Scrapped by Nick Venom (the lemonade war series TXT) 📕

Xcruviator, who stood near them, was frozen stiff - not by fear, but by shock. He didn’t expect Xourthon---someone considered as on the bottom of the ladder in demon society---to rebel against a high-ranking demon, especially someone like Winchester.

Using this to his advantage, Xoruthon grabbed an arrow and thrust it into Winchester’s skull, killing the demon with ease. In a fair fight, Winchester would’ve won undoubtedly but weakened and at his lowest, he could easily be killed by a Crakgu. 

Xcruviator sprung into action now that his shock rolled past him. He attacked Xoruthon, nicking his arms and legs before stabbing him in the shoulder. Xcruviator kicked Xoruthon to the ground, now standing over him.

“How dare you betray your brethren? For who? Humans? They will only betray you or treat you as if you were under them! HOW DARE Y-” He was interrupted by a fireball charring his back. The attack came from a platoon of humans charging towards them. They were comprised of some of the humans that weakened Winchester in his earlier fight, now gathering into a large force to pummel the demon healers and reserves. 

With the main Demon Army fighting, the reserves were mostly filled with weaker demons. They wouldn’t be able to defeat the humans with ease. 

“HOW DARE YOU!” Xcruviator shouted, turning around to face the humans. Xoruthon used this to his advantage, turning around and running away from the fighting behind him. 

Xcruviator was later killed by the humans after a long and bloody fight.

Meanwhile, Vallmen, who had been assigned under Demon Lord Darkon, was some distance away from Winchester and Xoruthon. Neither knew of Xourthon’s betrayal and Winchester's death as the news hadn’t spread yet.

Vallmen didn’t fare better than Xoruthon, stuck watching the fight due to him being too weak to assist. Darkon, on the other hand, was stronger than Vallmen more than twenty times over. He led his men from behind, cleverly instructing them around the human armies with lightning speed.

Xoruthon, who had traveled from his side to Vallmen’s side, had reached Vallmen after running for what felt like an eternity to him. His side was being eaten up by the humans. The battle was slowly being led into the humans’ palm. The demons had lost an important leader and soon all of his subordinates would follow him to death.

“Vallmen!” Xoruthon shouted, getting the attention of Vallmen and a few Demon Soldiers.

“Good or bad?” Vallmen asked. He sort of understood the situation immediately.

“Good… maybe bad. Winchester is dead!”

Darkon, who had retreated after being wounded, overheard Xoruthon. “What do you mean Winchester is dead?” He whispered, careful to make sure his men didn’t hear him.

“He’s dead. I-” Xoruthon was interrupted by a demon approaching them.

“Sir, the humans are flanking us. They broke through Winchester’s army and are now headed here.”

Darkon nodded, agitated. “Round up the men, we’re leaving.”

“But what about our pride?”

“It’s worthless. We can’t win this losing battle. Let’s go.” Darkon ordered. However, it was too late. The humans had finished their flank and were now surrounding Darkon and his demons.

TBC…

The flanking humans made their way around them and cut off their escape path. A thick forest circling the open field was quickly won over by the humans, now surrounding the rest of the Demon Force -  most of the demon soldiers being called back by their leaders. 

Darkon now knew that they were in a precarious situation. With humans on all sides, their only chance of escaping would be to punch a hole through the human defense and retreat to Wolfe and gather reinforcements there.

“Vallmen, it’s time for you to shine. Show your strength, I’ll be leaving the front to you. I’ll have you-” He pointed at Xoruthon. “-deliver the news when we pushed through.” He turned away, giving out orders to the rest of his subordinates. Darkon didn’t realize that the downfall of the operation was standing behind him. Xoruthon’s arm hesitated to draw the bow, the arrow lingering on the string. In Xoruthon’s tired mind, he hoped that killing Winchester would help prevent war and lead to peace, however as time went on, his plan gathered more and more flaws.

“Peace?” Vallmen asked, guessing Xoruthon’s true intentions.

Xoruthon nodded. “I need to talk with the leader of the humans. We could achieve peace.” 

Vallmen nodded his head, acknowledging his plan. He was now on board with a plan that he didn’t completely understand. He was a true friend to Xoruthon.

Xoruthon nodded his head. “I will join you.”

“Darkon?” Vallmen questioned.

“If I can achieve peace, there won’t be a need for a retreat.”

Vallmen nodded. “Peace.” He repeated confidently. He turned away from Xoruthon, heading to the front lines. Xoruthon followed behind him. 

“Peace. That’s what we need.”

“Peace is good.” Xoruthon’s father, Zoruthon, said. Father and son sat in a hut on the outskirts of Wolfe where all of the Crakgu lived. The shantytown was revolting and slowly drifting more and more into madness and mud. The higher-ranking demons avoided the area with the only people touching the shantytown being suicidal demons and demons escaping capture. The area was known as the slums of Wolfe.

