Prologue

When did the filthy human race become stronger than us? How could Kalath, the powerful empire of the demons, be beaten by mere humans? Many years ago, the demons were ruling Aereth. This huge continent was inhabited by many races: Humans, goblins, trolls, orcs, wood-humanoids and the elves. But one time, the demons have found an artifact, allowing them to store part of their soul in exchange of being able to use others energy. A law was passed, which dictated every single demon to store their souls to make sure that the demon race would be superior. With the artifact, a single well trained demon would be able to kill one army by himself.  They named it:

Enind - the Soul Sharer.

 

Other atifacts of great power called relics were found, but none was as powerful as the Enind. By making research and experiments, we learned that these relics could use the energy of the user to generate additional power. By connecting it with the user's body, some of them could even create magic such as elements control. Yet, none of them was as powerful as the artifact Enind.

 

For centuries other races tried to steal the Enind, but they failed. The Elves who possessed a lot of magic relics fought until their race was almost extinct, yet they never succeeded. Orcs and Trolls once made an alliance to get the Enind. They have had no chance. Only the Necromancers put a hand on it. During the year 291, those users of unknown relics came from the other side of Eefuth, the mountains in the south-west. However, the Therom Guardians were able to disperse or kill all of the fiends.

 

In 392 of the Kalath calendar, the demons learned that the Enind wasn’t the only artifact.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Auron

 

'Captain Auron! A human group has just breached the main gate. Thousands of them! ‘, said a Therom guardian, having a serious expression on his face. I was standing on top of our fortress, having a perfect view over a wide area of Kalath. The sun had just sunk down and dip dyed the last few inches of a town in a deep red. I was being attentive long before the soldier arrived to alert me. The sounds of screaming were unambiguous: War.

I turned around to look the soldier in the eyes.

'Everybody get ready to battle! ', I yelled. 'You may use your relics at will. '

 

The Therom Guardians were the elite of the Kalath Empire. Every member of the army was in possession of a relic. The relics we owned and used were those of the elements. With these we were able to control the basic elements: wind, fire, water and earth. Some of us were even able to handle the mighty thunder.

We were in charge of the protection of the Enind, the Soul Sharer - with our very own lives. I was the Captain of this group of soldiers, because I was the best at maintaining the strong element of fire. My relic was a bracelet made out of silver, with a big ruby embedded in it and a chain attached to my upper back. I never had issues in a fight, because my relic was linked to my demonic blood, seething with power.

 

'Something's wrong', I thought and started my way from the top of the fortress to the back side of it. How did this happen? Humans never were able to reach so far into our land; nor to overcome all the guarded borders.  We must be prepared for anything! And now the weak human flesh breached our main gate?

As I reached the other side, I went to five soldiers, who were looking out from the top of the fortress.

'You five, follow the vice-Captain Sahari and go to the main hall to protect the Enind. Don’t forget the vow of the Therom. It is our duty to protect the Soul Sharer with our lives.', I entrusted them with a rigorous voice.

'We chained our soul, we are the Kalath, the demons of Aereth!', they proudly answered  and stood still for a second, then they moved forward to Sahari's side.

 

'Let me stay with you Auron', said Sahari. 'We need to fight them with our full strength.' Sahari was the vice-Captain of the Therom Guardians for over 10 years and a fire mage like me, with a lot of skill and experience in fighting. She wore a little red robe, the hood of it was so big that it almost looked like a scarf around her neck.

She was not too tall, had long orange hair and an eye-patch. She once told me she was blind on the hidden eye. The doctors apparently tried to fix it out, but she didn't want others to see, leaving her face with only one dark red eye.

 

Sahari had two, slightly downwards bent horns on her head showing through her hair.  A long, ox-like looking tail grew out of the end of her spinal cord, showing through a small hole in her robe. Above her head there were three little clouds. They were dark and if you kept an eye on them you could see them blinking red from time to time. They didn't have water like normal clouds in them, but fire. You could somehow read her mood from the fire clouds. Right now, they were almost bursting with fire.

Sahari was the one I trusted the most.

 

'Listen to my order and go! If something happens to us, we are leaving the Enind without anyone to defend it. Move!', I bade her and furrowed my brows.

