Prologue „Damon!*“ – The silence of the night until now was broken by a single shout. He sat in the sand of the desert, which had become very cold by that time. The milk-white sand dust stood out on his black leather boots and formed a strong contrast to his appearance despite the darkness of the night. Again and again he returned here, to the Suburra Desert, his home. With a deep breath, he rose with his innate predatory elegance, his black fur seeming to almost fuse with the darkness. His red eyes pierced the night, as did the eyes of the demon that was just coming toward him. „The time has come“, the rusher announced, „The demons have gathered.“ Uncommenting, Damon left him standing and walked away in quiet, steady movements. The last grains of sand pelted down from his black cloth pants to get lost in the sea of sand. He had been waiting for this moment. Finally, he had enough demons together who would search for the origin of light with him. How he longed for the eternal night. „Praeter speciem stultus est“* , said the jackal sitting apart to himself. With his dark brown fur and white belly fur, he stood out from most demons. In the course of evolution, the fur had adapted more and more to the night, so that most demons had the typical black fur, which was known from that time. His black clothing consisted only of short cloth pants, gloves and leather shoes, which only slightly hid him in the darkness. „Hopefully my power will be enough to sustain the light. Without it, the world will fall into chaos“, he sank into thought again. Like many other demons, he had traveled from afar to join Damon. There were so many worse things than a few fights between demons or the ordinaries with their superstitions. Now, however, the old abandoned village of the mortals came in useful to them and Damon used it in the great desert of Suburra as his meeting place. The outlines of the former houses slowly disappeared into the sand and disintegrated over time. More than hollow remains of the wooden buildings were not left. The night was still young. Nevertheless, he had the feeling that he was already too late. Maybe he should have done something long before now. Last events before the search for the origin of light started. „Fata viam invenient“ – Destiny finds its way. And it will be unstoppable. Chapter 1 - The emergence They had been on the way for months and had searched the various desert areas. They had found nothing. If the origin of light could not be found in the desert, where could it be found? There was no other place in the world where there was so much light. „Damon!“, one of the demons called out to him. „What is it?“, he growled. „What now? How do we destroy the light? Do you think we all followed you through the desert for months to sit here now and do nothing?“, the demon complained. Damon laughed amused: „You are all nothing without me.“ The demon turned away and left Damon alone. Damon grinned superiorly. He had known that he would not dare to attack him. They were indeed nothing without him. What would they do if he were not? Fight they would, fight. A battle that had raged for millennia and no demon had ever emerged as a winner. Their hot temper and combative nature sprang from the boiling blood in their bodies. Food turned to ash as soon as it flowed down the throat. Their immortality, as well as their natural superiority in strength, speed and all senses over the ordinaries, made them a fearsome opponent. Just about all demons got their power from the darkness. They called it the dark magic. Very few demons had light magic or even nature magic. One of the main reasons why Damon was so eager to destroy the light. He wanted power. Power that only the darkness gave him, that would strengthen him and all the other demons. The day would no longer weaken their powers. Besides, Damon was the only demon without a special ability. Every demon possessed them, although the multitude belonged to the blooddemons, followed by werewolves, the golems, the shapeshifters, and a few more. At first Damon had believed that he simply had a unique ability, but now he was already 2,501 years old and no longer believed in it. He was not given any ability and no one should ever know that. Damon rose from the stone on which he had been sitting and looked around. It was not the heat that bothered the demons, but the lack of success. They were in the midst of sand and rock, where at most the rattlesnakes showed themselves here and there. Damon's deep black fur was interrupted only at the dark gray tips of his ears and the tail end, which was also dark gray, in the typical fox fur pattern. Over 50 demons had joined him, some of which were very well known and feared. The most notable were Metos* - the Scarface, Verentia* - the Awesome, Falx* - the Heartless, and Dimicatio* - the Shadow Gatekeeper. Scarface called Metos mainly because his face, as