting his body differently, and suddenly he understood why Jet and Hana could drink so much and still be as active as they were.

“Hazel…what’s stopping us from just going to look, if we have a lead?” he asked.

Izzy hopped up and down in her seat. “Yeah Hazel. Why aren’t we going!?”

Hazel looked up at them, “I don’t know what kind of demon it is.” It was the best explanation that she had. “We would just get killed and your father would be forced to watch you both die which is what he is trying to avoid. The best thing we can do is come up with a plan. He has to be here for some reason. We just need to figure out what that reason is.”

She took a sip of her drink, “The demon is something we will have to plan about so I need both of you to calm down. You two act so much like him for two people who hate him.”

Once they discussed a plan of attack Hazel got some sutures, charms, and other stuff ready. She wasn’t sure what was going to work. She just knew this demon had to be strong to take over Rhenakos like this. Once they were going into the hoard she pulled out a torch and light it up. Holding it up she led the small group in.

“Just be careful… and do not trust anything Rhenakos says for now. It could have already won against him.”

Rex and Izzy both snapped at Hazel when she mentioned that they were acting like Rhenakos. “We are nothing like him!” they called out in unison. It was almost scary how much they looked and acted like their father. Despite the tense situation, Hazel couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Izzy started out, repeating what she had heard from Rhenakos about the demon. “So…Daddy used to talk a lot about it. Like I said before, I really wasn’t paying attention, but he was supposed to be a strong demon. And he liked to collect things. I dunno what that means,” she said with a sigh.

“A collector…” Rex said. “Wait, isn’t Rhenakos’ eye red?” The young man crossed his arms. “That’s…a demon eye. Rhenakos isn’t a demon. Whenever he uses his power, it burns him out. It’s because it’s not natural. The demon blood mixed with his human blood…”

“From the eye?” Izzy questioned. “That’s kind of gross.”

“So the demon…stole his eye?” Rex frowned.

Hazel looked between the two. “It makes sense. Rhenakos always complained about the pain it caused him when he used magic. And…”

“His personality type,” Rex continued, “If he hunted the collector demon down, he would have taken it. An eye for an eye.”

“Is the demon controlling him through his eye, then?” Izzy asked.

“That’s a safe bet,” Hazel replied.

“So…all we have to do is destroy the eye,” Rex said confidently.

“But we still don’t know what kind of demon it is,” the hedge witch sighed. “It’s still a solid plan, though.”

They readied up, and soon they found themselves in the hoard.

The torch barely illuminated the darkness as they traveled deep in. Hazel took the lead, and soon they were on the trail. Demon Rhenakos tracks were easy to spot. There were places where it seemed like he fought back, if for a time before slowly moving forward again. Soon, they came to a side shoot of a cavern.

Sounds could be heard in the distance.

“It’s wonderful to have you back. I can’t wait…” An older, feminine voice echoed. “I’ve missed you so much. Let’s rid you of that filth…”

“The hell…?” Rex said softly. They approached, turning the corner of the cave. Inside was a large ritual altar, with Rhenakos lying at the center. There was an woman with greying hair and a crazed look in her eyes standing over him, her fingers already deep into Rhen’s eye socket.

“Oh…guests?” she said. Despite her hair, there wasn’t a wrinkle on her body. She seemed…young, yet held herself with the authority of a queen. “Be a dear, Astreus, while I work on your brother here…”

A silver haired man walked from behind the altar. It looked almost like a carbon copy of Rhenakos aside from the short cut, silver hair. “Yes, Mother…”

“The fuck,” Izzy said with a disgusted look on her face.

Rex was already clenching his teeth. “Give him back!” he yelled. “Give my father back!”

“Oh?” the woman said with a smile as she popped Rhenakos’ left eye out. “Oh my…I didn’t realize…” She looked concerned for a moment. “Astrues, deary…I didn’t realize this was family. How rude.” Her eyes turned violent. “Leave no trace. Do not hesitate. Leave none alive. Our Lord will be reborn tonight, and we shall rid the realm of this impure bloodline!”

