The Demon King's Hero Of Light 13 Chapter 13 The Many Challenges

The third step looked odd to her, going up to the third landing, and as she leaned forward to investigate it, she could feel a tingle in the air. There must be a trap on that step. Because it was the third step, she had a feeling the third landing would also be trapped in a similar fashion. Jumping to the fourth step, she was close enough to the third landing to see that its floor was covered in the demonic runes for lightning. Climbing the stairs to just before the landing, she glanced over at the stairs going up to the fourth landing. Each one had a rune on it.

Pausing, she considered her options. She could climb the railing to get to the top, and avoid stepping on any of the steps or landings, but she had a feeling the castle was wanting more from her than that. Chips and sc.r.a.ps on the banister attested to the fact that previous kings probably just climbed the railing. Each of the runes on the stairs described a different element.

There was fire, earth, air, and water. She definitely didn't want to step on the fire runes, as she was pretty sure she wasn't immune to fire. The other three intrigued her, so she jumped over the landing, onto the first step going to the fourth level. This step had the rune for earth on it.

There was a deep rumble from the walls, and a boulder came smashing down the stairs at her. She was able to dodge it relatively easily, but it landed on the electrified landing that shot sparks out forcing her to dodge. Since she was barely able to escape them, with the time it gave her, she decided she didn't need to step on that rune again.

The next step had a water rune on it, and glancing back at the boulder on the electrified landing, she didn't think water would be a good idea. The third step had fire, so it needed to be skipped. That left only the air step left. Try as she might, Aella couldn't think of any way air could be dangerous in her present situation, so she jumped to it next.

A hiss of air reached her ears and she glanced over to see a green plume of gas shooting out at her. Raising an eyebrow, she sniffed, then grinned. This was a poison she was familiar with, and it didn't affect her at all. Jumping to the next step with the air rune, she ignored the hiss of gas next to her to inspect the landing ahead of her. As nothing seemed to present itself, she tentatively stepped onto it.

Taking a breath, she turned to the next landing. The stairs leading up to it didn't have anything special about them that she could see. Knowing there had to be something, she proceeded with caution. Halfway up, the stair front, to the next step, slid away and tentacles rushed out, wrapping around her legs. The snake heads on the end of them, flicked their tongues and hissed at her, exposing long fangs dripping with venom.

"Poison doesn't bother me," she muttered, reaching for them with her bare hands.

"It doesn't?" exclaimed one of the snake heads in shock, pulling back to look at her.

"What was that she said?" asked the other snake head.

"She said poison doesn't bother her!" said the first head with a sad shake.

"But what good are we then? We've waited so long for this, and now we're not any good?" cried the second head.

"You could bite the counselors at the bottom of the steps, particularly the one with black spikes that run down his spine," she suggested raising an eyebrow.

"Really?" hissed the first.

"We'll have to be careful of the others, so they don't cut us!" rustled the second, already unwinding from her leg and retreating back into the stair step.

Aella stood there for a moment, wondering if the gas from before wasn't poison after all. Or maybe she was susceptible to that particular gas. Regardless, the rest of the climb to the fifth landing was uneventful. Pausing to look at the rest of the landings, she could see that the seventh was the top. She was almost done!

A sound to her side, drew her eyes to the wall next to her, and to her surprise, a door became apparent to her. Glancing at the steps that continued up two flights, she decided she could investigate before continuing. Opening the door carefully, she peeked inside, and was surprised to find herself in a room filled with elaborate decorations and lush carpeting. A very old demon, with long flowing grey/white hair turned to look at her in shock and surprise.

"It has been a very long time since any have come to see me. Are you to be the next demon king?"

His voice was rough, as if unused, yet filled with power. Aella knew that he would be a very difficult adversary, if she had to fight him.

"I am to be crowned king as soon as I reach the end of this infernal challenge from the castle."

"These challenges were meant to test the ability of the next king, beyond just a physical capacity. Most rush through the stairs, and miss my door completely. Once you get to the top of the stairs, my door is sealed until the next king is to be declared."

