The Amulet of Tenebrae

Kendra got up with tears in her eyes. It sounded like her savior was losing. She wants to go back and help him bit there wasn't much she could do against a magical demon king. She just kept running up the stairs without looking back.

Hold back Vorkalth's hand from his face, using all his strength to keep the flames from his face. The King grinned maliciously, "YOU will not win in the end!!! She WILL be mine!" he snarled at him pushing more, but He glared at him, "While I Breathe and the Igven line LIVES I WILL DEFEND IT!!!." he glared back and his voice strained still keep the King's hand away.

"You are NOTHING but Low Born SCUM RASSLER CALAROOK!! And You are a THORN in my Side!! I. WILL. END. YOU!" he promised to Rassler, "And ONCE I do! Kendra will Be MY Queen and YOU will watch as I TAKE her in front of YOU!" he Laughed.  Hearing This, Rassler's Grip tightened on Vorkalth's wrist and his eyes glowed red with rage. He opened his mouth ajar, then he shouted, "Abicietur!!" opening his mouth wide, from it a bright violet light shot out and into the King's face, made dissipate into a dusty smoke, "NOOO!!!!" he shouted in annoyance and anger "THIS ISN'T OVER RASSLER!!!!!" his voice echoed as he dematerialised . Relieved when he didn't sense him anat more, Rassler flopped on his back and panted heavily, "Some FUCKING way to come back........shit..." he sat up slowly.

Kendra finally made it to the top of the stairs and slammed the door shut. She stopped and leaned her back against the door completely out of breath. She was back in her uncles room and the fire was still lit. She walked over to it and sat in the armchair.

"What have I done? I can't get myself out of this mess..." She rubbed her arms trying to get warm thinking about that demon kings cold hands and his scary smirk.

He got walking back down the stairs and into the lab, Rassler looked to the mark on the ground. He let out a loud sigh, "She was tricked SOO easily..." he held his good arm to the portal, " 'Malum iuxta portam, ut non transiens.' " his voice echoed through the house and a purple glow formed around the marking.

The amulet began to glow at the same time as he did so.

Kendra saw the amulet glowing again. She hoped that meant the purple demon was alright. She could faintly hear his voice chanting something in Latin. Once she was waem and called down and bit she decided to go to the door that led to the stairs and open it.

Once the gate was sealed he sighed, and he held his arm that was injured. He was going to head to the kitchen to deal with his arm. Once he got up the stairs he closed the secret door and then turned around to see Kendra in the door way of the study.

He gave a dry expression, "You related to Terrence?" he asked.

Kendra turned around when she heard the secret passage open again. She saw her savior standing there holding his arm. She faced him and approached slowly,

"Yes...he is my uncle. You knew him?" As she got closer, she could clearly see he was hurt. She looked at him and saw tattoos resembling the amulet all over his upper arms and shoulders. He seemed rough around the edges, but she wasn't afraid of him. Not like the other demon that called himself Vorkalth.

"I've only spoken to him, never met him in person." he said, "So you're the so-called, 'fantastic Niece' he spoke so much about." he said, walking past her, "I'm going to the kitchen." he said, he wanted to clean up his arm in a easier to clean area.

"You coming?" he asked grouchily.

Kendra was surprised to find that he knew of her uncle. But was also surprised to see how rude he was. She crossed her arms and looked at him with a sour face. "My name is Kendra. You don't have to be so rude, especially when you don't even know me."

Her eyes followed him as he walked past her. Her words didn't even seem to phase him. He was very straight forward and kinda grouchy. She hoped it was just because he was hurt. She nodded and followed him. His gray skin looked bruised and he had multiple scratches all over him.

"Thank you...for what you did back there. You saved me from a terrible fate..." She said sincerely as she followed him down the stairs.

"Don't KNOW You? Your fucking uncle talked about you EVERY chance he fucking got!" he said as he walked on to the kitchen, "And rude? Ha! I'm a demon Sweet cheeks." he said dryly, "Don't expect nice out of me."

"I'm doing my job." he replied to her thanks. "And terrible it would have been."

Finally reaching the kitchen, he looked to the fireplace and with a flash of the eyes it lit up, fully hot and burning, lighting the place up. The howling wind blowing outside still along with the heavy rain, suddenly a crack of thunder sounded.

"Damn, the elements KNEW this was a bad day." He said, pulling a chair out and sitting for a minute.

"

Kendra bit her lip in anger at hearing that. He was even going on about her to DEMONS for crying out loud and couldn't come see her more than once every five or ten years. "If he loved me so damn much it would have been nice to see him more than twice before he died." After that she followed him in silence to the kitchen.

