Shadow Realm: Chapter Six

The oak doors swung open violently as two figures appeared in the doorway. One was a small boy about thirteen that burst into the room like he was on some kind of sugar high and the second was a tall man who looked about twenty which followed close behind him. The younger boy had long neon green spiked hair that was tied in a loose ponytail. He had two purple triangle shapes turned on the side painted onto his right cheek and deep violet eyes that shimmered playfully. He wore a red traditional Chinese top that had gold embroidery on the edges. He wore loose white arm socks on both arms and loose black three-quarter pants. The boy wasn’t wearing shoes and had two thick golden bands around his ankles. The older man had fairly medium length hair that covered parts of his eyes. It was a Silver-white color that started to change at the ends to neon blue. He was handsome with harsh silver eyes that had small flecks of blue through them. He wore a black jacket that was long at the back like a tailcoat and a white shirt and black tie. He wore black leather shoes and black slacks. His posture was perfectly straight and he looked very gentle men like. Aeron sighed heavily and pouted like a child, the younger of the two immediately spotted Lilith and grinned ear to ear.

"So Aeron, this is the chick you wanted to check up on? She’s a total babe!" said the younger one with the green hair. Lilith looked stunned. The older man punched the little boy in the head, with a yelp he clutched his head and scowled at the older man.

"Please excuse him, My Lady, he has no manners," the older man said in a velvet voice as cold as ice.

Lilith said tried to smile but couldn’t manage a straight face, she was too busy wondering what the hell was going on.

Aeron saw the confusion on Lilith face and chuckled slightly, "Lilith these men are two of the three Demon Commanders of my army. Chronos is the young looking one, but don’t let that fool you, he is actually 143 years old and hits on anything with legs" Chronos scowled at Aeron and Lilith could have sworn she heard him mutter "I do not" under his breath like a child, ignoring Chronos, Aeron continued.

"Leon is known as ‘The King of Ice’ if there is anything you need please don’t hesitate to ask him." Unlike his companion there was no reaction from Leon, just a polite nod.

All this information swirled inside her head.

"Wait, you said two of three? Who is the last demon commander?" Lilith questioned.

"Genesis is the last Demon commander, he’s most likely in the royal library" Leon answered flatly.

"So let me get this straight, there are three demon commanders so that means there are three angel ones?"

"Yes, in fact Lionel, the angel that attacked Aeron is one of them." That she already knew.

While Leon and Lilith were busy talking Chronos waltzed up to the bed and sat next to her and tried to place on hand on her knees but before he could Aeron flicked his wrist and red sparks erupted under Chronos’s backside making him jump up in surprise.

"What was that for?" Chronos barked, blood rising to his cheeks.

"You dare question your king?" Aeron replied jokingly as his lips curled into a wicked smile. In actual fact he didn’t want any man, especially a 143 year old womanizer, sitting next to Lilith.

All of a sudden a low grumble erupted from Lilith’s stomach. She realized she hadn’t eaten since she came to the Shadow Realm. Aeron chuckled under his breath and when Lilith glared at him he tried to keep the laughter in.

"Idril, Acanthus, could you accompany Lilith to the kitchens and find her something to eat" Aeron said holding in laughter. Idril and Acanthus slid off the chair they were sitting on and both took one of Lilith’s hands each. As they pulled her in the direction of the threshold of the room she stopped and wheeled around to face Aeron.

"After I’ve eaten where will you be?" Lilith said staring at Aeron.

"I’ll be with Leon and Chronos finishing our meeting, so once you’ve eaten you can look around any part of the castle if you wish. I will come find you after I’m done." He said smiling slightly. Lilith nodded and was half dragged out of the room by Idril and Acanthus into one of the large hallways and across a large courtyard. She looked back to see Aeron, Leon and Chronos leave the room and walk in the opposite direction.

Soon Idril and Acanthus had lead Lilith to a large kitchen which had different kinds of food hanging from the roof or on shelves, some kinds of animals and plants that she had never seen before. The whole kitchen smelt of cooked meat and all manners of spices. The delicious aroma seemed to tingle Lilith’s nose and make her mouth water. On another wall was a whole range of different knives like those you would see at a butcher shop.

"Manny!" Acanthus squeaked happily approaching one of the marble counters. Standing behind the marble counter was a large man wearing a greasy white shirt. He had two chins and a round stomach. He also had a small pig like nose and two tusks growing from his lower jaw upwards. At the sound of Acanthus’s voice his head snapped in the direction in which they were standing. The man had small beady black eyes but they seemed to overflow with kindness.

"Oh my, Acanthus it’s been quite a while," The pig-man said in a slightly gruff voice, "what brings you down ‘ere?"

"My friend, her name’s Lilith we brought her down here to get some food, Lilith this is the best cook in the castle. His name is Manfred."

"I don’t mind if you call me Manny, O’ Pretty lady," He said smiling warmly. Lilith couldn’t help but return the smile.

"So Ms. Lilith what would you like to eat?" Idril said staring up at Lilith still clinging to her hand.

"Something simple," Lilith said smiling.

"I got just the thing," Manny snorted and fetched a loaf of bread and set it down on the counter, he then grabbed a bowl and walked to one copper pot. The copper pot’s contents were bubbling slightly and gave off a delicious tomato smell. With a large wooden ladle Manny scooped some of it into a white bowl and brought it back over to Lilith.

"Eat away, Ms. Lilith." Manny said with a wink.

And that she did.