Sahari stood still for a second, flabbergasted through my harsh reaction. But just a moment later, she rallied herself and answered: 'As you wish…, Captain.'

She left with the other guardians for the main room.

 

The Therom Guardians had defended the Enind since it was found.

'As the fifth Captain', I told myself, 'It is my duty to not let it be harmed by anyone'. Only a few soldiers were left at the top of the fortress, so I made clear that they needed to hold their positions. After I ordered my men, I left the fortress's top to protect the main hall. I heard my soldiers scream and howl, I could already feel the air bursting around my skin. They would be using thunder quite soon.

 

Just a second before I entered the main hall the doors exploded into a thousand pieces and human warriors immediately started rushing in. I built up a wall of fire to stop them and then the Therom guardians started to shoot various spells. Human bodies were falling one after another. We were having faith in our chances victory. I felt the fire rushing through my body, the heat of the power of the Enind filled my body with ecstasy. I heard the cracking of my soul-chain, it was loud and aggressive. Even though I put a lot of power into my relics' magic, the wall of fire suddenly disappeared.

When I realized that my magic was blocked for a short period, it was already too late: A group of crossbowmans became visible after my flames were gone. Too paralyzed to react I hesitated for too long:

A human voice yelled: 'No prisoners', and a wave of bolts ended their race in the Therom Guardians bodies. It was instant death for most of them. As I regained my composure, Some of the other Therom mages and me had time to create a shield just in time. It was combined with the relic power of wind and fire and thrust under the ceiling. Our fortress was made out of heavy metals and we could hear the cracking of the melting structure. Even though the power of elements was combined, our shield broke down and some other guardians were shot. I couldn't believe what I had to see. Were we losing?

 

'Something is wrong!', I told myself, 'Why don’t we feel the Enind anymore? Normally, we sense its presence and can use it at will. But now, it feels like it isn’t there anymore. I'm starting to feel weak. Did they get to the main room without us noticing it? No, it’s impossible, Sahari is there guarding it and there is no entrance except this one!' My heart was beating, almost trembling. Something definitely went wrong. 'Keep the position on defense!', I ordered with clenching teeth.

 

'These demons aren't half bad', a voice behind the crossbowmen sounded, 'Some of them managed to survive it without the aid of their precious artifact'. I heard nothing more than the blood rushing in my ears, the cracking of the melting ceiling and an utterly creepy laughing.

'They are much easier to manipulate without their vow.' I yelled: 'Show yourself, you rotten man!'

 

A man stepped out of the group and took a few steps. He was tall, ripped and well armored. However, he looked quite smart for a human. He was wearing a large golden ring in shape of a snake eating a black gem on the ringfinger of his right hand, with chains going up his arm. 'These chains...Does he use a relic? That can't be!', I thought and bit my lip.

 

'Nobody has taught you the good manners? ', he asked. 'I wonder how could demons become the leader of Aereth. Oh, now I remember! For the same reason me and my fellow humans are here today killing many of your kind.  Hand us the Soul Sharer and we might spare your life.', the man explained and looked down at me like I was a little boy. I clenched my teeth. Did he not know to who he was talking to?

'Enind is ours! You have no right to claim it for yourself. Humans can’t even use it and you know this. Your soul isn’t big enough to separate it.'

'Who said we wanted to use it? I could take the rest of the day to explain it to you Auron, Captain of the Therom Guardians, but demons are too stupid.' I painfully swallowed down a sassy answer and moved myself into a non-defensive position.

Even though I was quite tall, that human was taller than me and his shoulders also looked bigger. I felt – in fact – a bit small.

 

'How do you know my name? ', I asked quite surprised, 'It's a good sign filthy human know my name, though.'

The human started laughing out loud. He seemed quite confident for the fact he was standing in the middle of the demons empire.

 

'Do you really think we would come here unprepared? ', he asked. 'We know everything about this land, this fortress, the Therom Guardians and you, Auron. Clearly, you are asking yourself where we got this information. Why don't you ask the vice-Captain of your little army?'

 

He pointed to the other side of the room with a huge smile on his face. I turned around and saw Sahari, with her hands covered in blood, holding a semi-transparent green box with the Enind in it. My heart stopped for a second. 'That's what you get for trusting the weak', quickly came to my mind,

'What is she doing?!' 

