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Chapter 4

    Elias washed up, finally starting to feel whole again now that he was clean.  Once he was finished he got out and dressed in the clothes left for him, contently warm.

    Actaeron heard the water turn off, making him turn around and walk into the bathroom. The demon looked up as the other came in, smiling softly as he smoothed out the new shirt. "Thank you."

    The larger male nodded. "Of course. Follow me. We have work to do." He walked out of the room, down the stairs, and finally out the back door. The boy stayed a few paces behind the man, glancing around cautiously.

    Going into the courtyard, he watched a few teenagers training. The smaller demon narrowed his eyes upon seeing the groups, looking to his master.

    "What is this?" He questioned.

    "Training grounds." He replied silently.

    "Why are we here?" Elias pressed, glancing towards a pair dueling.

    "What do you think?" He murmured. The other sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly.

    "Okay... Shall I stop talking then?" He ran his hand along the hilts of blades that were set up in racks.

    "Don't touch those. They are demon blades, made to kill demons." He said, his voice monotone like he simply didn't care. Elias flinched away from the blades at the statement, rubbing his hand like he had actually been burned. He truly did stick out like a sore thumb in the crowd. His hair was incredibly long with sharp horns to mark him as demon. Low class or not he was still a demon.

    "My bad." He muttered.  He nodded and walked into a dome like building, which posed as an arena.  Elias continued to tag along behind the male, not liking where this is going.

    A man stood in the center wearing gold and white armor. In front of him the older, more mature kids were training. Elias glanced at the man, pointing at him briefly.

    "Who's that?" He asked in a whisper.

    "Excalibur Wardin. He runs the facility." He said quietly. Elias swallowed the lump in his throat thickly, his nerves going through the roof. He was starting to question why he was really here.

    "He is also the king of angels. You only become a hunter is you can end one of the demons in captivity here and defeat him in battle." He murmured and crossed his arms. The demon nodded, sighing.

    "Yeah I thought I saw him from somewhere," he rubbed his forearm. "So you've defeated one of his demons?"

    "Five or six actually." He said quietly. "I am his second in command, actually." He added. The boy's eyes widened a little at the statement, nodding.

    "Impressive." He murmured under his breathe. He ignored the nasty look he was receiving as some hunters noticed what he was.

    "So, why are we in the arena?"

    "I need to speak with Excalibur." He said, crossing his arms. Elias simply nodded, falling silent until his gaze crossed Excalibur's for a moment. He quickly looked away not wanting to spite the demon killer. Excalibur held his hand up after catching the gaze all of the trainees stopped what they were doing. Large white wings sprouted from Excalibur's back, and with two kicks from the 40 inch-spanned wings and he was up in the air, going over to the two.

    "Who is this, Actaeron?" He spoke calmly. The little demon had taken a step back as the man flew over, trying to keep himself. So that was what his name was.

    "Elias." He spoke up, remembering that they hadn't actually formally introduced one another.

    Standing next to Actaeron only made Excalibur look taller, standing at 7'2". "Why have you brought this... thing within my walls Actaeron? You know the most that it is forbidden." Actaeron only shook his head.

    "I killed his master, and now I am his." Elias' gaze turned downwards at those words, simply staying behind Actaeron silently.  Usually a demon would snap at being called names or being discriminated, but Elias wasn't like most demons. Excalibur shifted, holding his hands behind behind his back.

    "Very well. I will make an exception since you don't have much of a choice bit if I see him disgrace me or my rules, he's gone. Is that understood?" The male's jaw visibly tightened as he nodded. Elias nodded at the deal, looking up at the man.

    "Yes sir." He murmured, his gold eyes shimmering.

    "Actaeron, I see good in this boy. It may be the sense every strong angel has or something else, but if he does decide to betray his race to be one of us, he may." HE said quietly and returned to the ring.

    A smile crossed Elias' features at the words, feeling a sense of confidence swell in his chest. He straightened his posture, looking to Actaeron. "Master... I want to learn." He stated.

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