" Talathia my dear, I have something to show you!” Alhazad said, a bit too enthusiastically. Talathia moaned internally to herself, knowing it was probably another creation of his he sew together, reanimated, and planned on terrorizing the humans with. The white she-wolf came to her master, knowing well enough untold horrors lie below her feet. The wolf woman did not mind his creations, or that he did create monsters. But it always felt like every time he did create his horrors, he was doing it to get a reaction out of her, more than a reaction out of the humans. However, after hundreds of years together, Talathia was very use to his bullshit. It took a great deal of effort to get a reaction out of her these days.

“ What is it?” she asked, jaded, and yawned.

“ You must see! down in the cages on the lower levels of the laboratory..” He mentioned for her to follow him.

Thats where he kept things he didn’t want to escape, not that anything could. But there was extra security down on the lower levels. His more private collection. Things he wanted to keep a secret from his brother Ziekfried and the other demons, lease they be disturbed. And question his true motives during the war.

Talathia knew there was no used resisting his efforts, and followed him.

Alhazad did have ..concerning traits, Talathia was well aware he wasn’t a real danger to her or other demons. He was just a artist, who liked to create monsters. And make things more monstrous than he looked. As if proving some kind of sick twisted point to the other demons around him that commented on his appearance.

When they finally arrived to the cell Alhazad had kept his new prize in, Talathia gasped when she saw what looked like teenage boy. But from its scent, she knew something was off about this human.

“ That is a human child.” She scoffed. “ What is so impressive about a human child?” her nose told her otherwise, and every instinct in side her trembled with fear.

What the hell was this thing?

“ I’m not a human. You stupid mut.” The creature snapped.

“ He heh he he he he he.” Alhazad cackled to himself. Talathia noticed with horror a demon, who was likely Its guard, was ripped to pieces inside the cell. And that the creature was covered in the mercury like blood demons have once It stepped a bit closer into the light. “ My my you are a feral little thing.” Alhazad taunted.

“ Don’t call me feral, you freak show, give me my ARM or come in here alone with me and I’ll rip you apart piece by piece. And see if your insides are as ugly as your outsides.” Talathia not liking the threats coming from this.. This.. abomination growled and stood in between It and Alhazad. It wasn’t human, that she was sure. But What Was It.

“ Not if I claw out your eyes and break your limbs off first.” She lashed her tail. “ Do not make threats to the Demon Lord Alhazad. Have some respect. You are in the presence of a Demon Knight and a Prince.” Alhazad cackled again, enjoying every moment of this, and motioned his guard dog aside.

“ I’d like to see you try, Bitch.” The creature snapped back. While not intimidated by Alhazad, as he was much larger than Talathia. The creature stepped back a bit to get away from him.

“ My my, if you’re going to use grown up words, I’m going to have to treat you like a grown up, and oh. I’m going to have so much fun taking you apart, or I could just brainwash you and make you my own little pet. And sick you on your human creators, wouldn’t that be fun? Ripping your ‘parents’ apart because I Made You do it.” It got angrier, and Alhazad saw that he struck a never. “ Or or or! I could make you kill that little princess the Guardians use as their avatar and you all seem to be so fond of.. Why all you are so fond of her, I don’t know. You can’t BREED with her. You are a Machine designed to kill, you can’t feel love and no one will ever love you. You are a Weapon.” Alhazad teased the thing in the cell. It slammed against the bars inside the cell. Unable to break them. The creature glared at them from the other side. Clearly heated by Alhazad’s taunts. “ Are you going to cry about it? You can’t cry can you. The humans didn’t code you to be able to cry because you aren’t one of them. You’re more of a machine than we will ever be.”

“ Shut the fuck UP you ugly pile of shit, how do you keep from splitting that dog-bitch behind you in half when you fuck her?” the creature snapped back.

“ That isn’t the first time someone has asked that.” Talathia snapped at It. “ Be more original, and at least someone Loves him. Unlike you. No one is coming to save you.”

“ Because no one cares about you like she care about me.” Alhazad hit the nail in the coffin with his final blow. The creature went quiet.

Alhazad turned his attention back to the she-wolf. Ignoring his prize. “ Talathia, imagine, if we could turn these creatures on the humans. I can reprogram them, or brainwash them… a bit of Stockholm syndrome and they’ll be our loyal servants.”

“ You still haven’t explained what that Thing is. It looks like a human teenager, but It smells like… like us.”

“ That’s because It is like us! It’s Living Metal. …Remember when those humans captured me, eons ago…”

“ Yes, I do, that was probably the worst day of my life. I was so worried you were dead.” She refused to take her eyes off the holmcross. It was a few inches shorter shorter than her, and smaller framed than her. But she knew how dangerous of a threat It actually was.

