Post by Samagryn on Dec 9, 2014 15:29:17 GMT -5
Prologue
Long ago, in ancient times, the realms were united. Creatures, whose true names have been lost to time, ruled over a kingdom known as Gliraveil. They started out just, always acting fairly, and so managed to keep the other races in line. It was a time of peace and prosperity. Then, as all great civilizations do, they began to break apart. Petty squabbles weakened their once god-like power, and the other races, Human, Angel, and Demon, rose up. A long, bloody war was fought, and in the end, the rulers, now only known by the term Demon-Angel, were destroyed. Their crown was divided into three parts, as were the realms. The Circlet of Night, the silver section of the crown, was kept with the Demons, in the realm they dubbed Hades. The Heavens Light, the golden piece that was once entwined with the Circlet of Night, was given to the Angels, in the realm they named Heaven. And the final piece, a great jewel that outshone any other in any of the three realms, was given to the humans, hidden somewhere on the realm they now called Earth. The reason behind this division of the once glorified crown? It was foretold that one, the last of the once proud race, would arise and reclaim the throne. Over the years, stories became legends, legends became myths, and the myths slowly became forgotten. The humans, with their short life-spans, now remember none of this, and only a select few of the other two races still know of it. The three have grown divided, looking down on each other as inferior. A time of change is at hand. The prophesized return of the Demon-Angels… has begun….Chapter 1: Savior
¦Alexander¦
I walked down an empty street, my black-feathered wings drawn in under my black vest. I had the collar popped up, eyes cast downwards towards the dirty sidewalk. It was cold, possibly high twenties to low thirties, and I had my hands thrust into the pockets of my jeans, the fingerless gloves not doing enough to keep them warm. I’d been going without sleep for a while, close to a week at least, and it was starting to mess with my head. I didn’t dare sleep just yet though. Demon activity was high in this part of town, higher than normal. I highly doubted that they knew of me just yet, or I probably wouldn’t be walking down the street just yet. I smiled. When the time came that I had to fight, I knew I could handle anything the demons decided to throw at me. My thoughts were interrupted, however, as I spotted one of their patrolling squadrons, flying at full speed after someone. Normally, I would have just passed them by, thankful it wasn’t me, but something stopped me. I peered through the dark of the night to see who it was they were chasing. It was a young girl, no more than 17, with wings the color of freshly fallen snow. Despite that, she didn’t appear angelic, and she certainly didn’t resemble a demon. Ignoring the overwhelming fatigue, I spread my obsidian-colored wings to their full 18 foot span and took to the air, determined to save her.
¦Star¦
I flew from the pursuing bounty hunters, exhausted from being chased night after night. They’d caught me once before, and I had somehow managed to escape, but it was not something I cared to experience again. I dipped slightly, a ball of energy flying over my head as I did so. I managed to avoid the initial explosion, but it had cost me some of my lead. I glanced back, seeing that the lead demon had grown much closer, its sharp teeth gleaming in the light of the half moon. I tried to speed up, but couldn’t. I was too exhausted, my wings unable to carry me any faster than I was already going. As the demon’s blasted me from the sky, I hoped silently that someone would help me, but knew it was useless. They had me, and nobody would ever lift a finger to help a half breed like me. As I plummeted towards the ground, I closed my eyes, resigning myself to death. I faded into unconsciousness just as a dark figure caught me…
¦Alexander¦
I caught the girl as she fell, startling the group as I appeared seemingly out of nowhere. One of the Demons drifted closer, apparently the leader of the group. “Hand her over angel. The demon king has ordered her capture, and there’s a hefty price on her head for it.” He smiled. “We may even be content to split it with you.” I narrowed my eyes. “First off, I’m not an angel.” He drifts a couple of feet away from me. “Second, I see no reason for the demon king to bother with someone like her.” The demon signaled to the others as they began to surround me. “Well then, maybe we should just kill you and take her.” I smiled at him. “That could be a bit of a problem.” I focused, bringing forth the flames I had been able to control ever since I was a small child. They meshed together, forming a dragon of pure flames. The demons moved back from a heat that only they could feel, as the dragon had selected them as its targets. “You see, my friend here is more than a little hungry. Now, if you want, you could try to go through him…” It snapped at them menacingly. “… or you could go the other way and pretend this little meeting of ours never happened.” The leader stepped forward, drawing a large sword. I rolled my eyes. There’s an idiot in every crowd. The drake descended on it immediately, the sword passing through the flames that made up its body as the demon tried to fend it off, only to become a cloud of ash on the wind. “Anyone else wanna try?” They shook their horned heads. “I thought not. Now then, I’d suggest running. And tell your king, should you ever see him again, that Alexander said hi.” I dropped to the ground as the dragon chased after them, shaking my head. I’d never cared for the demons, and these were definitely some of the worst examples of the species. Mean, ugly, and straight up stupid. After a mental call to the dragon to make sure they got well away from here, I turned my attention back to the girl in my arms. She was maybe 5 foot 4, and thin, almost as if she hadn’t eaten in days. “Alex, you’re going to get yourself killed one of these days…” I said to myself, sighing as I used what little energy I had left to spare healing what wounds I could see. She stirred slightly, but didn’t wake. I glanced up, my dragon returning and shrinking down to fit on my shoulder, the blazing red flames dying gown to a light blue as they cooled. “Torch, can you find us a place to stay for the night? Or at least until she wakes?” It looked at me and gave a mental reply back. “There’s an abandoned house not far from here. I can defend it easily, with a little help, and it seems to be in remarkably good shape.” I nodded at it, fighting to keep my head clear. “Alright, let’s go.” It dropped to the ground, changing its size to that of a large dog while using what magic its kind possessed to keep it from being seen by anyone who was not looking for it specifically. We walked to the older parts of the city, out of the areas frequented by the demons. I made a note to correct Torch’s notions of what exactly constituted “not far.” We’d traveled several blocks before he bounded ahead to sit in front of an old building. I stopped for a second, studying it. It was indeed abandoned, but if a house it was, it had been modified from its original purpose, the steeple on the old church still standing as testament to its prior splendor. I started moving again. While not my safe house of choice, it might give the demons pause should they decide to come for us. Not because of any superstitions they might have, but because the angels tended to frequent such places. I just hoped that they didn’t decide to come by this one.