well as most of his body was covered with scars. Unlike most demons, his fur was not black, but merely a very dark shade of gray. Despite his scars, he was a very well-trained and handsome coyote. Verentia, on the other hand, was one of the few demonesses who participated in the fights. A demoness was too precious to put herself in danger, nevertheless they could not forbid her to do so. She owed the title "the Awesome" to the respect of the other demonesses, but also to her ruthless way of asserting herself against the other demons. If she had wanted a partner, countless demons would have fought over her. With her black fur, her elegance and her strength, she was a desirable she-wolf. Another black wolf, was the Heartless. Falx found this title rather amusing. Only one incident had given him this, in which he had eaten another demon in his transformed form, who had deeply offended him. He had let himself be carried away by his rage. The dark brown jackal Dimicatio was the Shadow Gatekeeper. No one knew exactly what he was guarding, but no one really cared. Dimicatio himself called it the shadow gate. Damon did not trust Dimicatio, however, because he always interfered everywhere and talked about the balance of the world. What nonsense that was. He would determine the balance of the world himself. Who needed the light? Dimicatio was therefore one of the candidates Damon was constantly on guard against. Damon cleared his throat to get the attention of those around him. Everyone looked at him. Grinning, he announced: „We will visit the place where the light has always struggled.“ The demons looked at each other questioningly. Damon had guessed that they would not understand. They were so stupid, so he began to explain: „For ages, plants and animals have grown in the dark. There where hardly a ray of light penetrates. But ordinary mortals love the light and they have built temples to honor it. Many of these temples stand there, and in one of them the secret of light may be hidden. Do you still not understand it?“ He laughed out loud: „I'm talking about the jungle, you idiots!“ A small tumult arose. The demons were not sure whether they should believe Damon. Would they really find something there or would it just be a waste of time. Could the light really be destroyed? Damon looked at the gibberish for three minutes, then he spoke again: „Decide now. Go or follow me! I don't want to wait a second! Those who are not sure, stay behind!“ With these words, he turned his back on them and strode ahead through the desert. He did not turn around to see if and how many were following him. It did not matter to him. Nothing in the world would stop him from his purpose, not even the lack of loyalty of his companions. The first to follow Damon were Falx and Dimicatio, followed shortly by Metos and several other demons. Verentia hesitated. Her eyes fell on the group of demons who had taken the opposite path. „Damon“, she called out. Damon continued walking, but answered: „What is it?“ She raised her voice threateningly: „If we don't find anything there, I'll kill you!“ He began to laugh in amusement. Now Verentia also followed the troop. Counting Damon, they were only 15 demons who continued on their way. The others had stopped or left undecided. They were on the way for several weeks before they reached the jungle. The ancient trees had grown to full size over the centuries. Younger plants fought for every ray of light that came through the dense leaf canopy and stood so close together that it was almost impossible to penetrate. In addition, countless rank plants blocked the possible paths through the jungle. No mortal must have been here for ages. Damon went ahead and took no heed of what blocked his way. He trampled bushes, knocked over whole trees with his strength, and uprooted every branch that dared to cross his path. The first temple they reached was completely overgrown. Only here and there stone slabs and its decorations betrayed that somewhere under it a larger building was to be found. „Damn greens!“, Damon cursed and tore it in two piece by piece. Falx groaned in annoyance: „Why don't we just burn it down?“ „Do you want to risk a forest fire, you fool?“ Verentia hissed at him. The other demons now began to help free the temple from the plants. „Here! Here is the entrance!“ shouted Metos, who had just uncovered the gate. Immediately, everyone stopped their work and hurried to Metos. Damon eyed the gate and tried to decipher the inscriptions. „Ave! Introite, nam et hic dii sunt“, he read aloud and began to laugh. Because Metos had not learned Latin, he inquired about the meaning: „What does it say?“ Dimicatio now spoke up for the first time: „Be greeted! Come in, for there are gods here as well.