Chapter 2

Gamaliel straightened his stance. "Yes sir!" he exclaimed as he chest saluted Andronicus once more. The commander followed his lieutenant back through their rebel base towards the front. Once they reached the front, a small army of around five hundred soldier waited for them. Another seemingly high ranked soldier walked up to Andronicus and chest saluted him.

"Meakna!" the warrior began in a strange dialect, not known to any human. Andronicus did not stop walking to hear what the warrior had to say, however, the warrior followed him and Gamaliel anyway. "Mihatt frosu korna. Riadfne sun vion krades rurrme," the warrior said to Andronicus.

Andronicus nodded in approval.

"Kionos pa. Jeefio morai kun." Andronicus replied, using the same unusual language that the warrior had used moments before. The warrior chest saluted Andronicus and ran off toward a group of archers readying their bows.

The army was not a typical army. Though all of its troops had the same goal, they all in no way were the "same." Despite the fact that the army looked like they were human, none of them were. They were all demons. The only real odd thing about them, were their eyes. Some of them harbored eye colors that didn’t even exist in the rainbow. Vibrant greens, subtle blues, and some didn’t even have color in their eyes. They all had given their allegiance to Andronicus and they were all determined to stop Remecrion's reign of terror.

As Andronicus and Gamaliel reached the very front of the small force, everyone began to cease their conversations and pay attention to their commander and 1st lieutenant. The soldiers began to stand stiffly at attention. The two high ranked warriors found a stopping point, joining the front line. They stared intently into the direction of Malstrae Castle, determination saturating their faces.

"And so it comes to this." Gamaliel thought aloud. He was primed for battle. "We bare the fate of the Underworld on our shoulders."

Andronicus smiled with a mischievous grin.

"A handful of demons shall overthrow a Devil this day." Andronicus said confidently. He looked down at the katana strapped to his waist. "One more fight, Onikage. Let the battle commence!" he yelled with a passionate battle cry, all the while unsheathing the sword he called Onikage and holding it above his head. Gamaliel and the rest of the rebel army joined Andronicus in his display of fortitude. The commander re-sheathed his sword and held a hand out towards the barren wasteland in front on him. Suddenly, his eyes began turned a ghastly gray color. Evil emanated from his stare now.

"Ixion, Kihirr u dieldras, tuverrsei!!" Andronicus yelled, seeming almost possessed. Suddenly, the barren wasteland that lay ahead of them became as ghastly gray as his eyes were. The sky went from scarlet red to eerie gray. It began to rain steadily. Gamaliel and the rest of the rebel army watched on amazed by the power of their commander.

Suddenly a section of the ground began to bulge as ghastly moans and wails of pain and anguish rang out in the air. Suddenly, a loud, ghostly neigh rang out in the air, drowning out the incessant moans. A single gray horse's leg shot up from the ground, soon followed by the rest of a magnificent, but eerie gray horse. It was a very strong and healthy looking horse, its muscular body gleamed despite the relentless rain. Its mane was as black as midnight and its eyes were even darker. The ornately decorated horse calmly galloped towards Andronicus. The commander mounted the ghastly horse and sat upon it like royalty.

"Gamaliel, quickly." Andronicus urged his second in command as he rode down the frontline of his army, making sure that everyone was in place and prepared to clash with the royal family; the family that they had all served, either as soldiers, followers etc. No matter how they had served the family, the head of the family was now their sworn enemy. The queen had disappeared years ago and they had nothing against Prince Revellius, the young son of the dark emperor. In fact, Andronicus and Gamaliel had ordered the army not to harm the Prince, but instead, take him to the rebel base with them after their victory.

Gamaliel closed his eyes as he concentrated on the task at hand. "Remecrion, you have become . . . a tyrant." he contemplated. "You have destroyed our family and tainted our royal blood. I care not that you are my brother . . . adopted or not . . . I will not hold back." Gamaliel cracked his neck and slowly opened his eyes. They were no longer the strange, but oddly inviting wine color; they glowed with an evil redness that could only signify darkness. As Andronicus had, he gazed at the wasteland ahead of them, which was still glazed with the eerie grayness left by the commander. Suddenly, all of the grayness became a burning redness, even redder than the normal color of the sky.

"Arhok, Heverre-me u kombatas, tuverrsei!!" he yelled in an almost devilish tone. Suddenly, a wall of fire shot up from the ground with a deafening explosion, causing the driving rain brought about by Andronicus to cease. The enormous barrier of flame continued to burn with a furious rage. Then, as abruptly as the fire-wall had shot up, a ball of fire shot from the wall right towards Gamaliel. The lieutenant held his ground firmly as the fireball traveled unbelievably fast towards him, his eyes still glowing blood red.

Unexpected to the rest of the rebel army, who had never seen Gamaliel summon his horse before, the fireball began to take the shape of a blazing horse. Like Andronicus' horse, it let out a neigh as the fire began fading and revealing a reddish colored horse. Except this horse's neigh was different from the horse, Ixion's ghastly neigh. The neigh of the horse Arhok was a stronger one; one filled with anger and determination. It was almost like a war cry.

The magnificent Arhok stopped when it reached its master, simultaneously retracting the great wall of fire. Gamaliel smiled as he mounted the reddish horse, just as Andronicus rode back to him on the ghostly Ixion.

"Are you ready, old friend?" Andronicus asked his lieutenant as the entire resistance army prepared to attack Malstrae Castle. Gamaliel was about to answer when he was interrupted . . .