Be sure to read the Book 1's Lore Summary Here and Book 2's Lore Summary Here

Part IX - The City of Angels

The rune tapper, Seraphena, begins to have visions of a crimson demon cloaked in shadow laying siege to the rune tapper’s perfect city. Everything burns, and the angels weep.

Prisoner 3-9000 is bound, beaten, and imprisoned in a cage. The rodent’s hands are clapped in iron and his mouth is gagged. His demon captors have no plans of letting the rat draw even a single rune. In the next cage over is Digit. Her mind still erased from fire Prisoner 3-9000 ignited within her mind. In the forest of Sinn, lives are sold and taken for power. This is the rule that all demons live by. The strong survive. The weak die.

Prisoner 3-9000 continues to stare at one of their two demon captors, goading the demon to punch the rodent in the nose. The demon’s father chastises his son, warning him not to touch the rune tapper. The demon obeys his father, but the damage is already done. Using the blood dripping from his nose. Prisoner 3-9000 uses his tail and begins to paint a bloody rune on the floor of his cage.

The demons take Prisoner 3-9000 and Digit to an auction where prisoners are sold off to be ritualistically executed for power. As the demons dramatically announce that the next auction is for a rune tapper, an explosion sends Prisoner 3-9000’s captors to the ground. Chaos erupts as the surrounding forest ignites in runic flame. The demons scatter and Tek is free once more. The rodent thanks his captors for bringing him all this way, before stabbing them in the throat with a runic spear.

Tek frees Digit from her cage, and helps her to safety. Any demons that try to stand in his way are cut down. Through the ashes Tek notices a bat-winged demon watching him with interest, but she makes no effort to stop Tek from releasing the other prisoners and helping them escape. Curiously, one of the cages seems to hold some kind of amber-like substance with a being encased within. Shattering the cocoon-like substance, Tek frees the equine child trapped inside. Her horns and red eyes make it clear immediately that she is a demon, but the rodent refuses to kill a child. The child cannot seem to even remember her name. Tek isn’t sure if it is a good idea to bring a demon with them, but Digit convinces him otherwise, finding kinship in the child’s strange amnesia. Digit explains to the girl that she also is having trouble remembering most of her life. Tek remains quiet, silently hating himself for what he’s done to Digit.

The escaped prisoners, who have lived in the Forest of Sinn their entire lives, lead the way and help guide Tek. It isn’t long before they attract the attention of a demon. While speaking with Digit and the child, Tek finds he is unable to speak or hear anything. His body goes cold as he turns to see Silence watching them from behind a tree. The enraged demon equine locks eyes with Tek and they charge one another. Tek’s arsenal has grown since their last engagement, and Silence is thrown back as her curved blade is repelled by Tek’s runic spear. It is Silence this time who is put on the defensive as Tek strikes again and again. Memories of the demon cutting through him and trying to get to Princess Lita drive the rat into a rage as Silence’s blade is shattered by the heat of Tek’s spear. It is only the intervention of the child that stays Tek’s hand, allowing for Silence to escape. As Tek watches the demon flee, he asks the child why he stopped him, to which she replies. “She’s my sister.”

The prisoners guide Tek to the city Gloria Eternus, the perfect city, or as it is more commonly known The City of Angels. The rodent looks on in awe at the sight of rune tappers clad in armor soaring through the skies. A magical shield surrounds the city that all are able to pass through except for the child. At her touch, the golden light surrounding the city turns red and rune tappers rush to their position. Tek summons his armor and spear, and a brief stand off ensues. Calmer heads prevail as the rune tapper, Seraphena, introduces herself to Tek. She is fascinated by the presence of a rune tapper from the “world below.”

Tek learns the child is unable and unwelcome in the city due to the demonic blood running through her veins. Tek refuses to enter the city without the child, and they are begrudgingly allowed in. The rune tapper, Aygo, uses her runes to create a hole in the shield in which the child may enter. Tek learns that Aygo’s rune is the rune of purity, which allows her to create a shield in which only those without demon blood may enter.

Although hesitant at first, Tek allows Digit and the child to be taken away and examined for their amnesia. The rat fears what could happen should Digit regain her memory, but he cannot afford to insult his hosts. The rodent hopes to learn much from the rune tappers here, including how to fly. The rune tapper’s leader, Elendian, a white furred lion, greets Tek. The rodent is surprised to find the lion’s right arm is a massive metal gauntlet that the rune tapper leader seems to be able to heft around with ease. Elendian explains that one of his runes is the rune of metal, and that to him the arm is as light as a feather.

