Lost Ties

As North merged with the shadows, he felt a sense of weightlessness and disorientation. It was as if he had fallen into a deep, dark pool of water, with no bottom in sight. He felt himself sinking lower and lower, as if the shadows were pulling him down into their depths.

But then, he was suddenly jolted out of the shadows, as if some unseen force were pushing him up and out of the darkness. He felt a surge of energy and momentum, as if he were being propelled through the water at an incredible speed. He was thrown out of the shadows, ejected from the pool of darkness that had once enveloped him.

North appeared in a forest, which he had no recognition of, yet he took a look around his surroundings. North noticed that the academy had been within line of sight, realizing he had moved far, but not far enough.

'Head diagonally, there are some brothers and sisters in that direction.' The Void spoke.

As it broke North out of his thoughtful reverie, the child noticed he was in his black armor again. He looked at himself in confusion, no idea what was going on.

'Go! You don't have the time to gawk at me!' The Void yelled, making him spur to his feet from the ground.

He began running in the direction the Void had said to run in. The forest was thick and filled with powerful ambient mana that had the Nature Factor pouring out of every corner. The jungle-like leaves blocked North's path, he waded through the jungle floor as if it'd been a raging river.

His speed severely restrained.

'At this point, I'm slowing you down. Return to your demon body, it'll help you traverse through this mess.' The Void said, confusing North.

Once the black armor sloughed off into black mist, North was back in his human body. The tiles of his skin flipping back into his black leathery skin with a layer of blue flame dancing on top.

'How is this going to help?' North asked in confusion, still finding the shrubbery to be difficult to maneuver through. Yet, the words died in his mouth as he finally reached a clearing.

A group of six other demons were armed and prepared to intercept him, as if he'd been painfully obvious in his travel through the forest.

When the group saw him, they sighed in relief. "It's not a human." One of them said. They all had different appearances, but North could feel it in his heart, that they were demons.

The demon which spoke looked like a mass of roots which moved together to form a body, as if it'd been a swarm of ants moving in unison. Another looked nearly human, yet it was very tall standing at around 8' (243cm), its ears were pointy and its movements filled with an alien grace, its skin extremely pale.

"Brother, what brings you to us." The long-eared demon asked.

Before North could even speak, the metal plates forming the middle of the gorget set which was the Void Mantle formed into a cruel-looking maw similar to North's in his black armor. "We seek Dreila."

The voice sounded as if it was metal screeching aloud, and had stunned the pod of demons. "Which covenant do you brothers and sisters belong to?" The metal screeching continued, the metal maw on North's chest which was the Void Mantle carefully articulating its metal pieces.

The pod of demons looked at one another before looking at their long-lost kin with a sentient artifact. "We are apart of the Sylvan Covenant, Leia shall take you to the Home Tree. We offer you Dreila, brothers." The long-eared demon replied, bowing slightly.

'Bow North, deeply. Introduce yourself as well.' The Void said within North's mind. North inwardly nodded with reluctance, unsure as to who these strangers were and why they would listen to him without asking any questions.

'Shake off that distrust while you're at it. It's human.' The Void replied to North's typical antics with a mocking disgust.

As North bowed deeply, he then rose. "I'm North." The pod of demons quizzically looked at the short demon. Leia, a demon which looked like green energy being held together to form a humanoid body, not too distinct to North's shadowy Incarnation Form, inspecting him as she circled him.

She grabbed his tail, which pulled to him in defense, yet not moving from his position. She then looked at his body before finishing full circle. Her face was pure green energy, a maw formed from a jagged line. Eyes which were just glowing orbs that periodically dimmed as she blinked.

'These are all demons...?' North asked inwardly to the Void.

'Every demon is unique, they are made of pure Soul energy, so they take the forms which represent themselves the most. You look to them like a defiled demon.' The Void replied shocking North, that would explain the overall niceties in his mind.

After sighing, the Void replied, 'No. They're nice because demons do not distrust one another, we are all family.'

'We?' North asked the Void within his mind, receiving no response.

"Follow me, younger brother." Leia said as she turned walking toward a tree with a large trunk. Her walking gait had fully entranced North, despite being made of energy, her form was much more defined than his shadowy Incarnation Form.

North could feel emotions and reactions occurring all throughout him that were alien to his nine year old self, his demon body was much more mature than he'd been. The silent Void returned to the front of North's mind with nothing but a sigh.

The blue flames licking North's face turned into a dull red, giving him a look as if he'd been blushing. Yet, he followed the nice lady up to the giant tree trunk.

Leia then put her hand up to the tree which began sprouting vines that twisted around her arm and pulled her into itself. "Follow me." Is what she managed to say before being swallowed by the tree.

North looked back at the pod of demons, some of them waving bye, to which he returned before turning back to the tree trunk. 'Do I really just walk into this?'

'Yes, now hurry, she's waiting.' The Void replied, giving North haste as he stepped through the tree.