She walked past me as if there were not a single human standing in our territory and not one dead body would be laying on the cold ground. She had covered her dark red eye with the eyepatch, revealing a light blue eye.

 

'What are you doing Sahari!', I snarled at her and clenched my fists.

Without looking back, she replied:

'I don’t have to explain anything to you. You wouldn't understand anyway. Your demonic belief has blinded your mind from the day you were born. Farewell, Auron.'

She gave the box to the tall men and left the building. I wanted to cast my fire, I could feel it in my heart. The heat, the energy, but I couldn't control it. Nothing happened. 'Demons will always surprise me', the man said, as he set his eyes on me, 'They can betray their own kind without a doubt, no feelings like shame, mercy or pity. Oh! While we are here, I forgot to introduce myself: my name is Sermons, leader of the army of human realm Llios. But it doesn't matter anymore, because you're going to die here in a minute. If you ever manage to survive, let's take a cup of tea together', he jokingly told me and made a depreciating hand movement.

'What makes you think we're going to die here?', a Therom guardian asked and made a face at Sermons. It was a very young guardian and I felt shame in that moment, because I couldn't even remember his name.

 

'This.'

Sermons raised his right arm and the gemstone on his ring started glowing. I felt my energy drain out of my body. Humans with spears charged us. I couldn’t move as well, just like the other Therom guardians. I felt one, maybe it were four, spears piercing through my stomach and chest. But there was no pain. All my attention was on Sermons leaving the hall with the Enind, while his minions continued killing us. So he does have a relic! Humans actually found an artifact this powerful and learned how to use it?

How...?

 

'No, it can’t be happening', I was repetitive telling myself, 'I can't let him run away! I can't let the Enind be taken away by those humans. It is my duty to keep it safe. What would happen to the Kalath if I failed? What would happen to me?'

I felt the last heat and warmth leaving my body. I felt cold,  I didn't feel my relic, I didn't feel my soul anymore. It felt like it was stolen. The soul-chain began to hurt, my legs became weak. I felt dizzy due the blood lost. I was about to lose consciousness when I saw some of my companions trying to fight; even though they were powerless. I had to fight as well until the end.

A dark, trembling and echoing voice sounded in my mind, telling me: 'I am in your blood. I am you. Use me. Show them the real power of a demon!'

When I woke up I was leaning on my knees, surrounded by fire; and nothing else. Everything was burned down to ashes. I looked up and saw the sky. There was no fortress anymore. The melting metal flowed down the hill the fortress was once standing on. Everything was gone. As well as the Enind. I failed in my one and only duty.

 

It was just a question of time when the royal guards arrived and arrested me. The healers tried to heal my wounds, but their relics didn't react too well. My wounds healed by themselves by the time I arrived at the king's fortress.

King Rogar ordered a trial. I knew I was doomed. The only end possible for this trial was the death penalty. However, I wasn’t scared. I was ready. I had the most important job in the empire and I failed. Who knew what would happen to the Kalath? They brought me to the courthouse where a huge crowd was howling insults and threats. Their words weren't affecting me at all. I kept my head up.

Once in the court, they put me on my knees and attached my chains to the ground. Then, King Rogar entered the court. Everybody got up except for me. My soul-chains never felt so heavy on my body. I was breathing slowly, some of my silver hair hung in my face. My demon horns felt wrong on my head, I wanted to tear them out of my skull. I hated myself for my failure. 'Everybody knows why we are here', Rogar began his judgment, 'We have to decide what to do with Auron Firelyn, fifth Captain of the Therom Guardians. '

'Reason for this trial: Failing in his duty to protect Enind - the Soul Sharer. ', said a judge.

'Just kill him already! He deserves to die', said a watcher, 'He doomed us all! The Enind is GONE. We are LOST!'

The crowd started screaming names at me. They only wanted my death. 'Like if another dead body would help you getting the Enind back', I told myself. Whatever, it wouldn't change much if I raised my voice.

 

'Silence!', the King blared into the court, 'Let’s listen to Captain Auron's point of view. '

'I have no excuse, my king', I raised my voice, 'I failed to achieve my mission. I am deeply sorry.'