Aygo helps teach Tek how to channel his runic magic to fly. Although the griffon rune tapper needs not use her magic to fly, she makes for an excellent teacher, and Tek takes to the sky on runic wings. With the dome of golden light all around him and the city of white stone below, for the first time since he discovered his cursed powers, Tek feels like an angel.

Tek is invited on a hunt with Elendian, as well as the rune tapper griffon leaders Azira and Darian, who lead a flock of rune tapper initiates. Tek finds he fits in naturally with the group, and even Elendian is impressed as Tek is able to offer guidance to some of the initiates. They attack a village of demons, cutting down the inhabitants. Tek quickly begins to realize something is off, as few of the demons fight back or even seem to have powers. The rat finds Elendian covered in blood, and watches in horror as he uses his rune tapping to crush a demon soldier within their own armor. The bloody remains resemble more like a crumpled up piece of parchment than a once living being. Tek sees a dead child on the far side of the room, but Elendian is quick to explain that the child attacked him and is an unfortunate loss. None in the village are spared and Tek is silent on their journey home.

When the group returns to The City of Angel’s, Tek finds Aygo and confesses that he is troubled by what he just experienced. Darian and Azira overhear Tek and claim that it is not unusual to feel no pity when slaying demons. Tek tells them that these were hardly demons, and that the village seemed similar to those not far from the Skunk Kingdom. Elendian is told of Tek’s troubles and the lion tells Tek that things are different here compared to the world below, and that he should trust in angels, not demons. Tek tells Elendian that if gods can be flawed, then angels can be too. The lion goes on to explain that the demons are traitors, explaining the War of Gods and Angels to Tek. The rodent is not surprised to learn of the guardian’s treachery, and is even more disturbed to learn about the demon lords that rule over the various demonic kingdoms within the Forest of Sinn. For if what Elendian has told Tek is true, then each of them gave up their runes for greater power. The question is, who granted them this power, and what did they want with their runes?

Digit and the child, who Tek has begun to call Red, due to the color of her eyes, return to Tek. Digit looks troubled, and Tek is disturbed to find she attempted to tap into a rune and got a flash of her fragmented memories, but they faded away like a dream not long after. Tek tells Digit that it is perhaps best if she avoids runes for the time being.

Tek and Seraphena spar and exchange stories of their lives. Tek learns that the saber-toothed tiger was Elendian’s most promising apprentice, but that she refuses to join him on his expeditions. Tek tries to press her for more information, but she tells the rat that she cannot go into further detail for his own safety. Troubled, Tek takes his leave.

Tek teaches Red how to use a spear and together they wander the Forest of Sinn. The rat remarks on how the forest of glowing red leaves and grass has a strange beauty to it. Red tells him how she used to remember a time when the forest was silver. Tek is surprised by this and presses Red to remember more, but she shakes her head claiming she is unable to. Tek tells her he remembers everything being silver, but stops himself before mentioning how it all turned red after Digit tried to make a deal with the shadowy creature that Digit called a god.

Silence finds Tek and Red in the forest, and Tek allows Red to run to her sister and embrace her. The rat finds the moment surprisingly touching, but doesn’t let his guard down. The siblings mouth words to each other, unable to speak in Silence’s deafening aura, but the rodent swears he can make out Red mouthing the words “I missed you.”

A chill runs up Tek’s spine and he notices the bat-winged demon watching them from the forest. The rat rushes her, but stops himself when she doesn’t react to his attack. Outside of Silence’s cursed aura, the demon introduces herself as Evelyn, and warns Tek that he would be safer anywhere than The City of Angels. Tek learns that Evelyn is Silence’s older sister, and that Red’s real name is Raika. Tek allows for Silence and Evelyn to take Raika with them, and Evelyn offers Tek a chance to see what life is like for most demons, all he has to do is allow for her to capture him during Elendian’s next raid.

Tek agrees to join Elendian, Darian, and Azira on another village raid. Once more Tek is disturbed by Elendian’s zeal and brutality. Evelyn swoops down from the sky, and Tek allows the demons to drag him away into the forest. Tek locks eyes with Elendian for a brief moment, and sees only suspicion.

Part X - What Makes A Demon?

Evelyn takes Tek to a village deep inside the Forest of Sinn. There she shows him the hidden village that she’s been taking care of. Everyone in the village was born a demon, but wants nothing to do with the killing, but food and water is scarce on Sinn by design. The shards of Malcrius have intentionally made it difficult to survive without needing to kill one another, and even offers power and wealth to those willing to take the lives of those who refuse to kill. Because of this, both Evelyn and Silence kill on their behalf, having little choice to save the innocent, like their sister.