“ Now Metos understood Damon's laughter. The others also grinned. The mortals had always preferred to give a god to everything and everyone. The sun had a god, the moon, even the sea and some animals. It was inexplicable to demons how stupid one had to be to think up such nonsense. Damon pounded his fist against the stone door. To his astonishment, it did not move. He growled angrily when he heard Falx's suppressed laughter. „Surely there is a mechanism to open them“, noted Metos, „Mortals do not have so much power.“ Damon turned to the others, leaned against the closed door and crossed his arms: „So, smarty pants, tell me how this mechanism works.“ He shrugged his shoulders: „I have no idea. This is purely a guess.“ Verentia went to the stone door and rudely pushed Damon aside. Damon growled again and made room for her. She began to check the door, every corner and the inscription. Nothing happened. „Ultra posse nemo obligatur“, Dimicatio said casually. Damon now blowed to the gasket: „You fucking hypocrite! I know exactly why you're here! You want to stop us from doing what we want to do! That's why you're following me, but you've got it all wrong! I've seen through you long ago!“ Metos looked totally confused: „What did he say?“ Falx was equally confused, although he understood the sentence. By way of explanation, he said it quietly to himself so that Metos could still hear it: „No one is obliged to perform impossible.“ Dimicatio innocently raised his hands while shaking his head: „Sorry, my friend.“ „Don't call me friend“, hissed Damon, „I don't have any friends and you certainly don't count as one!“ Verentia interrupted the two with a joyful yelp: „Got it!“ At the same moment the door opened, pushing it aside. Damon turned away from Dimicatio and went inside, growling slightly. Immediately after him, Verentia stepped through: „It was a very small switch.“ Metos patted her on the shoulder as he followed the two: „Well done!“ Dimicatio and Falx also followed and behind them the remaining ten demons. It was gloomy and got darker the deeper they went in. However, they did not mind. They could all see in the dark. An ability that was given to every demon. On the walls were countless decorations, drawings and also inscriptions, but they all only casually looked at them. The corridor was narrow and so they had to walk one after the other. Damon stopped after a while. „What's going on?“, Metos wanted to know. From his position, he could see nothing, as well as the demons behind him. Verentia, however, still saw enough: „A ravine. The bridge is cracked.“ A growl went out from Damon: „We climb down and walk across, then we go back up.“ „What if we don't find anything there?“ Falx wanted to know, „The effort might not be worth it at all.“ Another growl came from Damon: „Over there it says Lux aeterna .“ Before Metos could ask, Dimicatio was already translating: „Eternal light.“ „I see!“ came from Metos, as an expression of realization. Damon began to climb down. Verentia now first looked over the ravine and also into the depth: „Who knows where the end is. We could climb forever.“ She pointed to the ceiling: „Up there are hooks to which the bridge was attached.“ Damon tried to catch a glimpse of the hooks pinned to the wall of the ravine: „So what? They're way too far up there to be of any use to us.“ Verentia rolled her eyes: „Asinus!“ Falx laughed out loud and Metos felt left out again: „So when we get through all that, I'm going to learn Latin.“ Dimicatio now also laughed: „She called him a fool.“ Metos now grinned broadly, but stifled a laugh. Damon growled inside himself, but said nothing. Instead, he waited to see what Verentia was going to do. She made a whip of dark magic appear, jumped up to the hooks, and swung it so that it wrapped around the first hook. Then she swung over, already making the second dark magic whip appear. It too wrapped itself around the next hook, she let fall the old whip and immediately it disappeared as well. So she continued until she reached the other side. With a great jump she landed just so on safe ground as well as on her feet. A laugh could be heard from her as she turned around and put her hands on her hips: „So you scaredy cats. Who's coming over or should I go on alone?“ Metos was already about to start, but Damon came back up at that moment and pushed him back: „Me first!“ Just like Verentia, he jumped up and then swung over using his black magic whips. He, too, landed on his feet. „Ha!“ he turned arrogantly to Verentia and strode past her as if she were the last piece of dirt. Verentia held her stomach for a moment and leaned forward slightly, as if the sight of him would make her sick. Metos laughed softly and then also started. Piece by piece they came over one after the other. The eleventh in line, however, did not jump high enough and fell screeching into the depths. After this misfortune the other four did not dare to cross. „You cowards!“ Falx shouted over, „then stay here!