'Now tell me, how could a powerful and proud demon like you be beaten by humans?' I lifted my head, my hair fell back, my chain clashed with regret.

'I can’t guarantee it, but I’m pretty sure the human acquired an artifact. '

'Liar!', the watchers nagged. Their voices echoed not only in the hall, but also in my head. It was disturbing.

'What makesyou think human kind could acquire an artifact? For almost 400 years now we've searched for a second one like the Enind...and none was found.', Rogar asked, much calmer than the rest of the involved people. 'During the fight, the link between me and the Enind stopped working suddenly. I didn’t understand why, because it was still under our protection. However, the human leader, called Sermons, used a relic to disable our relics, therefore our magic. Normally, we would have used the Soul Sharer to defend ourselves... but we couldn't. None of us could feel the soul bonding anymore.'

'The human possesses relics? How worrying it is... And you found out why the Enind stopped working? Then, speak', the judge arrogated an answer from me.

I took a deep breath: 'The vice-Captain Sahari betrayed us. She gave information from us to the humans. She was with them from the start! I understood everything when she gave the Enind to the humans in a strange box. The box had the same kind of symbol as the one on the Soul Sharer. It was also producing a feeling of emptiness. It was quite unpleasant.', I told Rogar and lowered my head again. The chain drew my skin. It felt like ripping apart.

 

'The same symbol, you say? It is quite troublesome. However, we won't get further into the subject until we learn more about this new artifact.', the King mumbled and swept through his long beard.

'It is now time to decide the sentence of Auron Firelyn, for failing in his duty as a Therom guardian!', said a judge. 'As it is written in the demonic law of Kalath, failing a mission concerning the Enind, results the death sentence! Is the King agreeing with this sentence?', the judge spoke loudly.

'I do not agree with it', said King Rogar, while looking directly in my eyes.

'What? Why?', the crowd went, 'He just can't simply live! It will be his fault if more of us die through the hand of humans!', one demon shouted.

'They are right my lord', said the judge, 'He must be punished and he cannot just work or rot in jail. The other demons wouldn’t accept it and it could create uproars.', the judge whispered to the King and had an anxious look on his face.

 

'Silence!', the king yelled, 'The death sentence shall not be his end, for the only reason that it wasn’t entirely his fault. He fought bravely against an enemy with power beyond our knowledge. However, he cannot live in the Kalath Empire as the law says.  I know the perfect sentence for you. Auron Firelyn, by the power of the Kalath entrusting to me, the king, you shall become a Banished One for eternity!'

 

Banished? Banished from Kalath. My homeland...all my memories.

People in the court were screeching of happiness and also from discontent, but I couldn't hear them.

All I heard was the king's final sentence: Banished from our land for eternity! I didn't know how to feel like. My life was spared, but it was destroyed in a single sentence.

The king came next to me, bent down to my ear and whispered: 'Bring us back the Enind and you shall name Kalath home once again.'

He then left the courthouse with his guards and his consultants. The citizens left right after, leaving me alone in the room, attached to the ground. He gave me a chance. The king believed in me and decided to give me the possibility to correct my mistake.

A demon came in with a short stick with a bright, flaming end. He pressed it on the side of my neck and shoulder. The pain was intense, but not as much as the moment in front of Sermons when I saw Sahari. How could someone I trusted so much make me feel so miserable? Is that what you get by those human feelings? I should have never learned how to feel. 

The castigator then left, leaving me alone with the symbol of 'the Banished One' on my body: an ornament, round shaped on the top of my shoulder and neck with a dot in it's middle, long tribals wandering down my arm. The wound bled and I heard my blood dripping on the cold floor.

 

I leaned on my knees in the court without moving for an entire day, with my head lowered, thinking about what happened. When the sun rose, two guards came into the court to get me. They brought me to the western border of Kalath. Once there, they gave me my red robe and a leathery brown backpack and left. I felt so small, miserable, unworthy and emasculated. They took everything from me. Alone… It was quite strange to be the only one around. I was used to live with my friends of the Therom Guardians, which are no more. Even though I didn't had much to talk about with them and kept silent for most of the time; even when they had their fun.