Tek learns of the demon hierarchy. Every shard of Malcrius has a demon lord under them that rules over a kingdom of ruthless demons. The most powerful among them are able to be sent to the world below to butcher the mortals there in exchange for even greater power. It is because of this that demons are able to attack during the crimson moon. The rune tappers are able to use their magic to grow food, but their hatred of demons is too great for them to even consider working with the villagers. Perhaps with Tek’s arrival, he may be able to change things.

Still bitter about Silence’s attempt on Princess Lita’s life, Tek is hesitant to work with Evelyn. When asked how the demon lords got such power to begin with, Evelyn tells Tek something that shocks him to his core. The demon lords were many of the first rune tappers, who exchanged their ability to rune tap in exchange for their new dark power. For whatever reason, Malcrius seems particularly interested in rune tappers, giving those who give up their runes power enough to match if not exceed that of both a rune tapper and a guardian.

Tek meets a feline by the name of Lilliana, who is wandering the outskirts of the village. Lilliana tells the rodent not to trust the rune tappers or the demons. The rat presses her for further information and he learns that Lilliana was raised to be nothing more than a weapon by the rune tappers and she later became a slave to the demons before fighting her way to freedom. Now she wanders the Forest of Sinn on her own, trusting no one, although she confesses curiosity about Tek when she finds out he’s from the world below. Welcoming someone who is neither demon nor rune tapper to his side, the rodent strikes a bargain with Lilliana. She would help keep him safe from deceit and in return he would allow her to accompany him when the time came for him to return to the world below.

After no small amount of convincing, Tek convinces Evelyn to take him and Lilliana to the outskirts of one of the demon lord’s kingdoms, known as The Court of Blood. Full of vampiric demons who pass their power on to those they deem worthy via bite. Evelyn confesses to once being part of the vampire court before parting ways once the safety of her younger sister was no longer guaranteed. Even Lilliana says she would sooner trust the rune tappers than any of the demon lords, although she is still not keen on returning to the city of angels.

A meeting is organized between Tek, Elendian, and Lilliana to discuss the fate of the demon outcasts that live in the villages outside the kingdoms of the demon lords. Tek proposes creating a refugee camp within the protective dome to begin integrating the demons deemed safe into their society. Elendian is hesitant at first, but agrees to Tek’s plan. The construction of the safe zone begins.

Lilliana voices her discomfort in returning to the home where she was raised to be a weapon, but Elendian insists he’s happy that she’s returned. The feline refuses to speak to the lion, instead preferring to stay by Tek’s side. Once the safe zone is constructed, demon refugees begin flooding inside, although Evelyn, Silence, and Red are nowhere to be found. Tek goes off to find his new demon companions while Lilliana stays back to explore The City of Angels.

Evelyn allows Red to be taken to the safe zone, but believes her presence as well as Silence’s would only put the safe zone in danger due to their ties with the demon lords and Malcrius. Tek agrees to bring Red to safety.

Lillianna discovers that Elendian has been kidnapping children and “breaking them” to create more rune tappers and discarding those who are not born with the latent power inside of them to create an army of angels. Disgusted with the scale of his cruelty, she flees to find Tek and warn him not to trust the lion.

Tek arrives at the safe zone with Red to find Elendian outside. The lion tells Tek he has an important matter to discuss with him and to leave Red to go inside without him, but Tek insists on staying by her side. Elendian reluctantly allows Tek to enter the safe zone. Inside, Tek discovers unstable fire runes etched secretly all over the safe zone. Symbols that only he and a few other rune tappers would recognize. Realizing all too late that a trap has been laid, Tek jumps on Red in an attempt to save her, telling her everything is going to be okay as the runes ignite. Immune to fire, Tek can only hold the equine as she turns to ash in his arms. Every demon inside the safe zone is incinerated in an instant. The shrapnel from the explosion cripples Tek’s body, leaving him a bloody, dying husk on the ground.

Evelyn flies in to find Tek’s body. The demon is enraged at the loss of her sister and vows revenge. Tek begs her to let him die, tired from all the fighting and loss, but Evelyn tells him he’s too valuable to her now to let go. Her fangs extend and she bites the rodent’s neck, filling him with demonic power.

