There it was, The demon king’s castle. A massive structure of black brimstone and forged in the darkest dungeons. At least, that’s what I thought I would see in front of me as the army marched forward.

  Instead, I saw a massive castle, but it was certainly not dark and brimstone. “I call bullshit!” I cried angrily as I pointed my finger at the large fortress. “That is not a demon lords castle! It’s like this world loves to fuck with me!”

  There was a snickering behind me and I swerved to face Talia, her eyes sparkled with amusement and she had a slight redness to her cheeks. Our eyes met and I looked away. “I think you need to stop comparing Xanrea to Earth, Reggie, they aren’t the same place.” Another voice spoke up and Tulip walked out of the tent. Her long blonde hair cut to her shoulders. A necessary act to prevent the orcs from pulling it during combat. A lesson learned quickly and brutally. Her sapphire eyes stared up at the fortress as she continued “Still, even I admit I wasn’t expecting the floral patterns.” She smiled lightly, a rare thing for her these days. Especially after Kemaru had dumped her a week ago. Turns out even a high level paladin with a giant glowing sword was still not good enough for the haughty mage. Maybe he was jealous her sword was bigger than his.

  “I think it doesn’t matter what it looks like, The only thing that matters is that we stop the evil dick and save our people.” Talia said, her matter of fact tone juxtaposing her barely contained smirk at me. She was masculine. If someone took an earth body builder and pounded them with more steroids then sense. Not uncommon on earth to be honest. They would have a portion of the muscle the wolfkin had. She wore full plate mail like Tulip, but unlike Tulip, hers did not glow with light. Instead, it had an ethereal gleam of enchanted armor. Talia was one of the best blacksmiths in all of Xanrea, there was no comparison. All of my shurikens, my Katana, and even my robes were made by her. Her long silvery hair matching her wolf ears swayed in the wind, making her look like a savage beast. A wild, wonderful, savage beast. One that made me blush as I once again remembered last night.

  “Something wrong Reggie? You seem a little red.” Tulip asked genuinely, worry etched on her face. Causing me to blush even more. Talia’s ears perked up and her ears stiffened, a classic telltale sign of a beastkin suddenly nervous. The increased redness in her cheeks gave it away as embarrassment.

  “It’s nothing Tulip, Talia and I just had some.. time together last night to discuss things.” I said, trying to sound casual about it.

  Tulip went stiff and I saw the pain in her eyes. “I… see! I am so happy for you both!” She said stiffly. She was really trying to not make it about her. Classic paladin I thought to myself.

  “Look Tulip, we don’t need to talk about this right now. We are about to stop the demon king once and for all! We can worry about who is with who when it’s all over!” I said quickly. I felt a sharp pain as Talia smacked me hard across the back of me head.

  “What he mean’s Tulip is that he is a big asshole and we are here for you.” She said, saving my ass once again. Still I grumbled under my breath about those massive trains she called fists.

  “If all of you are quite done being neanderthals, we have garbage to take out!” Kemaru said as he also stepped out of the same tent. He was a tall figure at just under 6 feet tall. Same height as me, and a bit shorter then Talia who was around 6’3… not that I would now that in great detail or anything. She looked so good…

  His brown eyes stared at the large castle impassively, his elven ears barely twitching. I hated elves in fantasy tropes. But somehow, Kemaru made me hate his kind in a whole new way. He wasn’t arrogant or cruel. No, it was his uncaring, condescending way of doing everything. How Tulip had ever fallen for him was beyond me, But it was obvious from the moment I met Tulip she had a thing for elves. But of all the elves, why him?

  I sighed and ignored Tulip’s face paling and her fighting back tears.. again. I turned to the castle as Talia attempted to comfort the paladin. It was my turn to get serious, after all, I was a ninja. A ninja was many things, but first and foremost we were fast, stealthy and deadly. I looked at the large castle that was made of pink floral patterned brimstone. As in, the brimstone was original black and someone had literally painted pink floral patterns like it was a children’s nursery all over it.

  Inwardly I screamed at my favorite trope being ruined. The demon king was truly evil, even ruining my fantasies.