Hazel was quick to grab Rex by the collar of his shirt and rip him back. “REX, don’t be so stupid.” She took a jar out and threw the contents on the son. It started to steam and a green fire started. “It reacts badly to demon flesh.”

Hazel looked around and before long she dropped the torch. Her foot stepped on the flame causing the lights to go out. The fire if there was any illuminating had a ghastly breeze go through. Even the fire on the brother went out. Left in the pitch-black there was an eerie green glow as tentacle came out and threw the threatening.

She was quick with her eyes a glowing silver in the pitch black. She let them have the eye but kicked back Rhenakos’s body to the kids. Her blood was spilled on the eye from her wrist before she engaged with the brother.

“Izzy, get Rex and Rhenakos out of here now.”

“BUT HAZEL.”

“I said to go now. I’ll join you soon. You’ll just be in the way.”

Hundreds of tentacles shot from the shadows all aiming for a quick attack. She was neither gloating nor happy about the situation like most people who had the upper hand.

“THE DARKNESS, get rid of it!” The woman shouted. There was a scurry for the torches to get the fires lit again.

“A little too late to realize the conductor of my magic,” Hazel knocked them all back before taking off in the direction of Rex and Hazel. “We need to go now. Let’s recoup in the inn. Tend to Rhenakos and we’ll discuss our next steps. The time for revenge isn’t now but we will need to take care of it.”

Rex tried to bolt forward, but was quickly pulled back by a much smarter Hazel. Before Astreus could react, Hazel threw a substance at the demon, which reacted almost immediately, burning his flesh. As he screamed in pain, Hazel dropped her torch and stamped out the light. As the last of the flames flickered out, Astreus recovered, looking around.

At first, Rex didn’t understand what was happening. Things were moving quickly, but Izzy was already reacting, drawing a short sword. Without a word, and without provocation, she was ready. Hazel and Izzy both had experience, which was something that Rex sorely lacked.

His eyes took a moment to adjust, but when they did he realized that he could almost see better than in the light. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. Rhenakos’ body was flying at him, and with a surprising reaction time, he managed to catch it.

“It’s light?” he said aloud, almost confused.

“Shut up and run!” Izzy yelled. At the same time, Hazel yelled for them to go.

“But Hazel!” Rex tried to yell, but she shot back her answer, determined.

“RUN YOU IDIOT!” Izzy yelled as she grabbed his arm and dragged him along. Rex turned away, barely catching a glimpse of the dark horrors that sprouted from the shadows as he left.

As the woman yelled to have the lights turned back, Astreus tried his best to ignite the flames.

“Yo USELESS imbecile,” she yelled, raising her hand as Hazel retreated. A powerful burst of mana shot forth, illuminating the cave, but the group had already made their escape.

“No matter…we can hunt them down,” she said. “Astreus…bring me the body.” She snapped her fingers. “With or without Rhenakos, our Lord shall be returned to us.”

—

Rex dropped Rhenakos’ body as they made it to the edge of the massive cave. He spun around, fully ready to go back for Hazel, but she already in sight before he could do anything.

“Great, Hazel!” Izzy said with a smile. “You did amazing!” She glanced at her brother. “You did…nothing useful.”

“I carried the body,” Rex retorted.

“After almost getting yourself killed.”

At this, Rex glanced away. “Everything was happening too quickly…”

Izzy scoffed, “No. It was happening in real time. Just because you’re a big, scary dog now, doesn’t mean everything magically changes. You’re still useless in a fight…”

“I’m not…” Rex clenched his teeth.

Hazel went with them as soon as she knew she was in the clear. “Demon hunting is my specialty. It was one of the few things Rhenakos drilled in my head relentlessly. My mind and my body would be used against others so I learned young to throw upwards against mental attacks. I was strongest in that area where Rhenakos wasn’t.”

She looked at Rex and smiled at him. “Please don’t worry about me. What I need you to do is focus on yourself and Rhenakos. You are strong enough now but you still need time to train your body. You really should talk to Toya. She has Lycanthrope children.”

Hazel was running alongside them, “Rex, please don’t get mad. Izzy is right. You just need to train.” They got back to the inn and Hazel got them a room. She laid Rhenakos down and started to tend to his wounds. “There’s no guarantee he will wake up. We might have to take out the demon first. We weren’t prepped for that fight though.”