I had to avenge them! I had to retrieve the Enind and bring it back to Kalath. But first, I needed to find Sermons and kill that rotten human for the reason I have become a Banished One. I will have my revenge. My flame won't die out. It will catch all the air and will burst to the heights of the sky. You shall be prepared, weak, human flesh.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Seara

 

~15 years ago

It smelled like it would rain soon. I wrinkled up my nose, scratched it and took a deep breath. It sounded more like a sigh and it didn't feel relieving at all. I came here often for some quiet time, when school wasn't fun. I came her to relax. My little toes digged into the soft grass of a little hill that I found peace on. It was some steps outside my hometown named Deldra. It wasn't too big, had its own schools. The citizens weren't too rich, neither too poor. They all had their jobs, and when the boys grew up they would join the human army.

Yet another sigh fled out of my mouth. The wind stroked softly through my blonde hair. Some white highlights shimmered in the midday sun. The reason I often left school before it ended was that my friends I used to play with started rumours about myself and my family.They heard that my dad abandon our family as soon as he realized my mom was pregnant from him. I could hear my mom crying at night, repeatedly asking herself: 'Why?' I didn't know the answer to her question. I didn't even know what was wrong with our lives.

When I came home my mom asked me how my day was. I normally answered with a sloppy : 'it was okay...', then sat down at the table and ate the vegetable stew my mom was making every day. We didn't have much money for more. But sometimes my mom was able to buy some meat and add it to the stew.I didn't know the age of my mom, but she had blonde hair with grey highlights. She had some folds on her skin, honest blue eyes and a warm smile. However, I remember she looked more and more tired. Sometimes, she didn't even prepared food for me after school. I closed my eyes and softly stroked through my long hair.Life wasn't...nice.

**

When I was thinking about it, I do have to admit that I miss my mom. She's my own mother after all. Yet, I was happy when I ran away to a bigger city. Shym is the biggest of its region, and also the safest. The army was almost everywhere. Built on the north frontier of Llios, it was one of the main guarding post on the frontier. Even though humans hated demons I was able to live a calm life there. As long as I was hiding my physical belonging, I was safe. I can't risk myself to get a job at the market or somewhere else, so I create my own job. I pay myself, no bills, only raw money. Rich people don't need all that money anyway.

I was sitting on my tacky bed. My white hair was completely ruffled, I felt like I was stinking to everything I would have touched and my sore muscles were killing me.'Ugh...', I moaned as I wheeled myself to stand up, 'I should really get myself done...', I mumbled and went straight to the bathroom. When I moved into this housing, my lessor 'asssured' me that I would have warm water during the morning and the evening, provided by the homemade boiler.The 'boiler' was made of an open fire, but I rapidly learned that it didn't burn that day. I got myself undressed and started the shower. I could hear the old pipe snapping and a single cold water drop dropped on my white, long hair. I crunched my teeth. 'Are you fucking with me? Sometimes you work, sometimes you don't!', I groused against the shower pipe and hit it with my fist. Water immediately poured down the drain under my feet. I hated this place.

 

The sun was already sinking, covering Shym under a deep red sky. Time for me to work.

I stood right in front of my mirror and got myself changed. Since my hair got white when I was around ten years old, people looked at me with a weird expression on their faces. When I was eleven, horns began to grow on my forehead and when my pupils finally changed into a triangle form... Then, they understood.

I was not a normal human being, half of me was demonic. And people hated me for that fact. Maybe they were only afraid because of the great war between demons and humans wasn't forgotten at that time.

I poked my horns with my left hand while stroking back my bangs. The horns weren't that big of a problem when it came to disguise myself as a human. My white hair neither, but my bright green eyes with those demonic pupils were an issue.I bit my lip and let go of my hair. 'I should get ready', I said to myself and put on a black tank top, black pants and some black overknees. I put some sort of improvised belt around my thighs. It had little pockets fixed on them with some "working material" in it.Afterwards, I put on a robe which covered my shoulders. It had a big, round hood on it . I grabbed a frontlet with a dark red color and put it on my forehead. I didn't want to make it easy for others to see that I wasn't quite "normal". Lastly, I put a sheath on my belt with my rusted sword in it and pulled the hood of my robe over my head. With my reddish boots on, I left my apartment.