  I paused for a moment, mapping out the route in my head mentally. Then, I blinked. One moment I was standing next to my group, listening as Tulip actually broke down. Her tears caused my heart to hurt and I swore I’d get back at that asshole for hurting her. Then I was standing on one of the parapets outside the castle wall. It took me five blinks to get across the dark orc army and arrive at the parapet.

  I looked around to make sure there were no enemies. There was a single dark orc who attempted to reach for his horn. I quick slice, some black blood, and a thud later, the orc wasn’t warning anyone of anything. I looked out over the battlefield and saw the two armies about to clash. This was pathetic. Our forces outnumbered the orcs ten to one. Something was definitely wrong. I blinked along the parapets, killing any orcs on the walls. It wouldn’t help a lot, but it would limit archer fire later.

  I looked at the castle inner yard and noticed there was.. nothing. Just a little boy playing with a doll. My eyes narrowed and I was tempted to throw a shuriken at the creature. But I knew better, that shuriken would spell my doom without my party. I blinked to one of the taller parapets and after a moment to recover, I blinked back to the group. I arrived just as Tulip stopped crying. She stood, swallowing and wiping away her tears. Walking forward, she stood alone facing the orc army. She pulled her sword, long ethereal, and glowing with holy magic. Holy Fire to be precise, since the elements were the gods in Xanrea.

  She pointed the sword towards the orc army and with a deep breath she screamed “FOR XANREA!” I covered my ears and Talia attempted the same by flattening hers. It’ didn’t help as the massive army behind us yelled in unison after Tulip “FOR XANREA!!!!” They charged and the battle began.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Talia. I pointed to a specific point above the orc army and she nodded. I focused and after a moment we were both in the air over fifty feet above the center of the orc army. Talia summoned her hammer. The damn thing was bigger then she was and covered in golden inlays. The enchantments so strong they made the metal look more like water shimmering. She raised it above her head as we began to fall. I blinked to the nearest parapet and watched as she landed. There was a loud boom even from where I was on the parapet and the ground shook as Talia crushed over two hundred orcs with a single ground pound using her hammer. The shock wave alone is what killed most of them. The one’s unlucky enough to be in her close vicinity simply ceased existing, only a bloody mist left behind.

  I felt a mental tug and I blinked over to Tulip, she was slicing through the orcs like their armor didn’t even exist. Even so, I saw our men dying in droves. I winced as a nearby elf was beheaded while a foxkin was stabbed through the heart.

  “I… need.. you… to… handle.. them…” Was Tulips only words. I looked around confused for a moment until I saw it.

  “Fuck!” I snapped as I saw the large undead force coming from our side. Where had they come from?! I had literally scouted a moment ago! I jumped into the air and blinked to the parapet, only to realize they vanished when I was here. I cursed under my breath. They were using a damn shroud!

  I felt a pull again and I blinked, a moment later I was standing in front of Kemaru. He looked up at me with a casual expression as if we weren’t in a life or death battle. “Reginald, I require your aid in gathering a few materials from the orcs for me.” He said

  I made a fist but asked “What kind of materials?”

  He looked through his book for a long moment before sigh and saying “I need three vials of the orc blood, an orc femur, and two ears”

  My eye twitched but I nodded. Despite my distaste for the horrible elf, he was an amazing spell caster. If he needed those items, he had a good reason. “Kemaru, there are undead coming from the right side. They were hidden by a shroud.” I told him.

  He nodded and replied “Then I will also need a vial of holy water and five vials of orc blood.” I nodded back and jumped back into the air.

  Getting the vials of orc blood was easiest, I blinked to Talia and asked for them “Talia, do you happen to have five vials of orc blood and a femur?” Talia pulled out five vials and handed them to me. They had a dark black liquid in them, seems she had been collecting. She then grabbed an orc, lifted him off the ground. Jabbed her hand into his thigh and forcefully ripped out his femur. She handed it to me still dripping in orc blood. She then broke that orcs neck and threw his corpse at his companions.