"Are you one of the challenges?" she asked, looking around. The room looked less like a fight pit, and more like a lavish prison.

"Not really; more like a reward, I would think," said the demon, turning to a chair and sitting down on it.

"What do you mean?" she asked, wondering what kind of mind games he was playing. Could he be delaying her? Was there a time limit that she had to complete the stairs? Turning to look back at the door, her heart skipped a beat when she saw it was gone.

"Don't worry, you won't have to finish the stairs. Once we are done talking a door will open that will let you go straight to the end of the challenges, and you'll be crowned the king."

"Who are you?" she asked.

He chuckled. "Cursed to talk to every demon king that comes to me, that's what I am. My name is irrelevant though, because after we're done here, you will never see me again. At least, for your sake, we best not meet again."

"What do you mean?" she asked again, fighting the urge to be annoyed.

"Let me guess," he said, looking up at the ceiling as if there were answers written there. "You have no formal training to be a king, other than fighting other demons to the death?"

She nodded, then said, "Except my father trained me in a bunch of things before he was sent off to fight in the military. They grabbed me after that."

He looked at her interested for the first time. "So, you can read and write? Figure out puzzles and know diplomacy?"

"I know a little, definitely not enough to be considered skilled. I plan to fix that as soon as I am crowned."

He stood up and came over to her, towering over her short 6' 2" frame. "You have more common sense in your head then I have seen in a very long time. The last two kings who came to me were more interested in defeating the heroes than in running a country and bettering themselves."

"No one would tell me about the heroes, other than what I overheard them talking about them. The counselors don't like me and have stacked the odds against me so much, in the hopes I would fail. I intend to prove them wrong," she said clenching her fist.
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He smiled down at her, "Then this shall be a fun encounter for me. I sincerely wish I could see what happens with you. Allow me to stack the odds in your favor little one."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ring. "This is meant to be a piercing somewhere on your body. You must wear it at all times, because if it is ever removed, it will come back to me and you shall never have access to it ever again."

"What is it?" she asked reaching out to take the small piece of jewelry.

s.n.a.t.c.hing it out of her reach, he shook his finger at her. "I must insert it somewhere. Do you wish for it to be on your ear? Belly b.u.t.ton? Nipple?"

She put her hand on her hip in annoyance. "But what does it do? For something that I must harm myself for, I deserve to know what it does first."

"I cannot tell you, until I no longer possess it. That is a feature of the item. Likewise, you will not be able to tell of its ability once it is in your possession."

She looked at the tiny trinket pinched between his fingers, and decided to accept it. "My left nipple, so I can still draw a bow, if I so chose," she said with a smirk.

Raising an eyebrow, he motioned to her chest. Aella went to pull her shirt to the side, then remembered she was wearing the ridiculous clothing from the tailor. With a shrug, she began to undo the various parts of her outfit. First to hit the floor was her skirt, so she could reach the closure at her crotch. She heard the demon clear his throat as she pulled the shirt up, exposing her body to him.

"If only I wasn't tied to this infernal room, I would be tempted to do more, but here," he said, quickly p.r.i.c.king her skin with the small ring.

After the various beatings she had taken in her life, this small pain was nothing. Looking down at the jeweled ring for a moment, as he quickly stepped back. The feel of his skin on her breast lingered for a moment before she pulled the shirt back down and redid the closures.

"That tiny trinket will allow you to access the Royal Treasury. No one has had access to it for almost a century. I doubt there are any who still remember it even. Only you, as king, will be able to enter and retrieve items in there. Just remember that if you hide someone in there, they will not be able to leave without you. So, you need to make sure there are allowances for waste, food, and water."

She wanted to ask what sort of things were in the treasury, and where the entrance to it was, but she couldn't seem to voice the questions. It was very perplexing.

Chuckling to himself, he moved to a wall, running his hands against it, a door appeared.