text: The roaring of the crowd filled the stadium as the tall oak doors, worn and torn by hundreds of centuries of battle. The Trials were starting. A new Commandment was needed. The doors open to a large stadium with barbed wire at the top where the edge meets the stands. The smell of blood and rust filled the air. My father stood in the stands at the top in a large suite with almost unlimited wine and mead. "Welcome all to The Trials," my father stood up and announced, his voice was booming, "As you may know, we are in need of a new member of the Ten Commandments. These Trials will determine who will fill that role. The first Trial is trial by combat. The first round is my daughter, Lauren," the crowd roared and cheered as I raised my fist, " Against the most dangerous foe in all of Hell and The Demon Realm, The Brooded Wendigo King." The door on the other side of the stadium opened slowly as a loud guttural roar resonated in my very soul. A large beast came out from the door. It was very tall, with lanky arms that reached the waist of its twenty feet frame. Its antlers were very dark, almost black in color and they were really thin. It had pale skin that was bone white with no lips but a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. They were perfect hunting machines. "Let the Trials begin," my father announced before sitting down. It charged unnaturally fast. I was armed with my Demon powers and a small knife. I knew I had to take this thing out quickly. I rolled to the side as it stopped a few feet behind me. I threw a ball of hellfire at the back of its neck. It screamed and turned to face me, I smiled as I released my Demon Mark, letting my emotions take over. It charged again and tried to swipe at my head, a whirlwind of darkness encompassed it as I clenched my fist. It got an arm out and swiped at my face, hitting me. It sent me into a wall maybe thirty feet away from the center. I slammed into the wall, hearing bones snap and crack, blood came from the back of my head and my nose. It broke out of the whirlwind of darkness, sniffing the air for its victim. When it smelled me, I got up. "Damn it, it's strong," I thought as I got started to black out, feeling an ancient power come out. I looked at the thing and focused on it as I dashed up to it, hitting it hard in its ribs. It screamed and tried to scratch at my head, but I dodged out of pure instinct. I was shocked at what I just did, my body acted on its own. A fire engulfed my hand and set his entire right side on fire. It roared in pain as I took advantage of it, taking my knife into its throat. I slit its throat, kicking off its body to land in front of it. It was screaming and roaring in agony as I threw one last fireball at its left side. It roared one last time as it went to its knees, falling over dead with a thud. I was panting and came to, realizing what I did. The crowd was roaring and cheering as my father was in awe at my power. "Lauren goes onto the next round." I went back to the preparation area where the other Demons were waiting to fight. A royal guard came down and smiled, "Your father requested your presence." I smile and follow the royal guard as my wounds slowly heal. It took a few minutes to get to my father's suite. It had gold and maroon everywhere. Next to him was a bottle of wine half empty. He was sitting at his throne with a hooded figure next to him, whispering to him. He had dark robes black in color and he had a large sword on his hip, it was maybe seven feet long compared to his tall frame. His skin was light but tanned as the tip of his nose and the tip of his lips were visible under his hood. His eyes were one thing that stood out, they were dark red like congealed blood. They were also slightly silver as well as his eyes switched color. I couldn't hear what they were talking about as I bowed in front of the throne silently. It took a second as my father looked towards me and smiled. "Lauren, thank you for joining me," he gestured towards the man, "This is a friend of mine, Mael.” The man smiled and bowed, "It is my pleasure to serve you," his voice had a lot of bass. "It's nice to meet you. Now father, what did you need?" I asked as I stood up. "You did a really good job. I'm proud of you." "Thank you, father," I say, knowing that he doesn't mean it. "Rest easy, your next Trial will be harder," he stood up and smiled, going to my left side and putting his right hand on my left shoulder. I slapped it off and went to the preparation area, a little pissed that he would have the audacity to say he was proud. He's only proud if I do well in battle. "Come on, you pathetic waste of space! Get your ass up!" he often told me during training, "You know you will never be like your brothers." I clenched my fist with wrath as my Demon Mark was showing brightly, the unholy mark pulsed on my forehead in tandem with my heartbeat. "I will become the next Queen," I thought to myself. The next match was about to start. Another Demon against a Seven Deadly Sin member, a clear winner. The match began with the Demon charging at the Seven Deadly Sin, Wrath, as she smiled. Wrath stood there and waited as the Demon charged. She was armed with nothing and the Demon was armed with a spear. She activated her Demon Mark, sending a pressure wave to the Demon's chest. It left a hole six inches wide. The Demon gasped, grabbing his chest. "Damn you!" the Demon yelled and charged. Wrath smiled bigger, waiting for them to get close before slapping their head clean off. She used the spear to disembowel them. Black blood was pouring out as their organs started to fall out. Their small intestine was the first one to fall on the sandy arena floor, his large intestine not long after. The crowd roared in excitement. She bowed and went to her side of the arena. A day passed since the first set of The