  “Thanks Talia!” I said happily before slicing an orcs head off and blinking to Tulip. “Tulip, I need a vial of holy water!” Tulip did a swirl slice which I jumped to dodge. She then pulled a vial of water out of her pouch. She prayed to it for a second and the water began to glow. “It’s only good for about an hour. Just a reminder because of last time Reggie!” She said as she tossed me the vial.

  I nodded and smile “Always Tulip!” I then jumped into the air again, except this time I created water kunai that were shot in every direction, piercing through the orcs. I killed at least a dozen before pulling out my dagger. I sliced a bunch of ears from the nearby orcs in quick succession, then put them in the bag with the other stuff.

  “You know Tulip, I wish he had this stuff before hand” I said in irritation. Tulip laughed and said “You expected him to go into an active combat zone to collect parts from these creatures? Somehow I don’t.. think… they.. would be.. willing!” As she spoke more orcs approached and she began slicing again.

  I sliced a few more down to give her breathing room, then I grabbed a nearby nekojin who was bleeding out and about to die. I blinked us back to Kemaru who raised a hand as I appeared, his hand glowed and the nekojin instantly healed from all her wounds. She stood, bowed to us and rushed back to the battle. I held out the materials.

  He smiled and took them before saying “Thanks, by the way, the engineers wanted to see you. Something about your siege engine breaking down again?” He spoke with a slight tinge of amusement and his brown eyes glittered at me.

  I rolled my eyes and blinked towards the battle. It wasn’t my siege engine, I swear I was a ninja not a damn errand boy! I appeared next to an orc and decapitated the stupid creature. I also did a swirling slice, cleaving through a dozen or so orcs before one again blinking.

  I landed next to the siege engine, as there was only one. It was a massive thing meant to break through the brimstone wall. Partially made by Talia and enchanted with more durability runes then you could shake a stick at. And I could shake a lot of sticks!

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  A gnome rushed up to me looked panicked. “This is not good! The thermodynamic impacitor is creating too much flux resistance!” She said frantically.

  I sighed and asked “What?”

  She paused, sighed and said slowly “The runes are overheating, the device to store power is receiving too much!”

  I paused and asked “Okay… how does this relate to me?” I raised an eyebrow and gave her a look.

  She glared at me and said “Go find your girlfriend and bring her here to fix it!” She snapped.

  I winced and said “She isn’t my girlfriend!” But my words felt hollow, and honestly…

  Before I could finish that thought the gnome stomped on my foot “Focus!” She said angrily “I don’t know what that wolfkin sees in you!”

  “You think she likes me… like that?” I asked hopefully. The gnome just facepalmed and I blushed sheepishly.

  “Look, you certainly have a lot in the right departments…” The gnome said as she glanced down suggestively. “But you clearly lack in the intelligence department.” She continued pointing at her own head.

  I blushed even harder “I thought we weren’t gonna talk about that Marcy!” I snapped. She smirked and said “Oh calm down, She already knows. We have actually been planning a little… present for you.” my eyes widened at that and I leaned in. “What kind of surprise?” I asked excitedly. She punched me in the face “You can find out after the demon lord is dead! Preferably before the machine explodes!”

  I nodded as I held my broken nose. Even as I did, it healed and I winced at the already drying blood. Blinking again, I appeared next to Talia just as she turned another three orcs into a fine black mist. She looked at me and smirked “You upset Marcy again didn’t you?” She didn’t seem upset, if anything she looked amused.

  I nodded and Talia laughed, as she did she grabbed two orcs and slammed their heads together so hard they became mush between her hands. “She needs you back at the siege engine. The um.. the thingy is overheating!” I said as I stood straight and tried to look serious, which was very hard as I watched her muscles bulge.

  She nodded and said “Alright, tell me when your ready to go.”

  I grabbed her arm and after a moment of focus we blinked and appeared in the air, two blinks later and we were next to Marcy. She turned around looking annoyed and said “About time! If you were this slow normally, I might of actually had a good time!”

  I winced at that but Talia spoke up even as she walked passed Marcy and pulled a wrench from her bag. “Sounds like a skill issue Marcy, he lasted over an hour with me.”

