It was a perfect day. The sun was shining brightly, only a few clouds marring the clear blue of the sky. Small birds chirped merrily, their song traveling across the large town square of Kalm, reaching the ears of its residents, who mingled casually through the stone streets of the ever-growing city. Families out with their children to enjoy the nicely warm spring day, young couples holding hands as they flirted, so innocently. Children skipping through the square, playing in the park, and holding ice cream cones that dripped onto their chubby little hands. Everyone had found solace today in the pleasantries of living in the city that deserved its name. Everyone was happy.

It disgusted him to no end.

Without warning, the ground around Kalm began to shake, first softly, then more violently, causing a slight panic to grip the people within. Buildings began to come loose from their foundations, a few of the less well-built structures crumbling. The sky around the city went black, the sun the only exception, reflecting a deep, devious red. The large tree in the center of the square seemed to split down the middle with a bit of an explosion, fire appearing to lick at the trunk and attach itself to the branches.

From the depths of this fire a figure rose, the large figure of a man, his arms held out a bit to his side, an unseen wind blowing his long raven hair from his face, his spiky bangs billowing around his golden brown face. His hair normally would have fallen to his hips in straight tresses, but now with the help of that strengthening breeze, it flew away from his body, riding the air so harshly it seemed it would become tangled beyond belief. Eyes made of polished jade reflected sinister desire and sadistic intention, eyes that narrowed as they observed how the peaceful residents cowered, or ran, a cruel smile curling thin, seductive lips. Black robes also fluttered in the wind around his long, lean legs, brushing his ankles, the strip thrown over his otherwise bare left shoulder threatening to dislodge itself from the air�s abuse, but never actually doing so. From his bare back, large wings spread, every feather as raven black as his hair.

�So this is how you defend yourselves,� he said to no one but himself, his deep voice smooth, the sort of voice that can send a shiver down one�s spine with a whisper.

�Pitiful.�

His arms raised above his head, which dropped back, eyes closing, and a red ring appeared around the city, a ring that widened quickly, becoming many feet thick. Out from this ring there appeared a horde of demons; small, crooked figures that only vaguely resembled men twitched and cracked their joints as they eagerly awaited the command to proceed. Thirty legions in all phased up from the ground, muscles rippling with the reflexive stretching going like a disease through the large numbers.

�Go,� the figure whispered, but it seemed all of the demons heard him, and they rushed the city, crawling like deformed insects over the buildings, through the streets, seemingly devouring everything in their path, the once happy citizens now mauled if they got in the way, which was impossible to avoid. Buildings began to crumble, people continued to die, and the demons continued to crawl. Their bloated, mutated faces twisted with malevolent glee as their grotesque owners made their way quickly towards their master, only pausing to momentarily satiate their animalistic desire for destruction.

The master waited patiently, lowering his arms and opening his eyes to view with a kind of sadistic satisfaction the death occurring everywhere around him, approaching him from all sides. Finally the number of over 100,000 demons reached him, near piling on top of each other to get nearer to him. The city behind them was a mere shadow of its previous beauty.

�You�ve done well�I will take care of the rest. Go.� Without further encouragement, the evilly hyperactive creatures disappeared from the square, leaving him to his work.

He didn�t say a word, only stared at the bodies of the dead scattering the square, their thick blood seeping from the wounds in various places, down into the earth between the stones lining the ground. After silently enjoying his victory for a moment, his arms once again stretched above him, and the winds began again, this time seeming to come from below him, blowing his hair up in flurries. A bright red light began to glow out of the circle from which the demons had come, followed by another circle beginning at his feet. The smaller of the two began to grow, in diameter as opposed to width, gaining speed as it rushed out to meet the other. Everything that the circle passed over or though was immediately crumbled, broken�what was left of the buildings, the trees lining the park pathways, the playground of said park, and the body of every single child, living or dead, which occupied it. Barely more than a blackened circle and a few ruins remained where the once proud Kalm had stood, once the circles met, exploding in a bright flash of red light, which quickly dissipated.

The figure admired his handiwork for a few moments, before his lips twitched up into a cruel smirk, and he moved from his hovering position, beginning his last bit of insult�

~~*--*~~

The boy paused, looking up from the textbook he was reviewing at his kitchen table. He idly pushed a strand of shoulder length black hair behind his ear, glancing to the boy across from him. �Did you feel that?�

Cat green eyes glanced up, blinking. �That pulse just now?�

�Yeah. It was�weird, wasn�t it?�

The silver haired boy stopped his attempt at an essay, and set down his pen, closing his eyes for a moment. �It felt�like people were screaming. Did you hear them?�

��I did��

�You wanna go check it out?�

��Yeah.�

Both young men stood up, and left through the back door of the house. They both faded out of their street clothes, exchanging them for flowing white robes, and both sprouting feathery white wings that stretched behind them. They flapped their wings, taking off into the sky, homework forgotten.

�Hey, Gabriel!� the silver haired youth called, reaching out to get his friend�s attention. �It feels like it�s coming from Kalm!�

�Right,� the other answered, adjusting his course accordingly.

It took only a few minutes to reach Kalm�or rather, where Kalm ought to have been. Both boys stopped mid-air upon seeing the damaged city.

�Wh�what happened here�?� Gabriel murmured, mouth slightly agape, eyes wide. �Achaiah�?�

�I don�t know�shit�let�s get closer.�

He hesitated a moment before complying with this new idea, dropping down to the ground and taking a step towards the debris. �There�s nothing�no one�who could have done this?� Gabriel covered his mouth, fighting the nausea that began to rise as he came dangerously close to a hideously twisted corpse.

�Hey, keep it together�� Achaiah stepped closer to Gabriel, putting a comforting arm over his shoulders.

There was a loud caw, and a large black bird swooped down, claws grazing Achaiah�s head as it passed before landing on one of the bodies. The crow cawed again before it began to peck at the corpse�s eyes.

�Ow! Damn!� Achaiah yelped, touching his head where he had been scratched, checking for blood. Finding none, he sighed, and waved his hand at the bird. �Go on, shoo�show a little respect, will ya?� His only response was another cray and a bite to his fingers. �Hey! Stupid bird,� he grumbled, drawing back his hand and nursing it for a moment. He looked over to his friend, blinking at the expression on the other boy�s face. ��Gabriel�? What�s wrong?�

The black-haired man�s eyes had grown even wider, and his hand now trembled as it was held just in front of his mouth, kept there more from horror now than revulsion. ��A�Achaiah�look at how they�re laying��

�Huh?� He took a step back, looking back at the seemingly careful arrangement of the bodies, and his eyes too widened in shock. Every blue, twisted and broken corpse had been carefully arranged, placed so that when viewed from a bit of a distance, it could be seen that they spelled out a name, in somewhat crooked capital letters. RAYM.

The crow let out another loud squawk, and to Gabriel, it seemed it was laughing. The bird had bright green eyes that seemed to pierce the boy to his soul. It sent a shudder down his spine, and he had to look away. �Achaiah�please�let�s get out of here�now��

He nodded. �Right.