“ Ahh, yes, that was quite traumatic time for the both of us. But those humans took samples of my flesh, to study us. I assumed it was to find our weaknesses, that.. Was only half of it. What they did was took samples of my flesh in order to create their own Living Metal Army. But they made them look human, to get the better of us.. And to have them around other humans and blend in… But during our last encounter, I was able to capture one of them.”

“ How?”

“ Blunt force trauma.”

“ I don’t like the idea of this thing in the lab.” She whispered to him.

“ I can hear you scardy cat!” It teased from with in its cell. Talathia snarled, and snapped “DARK RAY!” sending a wave of dark energy at the creature. It slammed the holmcross into the other side of the wall, where It fell down. It groaned and tried to get back up.. Eventually laying there dazed from the attack.

“ Threaten my Master again and I will make sure you’re begging him to take you apart. Piece by piece. With out sedatives, usually I ask him to use them when I am sleeping, so I don’t hear the screams. But yours, yours I would relish in.” She snarled at the holmcrosss. She wanted it dead, and in pieces, on Alhazad’s lab. It was the only way she knew the lab was safe.

“ Talathia Calm yourself.” Alhazad corrected her in a commanding tone. Talathia growled at his command. “ We can talk in my chambers.” He continued, as the two walked out of the lower levels of the lab. Alhazad locked the door behind them. Talathia wanted to push boulders in front of the door. But her freezing everything shut with her ice magic would have to do, for now.

The two walked in silence until they were with in his sleeping chambers. A fire roared at the hearth, and the room was scattered with books, scrolls, unfinished projects. A massive bed big enough for his large frame, and a few tables scattered with his studies.

“ Imagine my dear if we can capture more of them and reprogram them, we will have our own army and the humans will be none the wiser. We could have them return home and slaughter the humans like the humans had intended to slaughter us. We can take back the land we lost in this war, and stand a chance, our race will once again thrive. Filgaia will be ours!” he said in a prideful booming voice.

“ It’s too dangerous My Lord.” She protested. “ Can’t you… can’t you just kidnap humans and turn them into demons to fight for us?”

“ Hmm… but what human is Worthy of being a metal demon?” he asked.

“ None of them are, really.” She scoffed. “ What if you… created something you could plant inside the humans to have them turned into monsters under your control. Activate it all at once, like when those ants down south attack a predator. It all happens at once, so no one who isn’t infected with… I don’t know I guess… seeds I guess? That you plant inside them. Will have enough time to defend themselves. It’s much safer that way.”

“ Hmm, that.. Is a twisted idea and I will have to save that for another day. But for now. I want to study that thing in the lab. With your help.”

“ I don’t like It, I don’t want It here. What if It escapes?!” she exclaimed. “ What if it hurts you when strapped to the lab table. I don’t want anything to hurt you. I can keep you safe on the battle field. But in the lab? With something that may be stronger than me-“

“ It isn’t stronger than you, and as long as It doesn’t have It’s weapon you can easily over power It. The guard simply under underestimated It and got too close to the cell and was pulled by It inside.”

“ Well, thanks, you could have WARNED me about that, And Where IS It’s weapon!?”

“ Here.” Alhazad floated towards a table in his chambers, Talathia followed behind him and looked at the ARM. “ My lintel told me about these, the humans call them an ARM, it fires projectiles that are capable of injuring us.”

“ The thing they attacked Belselk with a few months ago?”

“ That is correct. One of them. There are many kinds of ARMs.”

“ We should destroy it.”

“ Nonsense, we should study it, and use it for ourselves. Zeik has plans for a larger version of this ARM, that can fire from the sky. We could level human cities with it.”

“ And if that monster you have locked down stairs escapes and gets a hold of this thing.”

“ It won’t, my love.” He cupped her chin in his claws, forcing her to look deep into his eye. “ I promise, it will be fine. Trust me.” With her hands she gently pulled off his mask, and kissed him on the cheek, nuzzling against his large head. His claws pulled her in close for an embrace, feeling her soft body against his.

“ I don’t want to lose you.” She murmured into his shoulder. Recalling the time he was kidnapped by the humans and knowing the raw power she saw while on the battle field. How one shot caused Belselk, of all people, to retreat.

“ This may save us, in the end. We can’t run forever, we have to be smarter than the humans, it’s the only way.” He guided her to his bed. Where they were a tangle of limbs as she got comfortable. Alhazad slowly dozed off, but Talathia couldn’t sleep.. Fearing the worst.