 

The streets in this part of Shym were slowly getting emptier, soon to be dead silent. Slowly, the streetlights started to shine as I went through some alleys. I was on my way to leave Shym, because stealing here would be a hard job. Almost everywhere there were some army soldiers on guarding duty and if a citizen would make alarm I wouldn't have time to flee. They would find me with ease and catch me. Since I had no business to do in this city and because I wanted to live here in peace, I always went outside the town walls.Around Shym were some smaller villages. By the time it took me to get to one of them, it was night. Mostly everyone was tight asleep. By going during this time of the day, I never got catched. Having a source of light to see where I was going wasn't even a problem : My demonic eyes allowed me to perfectly see in the dark.

To be able to do what I'm preparing for every time, I had to walk for at least two hours before reaching a village. Each time I didn't care about the name of the town. What was the point of it?

When I broke into homes, I tried not to take too much. They surely would realize that somebody took their money, but not all of it. Most of the time, I didn't touch stuff like jewelery or anything like that; I just went straight for bronze, silver and gold. I only took raw money; I never took objects that I would have to sell to get the money.

Traveling to the villages was also a way for me to calm down before acting precisely and silently. Shym was surrounded by woods, many fields and a quite large river. After a while doing this job, I was able to walk so silently that not even an old wood floor would realize I was even touching it. I had to admit that I was proud of this skill.

 

For this night, I reached the village after about half an hour earlier than typical, so there was still few people on the streets. I could smell beer, bad wine and sweat. I wrinkled up my nose. I didn't like this smell, but I did my best to ignore it. When I went further into the village, another smell creeped into my nose. It irritated me because I couldn't fit it in. Was I having issues with all those nasty smells, because of my well working nose? I bit my lip and stood still for a second. A weird feeling was overflowing me, but within a second I decided to ignore it and continued my way to a house which was standing quite isolated from the others.

It was fully dark already, but thanks to my eyes, I could perfectly see what I was looking at. The house didn't look too spectectular, but the fact it was standing a bit isolated made me think it was an old building. Maybe it was built first? Around the house, there was a high fence made of cast iron; no match for me.With some ingenious moves I reached the top of the fence and silently landed on the other side of it. I went forward in a stooping position, carefully watching where I was putting my feet.

I reached the backside of the house. Then, I scrabbled around in my pockets on my thighs to find some tools to break the lock of the veranda door.I made sure to move my tools carefully and to avoid any metallic sounds. With a sassy smile on the face I opened the porch door and slipped into the house."As I thought...", I mumbled as I realized that the interior decoration looked quite pricey. I would sure find some money here.

Silently, I made one step after another to look for a safe. I somehow was sure the dwellers weren't too dumb to openly present their goods.The floor was made of stone and a carpet was placed in front of a fireolace. The sofa looked like it was made out of real leather; its smell kind of confirmed it.The house even had a second floor I realized when I entered the corridor. On my right side was the kitchen. Maybe I should steal some food? I didn't have much to eat during the last few weeks...And I smelled pretty neat stuff...Even meat!"I shouldn't let myself be distracted...", I mumbled and grabbed the banisters of the wooden stairs.They squeaked when I slowly moved upstairs.

 

Upstairs, I could hear the residents snoring, so I was sure they were fast asleep.Right in front of me was a closed wooden door; the bedroom, according to the sound. On the left end of the second floor was a bathroom. The door was standing wide open.I couldn't see a safe anywhere though, so I guessed it would be in the bedroom."Shit...", I silently nagged and stroked my hair back. Pulling my hood into my face once again, I made sure to open the bedroom's door as softly as I could and slipped into the room. I let the door open a tiny bit to make sure I could leave fast after being done with business.

I cringed for a second when the sleeping pair moved around in their sleep. I silently lost a sigh and looked through the room. The bed was big and made of wood. It was standing on a carpet with a nice pattern. Left from the door was the window, underneath it there was standing a wooden drawer. On the right side, where I was crouching, stood a big wardrobe, also made from wood. I opened the wardrobe. I moved around some clothing and finally found what I was searching for: A safe. It was embedded in the wardrobe – not bad. They really seemed to have some interesting treasures there."Let's see...", I whispered to myself while putting a hand in my pocket. I searched for a picking tool and when I felt the sharp end of it I fished it out of it's vessel. As a thief, I was blessed with my ability to see everything at night. Light will never disturb my victims. I bent over to stick my tool into the lock and began to move it from right to left until I could feel a little drag. After making sure the married pair were still asleep, I let the lock crack and opened the safe.

