Daniel's Dangerous Dynasty

With Daniel and Harold trapped in Eden, Mina occupied with War Efforts, Death still nowhere to be seen, and an all-out war between Heaven and Hell going down on Earth, one can only assume that all hope is now lost!

In Diamond Peaks City, several cars have stopped moving, and the drivers have all gotten out to see the strange rifts in the sky and various other spots near the land.

One massive rift then opened up above the Town Hall, and from within said rift, a massive metal human-shaped construct fell down, crushing the building into rubble, before standing up and drawing a huge white-beamed blade from its back. It carried a huge tower shield in its other hand.

The people on the ground immediately started to panic and run away in terror, while a huge volcanic crack split the road in front of the construct apart. Then a huge clawed hand burst through, and out from the newly formed hole, rose a huge, bulky archdemon that stood as tall as the construct, albeit a bit more broad-shouldered and muscular-looking.

The archdemon wore a harness over its chest, and on the back of the harness, one might barely be able to make out an Equine-like figure, clad in black and red armor from head to toe. The helmet was shaped like a pony, but with two horns on the sides of its forehead that resembled a ram, and the eye sockets of the helmet glowed a bright red color. The breastplate was feminine in shape, and she was holding the harness's brindle with her left hand, and a massive black cleaver in her right, which was propped up against her shoulder.

Rather than be seated, the black-armored mare was standing on the harness, and braced for impact as her ride used its left arm to deflect the handle of the sword from the construct's hand once it took a swing at them.

The archdemon then clashed its hands on the construct's shoulders and held on tight, while the figure standing on it leaped up high in the air towards the construct's forehead and jabbed the cleaver into it.

The construct started to pulse with light energy as the mare ran across its head, dragging the cleaver through it, and causing a massive scar to follow suit. She then used her cleaver to drag herself down its winged back, until there was no other metal to cut. Then she used her hooves to propel herself off of it, and braced for an impactful landing below.

Upon landing, the land around her started to wither. She stood back up and assumed a hostile stance as the archdemon lifted the damaged construct up, ripped it clean in half, and threw both halves left and right of it. It let out a huge, Earth-Shaking roar.

Meanwhile, in front of the mare, a group of two angels landed, clad in white and gold armor, and carrying spears and tower shields.

They said no words, but lunged at the mare, whose cleaver vanished into the void with a snap of a finger. She then leaped up in the air and landed on one of the angel's backs, gripping onto his wings, and ripping them clean off with her armored hands.

The other angel attempted to swipe her off, but she flipped and dodged the blade, then landed on his shoulders. She snapped her finger again, and her cleaver re-appeared, which she used to slice the second angel's wings off.

Finally, she did a backflip off of the second angel's shoulder and twirled around in the air between them, then landed on the ground, as the angels' heads rolled off their shoulders.

Their bodies fell limply on the ground, and she stood back up, wiping the Angel Blood off of her blade with the grass.

More angels and a pair of more huge constructs appeared from the rift, but behind the mare, her Demon Army emerged, and a second archdemon rose from the ground. She pointed the cleaver forward, and the two armies rushed each other, weapons drawn, and battle cries heard for miles around.

Harold's face was practically green, as he let out a sickened "Urp!", holding the bile in his mouth, and his mouth with his free hand.

"Ugh... h-how do you humans even stand this foul taste?!" he asked, as he tossed the next bitten fruit into the huge pile of refuse that rested between he and Daniel.

Daniel took a bite off of another fruit of his own and sighed, before tossing that fruit over into the pile. He didn't reply to Harold's whining, and instead tried another fruit.

"I mean... couldn't there at least be a Blood Orange that actually tastes like blood, for example?" he asked, before taking another hesitant chunk from a different fruit, which he spat out immediately and gagged from.

Daniel shook his head and bit into the contents of the last fruit in the testing pile: a fruit he had to peel a bit from, first. "Dammit... okay, guess that does it for this batch of trees." He then points ahead. "Let's go try these ones out, next."

Harold put a hand on his bulging stomach and let out a gurgling burp. "Ugh... b-but Your Majesty..."

"No buts, Harold. We need to find that tree!" he stated matter-of-factly.

Harold groaned before letting out a weak salute and hobbling behind his king.

Daniel then stopped and sighed, shaking his head. "You know what... fuck it, this isn't getting us anywhere. We need a better plan than this."

"Oh, thank you!" Harold said, falling onto his back and sighing contently.