“ They walked on and left the four behind. The corridor on this side was much wider, so that four people could easily have walked side by side. Damon walked ahead, as was to be expected. When the corridor split into two, Damon chose a path without thinking much about it. Dimicatio called after him: „Quo vadis?“ Something growled back from Damon, but no one understood because he said it too quietly. Verentia began to read the inscriptions. Metos was still looking after Damon: „Where is he going? He doesn't even know if the path is right.“ Dimicatio shrugged his shoulders: „I don't know, that's what I asked him.“ Falx now looked at the many inscriptions as well: „Does it say anything useful?“ Verentia pointed to an inscription Per crucem ad lucem: „Through the cross to the light.“ „What a cross?“ was Meto's first voiced thought. They began to search the walls for a cross, but there was none to be found anywhere. Verentia walked back and forth thoughtfully. The other demons had already lowered themselves to the floor and were waiting to see what would happen. Only the four did not give up. While Verentia continued to think, Dimicatio, Falx and Metos read the walls. Before they came to a conclusion, however, they heard footsteps. Damon was coming back: „There's a door with a stupid cross on it. We can't get any further there.“ He growled angrily and was about to choose the other way, but then Verentia already called out: „It must be!“ In her enthusiasm, she grabbed Damon's head and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she hurried into the corridor. The other three followed her and even the demons, who had preferred lazing around, now got up and went after the four of them. Damon looked after them in disgust and then decided to follow after all. They arrived at a wooden door with a silver cross. Falx laughed: „And that's as far as you got. It's only made of wood.“ He lashed out with his fist and pounded it against the door, a glare caught him and flung him back so that he slammed into Metos and they both fell to the floor. Metos pushed Falx off him and stood up: „Did that happen to you too Damon?“ Damon grinned broadly: „No, nothing happened in my case. The door just could not be destroyed.“ Falx also stood up again and rubbed his arms: „It's like I've just been struck by lightning.“ Shaking her head, Verentia grasped the door handle: „If lightning had struck you, you would be dead.“ She pushed down on the door handle and pushed against it. As nothing happened, she tried again with pulling. „Huh“, she made. „What huh?“ Damon hissed, „it does not work. We have to find another way.“ „Nolens volens - willy-nilly“, Dimicatio agreed. Metos was pleased that this time Dimicatio had immediately translated what he had said. Damon, however, growled and immediately changed his mind: „There must be a way through that door.“ Dimicatio could not keep from smiling. Damon and Verentia began to read the inscriptions on the walls. While Falx carefully touched the door: „How can a door fire you back like that?“ Metos stood behind him and shrugged his shoulders: „You better not say anything bad about her. I don't want to get you again.“ Dimicatio sat down with the lazy bunch of demons who didn't lift a finger: „Non possumus.“ „Vero?“ replied one of the demons. „Certum“ , Dimicatio replied. The demons looked at each other in wonder. „Are you really sure?“ one of them wanted to know again. Dimicatio grinned: „I have already said that. It is impossible and I am sure of it.“ One of the demons stood up: „Then I'll go. It's a waste of time.“ The other demons nodded and followed his example. Dimicatio also stood up, but returned to the four others: „The five have now also left. So it's just the five of us now.“ Falx laughed at that: „They were no help anyway, more of a burden.“ Damon, however, growled: „We could still have used them. We don't know how strong the origin of light really is. Their powers could have supported us.“ „Now it can not be changed anyway“, Verentia remarked as she continued to read the inscriptions. „Fiat lux“, Falx, who had just discovered these words under the door handle. No sooner had he spoken it than the door opened as if by magic. Damon rolled his eyes: „Let there be light? We could have thought of that, too.“ When they entered the room behind, it was brightly lit by torches. The room was round on the outside and there were ornate pillars all around the perimeter. In the center stood a fountain, in which the water splashed. The whole room seemed to be built of white marble. Damon walked toward the fountain. The other four were still looking around the room. His look fell on the inscription of the fountain Lux aeterna. With one hand he stroked the writing: „Eternal light…“ He climbed on the fountain so that he stood with his feet in the water. His hand reached out to the water fountain, and when he touched it, all the water lit up, flew up, and formed a glowing ball. Dimicatio was at Damon in one jump and knocked him over: „Don't touch it! You don't know what you're doing!