 

"There you are...", I cheered softly as I discovered a lot of money. Gold coins, silver bars and two little rubies were just laying there, screaming: "Take us with you!"I wouldn't let them tell me a second time! I grabbed everything I wanted and put it into my pockets."Honey...?", a voice rose behind my back. I winced and turned around quick. "Shit", was the only thought going through my mind. How did they wake up? I made sure to be quiet!"Honey, what is that of a tumult outside?", the raspy voice of the old lady sounded again. Tumult?I perked my ears. I could hear some shouts from outside the window. I needed to get out of here. It was completly dark, I had the money in my pockets."Hm...", I heard the old man mutter. The cotton of the bedding was moving as the sound told me. I moved myself into a crawling position. Hand, foot, hand, foot. I tried to slow down my breathing.Cling, cling, cling.

I stopped. The money and the tools in my pockets made sounds when I crawled on the ground. And I was sure the tumult outside the windows wasn't loud enough to cover that up."H...Honey! Wake up. Wake up! There's somebody in here!", the old ladies voice screamed so loudly, it hurt my ears."Now they got me, great!", I thought to myself. I shooed up on my feet, ready to run – or jump – down the stairs.I wasn't listening to the old man's screaming or the noisy voice of the lady, I just made sure to flee out of this house.I slipped through the back door, jumped over the fence, ending my escape in front of a fight.

 

There was a pub right in front of me, I could smell the stench of old wine, smoking weeds and sweat. Another smell blazed its way into my nose...The smell I scented before. I scratched my nose and stepped aside. I knew the homeowner of the house wouldn't just go back to sleep.I slipped through some men who were busy screaming and shouting some dirty words."Kick him out of here!""Dirty demon!""Who do you think you are, ordering humans to give you food?!"

I prick-eared and stood still in the mass of people. With my left hand I pulled my hood deeper in my face. Even though some of my white hair showed through, I was sure nobody would guess I was a demon, too."Don't you dare to touch me, weak flesh!", I heard a deep growl. A cold shiver ran over my back. A second later the guy who was fighting with the demon was thrown in the air and landed right in front of me.I only heard the cracking of his head as he landed quite unfavorably in front of me. He died immediately."Anyone else wants to hate on the 'weak' demon race?", the voice rose once again and his keen eyes met my green eyes.I held up to his gaze, even when he took a few steps towards me.

 

I could see his nose move a little bit. He surely smelled my scent. He had black, slightly longer hair. Black, metallic shimmering demon horns. They were bent outside."You...", I could hear him grunt. I frowned my eyebrows. I wasn't able to look away, it was like he was compelling me to stand his look.

Without having the chance to react he was standing right in front of me, pulling my hood back and exposing my silvery-white hair. He even ignored the dead body laying behind him.A killer look appeared on his face. He didn't seem to be happy to see another demon here."Don't touch me.", I snarled at him and made one step backwards to avoid his touch. He had incredible dark eyes, even though I thought I could see some reddish undertone.Suddenly, without a word, he reached for my headband which covered my horns. I took another step back.

"You got a sword with you? For what matter?", he raised his voice and clenched his teeth. He seemed quite pissed to see me. My head told me to just turn around and leave as long as I had the chance to, but he forced me to stay by focussing me."For the matter if some asshole like you shows up, I can beat the shit out of him.", I answered him with a monotone voice and crossed my arms.

 

My words made him raise one eyebrow. He stood still and straightened his back: "What was that, little girl? “, he asked and cracked his neck. The people around us had become quiet and I just realized it by that time. I let my eyes scrutinze the expressions on the people's faces. Some still stared at the dead body some steps away. The demon clicked his tongue: "And you really think you could beat me?“, he asked, "Even with my empty stomach, I could break your skull into pieces. I could destroy this entire village by myself! All I wanted is food. But those humans think so high of themselves – even in this derelict village! It seems they don't care about what could happen to their pitiful village of shit!“

"You didn't come here with friendly intentions, demon! How could you even get in the human realm? You will be arrested and killed!“, one of the human screamed. Before I could even realize it, that demon was at his throat. His strong hand grabbed the throat tightly. I could hear the man's gasping for air."WHO would ever arrest me?", I heard the demon offering violence.