Looking at both of them she frowned, “They will definitely be coming for us. We need to be ready… We should call in some favors but it might take a moment.” She knew a pair that would want to pay Rhenakos back for a few recent favors.

“Travel in pairs for now if you leave the room. We should stay here for the time being. I’m significantly weaker in the light.” Hazel dug into her bag and threw them a few jars and some charms. "To keep demons at bay. We'll need them but keep in mind that one who I threw it on? He smelled half human. These won't work that great on him."

“Favors, huh?” Rex replied. “You mean Mom and Dad.” He nodded. “I’ll…contact them. He clenched his fist as he stared down at his father. Hazel and Izzy left the room to go get food, leaving Rhenakos and Rex alone in the room.

“You know,” Rex said as he looked down at the comatose Rhenakos. “I didn’t know what to think of you when I met you. I wanted to hate you, but when I saw everything that you had achieved, I…didn’t know how to feel. Osiria. Izori. Reva. You had so much, and yet…” He turned away. “I got furious with you when I realized what they grew up with versus what I had. I had been abandoned by you.”

The young man scoffed. “Turns out…Izzy got abandoned too. You know? Xeik told me that you were trying. And I didn’t believe it. But…the way Osiria begged me to bring you back…” Rex took a shaky breath. “I realized something. I can’t forgive you for what you’ve done. I’m not strong enough to let go of that…but…I at least understand that you’re trying to do better. I can……respect that.”

Rhenakos merely laid there as the silence lengthened.

“Good talk…” Rex said through gritted teeth. “Glad we could have it… I was worried I’d miss the chance…” He could feel his eyes starting to water. “I’m sorry…that I didn’t do it sooner…”

The lycan took a moment to compose himself, and when Hazel and Izzy came back, they contacted Simone and Lewis.

It took less than an hour for the two to show up, plus Xeik. The three entered the room, with Rex getting an immediate hug from Simone.

“Moomm…” Rex complained.

“You’re smiling,” Lewis mentioned off-hand as he looked at Rhenakos. “Xeik?”

“He’s not in any danger, but…he won’t wake up anytime soon.” The Divine Mender sighed, crossing his arms. “Is that it?”

“You owe him too,” Lewis shot back. “You’re staying.”

“But Mia-”

“Is on her way,” Simone chimed in. “She made a quick stop…”

Mia made her stops and soon Osiria was there and Raine was trailing behind. Os greeted her daughter with a hug and then hugged Rex after Simone got done smothering him.

“You’re hugging my baby a bit tight,” Simone arched an eyebrow.

“I’m his stepmother,” Osiria said gently enough before Simone nodded. She understood Osiria’s role in everything. “Well, at least by blood.” She rubbed Rex’s hair before she pulled Rhenakos into her lap and pet his hair.

“Does he even like that?” Simone asked and Mia nodded along.

“You would be shocked how Rhenakos is when you aren’t here.” Osiria frowned a bit when she looked back down at Rhenakos. “I know we fight a lot but we punched out the last person who told us we wouldn’t work. We do love each other in our own fucked up way.” She snuggled up to him.

“So you don’t go on jobs together why?” Raine asked.

“Because we suck at working as a team,” Osiria looked up at Lewis and Simone. “Lewis and Simone have an advantage because they can tell when each other are hurt. Rhenakos and I are both impulsive, meaning that we would get most concerned if we even saw the chance of the other getting hurt. It leads to fights or even more injury. We used to go even despite that but once Izzy was born I decided to retire from fighting. Just a housewife but Rhen insisted I at least kept up with things so I could help on occasion if needed.”

Hazel looked out the window, “Not to interrupt but… Should we wait for Rhenakos to wake up? Or are we going to leave someone behind?”

“I’m going to kick their fucking asses to hell and back,” Osiria blew up. “NO ONE TAKES MY HUSBAND FROM ME BUT MY HUSBAND. Who is knocked out but when he wakes up I’m going to punch him in the dick.”

“That’s the Osiria we know and love.” Simone chuckled.