  My face went crimson and I stuttered out “Um, ladies can we discuss that battlefield at a later date?”

  Talia paused, smirked and looked over at me with a wink “Oh, but that’s my favorite kind of battle.”

  I had heard enough and looked away to blink. I heard both girls laughter as I blinked away. I smiled as I did, knowing full well they were just teasing me. I appeared next to Tulip who barked “To the right, underneath.” I swerved to the right and jumped, narrowly dodging an underhanded swing from an orc’s axe. I sliced the orc’s head off before asking “Need anything?” She was quiet other then her grunts as she swung her large sword or blocked with her shield. “Thought..you...weren’t.. an… errand boy!” She said snarkily.

  I laughed as I blinked to a random location in the army and slice in a circle with my Katana again before blinking back. “I’m not, but for you Tulip, as my best friend, it would be an honor to help you out.”

  She snorted and said “Talia and Marcy are teasing you again aren’t they?”

  I flushed red and responded quickly “That’s not the point!”

  “Right!” She stated as she held her sword up and a glowing circle appeared around everyone in a large radius, I felt the soothing heal effect and all of our dead companions rose from the ground alive again. All of the wounded were suddenly fully healed. Tulip winced and she coughed up a little blood. I grabbed a health potion and she downed it quickly before saying “I need you to check on Kemaru and make sure his spell goes off.”

  I nodded and added “Alright, you’ll be fine?” Her nod was all I needed and I blinked.

  I appeared next to Kemaru who had drawn a large circle around himself, he was chanting from his book and I could clearly see the materials he had me collect around the circle. He glanced over at me but didn’t stop. Instead, he pointed to a circle on the outside. I winced and nodded.

  Walking over I stood in the circle, I felt my mana level drop to zero instantly. Not that it mattered to me. My elemental skills including my blink used my stamina. That being said, any energy hitting zero was not pleasant.

  He nodded and made a ‘more’ as he pointed at the other circles. I sighed and nodded. Looks like I was going magic people hunting.

  I walked out of the circle, careful not to disrupt it and blinked to the back of the battle line. I spotted the closest mage, a young man with dark hair. I blinked over to him and grabbed him. He seemed shocked but when he saw me he instantly tensed himself. I blinked and we were standing next tot he circle.

  The human mages eyes were wide as he quickly took his place In one of the circles. His eyes lit up and he began channeling mana into the spell. I repeated this process four more times. A female human, a male nekojin, a male foxkin, and a very irritated gnome who kicked me before entering the last open circle.

  I watched for a few moment and was about to blink away when the spell finished. It all happened so fast after that. A ball formed in the middle of the circle as everything was consumed and pulled into it. I frowned and said “All that for a ball?”

  Kemaru smiled and said “That’s right ninja, all that for a ball.” His mocking tone made me grind my teeth. The ball simply rose, then vanished and my eye twitched.

  Then the orcs began dropping en mass. In less then a minute, all the orcs on the battlefield lay dead. The undead joined them shortly after, they had just reached the battle lines when it happened.

  Just like that, the battle for the outside of the castle was over… I sighed heavily as I tried and failed to block out the cheers. They were loud, despite the exhaustion people must have felt. “Dammit Tulip” I said quietly as I heard her chanting loudly, stirring everybody up even more.

  I sighed as I looked over to the floral castle before looked back to Kemaru. He had closed his book and was walking over to me. “Did you like my ball ninja?” He asked in amusement. I grabbed his arm rougher then I had to and he simply smirked wider. We blinked over to Talia who had finished fixing the siege engine. “Alright, so you know what to do right Marcy?” Talia said to Marcy as I appeared. Marcy nodded and said “yea, just get in there and we will be right behind ya!” She smiled up in awe at Talia and I grinned as well.

  “You better be, I don’t wanna fight everything myself!” I said as my grin widened.

  “You might as well with all the help you did in the battle out here.” Kemaru said with a raised eyebrow.