Trials. Out of the nearly fifty participants, only a handful remain. My father stood up from his throne and smiled, putting his goblet down on a silver platter, "Ladies and gentlemen of The Demon Realm, this is the second Trial. The Trial of Endurance. This will test your endurance and your ability to think on your feet. You will be finding sets of daggers with a dragon handle in less than fifteen minutes in the Blood Forest of The Demon Realm. While you're searching, you will be hunted by each other, monsters, and Wendigos. There will be only two sets of three daggers, so only two can come back. Now, you will be armed with nothing but your powers." While my father was explaining the Trial, Wrath came up to me and she smiled at me. It was unusual for her to smile. She almost never smiled in a sweet way like she did. "Lauren, you know that you will never be as powerful as your brothers. You're a disgrace to the Demon race. Your fight with the Wendigo King was lucky. Your entire existence was luck," She bluntly told me I said nothing as searing anger rose just below the surface. "You are nothing but a disappointment to your parents. They only kept you around to kill you off in The Trials." I stayed silent, sighing a little as the anger rose. A member of the Commandments fired a pillar of lightning in the air to signal the start. We start running to the forest, the smell of blood overpowering our enhanced senses. As we left, the sound of distant roars came out as the Wendigos were released. Our blood ran cold, motivating us to run faster. The forest was filled with trees with red leaves, the smell of iron and death filled the forest. I looked around frantically, but determined to prove her wrong. "Dad, you will see that I deserve the spot," I thought to myself, "I will prove him wrong." When the smell of iron was the strongest, it clouded my mind like I was in a fog. My body moved on its own to a dagger nearby. I created wings from darkness and flapped up in the air as squawk heard. They were Brooded Demons, a flying Demon who is guided by the desire to kill all who the summoner told it to. "Shit," I whisper to myself as I start to fly faster towards somewhere. One of the Demons caught me by the leg, grabbing it and biting deep into my calf. I screamed and turned around, using a fireball and throwing it at its shoulder area, expecting it to move. It stayed in its current position and caught up. I had to use a Hell Strom, clutching my fist and trapping the pursuer in a whirlwind of Hell energy. I took advantage of its idleness to gain distance on it, going down to the thick canopy of red leaves and blood rivers. I perched myself on a branch in the canopy to address the bite. I looked down at it and winced, the outer parts of the outline were black. It looked like the skin was rotting. I took off my shirt and tied it up like a tourniquet. While I was tying my bite, I heard screams and cries for help in the background. Not everyone is fit for The Trials. The screams of the other Demons filled the air as the skin near my calf began to rot away. I had to move fast. I let my instincts take over to find the next dagger. The next dagger was about 300 meters away on the banks of a blood river, a Demon was dead clutching it. I smiled as I took it. The smell of iron was overpowering. I quickly covered my nose. While I was flying away to the next dagger. I passed another Demon with a dagger. I stopped dead in my tracks as the Demon did. They turned to me and looked at me in absolute fear. "Hand it over. You're weak anyway," I tell them They nodded and handed me the dagger. I sliced off their head quickly, smiling a little. When the time was up, it was just me and Wrath. We were given rudimentary weapons, swords and spears and shields. I was given a large spear and shield. She was given nothing. She grinned ear to ear, "Surprising you survived. I assumed you died. That was just out of luck." My father stood up and cleared his throat, "Well, this is the final Trial. The Final Trial of Combat. In this fight, you aren't allowed to use your powers. Only the weapons provided and fists. This will decide who is worthy of the Commandment of Love. Let the battle begin!" At that moment, she dashed towards me and almost immediately knocked me off balance. I let the ancient power take over, dodging out of instinct. She didn't react and tried to end the fight immediately by snapping my neck. He put me into a headlock. I struggled as much as I could until I let my anger take over, I breathed in and took a chunk from her arm. She screamed, letting me go. I took advantage of it and knocked her off her feat. I let rage and hatred take over, pinning her to the ground. I unleashed a fury of blows on her face, laughing a little to myself. "I'm a disgrace?! You are nothing more than shit on my boot! You know nothing of my power! I am the daughter of the Demon King and heir to the throne. You're nothing!" I yelled and screamed as she begged for mercy. "Please! Stop!" she begged as she was pounded into paste. I stopped and smiled a little, standing tall, "Those who ask for mercy are too weak to deserve it," I finally slammed my foot into her head, splitting it into multiple pieces. I panted as my arms burned and felt like they weighed a ton. The crowd roared in applause. "The winner is Lauren," My father smiled as I spit on her body. Several hours later in my father's quarters He smiled as he held an orb the size of his palm. It had his crest on its surface. "With your win, you will be the leader of the Ten Commandments. Do you swear that you will lead the Commandments as best as you can and be loyal to me?" I nodded, "I do," I bowed a little. "Ten they are in good hands," he pushed the orb into my chest. The orb absorbed into my body and immediately felt the power. It made me feel worthy, powerful, and able.