¦Star¦
I woke up, keeping my eyes shut as I did so, expecting to feel the sting of a whip at any second. When it didn’t come, I opened my eyes slowly, taking in the room around me. It was a moderate sized bedroom, bare except for the bed on which I laid , a small table, and a wooden chair, in which sat a man dressed in black, his straight brown hair almost covering his eyes, which were also a light shade of brown, although lacking the reddish sheen of his hair. He met my gaze, worry and fatigue evident on his features. “Are you alright?” I nodded weakly, then tried to sit up, wincing as I did so. He came over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder and gently pushing me back down. “Easy… you’d taken quite a beating before I got to you. Let me help…” I opened my mouth to protest, but stopped as I felt a wave of soothing warmth wash over me, relieving the pains in my head and side. He stepped away after a while, looking even more exhausted than before. “Better?” I nodded. “Yes…” He smiled. “My name’s Alexander, but you can call me Alex. What’s your name?” I thought second before answering. He seemed friendly enough, but so had many others. “Star.”
¦Alexander¦
I smiled softly. “That’s a nice name.” I hesitated for a second, silently debating whether or not to ask her the question that had been bothering me since I’d saved her. Finally, I decided to ask her. “Why were those demons chasing you? “ She hesitated a little before answering, dropping her gaze as she did so. “I’m a half demon… my father fell in love with a young human woman. The other demons see me as a disgrace to their kind.” I stood there for a second, stunned. She started to stand, a tear tracing a line down her cheek as she started to make her way past me. “I should go. I don’t want to…” She stopped as I reached back and grabbed her arm. “You’re in no condition to wander the streets right now.” I turned towards her, her back still to me. “You need to rest.” “Why stick your neck out for a Half-blood like me?” She spoke softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “Why not?” I smiled softly at her. “I can’t see a good reason to leave you out there to die. Half-breed or not.” She shook her head slowly. “I… don’t want to be a burden. And my being here will just put you at risk.” Now it was my turn to shake my head. “I’ve been at risk since I was born. Having you around won’t make it any worse. Now go get some rest. You need it.” She nodded weakly and moved back to the bed, stretching out across it. I stayed for a couple of minutes until I was sure she was asleep, then turned and walked to the door.
¦Star¦
As I drifted off to sleep, I thought about this strange man who had rescued me. He didn’t have any kind of hidden agenda that I could tell, and he acted as if he was genuinely worried, but I still couldn’t trust him. Not after all I had gone through. I was so caught up in these thoughts that I didn’t notice that the dreamscape around me had changed. Not until a demon grabbed me by my shoulder. It had managed to infiltrate my dreams, where no one should be able to help me. “Hello princess…” It let out a toothy grin as the dreamscape around us changed to that of the dungeons below the demonic palace. My hands were bound above my head, held by chains that could withstand even the strongest demon’s efforts to break free. It pulled out a rod, just large enough to fit in its hand, and flicked his wrist, flames sprouting from the end and lashing across me. I screamed, even though I knew no one would hear me, trapped in my own mind as I was. It laughed cruelly and raised the whip again, bringing it back down as I screamed, replaying the memory of my time in the Demon king’s palace.. As I started to faint from the pain, I saw a dark figure step in between me and the whip as it came down again. Then, everything went black.