  I rolled my eyes as Talia strode up she looked at Kemaru like he was something she wiped off her shoe and said “Yea, the one who gathered all your shit for you did nothing. Cute Kemaru. I would tell you to eat a dick, but you probably already do.”

  Marcy giggled and added “Now now, don’t be mean to Kemaru, it’s rude to make fun of the mentally retarded.”

  Kemaru glared at them before huffing and looking away before saying “Of course the ninja’s fan girls would defend him. Can’t say I’m shocked, couldn’t even get himself a real woman.”

  Both girls stiffened and Talia’s ear twitched.

  I punched Kemaru, hard. He fell to the ground holding his cheek and glaring at me. Tulip walked up as this happened. She looked exhausted and simply shook her head. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. We need to get in there and end this.” She said simply.

  Kemaru stood and after fixing his jaw from where I dislocated it, nodded. “Yes, the wall’s are well guarded by heavy enchantments. Getting in will be difficult even with Talia’s siege engine.”

  “We won’t be taking the siege engine route” I said smugly as I turned to face him “I’ll be getting us in with a new trick I’ve been working on.”

  He looked at me for a moment before sighing. Tulip spoke up “Is it ready then Reggie? You got this?” I nodded triumphantly at her. She smiled back and we fist bumped.

  An elf girl ran up to us and I recognized her instantly. I turned to blink but Tulip grabbed my arm. “Don’t even try it” She said quietly to me. I sighed heavily and turned back to the elf girl. She completely ignored everyone and made a beeline to me. She held a smaller Katana, and was wearing a similar gi to mine. She smiled at me with so much devotion it would have been endearing if it wasn’t for one small thing.

  “Sensei! I have been training and helped in the battle as you requested! Please Sensei allow me to shine your armor tonight!” She fell to her knees and bowed her head. I tried to turn, but Tulip’s grip on my shoulder kept me still. My eye twitched and I spoke “Of.. course Mikate, you did… er… wonderfully. For your final test you must… um… “

  I trailed off trying to think of something to keep the elf busy. Then Talia spoke and I froze “Just to be clear, your not trying to get with him like this are you? Cause he prefers bolder women.” I looked at her helplessly. Marcy nodded and added “Yea, you gotta take it from him or you get nothing.”

  I looked back to Mikate and said “I am sorry Mikate, it’s not…” Before I could finish she looked up wide eyed and asked “really?!”

  I quickly put a stop to this “Mikate, Me and the hero’s party are going to be breaching the wall and killing the demon king!” I said boldly. As expected, Mikate looked only at me, ignoring the rest of the party and nodded eagerly, her weird elven ears bouncing. “As such, I require you to stay out here and make sure to keep the area scouted.” I continued, holding myself tall and raising an eyebrow to seem wise.

  It worked and Mikate visibly blushed before nodding even more fiercely, her head like a bobble. Those weird ears continuing to bounce. Why were elves so weird?!

  “You should not demean yourself to the ninja Mikate, you are a disgrace to our kind.” Kemaru said, his voice cold. I went to punch him again, but Mikate beat me too it, and unlike me, she didn’t hold back. Also, sadly unlike me. She was nowhere near as strong and all it did was break her hand on his face.

  I winced and she held her broken hand trying not to cry as she glared and Kemaru. “You are an arrogant asshole that doesn’t deserve the right to be an elf!” She said angrily. I handed her a health potion in her left non broken hand and she drank it. Her hand fixed itself and she looked back to Kemaru “I hope you die a horrible death in there! Our kind as you so kindly put it, could stand to lose an elf like you!” She then turned and stormed away, before blinking over to a nearby solider.

  Kemaru opened his mouth to speak, but Tulip shook her head, a glare on her face. Kemaru closed his mouth and we all turned to face the castle wall. “ready everyone?” I asked.

  “Yea” Talia said

  “Of course” Tulip cheerily stated

  “Do we have to be?” Kemaru whined

  They each grabbed onto me and I closed my eyes. After a very long moment, we all vanished from the spot where we were standing. Leaving Marcy alone next to the siege engine as it revved and began moving forward.

  A little away, Mikate looked over where her Sensei had vanished and smiled.