“ Damon laughed: „I knew it, you traitor!“ The two rolled back and forth in the fountain, hammering fists at each other. Falx and Metos came running. They grabbed Dimicatio and pulled him away from Damon. Damon grinned broadly: „Hah! Now you can watch me destroy the light!“ Dimicatio closed his eyes once painfully before opening them again: „Dum spiro spero.“* Damon began to gather all his power, he summoned the deepest darkness and sent this demonic power to the ball of light. The darkness only circled the sphere at first, then it penetrated the light. There was a powerful bang. All five demons were thundered against the wall by the explosion. When the smoke cleared, where the fountain once stood and only stone remains reminded of it, stood two bats. One black as night with a few blood-red spots on ears and head. The other white as snow with golden spots, much like the other bat. The black bat was graced with ram antlers, while the white bat had two tiny white wings in the same place. The five stared stunned at the two bats. Damon now rose and growled: „Who are you?“ „I am Gabriel“, replied the white bat. Shortly after, the black one continued: „And I the prince of darkness, Satan.“ Metos pointed at Satan, trembling slightly: „If you are the Prince of Darkness, that is...“ Gabriel nodded: „The Prince of Light.“ Damon immediately attacked Gabriel, who dodged him. „Why so hostile, Damon?“, Gabriel asked, „You created us, after all. Before that, we were only a part of the light and the darkness. Two brothers who brought forth the balance of the world.“ Horror spread across Damon's face: „Me? I created you?“ Satan laughed darkly: „That's right. Through this, unfortunately, we are bound to you, but it looks like you cannot die at all.“ Now Damon was even more confused: „I can't die?“ The other demons repeated it almost simultaneously and equally stunned: „He cannot die?“ Satan turned away. He had no interest in such a conversation: „I'm out of here!“ With these words, he disappeared into black feathers, and nothing but a smoky smell reminded him that he had once been there. Gabriel, however, showed himself more patient: „You have a special ability, Damon. When you die, you will not enter the afterlife as other souls do. Your soul will wander around and finally be reborn. So that your rebirth does not drag us into death with it, I will already determine what kind of ability you will receive then.“ Damon growled: „What? You don't have the right to do that at all!“ But before he could say anything else, Gabriel reached out his hand and a light appeared around Damon for a short moment. Damon looked down in confusion: „What for ...?“ But when he looked again at Gabriel, he had disappeared and only one last white feather dissolved into nothingness, while the room smelled fresh as on a spring morning. Satan and Gabriel had both set out to create their kingdoms. For this purpose, they split the afterlife. Satan founded the hell, in which all damned souls would return after their death. It was an endless cave, with lava rivers that could be crossed by small circular bridges. There was a lot of ash and dust that either collected on the floor or contaminated the air. Surrounded by a lava ditch, which could only be crossed by two bridges, was a sinister castle. Bats circled above it and stone creatures decorated it. Satan would live there, in his throne room, half of which was so dark that even demons did not have enough eyesight to see anything there. Gabriel created the sky. The whole ground was covered with the most beautiful flowers, all of which were constantly blooming. In the middle of it, there was a white castle, which was decorated with white crow statues. Gabriel also created a throne room, but it was brightly lighted, so much so that it hurt everyone else's eyes to look into it. But both of them were lonely and so they created their own beings. Satan called them the helldemons. They were based on ordinary animals, but they were much bigger. Moreover, they had neither fur nor an intact body. In many places you could see muscles or tendons or even the skeleton of the helldemon. It almost seemed as if they were rotting. Gabriel, on the other hand, created beings of pure light. He named them angels and himself the archangel Gabriel. You could see through the angels, they had bodies of light and wings, their arms could be guessed as well as their hands, but they did not seem to have legs. They sang wonderful songs and formed choirs. Soon the already existing souls from the afterlife were separated. Satan locked them away in the most distant corner of hell. But Gabriel let his souls wander freely in heaven. Many also sang together with the angels. Gabriel and Satan, however, spent most of their time in their throne rooms.