She looked out the window and had forgotten about the storm that was brewing earlier. It was in full force now. The trees were swaying and it was practically raining sideways it was coming down so hard. She looked around the kitchen and saw lots of cabinets and a HUGE pantry. A few small bottles caught her eye near the sink. While he sat down, she found a clean cloth and wet it with warm water. She took it to him. "Here...for your cuts."

"He was involved in his research a LOT of the time." he said, "Though every time he planned to see you and his sister he almost had a so-called 'break though'........he never would have." he said.

"That's not what I need." he said, "There should be a wine cellar door hidden besides the pantry." he said.

"Family is more important than any research..." She scoffed and put the towel down on the arm of his chair. She looked over toward the pantry door but it was too dark to see any hidden door in the light of the fire.

"What's in there that you need?" She asked before she moved to go look wondering what could be behind the door.

"Your human medicines don't work for me." he said, he stood and walked over, "If this house hasn't changed....." he pressed a wall panel and the door click and showed the door with the cellar stairs.

"Wine and spirits are better wound cleaners for my kind." he said.

"This house is full of surprises..." She said and followed him through the doorway. She was curious to see what healing was like for demons.

"I forgot to ask you...what's your name?" She asked as they walked.

"Have you even been to this house before today?" he asked, "........Rassler Calarook. I'm your vassal." he said as he headed down carefully, still holding his arm. "Ah... that fucker will pay if I see him again." he grumbled.

Kendra shook her head, "No...this is the first time I have ever been here. My mother told me stories about this place growing up, but I just thought she made it up to make my uncle seems more appealing so I would like him and not hold a grudge against him for not visiting often." She looked at his arm, it looked pretty bad. A normal human would have gone into shock by now.

"My vassal...but I..." His words made sense though. "Is it your duty to protect me from the demon king?" She asked starting to connect the dots.

"I've been speaking to your uncle since he was 30. He knew of me and the problems that would come along. Which is why you don't have cousins from him." he said as the reached the bottom of the cellar and he found the switch turning the lights on and it was a stone cellar and MANY barrels and bottles of vintage wines and spirits.

"Yes. Its my job. You're the first female of your family in the LONGEST time to hold the amulet. It goes to the first born of each new generation. Your uncle was born first and now you." he said.

Kendra listened to Rassler as they approached the bottom of the steps and entered the cellar. The overwhelming smell of wine filled her nose and she immediately wretched. She was not fond of alcohol and was still too young to even drink.

"It seems you know more about my uncle than even I do and I'm his niece..." Kendra sighed and stood against the wall while Rass did what he needed to. She looked down at the amulet hanging around her neck. "But why me? I'm just an ordinary girl...what am I suppose to do?" She asked him looking at the amulet closely.

He looked at her dry heaving at the scent of the wine, "...Really?" he asked dryly, "You need to grow some stamina." he said simply as he looked at one of the shelvings and he looked at the bottles.

"I only know him because I'm STUCK doing so. I'm bound to the amulet until you find a way to break the curse on your family line." he said simply, still looking at the vintage on each bottle.

"I don't like alcohol. It stinks." She said starting to get adjusted to the strong smell.

"My family is cursed?! Wonderful, more good news. But, what does that demon king have to do with all this?" She asked just getting more and more confused.

"Its also a good healer." he said, "AH perfect." he got a dusty bottle of a pinot noir, a red wine. "This will do." he was not worried about her stunned reaction to the curse, "Well the family curse only affects the first born of each generation ONLY if its a female. You're the only child out of this generation aren't you? Besides distance family."

"This curse was placed on you almost a 1000 years ago, you're family is old." he said.

"Yes...I am an only child. My mother only had one brother, and as you know he had no children." Learning about the curse made that amulet seem almost that much heavier around her neck.

"Why didn't my uncle just tell me all this himself? I could have helped him try to break the curse..." She was so frustrated and angry at this whole situation.

He gave a look at her as he sat down, "Be fuckin' honest, WOULD you have believed him?" he asked, popping the cork with ease and took a swig, "mm good year." he then started drip a bit of wine on his cuts and over his injured arm and with hissings of smoke off his cuts they healed before her eyes, like it was nothing. He poured a good slug of the wine over his injured arms and it soaked into his skin, healing anything on the inside.

"Awww fuck me that's much better." he said in a shudder.

She sighed and thought about his questions for a moment, "I might have been skeptical at first, but with this family I have learned over the years that anything is possible." She watched Rass pour the wine over his cuts and was taken aback when his arm started to smoke. But they healed almost instantly.

"Wow, that's amazing." She said looking at his arm. It was as if the cuts weren't even there. "I know I have been asking a lot of questions, but how did you get mixed up in all of this and being my vassal?" She asked.