 

I felt paralized, but my legs made me run over to the intruder. I jumped in the air and grabbed his demon horns. I then yanked him backwards and managed to hold onto his arms."What do you think you are doing?“, he nagged. "Leave them alone, you shitpiece!", I yelled. He had a lot of power, even though I wasn't weak.

He was a lot stronger than me and I couldn't hold my grasp any longer. With a furious look on his face he turned around, took my right leg and tossed me outside the crowd.I landed ruggedly on my back and some of my stolen gold coins fell out of my pockets."Fuck", I thought. I tried to grab it, but the demon stepped on my reaching hand. It hurt.I bit my lips and looked up to him. He had his arms crossed and looked down at me like I was garbage.Did he forget HE was the garbage of the world? A demon! Not that I was any better, but I tried to hide it."Get off me!“, I shouted at him, but he didn't move an inch. With my free hand, I grabbed my sword off my belt and pointed it at his throat with speed. He, in fact, took a half step back and let go of my hand. It was probably more a reflex than fear.

 

His look didn't change at all. I stood up quickly without losing eye-contact."You are a thief? You just came out of a sweet, cozy home? You are betraying your beloved human race?", he began to speak without batting an eye."I do not love them", I defended myself. "Well explain to me why are you protecting them?", he rumbled on, "You are a demon by yourself, I can smell it. I smelled you at the very moment you entered the village. It's everywhere.“He took the blade of my sword with his bare right hand and punched it with his left one. It broke instantly! In a single blow! He was stronger than I expected.

I wasn't able to react, I just stared at his black eyes. His dark hair moved slightly in a breeze as he touched my headband and pulled it off."No!", I tried to stop him, but he was faster than me. "You have to be kidding me. You're not even a real demon! Simply a half demon. Look at those little horns... Pathetic! You are as disgusting as these humans“, he said and even dared to touch them. Furious of his arrogance I presented him a whim. Surprised by that he lurched backwards, pressing his hand against his forehead."You bitch!", he shouted furiously and ran towards me. I reached for his horns and tossed him away with all my power.

He landed on his feet though and it looked like he was burning. Was he a demon from hell?

 

"You really want to die, don't you?", he whispered and catch me down before I could react properly. I could hear the outcries of the villagers who still were watching even though it was pretty dark outside. "Get off me! Is that what you like?", I scolded him and went for his throat. He bared his teeth. They were sharp, just like mine."Be happy you are not entirely human, you would be dead for a long time by now!", he responded angrily and grabbed my arm.

His body was hot, my skin burned from his grasp. I tried not to show my pain, but he could see it. He got a hazardious smile on his face. "It's hot, eh?", he asked and touched my throat with his other hand, "Who do you think you are fighting with?"

How would I know? I didn't care! I just knew he was burning my skin. "Get off me!", I warned him and struggeld against his weight. As I lifted my arm a tiny bit he made sure to pull it down right away again."Tell me your name.", he ordered me and went for my face, "Right now."His hand stopped right in front of my eyes and I could feel the heat. "S-Seara...", I answered, clenched my teeth and mobilized my power to toss him away from me.

Heavily breathing I took a look at the part of my body he was holding. They were red like I was having a heavy sunburn."I am Auron. Don't forget it. And the next time you try to fight with me, I will kill you. You are nothing than infested, dirty human flesh", he menaced and got away.

Shocked by the moment I sat there for a second before I was able to get up. I got my hood, pulled it down my face and got away as well.I couldn't stay here any longer. My identity was revealed to the villagers! I made sure to go another direction.

 

"Why did he spare my life?", I whispered.

Impressum

Texte: Tia-Mellnoia
Bildmaterialien: Google Image
Lektorat: Tia-Mellnoia
Übersetzung: none
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 12.03.2014

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Widmung:
For everyone who wants to participate in a whole new story, made from authors for authors. For watchers, from watchers. For the fantasy.