Seraphina finds Evelyn and Tek. Despite the presence of a demon corrupting another rune tapper, Seraphina is too disgusted by Elendian’s actions to interrupt and gives the order to Darian and Azira to hold off Elendian until the process of saving Tek’s life is completed. Both Darian and Azira engage Elendian in combat, but the couple is slain in battle together. Their bodies still standing defiantly even in death. Lillianna attacks Elendian, stalling just long enough for the process to be completed. The feline retreats and Elendian arrives at the safe zone to find Tek has vanished. The lion lets out a roar of rage, but calls his plan a success as the ashes of thousands of innocent demons rain down from the sky.

Tek the rune tapper closes his eyes at the sight of the ashes of thousands of lives he tried to save.

Tek the demon opens his eyes.

Part XI Break the Wheel

Digit discovers the wreck of the safe zone established for the demons. Curious about the rodent’s latent rune tapping abilities and suspicious as to why Tek would keep the rat as a companion unless she had some kind of importance, Elendian seizes her. Digit’s long torture to unlock her rune tapping begins…

Tek awakens in a dark prison cell, chained and bleeding. A familiar voice tells him he’s in the dungeons of the Court of Blood. The rodent is surprised to find Devi is his cellmate. The canine was captured by the demons of this kingdom and is next in line to be drained of her blood. Tek and Devi bond over their painful journeys and find they have a surprising amount in common. The canine helps to lessen the rat’s self loathing over his failures, and the two agree that the time for pity is over. Now was the time for action.

Devi assists Tek to break his bonds and they two simply wait in their prison cell and kill every guard that comes into their cell. Eventually Evelyn is sent to retrieve Tek, who refuses to leave without Devi. The trio leave the dungeon and Tek notices a hatch that leads to an even deeper prison. Evelyn informed them of a vampiric dragon that is kept beneath the kingdom. Too dangerous to be released, too strong to kill. The rodent takes great interest in this new prisoner.

The demon lords ruling over the Court of Blood treat Tek to a feast, impressed by his display of violence in their prison, although he is informed that Lillianna is to remain locked away due to her demonology. One of the demon lords takes an interest in Devi, but when he puts his hand on her, Tek is quick to cut it free from his body. The rodent moves to kill the demon, but Devi stops him. The canine takes a steak knife and brutally stabs the demon to death herself. Amused by such a violent act, they are granted a seat on the Court. The Court sends Tek to the shard of Malcrius so speak with their god.

Malcius and Tek meet face to face, and the god offers to take away all of the rodent’s pain. Tek declines the god’s offer, remembering that Digit tried to force that very fate upon him. The rat is surprised to find Silence is nearby, but still he can hear in the dark god’s presence. Malcrius informs Tek that he is the one who cursed silence by taking away her voice and all sound around her. Stripping the wraps from her body, Tek sees the Silence’s fur is covered in crimson runes. Each rune an unpaid debt to the dark god in exchange for the power to save Red. With her younger sister gone, all that remained of Silence was a slave thirsty for revenge.

Tek returns with Silence to the Court of Blood who are disappointed that Tek refused Malcrius’ offerings. They declare Silence a failure and a weakling for being unable to pay back her debt to Malcrius, and are amused that Tek was responsible for thwarting a life she owed the dark god. That being of Princess Lita. Tek offers to go with the demons to the world below on their next hunt. When the time comes, the rat is bathed in crimson light and a mist of blood. When the mist clears he finds himself in the Great Farmstead back on his world. Two rabbits lay slain at his feet. Dead from the attack of one of the Court members. Tek stabs the demon in the back, saving the dead rabbit’s offspring who flee in horror. After butchering the remaining demons, Tek flies to the Skunk Kingdom and comes face to face with Princess Lita. Ashamed of his new form, Tek is stunned when the princess embraces him instantly. The two stand together in silence for a long time, before Tek explains what’s happened to him.

Princess Lita tells Tek about the war with the Equine Kingdom and the approaching duel between Gimmick and Auralia. The rat is greatly relieved to find Gimmick is alive, and entertained by the idea of the kobold throwing down with a guardian. Tek promises he will find a way to return and bring as much help as possible. Before Tek is pulled back to the world above, he is told that Prieda has been sent to find the second Iron Doors.

Red mist coils around Tek’s body and he finds himself back in the Court of Blood. Every member that didn’t join him on his journey has been slain by Evelyn, Silence, and Devi. Tek releases Lillianna, as well as the dragon, Malzena, from beneath the kingdom. The new Court of Blood is formed.