“Peace is good,” Zoruthon repeated, hoping to hammer that saying into his child’s head. “War is bad.” 

A young Xoruthon nodded, staring up at his father---who looked almost the same as an older Xoruthon but with a little more black than red. “Peace is good. War is bad.” He repeated. Zoruthon nodded, smiling. He took out a book from his side, opening it where a bookmark was waiting for him.

Unlike their neighbors and ninety-nine percent of Crakgu, Zoruthon and his family were educated, hence Xoruthon’s ability to speak in full-fledged sentences. Vallmen was an example of a common Crakgu; lacking an education.

“Remember, never engage in war. We respect humans and they respect us back. Never be like the King. He’s full of anger and violence. We should not be like him.”

Xoruthon nodded. “Yes, father.” 

Zoruthon grinned, patting his son’s head before standing up. He looked at a family painting hanging over the front entrance. The painting detailed Zoruthon, Mavilk (the mother), and Xoruthon. “War is bad. It claimed your mother.” He looked down at his son. “Never spill blood. Never.”

Xoruthon nodded. “Never.”

Zoruthon nodded, standing up from his crude chair. “Never spill blood as the demons and humans do. We must be civilized during these harsh times. We must be peaceful.”

Zoruthon nodded, soaking in his father’s words. “We must be peaceful. We… We must have peace.”

TBC…

Vallmen and Xoruthon marched up to the frontlines where demons and humans continued to clash, ferocious in combat with each side garnering more casualties, but Vallmen stopped short of the bloodbath. Xoruthon walked out in front of him, standing near the troops deployed to the front lines. He cleared his throat before speaking. “Where is the leader of the humans! We want to discuss peace!” He declared, quickly gathering each side’s attention. The humans and demons were both confused at the sudden declaration, the demons even more so. 

The leader of the humans, who had been fighting alongside his men, picked his head up and stared at Xoruthon. His face was drenched in the blue blood of demons and hints of red from his comrades - most likely coming from his comrades that stood next to him and were cut down, splattering the leader with their blood.

“You? You want peace?” The leader asked, tilting his head. He eyed the demons in front of him, watching as they glared at Xoruthon. 

“I’m here under Darkon’s commands.” He directed this remark to the demons fighting on the frontlines, who all looked at him with spite. “I want to establish peace.”

“They can speak like humans?” A human muttered.

“I thought they had their own language?”

“Is this a trap?” Somebody asked. The humans were confused at Xoruthon’s proposal, most of them siding with the last person’s remark. Demons were known to be sneaky.

“Why peace? How does that benefit you?” The leader asked.

“Because the bloodshed stops. We can stop killing each other, but only if we are at peace.” Xoruthon remarked. The leader of the humans squinted his eyes at him, hesitating on what to do. Should he take the offer at the risk of it being a trap or should he allow his sword to do the talking but risk the lives of hundreds for his mistake? Neither option was the safe one. 

“Peace?” A demon snarled. “Why should we offer peace? Did Darkon tell you to offer peace?” A Delta Demon growled. Other demons joined in.

The leader of the humans, seeing that there were some holes in Xoruthon’s story, decided to choose the latter. “Destroy them!” He declared, thrusting his sword into the chest of the demon in front of him. His action was followed by his comrades and quickly countered by the demons. The bloody fighting continued, but since the humans had the first strike, the demons struggling to uphold the frontlines were decimated. The frontlines were crumbling, giving the remaining humans the motivation to press forward.

Xoruthon watched as demons were slaughtered by the humans who moved forward to deal the final blow on the larger part of the Demon Army. Xoruthon was quickly swept into the fighting, being stabbed in the chest several times by the leader. “I’m sorry.” The leader said. “In exchange for your death, I wish to know your name.”

“X-Xoruthon.” He spat out, gurgling out blood. The stabs were deeper than he expected. 

“Xoruthon?” He pronounced Xoruthon’s name perfectly. “My name is Hugh Asher, the cousin of the king. I will remember your name as the demon who wanted peace.

“P-P-Peace?” Xoruthon asked, his life slowly draining. 

Hugh nodded. “I will personally achieve peace for both sides. I want the war to end and for my people to return to their normal lives.”

Xoruthon cracked a smile. He gave up everything in the name of peace. He disobeyed his superiors, killed Winchester, and went against Darkon’s order. He wouldn’t live if he survived the battle and he didn’t mind that. One thing, however, that he mind was the death of Vallmen, some distance behind him. Vallmen, fortunately, was killed quickly and painlessly, dying in one sigh. 

Xoruthon stared at Hugh. “Peace.” He repeated.

Hugh nodded. “Peace.”

“Sir, we lost the Battle of the Future. The main Demon Army suffered heavy casualties including Winchester. He was killed in battle.” A female Beta Demon similar to Winchester in everything except for gender, named Britannia, told a towering demon