Daniel then sat down on the grass and gently pressed onto his brows, as he tried coming up with a better solution than 'tasting every fruit in Eden until he finds one that makes either him or Harold feel even slightly smarter'.

Finally, something pops up.

"I got it!" he called out. Harold looked over to him, but remained lying down.

Daniel then stood up and started pacing back and forth. "The Tree of Knowledge produced the Forbidden Fruit. Right?"

Harold mumbled, "Mm-hmm..."

"So... if it was forbidden, while everything else was allowed... wouldn't it have made sense to have the tree grown separate from all the others?" Daniel asked.

Harold's eyes widened and he sat up a bit. "That's brilliant, Your Majesty! So... so maybe the Tree of Knowledge isn't even in the forest at all!"

Daniel thought a moment, but shook his head. "No, it wouldn't be that simple. They were able to see it clearly from within the forest. Chances are, it might be deep within... perhaps the center of it all?"

Harold gulped. "You mean... even DEEPER in the forest?!"

Daniel shrugged. "Well, why not? Think about it. The center is a huge focal point in most religious frameworks. It's worth a shot, at least, isn't it?"

Harold groaned. "But Your Majesty... the forest spans across hundreds of miles at least! It could take us ages to reach the center on time!"

"Well, then... let's start walking!" Daniel said, before taking a single step deeper into the woods.

Suddenly, though, he stopped in place once a loud roar echoed from nearby, behind a few bushes.

Harold jumped to his feet and hurried behind Daniel, hiding near his legs.

Daniel assumed a defensive position, as from behind the bushes, a huge, fierce lion emerged.

Harold then yelped. "Eek! A l-l-l-LION! YOUR MAJESTY, RUN! I'LL... I'LL SERVE AS BAIT!"

Daniel held a hand down in a calming gesture. "Wait, hold on Harold. I... think I read about this one, too."

Harold shivered in fear, but Daniel took another step forward, towards the lion. The lion, in return, took another step towards them.

Then Daniel held a hand out towards the lion, and pointed at it. "You... you're the one from the parable, aren't you? The Lion and the Lamb?"

The lion stood there for a moment... then nodded its head.

Daniel sighed in relief. "Whew... alright, then... and you're the guardian of this place, now?"

Again, the lion nodded. From behind the bushes, another creature emerged... a much shorter lamb, almost as tall as Harold.

Daniel smiled. "Well... it's an honor to meet you." he said with a polite bow.

The lion bowed its head back in response... a respectful gesture from one king to another.

Then Daniel had an idea. He looked between the lamb and lion, and asked, "Hey, uh... you wouldn't happen to know where the Tree of Knowledge is, would you?"

Daniel cheered in delight, as he bounced up and down, from the back of the mighty lion. From behind him, he heard Harold screaming in terror, as the lamb followed close behind the lion, while they ran outrageously fast through the jungle. The trees were all a blur at this point.

"WOO! THIS IS AWESOME!" Daniel called out.

Harold screamed a bit more before regaining slight composure. "W-with all d-d-due r-r-respect, Y-Your Majesty, I... I think I'm going to be sick!"

He held his mouth again as his face turned even greener.

At this rate, it would only take them about an hour to reach their destination.

Elanor was in the kitchen, ready to cook up a pot of soup. She already had the pot and the Cooking Oil on the counter, and was reaching into the cabinets for the rest of the ingredients.

Her husband, James, was in their bedroom, doing a crossword puzzle that was in the newspaper, while listening to the chaos on the radio.

"El, I'm telling ya! Soon as we get a call from either Daniel or his wife, we'll be on our way to Hell! There ain't enough time for you to cook some soup!"

Elanor rolled her eyes. "Oh, hush up, you. The world may be ending, but that doesn't mean we can't at least give Miss Pinkamena something to snack on when she gets back from the war!"

Then, the door started to knock.

"Oh! Well shoot, it's probably some more scared people coming in for shelter!" Elanor said.

James groaned. "Well, let 'em know to come back in about thirty minutes or so!"

She rolled her eyes before answering the door.

Death stood on the other side, smiling at her. "Oh! Well if it isn't Death, himself! Come in, Dearie! Please, make yourself at home!"

Death shook his head and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well thank you for the hospitality, but actually, Miss Elanor..." he began, before raising his other hand up, hovering it inches away from her face. "... I've come to pick you up."

To Be Continued...