Through a series of alliances and deceptions, Tek and his newly formed Court of Blood begins to overthrow and conquer every demonic kingdom within the Forest of Sinn until one remains, The Cult of Pain. An attempt at diplomacy with the cult’s leader, Mercy, results in the rat being brutally injured and it is only due to Devi’s cunning and natural paranoia that the rune tapper survives an attempt on his life. Not willing to waste time on a prolonged siege, the rat turns to Malcrius.

Tek returns to Malcrius to make a deal for a weapon that will destroy the Cult of Pain, as well as Elendian’s soul. Satisfied on the path the rodent has been set upon, Malcrius grants Tek such a weapon. A spear that cannot be stopped by any physical armor, striking at the enemies soul instead of their physical body, destroying them utterly without any chance of an afterlife and leaving behind nothing but a pale statuesque corpse. In exchange, Tek must be the one to slay Elendian with the black spear. The deal is struck, and a glowing red rune appears on Tek’s chest. A mark that he belongs to Malcrius until the price for the weapon is paid.

Tek returns to Mercy’s kingdom alone. A strange fog is seen covering the kingdom from afar, but Tek allows for none of his soldiers to follow him. When the fog is finally lifted, not a single soul remains within the kingdom. Tek’s new followers are allowed to explore the now empty husk of a city that remains. Thousands of statuesque demons are found throughout the city. Any whispers of attempts to overthrow Tek or his Court of Blood are snuffed out for good.

With his forces consolidated and no demons left to oppose him, Tek marches on the City of Angels. His war with the rune tappers begins.

Self exiling herself, Silence goes to Malcrius and is granted a new form of magic. Antlers sprout from her head, with strange runes of unmaking etched into them. Silence becomes the ultimate tool for hunting rune tappers.

Part XII - The Patient Blade

Demons and rune tappers engage in the bloodiest conflict seen since the War of Gods and Angels. Tek personally drives his spear into the dome of light that has protected the City of Angels for thousands of years, shattering it in an instant. The inhabitants look up in horror as the silver sky of ethereal light that they had come to recognize as a symbol of protection is snuffed out.

Aygo finds Digit and is able to free her along with the other tortured souls Elendian had been attempting to break into becoming rune tappers. The griffon begins evacuating those who cannot fight from the city, hoping that Tek will not pursue them. The demons are ordered to let them escape.

After several hours of brutal warfare, Tek projects his voice over the burning city, demanding Elendian face him in single combat. The lion accepts Tek’s challenge.

At the heart of the City of Angels, Tek and Elendian prepare for their duel. Elendian hurls insults at the rodent, but when the fight begins, the rat strikes before the lion can so much as take a single step, cutting Elendian’s metal arm from his body. Tek begins slicing the lion apart, piece by piece, ensuring the duel is neither quick nor painless. Summoning the black spear, Tek moves to obliterate Elendian once and for all, but the lion uses his rune tapping to perform one final trick. Turning his severed metallic arm into a spider-like creature, he commands the living weapon to kill Devi. Tek intercepts the metal spider as it leaps at Devi, melting it before it can do her any harm. Elendian uses the distraction as an opportunity to escape.

Elendian finds Aygo and chastises her for abandoning the city. The griffon slaps the lion across the face, openly voicing her disgust with the levels of monstrous acts he was willing to go to in order to create an army of rune tappers. Their argument doesn’t last long, as they find their voices have gone silent.

Silence finds Elendian and flays him alive, creating an aura of antirunic magic that cancels out the effects of all rune tapping.

Digit collapses to her knees as her memories come rushing back to her from being within Silence's antirunic zone. Aygo rushes to help her, only for the rat to stab her in the back with a knife dropped by Elendian. Digit flees into the Forest of Sinn, determined to find Tek and kill him.

The Rune Tappers surrender, and much to the demons following Tek’s disdain, Tek withdraws his forces from the city, allowing them to collect their dead and rebuild. Tek puts his Court of Blood in charge of working out a treaty with Seraphena to end hostilities and pave a future for both demons and angels.

Tek leaves to search for Digit and finds her at one of the altars of Malcrius. Unable to hold up his end of the deal made with the shattered god, Malcrius pours darkness into Tek’s body. Malcrius possesses the rune tapper and the colors drain from his fur. The rat’s soul is smothered in an ocean of shadow and darkness. Malcrius takes Digit by the hand and promises to eradicate those who tormented her from existence, including every last guardian and those who follow them. The vessel smiles down at the world, knowing Prieda will soon open the way for him to return.

The End of Book 3