¦Alexander¦
I turned as she screamed in her sleep, horrified to see the wounds that suddenly opened across her torso, as if someone had taken a whip to her. I ran to the bed and laid my hand on her, letting my energy flow into her once again and sealing the wounds, then I closed my eyes, my body collapsing on the bed as I slipped into her dreams in an attempt to free her. I appeared just a few feet away as the demonic creature that had possessed her dreams raised the whip once again, and without thinking, ran in between her and it as it fell, taking the lash myself, the flames cutting diagonally across my chest. The demon stood there for a second, shocked, before I took my sword and ran it through, blasting it away with a burst of flame seconds later. Once I’d taken care of the demon I turned to her and slashed the chains, the sword cutting cleanly through them, and caught her, healing as quickly as I could. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at me, unable to remember me just yet. “W-who are you? I don’t remember you being here…” I smiled. “That’s because I wasn’t… now then, I think you’d better wake up before we get caught in another dream.” She gave me a confused look. “Wake up?” I gently put a finger against her forehead and sent her back to the real world, before following myself.
¦Star¦
I woke, gasping as I ran my hands over my chest, searching for the lashes that weren’t there, sobbing hysterically. I turned as I heard a groan, seeing alex sit up wincing as he did so. As I looked at him, seeing the crimson staining the front of his shirt, the rest of the dream came back, of him stepping between me and the whip. He looked over to me, worried. “Are you alright?” I hugged him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. He sat there for a few seconds, as if shocked, then slowly put his arms around me. “shhh… it’s alright…. You’re back now, it’s over…” I looked up at him, tears trailing down my face. “Stay with me…” My eyes widened as I realized what I’d just said, and looked down, embarrassed. He stiffened, as if shocked that I’d ask something like that, and I started to turn away, only to feel him grab my shoulder to stop me, placing a hand under my chin softly as he tilted my face up to look at him. He was smiling softly. “Alright…” I smiled as I laid down, as did he, putting his arms around me gently. I closed my eyes slowly, smiling as I started to drift off to sleep again, this time into a peaceful slumber.
¦Alexander¦
I laid there awake for a while after she’d gone to sleep, trying to fight off the sleep so that I could keep watch. Unfortunately, with her laying there, curled up against me… I shook my head, blinking rapidly. Finally, I felt a tap on my shoulder and glanced over to see Torch, the dragon having decided to return to this plane on its own. “Rest. I’ll keep watch.” It went out of the window and up to the roof before I could reply. I sighed and laid my head back down, slowly closing my eyes as I drifted off to sleep, draping a wing over us lightly to shield her from the cold. The last thing I heard before sleep overtook me was a low humming sound from the roof.
¦Sthal’carax¦
I sat in my throne and stayed silent, the demon in front of me practically babbling as he told me what had happened. It stopped as I raised my hand. “so, not only did you lose the girl, but you somehow managed to lose the rest of the hunting party and one of our best assassins.” I shook my head. “Pathetic.” He started to speak again. “B-b-but sir, this man he… he summoned a dragon, and he had control over fire… he looked like an angel, but he claimed that he wasn’t…” He stopped as I narrowed my eyes. “Were his wings an obsidian black? Almost glowing?” He nodded. “And was this dragon made completely of flames?” “Completely sir… it reduced any demon it attacked to ash in less than a second.” I stood and walked over to him. “Did this person give you a name?” He nodded, shaking. Even standing, he was a full three feet shorter than me, not counting my horns, which thrust forth from my forehead and curled back over my head, adding another foot to my height. “A-a-a-Alex-z-z-z-zander….” I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled lightly. “Do you know who that was?” He shook his head slowly. “That was quite possibly the only person who poses a threat to me.” I snarled and shook him abruptly, the force snapping his neck. I let go and walked back to my throne, sitting down as his corpse fell over. “So, it has begun…” I reached up, fingering the edge of the silver circlet adorning my head. “I will not fall. I will stop this prophecy once and for all. He will not live to see the blood moon rise…”
¦Torch¦
I gazed out over the surrounding area, my draconic sight penetrating the shadows with ease. After making sure nothing was in view, I let out a low hum from deep within my chest, energy pulsing out from me to cover the area, so that I would have ample warning should something decide to appear. That done, I looked up to the night sky, seeing the half-full moon. “Only a couple more nights. Sleep well, Alex. For this may be the last chance you have for some time.” I curled my tail about me and tucked my wings in tight against my back, settling in to keep watch through the night.
¦Grimlock¦
I hovered in midair, collecting the souls from the demons that had been slain earlier that day. I stopped at one that seemed different from the others, as if it had retained a portion of its memories. "Who are you?" It gazed at me, the normally empty eyes showing a small spark of life. "Gilanad." I tilted my head to the side. "What killed you?" It took a second to respond, the sentience slowly fading from its spirit. "A creature that resembled an angel, yet was not. it controlled the very flames, creating a dragon. Its name was Alexander.”
My eyes widened for a second. "Are you certain?" It didn't respond, and I snarled as I saw that the last traces of sentience had left it. I collected it and opened a portal back to my realm. As i went, My thoughts traveled back to the young boy who had evaded me for so many years. "Alexander..." I threw the orb i had been carrying into the abyss to my left, the souls trapped within it screaming as they fell. "Let us see just how far you get on your own. Whether the prophecy is true or not, business will be doing well for awhile." I walked through the maze of tunnels within my realm, scythe laid across my shoulders. "very, very well..."